That Time I Ate Manhattan

I live in Vermont and I had never been to NYC.  Until this weekend.  We left the kids at home, stayed with a friend in the city, watched Phantom of the Opera on Broadway (when they struck the first chord, I literally started crying tears of joy), and... I ate Manhattan.

I started out with a big cup of coffee at my sister's house in Connecticut.

When we got into the city, my brother-in-law got a lamb gyro from a street vendor.  He let me have a bite.  Or two.  I also had a bite of The Hubby's Italian sausage from the same vendor.  And my sister and I split a soft pretzel with mustard.  No pics of those, but they were so worth it.

We went to look at The Statue of Liberty, and walked through Battery Park.  This bold little squirrel climbed up a guy while we were watching to get some of his food!  This is why you don't feed the animals!

We headed back to Times Square so that The Hubby and I could catch our matinee of Phantom of the Opera (OH ...  MY... GOD) and I got some toasted coconut from a street vendor.  Highly recommended.  Both the show and the snack.

After the show, we stopped into a little deli near Times Square and I got a coffee.  Very nice, and not too expensive.

I also had to stop in for a little treat at a Europa Cafe (they are all over the city) and got a Mississipi Mud Bar.  I ate about half of this and tucked the rest in my purse for later.

A friend (who called herself our Urban Sherpa) met us and brought us into the East Village.  There, we got a sample of some Belgian style french fries with various dipping sauces (may I humbly recommend the Pomegranate Teriyaki Mayo) from Pommes Frites.  From there, we continued on to dinner at Mama's Food Shop, a soul food eatery.  We shared huge mountains of food - you can order a meat and one or two sides, or three sides - and brought a HUGE amount home with us.  I ordered fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, hash browns, radish & feta salad, and zucchini & squash for The Hubbt and I.  One friend got roast chicken and beets, and our Urban Sherpa got macaroni and cheese, butternut squash, and mashed potatoes.  Seriously.  This was too much food.  But it was so very delicious.

I got this one.  Mmmmm.

I almost got this one.

From there, we continued on to Two Boots for pizza.  The Hubby got cheese, but I went a little more exotic with the Bayou Beast.

By now, we were thirsty, so it was on to McSorely's Old Ale house for a pint (or two half pints, as the case may be) of house brewed dark ale.  Yums!

From there, onward so that I could get myself a sushi roll at Sushi Mambo.  I got an Asian Roll, which had, among other things, Asian pear and some tempura crunch.  Seriously ... I could have spent all night there! 

How to decide?

They had me at pistachio...

But there was more food to be had, and it was time for a sweet treat... so we went to the famous Magnolia Bakery, where I got a pistachio cupcake, The Hubby got "the best cheesecake ever," our Urban Sherpa got "oh my god I could eat this all day" banana pudding, and another friend who we picked up along the way got a half dozen cupcakes to bring home.

To end the night, we stopped by Vive la crepe! where I had a dulce de leche crepe (wow), and my friends got a nutella & banana crepe, a nutella crepe, and a butter and sugar crepe.  Yes, please.

Whew.... so that was our day.  But wait, there's more!  We had to catch a 10 AM train back to my sister, but first we needed breakfast, so we picked up bagels at Pick a Bagel, where I got an audaciously purple blueberry bagel with raisin & walnut cream cheese, and The Hubby got an Everything bagel with ridiculously pink strawberry cream cheese.

This shop was not open, but they had so many interesting Japanese sweets, I had to take a picture.... next time.

From there, we walked to Rockefeller Center (I saw Lester Holt through the window!) and went into the lobby of the Empire States Building (but not to the top, since it was bitterly cold and windy), and then to Grand Central Station to catch our train.

Terrible picture, but the knish was wonderful

At Grand Central, I got a mini marble cheesecake at Junior's (took most of this home), and a spinach knish from another place in the concourse (I forget what it was called, but they also had hotdogs...).  Then - homeward!

So that's how I ate Manhattan.  And I can't wait to go back.  I didn't even get to China Town this time!  And there was an Ethiopian place that I saw but didn't go to... so much food, so little time. 

All in all, I would say that I succeeded, because my goal was to eat a little bit in many places throughout the city.  Mission accomplished!