Whenever I travel, food is a huge part of the experience for me — and Manhattan did not disappoint. Even though I was there for work, I basically ate my way through the city over the weekend. Now I won’t say these are the best places to eat in Manhattan, but I hit up some popular spots that may or may not have been delicious.
This post is a little food diary of what I ate while staying in Manhattan, NYC — no fancy reviews or anything, just the meals and snacks I actually ate, what I thought, and a few pics.
1. NY Pizza Suprema
No surprise the first one is pizza, because how could you come to New York and not have pizza?! Now I’m no pizza connoisseur but personally it was just too much cheese and too greasy in a bad way. But they are allegedly the #1 spot.
Service-wise, well, its New York and everyone just looks unhappy and sounds mean and have no patience, but that’s just how they are! So make sure you know what you’re going to order right when it’s your turn.
2. Non Solo Piada
THIS IS THE BEST PASTA I EVER HAD AND IM STILL THINKING ABOUT IT REGULARLY. I’m sure there’s great pasta near me in SoCal but why did this place leave such a deep impression on me? I AM a noodle connoisseur and pasta is no exception. It was just so fresh and the pasta wasn’t too over or undercooked, not mushy, just right.
Even the price was really fair. It was about under $20 for most of the pastas and they are quick coming out of the kitchen. The place is small, only a counter inside for ordering, and there’s a small seating area outside on the street, but it was inside a giant tent.
3. Food stall at Grand Bazaar NYC
I hesitated to include this one because it wasn’t really a restaurant or anything. I like thrifting and going to flea markets so I hit up the Grand Bazaar and there was a mom and son duo serving up build-your-own burrito bowls. This was delicious but unfortunately it got cold after a few minutes since it was the winter time. But 10/10 would def eat again.
4. Ralph’s Cafe
Ralph’s Cafe is inside of a Ralph Lauren store, hence the name, if you didn’t notice. Super bougie and full of annoying tourists that wanted the perfect photo for Instagram (I’m annoying tourists).
They were out of carrot cake when I got there, and that was apparently one of the best things there so I opted for a brownie and hot chocolate. I have no clue why I ordered that; I’m not a fan of sweets and both were chocolate. Still good though! Oh, and price is kinda up there for what it is. No surprise there, though.
5. Her Name Is Han
I’m not a huge fan of Korean soups (I know, I’m mostly a hater), but I went here with coworkers so it wasn’t my call. And I’m not really that picky either. This place has a lot of rave reviews and it seemed to be quite popular and packed inside so I can’t say it was bad but… I don’t get the hype, ok?! It was still yummy and I wouldn’t be opposed to going back but hey, I did say this wasn’t going to be the best places to eat in Manhattan!
6. Butter Beer From the Harry Potter Store
I almost didn’t include this one. I don’t even have a proper photo. I went to the Harry Potter story and got a butter beer. And NO, it’s not actually alcoholic. It’s just like a butterscotch flavored root beer.
At first I was like, DANG it’s pretty good! But after like 2 sips I was too flavor fatigued from the strong, overly sweet butterscotch flavor and I couldn’t take it anymore. Sad to say, eventually half of it went in the trash after a week of trying to take a sip everyday.
7. Best Bagel and Coffee
Here’s another iconic one. New York is all about the best bagels right? Now I’m not a bagel person but it was pretty good. Nothing to write home about. I got the lox with wasabi cream cheese, very interesting combo that was actually good! I do think the bagel places here put on way more schmear and stuff than anywhere in Southern California, though.
8. Central Perk
Again we have something from an attraction and not a restaurant. I went to the Central Perk cafe at the Friends Experience. I found this place last minute so no, I didn’t get the tour but I did get this coffee. Well, sorry but I don’t remember what it is exactly. I think it was a snickerdoodle coffee or hot chocolate. I just remember it being too extremely sweet. More of a “what I drank” and not a “what I ate” though.
9. Sergimmo Salumeria
This Italian deli and panini spot is nothing like what we got here in California. They had fresh focaccia bread too, so it’s not your typical subway sub with the airy yet dry ahh bread.
I ordered the Emilia Romagnia which had prosciutto, mozzarella, and pesto. It was super hard to decide what to get and I wish I had time to get another one. Other than Non Solo Piada, this is probably one of the things I’d get FOR SURE if I was in the area again.
10. Gopchang Story BBQ
This KBBQ spot was busy and had great reviews and it definitely lived up to the hype. They have an employee cook everything for you which I hadn’t seen before. There’s a really great selection of organ meats/offal/guts other than the basic normie stuff.
We had intestines and Tteokbokki, and they actually provide a generous amount of raw onion and marinated garlic to eat with the meat, which I don’t see too often at other places, but should become more common. At the end of the BBQ, we got the egg fried rice, which they make for you on the same dish that the BBQ was on, so all the flavor gets soaked up and mixed in to the rice and egg. It was perfect!
11. Mama in Food Gallery 32
This cute Matcha Custard Taiyaki from Mama was a short walk from Gopchang Story BBQ. It’s inside of a small food hall called Food Gallery 32, which mainly consisted of Asian (mostly Korean) foods and desserts. After somewhat of a wait we picked them up in the front where it was insanely crowded. I’m not sure if I would say it was worth it but when in Rome…
12. Filaga in Chelsea Market
In the popular and crowded Chelsea Market, there is this pizza place, Filaga. It’s nothing to rave about but definitely on the fancier side of things. The dough is airy and chewy (in a good way) and they have a bunch of different pizzas to choose from.
I got a slice of the Bufalina (left), and Prosciutto (right) pizza, along with a blood orange soda. I don’t know why I got so full after just one slice. They look so small but were really filling. Both were so good and I wish I could try them all.
The gingerbread house photo was just something on display at the time in Chelsea Market. NO I did not eat all that!!
13. Bambina Blue
Out in SoHo, there’s this little gelato place called Bambina Blue. My friend recommended it (more like hyped it up) so I needed to go. Needless to say, I did not regret it and neither will you! This place has a lot of vegan options too!
I ordered the lychee sorbet and it was amazing. I want to try the others but alas, I only have one stomach and I was in New York solo. There were so many unique flavors to try like pretzel and strawberry cheesecake.
14. Vito’s Ices and Slices
I finally came full circle at the end of my trip and decided to have pizza again as my last meal in Manhattan. Maybe it was because the first place didn’t really satisfy me and I always knew deep down that there was a better pizza for me out there.
Vito’s Ices and Slice sealed the deal for me. Something about this pizza was perfect in every way. It was piping hot and didn’t have too much cheese, but still alotta cheese. They also sprinkled on some mystery stuff before serving it to me and I think that was the secret ingredient. Might’ve been garlic and salt and some herbs but there was a garlicky salty taste to the seasoning and the crust was soft and had a nice crunch on the bottom too. This is one of the things I wish I could eat one more time.
Manhattan, NYC Food Diary Thoughts:
…And that’s what I ate! There’s a lot more out there that I want to try but if I tried them all, I’d have to go back to New York for months and make another food diary entry. Here’s some of those items on my food bucket list:
- Enoteca Maria (Different grandmas cook every time!)
- Jin Mei Dumpling (Cheap and delicious OG dumpling spot)
- 5ive Spice Nolita (Vietnamese fusion food)
- Adel’s Famous Halal Food (Iconic halal food cart)
- Luke’s Lobster (Can’t believe I didn’t have time for this!)
So bookmark this for next time you are thinking about where to eat in New York. Let me know if you can try any of these and if it was any good!
Happy eating, Big J
P.S. Maybe you’re looking for something to eat in San Diego instead? Check out my weekend trip blog on that. Or maybe you want to see what I ate recently in Orange County?
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