Whenever my brother and I go to NYC, the trip seems to be more about food landmarks than ACTUAL landmarks. When we seek out these food havens, we pass by and take in all of the sites that New York has to offer.
We arrived at Penn Station at about 1PM, walked to the Hotel Chelsea and were able to check in early. This hotel is famous for, well, famous people staying there. According to Wikipedia, Mark Twain, Sid Vicious, Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac and, more recently, Ryan Adams have all spent time here. If you want ultra modern amenities, seek them elsewhere.
With our bags unloaded off of our shoulders, we headed out into the city. Our hotel was on 23rd Street, right down in the middle of it all. We went to our favorite ramen place, Ippudo. We had gone to this place at the recommendation of a coworker. We love it. The ramen is AMAZING here. We also got the chicken buns for an appetizer. We drank Yebisu the first time, but we went with draft Sapporo this time. We had been hyping up our meal at this place since our last trip to the big apple in August, and it definitely lived up to it.
We walked around the city for a little bit and happened upon our next food destination for, I guess you would call it 2nd lunch?? We decided on Peanut Butter and Company. I had wanted to go to this place during my first trip to the city, but it did not happen. I had seen it on the Travel Channel once and figured it was worth a try. I went with a fluffernutter. I liked it. The homemade peanut butter was great, but I wish they had grilled theirs like I do at home. They may do that if you ask, but part of me felt they would do it by default. Good experience, but I never need to go there again.
It was a rainy day in the city, so we walked to a movie theater on Broadway and saw a Matinee of Hot Tub Time Machine. Awesome.
After a much needed siesta, my bro and I hit the streets again. On our way to our next destination, we slipped into a Magnolia Bakery for a cupcake. Touristy? Yes, but who cares?! It was a good cupcake. More on this later.
With dessert in our bellies, we sought out dinner. Enter Gray's Papaya. 2 hot dogs and some virgin Piña colada were just what I needed. They were good hot dogs, but I think Chicago still has the advantage here.
Time to drink! We scarfed the dogs down and then hit up our favorite infused vodka joint, Anyway Cafe. Love this place! We went with the strawberry vodka this time. The first sip wakes you up, but by the second one, it's like drinking strawberry juice.
Day one was a success.
On day two we did not pig out as much but we still had some great food. We made our way uptown to theHeidelberg Restaurant. I had seen this place on an episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations once. The episode highlighted old and classic restaurants that seem to be fading from the New York food scene. I really liked this place. Great atmosphere and great beer make for a great experience. I went with the pork schnitzel and home fries which came with a side of red cabbage. Loved it. I'd definitely recommend this place if you're into German food.
After the beerfest lunch, we headed to 30 Rock to watch the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon taping. I have to say that it was pretty awesome. If you're planning to go to NYC then you should definitely get tickets to a taping. They're free!
After Fallon, we headed to Bleecker street to have a doner kebab at Yatagan Kebab House. My brother had one of these the night before and, after sampling a bite, I was hooked. Doner Kebabs are the SHIZ!
Day two was another success.
Day three was perhaps one of the best food days of my life. Maybe that is a little over the top, but it FELT like one of the best food days of my life.
We started off the morning in the lower east side. By morning, I mean 11am. The Doughnut Plant was an amazing wake up call for my taste buds. I got the Peanut Butter and Jelly doughnut. A light peanut butter glaze topped doughnut with blueberry jam stuffed inside. YUM. These doughnuts are nearly $3 a piece but it was worth every penny.
Not completely full, we ventured only a few blocks over to Katz's Deli. Again, I've seen this place on countless Travel Channel shows. It was also featured prominently in the film When Harry Met Sally. No duh! We waited in line for quite a while but it was worth it. We split a Reuben sandwich. The corn beef just falls apart in your mouth. A very enjoyable sandwich!
From the lower east side, we walked to Little Italy. On our previous trip to NYC we had a pretty lackluster Italian meal, so we were careful not to make the same mistake twice. We decided on the birthplace of pizza in the US, Lombardi's. The line was long so we had a beer at Mulberry Street Bar. It wasn't until we sat at the bar that we found out the bar had been filmed in numerous movies. The list is on the website.
Before heading over to Lombardi's we had a few more drinks at Spring Lounge. Brooklyn Lager and Schaefer Beer was flowing like wine!
Finally, it was time for some pizza! Lombardi's delivered on a VERY good pizza. We decided on a cheese pizza with onions. Great pizza with an awesome brick oven crust. I definitely recommend hitting this place up.
After a lot of walking, we grabbed a half a dozen cupcakes at the same Magnolia Bakery as before. The carrot cake cupcakes were really good. The frosting is definitely heavier than the regular cupcake frosting.
I'd recommend checking out any of these activities on your next trip up to NYC. Happy eating!
Enjoying this jam right now. Not really sure what the Goth artwork is all about...
