Bites in NYC

What i ate in New York: part 1

It’s been a few days since I got back from New York. I had a bagel every day. I also had a matcha every single day, sometimes twice… no I think I actually did have a matcha twice every single day (which I must say isn’t out of the norm for me). Anyway, I regret nothing.

Main reason I went to New York was for my debut cookbook. There’s a photo of my book on a big screen in Times Square that I still can’t really comprehend , and I’ll write about that part another day. Today is about the food

Two non-negotiables before I landed: a bagel within the first six hours, and a slice of pizza eaten on a curb. Everything else I left open. The best meal in New York is almost always something you didn’t plan… which is why I don’t have pics of half of the food that was consumed… but here’s what I managed to capture.

Bagels

Toasted everything bagel, scallion cream cheese, egg and cheese, and quite a beautiful cheese pull. A solid 8.9/10, shoutout Leon bagel. I ate it on a bench in the sun in a red sweater that was a bit on the thicker side (the weather in NY this week was all over the place, and I just wore what my heart desired by the end of the trip) and thought about how a bagel sandwich is one of the few foods that genuinely improves if you eat it outside, even though this part of the day was quite hot to be in the sweater I was in, but nonetheless it was a delicious bagel, and thankfully the weather got a bit chilly as the day went on and I was very thankful for my sweater. Also, the bagel, I definitely recommend, I went to the Brooklyn location

Another bagel I managed to capture!! Everything bagel again, cream cheese, wonderful slabs of beefsteak tomato, salt, a lot of pepper. My favorite part was the bread itself, a wonderfully made sourdough bagel with incredible texture. I would go back just for the bread alone. Tomato season hadn’t really started yet but with that much salt and pepper on a properly chewy bagel, a tomato will always taste good. Also, this bagel is brought to you by Apollo Bagels 🚕🏙️🥯

Pizza

This might be a big thing to say, I’m not sure because I am not from New York.. but from the 10 slices of pizza I had this trip, this was my favorite slice! Lucia Pizza of SoHo, I will be coming back!! It was a bit unexpected, didn’t set out to go here at all, but it was literally the closest food shop at that moment in time, walked in, and just so extremely pleasantly surprised. Might be my favorite pizza slice I’ve ever had, period

Pad See Ew

Off to Top Thai Vintage on Carmine Street for the most delicious halal Thai food, and genuinely the best Thai food I have ever had. I ordered the pad see ew with beef. Fresh wide cute rice noodles (pad see ew will forever be my fav!!) with egg, Chinese broccoli, black pepper, and sweet soy sauce. For $28, I would 100% say it was so worth it. The flavor was on point in every which way possible, I cannot say enough good. 10/10, and it is so hard for me to give a meal a 10/10

Matcha

I had a matcha every day. Sometimes twice…I love a good matcha latte but I’m only going to share one today, because I was a bit disappointed with the matcha this trip .. NYC what’s going on! The matcha I will highlight is this beautiful iced matcha latte that I got from 12 Matcha !! I also grabbed the matcha cheesecake and a madeleine. (the cheesecake was phenomenal, no notes)

I also love the experience that they give you and you can watch them make your matcha and you get to chat with the barista, but I also love how if you’re a local, you can just ask for it to go and don’t have to watch them make it every time.

Also this is a very popular matcha place from what I understand, I’m grateful that I didn’t experience any lines this trip because I went to NY during the week, and tried to get anything that was deemed “viral” before 12 pm .. because one thing about me, if there’s a line, I will not be standing in it no matter how good the food or latte might be LOL, if I ever encounter a line for a place I might have bookmarked.. I just walk the block until I find another option and most of the time that’s how you find the best spots in general

There was also a soft serve at Koké, a newly opened cafe in Greenwich village. Black sesame with miso caramel running down the swirl. The sesame brought such a wonderful savory element to the soft serve, I love black sesame anything if I’m being completely honest. The miso caramel!! I highly enjoyed, I loved the savoriness of the soft serve with the salty touch from the caramel as well

A brief intermission at Central Park

I sat on a bench in Central Park and quite a beautiful little birdy stared at me for a while… then I realized the birds in Central Park are so used to being fed little crumbs.. he wanted a peck of the tuna toast I ordered from the cafe bar in the park (Le Pain Quotidien). I shared a few crumbs. He took it like he had been expecting it, and flew right off

Swedish candy

I was quite the candy gal growing up, but definitely grew out of it a bit as I got older. But one thing I will always love is vegan Swedish candy. Went into Vannest Swedish Candy on a whim bc it was quite close to Top Thai, and thought it would be nice to get a little bag to enjoy after dinner. I left with a small green paper bag with some wonderful Swedish candies and I was very excited to enjoy it after my meal

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And that’s all for now

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The list of places I want to eat next time is already longer than the list I actually got to, which I think is the only correct way to leave New York.

but that’s all for part 1 !! part 2 is coming your way soon