Food Tour of Chinatown NYC

This is definitely my last NYC post, promise.  I just had to share details of our three hour food tour of NYC Chinatown, the most exciting culinary adventure we had stateside.

Foods of New York Tours operate a number of walking tours around specialised foodie areas of the city.  @jenlucy had brought the company to my attention before  our holliers, and on perusal of the website, the Chinatown Tour caught my eye.  Sure, it was the most expensive tour at $65 per person, but it looked like the most fun.  And, if I’m totally honest, it looked like the one with the most grub so…you see where my priorities lie.

Our meeting point was at noon outside Dim Sum Go Go, a Hong Kong Dim Sum house on 5 East Broadway where Broadway meets Chatham Square or Kimlau Square as it’s known locally.  We were ushered upstairs by our guide Rahim and seated at a table with other members of our 17 strong tour group.

Rahim gave us an introduction into Chinatown, as well as a very thorough and insightful history of Dim Sum.

Then came the food.  It was the first time I’ve ever had Dim Sum for breakfast but funnily enough, Rahim explained that Dim Sum for brunch is actually a bit of a thing in NYC, and Dim Sum Go Go is one of the top spots in the city to get it.

As is integral to the tradition of eating Dim Sum, we were served with some delicious Jasmine Flower Oolong Tea, and were talked through our three condiments.

From left to right we had a vinegar based chilli sauce which had a sweetness to it that counteracted the chilli.  Our middle sauce was a meat based concoction with a hint of ginger and sweet chilli.  It was AMAZING.  The third little pot was full of a scallop, shrimp, ginger and scallion based dip, which was delicious.

Soon, it was time for our Dim Sum breakfast.  Each person in the group was presented with a little steam box with five little beauties inside.  It was honestly like opening up a Christmas present.  Off came the lid and there were the five beautifully packaged parcels of yumminess.

Zang!

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The Chelsea Hotel

Widely known as The Chelsea Hotel, The Hotel Chelsea, number 222 on West 23rd Street between 7th and 8th Avenue, is a part of art, literature, music and pop culture history.

Over the years, it has been home to many a writer and musician.  Brendan Behan stayed there for a bit, as did Mark Twain and Dylan Thomas.  The most well known long-term guests to check in with a guitar were Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell.  All of Andy Warhol’s motley crew stumbled up to the Chelsea address at some point in the late 60s early 70s, no doubt a little worse for wear.

The Hotel Chelsea has been around since 1905 as a hotel.  Joseph Gross, Julius Krauss, and David Bard took ownership of the hotel in 1946 as a three-way partnership management team in 1946.  When Joseph Gross and Julius Krauss passed away, the job of hotel manager was handed to Stanley Bard, the son of David Bard.  Stanley was the manager from the early 1970s, up until 2007, when the board of directors asked Stanley Bard to step down as Hotel Manager.  The descendents of the Krauss and Gross families are now in charge.

Myself and Niall were only short-term guests, when we spent our last two nights in NYC staying at The Chelsea Hotel.  The changes brought about by the new management were evident in a few subtle ways.

Things such as the absence of the legendary elevator man, the lack of leftover spray paint on the walls of our room, and the notable discontent by still present long-term residents, such as our neighbour in the next door room who had a big sign on his window facing the street and over his front door saying “Bring Back The Bards.”  All this seems to signify an on-coming consumerism of the establishment.

Some ACTUAL Touristy Stuff in NYC…

…that didn’t actually involve eating or gigs.

Well.  Okay, I won’t lie.  There was always a pretzel or a donut or, at the very least,  a Vitamin Water close to hand while doing the touristy stuff in NYC after CMJ was over.

And, yes, I do consider expertyly graffitied loos in NYC a tourist attraction.  That loo above on the right was in the deadly Cake Shop bar/venue on Ludlow Street in The East Village.  Great spot.

We did the Top Of  The Rock…

We saw Tina Fey and all I could say was “I want to go to there!” followed by “…and that’s a dealbreaker!”

Shee-ahhh. I wish. We didn’t see her or Kenneth or Jack Donaghy but they were all with us in spirit as we looked over the amazing Manhattan skyline on a beautifully sunny day.

We also went to The Museum of Natural History up at the top of Central Park.  I thought I was going to pass out with overwhelming love for the Universe and all that it’s made up of while in the UNBELIEVABLE Journey to the Stars at the Planetarium.  Holy Cow.  A direct quote from Niall was “Those were the best visuals I’ve ever seen.”  And he would know.

And we saw lions and tigers and bears and dinosaurs, oh my.  Amazing place.

Peacefood Cafe and The Ace Hotel

We had a bit of a boo boo on Saturday in NYC.  We were to stay at a friend’s apartment on the Upper West Side while she was out of town.

We hopped up on the subway to the leafy area near Central Park and found the apartment.  It was rainy for the first time on our NY trip and we were suffering from a series of late night-induced fatigue.

We weren’t feeling too hot when we arrived at the apartment to find that the spare keys for our friend’s apartment were not working.  There was no way in. We were on the side of a rainy, although very pretty and leafy, New York City street with a pile of luggage, sore heads, and nowhere to go.

Luckily, the apartment was very close to The Peace Food Cafe on 460 Amsterdam Avenue at 82nd Avenue.  We hauled our gear in there and sat down for some lovely Gingerade and hot tea.  The waiter was the most friendly fresh faced young man I’ve seen in a while.

We were feeling a little stressed and our feet were soaked so the welcome peace and quiet and total calm of this lovely cafe helped raise our happy endorphins while we looked online for a last minute hotel.

I decided I needed a salad.  I chose the Fluffy Quinoa Salad for $9.95.  This was to be the most nutritiously rich meal I had in NYC, as it was packed full of delicious quinoa, beans, baby greens and sprouts, sweet peppers, fresh sweetcorn and onions, all tossed in a creamy lime mustard vinaigrette.  Delicious.

And all things work out in the end.  We ended up staying in The Ace Hotel for the following two nights.  It is, by far, THE coolest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  It’s on 20 West 29th Street just off 5th Avenue so a perfect location for a visit to NYC.

The front lobby was like a happening bar in the style of an old school library and the room itself was outrageously alt.

Image found on NY Times website

Not only was there a Smeg fridge packed full of vitamin water and champagne, a record player and a choice selection of some great records (including The Ramones – this was NYC after all), there was also a guitar in the corner of the room, just in case one become inspired in the middle of the night and felt the need to write a song.  Awesome!

It was a little on the expensive side but for a special treat, I’d really recommend this hotel if you’re coming to NY.  The staff were great and the a definite plus was the cafe located in the lobby – the best coffee we had in NYC.  Apart from Dizzy’s Diner coffee in Brooklyn, of course.

Turns out this coffee shop was one of the first in NY to offer the famed Portland Stumptown Coffee.  Check out the debate on Stumptown Coffee over here on Cheap Eats.  Intriguing stuff!

Late Night Munchies at Veselka

Late night munchies at Veselka in The East Village

New York City certainly never sleeps.  And we didn’t do much of that either while there.

We were over in NYC for the CMJ Music Festival, and Music from Ireland put on a showcase of 7 Irish bands in The Bowery Poetry Club last Thursday night.

Needless to say, it turned into a bit of a session, with a late night move to an Irish bar called Dempseys after midnight.

Around 4am we were in need of some serious food and a call for Peirogis was made.

We headed to Veselka on 2nd Avenue, the 24 hours a day home of “Ukranian Soul Food in the heart of the East Village”.

Peirogis are little dumplings that are either boiled or deep-fried and packed with a variety of savoury fillings.

I had the Goat’s Cheese and Arugula (aka rocket) Boiled Peirogis.  A good late night snack – lovely and salty as well, served with apple sauces.

Niall had the selection of Deep Fried Peirogis, which were a mixture of all the available Peirogi types, with cheese and meat based fillings.

Great late night food at a reasonable price.  I’ve been told that the Peirogis are just as tasty to a sober palate, which is good news.

Highlight of our Veselka visit was our friend Norm setting us up with a pretty amazing condiment gif.  Rockit!

SEA in Williamsburg

Last Sunday, we had what felt to be a rather typical New York Sunday.  After a bout of vintage clothes shopping at Beacon’s Closet in Brooklyn’s hipster friendly neighbourhood Williamsburg with our friend Chelsea, we headed for a good local spot for a bit of grub.

We went to SEA on 114 North 6th Street for “The Thai Experience”.  Some of you may recognise SEA from the beginning of Garden State supposedly in L.A., especially by the distinctive pool area at the front.

SEA is part of a chain of three restaurants around NYC specialising in hip, trendy spaces serving Thai in a tranquil environment.  The restaurant in Williamsburg is a beautiful, spacious room, and a good place for a Sunday lunch.  Theoretically, anyway.  The food and slightly rushed service let it down a bit.

We had some really delicious starters but unfortunately the mains didn’t live up to expectation with the general lasting tastebud impression being one of disappointing blandness.  Still, the starters were rocking.

We had the Triangle Curry Puffs, which were curried chicken and potato wrapped in pastry, served with side of cucumber salsa.

We had the really delicious Tup Tim Fritters, which were crispy chicken and shrimp dumplings with a sweet and sour sauce.  Yum!

And we also shared the Jade Seafood Dumplings, which were not only visually appealing but really tasty.  The dumplings were steamed crab meat & shrimp wrapped in green wonton served with curry sauce.

My main course was the best of a mediocre bunch.  It was the Red Sea Duck, a crispy half duck in red vinaigrette-tomato gravy sauce with stir fried mixed veggies and a mountain of rice.  The duck was nice and crispy but the sauce was a bit too rich and gooey.   Not bad though.

Niall’s main was the Pad Thai – so that’s chicken and shrimp with rice noodles, eggs penut, bean sprouts and  scallions.  In his  own words, it was “average”.

Our friend Chelsea has been to SEA a few times before and always enjoyed it.  She said that hers was definitely more bland than usual.  She had the Spicy Thai Herbs Fried Rice with eggs ginger, basil, scallion, and chili paste.

The final bill came to around $70.00 which included a few Ice Teas.  Overall, it was an enjoyable lunch, but I think that was more to do with the company and surroundings than it was the food.    SEA doubles up as a club/late night bar, so perhaps it would be a better spot for a few drinks and nibbles.

Still.  They have perhaps the coolest loos I’ve ever seen.   The Lavatorial Review would’ve had a field day.  They were little pods that the doors swung out of and they had little tvs inside where you could keep an eye on the restaurant.  And in theory, your date.  See if they were looking through your mobile while you were in the loo etc.  Kind of cool but also kind of creepy.

Just in case you get the L train out to Bedford Avenue on your next visit to NYC and fancy some Thai food, here’s a google map for SEA.

Sushi in NYC…sooooo good!

After a day of getting lost on the subway and listening to CMJ gigs at Pianos on Ludlow Street off Houston, one finds oneself wanting a good sushi.

Our friend Elanor had a place in mind which she had found by googling ‘good new york sushi’  Off we hopped in cab with another pal Dan to find Tomoe Sushi 172 Thomspon Street near the West Village in Manhattan.

Tomoe’s decor tells us that they are more interested in the food rather than pretentious water features and dim lighting.  It’s a no frills place when it comes to the room but wow, how they make up for any shortcomings with the amazing sushi.

We had a few edamame beans to munch on while waiting for our order.

We also supped on some miso soup to get the belly ready for the sushi.  And we had a few delicious pork dumplings to whet the appetite.  So good.

We shared a plate of sashimi, all of which tasted so light and delicious, and reallllly fresh.

We had a few different sushi pieces to share like the yellow tail and the tuna and avocado and a few other bits and pieces.  Totally yum.

It was a little pricey,  I suppose, as the whole lot came to $80.  But I think for what we had it was totally worth it.  And the locals know this too, as there was a queue forming outside the restaurant for a table as we were leaving.  Always a good sign.

Here’s another view of that sushi…yum!

An especially amazing breakfast at Dizzy’s Diner

I’m so very happy.  We’ve been eating so well here.  Upon recommendation of the Lo-Lu’s Kitchen gals, myself and Niall popped around the corner of our Brooklyn abode to Dizzy’s Diner on 511 15th Street.  Soooo glad we did.

The inside of Dizzy’s Diner is a bit Eddie Rocket’s like except with more garish colours if you can imagine.  So you’d probably look in the window and say naaaaa this place looks rubbish.  And you’d never know of the amazing diner treats that await inside.

Apart from all of the waiters and waitresses saying ‘You got it’ to every request, they had that special diner coffee, which is so comfortingly delicious in its own dishwatertasteness.

I had the most beautiful Cinnamon and Spiced French Toast which I smothered in maple syrup.

Niall had a delicious Dee Luxe Breakfast which had poached eggs, Canadian bacon, pancakes, toast and home fries.

All of this came to only $22.  Which was a steal.  The cheapest and quite possibly the best meal we’ve had in NYC!

Check it out if you’re in town.

The healthiest breakfast I’ve ever had…

Karen’s on Astor Place, surrounded by scaffolding…

Ok, well, it wasn’t exactly breakfast.  As we were making our way out to Williamsburg via the L Train and Union Square yesterday early afternoon, we were getting very conscious of the fact that we were yet to fill our bellies with a beautiful NY breakfast.

We were also feeling a bit worse for wear after having an epic day of walking and frozen margueritas the night before.

So we headed to Karen’s on Astor Place, between Broadyway & Lafayette, a vegan and meateater friendly establishment that smells of HEALTH as you walk in the door.  Honestly!  We were greeted by a tremendous waft of wheatgrass, which was not entirely unpleasant.

I went for a delicious acovado and salad sambo – beautiful crisp tasty salad leaves and lovely lush avocado – and Niall went for an egg salad sambo.

My saviour for the morning was the giant pint of green stuff entitled The Green Goddess.  It was a mixture of spirulina, soy protein, banana, apple and one other outrageously healthy ingredient that I can’t recall.  It looked vile but it was really delicious, although it did have the same texture as grass and was not unlike drinking a freshly mown lawn.

It set us up for our trip to Williamsburg, wherein we said “DRATBA” everytime we saw a hipster.  Needless to say, we were saying it a lot.  But Williamsburg was cool and I’m planning on going to SEA on Sunday for lunch.  It’s a Thai restaurant with a swimming pool inside it.  And I’ve been told a scene from Garden State was filmed there.  Nice.

We popped into a pet store as our friend Sean wanted to get a ball toy for his terrier Bad Bass Billy.  In the store we found some pretty amazing looking Dog Food.

The ones on the left are ‘Puppy Plates’ or ‘Venison Holiday Stew’ and the ones on the right are ‘Working Dog Stew’ and ‘Mediterranean Banquet’.  Lucky dogs!

Okay.  On recommendation from Rayne from Lo-Lu’s Kitchen, I’m heading to Dizzy’s Diner in Brooklyn for brekkie – gonna get me some waffles.  Yesssssss!!!

Oh man, I love New York!

Oh, man.  I’m having the best time EVER.  I love this city!

We had breakfast in a little place called Ballaro on 77 Second Avenue in the East Village, see muffin above.  Delicious served with a lovely fluffy latte.  Not a big ambitious NY breakfast but enough fuel for a big walk from the bowery up to Central Park.

Lunch was in Katz’s Deli on the corner of Houston and Ludlow Street.  It’s famous for being the best Deli in the city.  And also as the place where Sally has the fake orgasm in When Harry Met Sally.

The pastrami sandwiches were TO DIE FOR.  Beautiful, beautiful stuff.  We got a Pastrami Sandwich and a Rueben Sandwich and shared a piece each.

Dinner was in Benny’s Burritos on 93 Avenue A.  I had a mini quesadilla served with the most YUM sour cream.

It was perfect fuel for a night out.  The best thing about the whole meal was, in fact, the frozen margueritas.  Squiffy!

Peace, love and guacamole!