Trip to NYC - November/December 2007
Eating and drinking in New York City
A real American steak – Sparks Steak House
When
we planned the trip to NYC this time we agreed that we had to make a
stop at a real All American steak house. There are many to choose from
in NYC and the likes of Peter Luger, Smith & Wollensky etc are names
that pop up all the time. We decided to try out
Sparks Steak
House as it is located in the midtown area (210 East 46th Street).
We didn’t have a reservation but we decided to give it a try anyway. As
we were walking to find the place a guy came up to us and asked us if we
knew where “Sparks Steak House” was located. We were a bit surprised and
sceptical by this coincidence but I told him where it was located and
said that we were going there. It turned out that Owen actually lived in
NYC (1 year) and was on his way to meet his father-in-law for
dinner...maybe he was hoping to not find the restaurant :-).
We managed to get a table...well, we were squeezed in at a table in the bar area. The place was very lively and it seemed to be both a place for a business dinner...and an after hours beer. We were not really dressed up for the occasion but that did not seem to be a problem as the place was more relaxed than e.g. the StripHouse where we ate on our last trip (see trip report from 2004).
The menu was pretty simple and there was of course a lot of focus on the steaks :-) I went for the Steak Fromage which was steak topped with Roquefort cheese and Nikki went for prime sirloin steak. We asked to get the steaks medium done but it seems like Americans like it a bit on the rare side because it was pretty bloody to the core. But that was not really a problem as the steaks were very tender. I’m glad that we didn’t go for any starters as we got stuffed by the steaks and side dishes that we had. The meal cost us 160$ including the mandatory tip. It also included 2 glasses of wine at 15$ per glass.
| Note: As a Norwegian I’m not really used to the whole tipping game. But it seems like they expect about 15% tip. To calculate this easily take the 8% sales tax and double this. |
As good as it gets? – Cheesecake at Junior’s
I
have a bit of a sweet tooth and I do enjoy a good slice of cake. One of
my favourite cakes is the NY style cheese cake and I can actually make a
pretty good homemade cheese cake...I even won the great cheese cake duel
at work in November 2007 :-) The last time I went to NYC I didn’t try
the cheese cake as I was afraid that it would be a bit of a let down.
But after this I have gotten lots of feedback from people saying that I
should try out the cheese cake at
Junior’s
at Grand Central Station.
We
went there one day during lunch hour and we didn’t have any problems
finding the place and getting a table. For lunch I had the Caesar salad
with chicken and it was huge portion but pretty good. Nikki’s club
sandwich was also too large in our opinion. The place is pretty informal
by the way and the food is served on paper plates. After the lunch we
were ready for the main event: the plain cheese cake. And to make a long
story short I have to admit that it was pretty damn good. Very rich,
filling, creamy and with a great taste :-) But don’t expect much when it
comes to the coffee. We tried a cappuccino and that was horrible! The
salad and sandwich was about 11$ each and the meal was 45$ in total
including a 5$ tip.
| Note: there is also a Junior’s branch in the Times Square area. |
A small piece of Italy on 5th Avenue - Otto
pizzeria
The
last time we went to NYC we tried to get a table at Otto Pizzeria
but there was a 1 hour wait and as we were starving we ended up at
Domino’s instead (they have great buffalo wings). We decided to try our
luck again and stopped by after watching Cyrano De Bergerac on Broadway.
We took the subway to Washington Square Park (W 4th St) and from there
we just walked over to the restaurant located on 1 5th Avenue. You will
recognize the place if you check out Will Smith’s new movie “I am
legend”. The streets were very quiet in the area but we managed to find
the restaurant again. It was quite a shock to come inside...it was nice
and warm compared to the brisk cold weather outside and it was very
lively and noisy. It looked pretty full but luckily they did have a
table for us even without a reservation.
Their
wine list is very impressive to say the least - as long you are willing
to cough up enough money. We decided to be a bit modest so we went for a
Campirossi 2004 from Puglia and that was 32$ for a bottle. Nikki decided
to go for various prosciutto for starters while I went for three cheeses
with sweet side dishes. I think I had Pecorino Di Fossa, taleggio and
one more and it is always great with a bit of cheese.
For the main meal I went for the mushroom and taleggio pizza which was
OK while Nikki went for the penne puttanesca (pasta in a spicy tomato
sauce). I was pretty stuffed after the meal but I decided to go for a
small dessert anyway. I tried the affogato which is gelato ice cream
with espresso poured over it. The meal at Otto was 110$ (ca 140$ incl
tip). All in all it was nice to sit down and have a warming Italian meal
with wine on the side but I would not say that it was just like being
back in Italy.
Check out the
Otto pizzeria website for more information and menu.
| Note: If you want to make sure that you will get a table make sure to make a reservation. You can e.g use OpenTable.com . |
A Slow Travel Get together at Roberto Passon
When
we planned our trip to New York City this time, I posted on the
Slow Travel forum
to get some help and ideas with our itinerary. When the members of the
Slow Travel forum found out that we were coming to NYC they suggested a
get together and we decided to meet up at a place called
Roberto Passon. As Slow Travel is mainly focused on Italy it was
only natural that we decided to go for an Italian restaurant :-)
The
restaurant is located on 741 9th Avenue (corner of 50th Street) so we
just took the subway and walked from there. It was freezing that night
so it was great to come inside and into the warmth of this small
restaurant. The place only has about 65 seats (according to the
homepage) so it was pretty crowded. The noise level was also quite high
and it was a bit hard to communicate with others sitting a couple of
seats away from me. I decided to go for the tomato gnocchi to start with
and that was excellent. I do like gnocchi and the sauce was an excellent
combination of tomato and herbs. For the main dish I decided to go for a
classic: osso bucco.
This
is a veal shank that has been boiled for a while so that the meat gets
tender...and in my case the meat was very tender and delicious. When I
managed to dig through the thick and rich sauce I found a nice layer of
saffron risotto (risotto alla Milanese) and this is also one of my
favourites. As we were about 8 around the table we just bought wine by
the bottle and shared this and it was an excellent meal in good company.
To round it of I went for the tirimasu with some coffee. I think we had
to pay about 55 $ per person including tip and that was not bad at all
because it was a great meal. If you need more info check out the
restaurant homepage. Sorry about the bad pictures. The light in the
restaurant was very dim so it was very hard to get the camera to focus.
Thank you to all the Slow Travel members that took the time to meet up. It was great to spend an evening with local people that I have only “met” online.
There are so many places to eat and drink in NYC and there is something for everyone both when it comes to taste and the size of your wallet.
| Note: Did you know you can take food tours in NYC. Search a bit to see what fits your schedule and budget. |