New York - by day, by night, by food...(part 1)

Today I’ve decided to focus on the food – though this will have to be a 2-part post because there is just too much food to discuss in one! New York as we all know is a cornucopia of different cultures and therefore different foods. You can get pretty much anything you are craving in this city. Either just down the street or a short subway ride away. So let me take you on this journey of eats…Warning: your mouth will probably be watering after this, so have a little snack handy…

we sat right here

 Our first night there, we went to Katz’s Deli. This deli was the site of Meg Ryan’s memorable (ahem) performance in "When Harry Met Sally." And! We actually got to SIT at the actual table she sat at. However, I don’t think I had the same thing as her (raised eyebrow). heh heh



mound of meat!



We did however have a tasting of 3 different meats: Pastrami, Corned Beef and Brisket. It came with bread and pickles. Aldin and Jeff ordered it at the counter and they even got to taste some samples before they gave them the mound of meat! We also had (my favorite part) the gigantic steak fries and of course to wash it all down, a Dr. Brown’s Rootbeer! SO good. I preferred the pastrami, but my husband LOVED the brisket. Either way, it was a great way to begin our culinary adventures…



The next day we went to Woodbury – nothing overly exciting to eat at first because the shopping was more important than the food! Sustenance! Energy! We just needed a quick breakfast at Au Bon Pain and a quick lunch at a surprisingly decent Mexican place called “Desert Moon Fresh Mexican Grille”. However, in the evening we were famished and decided to head over to Cafeteria. This restaurant had a great vibe and an extensive, delicious menu. It was like being in a trendy club (dark, but candle-lit with good music) but sitting and eating! They even had a “bouncer” like guy sitting outside. Pretty cool. We started off with a trio of mini mac & cheese bowls: cheddar & fontina, bacon and smoked gouda, and truffle oil. Mmm…I always love a good mac & cheese and they gave us 3!! We also had a big bowl of their PEI mussels, which came in a nice creamy broth of white wine, thyme, tomatoes & shallots.

On to our entrees! I had the “Blue Plate Special” which was a spinach ricotta ravioli with braised beef short ribs with arugula, roasted tomatoes and pecorino cheese.

My husband had their version of “Chicken & Waffles” – Buttermilk fried chicken on a waffle with Vermont Maple syrup and buttermilk ranch on the side.

 Delicious. Unfortunately, we were too full to have dessert! The portions were really good, especially for the price. I totally recommend this place. I also love that its open 24/7 so you can go anytime to enjoy!

(Another little tidbit: In an episode of SATC called “Boy, Interrupted”, Charlotte and Anthony see Marcus and Stanford at Cafeteria. Anthony tells Charlotte that he saw Marcus’ picture in an old issue of Honcho. He was an “escort” named Paul “Worst Hustler Name EVER!!”)

Monday was our Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Day. We took the ferry over to Liberty Island and had a nice breakfast in the outdoor café: buttery(?) scrambled eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and a roll.  After we got back to Manhattan, we walked through the historic financial district. Since it was Columbus Day, the streets were closed down and there was a major street fair in progress. Street fair = street food, which you definitely can’t beat in New York!

 

spicy!

Any kind of food you can imagine is there, from French Crepes to Greek Pitas, to Spicy Italian Sausages to Italian Zeppolis. I ended up having a Greek Chicken pita which was spilling over with sauce, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and gigantic pieces of chicken on a soft pita pillow. Aldin got spicy Italian sausage and onions on a bun. We also had a fresh mango, watermelon, banana and strawberry smoothie. Mmmmm…

For dinner we decided to go authentic and have…Gray’s Papaya!

The best deal in NYC for hotdogs! Seriously, probably our cheapest meal. For like 4.00 and change you get 2 hotdogs and one of their famous drink concoctions (we had the “Manila Calling” which was actually a Pina Colada…or Coconut Champagne. LOL). The funniest part was that the workers were Filipino. Aldin of course, was all over this and pulled out his Tagalog to speak to them! However, since it was so cheap, we didn’t bother asking if they could “hook us up” LOL.

On Tuesday we went to Rockefeller Centre and Top of the Rock. We spent the whole day in this area because we had tickets for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon which was taping that afternoon. We had a quick breakfast at Starbucks/Subway. We didn’t really eat lunch, but we had a yummy snack of Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes: S’Mores, Red Velvet and an original choco and vanilla.

 For dinner we went to Les Halles Brasserie. You know that tons of restaurants in New York have a famous chef and this place was no exception. This restaurant was/is Anthony Bourdain’s (of No Reservations fame) base restaurant. A French restaurant that was actually quite reasonably priced. My husband and I had the Cote de Boeuf – which was $58 for 2. It was prime rib on the bone, sliced tableside and included fries (or frites!) and a frisee salad. So very good.

can we keep the bone please?

So…what do you think so far? Well, we still have 4 more days to go….However, I'll have to continue this another day. I gotta eat. I’m starving.