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Monday, 2 May 2016

New York: the places we ate

So we did pretty well food-wise in New York, which is cool, because food is probably the quickest way to the hearts of Mr and Mrs Quinn.

Before we went Mr Q said his priorities were pizza and hot dogs.

We basically failed in that respect, I didn't even have a pretzel. BUT I think we more than made up for it with other delights.

So, here we go, our New York food diary:

TUESDAY

Hot dog: Hot dog stand outside Central Park
This was probably the most disappointing food purchase. Maybe I just chose the wrong stand, won over by its proclamations of selling hot dogs for 100 years (or something like that) – susceptible tourist that I was. But it filled a gap when I only had $4 dollars on me – although I could only afford saurkraut with it. Maybe that's what let it down? Not really sure what I was expecting though, how good can a frankfurter sausage be? Tell me if I'm missing something here!

Smoothie (kale, mango, peach, lemon & ginger): Jamba Juice
The unremarkable hot dog was made up for later that evening by a smoothie from Jamba Juice. I was drawn in by the stacks of fresh fruit and vegetables, and needed something to sustain me through a writing class. I definitely (accidentally) picked the right place: probably the best smoothie I've ever had, thick and cold and 'zinging'.

WEDNESDAY

Thai chicken stirfry and rice: Pure Thai Cookhouse, 9th Avenue near W 51st Street
My contact at the our New York client took me for lunch here (I'm pretty sure it was here after some Google-mapping! If not, it was nearby and this one looks good too!!). Simple but really delicious Thai food, I ate every last grain of rice of my not small portion!

Gelato, Chelsea Market
It took ages to decide what flavour! I went for Yoghurt and Pistachio in the end. Did not regret it. Interesting eating it in the company of a 'real' Italian girl, and hearing about the Italian influence everywhere in New York – but how it's become quite different from the original Italian.

THURSDAY

Coffee and almond croissant: Maison Kayser, 1800 Broadway (right by the southern end of Central Park)
Another work connection took me for breakfast here and it was a delight! The best almond croissant I've ever had, full and dense and warm. It's really popular here so we were lucky to get a table. I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

Gnocci, Little Italy
Tonight was meant to be pizza night as my other half arrived. But it took ages for him to get out of the airport and we didn't get out until 11pm, when lots of places were closing. I had a few suggestions given me by New Yorkers but sadly we ran out of time to check them out. The only food we found was gnocci at a pretty but very over-priced restaurant. It was nice, and we were super hungry, but definitely not worth what we paid!

FRIDAY (a winning food day)

After another brilliant coffee somewhere between Brooklyn Bridge and the Statten Island Ferry terminal, and after a LOT of walking and exploring, we finally sat down for some lunch...

Fish Tacos: Taqueria Diana, 9th Avenue
This was one of the meals that could have gone wrong, you know when you're so hungry you'll settle for anything. But thankfully our random guess worked out brilliantly with the tastiest Mexican I've possibly ever had – fresh herbs, battered white fish, amazing sauces to accompany. AND Mexican beer in funky glasses and friendly staff. Winner winner.

Sushi and Sashimi: Iron Chef, Brooklyn Heights
The advantage of going out to dinner with people who actually live in a place – never would have gone here otherwise. I don't think I've ever been out for sushi - my experience is limited to Tesco meal deals and making it a couple of times with friends. This was totally something else. It looked stunning, had so many different flavours and I could have carried on eating all night. It my first time eating sashimi (raw fish, I had the salmon) and that was amazing too, so tasty and meaty and fresh.


Cinammon creme chocolate 'cronut': Donut Pub, just off 7th Avenue
We stumbled upon the Donut Pub after the sushi and after watching some live jazz, at about 11.30pm. Rows and rows of freshly made donuts in all sorts of flavours and fillings. There were even some cops queueing up to buy some and people sat having 'rounds' at the 'bar'! We couldn't resist. Mine was as epic as it sounds, a mixture between a croissant and a donut. Happy days.

SATURDAY

Breakfast Bagels: Dunkin' Donuts, Rockefeller Center
We were going to go out for a 'proper' breakfast but ran out of time so settled for bagels with eggs and meat in from a pretty typical fast food place in a subway station. All things considered, it was't bad, and kept us going on our flight up to Niagara Falls.


SUNDAY - WEDNESDAY

So as not to overload you, I'll summarise the rest of our trip in upstate New York:

We had waffles every morning at the motel, plenty of Tim Horton's coffee, a Burger King (much better than the UK!), another Mexican, buffalo wings and pizza in Buffalo(!) a final meal at Denny's, lovely home-cooking from Mr Q's family aaaand awesome milkshakes (coffee, and chocolate with malt) from Shake Shack at JFK Airport!



As you can see, we really did do well and returned home with happy bellies. With NYC being a truly multi-cultural city, lots of dishes were the tastiest version of them that I've had.

New York you didn't disappoint :-)

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