Ok, giving stuff I can work with!!
$200-300 for a week on dinners is going to be a bit rough if you want to do one nice meal, but we can try to make it happen. Just understand that even "cheap" meals in Manhattan are more expensive than anywhere else.
First- I would recommend combining the adventure and the nice meal into one. One of my favorite Indian restaurants in the entire city is called
Dawat(
www.dawatrestaurant.com). The food is fantastic, the service very polite, the decor is a bit kitschy but simple, and you can go for a great dinner for 2 for $100. The portions are a generous size, and if you do go I HIGHLY recommend getting the leg of lamb still served on the bone (if they still have it).
As for pizza- everybody has their recommendations, but honestly you will rarely find bad pizza in NYC. I personally think its a waste of money going to many of the "pie only" places (e.g. Lombardi's, Grimaldi's, etc) unless you've got a bunch of people to share with. They wildly overcharge you, you can't get much variety in slices (b/c you're getting a whole pie), and their pizza can range from fantastic to so-so. Some of my favorite pizza comes from Rosa's (2nd ave btwn 34th and 35th street) where they also have the BEST chicken and meatball parm sandwiches in the city. My recommendation for the best pizza is to get away from the touristy areas and just walk down the street and pop into a place that smells good. A warning though- don't get pizza from anyplace that doesn't have at least 1 an Italian looking guy working there. In the same way that you wouldn't buy Chinese food from a restaurant run by people from Sweden! (Not trying to be racist here, just stating some facts about NYC pizza).
The best cannoli are actually in Hoboken, NJ in my opinion, but tooling around Little Italy for an afternoon and sampling pastry is not a bad way to go
.
Other recommendations- if you guys want to try Greek food and want a bit of an adventure, take the subway out to Astoria, Queens one day for lunch. There are tons of places all around that area where you can get fantastic food. There's also a great brand new Beer Garden that recently opened called Studio Square (
http://www.studiosquarenyc.com/main.html).
The best Chinese, in my opinion, is located on the Upper East Side in a place called Chinatown East located on 3rd Avenue btwn 92nd and 93rd streets. My favorite Thai place is called Topaz, located on 56th street btwn 6th and 7th ave (best Dranken Noodles EVER). Honestly though, with most asian food you cannot go wrong just wandering around and finding a place on your own. I would recommend going for lunch though, as these places typically have great lunch specials. AVOID a place like Ruby Foo's... it's a tourist trap and it's the equivalent of going to a BBQ festival and eating at the McDonald's booth.
For a really cheap lunch, you must hit up a Gray's Papaya and get one of their recession specials (2 awesome hot dogs and a juice for $4.00). There are several locations, but my favorite is the one on the Upper West Side (72nd and Columbus I think- do a web search on that one).
On hot dogs- avoid street vendors in tourist areas (e.g. times square). They'll rip you off on hot dogs and pretzels. The best place for "street meat" is over on Park Avenue in the 50s or down by Wall Street where all of the business guys work.
People will always say to hit up the famous NYC delis (e.g. Carnegie, Katz's, 2nd Avenue Deli). The food is good, no doubt, but the massive portions come with huge prices. Be prepared for $20+ for a sandwich. The best bet is to go and share a sandwich for lunch. My recommendation is 2nd Avenue Deli (33rd btwn 3rd Ave and Lexington).
Finally, the best NYC bagels (and no this is NOT up for debate) are located at Daniel's Bagels (3rd ave btwn 37th and 38th). This is a must visit.
Also, since you are staying in Newark, you should absolutely go out for some really good Portuguese food in the Ironbound section one night. Forno's has been one of my favorites since I was a kid.
Sorry- for the very long-winded post, but you did get me started on food
!!
