Foodventures and more in NYC

So happy to finally share my adventures in New York with you. The beauty about vacations is being able to turn off work for a few days and just enjoy the moments. I always try and make a trip every other year to the great state of New York. It’s always refreshing to visit the city that is constantly moving and changing. There are so many great places to eat, shop, and see. For this trip, I also brought along the boyfriend. It was his first time there, so I was excited to show him what he was missing out.

Day 1: After a crazy morning and figuring out that Virgin Airlines was no longer at DFW, but in fact had moved to Lovefield (yep, missed that memo), we made it and landed early Thursday afternoon.  We AirBNB’d our stay out of Astoria, so after a quick taxi ride and dropping off our luggage, we headed to the nearest train station and rode into the city. A great app we used was Embark, which mapped out the train directions and made it super easy to navigate. Highly recommend this if you make your way to NYC.  Our first stop was the Chelsea Marketplace, a warehouse full of different shops and restaurants.

Of course, we were starving and with a few recommendations from friends tried The Lobster Place, a fusion fish market and restaurant.

Since we had dinner plans later that night, we didn’t want to ruin our appetites and decided to split a lobster roll. It was SO good. Took a lot of will power to not go back and order another.  The lobster was fresh and sweet.

We also grabbed some gelato before heading to the Highline, a beautiful urban walkway that was converted from an old railway. Talk about urban oasis. We went at the perfect time as the sun was setting. Gorgeous view of the city and the river.

After a short walk, we headed uptown toward Hell’s Kitchen for dinner with my dear friends at Empanada Mama. A tiny spot known for their delicious empanadas and arepas. I came once before and have dreamed about this place ever since. I could not contain my excitement. My favorite is the seafood empanada known as The Viagra. It’s filled with crab, scallops, and other bits of seafood. You bet I ate my fill and ordered some to-go as a midnight snack. Check out this shredded pork arepa!

After dinner, we took a walk through Time Square and called it a night.

Day 2: I’m pretty sure we clocked in 30,000 steps this day. With so many places on our list to try, we had to have a strategy. We’d only order one thing and split it instead of getting our own portions. The last thing I wanted was the uncomfortable food coma while still being forced to walk the city, no bed in sight. We started the day early and headed to Katz Deli. It was on the boyfriend’s wishlist to try a pastrami sandwich and it was delicious! The thick cuts of patrami slathered in mustard was so tender and juicy. The matzo ball soup had the biggest matzo ball I’d ever seen and the broth was also flavorful and rich.

After that, we walked through Chinatown, Little Italy (which is more like a little block, we also stopped for soup dumplings at Shanghai Asian Manor. The usual famous spot is Joe Shanghai, but it’s a touristy spot too. The local’s recommendation is to try the Asian spots around it and they believe the soup dumplings are far superior. And it was.

Soup dumplings are filled with ground pork and cooked until the juices fill the dumpling. You eat them by biting off the tops, adding a little vinegar and then you slurp out the soup before devouring the rest. It’s one of those “appetizers” you can easily make your meal by ordering several trays. Absolutely delicious.

After our “snack,” we headed to Soho did some shopping and then headed home for a quick nap before the evening’s festivities. I am a firm believer in scheduled naps. Ha. Eating and having fun is hard work!

Following our quick power nap (not to mention I was stubbornly fighting a head cold), we went to The Meatball Shop with some good friends. Definitely a unique menu where you can order your meatball in a variety of ways. Any typical dish you’d eat with meatballs, you can order here. In a sandwich, with pasta, risotto, etc and then with a desired sauce. I went classic and got myself meatballs and spaghetti with a spicy meat sauce. Truly excellent. Ate the whole dang thing.

 After dinner, we hit up a boogie rooftop bar called Skylark and then made our way to Brooklyn to humbler dives for a few drinks.

Day 3: Gosh, I feel like we’ve done so much already and we had another full day to do stuff. We started the day with a trip to Central Park and rented biked to ride through the whole park. Probably one of our favorite activities and we got the deal on Groupon.

We felt like kids again. No doubt some of those inclines were challenging, but the weather was so perfect and scenery was breathtaking. So many people were out an about running, walking, biking, and even napping under shaded spots. I loved the bustle. It’s been years since I’d been on a bike and I really loved the fast track tour of the park.

After our bike ride, we were starving. STARVING! Fortunately, we we stumbled on a random street market and grabbed some food. The boyfriend found some cronuts and pretty much ate the whole thing. I barely got a bite in!

We also found the famous Halal Guys. A few years ago, I stayed at the Hilton right next to it and it was a favorite go-to spot for food. The line wasn’t ridiculously long and the food was still as good as I remember.

After popping a squat and inhaling our food, we met up with our friends in Soho once again and walked through Nolita, and toward St. Marks for some additional snacks.

I got an order of Takoyaki, a fried octopus ball with fish flakes and sauce. I usually love takoyaki, but I didn’t think it was cooked very well. Bleh.

Then we tried Milk Bar. The cereal milk flavored soft serve with cereal bits. It was good, but wasn’t quite sure what all the rage was about. After a walking everything off, we headed back for another scheduled nap. It was 4 pm, and we had walked, biked, and ate our fill. A recharge was totally necessary.

Later in the evening, we headed to Boka, a famous Korean spot in St. Marks. It was a delicious experience. Lychee soju, watermlon soju, bon chon or korean fried chicken, and korean version of mapotofu.

Then we concluded our night with barhopping on the Upper East Side. One bar that was really cool was Beauty and Essex. When we arrived to what looked like a convenient store, I was sure this was a mistake. But behind the door, the bar opened into a huge place. It also served as a restaurant with an old 60’s feel to it. Glamourous first and second floor, gigantic bathroom, and mandatory selfies.

A person once told me that I live a very experience-based life. I love trying new things, exploring new place and have a very adventurous spirit. I also love sharing experiences with people and spending a weekend in NYC with friends and the boyfriend was just what I needed. I love the hustle and bustle and the liveliness of the city. I miss the city already and can’t wait to go back soon.