Continued from Part I, where we looked into ways to get hold of cheap air tickets, reduce airport to hotel transportation costs and finding decent hotels at affordable rates. While that takes of the major portion of your expenses for a visit to New York, it still leaves out your dining and sightseeing costs. So we’ll devote this post to finding cheap restaurants with decent food and the next one for sightseeing, shows and New York transportation.

Before we get down to the restaurants, a word of advice. Saving money on food in NYC is not so difficult, if you avoid midtown, buy extra large packs and share (Example: A large coffee at Starbucks shared between two people is cheaper than buying two small ones), and try to maximize takeaways, at least for lunch, which saves you a 15% tip. And if you’re on a really tight shoestring budget, head straight for Flushing, Chinatown, which is just about the cheapest place to eat in NYC, with splendid dim sum and dumpling stalls.

Assuming you’re following along from the first part of this article, you should be looking out of your downtown Manhattan hotel room window and seeing Times Square or Fifth Avenue and the Empire State Building. So let’s start with the best restaurants in Times Square which are not tourist traps, as in chain restuarants or fancy-decor-with-pricey-food-and-small-portions.

Italian food : Becco on 8th Avenue, located at 355 West 46th Street is famous for it’s filling pasta special lunch ($16.95) and dinner ($21.95).

Asian food: Ruby Foos on 49th Street, located at 1626 Broadway is an Asian fusion restaurant, which is all the rage nowadays, and serves up a dazzling and sumptous array of Asian cuisine including dim sum, sushi, and Thai dishes attractively priced from $6 to $30, and suitable for family groups with memebrs of differing ages. They even have hotdogs and grilled cheese for kids.

American food: Virgil’s on 6th Avenue, located on 152 West 44th Street, cooks up the best barbecue and Southern fried food in town, with Memphis ribs and Carolina pulled pork. No frills, massive and mouth watering helpings and you are sure to leave with a full stomach.  Often packed, so it might be best to call in at (212) 921-9494 and reserve a table. Entree costs from $8 to $22.

Other than this, there’s Edison Cafe, located in the Edison hotel, 228 West 47th Street,  which is a good place for a quick meal or a takeaway, with cheap pancakes, sandwiches and matzo ball soup. Most of the clientele are people who work in the neighbourhood, so the price is lower than at other places, and the food is pretty fresh.

Right, let’s widen our sights and take a look at the rest of New York. Please note that we have a dilemma here - Keep expenses low, and sample a variety of diners based on wherever you happen to be. These are links to lists of cheap eats in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island, which covers all five New York City boroughs. Listed below are best choice restaurants in each borough.

Manhattan: Becco - Pre-fix lunch ($16.95) and dinner ($21.95) with Italian antipasta and unlimited tableside pasta, ribeye steak, grilled veal chop and Italian wines. Info: www.becconyc.com , between 8th and 9th Avenue, 355 West 46th Street, (212) 397-7597

Brooklyn: Eamonn’s Irish Pub and Restaurant - Entrees attractively priced around or less than $15, with roasted chicken breast for $12.95, chicken curry with boiled rice for $11.95, Irish sausage with mashed potatoes for $9.95, and fish and chips for $10.95. Food is hot and spicy, cheap and filling. Takeaways, sandwiches, pasta and chicken wraps cost around $8 to $10. Info: www.eamonns.net , 174 Montague Street, Brooklyn Heights, (718) 596-4969.

Queens: Sentosa - Malaysian cuisine. Tastes good, spicy and cheap. Roti Canai for $3 and beef rendang for $9. Advantage with the Spicy & Tasy restaurant just two doors away, so you get even more options, if you are in the same area. Both restaurants are well known, excellent food and great rates. Info: 3907 Prince Street, Flushing, (718) 886-6331

Bronx: Rambling House - Full Irish breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, pudding, fries and toast for $9, fish and chips for $10, lamb stew for $12, sandwiches and wraps for $9. Cheap, fresh and filling. Takeaways advised. Info: www.ramblinghouse.com , 4292 Katonah Avenue, Woodlawn, (718) 798-0443.

Staten Island: Marina Cafe -  Seafood restaurant. Entrees from $15 to $18, including jumbo stuffed shrimps, lobster ravioli and sauteed shrimp with tomatoes and sauce. Sandwiches and wraps around $1o, including Hamburgers, steak mignon sandwiches and grilled chicken wraps. Info: www.marinacafegrand.com , 154 Mansion Avenue
Staten Island, (718) 967-3077.

So there we have it. A full tour of New York, with lunch breaks at decent and cheap restaurants. For foodies with a yearning for sampling the best food that New York has to offer, please visit the website and blog of legendary New York cabbie, Famous Fat Dave and follow his mouth watering adventures. With his guided food tour, you’ll not only see the real New York, you’ll taste it too.

In the next and final installment of this series, we’ll round up with discount passes which allow you entry into various tourist attractions and shopping in New York. Continued in Part III - New York Budget Sightseeing & Bargain Shopping.