New York Eats

There are no other cities like New York City in the US. I love its liveliness. Being out at three o'clock in the morning can seem like eight o'clock at night. It's a city with a lot of diversity as well. I had a great time eating my way through it a few weeks ago.

There seems to be a lot of Japanese presence in the restaurant scenes. Cafe Zaiya (18 E 41st St) near Grand Central is a great place for lunch or afternoon snack. They have all kinds of bento boxes, baked goods, rice balls, and even a Beard Papa stall inside. I was hooked on their rice balls, specifically the spicy tuna ones I went back right before flying out to get a big bag of goodies for the plane ride home. In order to keep the seaweed fresh and crisp, they package them so that the seaweed is in between these plastic sheets. If you go at the right time, these rice balls will still be warm. Delicious.

Men Kui Tei (60 W 56th St, between 5th & 6th Ave) is a tiny tiny ramen shop. Tonkotsu ramen has become my favorite since my recent visit to Seattle's Samurai Ramen. Theirs was not as tasty, but I am not complaining because there are no ramen shops I know of in Atlanta.

Pizzas from John's Pizzeria (278 Bleecker Street) were absolutely something to remember. New York style... thin crust with the right amount of sauce. They were nice to make mine without cheese without looking at me funny. Cheese makes me throw up. I guess it's a taste aversion thing... since as long as I can remember.

I made my round to Forty Carrots (Metro level at Bloomingdale's 1000 3rd Avenue) for their well-known frozen yogurt. It's on the sweet-side for me. I had coffee and chocolate flavors. Their small size was huge. Compared to the Korean yogurt chains, this is more on the sweet side but much better than TCBY, while Korean yogurt chains make frozen yogurt that are more tart. Nevertheless, Forty Carrots still is superior.