Last October,2013, I travelled to NYC with several friends; some were NYC newbies and some weren’t – that is why you see the options in the itinerary. This was my sixth trip in about 12 years. I love NYC! October is a great month to visit with the weather still being relatively mild.
We stayed at the Affinia 50, a reasonably priced midtown east hotel with very large rooms/ bathroom( by NYC standards).
You can see our itinerary above.
Highlights from this trip:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art – why didn’t I do this years ago?
Visiting Flushing, Queens -this is not the same Flushing, Queens the Nanny grew up in! Getting out of the subway here is like stepping into Beijing; everyone and everything is Chinese (at least it seems like it). We followed a self guided Chinese food tour I found on chowhound posted by Kathryn. I enjoyed this tremendously, the picky eaters in the group not so much.
If you’re going to be in Flushing, don’t miss Guang Zhou restaurant for dim sum or Sun Mary Bakery for pastries. I also like Temple Snacks in the Flushing Mall for Taiwanese gua bao. I also don’t see Xian Famous Foods on your list — I assume that cuisine is totally unavailable in France, period.
Here is my typical Flushing walking tour:
- Best North Dumpling (41-42 Main Street) – boiled “aquatic food” dumplings
- Corner 28 duck bun window (40-28 Main St) – duck buns in a mantao
- White Bear (135-02 Roosevelt Ave #5) – wontons
- Zhu Ji Guo Tie (40-52 Main Street is the technical address, but the actual window is on 41st Avenue) – fried dumplings
- Xian Famous Foods in the Golden Mall (41-28 Main Street, stall #36, lower level) – hand pulled noodles with cumin lamb, cumin lamb burger, liang pi
- Chengdu Heaven in the Golden Mall (41-28 Main Street, stall #31, lower level) – dan dan noodles or whatever else looks good
- Temple Snacks in the Flushing Mall (133-31 39th Ave, food court is on bottom floor, located on the way left hand side) – Taiwanese (pork) burger aka gua bao
- Sun Mary Bakery (13357 41st Road) – they specialize in pineapple cake which is more like a Chinese fig newton
- The Xin Jiang BBQ Master at 41st Ave. & Kissena Blvd. for skewered meats
We don’t necessarily hit all of them in one go, but I find snacking your way through Flushing is the way to go.
Seeing “Kinky Boots” on Broadway – everyone must see a Broadway show.
Food tour of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn – I try to experience a different neighborhood each time I go to NYC ; I love seeing the different buildings and people and trying the different foods associated with a neighborhood. We took a Noshwalks tour with Myra Alperson of Brighton Beach aka “Little Odessa” and experienced a lot of Russian food. Love that Russian Food! This was my second tour with Myra and unfortunately, some of our fellow noshwalkers were not so pleasant & a little greedy…..
Pop up dining at Madison Square Eats – Serendipitously, I discovered Madison Square Eats while exploring Chelsea and Soho and the Flatiron district. Pop up dining here features some of NYC’s most popular restaurants, but it only happens for a short time in the fall, so check before you go. I savored the birthday truffle I got from Momfuku milk bar here.
Lunch at The Breslin at The Ace Hotel – I loved the dark ambience here.
East End Bakery Power Walk
Inspired from a chowhound post, we did an east end bakery power walk..
- Momofuku Milk Bar – loved the crack pie
- Black Hound New York – very pretty little cakes
- Chikalicious Dessert Bar – the line was too long here…
- Veniero’s Pastr y-unfortunately, we didn’t make it to this one
- Zucker Bakery – was closed that night
- Butter Lane – very pretty cupcakes
- Sugar Sweet Sunshine Bakery -unfortunately, we didn’t make it to this one
Exploring Park Slope – a fun Brooklyn neighborhood
Okay, now a NYC warning:
We experienced the rude phenomenon of self tipping twice on this trip. Our van driver added a generous self-tip to his fee- we were so taken aback we didn’t know what to do…Pacific Northwesterners are naturally very polite people. Then, our very rude waiter at Katz’s Deli self added a very undeserved $10 tip to our bill. Ugh – don’t go there…..
