I'm fairly convinced that most of the reason that Paul dates me is because of his love for all things Americana. We put this love to the test straight away; after seeking a recommendation from our hotel front desk, we found ourselves in front of Sarge's Diner, a delight of all things Jewish on 37th Street and 3rd Avenue in the heart of Murray Hill.
The diner boasted a food contest, award winning pastrami sandwiches and 24-hours of gigantic portions. As we walked in, two men behind the front counter argued about gefilte fish. The couple across the aisle were digging into matzah ball soup. And so we opened the menu to a world of delights. Paul was in heaven.
The next morning, we stumbled into 7-11 for a pre-walk coffee and Paul was confronted with an array of options for coffees, flavoured creamers and types of milk. He practically burst into tears.
And then we found the iconic New York coffee cart and he actually did shed a small tear. Harvey Spectered up, we made our way for 'brunch' with friends.
Brunch turned out to be my surprise Christmas gift to Paul,
Famous Fat Dave's walking tour, a four-hour food jaunt through Lower Manhattan with Dave, a New York native and food enthusiast extraordinaire. Along with a retired couple from South Carolina, we strolled from the West Village to Chinatown to the East Village and back. First stop Faicco's Italian Deli, home of some fine cuts of meat (or so I've been told):
A short walk away, Rocco's Pasticerria greeted us with some freshly made cannolis:
After making another sweet stop in the Heart of Little Italy, we made our way to a hole in the wall known fondly as the 'Pakistani Big Mac Shop.' The name comes from its origins as a bathroom and food pitstop for the city's taxi drivers. No photographic evidence but this might have been Paul's favourite stop.
We eventually made our way to the world-famous Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, a place I frequented in my early NYC days. It's heartening to know some good things never change:
And from there, it was on to the hole in the wall, New York Noodle Town. It looked like a proper Chinese noodle establishment and as we were walking in, Aziz Ansari was walking out. The shrimp wonton were so good that Paul used his spidey senses to navigate us back here a day later.
No NYC food tour would be complete without a proper city slice.
Scarr's Pizza on Orchard Street turned out to be a hipster's delight. It's relatively new and I hope they manage enough business because the slice was serious quality.
Fully laden with food, we made our way to our final eating stop,
Vanessa's Dumpling House, another city institution. We watched as some gently fried potstickers made their way over the counter. And I must admit, they gave proper Chinese dumplings a run for their money.
As we wandered to our last stop for a drink, we passed by Katz's deli, made famous by Meg Ryan's orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally. Unfortunately the queue wrapped around the door and so we continued on.
Final stop, McSorley's Pub, an Irish stronghold from the early days of tenement living. Inside, the pub's sawdust floors and charming proper Irishmen behind the bar made the experience all the more exciting. Established in 1854, the pub holds the award of the city's oldest continually operated saloon.
Thus ended the food tour. You'd think we couldn't possibly be hungry again. And yet, we found ways to wander, walk and then find our stomachs once again. In an attempt to find A Salt and Battery, the West Village's answer to Fish and Chips, we found Porto Rico Importing Company on Bleecker Street. Inside, a world of coffees unveiled themselves.
And later in the week, after an epic walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, we found ourselves at a pizza place just under the bridge. The queue for Grimaldi's wrapped around the building so we had the tasty next door neighbour pizza:
This isn't even all our meals. But to round things off nicely, we ended where we started, sort of. Making our way to the Flatiron Building, we found
Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop, another iconic NYC diner. This time, seeing as it was breakfast time, we paid homage to all those who'd gone past with pancakes and Matzah Ball soup.
Paul geeked out by allowing a mini photo shoot.
And as we wandered our 35,000 steps a day, we wished to eat as diversely and as wonderfully as possible. De-lic-ious.