New York Eats (Part 1 - Manhattan)

Carmine's
200 W 44th St

We came here based on a mobile search on Google places. After visiting MoMA, we were hungry and were looking for a place to eat. Using the app, we limited our search to places that cost $$ or less per person, and was rated 4 stars or higher according to the reviews. One of the suggestions was Carmine's. It was described as a family style Italian restaurant with huge portions. We got to the restaurant and took a look at the menu. Pasta dishes were about $25+, and salads were around the same. Being one of the first places we ate at in New York, we thought that if this place was 2 dollar signs out of 4, food was going to be pretty darn expensive here! We thought that "family style" meant family friendly, but we soon learned that all menu items were meant to be shared between a family of 3-4! Because there were only two of us, we kept to 2 dishes: a plate of angel hair pasta with meatballs ($26.50) and the Carmine's special salad ($25).

Tasty basket of bread

We were then brought a nice basket of a variety of breads. When our meal came, of course the salad and pasta were served on huge platters. I wish I had taken some pictures of the entire dishes or with something in comparison for scale! The salad was delicious and I really liked the grilled eggplant and grilled carrots! The sweetness of the vegetables really came out upon grilling. The pasta was also tasty and the meatballs were huge! We weren't able to finish our meal. Luckily, our hotel room had a fridge and a microwave and we ate the leftovers for breakfast. Even after breakfast, there was enough food left for one more serving. Part of me wishes we could have tried the dessert, but I was afraid an order would constitute a whole cake, which would have been too excessive!

carmine's.special.salad

Angel hair pasta with meatballs. I wish you can see how big this platter was (those were serving-sized utensils!

I would recommend making a reservation as it is in the heart of the Theatre District and we had to wait about half an hour for a table for 2.

4/5

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Ichi Umi
6 E 32nd St

We were told to visit Ichi Umi (an all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurant) by our friend Jackie, who was in New York about a month before us. They had small pieces of nigiri and maki, which was a good thing because it allowed me to sample as many different types as possible. They offered a huge selection in their buffet with some non-typical selections of maki, including some with cream cheese, bacon, or pineapple (not together!). They was no sashimi because they don't serve it at lunch. There was a large selection of salads (both Western and Japanese), hot foods (Japanese and Chinese), and desserts. Being a cake lover, I liked how they had mini 1" x 1" cakes in several fruity flavors so that I could try them all (not quite).

Ichi Umi buffet - so many choices!

A lunch at Ichi Umi is $18.95, dinner is $28.95, and if you visit on a Friday, Saturday, or holiday, there is a $3 surcharge. I would go back to Ichi Umi as the price and selection is much better than what we would get in Edmonton, but I would also be willing to try out other Japanese places in NYC.

4/5

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Mad for Chicken/Turntable
314 5th Ave

Both Josh and Daniel insisted that we try the Korean fried chicken at Mad for Chicken. Its other name is known as Turntable because it's also a bar with a DJ. We split a platter of wings between the 4 of us. I was amazed at how crispy the chicken was, as it was deep fried and then covered in spicy sauce. After a few, my mouth was dying though. The spice was a little too much for me. I tried relieving my mouth with Asahi, which we ordered a 3 L tower of. In addition to being mesmerizing, the tower kept the beer from getting too flat and warm too quickly.

korean.fried.chicken

tower.of.beer

One thing about this restaurant is that they accept cash or American Express only. That was a first for me as an Amex user, as numerous places I go to refuse Amex.

3/5

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Shake Shack
154 E 86th St

Our trip to Shake Shack was based on a recommendation by Andrew's friend Daniel. After a stroll through Central Park, we went to the Shake Shack located in the Upper East Side

shake.shack

We both ordered the SmokeShack - a cheeseburger topped with applewood smoked bacon, cherry peppers, and ShackSauce ($6.25). While the burger tasted good, I didn't like the feel of the buttered bun, as I get into a bit of a frenzy at times when my hands get greasy. We also ordered the Cheese Fries ($3.65). Our cashier gave us the option of having the blend of cheddar and American cheese sauce either on top of the fries, or on the side. When we couldn't decide, he advocated for the sauce on the side, which we agreed to. When we got our order, we saw that the fries were crinkle-cut, and we were both skeptical on how much we would like them. But as it turns out, we loved them! Normally, we don't like crinkle cut fries because they end up being too soggy, but these ones were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The sauce on the side was an excellent idea since we didn't have to get sauce on our fingers while reaching for the fries.

SmokeShack burgers, fries, and cheese sauce

To drink, we had a large Fresh-Brewed Ice Tea ($2.40). I wish we had more of this stuff available in Canada. Being a tea-lover and I love the fresh and pure taste of unsweetened tea (both hot and iced). Lastly, we shared a shake in the flavor of a black and white cookie ($5). It was extremely rich and I'm relieved we shared one. I'm not sure if I could handle another one of these shakes in the future!

Shake Shack was the second American burger joint I dined at this year (the other was In-N-Out Burger) based on how much friends have been raving about them. I found that Shake Shack was far superior to In-N-Out Burger.

3.5/5

Suitcase Souvenirs: New York City (Part 2 - The Other Boroughs)

New York City
June 17-26, 2012

Our first trip out of Manhattan was to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Having never been to a major sporting event before, we decided to get tickets for a Yankees game. Groupon actually had some deals for tickets and the seats weren't bad at all! We went on a night where they played against the Atlanta Braves. I'm not a big baseball fan, but it was fun to go for the overall experience of people watching, buying a hot dog from the vendors that walk up and down the aisles, and of course, watching the game. The final score was 4-3 Atlanta.

Yankee Stadium

During the second half of our trip, we went to stay with our friends Josh and Iris in Brooklyn. They were actually about to move to London, UK in a matter of weeks, and so they had some grand ideas of things to do/places to see before they left New York. Iris proposed the fantastic idea of visiting all 5 boroughs of NYC...in one day. We started the day off by feasting on homemade paninis made with the finest ingredients from Trader Joe's. This activity actually convinced J&I to keep their panini press and take it with them to London. Our next destination was to head over to Lower Manhattan to catch the Staten Island Ferry over to Staten Island. Little did we know, this would be the start of a disrupted journey. We got off the boat, took a couple of pictures to prove that we were there, and then lined up for the same boat to return to Manhattan. For some reason, that same ferry wasn't running and we waited in line for about 45 minutes before the next ferry arrived to take us back to Manhattan. From there, we headed north to the Bronx Zoo. However, there was construction on a couple of subway lines that interfered with our plans. Normally there are direct routes from the ferry terminal to the zoo, but certain portions of those subway lines were closed off and passengers were supposed to take a shuttle bus to travel between those sections. We somehow decided to get off the subway at Yankee Stadium and then hail a cab from there. We quickly learned that the regular yellow cabs don't usually travel outside of Manhattan. Luckily, there were a few black private cars milling around so we hired one and arrived at the zoo in style.

View from the Staten Island Ferry

Proof of us being in Staten Island

In Manhattan, on our way to the Bronx

Bronx Zoo

After the zoo, the plan was to head to Han Joo, a Korean BBQ restaurant in Flushing, Queen's. This trip was not without near-disaster. From the zoo, we got back onto the subway and took it to where it was interrupted by construction. There, passengers were supposed to leave the subway and take the shuttle bus over to the next running station. It was such crazy mess. There was only one shuttle bus to be seen when we got out of the station - one shuttle bus for hundreds of people! Many people were getting quite frantic and hysterical and I thought they were going to start rioting. Luckily the 4 of us were able to get on the second bus that came about 10 minutes later, but the anger of the mob and a random woman talking back to me was starting to make me lose my temper too. Good thing it was temporary. We then got to the appropriate train to take us to Queens. The trip from the zoo to Queens took at least an hour and a half to 2 hours, and when we were walking down Main Street in Flushing, Queens to get to the restaurant, we noticed a bus labeled as express from the Bronx Zoo to Main Street in Flushing!! Upon further research, the trip would have taken 58 minutes! I'll write more about the restaurant in Part 3. At the end of the night, we went back to Josh and Iris’ rooftop for a nightcap and to take some photos of the Manhattan skyline.

Josh and Iris on the shuttle bus in Manhattan
(they look way too happy for the crowded conditions!)

Outside of Han Joo in Queen's

Back in Brooklyn

Nighttime view of Manhattan from Josh & Iris' roof in Brooklyn

Suitcase Souvenirs: New York City (Part 1 - Manhattan Attractions)

New York City
June 17-26, 2012

For the first half of our trip, we stayed in Lower Manhattan at the World Center Hotel, located next to the 9/11 Memorial. While the memorial opened on September 11, 2011, the museum is still under construction and is scheduled to open on the same day in 2012. There is no admission fee to the memorial site, but tickets do have to be reserved in advance for a specific date and time. Currently it houses 2 waterfalls in square pits where the twin towers used to be. The names of those killed in the terrorist attacks surround each pool. Security is high at this site - we saw police officers on site at pretty much all hours, and prior to entry to the memorial there is security screening through a metal detector.

Left: South Memorial Pool with the One World Financial Center in the background;
Right: Reconstruction of the World Trade Center

South Memorial Pool with the 9/11 Museum in the background

We also visited the United Nations Headquarters. Here they also screened everyone before going in. We took an audio tour and got to see the General Assembly Hall and the Security Council Chamber.

Left: General Assembly Hall
Right: Security Council Chamber

Chagall Stained Glass with symbols of peace on display

Andrew purchasing postcards of his hero, Ban Ki-moon

New York's Grand Central Terminal is the closest subway station to the UN Headquarters and of course we had to spend some time there and take in the magnificent architecture. Andrew was most excited about the Apple store - definitely the classiest looking Apple store I've ever seen!

Grand Central Terminal

View of the Apple Store at Grand Central Terminal

The two museums we visited were the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the American Museum of Natural History. While I enjoyed walking through MoMA, nothing really blew my mind away. We actually enjoyed checking out the MoMA Store much more. We also used our ticket stub to visit MoMA PS1 in Long Island. It houses ultra contemporary, experimental art. I didn't find PS1 to be that interesting and there were many sections closed for installation at the time.

I wanted to go to the AMNH because I saw an ad for one of their special exhibitions called "Creatures of Light - Nature's Bioluminescence". A jellyfish was in the illustration and being a fan of watching jellyfish, I thought there would be live jellyfish on display. Unfortunately, there wasn't and I was left slightly disappointed. The exhibit focused on models, text, and ipad displays. The only live organisms we saw were fish that ingested bioluminescent food. I did have a good time walking through permanent displays though. The museum was so big that we weren't able to walk through the entire thing before needing to head to our next desination.

Bridge in Central Park

We went to two Broadway performances this trip: The Phantom of the Opera and The Columnist. We decided to purchase our tickets on the day of the performances at the TKTS booth. There, tickets for many shows are up to 50% off. We chose the Phantom because we both had never seen it before, and The Columnist because John Lithgow was the lead in this play. I didn't care too much for the play itself, as it was based on events from the Cold War era, including the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the Vietnam war. I thought the acting was to be applauded though.

Times Square at night

We were initially planning on going to the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Centre to take some pictures of the Manhattan skyline (including the Empire State Building), but Andrew's friend Daniel lives right by the ESB and offered to take us to his rooftop to get some pictures from there instead.

View from Daniel's roof at night

Stay tuned for Part 2, where we explore the other boroughs of New York City!