Liquid Brunch and Dinners

I know when someone usually thinks of eating out in NYC, they automatically assume it's 5 star dining all the way, spending tons and tons of money. But being 24 years old and living on a budget, my friends and I have found ways to still eat at great restaurants but at places that don't break the bank.

I was lucky enough to have 3 best friends from the good ole days of CHS in town this weekend and we ate and drank all weekend long and didn't spend a million of $$.

Delayed and cancelled flights put us all in mood for a drinking weekend and it couldn't have started out better than a dinner in the back patio area of Elizabeth. Six girls, five glasses of wine (and a martini for me - obvi) and hilarious conversation. Lacey and I shared the grilled cheese sliders and fried calamari to start. The grilled cheese wasn't really a slider but a mini grilled cheese greasy sandwich. Two came in a serving with mini pickles on the side. The fried calamari was a huge portion with a lot of the round pieces and not a lot of the legs which I find scary and unappetizing. The sauce was spicy and creamy and delicious. Audrey got her new favorite butternut squash soup, which she loved and then followed it with the risotto. For main courses we weren't that original. Out of 6 girls, there were 3 turkey burgers with garlic sticky fries and 2 risottos. The turkey burger was thick and cooked well but I was so full from the apps that I didn't even finish my half and the fries were true to it's name -- garlicky! No dessert for us as we were off to night 1 of a 2 night dance party!!

Saturday morning came faster than expected and we headed to Philip Marie to start the day. As I said before, we were in a drinking mood so Philip Marie was the place for us. Every Saturday they have an unlimited mimosa brunch that comes with an entree for less than $17.00 per person. Can't get a better brunch deal than that. Although our waiter was kind of slow with the re-fills, going into 20 degree weather just wasn't as hard. I ordered the Marie's wrap with waffle fries. It was huge! It came with eggs, vegies, cheese and ham and I could only eat one half. I was most excited for the fries, because waffle fries are in my top 5 list of fries thanks to Chik-Fil-A.

Our day continued with shopping and drinking, stopping in bars in the village and soho to keep our buzz going. The shopping was unsuccessful, but the drinking was quite the opposite.

Rushing home for a quick shower and change we were off to dinner at L.E.S. Sushi. I've been hearing a lot about this BYO and all good things so I was excited to try it. The restaurant is tiny and with a party of 14 we were one out of two parties there. Tina (the owner and new bff) was great with getting our wine opened asap and taking our order without any mistakes. The sushi was really good also. They had creative rolls which were all fresh and good in size and it didn't take forever to come out. I would highly suggest taking a group of people to L.E.S. It was cheap, fun, and good food. We closed down the place well after 1:30 am and didn't feel rushed out at all.

Overall, we had some great meals and some great deals over the weekend. It's definitely possible to eat cheap in NYC and it doesn't have to be a hot dog or pretzel from the street.

Until my next meal....