This year as I had already been somewhere warm on the cruise (although I wish it had been a week!) I felt like I couldn't really justify going somewhere hot for my birthday (like usual), so instead I opted for somewhere I could eat things I hadn't in a while. Enter New York. Do you guys like NY? I love it. I just love being back in a city that's as busy as can be and I love how noisy it always is; that's just how I like life. Since I hadn't been here since last summer, I had found a bunch of new places online that I was desperate to try, so off we went for 4 days!
Friedman's
We arrived in the morning, and after getting into the city and sorting out the hotel, I discovered there was a Friedman's on the same street! Well, since I knew they did amazing GF fried chicken I managed to persuade people we should have lunch there. I knew I had a big dinner booked, but I was too excited not to go. This time I was here for lunch so I was able to finally try the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich. Well, PRAISE THE LORD it was truly amazing. Fried Chicken in a GF bun, with kale slaw, and a side of habanero honey and herb fries. Dead. I have no idea how they do it, but this sandwich was literally perfection. I would've eaten this for 4 days straight if I wasn't with other people. If you go to NY and don't go here, you're making a mistake. I did manage to get this twice on this trip, but in my defense the second time I was aiming for the brunch, but we had just missed it (due to a bit of a heavy night)!After a day of walking around in glorious sunshine - did I mention that it was 75 degrees on Feb 21st? We then went back to the hotel to have a few cocktails on their roof. The hotel was a couple of blocks down from the Empire State Building at Herald Square, so we were nicely away from the tourists but still in the middle of things and the hotel itself (it was actually a Hyatt) had a beautiful interior and the rooms were large (will definitely be going back here!) It was then time to get ready for my birthday dinner!!! After so much walking I didn't feel too bad about eating again, but I wasn't exceptionally hungry. Unfortunately they had only had space for a booking at either 6.30pm or 9pm, so I had gone with the earlier time.
Tali
Tali itself was justtttt great. I never realized how much I missed being able to try everyone's food on the table - what a novelty it was to do it again! We began with mozzarella sticks, because how could you not? and... they were perfect! I honestly wouldn't have changed a thing. They were chunky and crunchy and filled to the brim with mozzarella. If you go to Tali, you must order these. For my main I ordered the Rigatoni Bolognese because I love rigatoni. The bolognese wasn't as thick as I like it, but still delicious and I was happy with my plate, I just wish I could've eaten more of it! A couple of other people got the penne with brown butter and butternut squash and that was also really tasty. I tried Caleb's Chicken Parmesan and it was unbelievable! Crispy chicken, sweet marinara and spaghetti - what more could you want? I had never had a chicken parm before, and it was everything I wanted it to be. The only thing I will say is don't bother ordering the "garlic bread". It was slices of bread which just tasted burnt (not charred in a good way) and I couldn't taste garlic at all - but perhaps thats because I put heaps of garlic on everything? I don't trust people who don't!
For dessert I ordered the Apple Crostada. The waiter actually brought us the wrong dessert to begin with which after a while he realized and so gave us both on the house - thank you! This dessert was amazing! I would recommend getting this to end your meal. The apple's were tart, the pastry flaky, and the vanilla ice cream was the perfect sweet to add into the mix. Perfection!
The next morning I ventured back down to Tali because the waiter had said they had a bakery next door and I was in the mood for trying pastries! Unfortunately, I was sadly mistaken. After grabbing a yummy juice (hello much needed veggies), I was met with just the usual cookies and muffins and things I can get just anywhere. I grabbed a blueberry muffin to go and then a pot which had lemon cake in it. I didn't eat the pot until a couple of days later and it was actually really good. It had lemon poppyseed cake, something like lemon curd custard and cream - right up my street! So, although disappointed with the spread, I did enjoy the muffin and the pot tremendously.
By Chloe
That day after my disappointing bakery visit, my friends wanted to visit the Rockefeller Center so we walked up towards the tourists! As we were up here, everyone wanted to try By Chloe - a vegan fast food joint. I love to eat veggie or vegan when I can (because vegan & GF is VERY hard) and Chloe's offer the chance to make everything GF too, so I was excited. I ordered the Guac Burger (without the corn salsa, because by now you must know that I HATE corn) and some fries. It was actually really good and I would definitely eat here a bunch if I lived near one. The bun was slightly toasted so it didn't fall apart and my friends said they even preferred my bun to theirs. The burger was made from sweet potatoes and black beans and was right on the money. My two complaints - 1) The fries are pushed really hard down into their container so they seem to become one giant blob of potato. They could do with just making the portion smaller (Sorry America) and leaving room for the fries to breath. And 2) They only offered Beet Ketchup. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but a tomato is definitely vegan, so not sure why normal ketchup wasn't on offer, but I was a little sad about it. I tend to put ketchup on everything (sorry Mum) and although this was good, it was no tomato based sauce. Their chipotle aioli was dynamite though - so make sure to get that to dunk your fries in.Ruby's Cafe
That night...yes we're still on the same day and yes I'm still eating... we went to Ruby's Cafe in the Village. I was looking for a relatively small meal and they completely delivered. This place is Australian (from what I could tell) and I ordered the Creamy Chicken Pasta (without the chicken) and it was so great (sun dried tomatoes, basil, cream sauce). I'm going to try & recreate it at home at some point. The only thing I think could've made the pasta better would have been to perhaps add some fresh spinach? I love spinach in pasta. The portion size was perfect and although their GF option was fusilli, I was really happy it wasn't penne!
We then went to the Eastville Comedy Club were we were (crazily) surprised by Jim Gaffigan turning up to do a quick set testing out new material to 29 people! We were there purely by chance and his name most definitely wasn't on the line up, so we were loving life!
Noglu
The day finally came for me to visit Noglu! Hooray for GF bakeries that make pastries!!!! We travelled all the way up to the Met (quick pit stop to pay homage to Blair and Serena xoxo) and then cut across to this magical place. I bought a Lemon Meringue Tart, 2 x Cream Puffs, 1 Apple Tart and 1 Eclair. I restrained myself. Slightly. Once back at the hotel I took a bite out of each before leaving them in the fridge and eating them bit by bit over the days. HOLYYYYYYYYY the Lemon Tart? Best tart I've ever had & I could happily eat a million of these. Thankfully I don't live here or I'd be 500lbs! Cream puffs were perfect. The eclair wasn't my favourite and the apple tart was tasty, but nothing compared to the lemon. I went kind of late in the day so I'm not sure if that meant I missed other items, so next time I will definitely go earlier and probably still buy 20 lemon tarts. GO HERE!Don Antonios
How could I go to NYC and not head back to this place? Last time I was here I took a chance on this place and it paid off massively! So, I had to return. The most perfect GF base I just don't know how they do it. From the front of the building it looks like a cheap kebab shop, but once you enter the most perfect Italian pizza takes over - don't judge a book by it's cover! This time I went for the Diavolo - hot sopressata, basil, olive oil, fresh mozzarella and tomato sauce. I cannot stress enough how AMAZING this was. Unbelievable. The salami was crispy and actually really spicy (I also added a bit of chili oil so that probably didn't help!) I am in no doubt that next time I'm here, I'm ordering this topping again. Caleb said he preferred my base because it was SO well done. If you want an entire pizza and not just a random NY slice, please give this place a visit. (Side note: last time I was here I created a drink that was now on the menu - with no mention of my name, so whatever, but yay!)Jane Restaurant
Overall, I ate and ate and ate some more. Saw some sights. Ate some more. But I had such positive experiences at all the restaurants, there isn't anywhere I wouldn't tell you to go on the list above. Shockingly, I weighed myself when I got home and had lost weight! Unbelievable. If I had to pick the top of the top, I would say visit Friedman's, Don Antonio and Noglu. Next time I'll be trying out Senza (I wanted to try this too, but it seemed silly as their menu is very similar to Tali), and whatever pops up between now and the next couple of months!
New York, I love you!
xoxo
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