Bar Masa
Masa, the 600USD restaurant. Insanely expensive, so much so that I really didn't want to fork out the money for it. However, while staking out Per Se, I noticed that they had what appeared to be a bar section. Turns out they accept walk ins here, and so I decided to hedge my bets. I'd come here, and spend less money than if I went to Masa itself. My goal was 300 - 400USD.
The otoro and caviar is their signature dish, and that's a generous pile of caviar! Wow! It also came with little toast things to spread the tuna on.
Oyster and uni shots! Luckily these weren't the alcoholic version so they were totally enjoyable! I would have preferred to have less of the liquid so that i could really savour the uni and oyster flavours, but even with the tanginess of the shot it still tasted great.
Some refreshing wakame salad with whatever fish was available to go with it. Current menu says sea bream, so I must have had something similar. I'd actually forgotten that it's not the green cheap stuff, this was actually really nice and all different varieties of seaweed!
I also ordered some nigiri, cause who doesn't try out the sushi at a sushi place. I ordered scallop, king crab, mirugai, aoyagi, lean tuna. This was the perfect chance to eat lots of shellfish! I especially liked the mirugai, that meat was really tasty and sweet, and exactly the kind of texture that I enjoy! However, it was interesting that when I received the sushi set, it felt rather underwhelming. It didn't quite feel like I was getting sushi the artform here, instead, just the food. I think there's a distinct difference when you get an omakase, because it just feels that much more special and personal, I think. Here, I felt like I received fish and rice. I think this is the main aspect where the dining room experience probably differs greatly from the bar, and what you end up paying for.
One thing to note, I forgot to mention the bar table. When I did research on Masa, I found out that the sushi bar itself is made of a single piece of really expensive wood. When I sat down at the bar counter, I think it was constructed of a similarly impressive piece of wood! It felt like one long intact piece of tree, finished in a way that made it a very nice table.
I'd finished all the food I'd ordered up to this point, since I wasn't quite sure exactly how much food I'd get per order. I felt like I could still eat, so I asked for the bartender/waitstaff's recommendations. After considering them, I went for my next round of food.
Watched some bartending in action! Another couple had sat down next to me, and started their meal. When the guy had finished his cocktail and offered another one, he accepted, but managed to motion his hand in a way that hit the straw and made some of the drink and garnish splash all over the place. It was so unexpected that he and the bartender started laughing about it, and he even asked me if I saw what happened, to which I responded that I did. He also said that usually he'd ask chef Masa to come out and greet everyone at the bar, but alas, chef Masa was in Japan! Oh well.
After that little event, it was time to get on with the meal.
Oh my goodness. Look at the spines on that sea urchin. Look at that bowl! Look at the urchin dish garnished with white truffle! What is this wonderful thing?!
Haha. It actually reminded me a lot of the "uni-corn" dish that I received at The Table at Kisume, since visually the two looked very alike. Instead of cauliflower and corn though, this was just one big custardy umami bomb. It was so good. So good that even though I was reminded of The Table, I feel like this far exceeded the tastiness of Kisume's rendition! I am so glad that the bartender recommended this dish!
I was pretty set on this rice dish, featuring mushroom rice, salmon and salmon roe. I think the bartender tried to persuade me away from this one, but I really really wanted it, because I love mushroom rice with salmon roe. Well, he might have been right. I did like this, but it wasn't quite the WOW factor that I was hoping for.
I also grabbed another mirugai as sashimi because it was just so tasty!
Finally, after that massive rice dish, I was actually full, and that meant it was time for dessert. I took a look at what was on offer, and a few different things caught my eye. After checking with the bartender how big the ice cream scoops were going to be, I told him what I wanted. He was a bit surprised that I wanted three things! Oh dear. I think I've scared the bartender!
First up, fresh fruit. I'd asked what was available, and he said mango. It wasn't in my top choices for what I might receive (melon was my first preference), and I was wondering where mangoes are sourced from since nothing but apples grew in New York right now. But... hey, I'm on holiday, I'm splurging, let's get the mango.
It was okay, but it wasn't a variety that I was used to eating in Aus. In Aus, I like Kensington Pride mangoes because they're super sweet, soft and juicy. These ones were firmer and had a stronger mango taste to it, much like the ones that my workmate gave me recently. Maybe closer to a Keith or Honeygold? I really do have to go try more mango varieties!
Then this was the grand prize of desserts. Truffle ice cream. Yeah, truffle. You know, the one that comes with a $45 price tag for a SINGLE SCOOP. Call me crazy! That being said, I think the actual price on the receipt ended up being $35. Still hefty!
This was nice. It was smooth and mellow, but I have trouble picking out truffle aroma at these super low temperatures. The actual ice cream didn't quite taste like truffle, but then again, truffle is mostly smell. It still tasted very good, and got better the more I ate it. Was it worth $35? Probably not, but I still appreciated it!
This was actually my favourite dessert (aren't I glad I picked three?). Soba ice cream. Yeah, good old toasty buckwheat flavour! This was really nice, light, and kind of reminded me a bit like what houjicha tastes like. It was the bartender's favourite too! Yay I have great taste!
I was so full after having all my desserts, but I looked over because the sight of the rice dish that the couple next to me just received, seemed to catch my attention. They'd ordered a beef sukiyaki don with foie gras and egg. It looked amazing! The bartender recommended that they mix everything together, and that it was his favourite way of eating it, and that he ate this dish a lot. The couple asked him to mix it for them as a result. So firstly, he split the foie gras between them and placed it on plates. Then, he went in with a spoon and started mashing everything up, letting the yolk mix in with the rice and for the sauce on the beef to infuse into every grain in the entire bowl. Just watching him mix the rice was so appetising that I couldn't help but blurt out "that looks so good, I could probably eat a bowl!"
The bartender looked at me and said something along the lines of "I told you so, but you didn't listen to me!" ahahaha. I guess that's what I get for sticking to the salmon rice! But then, the most amazing thing happened. After the rice got divvied out to the couple, there was half a bowl left. The guy picked up this bowl and handed it over to me. What?! Yes, he was really offering me to eat their food! He even grabbed a small dish that was there so that I could take what I wanted to try it. I asked if he was sure, and he said yes of course, they wouldn't be able to finish it anyway! So I took a little and told them I felt bad for not being able to share anything in return, but he said it was okay. He said, see, New Yorkers are a friendly lot!
The rice was actually really yummy, beef sukiyaki just has so much flavour that it's hard not to like. I even took a sneaky photo of this bonus dish!
Then we had a conversation where I said where I was from and that I'd had an excellent holiday in New York, and just had a wonderful chat overall. I said that I found New Yorkers to be pretty nice, and they seemed impressed at that! I guess the nice ones are self conscious about how they're perceived?
Well, now I was really full and ready for the bill. And it came in exactly on target, at 400USD including tip. I am awesome! And expensive. Hahahahahaha. What an amazing meal. Once again, I've experienced an amazing meal at a bar, instead of a dining room, and it was the people that made it such a memorable meal. I really should opt for bar seating more often (I already do), because there's so much more to foodie adventures than just eating food!
Hooray for fun dining experiences!
Gramercy Tavern
I had no idea what kind of restaurant I was going to. Gramercy Tavern was a place that the waiter from Per Se suggested, and since I had no dinner plans, checking this place out felt like a good idea since good old Google said they served American fare.
There's some interesting decor here, including this star!
Bread and butter came first here, and this was a cool piece of bread that actually broke really cleanly across, making it easy and neat to pile on some butter.
I chose a mocktail here because of the name. This was the N/A-groni, a play on the negroni. I was pleasantly surprised by the flavour here - it was not all that sweet, and had a nice bitterness to it. So this is what negronis taste like, and why people like it! I think non-sweet mocktails are so much easier to drink with food, and it reminded me of how complementary good non-alcoholic drinks are with food, like the time I had the Clamato juice at Waku Ghin.
Yum, clams to start off with! I think these might have also been top neck clams, the same ones from Wildair. I love all the clams I'm eating here!
Since it's been a while, I'm not sure exactly what this was, but using their website as a memory aid, this was probably the hamachi dish, which was really enjoyable with apple and kohl rabi.
Scallops with salsify, potato and mussels. I actually got the order wrong in my blog, I ate the salsify here before the one at Contra but I can't be bothered going back and changing the words around to fit. These scallops went so well with the broth!
Halibut and white beans. Woah, this halibut. Is it a crime to say I liked this one better than EMPs? The texture of this one was better, it felt more like "just cooked" and that made it so much more delicious. The service here was awesome too! Throughout my meal, I felt that I was really looked after, and that was really nice. I don't know exactly why it stood out at the time, but I just felt that I noticed it for some reason.
Ugly delicious time!!! Squid ink spaccatelle, langoustine and whelk! Yeeah that's a seafood bonanza that I love, with punchy flavours (and the slightest hint of spice) and really nicely cooked pasta. That pasta. Also, getting to eat whelk was a bonus too! Definitely the highlight of the night.
What a cool looking knife. Knife's about to say hello to some delicious red meat!
Beef with ramps. Yeah, another restaurant featuring ramps! I don't know why I get so excited about these oniony-garlicky flavoured spring greens, but possibly because I never see them in Aus. The beef was quite nice too!
After that, there was an optional cheese course. I wasn't sure if I wanted one or not, but the waitstaff said that the servings were quite small... so I ended up agreeing to have some. Here's some bread to accompany the cheese!
It was also time to have another drink, and when I asked what paired well with cheese that was non alcoholic, she recommended some cider! Remember that cider here is non alcoholic. I can't remember if it was pear or apple, but either way, I quite enjoyed this with the cheese!
The waiter was right, the servings were small, great as a taster for this all American line up. It was some soft cheese, washed rind, and a blue cheese. The blue cheese was quite tasty, and the washed rind had an interesting funk to it.
A cute little palate cleanser, but I don't remember what this was. Possibly some apple granita or the likes?
Dessert was a vanilla mousse with pomegranates. I haven't had a mousse for dessert in ages! This was heavier than I expected, but the flavour and texture were pretty good, and the richness was offset by the sauce,
And to end the night, some petit fours. What a lovely dinner!
Wow a morning after choc banana muffin care package! How nice! It tasted good too! I didn't realise heaps of restaurants offer care packages these days, since Vue de Monde was the only one that's done so before my trip to New York. What a nice place this was, I'm so glad I came here after the waiter recommended it.
I actually can't believe how nice it was since I hadn't heard about it before. The service was just so nice! And then I realised afterwards, oh, this has a Michelin Star. Oooh. That's why! I think I'm probably the only person who'd go to a restaurant without knowing its reputation hahaha. I love unexpected surprises so this was really fun! Would definitely come here again to try the cafe/bar seating too!
Per Se
Per Se, the definition of traditional fine dining. Well, The French Laundry would be the ultimate goal, but any Thomas Keller restaurant is going to be of that calibre, that standard, that makes other chefs who they are.
This is also reflected in the fact that the famous blue doors of TFL are also present here, so I spent a few minutes, all dressed up, trying to get a good photo of myself, and of the doors, and then just being continually disppointed at how bad I looked! Lol! The staff waiting for us must have been mighty amused, because one of the waitstaff cheekily said that there was a 20 photo limit here, and I likewise responded with, "but what if I delete them and keep taking more!"
Wow. This place immediately feels more spacious than Eleven Madison Park, and for some unknown reason, also follows a stepped-level format - there's a slightly lower floor, and this upper floor after like, 4 stairs. How interesting, I wonder if it has something to do with the buildings themselves, or if there's a reason for this style.
Per Se, a high tech restaurant? No way! Are you serious, they have a digital wine list! What a great idea as a paper saving measure, though I kind of miss the massive phone book weighted stuff, like how Rockpool's wine list was just the biggest folder I've ever handled. This was quite easy to use, and it's always a good sign when the waitstaff breeze through this so easily to be able to guide you to certain pages.
Alas, there's no non alcoholic drink pairing here, but I was feeling special, so I decided to choose a nice red.
WOAH. ZALTOS! WHAT! Oh my goodness my dream has come true, I'm at a restaurant with these gorgeous Zalto stems I must be in heaven! This was a Rioja Alta 2009 Gran Reserva 904. I had mentioned that the barolo I saw on there was super tempting, but I also wanted to change the style of wine I drink and go for something super aged and mellowed out, instead of tannins that would potentially be very tongue-ripping halfway through. Good choice, this was very, very drinkable!
Some of the surroundings. You can see it overlooks Colombus Circle really nicely, and there's even a fireplace here! Wow!
And here's my drink posing with the fireplace. Cheers!
The starter starts out really strong! I mean, look at that plate! That is a big, bold, statement maker! Wow!
What a cute, super tiny little cone! I didn't catch exactly what this was, but afterwards I heard it mentioned at another table, so I think it's a kingfish tartare. It was delicious!
There were also some cheeky fancy cheese and biscuits!
More decor, this time the lamps because my friend noticed they were unusual. If you look really closely, those are actually laundry symbols. Another reference to their California home!
Wow. Look. At. That. This is their classic dish, the one that's been on their menu since the beginning. That is a beautiful quenelle of caviar in very lovely cream! The oysters were so soft too, and the tapioca pearls were quite subtle and worked really well to acccent the caviar for me, as if it made the caviar have texture on top of flavour! Look at the massive mound of plates too. That's pretty insane. In fact, a lot of the plating here at the beginning reminds me a lot that restaurants put a lot of thought into their servingware, as haute cuisine should. It's just something nice and really enhances the entire experience!
So I had actually interpreted the menu incorrectly. I thought that the menu was presented in a way that there was the Oysters and Pearls, and that the Royal Ossetra Caviar was an optional course. My friend and the staff quickly clarified and explained that it was a choice of either or, and that was something we'd need to decide for a few dishes, so we decided to alternate in order to experience every item on the menu. It was the easiest way, but also the most expensive! This cost an extra $60!
Salt for the next course. There was a lot of salt choices! And the tiniest spoon I've ever seen! I don't even remember what all the different salts were, something smoked, something French, something charcoal, and so on! This was for my next dish, and next dish only.
The way these guys put parentheses around certain terms of the menu is pretty quirky, as if they know it's not actually what they've made, but that it's similar enough or meant to be of that style, that they've decided to quote it!
This foie gras was pretty spectacular looking because of how it;'s been wrapped. If you look really closely, that foie is actually wrapped in a green striped, very soft textured outside! I actually had no idea what that was, but the whole thing tasted pretty good!
This little bundle of bread was to be paired with the foie gras, and it was a warm flakey little bun. I broke off pieces of this bread, spread the foie on, and then tried out a few different salts. The salt was mainly to add texture, said my waiter, and that he himself preferred to not add the salt, but that it was all down to personal preference. I also believed it didn't need the extra salt, but adding salt didn't detract from the experience either.
Anyway, as I was enjoying my foie covered bread, I had waitstaff come along and TAKE AWAY my remaining bread, only to replace it with a brand new fresh warm one! What? "Foie gras and the bread taste best when the bread is warm!" they claimed. Oh, ok... if you say so. I tore a piece off this new bread, and enjoyed more foie gras on it, but I ate it a little quicker for fear of it cooling down again and THEY CAME ALONG AND TOOK IT AWAY AND GAVE ME A NEW ONE AGAIN. I couldn't win! I felt really bad because I was enjoying it anyway and it wasn't like the bread was getting cold? I thought it was kind of wasteful, and really didn't know what was going on with this. Maybe this is just the formal style so everything is just absolutely perfect because it had to be?
"mousseline"
Green almonds! So this is how you use them in cooking! And I love that there were ramps being served in this dish. Ramps are a garlicky type green that taste pretty amazing, and I got really excited because again, it's not something you see in Aus. The trout was pretty up there too. It actually reminded me a lot of Tetsuya's confit ocean trout, in terms of how soft and melty it was. The two are completely different though, so I'm not comparing, rather, it's just interesting to see what foods at what restaurants, trigger memories of other restaurants I'd been to. I really liked this dish!
Yay langoustines! The base of this was a sort of risotto, and so I was a bit apprehensive as to whether or not I'd actually fully enjoy it, just because I find that I don't like risottos no matter how we'll they've been made. The langoustines felt a little over, but only because I've had an experience at Saint Peter where yabbies were so borderline *just* cooked that it's my benchmark for crustacea.
Bread course time! What a cute little soft bread. I love the flower shape, and it was designed in a way that made each "petal" easy to pull off. The butter was also really nice, but it was hard to see exactly how much butter there was in the dish. I think this one was a cultured butter, but I can't remember - I just know there was only one place I dined at that the "culturedness" was really prominent in the flavour. For some reason, when I saw this butter dish, I actually missed Sepia's perfect sphere of butter. I wonder why, could I be getting sentimental? I remember not really giving it much thought when I had it, but now, it just seems like it was a much more impressive shape to achieve!
Quail! I love quail! This was a cute little dish because it was essentially fried bird and onion, and it was a great combo! This one was cooked really nicely and I preferred it over the langoustine dish.
And the red meat dish. This was the standard option, while a sirloin of Miyazaki wagyu was the special option that cost an extra 100USD. Yeah. Imagine paying 100USD on top of the existing cost of the meal for a similar sized chunk of really, really good, fatty, lusciously melt in the mouth cow. Okay yeah it was also worth the money, and I liked it better than my lamb only after I got past the crust. Basically, I tried a bite of the outside of the wagyu, and it was like an ordinary steak, and I didn't think of it as anything too special. My initial reaction was, I felt that Japanese restaurants, like Waku Ghin prepared their beef far better. It wasn't until my friend reached the middle, where it was a nice and rare, that it became mindblowingly good. Woah. I had to take another taste and yes, now I see why it cost so much, it was definitely the elite level of deliciousness that I expected! Woooah definitely splurge on the wagyu if it's available!
The only comment I'll make about my lamb dish, in contrast, is that I'd been nursing my single glass of wine all the way through the dinner, since I can't pretty much at all without getting woozy. I knew that the last few sips would be perfect timing for my lamb, so I was getting excited to finish a glass, since I hadn't done that in ages.
Then along comes the waiter and he just tops up my glass! He refilled it back to almost a whole glass again! Oh no! He must have thought that I was stretching out a single drink, when in fact, I was just observing my own safety limits. Now I can't even say that I managed to finish a glass of wine here! I felt so bad! Ahahaha. I made an immense effort to drink as much as I could to do the wine justice, but I think I only made it to maybe 1.25 glasses worth before calling it a valiant effort.
I actually only remember this as a "donut" and honestly, couldn't tell you if it was sweet or savoury, or if it had a filling, or anything about it, really. However, good thing I have a copy of the menu for reference and it totally makes sense now! This is the transition-from-savoury-to-dessert cheese course!
I also didn't realise it at the time, but this meant the meal represented both winter and spring, for featuring truffles and ramps in the same sitting. Is that a thing? Imagine instead of a restaurant going through four seasons in their menu, making eight seasons instead, the four main ones, and then special, fleeting sets between then main seasons for super inventive hybrid flavours! Maybe that's what chef's specials are for! Now that's an interesting thought!
Woooah what. Yeah, you just got spammed with pictures. You know why? Because we got spammed with food. All of the above came out at once. What???
That is literally how our table looked for desserts. Where do we even start???
I am actually not going to write this in the order that the photos display in. The captioned desserts are displayed this way because that's the order the menu has it. I will instead, write about them in the order I feel like it! Hopefully the descriptions are clear so that no one gets confused about which dessert I'm on about.
Firstly, the ice cream. Being ice cream, I felt it was the most sensible option. It was quite a nice cream and I liked the thick, sticky marmalade on the side. Not too bad, but I was here for speed more than anything else.
The trifle was next, which was actually really delicious and followed the cream, sponge, jelly format. I believe the cream was actually coconut flavoured which was nice and I totally wasn't expecting it!
The cappucino cup looked pretty cool, and it was an espresso semifreddo inside, to be paired with the donuts. I think I kept calling it the espresso or cappucino cup and I actually tried to see what happened when I tried to drink the foam, and didn't really get much success out of that haha. Gotta spoon that semifreddo!
Lastly, the posset. I'd actually forgotten that's what it was because they pronounced it "poss-ay", where as at Dinner by Heston, I asked how it was pronounced and they said "poss-set". Who was right?!?!?! What a mystery! Okay, I really liked this one. It had a marshmallow, and that marshmallow was so cute, I found it fun to eat! I also loved the fact that there's jelly on top, because I love jelly. I sound like such a kid right now, describing my love of marshmallows and jellies. There were even limey-gummies, the very tiny, green looking cubes. They were a firmer jelly than the hibiscus jelly, and added a really nice zing to the dish. That was definitely really nice. And, the lemon posset itself. Yes, such great lemon flavour! It's super tangy, just the way I like it! The actual lemon itself was similar to how Dinner by Heston made it, and in my mind, they were equal. That one was also fun because it was encased in a pastry that I was warned about that would crack suddenly. This, was more fun because it was pretty and I felt young because the elements included "candy" type preparations. While they were vastly different in technique, tradition and whatnot, I liked this one better. This was my favourite dessert here!
The macarons were super small, so I ate mine, but I kept the nougat since it was wrapped, so that I could enjoy it another day.
But wait, there's more! So many sweets! Lastly, the waiter came out with a massive wooden box that absolutely glowed with the shine on these truffles. There were several selections, of all different colours, each of them perfectly made and super glossy. It was hard to decide choosing a flavour! Crazy me, I ended up getting this one. It was a miso and shichimi pepper flavoured truffle, and woah, it was nice and actually also packed a small punch! It was like a chilli chocolate but one that I could tolerate and the flavours worked really well! I do like this, it was a different kind of chocolate experience!
For tea, they actually had a much more interesting selection than Eleven Madison Park. Okay, I can't really say, I actually think both menus contained pu-erh. But this one had a very old vintage, so I asked about it, and they said something about the tea being healthy. Oh. Do I look like someone who cares about being healthy? No way, I just wanted to know what a super aged pu-er tastes like! So I ordered this.
Did you know that that's a teapot that looks like it's the Jing brand? If so, you'd be right! When I saw it, I thought to myself, that looks like a Jing pot! So I looked underneath, and yep, as I guessed! I can't believe I spotted a brand of teapot by how it looks!
This was like no tea I've had before. This tea tasted mushroomy. Like deep, earthy, and strong. Wooah. That was a cool flavour I've never tasted before! I'm so glad I got to try this pu-erh!
The waiter also offered us a kitchen tour, which was pretty cool! I am not sure if all diners got this offer, but it might have been to do with a little intermission we had (read: bathroom break) and the waiter chatted to me about my holiday here, how long I was spending, where I was planning on eating at, etc. He gave me a few extra options - a restaurant (Gramercy Tavern), a steakhouse (Keen's Steakhouse) and bars (I don't really remember the bar one, something about a rabbit?), so I kept those in mind, though I didn't really plan on spending insane amounts of money after this restaurant and wanted to keep it low key (spoiler alert: famous last words. Or thoughts, in this case).
I also wondered if it had to do with how long we'd spent at the restaurant. We'd been here four hours already, maybe the table was actually somehow booked after us? We had a 5:30pm booking, so maybe in some kind of extreme case, this table was booked for 9:30? Would they even risk a double table like that? I am not sure how these restaurants operate, but if it was booked, it might explain the rush of desserts all at once. That also really confused me, but I also then started thinking about the skill of the restaurant and waitstaff for being able to control these situations without creating a sense of urgency. What if the offer of a kitchen tour was a completely artful way of making us speed up without even hinting that there was a time constraint? I will continue running all these conspiracy simulations through my mind!
And here's the bill. Ouch. Wow, ouch. That's some real ouch right there. That was a one thousand dollar bill! For two! What! It says $800 because Per Se requires a $100 deposit per person during booking, hence you have to add that to the final total. That's crazy! I think Eleven Madison Park clocked in maybe a couple of hundred dollars cheaper. Man, fine dining outside of Australia really is expensive!
However, it was a wonderful experience and I love that these guys also do handwritten bills. Definitely worth the cost if you take in absolutely everything about the place, and understand the significance of the Thomas Keller name.
Once that was settled, we got our kitchen tour! Wow, the dining area was so serene that there was only a low hum of conversation, but here in the kitchen, it was controlled chaos. You could feel the energy and urgency, with the chefs and expeditors and all these other staff coordinating with each other to make sure that each dish was plated perfectly, and ready at just the right time. Such a busy place, and you wouldn't know it from how well everything just works in the dining room!
As I was leaving, the most crazy thing happened. The maitre d' who'd initially joked about the 20 photo limit was here and spotted us leaving! He even checked in again and was like "did you stick to the limit????" and I was like... what if I don't tell you! Ahahaha. That was kind of a surprise moment and I was impressed he remembered!
Speaking of cheeky interactions, Per Se is the only restaurant that I've been to, that enforces a formal dress code. Like, guys must wear suits, and ladies to match. This level of grooming and dress up almost made me back out of the restaurant because it sounded so daunting and almost too... posh and stiff. However, the actual staff were nothing like that. They were relaxed and super friendly! I think the dress code more controls the type of people that come in, which sets a certain demographic and a real sense of "I am here for a purpose" which works with the restaurant's aesthetics. Don't be afraid of the dress code and take pleasure in dressing up and and having a great night!
Thanks Per Se for a great meal, and thanks for the morning-after care package of chocolate biscuits!
The New York Dream – Part 3 – Concrete Jungle
Day 5 - 08/04/2019
My four days of easing out of jetlag were over (though I was actually jstill jetlagged a tiny bit), and now, it was time to go full blast Monday! Not that I wasn't already full steaming ahead :)
Good to know that New York only just got $15 minimum wage... considering they don't get superannuation or free healthcare (I think), that's not really that much, especially considering how much I've been noticing the stuff I like costs. The average street hot dog is $3, which is a fair chunk of that. A street meal (I think stuff like gyros or meat on rice? I wanted to try one but didn't end up having time/stomach space to do so) was about $6, so the discrepancy between rich and poor must be HUGE considering the price of restaurants and cafes!
It was time to visit Greenmarket at Union Square. I'd found out about this through various chefs I follow, and learned that it's open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Wow, a farmer's market that is on for more than just one day of the week! Plus, I later discovered that it's also open at different locations on other days, like World Trade Center on Tuesdays and 72nd and Columbus Streets on Sundays. That's some amazing access to fresh produce in the city!
Wow, already I'm having such a blast. Look at all those mushrooms! Maitake! Why can't I get half of these mushrooms back in Aus? Though the ones I can get are just as expensive.
Such abundance of radishes! All different kinds too!
Woah stonecrop, something I've never seen or heard before. Look at those prices though. I love seeing plants that aren't really grown or sold back in Aus because this is what makes travelling fun! Though being a foodie, and not really wanting to attempt to cook on the trip for fear of accidentally setting a house on fire, does make it quite difficult to sometimes sample the local goods. Luckily, veges are an easy one to buy in small amounts and eat raw if I'm really desperate to try something.
Did I mention these markets are really expensive??
Woot apple cider! My friend actually bought this and I just had a sip. It's nice and warming on a cold day! I love that the apple cider here is non-alcoholic, unlike back home. You can get apple cider hot or cold as a delicious anytime drink!
Also, I didn't know that maple syrup was produced in New York, since it's a Canadian product in the rest of the world. There were stalls for maple syrup and maple water here!
Woah another mushroom stall with some insane looking displays! Some of their mushrooms were decorative though as they don't taste very good, like this picture of turkey tail mushrooms. The stall owner said at best, they might be palatable when brewed in a tea. How interesting!
They even have seafood stalls here too! I remember the Adelaide Showgrounds Farmer's Market having a seafood stall just before I left (with some amazing super fresh and affordable stuff too), but here there are a few and sell mainly fillets and shellfish/molluscs. There's also plenty of meat stalls for beef, pork, duck, and turkey. Oh, I saw bison at Wholefoods but didn't manage to see it on the menu at any restaurant I went to, so I didn't get to try any.
Where's all the fruit, you say? Turns out only one fruit grows in New York in winter, and that's apples. That's it. Apples for daaaays though! Look at all these varieties that I've never heard of before! There were heaps more that I didn't take a photo of, like winesap and just too many for me to remember the names of.
I had to take picutres of the apples I bought so that I could tell which one I was eating when the time came! However, since I only bought one of each, once, I can't tell if the less tasty ones were always this way or if it was just that individual one that may have been an outlier, as I didn't enjoy all of them equally. The only one I didn't get to try was the Ida Red since my friend ate all of that one!
Here's how I found each of the apples to be:
- Macintosh - soft, slightly floury texture, mildly fragrant
- Macoun - soft, more acidic than macintosh, stronger flavour
- Red Rome - not very flavoursome but has red insides!
- Ruby Frost - very yummy, crisp and good flavour. Juicy! Definitely one of my favourites, but it was also more expensive.
- Empire - light and crisp, very white flesh
Eating is so exciting!!! But for now, there was other flavour adventures to be had...
Oh yeah, there's heaps of rubbish just sitting around on the sreets. Some of it, like this, is nonsensical, but others, are actually really neatly organised on the streets. This is how the rubbish in the city gets taken away - there are giant bins for residential areas, and then the big black (or white, clear) bags get taken out once or twice a week and put on the curbside. Depending on where/when, sometimes they are really neatly, almost freakishly so, stacked. And then the garbage truck comes by and takes them all away!
Aha, my next cafe visit! Everyman was mentioned quite a few times during my research for New York cafes, so it was a cafe that I did prioritise quite a bit.
Wow. Okay, wow. This place is amazing! I had a bit of trouble getting through the door because I couldn't figure out if it was push or pull (I think there was even a sign), which was a bit embarrassing because the barista was beckoning us in. The inside was actually like nothing I'd ever seen before! What I mean by that was, sure, there was a barista, a helper, coffee machines, people, tables, chairs, coffee - but the vibe I got from this cafe was like no other cafe I'd been to!
It wasn't super busy, but there were lots of people. The till was to the right of the barista, and the door was to his left. People lined up order, and that line went directly in front of the barista and his coffee machine, and out toward the entrance. The barista and his two group La Marzocco, facing the line, therefore, could hear every order being placed, and could also carry a conversation with the several people who were in front of him. He also had the customer's orders memorised, as he even demonstrated while we were waiting in line!
He was super chatty and very relaxed, and explained to me the different options he had on offer while I was still waiting, and then acknowledged my order while I was still in line for the till. By the time I got there, my coffee was already ready! The lady at the till then admitted she hadn't heard what I ordered with the barista (she was busy filling an order) and had to ask again, in this setup, she actually doesn't have to ask twice because she's right next to the barista in some kind of perfect 2-person team setup! It was this workflow that really impressed me, because it was all small, quick, neat and tidy! And it worked! I absolutely loved the cafe for this reason, even before I tried the coffee! It was so unlike all the other hipster cafes I'd been to that it was just incredibly refreshing!
If I had one criticism though, it's that the pastry cabinet was all the way over on the till side, so it's hard to see until you're at the front of the line. And that's only a problem if you're me, and like to browse and be super indecisive about whether or not you actually want food...
Okay, let's focus on how the coffee tasted. I don't actually remember what these orders were and it's not really the point of this particular post, since I spent much of my early coffee days tracking each origin and brew method. Now it's more just about the enjoyment and the overall experience. The espresso wasn't actually my preferred style since I like them lighter, but it was quite good and makes for a great morning coffee. I say this because I no longer care about the "best" cup of coffee since there's no such thing, but also because I don't mind when my personal tastes aren't in line with the coffee I'm drinking, but I can tell that the coffee is good and that I would still enjoy it regardless - most of my discovery cafes fall in this area.
This was a place where it was genuinely enjoyable to just sit down, sip away and watch the worflow. Plus, I think the place used to be an old theatre or similar, or maybe there's one next door? Because the decor here had some pamphlets and stuff and wall plaques that seemed to be for shows, but since I am clueless about that kind of culture, I didn't really get it haha.
And look at the dirty dishes tray! At first I thought this was unique to this cafe, but it's actually present in all eateries - in New York, you have to clean up after youself! That's pretty cool. In fact, it kind of reminds me of Japan. Which is kind of weird, because that's two things that I felt were very Japan like on this trip - tidying up after yourself, and also being able to leave your bag to reserve a table while ordering food. Though... the latter may just be the places I go to and are on average, quite safe and respectful places, so I wouldn't recommend trying that everywhere!
Now that I was filled up on some apple cider, espresso, and filter, it was time to find some food....
Welcome to Black Seed Bagels! I didn't note down too many noteworthy bagel shops, but this was one of them. Bagel menus are kind of confounding to me though, with what seems like certain mix and match types and some items found in their sandwiches didn't seem to be available as a filling, but, I also didn't ask questions about the system so that may be for other people to know or figure out. I was more focused on getting what I was hoping was a New York classic.
Behold a House Beet Lox! So "lox" is the term they use here for smoked/cured salmon, which was super confusing for me, but I just ran with it! It came with a healthy heaping of horseradish cream and some watermelon radishes, which was cool, since in Australia you just get the generic red radishes at most eateries and can only get the fancy varieties in equally fancy restaurants. That was a lot of horseradish cream though! I wasn't prepared so I was half crying while I ate this thing!
Also, I found it weird that even when I order things to dine in (or in NY terms, "to stay"), almost every place gives it to you in takeaway packaging anyway. It seems so wasteful....
But wait, there's more food! While walking from Everyman Espresso to Black Seed, I saw a Momofuku Ssam Bar, just kind of there, beckoning me to read the menu and maybe consider eating there. I actually shared the bagel with my friend, so I mean, I could eat more, so on the way back, it was too hard not to resist going in....
This totally wasn't supposed to be a David Chang restaurant crawl trip, but if my time in London was a reflection of my dining preferences, is that big names are safe places. Jamie's Italian and other related eateries were quite abundant in London, so anytime my brother and I weren't sure where to eat and we saw a Jamie Oliver establishment, we went. Same with David Chang and New York. If you're not sure where to eat, there's bound to be a Momofuku-something to satisfy your hunger.
And it definitely satisfied! The chilli cucumbers here looked really tempting, and I ordered them after the waitress said that these weren't hot-chilli, but rather, floral-chilli. She was right! They weren't spicy at all, but instead gave that really moreish, addictive, umami kind of flavour to the cucumbers. I couldn't stop eating them! Plus, the menu said there was yuba on this. I dismissed it while reading it, but when I saw it on the cucumber, I realised this is bean curd - more importantly, it was like the curd I had at the tofu shop in Japan!!!! Woah! It was so soft and almost stretchy and just had such a good texture. Man, I get so happy when I eat something so texturally and technically perfect AND has such addictive flavours!!
A mushroom bao! My friend got this one since we'd already tried the pork baos at Noodle Bar. I love mushrooms!
This however, was the whole reason I was enticed into the restaurant. A fried fish finger sandwich. Yeah, a what??? I was so surprised such a thing existed on the menu that I just had to try it! And it was tasty! I actually didn't expect the flavour to be tomato, since I'm used to fish with tartare sauce and the like. However, the tomato sauce was really addictive and went well with the fish, and the fish. My goodness the fish was tasty! Some of my pieces had a nice section of fat attached to the flesh and that made it super tasty! Yes! But having a bagel and all this food made me full, so it was time to resume walking.
We crossed Union Square Park again, this time I took a picture of the statue! Turns out I'd be crossing this park a lot, especially as I planned to visit the farmer's markets quite regularly.
It was back to Central Park, to complete more exploration! This time we entered on the corner of Columbus Circle, and I spent so much time taking pictures of just this corner.
This looks like the same picture, but with more pigeons!
Mmm pigeon
This one reminds me a little bit of the Queen Victoria Memorial in London!
The statues of eagles in New York are insanely pretty!
Look a wedding shot!
The bird colours and feather patterns are so pretty!
Even lil' Gilg wanted to see what all the fuss was about, even though he hates being in trees! I think he's a little fragile now from falling out of trees so often and continually losing an arm, so I'm not sure if he wants to go on any more adventures...
There's even an obelisk in Central park! This one is called Cleopatra's Needle, though I don't know what crab crushing has to do with all of this....
I think this is like a little theatre place, possibly meant to resemble The Globe in someway. There are two sculptures outside of Shakespeare's works - The Tempest, and Romeo and Juliet. So cool!
We exited in roughly the same area as I did the first time I was in Central Park, so it was my friend's turn to try Luke's Lobster! They actually have this cool menu option that gives you three half-rolls with a choice of side, so here is shrimp, lobster, and crab, with coleslaw. The shrimp was okay (though I don't really like shrimp anyway unless they are tiny and deep fried or large and tasty), but the crab was pretty good! Lobster is still the one and the best though!
Day 6 - 09/04/2019
Another morning, another stroll through the city when, look! A horsey! A very pretty horsey too, look at that tail! And no blinkers since it's a police horse, so it's extra pretty!
A horse in Times Square is such a show stopper! The police officer was obviously having lots of fun too because he was smiling in half my shots. Lots of people took photos too! The horse is so pretty!!!
Time for breakfast. Pizza for breakfast? Yes please! It was time to try out a New York slice - the super massive pizza slices! Joes's Pizza was the place my friend chose, and turns out it's popular and it's good! It's even famous for starring in Spiderman!
Here is my hand for reference. The pizzas here are so simple, most "slice" shops feature just "cheese" as a flavour and is the cheapest slice, with the 99c pizza shops featuring this. Just "cheese" is surprisingly good! This was really yummy, and my friend had the pepperoni slice. I love the super thin crusts here!
And here's a ninja shot of them with the pizza in the oven!
Now that I'd eaten, here's a random street shot of a cloudy day! Also, notice the payphone on the left.. there's actually a lot of payphones in New York, and all owned by Titan too.
Today was a no coffee day for me, so I decided I'd finally seek out a Starbucks to try out their cloud macchiato! Yes, Starbucks doesn't count as coffee... even if it's a coffee drink!
As I went into the nearest one, I realised there was an extra line about the cloud macchiato drink. It says that the foam contains eggs. Oh, it's that kind of cloud! Like an egg white cocktail! Right?
Oh. No. Nononono. Not like this. It looks nice, but this is NOTHING like a normal iced caramel macchiato, the drink that I actually kind of sometimes enjoy when I come across a Starbucks in Sydney. They've completely destroyed the delicate balance that drink had. The original is good because the milk is at the bottom, the espresso is dunked in last so that the coffee mixes nicely with the milk, and then the drizzle of caramel just sifts through slowly so that you get a graduated, but still blended flavour.
This was just awful espresso suppressed by meringue. Really yucky, bitter, undrinkable espresso. The problem with Starbucks black coffee, I learned from my Shanghai experience, is that Starbucks black coffee tastes worse when it cools, instead of better. So, being an iced drink, that espresso was undrinkable for me. It didn't even mix in properly with the meringue! And the meringue was far too sweet so all you really got out of it was just Not Nice and Not Nice. Yuck!
That being said, I still liked that I tried it out at all! It's not like this was that surprising of a disappointing experience, it IS the experience. I feel like I need to make this really clear all the time because people couldn't comprehend why I was looking forward to Starbucks in New York at all. I tried to explain that I can simultaneously love and hate something at the same time, but people are too binary about these things to really get where I come from... either that or I'm just really bad at explaining!
Today my adventure took me into Grand Central Terminal just to explore the place. I love seeing epic sized train stations, and this was no exception! One thing I didn't realise until I was sorting out my photos, is that I don't appear to have a photo of the Vanderbilt Eagle that sits outside the station. Either that or I haven't gotten to a photo of it yet... but it is definitely an epic statue!
Wow, so many tracks - this is tracks 107 and 108! This place really is huge!
What on earth is this? The Reactor shop is kind of insane looking. It's a silly looking speaker though!
Teehee, Track 13 exists! Singapore Airlines doesn't have a row 13....
Look at this donut place! They have such cool varieties of donuts! The shop is called Doughnut Plant, and only now (at time of posting) have I realised they seem to be an actually really good donut shop! Definitely go check out their stores!
Did you see that mini donut thing? My goodness it's so CUTE! So I absolutely had to get one. This was actually a cake donut, and considering it's called the Grand Central, I think it's exclusive to the station. It was so perfect! The cake inside was one of vanilla sponge, and it was really light. The whole thing wasn't overly sweet and totally snackable! I absolutely loved the edible stars too!
I also saw a hot dog shop that looked really tempting, but I didn't get a chance to try it.... If you ever see Frankie's hot dog stand, please try one for me!
On the topic of food, there's even a market here!
This is a really impressive place! There are so many different shops, you can eat here, you can buy stuff here, it's so awesome! There's even this seafood shop where it looks like you can just buy a spoonful of roe. I could imagine myself one day walking up, asking for just a small tub and eating as I walked around the station!
Oh, now we've gotten to the main area. We'd come in via a side entrance so initially missed the massive flag, info signs and information centre. Woooow!
I tried taking photos of this place, but honestly, even this video doesn't do it justice. You kind of just need to go and see it for yourself!
Oh, but what is this? What have I spotted here???
Wow, it's a photoshoot! How cool! This actually reminds me a lot of my Japan trip where I spotted the lady in red in the middle of Shibuya! I kind of wish there were more people invading their space though, I think the bystanders actually gave these guys space so it looks less crowded, but personally, I like taking the slightly more crowded shots.
It was also funny because you could hear the photographer shout out "kiss!!!" from the balcony where he was taking photos. I still like the positioning of the first shot better though, not sure what possessed me to re-frame my shot :/ I always wonder what the actual photographer is seeing/taking shots of!
Aaand the illusion is broken and the shot is done! I love seeing things like this! I feel like this stuff is way more fun than actually doing all the touristy things.
Now it was time to leave Grand Central via train, of course! I tried for an oncoming shot but I don't feel it turned out every well, especially because I had no idea where I'd set my manual focus to be (the faces and other things would have totally thrown autofocus or continuous focus out of whack), so I don't think my entire set of rapid shots got the actual photo haha. My shot back on Williamsburg Bridge was way prettier.
Hello, Hudson Yards! I actually had no idea what this place was, it was my friend who suggested coming here. It's actually a super new development, that apparently costs lots of money, has heaps of advertising coverage around the city, and is the talk of the town (literally; half the old men I was overhearing on the street on were talking about this place). It looks pretty, but apparently isn't that great? I'm not too sure, to me it just looks shiny.
This is the Vessel, and apparently you have to buy tickets with a set date and time. I wonder why they made it so strict, it's not even a tall structure or anything. I was actually marvelling about it out loud when this person came up next to us and said that he was going up and wanted to know if we actually wanted to go, because he had tickets. Since I had done no prior research, I had no idea the ticket was booked for a specific time, so I'd declined the man even after he explained exactly that. His wife was unwell or something so she couldn't make it, so he had spare tickets. It sounded like he was giving them away for free, too. Oh well. I don't feel it's too much of a missed opportunity, but if he was truly genuine, that was a really nice gesture! New Yorkers aren't bad at all... but more on that towards my final post.
The edges of the complex are pretty boring though, just a lot of gravel and a nice view of the train yard, and looking across the river I guess. There are a lot of food carts though around the actual train station for hungry tourists!
Inside, it looks like a shiny mega shopping centre!
Momofuk's reach does extend far and wide. I thought that Noodle Bar and Ko were their main restaurants, and Ssam bar sounded familiar too. Here, he's also opened a Kawi, a Fuku, and a little combi style shop next to Kawi that does little takeaway treats. Wow! Fuku is a chicken fast food joint, with chicken sandwiches and pieces. I got the chicken pieces, and they were okay, but nothing really rave-worthy about. My friend's friend chicken sandwich didn't fare much better, and he mentioned it being on the dry side.
Now that'd I'd completed exploring the complex, it was time to get ready for dinner. The outside of Hudson Yards looks so abandoned and industrial. And look at all the one way signs! There are so many one way signs in the city, it makes you wonder why any sane person would drive around here....
I wanted to try out a decent sushi place while I was in New York, mainly because I always hope to try a food I've never had before, given that I was at the opposite side of the world. I had my eye on a place called Gaijin in Astoria, but after seeing a list my friend had compiled, Omakase Room by Tatsu seemed like a nicer place for some reason. And I'm so glad I ended up choosing this one! A full write up of the restaurant is separate, like all of my big name visits! Read it here!
After a super satisfying and serendipitous dinner, we surfaced to the area around Christopher Street. Do you ever find that when you are randomly taking a picture of a billboard about the Pixel 3 being better than the iPhone X, and then you see something at the bottom left hand corner of your vision and blurt out, IS THAT A BIG GAY ICE CREAM SHOP?
Why, yes it is! How amazing!!! This is the best ice cream shop I've ever seen! Complete with the sassiest looking unicorn too!
Even inside, their choking sign (every eatery has one of these displayed) features a unicorn! Poor dead unicorn!
I love this place so much. I was really full but I wanted to try something fun and seasonal, so I ended up getting this Apple Gobbler. It had heaps of tasty apple sauce and the like, but did you know that sprinkles are free??? I asked for a tiny bit on mine, and the person was a bit hesitant to add them as they might fall everywhere, but I said a little will do, so here's my super fancy big gay ice cream! Yay! What a great end to a fantastic night!
Day 7 - 10/04/2019
It was time for another greens top-up, and I'd bought all the unusual herbs/vegetables from my Monday visit to the farmer's markets. I thought I took photos of the other greens I bought, but I guess I didn't. I had three different types of greens here, mixed with oyster mushrooms, dressed with salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, since my accommodation here just happened to have those set of seasonings. It actually tasted pretty good raw! All these vegetables were really mild flavoured, so nothing was too peppery or unpleasant for me, so I was actually really happy with my choices!
I'd also bought some really expensive, but really delicious jersey milk and greek yoghurt, but I never really took proper photos of that. The dairy helped keep up my calcium and good bacteria intake! It's important to stay healthy while on holiday!
Today it was time to visit another borough, so here, Queens was our third borough visited. It immediately looks different from Brooklyn and Manhattan. This place had no high rises, not even a hipster vibe to it. It felt very suburbian! Oh, I'm not sure there'll be too much to do here.
Finally I did start to see some shops, like this massive Bagel Boss shopfront. Well, I didn't think it was likely that we'd find anything else around here, so we may as well get bagels again!
I don't think Americans eat bagels the same way we do. They have egg bagels, and then you can add on various things like sausages or bacon. This place had soy strips and vege links on the menu, but alas, they didn't actually have them. So, instead, I asked them to add smoked salmon to my egg and cheese bagel order, but they seemed a bit confused at first. I guess no one here really has this particular combination?
I love salmon and eggs because it's quite delicious, so I was happy with this as a toasted bagel! Usually the salmon is served with the cold spreads, like cream cheese etc. Anyway, look, I even got a side of fruit, how cool!
We were here mainly to check out a tech shop, I think Micro Centre was the name. After that, I found a little supermarket, and I can't resist checking out local supermarkets, so here's a picture of the inside.
Look I found a soylent! Too bad they don't have a green coloured label, otherwise I would have loved to have joked about having obtained Soylent Green! I only managed to try this several days later, but in terms of texture, it wasn't too bad. It was rich and creamy and the chocolate flavour was pretty good. I probably wouldn't drink it day in and day out though, but if I was desperate for nutrition without needing to decide what to eat (yes sometimes I get so sick of food that I wish I could just get rid of hunger and have only nutrients and call it a day), then maybe I could do this like once or twice.
We decided to call it a day in Queens, and then made the super long journey all the way to the other side... Coney Island!
Doesn't that look like a Singapore Supertree in the background?
Uh, this place is really lacklustre when it's not summer haha! It's almost completely empty and the rides aren't really open. That's crazy. I feel like this is some sort of hyperseasonal park that gets really busy for a few months of the year and then that's it.
At least Nathan's hot dogs was here and open! While there are a few Nathan's Hot Dog carts out in NYC, they are mostly dominated by Sabrett, and if you're lucky, you'll see a Rafiqi's selling $1 hot dogs. Nathan's hot dogs originate here in Coney Island, so here's a chilli cheese dog. Apparently I wasn't supposed to also put tomato sauce and mustard on this, but oh well! By the way, the mustard here in New York is actually spicier than I thought it would be. Masterfoods' mild American mustard is wrong! Or maybe New Yorkers just like it hot!
It was pretty tasty and the noticeable difference between Nathan's and the other food cart brands I mentioned is that the skins on this are... bouncier. I think that's the best way to describe them. I like this kind of texture better, so it was fun to eat this one!
On a side note, the restrooms on the boardwalk are terrible. They're all very not nice and not useable as a result. In fact, the entire area doesn't feel very restroom friendly, so just try not to go while you're here.
The original shopfront is closer to the train station and is home to an annual hot dog eating contest! Don't tell me people can really eat 50-100 of these...
We tried exploring a little bit of the area, but it's kind of normal looking with lots of construction. I feel like this place doesn't offer a lot and definitely isn't for tourists. So back to the city we went!
I don't remember exactly where we were to get these shots. But I do like how that bridge looks!
I didn't know about Roberta's, but apparently it's a pretty famous pizza shop and are known for having good pizza. It was on my friend's list, and I was impressed! It's in Brooklyn so it's all industrial hipster looking with amazing decor. It's also really, really dark inside.
Look at this painting. At first it just looks like people with piggy-like snouts to me (lol), but when you really look at it, those eyelashes more closely resemble mushroom frills. And that nose IS a mushroom. Hey wait, is that a pizza face?
Broad beans! Broad beans, or fava beans as they are called here, were on the menu! Oh dear, I definitely had to get this salad then. Also, look at that lettuce! I love speckled radicchios like this because they are so pretty! It actually tasted really good too and wasn't too filling, which was great. Salads are so exciting when done right!
My friend wanted to try out the steak, so this was steak with creamed spinach, asparagus and other greens. Wow, this was better than I thought it would be! For some reason, I really am not a fan of meat mains. I think because I feel like these are to filling and don't allow grazing on multiple plates as a result (especially since I solo dine so much). In my head, they're also too straightforward and don't really play around with flavours too much and are kept simple. That being said, simple is good! I forget how good this stuff is when a place knows what it's doing.
Since they are famous for their pizza, I had to try out their margherita. It looked pretty sizeable at 12 inches I'm pretty sure, cut into 6 slices. However, the crust is insanely thin, so a whole pizza is actually manageable! My friend tried a slice, leaving me with 5 slices to devour and I absolutely loved it! It actually reminds me a lot of Dank Pizza Party in Perth. They're a little pop out outside a cafe called Twin Peaks who also serve Neapolitan style pizza (albeit theirs is cheaper and smaller). This was a great pizza!
Ha, what is this??? I ordered a panna cotta because I wanted something in the description, I think it was the reddish stuff you see here. Honestly, I can't even remember the flavours of this dessert haha, just that I didn't expect panna cotta to look like this - there were three blobs of panna cotta hidden underneath this, and a far larger amount of the sesame cake stuff than I imagined, as I was only after something small and light. That being said, this was actually small-ish and light and had good flavour so it wasn't too bad, it just reminded me of the stories I hear about restaurant accidents and creating new dishes or designs out of it (i.e oops I dropped the lemon tart!). I can't find a copy of the dessert menu so I'm just going to pretend I got this for the rhubarb topping!
Day 8 - 11/04/2019
A new day, a new food adventure! It was time to go check out some super croissants. I remember the first time I came across this shop on Instagram, I dismissed it for having overly fancy, instagrammable prioritised food. But when I took a closer look, I started thinking that there's actually some merit to this place, so it eventually made my list.
Woah. Wait a minute. Did I just walk into Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne?!
I'm a little sad that I never really posted about Melbourne, because it means that I don't have a published photo of the interior of Lune Croissanterie. However, I will tell you right now that it feels like I just walked into its flamboyant, pink and iridescent twin halfway across the world! No kidding, the pastry display format was the same, the way the croissant was served with a knife was the same, even the consistent perfectness of each croissant was the same!
Here are some shots of their lineup. They have a huge selection, including the usual traditional croissant and kouign aman, cruffins, donuts, fancy croissants, and crazy twice baked croissants - sweet and savoury versions! Man this is a croissant wonderland!
Behold the mighty traditional croissant! And look at that knife. That's one shiny knife. The cutlery here is the same colour scheme as their takeaway boxes, it's quite crazy! In fact, the only reason I knew I was in New York, and not Melbourne, was that they called out your name/order and you had to go get your own napkin, and the tap water was self serve into plastic cups.
Everyone takes photos of croissants in this format (not the customers lol, just some people on my feed, so I guess that's not even everyone haha), where they hold it by one end and show off the rest of the croissant. I'm not sure why, but here's my shot.
And a cross section shot! The edges of this zont (I am stealing the term from Lune!) are fluoro cause it was taken from my phone camera.
Yep, you spotted that right - there's another croissant at my table. I so rarely indulge in getting a second taster because I'm too full from sampling the traditional, but here I took my changes and went with this banana split croissant. How epic looking! It had confit banana in it too!
I gotta say, this was a physically heavy croissant! All that filling really adds to the weight! That being said, it was quite easy to eat this second croissant. It still took its toll on my tummy space, but thoroughly enjoyable!
I hadn't had a coffee yet, since I preferred to try one from a another cafe on my list rather than at Supermoon. Not that there was anything wrong with their coffee, I just prefer to take my cafe crawl through coffee specialists, per se. Plus, I had to walk off some of that food. Eventually, that lead me to Wall Street.
I didn't actually realise where I was, until I started really looking around and realising I was in front of the New York Stock Exchange! Wow. That's so cool! However, I hate the ugly bright green banner plastered over the front because then I couldn't actually admire the stonework! I'm not usually one to care about buildings, but this was just too much advertising!
And here's the actual entrance. I guess since those were the only two options, outsiders weren't allowed in? Oh well. At least I got a shot of the exchange from the outside!
An obligatory shot of the street sign :)
Hello George Washington!
Oh look, another tubey smokey subway ventilation thing! At least that's what I think they are.
A photo of someone's photoshoot, because I love taking these kinds of shots.
Looks like this is a tourist spot, since there are souvenir stalls as well as food carts!
The interior of the Federal Hall National Memorial is pretty cool! There are a few different rooms you can visit in here.
My search for Black Fox Coffee is how I ended up at Wall Street. It was pretty easy to find, and was a welcome familiarity compared to some of the other eateries I noticed when walking around this area. I got the vibe that the expensive looking restaurants around here all sold expensive steaks, or Italian food. Is that weird that that's what I assumed? So I was glad that this place was so down to earth feeling!
I was actually still full from the croissants I ate earlier, but I was agonising over whether or not to get a lamington for giggles, when I spotted this funfetti bundt cake, and so kind of "had" to get that just to try it out for fun! I actually ended up really enjoying it, it kind of had an almost friand-like texture, but not as dense.
Oh yeah, most places serve double espressos here, I kept forgetting about that! This was a really nice espresso, but of course, when I suspect they're also Aussie themed (because lamington). Plus, you can never go wrong with Square Mile Roasters! I just can't remember what origin this was, but whatever it was, it was enjoyable.
I based my filter decision on the roaster. I could choose between 49th Parallel, based in Vancouver, or I could choose Heart Roasters, based in Portland. Since I was in America, I chose the American roaster! This was also really enjoyable, and I loved the Hario jug.
Now that I was all fuelled up, it was time to head out and see where my feet took me!
Sometimes you see the most interesting combination of buildings and sculptures all lined up...
Look at all the pretty street lamps here too!
Oh, a 9/11 Cross. Does that mean I'm close to where I think I am?
While this wasn't the first thing I saw chronologically, it makes sense to group them in a way that doesn't jump all over the place, so I'll cover St Paul's Chapel first and move onto the actual memorial and the new World Trade Centres afterwards.
I'm not usually one for churches and really appreciating memorials, but September 11 changed the world, and I felt a deep reverence here, as well as when I went to see the actual memorial site too.
And then outside, the actual pools. I actually didn't know what had been constructed here, and to both hear and see these seemingly bottomless fountains was something else! There are two of these, one for each of the towers that fell.
These pools were very large, though I didn't really aim to get a shot that showed the scale. However, I heard more than one person say that they expected the memorial pools to bigger.
The names of those who perished are engraved onto the panels that make up the edge of the pools, and flowers are placed on the names of those who had their birthday that day.
There's also a museum here, but there was a bit of a queue so I didn't enter.
There's also Liberty Park, just across a tiny street, where this features as a salvaged sculpture from the original towers, and is on display.
On a lighter note, there's a lot of colour and hope here too!
These new World Trade Centres are all quirky looking, especially the fantastically painted corrugated iron, shipping container-like ones! Some of the paintings are super cute, and the weird, spiny one is a shopping complex!
The inside of this one is so huge! There are two viewing platforms on either end, and I think this whole central area is called the Occulus. The ceiling so tall that it requires this massive red crane to reach right to the top!
This complex has shops all along the sides, as well as being home to the train station that also leads to the New Jersey PATH trains.
The other thing I really wanted to visit in this area is Battery Park. I knew about this park as a kid, because I'd read a book called The Captain of Battery Park, which features a child who finds an injured tern and nurses it back to health, or something. At the time I had no idea if it was a real place or just made up since I was too young to really know, but the name of the book stuck with me for so long, that I thought it would be really awesome to finally visit the actual park!
What I didn't realise too, was that this is the location to catch the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. How cool!
After exploring Battery Park, we returned to One World Trade Centre to view the observation deck. They do make you watch a brief video on the construction of the World Trade Centre, before the screens actually lift up for you to walk forward and make your way to the top.
The lift here was pretty cool, too. Instead of just having a skylight in the ceiling to see your ascent to the top, the walls were all screens too, showing the transformation of New York from jungle to concrete jungle!
The detailing on the panes is pretty cool!
I have no idea what the building to the bottom right is, but I remember calling it the glass Jenga building because that's what it looks like to me! Kind of not quite perfectly aligned floors just stacked up and then someone bumped the whole thing!
A "closer" shot of the first picture, but I have no idea how much more detail it holds!
Another shot of the Statue :D
I am not sure what this island is though. What's cool is that there are ads all over New York that state, "you're on an island, but you're not stuck on it." It's so true! There's always so much to do here.
The tower visit was perfect for taking us to dinner time. I really wanted to visit Wildair on this trip, but hadn't set a date for it since it was a walk-ins restaurant. Even though I think it's a smaller-name restaurant than its degustation counterpart Contra, it does get its own write up since I feel they go hand in hand. You can read about Wildair here!
And that concludes this block of 8000 words or so. Time to move onto the next lot!
The New York Dream - Part 2 - Empire State of Mind
Or something like that. Well, now that I'd landed, what should I do?
I actually was waiting for a friend, who was landing a few hours after me, and since I knew it would take a while to clear customs, I decided to spend my remaining time just chilling at the airport. Firstly, I had to change terminals, and I could do that using the AirTrain. Wow, the train has really tiny carriages. By tiny, I mean that it seats 4 people and maybe a maximum of 4 standing? Once I'd boarded, I can't remember exactly what happened, but basically, I ended up in a conversation with the other passengers, and they immediately asked where I was from because of my accent, and then they talked about stuff and things, but I no longer recall what it was about! Anyway, I got off on the next stop and proceeded to discover a Starbucks at this terminal, which seemed to be least boring eatery around, if you could even call it an eatery because it was a tiny stand that served only takeaway. I paid far too much for a sausage and egg muffin, and sat down in an out of the way spot to eat it, since all the seats were taken. As I was minding my own business, I hear a voice really close to me, and when I turned to look, I realised it was just some person talking on the phone. He sounded disgruntled because his flight just got delayed and so he was stuck at the airport now, and something about it becoming expensive for him because he had to make alternative arrangements? I'm not too sure since I didn't really care to eavesdrop. However, after a while, I got the odd feeling he was talking to me, because he was still there and no longer talking about his flight. He was saying something about how he'd had one too. One of what??
So I look again, and he really is talking to me! He saw me eating the sausage and egg muffin and felt the need to comment on my one? So he repeated himself and said that he ate one too, and that it wasn't all that tasty, and I basically said "yeah, but it's better than nothing" and he agreed or something along those lines. I was more bewildered that he randomly started speaking to me even though I wasn't paying any attention to him! Then he started telling me about the call he'd just had, and repeated much of what I'd already overheard, and then as I was politely acknowledging his comments, he finished up what he was saying, bid me farewell and walked off. Wow, that was random. Please tell me not all Americans are like this?? Like, sure, it's normal that sometimes you strike up conversations with strangers, but this was sort of really one sided... what a first impression!
I didn't have to wait too much longer before my friend got here, and it was time to figure out how to use the train system. This is going to be a bit wall of texty since I don't have any photos, so it's more a test of my ability to write, which I already know is very spammy and not very tidy at all. Good luck to those who read this! I'd only read up very briefly on the AirTrain, and it didn't seem to complicated - buy a ticket and you end up in the city - how hard could it be? Well the machine stumped me for a good while. There were three options - Penn Station New Jersey, Penn Station New York, and a third one that I can't remember. Probably the carpark or something. But why would two different places have a station with the same name? I called over an attendant and eventually she pressed all the buttons for us. We ended up with tickets to Penn Station New York, which cost about 13USD. Luckily, navigating to the platform was quite straightforward. And fresh air! Fresh, crisp air! I'd managed to wear enough that I could tell it was crisp, but not be cold. Good on me!
To this day I still have no idea exactly what type of train we got on, was it a PATH train? Was it LIRR? Basically, this was not the subway. These trains were very Sydney style - double deckers that were not luggage friendly, and interconnecting carriages. And it was so "old" style that the little paper ticket that I had, was presented to a conductor who patrolled the train and used a little hole-puncher type device to basically swiss-cheese the docket (yes I just turned a food into a verb) and poof! No more ticket and just confetti on the floor. Other people were more environmentally friendly and had purchased a ticket via a phone app, so no tree deaths there.
Hello Penn Station! We were finally here! Now to figure out how to actually get to my accommodation... because we had luggage, it was easier to get an Uber so I let my friend do that. We couldn't check in yet though, but luckily, it's big enough here that Airbnb-style apps for luggage storage exist! This was really useful because major train stations no longer have luggage storage facilities, for security reasons, so all these little cafes and restaurants who have spare space, can take on extra luggage and make a few dollars.
They give you tags like these when you present the app, and you have to take a photo cause it's the only evidence the bags belong to you! But at a dollar an hour per piece, it's not too bad and reasonably safe according to reviews. We had no issues with dropping off and collecting our luggage later that day, so it was all fine and dandy! Hooray for big cities and their abilities to cater for tourists!
Now that the luggage was taken care of, food was the next priority. But here are some pictures along the way! I had no idea what I was taking photos of at this stage, but I took pictures of everything. I couldn't figure out why the street lamps looked like Pokeballs, and it wasn't till later that I realised that these are some of the "signs" for subway stations, other variants being green pokeballs, and "M" signs. I guess at some point the subway was actually called Metro? I use so many of these terms interchangeably now that I even accidentally called them trams sometimes! Ok, time to officially start the clock on my grand adventure.
Day 1 - 04/04/2019
I generally put the most thought into only my first meal in a new city, by making sure it provides the kind of food I think I might enjoy, and it's generally an extremely safe choice. However, my expectation is that from this single choice, my possibilities multiply, or something! Bluestone Lane has several outlets, with varying levels of food offerings. The first one I encountered had very little food, so we had to walk around until we found the next one. I'd originally flagged the one on Amsterdam Lane as the top choice since it had a full food menu, but since I had no idea where I was in relation to anything, we went by proximity instead (there will be a lot of I/we mixing here and I'm going to state this in case I myself forget!). This one had a bit more in the way of food, so we settled for this location, near the 42nd Street Port Authority Bus Station.
Their menu was so Melbournian that the magic was even listed as a drink! That's an off menu item!!! Why is it on the menu? It was cool to see though, because it speaks of the city that this cafe is inspired by (plus the founder is Aussie). I got an espresso and a flat white to taste both and baseline them against both my Aussie expectations, and to set myself up for New York baseline. It was spot on for an Aussie drink! The espresso was well flavoured with good balance between acidity and chocolateyness. The texture extraction is pretty standard for espresso too.
The flat white was pretty good too! It was sweet and creamy - the milk texturing was also something that matched Aussie standards (compared to say, Singaporean or some Japanese cafes where the milk is just a tad thin), and while I didn't know it at the time, this was a rare 1-shot espresso in a 5.5oz cup. Perfect!
This is how you get tap water at most cafes. It's super cute that they've branded it, because it looks really nice, and the plastic is sturdy enough that I consider it re-usable for personal stuff (i.e. take it home and drink out of it a couple more times, or grow a plant in it), but too flimsy for cafe re-use. Why not just have glasses or even solid plastic cups? That was odd. Apart from that, the water actually tasted quite nice! MUCH better than the weird tasting tap in LA!
And an avocado toast. I actually felt really lame for ordering this, because I felt it was so typical when I've also got a super noticeable accent... it was like, just too Aussie! But none of the other menu items looked enticing at the time, so I settled for this because it was simple. The avocado itself was tasty, but the bread was interesting since who does avocado on square slice toast that's not even sourdough! But that's just the "avo smash" purist in me. It served the purpose of satisfying my tummy!
Since we had time to kill before we could check in, we wandered around the area. I looked around in a Muji store but nothing was really that cheap, plus I didn't actually need to buy anything. And I also found the New York Times building!
We ended up exploring a nearby park, which actually ended up being pretty cool! This was Bryant Park, and it was notably different from some of the other city parks because this one has so many activity areas, such as petanque, table tennis, juggling, and probably more things! There was the merry-go-round and a massive green lawn in the middle. But the other thing I noticed, was that the park had so many chairs and tables! And all of them were in use! How can so many people be out and about, because not all of them looked like tourists? Maybe New Yorkers just liked enjoying eating their lunch out in the sun!
Bryant Park is actually next to the New York Public Library! Hey, isn't this a Person of Interest location?
It really does have payphones inside!!! Though people were mainly using the space to just to chill or eat their lunch...
The decor in here is pretty cool, as expected - I love seeing ceiling paintings cause they are generally super epic!
However, it is first and foremost a library, and people do use it - many sections of the library were sectioned off and had signs up to keep noise to a minimum. That's pretty cool to see!
Some of these books bring back memories of my own local libraries that I used to visit as a kid!
It was about time for more food though, and luckily, there was a Shake Shack nearby. May as well hit the ground running and try a burger now! There was actually a bit of a queue (there's always a queue), but the line processes pretty fast. What was cool was that this burger tasted good. The same good as the one I had in Japan, and on par with its similarities/differences/quality against Burger Project in Sydney. What that means, is that they are consistent, even across different countries! That is really impressive! This burger was great!
Because it was spring, they had a cherry blossom shake available, so I had to order it. Because I always associate cherry blossoms with Japan, I accidentally called this a sakura shake and then realised what I'd said and had to rephrase! Cherry trees are actually quite plentiful in New York, so I felt like I got to experience my own hanami party (without the blue tarp) here. However, it seems like I got hit by jetlag, because I lost my appetite very quickly as soon as I started on the chips and shake, and even though it was enjoyable, I found it hard to convince my body to keep eating it. Since Perth and New York were exactly 12 hours apart, it meant that in theory, my breakfasts and dinners aligned, mealtime-wise, but lunch would have been out of sync by 12 hours so my body thought I was in a sleep-phase, causing the sudden loss of appetite. Since I was aware of this, I could take it into account and just monitor my fatigue and hunger levels.
After Shake Shack, we explored a bit more, wandering pretty aimlessly but I think we did try to head to Koreatown since we were nearby. I ended up spotting this cute little restaurant, and they do ramen and yakitori. It looked really interesting and I added it to my list of places to try, but I never actually ended up returning here (mainly because I have a Japan trip planned soon so I don't really need ramen here. Speaking of, there are so many ramen places that it really doesn't need a list; most of them are so small that each one does actually look really good, just like how all the ramen shops in Japan are small! But I might make a shortlist later on because there are a few notable places that I spotted).
Behold, Grand Central Terminal! It is quite a glorious building indeed, even the exterior is pretty impressive as there's a massive eagle statue outside! However, the jetlag was really creeping in by this point, so we didn't explore the inside much. That would be a quest for later on!
As we finally headed back to check in, I spotted these tulips! I remember overhearing a lady talking about how "they were planting tulips now at Grand Central" and here they are. It looks like in spring, they plant daffodils and tulips all over the city, which is really cool. It adds so much colour to an otherwise dreary skyline since the trees hadn't started growing leaves yet to hide all the plastic bags stuck in the branches....
Day 2 - 05/04/2019
Our first full day began on Friday, and it was time to get ourselves a metro card. They still use flimsy magnetic stripe plastic cards that you have to swipe just right at a turnstyle. There are a few fare options, but the cards have a very quick expiry (1 year) so I realised that I couldn't keep this as a souvenir that could also be used if I could ever afford to come back! This felt quite antiquated, especially comparing to London's Underground, which looked older, and had tap and go systems already in place. There are a variety of different carriage types, the more modern ones had a digital display showing which stops the train was going to make.
Our goal was to get to Russ & Daughters, and the train ride was pretty straightfoward. But when we got to the famous cafe, it was already packed (this would have been about 11AM so it was both suprising and not surprising at the same time) and had a 1.5 hour wait for a table for two! No way I was going to do that for my first meal of the day since I get very hangry if I don't eat in the morning. Instead, I noted that Katz's Deli was nearby, and that was on my list, so we headed there instead.
Woooah yeah look at this! A real deli! How old school and how PACKED!!! This was absolutely amazing to see, and not only were there heaps of people ordering, but people in the back of the lines also taking pictures of everything! This place was huge, with the front section of tables having waiter service, while walking further in and turning the corner lead to the unserviced elbow-to-elbow packed tables (this makes a different with tipping, I bet). They did bagels, a few different sandwiches, but my eye was only one thing: the half [pastrami] sandwich, and matzo ball soup. That is what you come here for, though historically, corned beef sandwiches were more popular, but in recent years, it's pastrami that's taken over. I like both, but I like the flavour of pastrami more which is why I chose it. Also, while I had no idea what a matzo ball soup actually was, I really wanted one because I saw a chef (Adam Wolfers, 2017) in Sydney once post about making some matzo ball soup at one of my favourite cafes, Room 10. Yeah wow, so I've been waiting two years to eat a matzo ball soup. Am I crazy???
Also, they give you one of these tickets when you enter. Hold onto them, because that's your receipt for when you complete your meal and have to hand it in to pay. And don't lose it, cause if you do, they'll charge you for losing it. Not sure how much though, so just keep an eye on it :)
Wow yeah. Wow. Oh my goodness. Stop now, and just GO TO THIS PLACE. AND EAT THE PASTRAMI SAND-WICH. That's all I have to say. The marbling on this beef is unmatched. And the flavour!!! The flavour and the beef just had the best, tender texture! It was super melty in the mouth! And the mustard made it so good too!!! YES I AM RAVING ABOUT THIS PLACE GO NOW. For all sandwich places that don't make reubens and beef sandwiches with this ratio, you're doing it wrong. This is the only way to make a meat sandwich. I cannot describe just how good this was, but there's a reason this place is BIG and PACKED. And it feels like the perfect environment to eat it in, too! What I mean by this, is that in one of my Singapore trips, I made the horrible mistake of going to a branch of a hawker market that was too clean and it ruined the experience. Don't make this mistake ever. Always choose the messiest, busiest, the "I'm not sure I can squeeze past these back to back chairs to get to the tiny space available on that table that looks dirty" spot that you can get. It makes your food taste so much better than it already is! Also, spoiler alert: I tried two more pastrami places and neither was half as good at this. If you had any other pastrami places on your list, ditch them now and go only to this one.
!!!!!!!!!!
WOAH MATZO BALL SOUP. It looks rather simple but that flavour and texture! The soup was mainly just a tad salty for me but it tasted good! And I got some veges in since there were carrots in here! But the ball itself. Yeah. It's like mostly floury stuff? But there were binders and stuff in it that made it taste SO GOOD. It wasn't soggy like it thought it might be, but rather had like... a bouncy texture like a good meatball. It held together really well and just had good chew (not pasta style chew, it was just... meaty for something with no meat in it, is probably the best way to describe it), possibly because this one was made with a decent amount of egg. I LOVE MATZO BALL SOUP. Yes, this was the best version of mazto ball I had on the trip too. Another place (Frankel's Deli) came close, but this one. This one because the combo CANNOT BE BEATEN. SEE MY CAPS HERE? IT MEANS IT'S AMZAZING. I LOVE THIS PLACE SO MUCH.
Can I ever hope to maybe think about attempting to make my own mazto ball soup with the goal of achieving even 1% of the greatness that I have tasted on this day?!?!?!?!?!?!
!!!!!!!
Oh yeah, here are some more pics of the place! That sign right down the bottom right is pretty hilarious, it says the men's bathroom is to the left because women are always right!
Oh, here's a street picture of the area. It was a very cold day, the coldest during my trip, actually, at 5°C during the day, and raining and windy, so the wind chill would have dropped that down even further... good thing I had gloves, scarf, and 4 layers on top and 2 layers on bottom, of which, one of each was thermals. It was very, very crisp!
So crisp that somehow I decided it would be a smart idea to walk across a bridge... over the river... where it would be cold. But I'm silly like that. So silly that my head and ears did actually start hurting part way through, so I used the scarf as a headwrap/makeshift earmuff instead, which helped so much!
I think Williamsburg is meant to be a red bridge, but I'll always remember it as a pink bridge! Because of the cold, it felt like it took a very, very long time to cross, but hey, I love walking over bridges and I didn't really want to turn back... and we eventually ended up in Brooklyn.
A cool place! It immediately felt more spacious and less busy, and the buildings weren't as tall. I've made touchdown on borough #2! Though I wasn't sure where this was relative to things I'd marked down in the area, but I figured that surely this was close to Sey Coffee?
Okay, so Sey was actually a fair bit away. My friend used a Lyft to get us there so I'm not sure exactly how difficult it actually is to get here, since I never did a revisit.
The reason Sey made my list is because my local cafe, Modus Coffee, featured their beans once, and I marked them down because they were quite nice and based in New York! I didn't get good shots of the interior mainly because it was also a very busy space. Like A Coffee in Melbourne if it was two thirds of the size and packed. They had so many plants and a large skylight system too, which was really nice, and they were also in a garage - but they'd converted the rolling door into a clear window - again more natural light! Pretty cool idea!
They had a few coffees on offer but only a small pastry selection when it comes to food, and because they were busy, the recommended the batch brew over the filter coffee because there was a wait time on it. I'm not fussed either way since I'll take anything that's tasty. I also decided to order an espresso, because baselining. The Burundi filter was really nice!
I actually call this the "modern" espresso style. It's where there's not really any crema, and not because of the vessel shape. I feel like there's just a different brew method to it compared to "old school espresso" (think of the years just after tiger striping), like, closer to what Neighbourhood by Sean McManus (but no longer owned by him) was doing where the espressos were longer and had a more filter-like drinking quality to them, and the flavour profile could be appreciated by sipping over time rather than all in one go.
It's a really lovely and relaxing place, if you can get a seat! They even have a roastery at the back, but it wasn't open to the public so I didn't get to close, but it is cool that they have such a big space to themselves!
After that, did some exploring of the area. Lookn at this mural which doubles as the storefront for a cafe called Swallow! That's so cute! This particular area of Brooklyn feels a lot like Redfern back in Sydney. It's old, it's heavily industrial, but it's got a lot of cafes and other small, hipster, out of the way and unusual shops.
We also found this chocolate shop, called Fine & Raw. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the smell. Woah. Have you ever tried cacao nib tea? This place smelled like the mouthfeel of such tea. Okay, it's a bit hard to explain unless you've had a good version of it. The word "tea" sounds watery. Cacao nib tea therefore, sounds like a thin, sour hot drink. At least, that was my first impression. But I tried some at my local farmer's market in Perth once, and that's not what it is at all! It was smooth, rich, and chocolatey (yes it tasted like chocolate, not cacao nib), and I mean real chocolate, not the sugary stuff, without any dairy added. The mouthfeel was indeed quite rich, it didn't taste like something that had been brewed in just hot water. It had like, a lickable feeling to it? but not coating. Like creamy, but without cream? lol. Hopefully that ramble will help me to convey that this place's smell gave me the same fuzzy happy feeling that the cacao nib tea did.
They had an interesting selection of chocolate, with "half-raw" chocolate and "fully-raw" chocolate, and how they were made. They had heaps of merchandise too, and an interesting menu which included the sale of unicorns - which were free! So very hipster!
After our little taste of Brooklyn, we headed back into Manhattan and managed to surface at Union Square Park - which I knew to be the home of Greenmarkets on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It wasn't the right day yet, but it was good to get an idea of what this park was like beforehand!
One of the views from this park is this sculpture-like thing, and a set of ticking numbers. The ticking numbers were really interesting. I had no idea what they were doing, but I did notice that certain sets of digits in there were ascending, and a certain set was descending. I also noticed that the middle digits moved too fast for me to tell if they were just oscillating or actually counting. The actual artwork is called Metronome, and is pretty cool! So Wiki will tell you about how to actually read the numbers :D
What's a trip to USA without photos of squirrels? :)
I wanted to scope out Washington Square Park, as it's featured a lot in Person of Interest. However, since it was a dreary day, there weren't many people, and everything just looked so sad and downcast! So hopefully my pictures from later in the trip will make this place look good. Also, there's no sencha green tea cart here, though that could have just been an actual actor and install just for the show. Or it was the wrong season! And Grace's apartment, I'm pretty sure, was blocked off by scaffolding, so I couldn't take a picture of that either.
Well, it was dinner time, and if walk-ins at popular places has taught me anything, it's to get in early. Momofuku Noodle Bar was up!
Woot, seats at the kitchen counter, my favourite! Their menu was short and simple, but they had a blackboard with a decent number of specials. I think they ran out of room or something because the waiter mentioned the tofu dish wasn't on the blackboard, but was a special, and could be served with an optional trout roe topping. Oh yes, tofu! Trout roe! I love both! What a great combination!
When a Momofuku establishment does pork buns, you order pork buns. I wasn't really feeling the pork bun craving but my friend wanted them, so here they are! I feel like these were quite bacon-like, whereas I like the braised, melt in the mouth style better.
To be honest, I had no idea what kind of noodles this noodle bar specialised in. Ramen? Their own creation? Whatever. This garlic chicken noodle with egg yolk was tasty nonetheless! The egg yolks here are a more pale yellow compared to what we get in Aus, which was interesting. This was a really nice sized portion (not too big, not to small) and really clean tasting! Good stuff!
Day 3 - 06/04/2019
I decided to explore on foot today, and I have this tendency to just step out of the house and kind of just start walking in whatever direction I feel. This lead me to a really tall building and something about Jimmy Fallon? Not sure who that is but he sure sounded famous and this was probably some kind of recording studio and maybe this building is really tall for a reason?
Ah, but of course! It's Rockefeller Centre! Now everything makes sense! And I had no idea there was an ice rink in here too! Am I just really bad at researching touristy things as a tourist? Do most people just know this because it's general knowledge? Sometimes I wish I knew stuff about things other than food! Good to know that it was close by though, as I had plans for this place, but for a later day.
Instead, it was breakfast time and Little Collins looked "close". Wow, it is packed on a weekend! It's already a small hole in the wall that had a very decent selection - drinks, pastries, lighter food, heavier food. With only a very narrow space for staff, their option of using a Modbar or similar setup really helps reduce the feeling of being cramped. Having just a steam wand and two group heads on the bench and everything else tucked below in this kind of sense is not just pretty, it's also practical! Without any seats or even a bench spot I could stand at, this was gonna be tough. I placed my order, and ended up slight invading the barista's serving area. I think I managed to mostly stay out of the way though, and she didn't seem to mind.
Their coffee was good, and their barista was awesome! I really enjoy watching the workflow of busy cafes, she was totally in the zone and pumping out coffees so efficiently, super aware of the staff moving about around her and still chatting to customers! I mean, most cafes I go to actually have this same energy and organisation, but sometimes it just feels so much more special for some reason! This espresso was lovely to sip on!
They also do filter coffee, which is surprising for a cafe this size, but they do it well! They were using Counter Culture coffee roasters, and I really like them, seems to be roasted to my taste!
This was a spanish omelette, and it was actually bigger than I thought it'd be. It was also really tasty! This was the "least" Aussie thing on the menu and I was so glad I chose it! Definitely worth trying, though the panna cotta with granola did look tempting too. Interesting to note that they served vegemite toast too, and they call the dish "The Convict", of course!
And now to stroll towards Central Park. I had to start exploring this place early on in my trip since I knew it would take me at least a few visits to cover a decent chunk, this epic park of my dreams! On the Western/North Western entrance, there are heaps of horse carriages!
Woah, there's even an ice rink in here!
I love the birds in New York, because they sound so much nicer than the silly crows in Perth. Also, funny looking dogs.
This sounds really dumb, but I didn't expect Central Park to not be green, even though I knew it was just out of winter, so the bare branches were a little bit of a surprise to me! I almost feel like I need to come back to see how this place looks for each season, because I imagine they're all different!
It didn't take long before I reached Bethesda Fountain, which was really cool. It was such a lovely sunny day too, so I actually sat down and just kind of enjoyed the sun and watching everyone else enjoy the sun too, it was so relaxing!
Look at this bubble blower! Under those archways, there are lovely paintings on the wall and ceiling, but I don't think I had any pictures for it though. So you will just have to see for yourself!
There are also a set of restrooms at this spot, but they're so old school! The stall doors are actually "small" in terms of being lower than head height, so you can actually see exactly which stalls are occupied. It's kind of unnerving!
What I love about travelling, is that there's always something to see. This shot might not look like much, but what had happened was that the guy in the grey shirt and sunnies and proposed to the girl in blue, and she said yes! Then the people around them cheered and went to congratulate them. Isn't that so cool???
I love walking over bridges. And look at the view from this one! That almost castle-like looking building is so pic in the background! The number of people in the park at this time of year is perfect, too. Enough that it feels alive and full, but not enough to feel crowded.
More squirrels!
I took this picture out of focus, and even though I was sure I got one where the focus was on the people on the rocks, it was too sunny at the time for me to confirm in my viewfinder, so this was the best shot I got. I have no idea why everyone was on the rock, maybe it was just a cool thing to do?
More walking eventually lead me to an exit, I think I made to to Upper West Side. Not really sure where I was, it was time to keep walking aimlessly!
And with a little help from Google Maps, I found my nearest Milk Bar. Yes!! Cereal milk and birthday cake time, how exciting!! It was kind of hard to figure out exactly how many things I wanted to eat, because I wanted to try everything, but I knew I didn't have the stomach space for it. Also, the birthday cake itself was only available whole by the looks of it, so I needed to figure out another way to obtain it. They had a "starter" pack that included cereal milk soft serve, a compost cookie, a slice of crack pie, and a packet of birthday truffles. That was too much for me though... so in the end I went with cereal milk soft serve with sprinkles, a marshmallow chocolate chip cookie, and a packet of birthday cake truffles. Good choices! The cereal milk actually had a good saltiness to it, and was really enjoyable to eat! I chose the marshmallow cookie since I wanted the chewiest cookie, and I love the chew of marshmallows. Yeah, that was good too. And the birthday cake truffles!!! Yes!!! They were delicious mooshy mouthfuls, kind of like cookie dough truffle texture! So addictive, I'm so glad it came in a pack of three!
I felt it was time to head back home, but I was going to do it on foot. It was just a straight line, so I didn't think it was very far. And the best bit about walking is that you can get distracted by everything you see on the way, like a Luke's Lobster! Well it's here, so I kind of have to try it... luckily I didn't completely sutff myself at Milk Bar so let's give the lobster roll a shot!
Their winter special was still on, so this is actually the white truffle lobster roll! It was smaller than I thought it would be, but that's a good thing. I was so worried that everything here would be too big, but for the most part, the serving size of all my food was perfect for my pace of eating! That didn't stop me from getting fat though! Anyway, back to the lobster roll. That light brioche roll was toasted with a healthy amount of butter. It was so lightly crisp and butter on the outside. Mmmm butter. And the truffle aroma was pretty strong on this, and so much more butter from the sauce too! Butter everywhere! What tasty lobster bits! This is so much better than the attempts at lobster rolls in Aus, because again, here, they get the meat to bun ratio right. When I had a lobster roll at Regiment in Sydney, the lobster itself was very lacklustre, it tasted very defrosted and on the edge of mushy in some bits. The New England lobster roll at Supernormal's flavours are great, but not enough lobster!!! This was definitely enjoyable! I had several Luke's Lobster cravings after that, but have to keep trying new things :(
Oh yeah, all Luke's Lobster places are tiny, but they have such cute decor!
So the whole walking in a straight line to get home was become way more of a quest than I thought! What looked like a "few" streets, or twenty something blocks, was actually forty something blocks because my estimation abilities are atrocious! It wasn't that I was getting tired; I love walking! It was more, "are we there yet?" "oooh look a cool orchestra/symphony place!" "are we there yet?" "oh look it's Epicerie Boulud, I have to backtrack and look inside!" "oh whoops now I have to re-walk that distance" "are we there yet...?"
Yep, being me is both great and not great. I think it took me 2-3 hours to get home because I kept getting distracted! Eventually I saw this building, and realised it was the International Trump Hotel. Oh, and some pretty statues. Lots of food trucks, too. Oh, I was at Colombus Circle!!! And it has a nice, posh shopping centre too!
Again, I love seeing all these people! Perth is so boring...
This photo is actually out of order but I'm putting it here anyway. All those years ago when I went to LA, coconut water was my thing because their tap water was so bad. Also, coconut water was so abundant and tasted good, and this was before it became the cool thing to drink. This trip, it was maple water! It has a very subtle taste and its texture is also similar to water. I really enjoyed it because it kind of reminded me of what I think all clear liquids and foods taste like (I get so curious about the flavour and texture of clear and white coloured foods, especially jellies and liquids).
Day 4 - 07/04/2019
A new day, a new area! While still in Manhattan, we were out of the CBD. We'd entered hipster central areas, think Surry Hills in Sydney or Fitzroy and the surrounds in Melbourne.
I think I discovered Banter when I was reading through an article about the success of Aussie cafes in New York. Also, being a weekend, it was risky to travel so far for brunch because it was now busy time, and I was worried it was going to be a long wait. Luckily, it was only about 20 minutes or so, so I randomly took pictures while waiting.
Don't forget to look up! Luckily, there was nothing to really see here. It becomes important later today!
You can see Empire State from here, too!
We finally got seated. I didn't really feel like drinking a coffee, but I was at an Aussie cafe and it felt wrong to skip a drink, so here's my flat white. Now my memory is a little faint, but I'm pretty sure this was my first strong tasting milk drink, as if there was a double shot in here. The reason I'm not sure if I remember is because every now and again I end up with strong tasting flatties, so it's not really a super outlier or something unpleasant, so stuff like this doesn't stay in my mind half as much as say, receiving a 12oz coffee when not expecting one.
Also, the layout of this cafe is cool, but also weird! It's like a U shaped cafe. At the very entrance of the cafe, their front of staff control seating and queues, and that's also where the barista is. the seating areas flow into left and right ends of the cafe, and the kitchen is actually a closed off section in the middle, and the only way to get from the left dining area to the right dining area is to pass through the entrance area where the barista is. This is important to note, because the kitchen pass is on the right hand side, and the only toilet is also on the right hand side. The layout seemed to work for the staff, but it's just a bit of a weird thing for my brain to digest in terms of workflow.
There were some tasty and interesting looking menu items, such as the golden scrambled eggs with prosciutto and peas that looked really tempting. My friend also wanted that, but the rule of cafe dining is that you don't order the same dish twice unless you really really want it and there isn't anything else you're missing out on. But since there were other tempting things on the menu, I got the Banter Bowl. Good thing, too, because I could get my vegetable fix here, and it's important to eat your vegetables! The carrots were pickled so this dish had more flavour than I anticipated!
I liked this place, but there was nothing particularly "special" that would make me go back. It's one of those ones that immediately come to be as a reliable eatery in a pinch! Oh, this kind of reminds me of Archie's in Melbourne, even though they don't really bear resemblance to each other. Just the feeling I get!
While looking for Banter, I believe Dominique Ansel popped up on the map close by, so it was time to go questing... of course, I got distracted by the bright red cart that said "free coffee!" I didn't get any though, since I didn't want any, plus I'd probably get hassled by the people in red for the newspaper subscription they were advertising.
While Google is pretty accurate in New York, it was not good at determining orientation. I could never quite tell which way I was facing, so trying to figure out which way to turn was a challenge. Most of the time I had to rely on my "hispter sense", which was sort of successful some of the time. With a combination of walking the wrong way and partial psychic abilities (not), we found the Dominique Ansel! What was interesting though, was that the start of the queue to enter was a door down, which can be confusing for people since it looks like you can just walk in. It's actually really considerate, because it keeps the other shopfronts in between clear for their customers! The line actually starts at the sign over there...
So here we are at the back of the line. It wasn't actually too long, though it moved with varying speeds. I didn't realise, but this one in Soho is the original! How cool!
Remember how I said to look up? Yeah, the pigeons here know how to perch on trees. Better watch out in case you're standing right under one! I wasn't the only person to notice this, I think the two old men waiting behind me noticed the same thing. They commented in a way that may have been about watching out for birds overhead, but what I really remember from their conversation was that they were complaining about shops that had gone cashless. They were saying how there were cafes out there that were card-only, and how inconvenient they were, and how they were losing customers/opportunities for extra profit by turning away those who didn't use cards. "Isn't my money good enough for you?" They kind of sounded like dinosaurs to me, because I have a feeling the sentiment for hipsters, millennials and the like is that cash is dead, and card is king. Card is tidy, and it's fast. They did have a good point that they're losing a cut to the PoS merchant, but I'm pretty sure those shops take that into account to make sure they're still profiting, obviously. Funnily enough, this wasn't a once-off conversation. I got the impression that it's a hot topic in New York because later on, there was another group talking about this exact issue too! It's interesting to see that this city can be so old fashioned, and so progressive at the same time, and how those two cultures interact!
The other cool thing to do, other than eavesdrop while in a queue, is to read the board at the beginning of the queue. We were finally close to getting a table, so I took the opportunity to read about the cronut. They make a limited batch each day, but never state exactly how many they make. This is because there can be accidents, so they might lose a few along the way. They also said that contrary to what some people think, cronuts are not eaten warm. They have to be eaten at room temperature because that is the optimal temperature for them to insert the cream filling. Makes sense! There's so much detail on it, even I found it educational!
I hate the dilemma of choosing only a few items out of all the things that look good! I spotted the madeleines and really wanted some, but I knew that I wouldn't have room for them since they can be quite dense compared to other cakes. They also had a New York Paris Brest, but alas.. too many other things, and if Japan's cronut was anything to go by, that pastry itself would be large and filling. Decisions!!
Behold, the one and only, original cronut. Another reason to read the sign while waiting in the queue - it's not actually made of croissant dough. Dominique Ansel is very clear that this is his own laminated pastry style, and is not a croissant donut! Also, there is a limit of two cronuts per person per order. If you want more, you have to exit and rejoin the queue! That wasn't a problem since I only wanted the one. I didn't know what the flavour was (I didn't ask either) but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a classic, cinnamony flavour! I was worried it was going to be some unusual flavour that might make it hard to baseline this against other cronuts I've had, but this made it easy. It's good. Very good. This is a real cronut! The custard texture was indeed best at this temperature, as it held its shape, wasn't runny, but wasn't hard either. It was just right! The sugar/cinnamon balance was great too, and the lamination as you can see is very neat! And the best bit, the outside had a very good crispness to it, so there was a contrast in texture too! Yes, now I see why this is delicious! This was a vastly better experience than the one I had in Japan, but I also attribute Japan's experience to a flavour that I didn't quite love.
I agonised whether to get the madeleines or not, but in the end decided the cannele was the more sensible choice, based on how much I ordered. Plus, the best canneles are amazing. This had a really caramelised crust and soft insides, like a textbook cannele should! While it was very enjoyable, I'm going to say that Kaffeine in London still has the best canneles and portuguese tarts!
For my last dessert, I chose the black and blue pavlova because I love pavs, and I love blackberries. Blackberries are so expensive and hard to come by in Aus! If there was one thing I was disappointed about with this desert, is that the bases were all cracked. I'm not sure why this was, because I could see it on a few of them in the display cabinet. It only affected the bottom meringue, so maybe it has to do with the weight of the entire thing or maybe it was the only way to make it stick onto its little dish? Oh well. It didn't affect the flavour though, just my petty desire for a pretty picture.
THE LEMON CREAM. Woah. The blackberries were great, as expected, the meringue was great, as expected, but I'd forgotten that this was lemon cream, not plain cream. And that lemon cream was amazing!!! It had so much zing to it, it was fantastic! I love it when thick textured cream has the super tartness of lemon, it's like the perfect extreme balancing act! Yep, definitely glad I got this as my last dessert to try!
Alright. Now that all the eating was done, it was time to take advantage of the clear skies and go up a tower. Hello, Empire State.
Purchasing a ticket was very easy as there wasn't really a queue and plenty of self serve booths. Unfortunately, the 102nd floor was closed, so we could only visit the 86th floor.
Going past the miniature version...
The Empire State theme/decor feels very steampunky like to me, even though it's more about suns and planets and orbit-like details? You could say it was like Greenwich Observatory when it had a steampunk theme running!
Exit from dirigible!
And here we are at the observation deck! There's a nice handy set of pointers, but honestly, I still had no idea where anything was, so I just went around taking pictures of things.
I'm pretty sure at this stage I hadn't realised that I actually got the Statue of Liberty in this shot!
To this ate, I still don't know what that tower with the cool looking balcony is....
Look at all the yellow cabs!
What a massive Macy's banner, and look at all the tiny people on the street! Nothing at the gift shop was of much interest though, so it was time to get back on the ground.
Well look at that, I'm now right where my camera was pointing! This is Herald Square, and what always got me was that the subway announcement lady's pronunciation always made it sound like "Harold Square" to me, but maybe that's also some Person of Interest obsession seeping through!
The massive "Journey to Paradisios" sign was quite intriguing, as something similar actually appeared on my google maps, saying that this Macy's had some sort of flower festival going on. Wow, on the inside, it was amazing! The whole place was absolutely decorated in flowers and space themes! There were spaceships and real flowers everywhere! There's even an astronaut! It was really, really busy in here, with only some shoppers, and it seemed like most people were marvelling at the decorations and taking photos!
And I was still so full and slightly jetlagged that this was my dinner. I felt that I'd spent enough time here and drank enough tap water to start trying some street food. So finally, a street hot dog!! Yeah!!! Look at this dodgy little thing! It wasn't terribly tasty, of course, but it was fun to eat! A lot of the trucks have the same branding, but every now and again you'll see more uncommon trucks, or typos on the trucks. Luckily this is a hot dog, but you might see "hot gogs" being sold from other trucks! I didn't suffer any negative effets from eating this, so hooray, I have the stomach of a New Yorker!
TO BE CONTINUED...