108 Food is a dry hot pot that stands up to any in the city. Here’s how it works: Step up to a lavish display of raw ingredients deposited in metal tubs at the rear of the restaurant. An attendant with a sense of humor will assemble the chosen ingredients, putting the meat, poultry, and fish in one metal bowl and the vegetables in another, and then whisk it to the kitchen for the wok. Your meal can be as spicy (including Sichuan peppercorns) as you’d like at your request. Whole fish is available, too,

This narrow but delicious stall concentrates on the street food of Mumbai, sometimes known as Bombay frankies. Plenty for vegetarians and vegans options are available here in the shape of rolled-up rotis with a variety of fillings, including spinach, mushroom, omelet, and potatoes. This is fast food at its flavorful best, and don’t miss the spicy masala fries.

Few Hunan restaurants in the city are as good as this one, with a long menu to match. Hunan food exhibits hot and sour flavors, pickled ingredients, and other staples preserved by drying and smoking. Accordingly, try smoked pork with smoked bamboo shoots (which tastes engagingly like barbecue) and — not just for vegetarians — mustard greens that come dotted with garlic and pickled chiles.

A brand-new and exciting restaurant owned by Nhu Ton and John Nguyen, Bánh has made the Upper West Side one of the primary destinations for Vietnamese food in the city. Many dishes appear with nuances never seen in restaurants here before, such as a dark and turmeric-laced banh xeo with a coconut batter and a wealth of inclusions like marinated shrimp, smoked pork belly, and mung-bean puree (most versions in the city limit themselves to sprouts and steamed shrimp). Every meal here is an adventure.

Hawaiian restaurants are few and far between in NYC, and Makana, operated by Dave Hom and Dave Chan, is one of the more reasonably priced ones, emphasizing the Japanese elements of the 50th state’s cuisine. Sure, there’s Spam musubi, a spiced tuna poke slathered with spicy mayo, and a loco moco plate including beef patties with mushroom gravy, fried egg, and macaroni salad. But you’ll also find decent sushi here, too.

The brightly lit cafe lies in an area frequented by cabbies, and this is the most formidable of the eateries they prefer, their cars often idling outside as they sit in their vehicles and eat. The halal Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi, and Indo-Chinese food is not just meat and gravy, but plenty of vegetables are incorporated, too, including luffa and winter melon. The place also specializes in tandoor-cooked meats and whole fish. Favorites include lamb nihari (a very mellow stew of shank and marrow bone) and beef paya (made with gluey cow feet; it's way delicious). Open late.

Despite its informal demeanor, Yu Kitchen is one of the best Chinese restaurants in the city. For those who have a desire to explore regional provincial food, there’s the porridge-like Wulong steamed pork with sticky rice, fern root noodles, and beef soup with pita dumplings — all dishes presided over by chef Ding Ji. But the menu is also filled with more-familiar Sichuan, Shanghai, and Beijing specialties.

This sturdy ramen spot offers a surprisingly great range of appetizers, meaning that you could ignore the noodles completely and have a memorable meal. Examples: smoky kurobuta sausage, fiery chicken wings, veggie gyoza topped with cheese, fried rice, and fried chicken. The ramen menu has many options, some of them exceedingly spicy.

The roster of UWS kosher choices gets a boost with the arrival of this homegrown Brooklyn mini chain on Amsterdam Avenue. The kitchen has perfected the art of cooking breaded chicken cutlets so they become super crisp on the outside while remaining moist in the middle. Several coatings are available (including sesame, panko, and cornflakes), as are several flavors. Many non-cutlet items are worth ordering, too, including hot dogs, hummus, avocado salad, and potato cigars (pastry flutes loaded with spuds).

Styling itself as the “Sturgeon King,” this 1908 repository of preserved fish on the Upper West Side is also a fully functional meat deli, with notably normal-sized, rather than overstuffed, sandwiches (pastrami, tongue, turkey, salami, and chopped liver), on rye, natch. There are some crossover favorites too, such as pastrami-cured salmon on a bagel and a tongue omelet.

Founded by Carmine Mitroni in 2002, Celeste has long been the Italian standby for Upper West Siders seeking its old-school charm, affordability, and reliable pizzas and pastas. Many of the latter are handmade, including tagliatelle with shrimp, cabbage, and sheep's milk cheese. Also don’t miss the spectacular margherita pizza, further decorated with baby plum tomatoes, or the always fresh seafood salad. Cash only.

Via chef Shuichi Kotani, this unexpectedly great mainstay offers reasonably priced bowls of ramen with a choice of six broths: shio, shoyu, tonkotsu, spicy tonkotsu, miso, and vegetarian, the first two chicken-based. Novelty bowls incorporate Thai green curry paste and Korean kimchi, along with a choice of thin or thick noodles, firmer than usual. And more starters (including several salads) are offered beyond the usual fried chicken and edamame.

Chef David Bank, who was born and raised in Thailand, trained under chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten upon arriving in NYC in 1995; he and his wife, Vanida Bank, opened Land Thai Kitchen in 2005. This takeout star is as good for its noodle stir-fries and curries as it is for its papaya salads and duck larb.

This facsimile Parisian brasserie, founded in 2003, is a UWS workhorse, serving French bistro standards to the neighborhood at a brisk pace and has been hopping even during the pandemic. A nice moules frites, the Provencal basil soup called pistou, and New York strip steak frites, plus a few Italian-leaning specialties such as risotto and short-rib ravioli, grace the menu.

It’s all about the wings at Blondies, a sports bar brimming with televisions for unfettered sports viewing. Northwestern University games are especially packed, as it’s the go-to bar for the Midwestern school’s alumni to gather, watch, and knock back purple-hued shots. Nachos, baked potatoes, and a “meltdown sandwich” (chicken tenders with mozzarella and Buffalo sauce) are among other favorites.

NYC dim sum staple Jing Fong, owned by Ming Lam and his son Truman Lam, opened its first location nearly 40 years ago in Chinatown and expanded to the Upper West Side in 2017 with a more petite outpost. The bill of fare is slimmer during the pandemic, but it still highlights noodles and dim sum. Go for the turnip cakes, char siu, and beef chow fun.

Chirping Chicken is a true hero of the Upper West Side, delivering an extensive menu of rotisserie roast chicken, Greek specialties, and American fast-food classics to the neighborhood affordably and quickly. It’s a weeknight go-to for many, from ever-present office workers to couples to families with young kids.

The lamb burger on an English muffin is the pro move at this beer-focused pub, which provides a casual setting for meeting friends and watching the game (what game? Any game!) with food that’s better than it needs to be. Next door to the Beacon Theater, it was popular with theater-goers before the pandemic. Don’t miss the tornado tots, with cheddar and pepper jack cheeses, bacon, jalapenos, and spicy ranch dressing.

The duo behind Caroline’s Comedy club, Eugene Ashe and Thomas Wilson, debuted the surfer chic bar and restaurant Playa Betty’s in 2015. The menu harkens toward Southern California and the Baja Peninsula with tacos, grain bowls, enchiladas, and margaritas — all perfectly suited to winter carryout.

This unprepossessing walk-down pizzeria sells good slices and hot subs, but it has another specialty that may not be apparent till you examine the menu carefully: Chilean-style sandwiches. Primary among several options is the chacarero, which looks like a regular roast beef hero, except for the exciting inclusion of... green beans, which moisten the sandwich and add oomph.

Founded by Nicholas Gray, who worked at the Papaya King chain in 1973, Gray’s has long since become an Upper West Side landmark. All eating is done standing up, or walking down the street, and Gray’s is the repository of 100 years of New York frankfurter praxis — including the austere toppings of German sauerkraut and Greek onion relish, further topped with mustard and washed down with one of the gritty and indifferent fruit drinks. Hey, it’s traditional.

At this Roman-style pizzeria, conveniently located right above the 72nd Street express subway stop, slabs of pinsa are the thing to get. The crunchy, cheesy slices have a multi-flour crust, rise for 48 hours, and are generously blanketed in a wide array of toppings. Highlights include the smoky prosciutto cotto and zucchini artichoke, both pictured here.

This kosher Upper East Side (and before that, Queens) transplant turned heads when it opened a few months ago during the pandemic, and it generated long, socially distanced lines. It’s been a long time since the Upper West Side could boast pastrami this good. Carry out — and eat fast. Matzo ball soup and hot dogs liberally smeared with mustard are tops, too.

A slightly upscale Mexican restaurant, El Mitote at first seems aimed at non-Mexican Americans, till you start ordering the food and poke around the corners of the menu. A case in point is the spectacular pozole in the Guadalajaran style, laced with dried red chiles and filled with chicken and hominy. It’s generously served with a bean tostada on the side. You can smell the oregano as the soup is brought to the table.

This casual serve-yourself outdoor cafe from Daniel Boulud offers memorable eat-and-run breakfasts, pastries, and a shifting selection of sandwiches and charcuterie right across the street from a now-shuttered Lincoln Center. On a slightly higher plane, Bar Boulud spreads out next door. The breakfast sandwich on bechamel-slathered brioche made with gruyere and bacon is a particular delight.