SUSTENANCE

Buying groceries in Manhattan can be pretty pricey. Fortunately, Carol and I have found a few reliable stores that prove reasonably priced meat, fish and produce do exist in the borough. I'll highlight three of them in this post. The first is Deluxe Food Market at 79 Elizabeth Street in Chinatown. This grocery store/eat-in joint runs from Elizabeth Street all the way through Mott Street. The two aisles inside are narrow and often packed. No doubt, shopping here requires a lot of maneuvering, but the great prices and fresh seafood make it totally worth it in my opinion. We go here mainly to pick up bags of frozen pork and chive dumplings, as well as grey sole and Atlantic salmon fillets. The sole is ridiculously cheap here. Deluxe also has a large butcher section, an authentic takeout area, a small produce corner, and an eat-in area. Overall, Chinatown is a goldmine in terms of places to buy fish and meat. We also buy vegetables in this hood, but generally avoid buying fruit there since there are other places with fresher fruit.

One of those stores is U Don't Know Nothing Produce at 1593 York Ave off 84th Street. Lame name, but very good fruit, both organic and regular, for really good prices. This small produce store is only 2.5 blocks away from my office. So I'll swing by here at least once or twice a week to pick up fruit and veggies. Large naval oranges are 2 for $1 here, Gala apples are reasonably priced at $1.49/lb and a sack of Idaho potatoes will only set you back about $2.50.

For meat, I recommend Big Apple Meat Market 575 9th Ave between 41st and 42nd Sts. You have to walk through a grocery store to get to the meat market. Once you get inside, the temperature will inform you that you're essentially walking into a meat locker. Dozens of different meats are packaged, organized on large metal shelves and ready to be purchased. Butchers also are on hand to help with larger orders and special orders. The prices are amazing here. We've gotten everything here, including porterhouse steaks, hot Italian sausages, short ribs, ground turkey, pork chops and chorizo. Getting hungry now. Gotta go.