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To Dine, Not Just Eat, on a Budget

© Jeanne-Michele Vigna

To the uninitiated, finding a good filling meal in New York that won't drain your wallet is a challenge. There are countless dining options and bad meals waiting for you on every corner of some neighborhoods. I'm here to give you a little inside information to help you make the right dinning decision, have a delicious meal and save a little cash.

Hidden away on a quiet corner of the West Village, away from the multitude of hip bistros and fashionable watering holes is the colorful Caribe. This friendly Carribbean restaurant has a wide ranging menu offering everything from stalwarts like jerk pork and chicken, salt cod and curry, to the exotic flavors of spicy oxtail and Monserrat goat stew. Each meal begins, without request and free, a small appetizer of stewed cabbage and spicy chicken wings. This delicious treat, however, is totally unnecessary. The entree plates, absolutely monstrous and nearly unfinishable, come with beans and rice and variety of tasty kitchen selected vegetables. Entree prices start at $7, and although $8.95 for Picadillo (a tender pulled pork with green olives and spices) might strike some (non-New Yorkers) as steep, when two people can share it and be full, the price is just right. Caribe offers a full bar and its own specialty drink menu that includes the like of ginger beer with rum and rum and sea moss. Note: The restaurant has a house cat, so if that type of thing bothers you, it's your loss.

Another great restaurant in the West Village and only a block away from Caribe is Pepe Verde. Though it's mostly a takeout operation, Pepe Verde has a charming little dining room with exposed brick walls, a wood floor and a quaint old green couch. Pastas such as fusilli with broccoli rabe and crumbled fennel sausage or ravioli with butter and herbs are not oversauced. Boneless sautéed chicken breasts that have been bathed in herbs and marinated in lemon come with a mammoth serving of rice mixed with roasted peppers, broccoli, mushrooms and tomato for a mere $6.95. And Pepe's sandwiches, especially air-cured beef on focaccia with arugula and Parmesan at $5.95, are exceptional. Watch the specials board for exciting meals like veal stew or pasta with duck ragu. There is no bar, but feel free to bring in your own bottle of wine. The nice gentleman behind the counter will be happy to give you some paper cups.

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