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Everyone loves a bargain, especially when it comes to a delicious meal or farmers market find. That’s why we’re going to start giving you all of our favorite cheap eats each month. This month, falafel sandwiches from North and South Brooklyn, dressed-up cauliflower and permission to drink a Long Island Iced Tea.
Fatah with honey at Yemen Café
This dish is listed in the appetizers section of this Atlantic Avenue institution, but I treat it as dessert. The ingredients are simple and the execution is brilliant: Yemeni-style sliced bread crumbs tossed with honey and butter and topped with a dollop of tart yogurt. I think a single serving’s big enough to share, but maybe that’s a call you need to make on your own. —Ariel Lauren Wilson
Tamales at Colina Cuervo
Breakfast for dinner, dinner for breakfast—you do you. At least that’s how I feel about ordering the tamales at Colina Cuervo on Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights. The Latin-American café is a neighborhood gem with some of the best coffee around, and for $4.50, the corn husk–wrapped snacks (choice of pork, chicken or cheese) are a steal. You can add a poached egg for $1.50, which I usually do. —ALW
Falafel at Oasis
This aptly named purveyor of Middle Eastern fare is the light at the end of the L train tunnel. Just steps from the Bedford stop, Oasis serves up $4 falafel, as fresh as they come, shawarmas, soups, salads and shish kebabs, most served in combos at $10 or less, all excellent, fast and affordable expressions of this much-loved cuisine. —Carrington Morris
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Anything at Vanessa’s Dumplings
In the face of 4 p.m. winter sunsets and bone-chilling drippings from the sky, there’s nothing quite so cheering as a spread of steaming dumplings and dark greens. Pick your own magic combo at Vanessa’s; you’re unlikely to break the bank. Even the wait on line comes with a sense of camaraderie, of shared knowledge of where to refortify without compromising your reserves. —CM
Gobi Manchurian at Bombay Spice
There’s nothing healthy or sophisticated about this cauliflower dish, but who cares? Gobi manchurian—which marries Indian and Chinese flavors—tastes really, really good. The deep-fried cauliflower is dressed in a sticky-sweet-spicy sauce, hitting your taste buds in all the right places. Oh, and it’s $5. —Alicia Kennedy
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Long Island Iced Tea at Holiday Cocktail Lounge
You don’t have to feel bad about going for the $7 short Long Island Iced Tea at this historic East Village bar, which was revamped last year. It’s hard not to feel up for anything here. It goes down as easy as you remember, so be careful, but enjoy the cheap nostalgia ride. —AK
