Outdoor dining on a budget in NYC

Table 8

The outdoor scoop: After months of delays, the first New York branch of dreadlocked chef Govind Armstrong’s Table 8 concept opened in the futuristic-looking Cooper Square Hotel. Armstrong’s menu hews toward seasonal, regionally sourced cuisine, ranging from halibut with sugar-snap peas, mushrooms and artichokes in sorrel sauce to pickled vegetable crudités with garlic aioli, along with a salt bar—envision quickly cured fluke, scallops and other such oceanic delights. The leather- and glass-walled dining room is loud and buzzy, while the secluded 40-seat patio is decked out with a private garden.

Alfresco steal: The salads hold the secret to eating cheaply, but you won’t to have to resign yourself to wilted spinach: For $9, chomp into baby-tender grilled octopus plated with crunchy celery hearts, juicy tomatoes and a scattering of Moroccan olives.

Table 8
25 Cooper Square at Sixth St.
212-475-3400