Taking a Bite of the Big Apple | The Sum of Travel
3 Days 28 places eaten
For Labour Day weekend, I found a great deal on a flight to New York. I invited my girlfriend and another friend who was a big foodie. We had one thing in mind there and that was to EAT! I will take you to our great food adventure in NYC, and show you how we took a bite of the Big Apple!
Day 1
We started with Katz’s Delicatessen on the Lower East Side which has been serving up pastrami sandwiches for over a century. This popular spot can get pretty crowded so try to beat the rush by hitting the off peak hours. Their pastrami sandwich was absolutely delicious, with the meat being so juicy and flavourful. Just keep in mind that this is a pretty expensive sandwich at $21.45 USD but the portion size is humongous.
Pastrami Sandwich. 8.5/10
This treat from Taiyaki NYC is popular all over instagram. We decided to see if it was worth the hype. At $7 USD per taiyaki, they load up flavoured ice cream onto a taiyaki (Japanese fish shaped cake). It definitely is a treat where you can show off to all your friends in social media. The taste itself is nothing special. Basically, Do it for the gram, not for your taste buds.
Soft Serve in a Taiyaki. 6.5/10 Joe’s Pizza is your spot for a classing and cheap New York slice. They serve hot, cheesy slices of foldable pizza until into the night. They run about $3-4 USD a slice. To be honest, New York style pizza is not my favourite. I actually prefer Chicago deep dish. Slice of Pepperoni pizza. 7/10
I have always been fascinated in the culture of northwestern region of China, where there is a large influence of Turkish and Muslim cultures. The cuisine also reflect this influence as they use a lot of spices such as cumin, and meats such as lamb. My first exposure was eating the Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles in Soup at Xi’an Famous Foods. The noodles were good, the lamb was tender, however the flavour of the soup was just ok. Maybe, I had too high of an expectation for this place. At about $12 USD, I think its a steep price for a bowl of Chinese noodle soup.
Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles in Soup. 6.5/10
Day 2
For the iconic New York bagels, we headed to Russ & Daughters in the morning. This shop has been serving bagels and lox to locals for over 100 years. I got the bialy sandwich with cream cheese and lox. The lox was mild and melt in your mouth buttery. Along with the flavour of the raw onions, the rich cream cheese and the juicy tomatoes, it made for a glorious breakfast. Just to note, it is a pretty expensive sandwich at around $15 USD depending on what you get.
Bialy with cream cheese and lox. 8.5/10
My friend really wanted to go to HARBS as he saw it in an Eater blog. It is a Western style Japanese cafe, mixing French techniques with Japanese flavours such as red bean and matcha. I tried the Strawberry Mille cake which was super light and airy. The icing was just the right amount of sweetness and complimented well with the fresh strawberries. I also ordered the royal milk tea which was very delicious and creamy. You will have to good money for the service, ambience, and quality of food as each cake is around $8 to $12 USD and a small pot of tea is around $7 to $9 USD.
Strawberry Mille Cake with Royal Milk Tea. 7.5/10
The quintessential burger of New York, the famous Shake Shack is a definite must if you are in New York. This is easily worth the hype. The patty is juicy, and the buns are so soft. The fries are crispy outside and tender inside. Their frozen custards are rich and creamy. It was so good, that we went twice to Shake Shack on this trip! All this costs around $16 USD. Make sure you go here on off peak hours to avoid the long lines.
A Shack Burger, crinkle-cut cheese fries, and frozen custard. 8.5/10
Day 3
We trekked to this area in Brooklyn which seemed like to be in the middle of nowhere for Ichiran, a Japanese restaurant specialized in Tonkotsu Ramen. You can customize your own ramen from the firmness of the noodles to the richness of the broth to the amount of spice and garnish in your soup. The concept is unique as it’s a no talking experience. You’re seated individually with dividers and have minimal interaction with the staff. The ramen has an incredibly strong, rich broth, perfectly cooked noodles, and delicious fatty pork. I also highly recommend the additional side of pork belly as it absolutely melts in your mouth. Be ready to shell out money, as my bill came to $31 USD.
Tonkotsu Ramen with a side of pork belly. 8/10
Instead of a traditional New York steakhouse, we decided to go to Ikinari Steak. This is Japan-based standing steak restaurant chain has made its way to New York. At around $30 USD depending on the cut and size, the steak was delicious, tender and juicy! It comes with numerous garnishes and sides that they have such as corn, onions, garlic pepper rice. There is also an array of sauces and dressings to choose from to add to your meat.
Assorted Steak with Garlic and Onions. 7/10
This 24-hour East Village mainstay, Veselka has been serving up traditional Ukrainian food since 1954. It has a great ambience and is a great place to hang out and eat. They have different kinds of pierogis, from the usual cheese to other unique fillings such as short rib and buffalo chicken. They also give you an option of boiled or deep fried. The pierogis are pretty good but kinda pricey at $11 USD for 7 pieces.
Cheese and buffalo chicken pierogi. 7/10
We also tried
- Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream
- Bubble tea from Boba Guys
- Korean Fried Chicken from Bon Chon chicken
- Takoyaki from Otafuku x Medetai
- Clam Chowder from Cull and Pistol
- Shisha at Cloister Cafe
- Mandoos from Mandoo Bar
- An enormous soup dumpling from the Drunken Dumpling
- Cheesecake tarts from Eileen’s Special Cheesecake
- 375° Thrice Cooked Fries
And things we did in between eating:
Bonus vlog footage:
The three day trip cost each person $ 862.25 CAD. As you can see below, we did not hold back spending on food, as food made up the largest chunk of the whole trip’s budget. What was nice for a group of three is that we were able to share the food that we bought and split the cost of the AirBnB. New York is an expensive city to visit, but its an amazing place to visit regardless!
| Categories | $ (CAD) |
|---|---|
| Total | 862.25 |
| Flights | 241.92 |
| Food & Drinks | 296.06 |
| Subway | 15.91 |
| AirBnB | 208.80 |
| Other | 25.27 |
| Uber | 27.01 |
| Whitney Museum | 31.05 |
| Bike Rental | 16.23 |
Top 5 Eats in Boston | The Sum of Travel
October 18, 2018 by maximios • Tourism
On my trip to Boston in May 2018, I got to eat a fair share of what the Boston food scene has to offer. In this list, I will share you my top 5 eats in Boston!
1. Oysters and Lobster Roll at Neptune Oyster
In the city filled with seafood, the best I had was from Neptune Oyster. It looks like I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Lines were already forming before they even opened. We had to wait another 30 minutes after the restaurant opened to get a seat.
We ordered their infamous lobster roll and oysters. There is an option of ordering lobster rolls two ways; hot with butter or cold with mayonnaise. I went with the former as I have never tried lobster rolls hot and was interested on how they would be. The lobster roll tasted amazing. They use meaty chunks of lobster and covered it with a good amount of butter. The lobster roll came to $29 USD but I think it was definitely worth it. The oysters were also super fresh, sweet and buttery! The oysters range around $2.50 USD to $5 USD per piece in price.
Hot Lobster Roll. 9/10 Fresh Oysters. 9/10
2. Seafood feast at Yankee Lobster
Situated in Boston’s Seaport, Yankee Lobster is another place with a long lineup! This time, we saved time and ordered take out and planned to eat right in front of the water. We got the 1 1/4 lb. Lobster, Combo One seafood platter (fish, shrimp, calamari), and the lobster mac and cheese. It was pretty cool experience eating all the seafood with the sea right in front of you. I’m usually not a big fan of mac and cheese, but the lobster mac and cheese was really good. I found the food to be pricey as all of the food came to $67.38 USD with tax and tip
Steamed Lobster, Fried Seafood Platter (Calamari, fish, shrimp) and Lobster Mac and Cheese. 9/10
3. Hummus Bowl at Tahaza
This gem in Cambridge is like if Chipotle served of Mediterranean food. They have a variety of flavored hummus such as Beet, Sriracha, and Cilantro-Jalapeño. Along with the hummus, you can add brown rice, a protein, and different kinds of vegetables. This tasty, healthy, well-rounded meal full of flavor can be had for a reasonable $9.90 USD. We luckily stumbled upon this restaurant due to its proximity with our AirBnb location.
Hummus Bowl. 9/10
4. Cannolis and Boston Cream Pie from Mike’s Pastry
You can find their take out boxes being carried around all over the city. We went to Mike’s Pastry original store located in Boston’s Italian North End. They are known for their cannolis and other baked goods. Their cannolis come in different flavours, ranging from chocolate chip to amaretto. We got the original and it was decadent with a nice crunchy shell. The Boston Cream pie (more like cake) was pretty good as the chocolate ganache mixed well with the pastry cream. Both the cannoli and the pie came to $6.50 USD.
Boston Cream Pie and Original Cannoli. 8/10
5. Banana Pudding at Magnolia Bakery
I didn’t expect anything when we bought banana pudding from a bakery in Quincy Market. But Wow! This banana pudding was amazingly good. It had chunks of fresh banana, with loads of bread and pudding. It tasted very fluffy and creamy. They also offer a Boston cream pie version which we unfortunately didn’t get to try. You can expect long lines at this bakery just like many places in Quincy Market and it is pretty expensive at $4.25 USD for a small (pictured below)
Banana Pudding. 8/10
Honorable mentions
If you have been to Boston, I would like to know your top 5 eats in Boston!