Unlimited Wednesdays at Cabana Bar

Last night we happened upon yet another Wednesday recession special at Cabana Bar on President St. between 4th and 5th Avenues in Park Slope. Cabana Bar has a tiki bar at a resort kind of feel. The drinks are good and not to pricey. The food and the service are hit or miss. But their Wednesday night unlimited sangria and quesadillas for $16.99 special is, well, special!

Ordinarily you have a choice of red or white sangria, except that last night they were out of white. So red it was. For your quesadilla option you have a choice of three cheese, shrimp, mushroom, vegetarian, short rib, and chorizo. We tried everything except the three cheese since all the other options are plenty cheesy. The only one I would say to skip is the shrimp. It was weird. The rest had a nice crisp tortilla on the outside and were very satisfying.

We ate three sangrias and three portions of quesadillas each and we left full with a nice little buzz. A perfect experience (and price) for a warm summer evening out.

photo courtasy of Brownstoner

Go! Go! Curry!

When you’re stuck in the very un-appetizing garment district looking for a cheap, quick, and delish alternative to the Metro Cafes and Starbucks, I recommend Go! Go! Curry! This small shop serves up really great Japanese curry platters which consist of breaded katsu (pork), chicken, shrimp or sausage over white sticky rice, covered with Japanese curry sauce. So yeah, not so veggie friendly.

Be warned: Japanese curry sauce is a dark brown color and it isn’t pretty- but it is mighty tasty.

This place is baseball themed. Apparently “go” means five in Japanese and “go go” means fifty-five, which is the number of a Japanese baseball player. The prices are baseball themed: $7.00 for a walk (small plate), $7.50 for a single (medium), $8.50 for a double (large), and $9.50 for a triple (XL).

Overall, yummy, filling, and cheap.

Feed a cold

Last week I had a doozy of a cold and all I wanted was Bobbie’s chicken soup. Bobbie is my itty- bitty Jewish Grandma). Here is a picture of Bobbie, her “fiance” Morris, and me and my sister.

If I tell you she makes the world’s best chicken soup, it’s likely you won’t believe me. You’ll assume I’m biased and that if I tried YOUR grandmother’s chicken soup, I’d change my mind. Well your wrong. My Bobbie’s chicken soup is better than your Bubby’s.

Last week, amidst terrible aches and congestion, I could have killed for a bowlful of B.C.S. (Bobbie Chicken Soup) but unless I wanted to schlep out to Pehlam Parkway I wasn’t gonna happen. So I did the next best thing. I dragged my sniffly self to Tacos Nuevos Mexico on Fifth Avenue between 11th and 12th Street and ordered a bowl of their Sopa de Polla. With plenty of cilantro and served with tortillas, it ain’t your Bubby’s chicken soup. But it’s got big bits of chicken, carrots, and celery in a great broth– and, like B.C.S., it’ll make you feel  a little less like death. And for $4.95 it’s cheaper than Sudafed.

So please don’t get my cold. But if you do, at least know that temporary relief is waiting for you at Tacos Nuevos Mexico.

By the way, they also have a Sunset Park Location.

Three Good Ones

I’m kind of crazy busy today but I didn’t want to put off posting for another day!

Here are some staple cheap spots in three Brooklyn neighborhoods:

I’ll start close to home with Tamari on 201 Fifth Avenue (between Union and Sackett) where they have a super economical, super delish lunch menu 12:00-4:00 daily (including weekends). The daily lunch special varies from day to day and costs about $8.95. It usually features some sashimi, some roll, salad, soup, and more.  If you go during lunch they also offer two for one saki, which is hard to resist.

The second is Bedouin Tent, a great middle eastern restaurant located at 405 Atlantic Avenue at Bond Street. Try the Lambajin , a  mideastern pizza with lamb, onion, tomato, parsley & spices, and the Assorted Salad. Everything I have had there is great, and most importantly, two can eat for under $20.

Lastly, I recommend Tacos Xochimilco at 45-01 Fifth Avenue in Sunset Park. My good buddies just moved to Sunset Park and I’m looking forward to revisiting this old favorite with them soon. For more on this establishment, check out Lost Taco’s post about it. That’s where I first read about this place. Thanks for the tip LT! I’ll just say the tacos are so cheap and just as good and fresh as the tacos in Oaxaca.

Do you have any favorite cheap restaurants? Leave your tips as a comment to this blog or email brooklynbreadlines@gmail.com.

Long Tan $5 Pad Thai

Last night I wanted to research (read: too lazy/ excited for spring to cook) a local ongoing good deal at Long Tan, a great Thai spot on 5th Avenue between Union and Sackett. The sign outside kind of confused me. I’m not sure if you can get the $10 steak and the $5 pad thai all night long at the bar or only during one of their two happy hours at the bar.

We showed up at 6:15 and sat at the bar. As an app we split a huge portion of $4 chicken satay. We both got the $5 pad thai, which was a small-ish portion but certainly enough for dinner. It was very peanut-y and full of flavor. Our bill came to a sweet $23, which included a $10 Manhattan. Not bad for a tasty dinner for two and a buzz for one (I wasn’t drinking).

It was too dark in the restaurant to take pictures with my crappy little camera. But you all know what pad thai looks like, so I think you can use your imagination.

$10 Small Plates at Tabla on Wednesdays

Based on the proliferation of Wednesday recession specials, I am led to believe that it is a rough night for restaurants. Not that I’m complaining. I welcome good deals any night of the week.

The newest on our list of Wednesday night bargains can be found at Tabla, the Danny Meyer’s Indian-with-a-twist restaurant in the Flatiron district. Tasting Table NYC tells us that the restaurant is celebrating its ten year anniversary by “offering a rotating selection of $10-and-under small plates in the upstairs dining room on Wednesday nights.”

I’ve never been to Tabla but based on the reviews I’ve read it sounds awesome. I think I’m going to have to check this out next week. After all, this blog post feels naked without photos. Have you tried the $10 special? Was it worth it? Do tell!

Slurp Slurp

Last night I checked out the new ramen shop in my neighborhood, Zu Zu Ramen. It’s on Fourth Avenue and DeGraw in Park Slope. We went with a friend who speaks Japanese and she told us that “Zu” is how the Japanese make the “slurp” sound. Originally I didn’t love the name. I thought it sounded like a childhood nickname for private parts.

Between the four of us (and one toddler) we tried three of the four ramen options. My personal favorite was the Zu Zu ramen which featured really good charsiu pork belly. But everything was delish.

Ramen dishes are in the $10 range, which I think is probably on the expensive side as far as ramen goes but cheaper than most restaurants in the area. It seems like they use quality ingredients and the portions are pretty big. I boxed up half of my dinner and ate it for lunch today. So it ended up being a good deal.