New York Foodie – Brunch, Lunch & Dinner

As promised I will give you an overview of where I had brunch, lunch and dinner. PLUS: I added some insider tips of fancy food-places, which my friend Anna, who I visited in New York, would recommend! Leave your personal “yummy-places of New York” in the comments!

Brunch

As a friend of mine was in town we went to the Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company on the 8th street (they have a few more stores as well so look up the closest to where you are!). Make sure you bring appetite! Because the portions are huge. They have so many different Bagels, I almost could not believe it and for those who don’t know me – I am pretty bad at making decisions! 😀
The bakeshop by whoops is a lovely little cafe in Brooklyn, which offers everything your sweet heard longs for: ice cream, cookies, macarons, croissant and of course COFFEE!

Lunch

On Sunday Anna and I took a walk through East Village (I love that part of New York!) and stopped at the local92 which is adorable. You get fresh water with lemons and cucumber slights in it (super yummy!) without an extra charge. The waiter was very friendly and the humus was delicious!! You can choose different toppings for the humus and combine it with other side orders.

On Saturday we visited the Brooklyn Food Market, SMORGASBURG which I have to say was OK. I somehow expected more of it. Still I enjoyed the food very much. I choose the OUTERBOROUGH which was very fatty but tasted very yummy! I think that there are more sellers during summer and it maybe is more dance at that spring and summer as there are probably more sellers too.

Dinner

On my first evening Anna and I went to the Ellington, a nice little restaurant near the hostel, not too expensive and the red wine was actually quite good. Another evening we went to first street and just dropped into one of the restaurants in East Village on 1st Ave. At most of those restaurants you´ll need a reservation, but we were lucky and good a table at Nai Tapas Bar and ordered different Tapas and Sangria – it was GREAT!! The price was fair and the service was super dedicated.

The Chelsea Food Market is also worth a visit, I love the concept of offering food from all over the word. They also have a little fresh fish market, different specialized supermarket and other small stores. I also love getting fresh juices and smoothies on the go when shopping or exploring a city, which is very easy in New York, they all were very good!

Annas recommendations for having good food in New York

Brunch 

Jack´s wife Freda: definitive is a must see, hip bistro in Soho. Tip: if you’re more 5 people or more, make sure you do a reservation ahead.

Lunch

Dig Inn: super healthy, fast and yummy food, available for a good price.

Dinner

The Meatball Shop which offers a vast range of variations of traditional meatballs – also vegetarian!

Dim Sum? YES! 
With Vanessas Dumpings you are doing the right choice for sure and if you don´t mind spending a little bit more money try Red Farm, which also offers chinese food and have very good Dim Sum too. The huge shared table is a true experience.

Remember, that if you wanna save some money – this is obviously what the hostel kitchen is made for! Ok, also to meet new people and to chat but mostly to cook your own meal. I twice only had a soup for dinner because I wanted to get a hot dog or “nuts for nuts” later on the street but knew, that this would not make me feel full at all.

Last but not least I would recommend to get the “Time Out New York”  magazine which is handed out – for free at the main metro stations every Thursday, when the new, weekly issue is published. My hostel also had it available at the reception and the even offer a free app for both iPhone and Android. It gives you some insight information about whats up at the city in the upcoming week and where to go to!