I wanted to report back that we had a great trip to New York City. My husband and I spent two nights alone (leaving the kids w/ grandparents in Western MA) and did lots of good eating. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions here. Here is what we did:
On Wednesday we drove down to New Haven, parked, and took the train into the city around 11 AM. We ate a light lunch of sandwiches and salad on the train, saving room for snacks later on! Once we arrived at Grand Central, we immediately took the subway down to Russ & Daughters on Houston. We shared one Super Heebster on an everything bagel (Whitefish and Baked Salmon Salad, Horseradish Dill Cream Cheese, and Wasabi Roe), plus a half sour pickle. Both delicious, eaten on the bench outside the store. From here we walked through the Lower East side, eventually making our way to the hotel (50 Bowery), on the corner of Bowery and Canal. We were able to check into our room early, which was great. We really liked this hotel – good bed, great AC, really great shower, and very close to lots of the food we wanted to eat. We also paid slightly less than we would have paid on the UWS (where we initially planned to stay).
After getting settled, we took the subway up to Stonewall Inn and checked out the museum and walked around. We got a green juice from Joe & The Juice, but then decided to save the rest of our appetite for more snacks elsewhere. We took the train again back to Lower East Side to check out Kopitiam. We were there around 4:20 PM, and the restaurant was very quiet. The best thing was the pandan kaya toast, which was delicious and oozing with kaya. And the lemon tea, which was good. Everything else was just okay. A sticky rice dumpling in banana leaf had bits of undercooked rice on one side (i.e. not steamed properly), and a fried tofu salad w/ jicama was pretty but somewhat lackluster. We also had a curry puff which was good, but had been sitting and wasn’t freshly fried.
Next we walked over to Bánh by Lauren. The staff were lovely, and the space was lovely. We had a pandan honeycomb cake (just okay, a bit dry) and a slice of pandan cake (good). As a regular visitor to the Vietnamese part of Orange County, this bakery wasn’t a huge standout to me, but it might be interesting for folks less familiar with these desserts. I also just tried the honeycomb cake from Berlu in Portland, OR, and it was far better. Maybe what we had at Banh just wasn’t that fresh?
After regrouping at our hotel, we went to see a show on Broadway, and this ended around 9:15. We decided to try our luck at Le French Diner, so we took the subway there, and arrived around 9:30. We put our name on the waitlist, but they said it would be about 30 minutes. So we then decided to head elsewhere instead, and I knew that Souvlaki GR was very close by. We shared some mezze (tzaziki, taramasalata and an eggplant salad), and also an order of moussaka (which was huge!). I hadn’t been to this place before but my mom has eaten at other locations and liked it. Overall, we were impressed, and while Le French Diner would have been fun, we were already tired!
For dessert on the way home, we had some ube soft-serve at Soft Swerve which was delicious!
The next day we ran across to Hudson River Park, and then all the way up to Chelsea. Had breakfast/brunch at Citizens of Chelsea, which we really enjoyed. Shared one breakfast sandwich w/ bacon and also a plate w/ various veggies and avocado toast and eggs. After this, we rented bikes and biked all the way around the southern tip of Manhattan and back to the lower east side. Then back to our hotel to rest and shower!
For lunch, since we were right in Chinatown, we decided to do a little food crawl. First stop was Chang Lai Fishballs Noodles, where we shared one small cup of the noodles and fishballs. It was pretty mild but tasty, and the man there was really nice. Next stop was Yiwanmen a few blocks north on Mott, where we shared one jian bing. Overall good flavor, crispy, and pretty quick. After this, headed around the corner to Yi Ji Shi Mo for an order of fresh rice noodle rolls w/ shrimp and pork. We ordered and the woman said to come back in 25 minutes! So we decided to continue the crawl and then come back. We went into the Mott Street Eatery, and got some cold tofu pudding w/ ginger syrup from the place in the back right corner. Very good. Then we ordered some cold sesame noodles from the Northern Chinese place near the front. The sauc elements were served separately from the noodles, which allowed us to assemble our perfect sauce. Some of the best cold sesame noodles I’ve ever had. Highly recommend, and I think they were only like $7 for a large serving. Finally, we went back for our rice noodle rolls and they were worth the wait. Really tender fresh noodles, fresh fillings, self-service sweet soy sauce on the table, plus some really nice chili sauce. I can see why this place is so popular. Because we shared each item on this food crawl, and ordered small things, this actually wasn’t that much food.
Next we saw another show (Thurs matinee!) and then we had about 1 hour to kill before it was time to head to our reservation at Wayan. We ended up taking the train to the west side of Soho and walking around. We had one kouign amann at Dominique Ansel, and also an espresso. Then eventually headed for an early dinner at Wayan, where we sat at the Chef’s Counter.
Sitting at the counter was OK, but there were some plants partially blocking the view, and the stools were really cumbersome. So I probably wouldn’t bother if I went again, since the back dining room is very nice. Overall, we thought the food was great. Lots of interesting flavors, generous portions, and nice variety. We ordered PLENTY, though when we put in our order, the server was actually encouraging us to order another main instead of one of the sides, which would have been far too much. We had the following:
Combination of three satays: scallop, rock shrimp and lamb. All delicious, each with its own sauce
Escargot rendang: also delicious, great bread served with it. Very tender escargot, lots of butter.
Crispy baby squid: fried in a delicate batter, topped w/ two different sauces. Excellent.
Eggplant Balado: listed as a sidedish, this was an entire eggplant roasted with a sauce. It reminded me of imam biyaldi, but with more Indonesian spices.
Broccoli Tauco: practically an entire head of broccoli, roasted whole. This was the worst dish mainly because the sauce was too salty (and I’m someone who generally loves black bean sauces, even when on the salty side). Also a side, and also huge.
Grilled branzino: Served over a squash puree, perfectly cooked and delicate.
Corn fritter: Another side. Perfectly fried. Extremely good.
Housemade kerupuk: This was a large serving of homemade shrimp chips essentially, with a nice sambal. Somewhat filling actually.
We also each had one cocktail (one alcoholic, one non-alcoholic). They were fine but not memorable.
When we checked our bill, there was a mistake - we had been charged for two fairly expensive glasses of wine that we hadn’t ordered. They fixed the mistake when I asked them, but I was glad I checked carefully. So between this and the pushy waiter, I’d say the service here was just okay, but the food was excellent.
After our dinner, we met up with friends at Soso’s on Centre Street for drinks (more cocktails) and some desserts (nothing astounding). It was a busy day!
On our final morning, we got some takeout rice noodle rolls from Chang Lai, plus some coffee from the hotel lobby. Then we checked out of our hotel, and took the train uptown to the Upper West Side. We picked up bagels at H&H, then swung by Playa Bowls on Broadway for an acai bowl and a smoothie, then to Zabar’s to buy some lox and pastrami and some sandwiches/salads for the train, and then back to Grand Central Station to catch our train. Once in New Haven, we swung by Pepe’s to get a takeout pizza to bring back to Western MA for dinner (and to reward my parents, the babysitters!)
Overall, a very successful food-filled trip. Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions, we had a great time.
