NYC Part III - Das Essen

This is it, the final NYC post. And wouldn't you know I'd save the best for last? Meaning of course, that this post will be all about food. That's because NYC is a veritable wasteland of deliciousness. There are so many restaurants, take-out joints, vendor stands, and don't forget the fact that you can have anything, and I really mean anything, delivered in NYC. There was so much to eat that I almost didn't know what to do with myself. But I persevered, crammed as much in as a I could, and came back a little heavier. ;-)
My delectable week of eating started off with some good bagels from H&H Bagels on Broadway and 80th. H&H doesn't do fancy stuff, like grilling, toasting, schmear spreading, etc. But they DO make a quality bagel. Check em out for an authentic New York experience. And if you're into that sort of thing, pick up some lox.

Misshapen bagel = tasty

Next up on my list of tasty things (after all the food I already ate for work; see work post for descriptions of Bettola and One if by Land, Two if by Sea) was a cupcake at the orginial Magnolia bakery in the West Village. I have to say, this was a pretty big disappointment. I mean, the cupcakes are pretty and all, and the bakery is cute (despite all the necessary NYC scaffolding out front), but this thing was so loaded with suger I thought a sugar bomb went off in my mouth. I'm all for sweet treats, but this was simply too much. In fact, I only ate half of it. Yeah, you heard me. Half of it. And I threw the other half away!

Dark evening cupcakesBrad doesn't feel enralled about Magnolia

So the morning after sugar bomb central, I needed a palate cleanser. Something maybe even healthy. So I made Brad go to Union Square Market with me. For those of you who don't watch as much food porn as I do, Union Square Market is a big deal for foodie/chef types. In fact, most of the chefs in NYC get up like super ridiculous early (4am-ish?) and head to the market to pick up new and interesting things for their menus. This market does not disappoint. I shall let the pictures describe themselves. However, I did get some good raspberry mint something or other iced tea from a big pitcher at the market. That was just what I needed to recover from sugar coma.

Rows and rows of tomatoes (look, mini!)Baby Bell Peppers (mini!)Finger sweet potatoes (mini!)

After marketing all morning, and a bit of other NYC shopping, I decided to check out Raj Mahal in the East Village for some tasty Indian recommended by Marty. Another establishment that was sure to please. I'm told that "the places with the most christmas lights are the best," and that NYC doesn't have a huge plethora of Indian choices (except on this street), but once again, my mouth was happy here. I ordered some kinda lentil something or other, which came in the most giantic metal tub of all time (I literally ate like only 2/3 of it, and that was after stuffing myself silly), but accompanied with some naan, my mixture of mint chutney & raita, and some tasty Indian flatbreads, I couldn't complain. I would definately eat here again. I also wish I had taken a picture of the weirdo dessert that followed the meal. It was kinda like orange jello pudding with bits of shredded carrot in it. Sounds awful, but it was actually pretty refreshing. Sylvie would have loved it! And at $5.95 for lunch buffet, what else could you possibly want?

Tasty Raj Mahal Lunch

Next up was authetic Mexican at a tiny little place called Mole, once again, in the East Village (apparently I'm in love with the East Village). Mole was super tasty. I had the Sopes and Sopa de Frijol, which were actually only okay (Brad made me a tastier black bean soup of his own just this week), but my dining partners had the Camarones al mojo de ajo and the Camarones a la Mexicana, both of which I'm told were spectacular (I only actually tasted the Camarones a la Mexicana). Another super cool thing at Mole is the guacamole made table-side. You know I wasn't passing up that opportunity. It was almost as good as my own guacamole. ;-)

Cute little Mole storefrontTable-side guacamole appetizerEats

As an interuption to the otherwise fairly "nice" food I ate all week, I had to put in a plug for Gray's Papaya. I've been eating Gray's ever since my first visit to NYC in 2000. It's absurd because it's just a hot dog, but where other than Gray's can you get an orange drink and two hots dogs for 3 bills 50? And it's tasty. Especially after a long night of drinking at the bar. I am slightly ashamed to admit though, that I ate Gray's, not once, not even twice, but three times while in NYC. I didn't get the full recession special every time, but man I do feel bad about eating that many hotdogs. At least they were worth it.

Mmmm, Hot Dogey

In another impressive food-off, I decided to eat burgers at both Shake Shack and Royale to give my ranking on the "better burger" run. Turns out, the two burgers aren't really in the same league. Shake Shack is a Danny Meyer owned establishment, and suprising, was more of a "fast food" type burger. It was good, don't get me wrong. But I found my bun to be a little too wet and squishy, and I felt like the whole thing was overwhelmed by bun. That is perhaps though, because I ordered the single, not the double. The quality of the burger meat itself is great, and the flavor even better. And despite them being out of the orange juice protein with which to make me my orange creamsicle shake, I was happy. Royale on the other hand, has a better "homemade" type burger. My complaint here was that I didn't like so many seasame seeds on my bun (compared to shake shack though, it was a much better bun, lightly grilled and not squishy!). The overall quality of the burger rivaled that which I can make at home myself, and that's always a good thing to be able to find when you go out and pay someone else for a meal.

Shake Shack Eats

I never understood this whole Pinkberry craze in LA. And frankly, now after having tried Pinkberry myself in NYC, I understand it even less. Pinkberry sucks kids. They have a good think going with this whole topping situation, (apparently the cocoa pepples and raspberries is a good combination) but the ice cream itself is terrible! I tried the coffee, the green tea, and the original. All of them are gross. They taste like they're trying to be soft serve with a whole bunch of citric acid dumped in. And I like tart things, but this was just offputting. I'll take my DQ vanilla soft serve any day over this discustingness. That being said, it's also certainly not worth the $6 or whatever absurd amount I paid for a small. Craziness. You Hollywood folks can keep your garbage!

Pink crappiness

Another entry in the less than "nice" but still super tasty and a must have while in NYC, is pizza. I'm a New York style pizza kind of girl. Deep dish - blech, thin and crispy crust - blech, but hand me a nice NYC oven fired piece with some fresh mozza and tangy sauce, and I'm a happy lady. I have two staples that I always eat when I visit; Muzzarella's in the East Village and Sacco in Hell's Kitchen. Muzzarella's I've actually had during the day and it's not as good as it is at 3am in the morning. They certainly cater to the after bar crowd. I've also had several "other" types of NYC pizza while in the city, but nobody is as good as these two. Drop me an email if you'd like a more detailed description. The closest thing you'll find to pizza like this in Ann Arbor can be had at NYPD.
As my final meal in NYC, I chose something I ate twice that week. Bean and rice hard shell tacos from Burrito Box. This place is uber small, it's not a nice establishment, and it's kinda in an odd location for visitors, but let me tell you, these tacos are fantatic. I wish I could eat them once a week. In fact, as I sit here writing I wish I could be eating them again. I haven't found mexican like this in Ann Arbor, and I'm surely sorry. Plus, um, hello, Burrito box? Once again, my inner 12 year old is giggling and wanting more.

Chips, salsa, and authentic Mexican sodaLook at my taco box!

One last thing of note worth mentioning in NYC. During my last visit about 3 years ago, I ran across this "salad" concept that they have. Most of the corner bodega's have it, and essentially, it's a salad bar. But the salad toppings are behind the counter, you choose your type of lettuce, your toppings (of which there are tons), your dressing, then the person behind the counter puts all this in a large stainless steal bowl, and chops it all around. Who knew something so simple could be so tasty? I don't leave NYC without one of these salads, and I'm still dreaming of the day when I can get something like it closer to home. I guess the concept only works in large cities though. Until then, I'll just keep crafting salads at home. Now...I'm off to go find some dinner. I'm hungry after all that food talk!