When I go grocery shopping, my receipt usually reads about five items long. Of these five items, there can always be found instant oatmeal and coffee, accompanied by the occasional bag of frozen bagels or microwave dinners. Needless to say, I don’t like cooking. It’s not just that the only table in my apartment is outside and used primarily for empty wine bottles or that cockroaches hang out in the kitchen more often than I do; it’s simply that I love eating out.

Sure it tastes good and it’s easy, but it’s also the social aspect. It’s fun. Food is fun to eat, and friends are fun to talk to. Wine is fun to drink. Food is always better when eaten with company and served with or preceded by alcohol, a theory which seems to have firm backing in the 3am crowds swarming fast food joints that would probably be more likely to deter than attract customers in the cold light of day.

People often have misconceptions about the price of going out for a meal and drinks in New York City. Yes, there are certainly hundreds of Midtown restaurants where you can expect to get something that Lean Cuisine could give you in 4 minutes and 30 seconds, but for 10 times the price, but there’s also plenty of hole-in-the-walls where you can get a meal and a merlot for less than Whole Foods might charge for beer and bread alone. The best place to find these havens is the East Village, where the high density of both eateries and NYU students makes bargain prices a must if you’re going to pull a crowd.

One of the saving graces for the wallets of my friends and I is the existence of  BYOB with no corkage fee, allowing you to bring your own bottle to the restaurant. Some places cork it for you, some fall into the default category of BYOBAC (bring your own booze and corkscrew), but the general idea remains the same. BYOB places in the Village range from the crazy to the conventional, but my greatest discovery so far is Cherin sushi on E 6th Street. A little crowded and sometimes a little loud, but the atmosphere is void of any dinginess or odd Christmas decorations that seem to plague many lower priced restaurants, and the sushi is not only presented like an edible artwork but actually tastes amazing. Not “Wait am I in New York or Osaka?” amazing, but with decent sized chunks of fish and perfectly enjoyable even before we had cracked into the second bottle of sake.

If you a) want your outing to be more of an “experience” or b) collect ridiculous business cards, then definitely head to Panna II on First Avenue (It’s the one upstairs and to the right, and I have been personally assured by the owner that his restaurant has at least two times the amount of chili pepper and Christmas tree lights than its competitor Milon next door). If there are underage patrons accompanying you, simply mention this to the doorman placed outside to persuade/pester customers to enter and his unfailing response that they can still help themselves to wine will clear your conscious completely. Once inside waiters not only opened our bottles for us but fought one another for our tip by bringing free appetizers to precede the $7-$12 curries, and afterwards your dining experience will be made complete by free desserts and business cards reading “Where Chili Pepper Lights Meet Christmas Tree Lights”. Just remember to never stand in full upright position if you wish not to be electrocuted by the dangerously low canopy of lights, and to always mention that one member of your group is having a birthday (just do it). Although if you forget, birthday cake can be ordered a la carte.

Still with Christmas-themed decor but slightly more low key is Cooper 35 Asian Pub in Cooper Square, which isn’t BYOB (despite it’s odd name it is indeed a pub with a liquor licence) but is just as cheap. As in $3 wines, $4 cocktails and $3 for average-to-decent California rolls and delicious giant bowls of steaming hot vegetable noodle soup. Since Cooper 35 is primarily a pub it’s probably wiser to stick with more simple food choices, but you can balance this out by ordering extravagant cocktails. Mojito? $4. Pina colada? $4. Lycheetini? $4. And the $3 vegetable noodle soup in combination with the free salsa was plenty filling enough to feed two hungry girls. Cocktails are served with those large straws more commonly found in bubble tea, which seem to serve the dual purpose of making me drink more and making the pub somewhat “Asian”.

Also with $3 wine but with considerably more authentic food is Cafetasia over on Avenue A. I had walked past this place about 200 times on the way to work and had always been intrigued by its signposted happy hour specials but never actually went in until last week when I convinced a friend to try it out. We walked in around 2pm (happy hour ends at 5pm) and were definitely both tipsy and full when we walked out: $2 appetizers, $3 wines and $6 entrees that were so good we probably would have licked our plates of grilled salmon and pad thai clean were we able to get to the bottom of them. I’ll definitely be back to order every $2 appetizer on the menu – Once I can round up a bunch of people who are actually available before 5pm…

Written by: Hannah Ongley

Tags: alcohol, apartment, appetizers, avenue a, bagels, birthday, booze, bottles, bubble tea, cafetasia, california rolls, cherin sushi, christmas lights, cocktails, coffee, cooper 35 asian pub, cooper square, corkscrew, curries, desserts, east village, eating, entrees, first avenue, fish, friends, grilled almon, grocery shopping, happy hour, Label Girl Hype, Lifestyle, lycheetini, microwave dinners, milon, mojito, new york citystyle, nyu, oatmeal, panna II, pina colada, plates, receipt, restaurants, sake, salsa, sex and the city, thai, vegetable noodle soup, village, wine

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