hello new yorkkkk

i just got back from an amazing trip to new york!  a really good friend of mine, manmeet, who now lives in houston doing teach for america has a sister, jaspreet, who is currently doing some rotations in new york.  manmeet and i were able to fly out a visit her for a few days!  it was my first time in new york and i was soo excited to go!  out of all the places in the us, new york was on the top of my list and i can now happily say i've been there!  i had an amazing time there and had quite the food adventure!  

i arrived on tuesday afternoon and took a shuttle to grand central.  there i was able to walk around a little bit and explore before meeting up with manmeet and jaspreet!  i was a little hungry so i munched on a chicken caesar pasta salad.  it was pretty good, i'm usually not a huge fan of cold pasta, but this salad was good!  i waited around a little bit longer and around 7 i was reunited with my baby spoon!!  it was also my first time meeting jaspreet and it was soo nice of her bf to buy us cupcakes!  they were these tiny little cupcakes from a bakery called baked by melissa and boy, were they DELICIOUS!!! there was a cookies and cream cupcake and a smores one.  i'd say my favorite was the smores!!

baked by melissa cupcakes 

all i'm going to say is...why aren't mini cupcakes blowing up in seattle?!?!  this is literally the best idea ever!!! if i'm not able to find a job soon (being a recent graduate and all...and when i say recent i literally mean from like a week ago) i am about to open up my own business of baking mini cupcakes! 

bbq chicken

after catching up a little bit, we headed to dinner.  i'm so bad at directions so i really have no idea where we were when we went to dinner...i think it was somewhere near a mark's street...but that could be really wrong.  anyways we went to this little korean bbq chicken place called boka.  i've only had korean bbq chicken once before at the korean bbq chicken place on the ave and the chicken at boka was AMAZING!!!  we got bbq chicken, half with a spicy sauce and the other half with a garlic soy sauce, friend calamari, and some sushi.  all the food was sooo delicious!   

calamari

korean kimbo roll

on wednesday manmeet and i started our site seeing.  we went to rockefeller center, times square, central park, and even took the staten island ferry (to see the statue of liberty without actually paying).  the nbc store at rockefeller center was probably by far my favorite place.  i am a HUGE office/parks and rec/30 rock fan and that entire store was just made for me!  i wish i could have bought everything in there!  my roommates kelly and theresa are huge fans of those shows too so i wished i could have gotten the whole store for them as well!  bahahah!  for lunch we grabbed some street food hot dogs in times square

manmeet enjoying her hot dog

my street cart hot dog

nachos

after our day of site seeing, manmeet and i met up with jaspreet and we hunted for a good happy hour spot.  we found latitude!  as one yelp review stated..."out of work early on friday = latitude"!  ahahahah!  it was a really cool place and if i lived in new york i would deff be hitting that place up on the regular!  the food was great and the prices pretty good!  the music was also pretty popping! we got some nachos to share - on a side note i have been craving nachos for days!!! and on a real big side note - if you are in the ballard area, the matador has the BEST happy hour nacho special - texas sized nachos for $5!!!  it's sooo good!!!  anyways these nachos were pretty bomb too!  jaspreet and i got the big bleu burger which was soooo delicious!  the onion rings really added an extra crunch!  it was truly a perfect burger!  manmeet got the the skirt steak tacos.  she is s HUGE fan of mexican food...and i think as much as those tacos were good, she still thinks her mom's are the best!  i would agree...as good as restaurant food is...there is nothing quite like a home cooked meal.  overall the food was delicious and the atmosphere of the place was very fun!  if you ever find yourself in new york and are in need of a good solid happy hour....this is deff the place to go! 

big bleu burger -  8 oz burger topped with cheddar cheese, bacon, onion rings, and Blue cheese dressing. served on a fresh roll

mini skirt steak tacos: marinated skirt steak, diced tomato, shredded lettuce and monterey jack cheese, served with chimichurri sauce and sour cream 

candy bar pie

after dinner we headed out to grab dessert at a little cafe in another part of town...again i'm not sure where.  apparently it's pretty famous.  it's called monofuku milk bar.  jaspreet raved about the crack pie, but i ended up getting the candy bar pie.  it had a chocolate crust at the bottom with some sort of peanut butter and caramel center.  the top was covered in chocolate and as you can see in the photo there was a pretzel on top.  the whole thing was absolutely amazing!!! everything just worked soo well together! 

On thursday, manmeet and i went to times square again to see if we could get discounted tickets to a show.  also i learned that broadway is not just one theater...it's just a street with lots of theaters on it.  everything now makes a lot more sense! ahahahah!  we weren't able to get tickets that morning, so we went shopping instead.  later we met up with jaspreet for lunch in madison park (i think) at shake shack.  apparently everyone has heard of the place and has raved about it.  it was my first time hearing about it and it deff lived up to it's hype!  

shake shack

 at lunch we got to meet up with alyssa, one of manmeet's friends from houston!  i've met her a few times when i've visited manmeet in houston, but it was so great getting to see her again!  for lunch i got the 'shroom burger which is a crispy-fried portabella mushroom filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheeses and with a little bit of shacksauce!  it was absolutely DELICIOUS!!! it was probably one of the best burgers i have had ever!!!  

'shroom burger...look at that cheese!!

manmeet's and jaspreeet's burgers

manmeet and jaspreet got the shack burger and shared some fries.  alysssa also got a 'shroom burger.  i got a chocolate milkshake to go along with my burger and it totally hit the spot!  i'm not a huge dick's burgers fan, but i do enjoy their milkshakes and shake shack's was pretty amazing!! i also loved all the outdoor seating!  it wasn't the sunniest day...nothing like wednesday when it was 65 degrees and beautiful out!  but it still beat the freezing cold/snow in seattle!  it was great just getting to sit outside and enjoy a burger, fries, and a shake with some good people in an amazing city!  

after eating lunch we went back to times square to get tickets for rent!  i LOVE rent!  my friend sarah, totally introduced it to me back in high school, and i listened to all the music for years before i actually saw the movie...in college.  when i first bought the movie...i literally watched it every day for 3 weeks...so i guess you could call me a pretty avid fan.  bahahah!  anyways we were able to get some discounted tickets to an off broadway rent show for that night!  we walked around for a while and even got to check out the new york public library which was beautiful!  and totally reminded me of gossip girl!!  after going to the library we headed to dinner at this amazing little italian restaurant!  it was called patzeria family & friends and it was just amazing!  i got the penne with vodka sauce, manmeet got the chicken parmesan (as aziz would say chicky-chicky parm-parm) and jaspreet got something that i don't remember the name of...or took a picture of.  my bad. the whole meal was just delicious and the atmosphere of the restaurant was very calming and intimate. 

my penne with vodka sauce

manmeet's half eaten chicken parmesan 

after dinner we headed to the show.  i was SOOO excited to see it!!  it deff lived up to my expectations and was even better than i imagined!  there were songs i had never even heard.  it was an amazing evening that i will never forget!

chicken and rice

friday, was my last full day in new york.  we started off going to the metropolitan museum of art.  once there we got street cart food, manmeet and i got the chicken and rice and jaspreet got a lamb gyro. 

manmeet eating

 

jaspreet and her gyro

after our lunch we headed into the museum where we met up with alyssa!  i was excited to check out all the artwork at the museum.  i didn't realize how many picasso's or monet's were there!  it was cool getting to see some of the works of art you have known about all your life, in person!  after the met we headed to sodo to experience the shopping there.  i'm not a huge shopper but it was very cool getting to go and check out what new york shopping had to offer!  while there we even got a chance to check out dash!  i've watched keeping up with the kardashians a couple of times but it was pretty awesome going to check out their store.  i mean i'm pretty sure most of the people who go in there just go to look around and then realize that the only people who can afford those clothes are kim kardashian her self...but it was cool getting to at least say i went!  ahahah!  

gnocco fritto

after shopping we went to dinner at this amazing little italian restaurant called bianca's.  it was super tiny and mostly lit by candles but the food was pretty cheap and extremely delicious!  first we had an appetizer of gnocco fritto which were these little fried puffy dough rectangles with a stracchino cheese to dip it in.  for the main course manmeet got the gramigna con salciccia e peperoni which was a pasta with crumbled sausage and red bell peppers.  jaspreet and i ended up getting the tagliolini ai frutti di mare which was pasta with clams, mussels, calamari and shrimp sauteed in garlic olive oil and a lite tomato sauce.  it was absolutely AMAZING!! just thinking about it now is making my mouth water. mmm it was sooo good!  i am all about seafood pasta and this one was by far one of the best i've ever had!  seriously, i know i've recommended a ton of places, but this is one that is definitely worth the wait and you should really check out! 

tagliolini ai frutti di mare

gramigna con salciccia e peperoni

new york treated me well!  i got to spend a few wonderful days with amazing people and go a mouthwatering food adventure!  i will not forget all the fun things i got to do and all the food i got to eat!  i cannot wait till the next time i'll be able to come back to this legendary city!