RSS FEEDBy Saskia Shuman
Editor's Note: While Suzanne is recuperating from knee surgery, several In Good Taste readers have agreed to share their food thoughts and experiences.
Several years of hard work and little to no pay will get your lots of fancy letters after your name: PhD, MHS, MPH, Dr., JD etc.
It will also get you an ulcer if you fall into the trap of swilling bad coffee and scrounging for free pizza like a guileless (and likely much skinnier) undergraduate student.
So how do you survive? Find the best deals in your neighborhood and enjoy food like a grown-up!
If you live in Mt. Vernon, it's tricky but not impossible to eat & drink well on a budget.
My top picks:
1. Minato Sushi: go for lunch and get the bento box. The sushi is ok-to-good (avoid the spicy rolls..low on the fish, heavy on the spicy sauce) but the bento box is a great deal @ around 8 bucks.
2. Dutch Pot Café: they deliver Caribbean food and they're cheap. Avoid the coco bread. It sounds interesting, but it's just white rolls and not worth the extra charge.
3. Kumari Indian/Pakistani: go for lunch and do the (very standard) but tasty buffet.
4. Iggies Pizza: yes, this is a pizza place. No, you will not be falling into the grad student scavenger stand-by mode if you order pizza here. You can share the 8" if you're a light eater, but either way the BYOB aspect keeps the cost down.
5. Café Mocha: Order one of the sandwiches. Then, no matter how tasty it may be put ½ aside for later. You will actually feel full and your $7-8 meal has now become two.
6. Spirits of Mt. Vernon: do not give into temptation and shop at one of the mini-mart type places on Charles. Go to Spirits, tell the nice owner your price range and enjoy.
Your head/stomach/entire body will thank you later. Or at the very least, hate you far less.
Saskia Shuman is currently pursuing her M.H.S. at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. When she is not hunched over her computer studying, she enjoys playing with her cat, Layla and dragging her significant other to as many different restaurants as possible. Saskia loves to travel (any excuse to eat out every day!), and will soon be leaving Baltimore to eat, work and live in New York City.
