Sorry for my sudden disappearance over the past month or so. As
many of you know I took a little break to get married and go on honeymoon. So
from now on “hubby-to-be” shall be referred to as “hubby”.
Coming back from the longest break I’ve ever had (almost a month)
hit me quite hard. I didn’t realise that throwing myself back into work after a
fourteen-hour trip (accompanied by the dreaded jetlag) would be this difficult.
It took me a while to adjust to my normal routine, but here I am, ready to take
on the blogosphere like never before!
Over the next month or so, I’ll occasionally upload a post
with tips for anyone who’s interested in exploring New York City and Toronto (yes, we opted for quite an unusual
honeymoon, but then again, we love culture, art, food and big cities).
Let’s start with our
biggest passion: FOOD!
Best meals in New
York City: Wolfgang’s Steakhouse
(juiciest porterhouse steak ever) and Spice Market (delicious fusion
food, tasty cocktails and a magical atmosphere right by the High Line Park in
the Meatpacking District)
Best meals in Toronto:
Bannock (trendy,
loungy restaurant in the shopping area, try the poutine and the chicken pot
pie!) and The Boiler House (trendy
restaurant in the Distillery District; the food is good, but not spectacular,
but the atmosphere and service make up for that)
Best burgers in New
York City: strangely enough we had the best burgers on Ellis Island (at
the Immigration Museum)
Best burgers in
Toronto: for a quick, casual meal head to Casey’s (don’t forget to try one
of the yummy cocktails)
Biggest letdowns in New
York City: Katz Delicatessen (bland
food, seriously overpriced) and The
Burger Joint at the Parker Méridien (Anthony Bourdain considers this the
best burger joint in NYC; how much did he get paid to say that?! The atmosphere
is nice though, very unusual)
Biggest letdown in
Toronto: Ethiopiques (I was really
eager to try Ethiopian food, but this place was filthy (there was a fly in my
water and hair on my plate, and the walls hadn’t been painted in years), the
service was slow (there were only about ten customers so we don’t really
understand why it took the waitress - we think she doubles as a “wannabe chef” -
half an hour to get us our drinks (oh and she even got our order wrong); the food
was really, really bland (isn’t Ethiopian food supposed to be extremely tasty?) and overall it was a disappointing experience.
How to save on food
in New York City: splurge as much as you can, because New York City has so
much to offer, but if you’re looking to save a few “bucks” try cart food. It’s
tasty and cheap! Another alternative is to buy a salad and drinks at a 24-hour
pharmacy and/or grocery store (try Duane
Reade and the Food Emporium).
Avoid places like TGIF (we tried the
one in Times Square and I must say it was the most disgusting food ever, not to
mention expensive) and Wendy’s (unless you
like greasy, soggy burgers).
How to save on food
in Toronto: we recommend Urban
Eatery, the food court at the Eaton Centre, where you’ll find dozens of
self-service restaurants – sandwiches, pizza, poutine, burgers, salads, Thai,
Chinese, vegetarian… and of course coffee!
Something very peculiar in New York City and Toronto is the fact that restaurants charge a small fortune for bottled water (it took us a few days to understand why no one was drinking bottled water, and why we were paying 8 to 12 dollars a bottle). Restaurants serve free “ice water”, which is basically tap water with ice cubes. You get as many refills as you like and it doesn’t taste all that bad. We used to drink wine and/or cocktails with some ice water on the side.
Best rooftop bar in
New York City: 230 Fifth has it
all: amazing views, delicious drinks and beautiful people
Nice beer pub in Toronto:
enjoy a casual evening (playing board games or pool) with a pint of beer at C’est What
Maltese food in
Toronto: yes, MALTESE pastizzi, Kinnie and other delicacies… at Malta Bake Shop.
Worth a visit if you’re in the area!
That’s it for now. Bon
appétit!
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| The best espresso in NYC @ Eataly |
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| No comment @ some random Canadian supermarket |
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| Junk food with a view @ the Niagara Falls |
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