Dining Around the World

One of the best things about New York (Yes 6 weeks later I am still writing about the same vacation, don’t worry I am almost out of material) is the restaurants. Now I have read that per capita the Twin Cities area actually has more Restaurants per capita than New York or Chicago but the big difference I think is Variety. I have already written about China Town and Little Italy but you can get Italian or basic Asian food anywhere. Therefore two things amazed me while in New York. First was all of the eclectic dining available and the second is the RB was actually willing to try something different and exotic everyday. This was great! I very much enjoyed some experiences that were new to me.

Starting the very first night we tried things that were different. We started out with the rule that we would not eat at any chains or someplace that we could go at home. In time square this actually limited us but once a few blocks away we found great places. The first place we went to was a Brazilian restraint on the west side. We had walked all afternoon and were quite hungry. The restaurant was very nice, decorated in a modern style that was low key with some hanging blue lights. Our table was next to an open door so we were in the shade but still next to the sidewalk action. The food was amazing, black bean soup to start, an authentic Brazilian mixed drink, and then some spiced chicken. They used very different vegetables and sauces and it was very good. I would be willing to try something similar in any town.

While we did try some authentic New York deli, ate some hot dogs from vendors, and ate a couple of typical American meals most of the food we ate had roots elsewhere in the world. We had Tia food in China town and Italian in Little Italy, the Brazilian food the first night, on the east side in a business district we ate at one of the best Indian places I have been, and our last night we had Caribbean at a place the Usher frequents with his kids! Every night we had one plan and ended up doing something else; Caribbean instead of steak, Indian instead of Sea Food. Each place was incredibly unique had a lot of character.

What amazed me more than the variety of the food that I ate was the food that I didn’t eat. Besides the different types I mentioned there were Ethiopian, Greek, Chinese, Sushi, Vegetarian, Steak Houses, Fish Markets, Persian, French, Russian, Pizza shops and other various eateries that we saw and didn’t have time for. It was also interesting that we never had a long wait at any of the establishments, most of the time we just walked in. None of them seemed all that busy. I do have to say that for the variety of dining with in walking/short train ride distance is unmatched in any city. You truly can dine from any cuisine that could be found around the world.