The Conclusion

View Larger Map

Over two days, two people went around town trying new foods and I should suggest that people do this more often- one at a time though to enjoy it more. We traversed the lengths of the city from Coney Island to the Upper West Side- not managing to cover Queens unfortunately. We both learnt valuable lessons and lessons, everyone knows but for some reason forget.

1. People in Brooklyn are friendlier and more humble.
2. Prices in Brooklyn are friendlier as well and you can have a nice hearty meal for less.
3. Don't try to eat on the boardwalk on cold winter morning unless you fancy being attacked by birds.
4. Always go to "neighborhoods"- if you cannot find the place you are looking for, you will probably find something similar and just as good.
5. Walk- helps to digest up the grub but also makes you go through some pretty parts of town you would miss on the subway.
6. Don't tank up on colas- they will bloat you up and take up valuable space that should be kept alone for some solid food.
7. If you negotiate, the chef can actually cook up something rather special for you!
8. The most important lesson of all- avoid Manhattan if you don't want to spend too much money and have more homely cooked food- unless of course, you fancy bitchy service and fancy china.

At the end of a year and half in New York, the thing I most value about it is not what it is most popular for. Apart from crazy places like Coney Island and ferry rides to Ikea, the availability of so many different types of foods from all over the world by the actual people themselves in the more humble neighborhoods is undoubtedly the best thing about the city for me - otherwise its just another city really. Hanifa has grown up in the city and she probably has a different take (it's home after all) but I am glad to have found someone who likes to eat and who appreciates the real good things in life.

From this "great adventure" that was cooked up (pun intended- ha ha :P ) in a matter of few hours, the two things that I have truly gained are- a more gastronomically knowledgeable stomach and a good person as a good friend- a good friend who I hope will be ready for a great eat- especially for the third day of this still incomplete great adventure when I come back to New York!

Belgian fries

View Larger Map

Pommes Frites
123 2nd Ave, New York, NY

One night some time ago, I walked past this place and someone commented - "Best damn fries in new york"...and ofcourse, everything in the big apple seems to be the best anywhere to the people here (and he seemed just another drunk in new york!) so I did not pay much attention. After the chokable artichokes though, I was in the mod for something cooked and Hanifa came up with this one. Kay left us as she wasn't on the top of things having no voice and being slightly out of it so the original team went to this place. A regular size of fries with Mango chutney mayo (!!!) was about $6 with tip...and it filled me up halfway!! I accuse the artichokes to have done that to my body! Anywho, it was the end to our trip and Spanish, Romanian, Ethiopian and Turkish will have to wait for another day. Plus, we reached our target of 50 bucks for all the food we had in the past two days- and there were valuable lessons learnt.
The fries were quite good and fresh as was the quite exotic mayo- but does it deserve the moniker of best fries? I can't be sure as I haven't had many fries but I will play along! :)

Irish Appetizers?

View Larger Map

Mc Cormack's
365 3rd Ave, New York, NY‎

By far the worst place to go in our budget restricted and cool food trip. Nothing seemed right from the very beginning. They made us sit for dinner at 6! Then they tried to guilt us into ordering food by providing bread (would be good service on other days perhaps). They did not give their famed potato pancakes separately which I did not understand why. Then the waitress got all uptight when we ordered only artichoke hearts (as everything else was too pricey or not exotic enough)- she probably was trained to shoo us off and she seemed to show no qualms about that. My system wouldn't allow some lame salad to be forced into it so I retired after two bites and despite the grating waitress, we tipped her good enough- to get to a total of $12!
The place has no charm of the Irish pubs in the east village though the good part are the two huge screens for games but it seems like a confused set up for any pub/restaurant. Is avoidable unless you have too much money to spend on meat and potatoes. And for an atmosphere, may I suggest a visit to the village?

Venezuelean Lunch

View Larger Map

El Cocotero
228 W 18th St, New York, NY‎

So we tried to find a Turkish place called Beyoglu on 31st Street but it was impossible to locate, considering it is located at 81st street and since made that big blunder! After that failure we decided to hit the Venenzuelean place in downtown Chelsea. We ordered a lunch special that wasn't even being offered but we made them switch the meat to shrimp- just for Hanifa (and us). We missed having the Cazon which sounded the most exotic (yes, we absolutely were trying to be tourists!) so instead we got a Miss Venezuela. Despite its name, the latter looked nothing like the beauty queens we are used to seeing from that country- it was like dry wrap, tomatoes stuffed in it with some veggies....hmmmm...The special lunch was quite nice and yummmy though.
What struck me the most appealing about the place was how accommodating the people were there and how patient the waitress was. And also, how nice the bathroom looked! So go for decent food (still pricey though), friendly people and a aesthetically pleasing time in the loo. Oh, the menu was quite nice too!
Total spent? $21.

Hungarian breakfast

View Larger Map

Hungarian Pastry Shop
1030 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY

This morning Kay finally agreed to join us. We arrived a bit late to the place but it was just as well. a small old world coffee shop with really small spaces- so typically Manhattan! The Hungarian coffees were really pricey as were the strudels plus a cookie thingie that sounded Hungarian/exotic, the name of which I believe Hanifa has written down somewhere! The strudels didnt seem as fresh (which explained why Hanifa made a mess of them trying to eat them- or was it just her?) while the cookie seemed cold but not bad.
Go for the ambience... the food and service were okay but the Manhattan prices set us back by $21 (including tip) for the three of us!!

Polish Dinner

View Larger Map

Lomzinianka
646 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, NY

We got here in good time despite having gotten a bit lost and having difficulties talking to a wanting-to-be-helpful Polish shopkeeper but we found it before I was going to use my lifeline of "phone-a-friend". The place is cosy, has a artificial fireplace and some interesting wall pieces including a antler's head- how tasteful that is I am not quite sure.
Here we ran into the problem of making choices as most stuff had meat and I was wondering how my vegetarian friend Chris survived here and actually liked it! The Polish platter that we decided to go for had only the pirogies which were vegetarian and what I tested for Hanifa so that she wouldn't have to sin by eating unfamiliar meat. The sausage and the stuffed cabbage were quite nice actually...and it was accompanied by the omni present mashed potatoes. Oh, we also had some Polish colas which just reminded us of (South Asian) Rooh-Afza! And I stuffed myself to the core cos I think ate for the both of us!
All in all service was fine, food was fine (just scant for vegetarians) and the price for the platter was a steal for sure...with the colas and tip, the bill came up to a measly $12!

Jamaican Pre-dinner?

View Larger Map

Buff Patti
Address:376 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY‎

So we were more or less full from the Steinhof and consequently we decided to walk till Fulton Street G station to digest all that we had over some light conversation (and since we hardly know each other, a good time to catch up?) and through some pretty streets. Then we went searching for Buff Patti and llike an earlier Jamaican place that I had gone, it was quite shabby and non-wannabe. And since we couldn't have meat, we got some Jamaican colas and some vegetables with rice- it had the usual beans, brocolli, carrots and potatoes with some tasty plantains. The colas were quite...filling so to speak and I think we need Hanifa's butcher to supply meat to this place so that we can have some real Jamaican dishes!! The fish looked weird and we didnt want to overshoot our budget so we didnt get anything else. The food was so-so and the bill was $12- and I dont think that we paid any tip.

Tip: Try their chicken curries...I think everyone always talks about those and on an earlier occasion when I had it, it was very good..very Indian!

Austrian Lunch- Cafe Steinhof

View Larger Map

Address: Cafe Steinhof, 422 7th Ave, Brooklyn, NY‎

We got to this place at about 1 or 2- I can't be sure but there weren't many people there. it's a nice cosy place and has a exotic charm- so to speak! We saw that there was a lunch special and it had fish in it so we decided to get it. Since we weren't sure how big the helpings were, we ordered another dish- all veggies. So on the table we had some sort of a fish soup, fish with potatoes and the veggie platter. It was a little too much for both of us and sadly, we had to waste some food there- but everything was very delicious. The soup was nice and creamy and the crispy fish bits won it for me. The veggies weren't bad either.
The waitress was nice and patient. The place looked clean and homely. And the prices were quite reasonable- our grand total - $24 including tip.

Russian Breakfast/Brunch

View Larger Map

Address: Ta/La Brioche | 1073 Brighton Beach Ave, New York, NY, United States

The Russian Bakery was called Ta Brioche Café- I think I would probably be butchering the name but it was a nice cosy place. We went looking for those two other places but did not find them though I think this is what was mentioned as "Sweet Delight Inc" in some forums.
It was the smell of freshly baked cookies that pulled us in. It had really nice freshly baked products and even nicer people. They were helpful, honest and with good humor- the main guy even told us which ones were "American" and not as good as the Russian ones! We had two creamy pastries (still lying in my refrigerator as I write this), two cranberry rolls and three amazing cookie balls which had a creamy, gooey and sinful filling inside the cookie crust- think Ferraro Rocher chocolates with hard cookie shell and creamy filling!!!

It was a chilly morning at around -2 degrees C or under 30 degrees F (?) with a wind blowing through the day. one the boardwalk of Brighton Beach, we nearly got attacked by sea gulls and pigeons for the sumptuous treats but we held our own. Visit them- if not for their delicious baked offerings, maybe for their warm attitude.

Hanifa documenting the pastries while I try to fend off the birdies...













Some of the birdies...look peaceful but don't be fooled...













Goofing around on a chilly morning...that's what we seem to be doing!

Russian Brunch

Russian brunch will kick off things- either Russian Bread Co Inc or the nearby Sweet Delight inc.


View Larger Map

Polish find

Polish Find in Brooklyn in Greenpoint-
http://www.lomzynianka.com/


View Larger Map

Spanish Find

Spanish Find:
Caracas Arepa Bar in the East Village


View Larger Map

Romanian find

A highly recommended Romanian Place- Casa Romana in Queens. All food Romanian or even Maldovan!
http://www.casaromanarestaurant.com/



View Larger Map

The big plan

New York City is associated with bright lights, neck breaking skyscrapers, fast crowds, cramped apartments, sidewalk garbage, broken roads, killer cabs, shallow hearts, rude strangers and wallet emptying prices. However, what gives it a soul is the possibilities when it comes to food. And the island of Manhattan tries its best to serve up as much as it can (albeit way over priced) but the goodness resides in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. And it is this soul that we are trying to find in this gastronomic adventure.


The plan?
To try as many cuisines that are available in the city of New York in 2 to 3 days. These cuisines are those which we haven't had before- so our much beloved Indian food is out of the picture (maybe have it on the extra third day we could extend to)..and possibly Mexican, Chinese, Japanese,Korean....so what does that leave us with?

The team?
So far two South Asians who look nothing like each other- but are sure they are going to have a lot of fun. Hanifa is extremely picky of what she eats and is most probably going to avoid all meats (except fish maybe) in this adventure as we are probably not going to be able to get her butcher to deliver the meat to the different locations. Anuranjan is fully prepared to eat the most unusual food that he sees on the menus but is hoping nothing grosses him out too much like tongues or tails or any of that nonsense! Both hope to be in great shape (=hungry and raring to go) and extremely eager to start this.


The possibilities:

Jamaican- Buff Patty(376 Myrtle Ave@Clermont)

Cuban- Casa Havana

Austrian- Cafe Steinhof(422 7 Ave and 14st)

Serbian

Romanian- Casa Romana (39-20 Queens Blvd (39th st- QUeens blvd)- 7 train//Queens, NY)

Greek

Ethiopian-Ghenet Brooklyn- Douglass st & 4 Ave

Spanish-Caracas Arepa 91 E7th (1st ave) street NY- F,V Train

French

German- Silver Swan- 41 E20 St.

Irish- McCormack's- (365 3RD Ave NY)

Polish - Lomzynianka (646 Manhattan Ave 9 (& Nassau) - G train//Brooklyn, NY)

Swiss

Belgian-Pommes Frites(snack)

Haitian

Hawaiian

Indonesian?

Malaysian?

Filipino-Elvie's Turo-Turo

Venezuelan-El Cocotero(228 W 18th St NY)

Moroccan

Peruvian

Portuguese

Russian - Russian Bread Co Inc or Sweet Delight in Brighton Beach

Turkish- Beyoglu(1431 3rd Ave NY)

Scandinavian

Latin- Big Booty Bread Co

Hungarian-Hungarian Pastry Shop

So, now the stakes have been upped. All this to be done with 50 bucks per head over the two days. Stay tuned for more updates!