For many reasons, we have found that lunch out may be preferable to dinner. It’s cheaper, you don’t have to dress up, and you can digest it long before you sleep thereby avoiding heartburn. So, in search of reasonably priced lunches of high quality, I offer this finding–Spice on Amsterdam and 81st Street. This is one of a largish chain and I assume they are all about the same but can’t vouch for the others.

It is, as one Yelp observer noted, “humbly sized,” but pleasant and the food is first rate. Lunch comes with an appetizer of proportions, in this case, chicken and shrimp dumplings, big enough to fill you upand my husband was able to get his hard-to-find Saratoga Water (an acquired taste).You know you are eating Emerald Vegetable Dumplings when they are bright green–despite the startling color, they were good.I ordered Three-Flavored Whole Fish–a crisp porgy–with delicate white flesh while Rory enjoyed an old favorite–Pineapple Ginger Chicken, not overly sweet. We were full so we didn’t have dessert, but you can. They also offer many curries, vegan dishes, salads and soup for $4. This deal is hard to beat as the many followers attest.