Flushing Chinatown

Flushing is at the end of the 7 subway line, a half hour ride from Manhattan. It is home to NYC's largest Chinese population and a vibrant Chinatown. 

When you get off the subway and exit the station, you would be forgiven for thinking that you have been somehow ended up in Shanghai or Guangzhou. Every shop sign is in Mandarin, and here are street vendors, markets, and dinky holes-in-the-wall serving incredibly cheap and good food. 

It's a sensory overload - the humidity, smells, noise, and constant crowding and jostling transporting me back to my visit a China a few years ago. It was then, at a street vendor in Guangzhou that I fell in love with Portuguese custard tarts.

Portuguese custard tarts are incredible, flaky, gooey morsels of yumminess. Reflecting the colonial history Macau, these are a staple of any Cantonese bakery. They are served warm, with a flaky pastry shell contrasting with the eggy, creme brulee-esque filling which is not overly sweet, but enough to allow caremelisation on the top of the tart.

There are so many other cheap snacks to try within a short distance of Main St. Another winner is the $1 Peking duck bun from the aptly named Peking Duck Sandwich Stall. It is a small steamed pancake with crispy-skin roasted duck, spring onions and hoisin sauce. Really simple, but delicious.

Its definitely worth the trip out to Queens to experience the Flushing Chinatown. It's probably not on many tourists' agendas, but its easily accessible from the subway and not far from  Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, home to the US Open, the Mets and the New York Hall of Science.

Pizza!

We've been here for over 2 weeks now, so its time to talk about pizza.

Pizza is both ubiquitous and homogenous in NYC, you can get it everywhere, and its always the same. First of all, it is massive - a typical pizza is the size of car tyre, and single slice covers a dinner plate. The base is always very thin, and the toppings are simple. 

Given its sheer size, the best way to devour a slice is to fold it longways which increases the rigidity of the slice, and thus prevents bending and potential loss of toppings. 

One of the best known pizzerias in the city is Grimaldi's in dumbo (it featured on Aus Masterchef a few seasons ago). It is so well known that there usually is a huge line of tourists waiting to get, which doesn't appeal to me. Luckily, Nic did some research, and next door is Juliana's Pizza. It turns out that the original Grimaldi family sold the business and the name a while back, then got itchy feet and decided to get back into the pizza business and opened up next door!

We ordered a large special no. 1 - mozzarella, scamorza, pancetta, spring onions and while truffle. Very simple flavours, with the thin base not dominating the toppings. We had a side salad which balanced the richness and saltiness of the pizza. The pizzas are made in a huge coal fired brick oven, set at the back of the restaurant in view of all the tables. 

While this place was a bit more expensive, pizza is typically very cheap - a slice is only a few bucks - and given the size you would struggle to eat more than 2 at a sitting. However I have a theory that the price of pizza increases, and quality of the pizza deteriorates the closer you get to Times Square, due to the naivety of tourists and the unscrupulousness of the food vendors in the touristy areas. The best bet is to steer clear of the tourist hotspots, and you can't go wrong.  

Nic risking a shirt full of pizza by not using my folding technique. 

Little Muenster - Lower East Side

I didn't understand the name of this place until we entered, and figured out that muenster is a type of American cheese often used in grilled cheese sandwiches, or as us Aussies call them, Toasties. So now it makes more sense. 

They pretty much just sell toasties - and if that's their strategy then they'd better be good. Luckily they are. There's something refreshing about a place that only does one thing, but does it well.

Really simple - white bread, cheese, a smattering of other fillings, and served with 2 little gherkins. I ordered the 'classic' which contained just muenster and white american cheese, while Nic got the arugula with picked onions. 

There is lots of cheese involved, but the gherkins' sourness balanced the richness of all this cheese nicely. The bread is not too thick, so as not to detract from the fillings, and I think they had been toasted with some butter, which lifts the flavour nicely. 

I might go a bit more adventurous next time as they have some great sounding combinations, like the Poached Pear: pear/stilton blue/walnuts, and the Leek: leek confit/pancetta/gruyere/chèvre. Yep, we'll definitely be back. 

Waffles and Dinges

Waffles and Dinges started out as a food truck serving Belgian waffles the streets of NYC. Its popularity soon grew and more trucks were added. It now has a cafe located in East Village (just a few streets north of our apartment), as well as the distinctive yellow trucks that pop up all around the city.

We were frequent visitors to the trucks on previous visits, and were very excited to discover their bricks and mortar location only a few streets away. Essentially, you get a freshly made waffle with your choice of condiments (dinges, which is Dutch/Flemish for thing) including icecream, cream, specaloos spread, dulce de leche, chocolate, nuts, strawberries - you get the picture. 

The Liege waffles are the go, they are more chewy and probably contain more butter, but that's how they make them taste good I suppose. Being of Dutch heritage, we grew up with specaloos, a shortcrust spiced bickie. The Belgians have taken it one step further and have specaloos specaloos spread, essentially the rich caremelly and lightly spiced flavour that you can spread on your waffle. They also have specaloos icecream which is delicious. 

All in all, it is a pretty epic dessert, and hits the spot after a day on your feet exploring the city. They also do savoury waffles with things like pulled pork and eggs and bacon. We haven't tried these yet, but they would be pretty good brunch options, in a city where it's ok to eat fried chicken and maple glazed bacon at 10am in the morning. 

(This was taken in the toilet, but shows the food trucks in action...)

Ivan Ramen Japanese

A new restaurant just opened up just 2 streets from the apartment. We thought we'd check it out and I'm glad we did!

It's called Ivan Ramen, and surprise surprise - its run by a guy called Ivan, and specialises in Ramen, the Japanese noodle soup dish. I haven't had much Japanese before, so I was looking forward to trying this.

The signage and decor is very eye-catching, with bright colours and a Japanese Manga-esque theme. They also hand make all the noodles on site, which is good to know. 

We ordered the 1000 year old devilled egg and Chinese broccoli for entree. The devilled egg is made with preserved duck egg served inside a hen's egg. I was expecting a pungent, rotten flavour, but it was surprisingly palatable and actually very nice.

For mains, Nic had Lancaster Okonomiyaki, which was on a waffle made of pork scrapple (offally meatloaf), while I had the Tokyo Shio Ramen. The ramen broth was intensely flavoured, and had strips of pork belly poached in the broth, as well as a soft boiled egg. Using chopsticks and the little slurpy spoon forces you to eat slowly, but allows you to enjoy the food more.

The prices were quite reasonable, and the service was excellent. All in all a great dinner, washed down with a couple of Asahis.

Introduction

Nic and I are spending 2 months holidaying/working/studying in New York City. We both love this place, and especially the variety and quality of eating and drinking opportunities. We also both love food and coffee, and this is our attempt to capture our gastronomic experiences during this time.

From the high-end Michelin starred restaurants in midtown, to the cheap and amazing ethnic food in Queens, NYC has an incredibly diverse food culture, reflecting the waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. It is also reasonably cheap to eat out here, with competition keeping the prices honest, and a good USD/AUD exchange rate assisting our Aussie dollar buying power.  

We are based in the lower east side in Manhattan, which is a predominantly residential neighborhood full of bars, restaurants and cafes, and fairly central to all the NYC landmarks and tourist attractions. 

This is our apartment, located on the 6th floor of a new apartment building. It's actually quite roomy by NYC standards.

Our local cafe is Rosella, located about 100m away on Clinton St.

It's a brand new Aussie-run cafe (hence the name I suppose) and does great coffees in the mould of the best Melbourne cafes. And it even has a vertical garden!

Aussies are starting to influence the coffee scene in NYC, with a number of new Aussie-run cafes opening up and offering high quality coffee and a laid back atmosphere.

One of the biggest changes we have noticed in the 5 years since we first visited is the advancement of the coffee culture in the city. Back then, there were only a handful of places in the whole city to get a good coffee, but now it's so much easier to find one.

Although you still need to steer clear of the big chains like Starbucks and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, unless you want a massive, weak and foamy latte...