An eat in or take out option is B&B's on 165 w 26st street on the North side, East of 7th. Buffet for 5 or 6 dollars a pound. Caribbean food is fusion that has stood the test of time incorporating Indian, Indonesian, French, African, Latin-American, pre-Colombian and other stuff. The friendly staff is from Guinea while the clientele tends to be clean-shaven Caribbean male carnivores watching ESPN that don't want to hear about I-tal. African meat storage tends to vary widely in the area of hygiene, but the preparation of the meat here is right up there with the town's Michelen contenders, and the kitchen has embraced the complexity of Caribbean sauces. Vegetarians can get a good value meal here - in pay by the pound there is a frugal tendency to hoard meat and fish but here the vegetables are so well seasoned (like the okra soup they had out), and the meat (seven halal varieties of chicken, oxtail, and lamb) is fatty to the point that you want to cut your digestive system some slack even if you're going to walk it off, but the fat keeps you from getting hungry while you're gallery-hopping. Practicing French generally leads to longer conversations with French-speaking Africans while Anglos from places like Nigeria, Liberia, and Kenya tend to follow you around the grocery store chatting whether you've asked a question or not.
Closer to the action, there are trendy linger and be seen places on the Southern stretches of 10th and some ethnic variety on 9th, but the High Line awaits your pic-a-nic basket, which, even if it rains, has covered seating on its Southern end. Starting from South end with Zwirner and Postmasters and moving North (tho there's more good galleries South of there) you can ascend to the park on 20th St and 10th Ave after selecting from the $5 Dil-e Punjab Deli spread at 170 9th Ave (e side) tween 20th St & 21st, which like many Indian vegetarian places is next door to a meatmarket but in this case one owned and staffed by actual Caucasians. If you are going North to South starting at Sean Kelly and Peter Blum you can enter on 30th Steet West of 10th with $9 Korean entrees from HIT Korean Food & Deli, through the unsigned entrance at 150 W 28th St. and straight ahead. If hunger strikes while you are on 24th I have found the halal cart that's set up right there on 24th and 10th to be above-average, enabling you to ascend at 23rd St just w of 10th Ave.
