August trip to New York City

I was noticing some things I hadn’t thought of in another
thread, and looking for re-opening insight.

We will be visiting daughter there next month. I’m not sure where we are staying, but daughter works in "Chinatown/little Italy " and seems to be enjoying the food nearby.

Also, our “kids” (including DIL who has never been to NY ) are planning a Harbor Lights Sunset Boat Tour. Any thoughts? Husband and I grew up there ( 60’s-80’s) and might pass, but maybe not.

" Latest COVID Notice
Effective June 16, in accordance with New York State’s announcement, all Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises will be operating with normal capacity, without social distancing or dining restrictions. All passengers are required to wear masks while indoors, except while drinking or eating."

And

“Seats are first-come, first-serve so arrive early! Boarding! Select your perfect seat, inside or out.”

I’m am over “come early” for a good seat and am prone to motion sickness. We could ditch the kids and do something more aligned with our tastes. Any suggestions?

ETA husband says

Sofitel New York

New York City French Luxury Hotel | Sofitel New York |

Our hotel location near Times Square & Grand Central offers iconic high floor views of the Chrysler & Empire State building. Relax, sip some champagne, and dine in our French Restaurant Gaby!

Re-opens August 15.

Thanks for the heads up all! We will be visiting daughter there next week. I’m not sure where we are staying, but daughter works in "Chinatown/little Italy " and seems to be enjoying the food nearby.

Also, our “kids” (including DIL who has never been to NY ) are planning a Harbor Lights Sunset Boat Tour. Any thoughts? Husband and I grew up there ( 60’s-80’s) and might pass, but maybe not.

" Latest COVID Notice
Effective June 16, in accordance with New York State’s announcement, all Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises will be operating with normal capacity, without social distancing or dining restrictions. All passengers are required to wear masks while indoors, except while drinking or eating."

And

“Seats are first-come, first-serve so arrive early! Boarding! Select your perfect seat, inside or out.”

I’m am over “come early” for a good seat and am prone to motion sickness. We could ditch the kids and do something more aligned with our tastes. Any suggestions?

ETA husband says

Re-opens August 15.

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Once you decide where you’re likely to be, and reveal what you like to eat and how much you’re willing to spend, I can make some suggestions. I’m on the Lower East Side, very close to Chinatown and Little Italy, so that’s the area I know best.

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Woohoo! Excited for your trip!

Why don’t you start a new thread - were all dying to give someone travel recs after all this time :joy:

You should stay away from all things that anticipate crowding enough to tell you show up early. Remember that the tourists are domestic, and while nyc is > 70% vaxed, the tourists are not necessarily.

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@shrinkrap - think about what you want food recs for and we can chime in.

If your DIL has never been to nyc, I’m guessing there will be sightseeing, so you may want to align food recs with those locations.

Off the top of my head, you should definitely get indian and chinese food while you’re here. And, of course, bagels. Haha.

Remind us where you’re coming from, and what’s already good there that you don’t need to eat here.

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We will be there something like Monday to Friday, starting very end of Ugust.

Husband and I mostly grew up in NYC, but moved to California in about 1990 and raised our kids there. Daughter has been in NY for a few years, while son and DIL were in Florida, and then Turkey.

We travel with them a lot, but it gets expensive if we want to do the things we usually do when it’s just us.

So this particular night, when they wait for a seat and do circleline, we may want to indulge.

Husband is thinking Craft, which is his tried and true whether we are in LA, Vegas, or NYC, so that says something. He likes predictable food, nothing too "different ". price not a huge deal.

He also likes pizza by the slice, and (Jamaican) patties, which are harder to find here in No Cal, and doesn’t mind coming with us to experiment for casual street food. I’m thinking things done better in Manhattan than the Bay area, but might also explore a manageable piece of the outer boroughs, which is where we grew up and met.

We might also do something other than eating, and are staying at the Softeeil in midtown.

Hmm… think you can do better than Craft - unless it’s memorable for some reason?

You’ve got enough time for rezzies not to be an issue.

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He remembers the menu!

I think most of us also enjoy Italian, or at least Italian Amercan, and maybe old school NY “Chinese”. I seem to recall NY Chinese is different from that in SF.

Craft is a little long in the tooth. But it’s probably still solid, and certainly predictable. For old school Chinese, I’m fond of Congee Village.

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If you’re looking for recs near Chinatown, I really enjoyed a meal with a Chowhound friend at Old Shanghai at Mott & Bayard in Aug 2019 (my last visit to NYC). Not how the food has been lately.

I also enjoyed visiting Kotipiam, which was featured in Bon Appetit shortly after I visited.

https://www.kopitiamnyc.com/menu

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@small_h and @prima , thank you both! When you mentioned chohwhound it reminded me that husband used to say “no Chowhound recommendations!”.

So I’m checking it out.

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My best rec would be to walk a dozen blocks or so north and head to the lower east side. Besides the temples of Jewish food, Katz’s and Russ and Daughters, there is Clinton St. Baking Co. for breakfast, Ivan Ramen or better yet, Pig and Khao for lunch or dinner. If you keep walking a few more blocks there is everything from The Smith for maybe the best burger in the city to Artichoke Basille’s for your by-the-slice pizza.

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Agree with Russ & Daughters (I would try to get into the cafe). I’d recommend Scarr’s (which is in the LES) over Artichoke (which over-expanded and got worse) for pizza. And Nakamura over Ivan for ramen. Clinton St. Baking Company has very good pancakes and a very long wait. So if you’re really into pancakes and waiting, go there. As @Phoenikia recommends, Kopitiam would be a more interesting choice for breakfast (or whatever).

Dhamaka is newish and very well-regarded for Indian food - make a reservation. Ernesto’s is a little less new but just as well-regarded for Spanish food - make a reservation there, too. I’ve had recent excellent meals at both. For a wealth of choice, go to Essex Market, which has many food vendors at ground level and more downstairs. You’ll also find both a wine bar and a beer bar down there - both are great. For classic Chinese, Congee Village or Wu’s Wonton King.

So that’s a start.

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These are great suggestions! I looked at pictures from our last visit in 2018 and realized we spent a lot of time in Brooklyn that year. While we made same Manhattan excursions, looks like we haven’t yet tried most of the above. Thank you!

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Might you be interested in a great neighborhood place in the neighborhood(s) you’ll be visiting? If so, maybe the NYC experts could offer pointers.

Whenever I have visited NYC or Brooklyn folks and they took us to their local hang I have felt transported. None of the places were memorable in themselves. More that I love experiencing a city as someone who lives there would.

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Since it was my trip to NYC which inspired your thread I will chime in a bit. I am NOT a NY C dining resource, unless you are in the mood for a steak/steakhouse experience. If so ask away and I will give you the 411 I have.

You are about 15 blocks from one of if not the nicest roof top bar/lounges in NYC, 230th 5th Ave. I would strongly recommend stopping by for a drink and soaking up the sites. I would say go around sunset, the vista’s are beautiful and you are in the shadow of the Empire State Building which after dark, when the illuminate the ESB, the glow literally illuminates the rooftop bar. Cool place to visit, expensive but honestly worth the visit. (in my opinion) FYI It’s also across the street from the Museum of Sex if that’s of interest. lol (I have yet to visit)

I like the hotel you have chosen, the bar reminds me of the lobby bar of the Waldorf Astoria, which has been closed for renovations. Waldorf is also home to the infamous Bull and Bear Bar a notorious bar for Wall St. big-wigs to go after the closing bell. In another life yours truly was interviewed there by CNBC The Closing Bell after a trip to the Restaurant / Hospitality Convention at the Javits. I took the management of one of my restaurants at the time to the convention then to dinner at Ben and Jack’ s Steakhouse to show them what I was aspiring for at my restaurant/steakhouse We had some time to kill so we had cocktails at the Bull and Bear where we were selected for a segment and I was featured for about 5 mins on the show!! They actually used me as the lead in for the CEO of Pizza Hut !! lol

Anywho…enjoy the trip. Anything I can offer for advice please feel free to ask. If you decide to flee the city to the Jersey Shore hit me up, first drink is on @seal !!!

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I finally made it to Juku for omakase sushi which is in Chinatown. The chef there used to run the sushi bar at 1 or 8 when it was in Williamsburg which was probably one of the top if not top sushi place not in Manhattan. The omakase was $125. Couldn’t sit at the bar but was very good for the price.

I like ramen but I’m really looking forward to soba at Sarashina Horii (in Flatiron) which just opened. Have reservations for next week. I was bereft when Honmura An closed. Got a reprieve when Matsugen opened and crushed when it closed. If you were NYC in the 90s and happened to be a fan of soba, there was no place quite like Honmura An.

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Is that the name of the bar? Sounds like the perfect alternative to the Circle Line.

“yours truly was interviewed there by CNBC”…I’d love to hear more about that.

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Sure! At the same time, most of our visits have been to family and/or Brooklyn and Queens, and therefore we don’t usually spend much time in Manhattan. This might be one of the few times we’ve actually stayed in Manhattan, so I’m thinking it will be mostly mid-town and Chinatown, Little Italy.

Of course Harlem has changed a lot, and we also lived in the Bronx for awhile, and I do love the botanical gardens. Anybody know about those areas?

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I haven’t been up to the Bronx in years (my last visits were Yankees games and 1 visit to the zoo in 1998) but I do plan to visit Arthur Avenue some day! Borgatti’s ravioli , the pastries at some pastry shops and some of the Italian cutlet sandwiches I’ve seen look amazing.

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