So what does one do, when she is tired, hungry, and alone in New York for 2 nights? She will brave the snow and find her way to Momofuku Milk Bar but then be convinced to stay and eat at Ma Peache! So yes, that basically sums up how I ended up here alone.
I was in NY just for the weekend and dying to get my hands on the Milk Bar cookies so I hit up the Momofuku Milkbar 56th Street. When I got there I was delighted to be greeted by all these cookie choices. It's not often that I come to NY, so I decided to buy one of every cookie to try and enjoy over the next few days.
As I approach to pay, it only just hit me, behind milkbar was Ma Peache. It was 9.30pm on a Friday night and I had no booking so I didn't expect to get a seat but I thought I would try my luck. Fortunately, it worked in my favour that I open my mouth to ask because there was a seat available at the bar. I had worked on average of 12 hours plus for the whole week so I thought "what the hell, YOLO!" and that's how I ended up devouring the following.
To start, I got the chopped salad, this was a twist on the American classic with crab, smoked egg and bleu cheese. It might have been called a starter but it was massive.
Next was the cod fritters which was made using bacalao, chilli and marjoram. This was a little ball of flavour that would explode in your mouth. It was more on the salty side but the more bites you take, the more you get use to it and want more.
The waitress warned me that I didn't need anything else but I insisted on getting the lobster rice as well. This was served in a bamboo holder wrapped in a banana leaf. I was glad I didn't listen to her because this was my favourite dish of the night. I love the intense flavour in the rice. The butter and sesame throughout the rice was heaven. I was so full I couldn't finish it, but I couldn't let it go to waste. I ended up taking away what I couldn't finish and it was still delicious 4 hours later when it was cold and I was back in my hotel room.
For dessert, there was no way I could pass up an opportunity to have the cereal milk soft serve. It was a milky, creamy texture with intense flavours of cornflakes throughout the body of the soft serve and traces of grainy cereal. I loved the crunchy cereal bits on the side and the bottom of the cup. If only I lived closer to this place or they offered it in Australia. I would definitely be a loyal fan.
Overall 17/20 that lobster rice made my trip and together with that soft serve, I can fully appreciate why people rave on about Momofuku in New York. My previous trip to Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney was slightly disappointing but this meal made up for it.
So what is an American experience without a visit to the diner? When I was last in NY, I did exactly that. I did my research and found that the Time Square Diner was one of the more iconic and long standing diners around the Time Square area, since it was a snowing Sunday morning, I used 'avoiding the snow' as an excuse to be a pig at the diner.
The thing that sucks most about traveling alone is dining alone. Options whittle down and you can't share with anyone and the worst thing is..... you look like a bit of a loner at some places where everyone is chatting to someone. Anyway this didn't stop me.
To start my American diner experience I got myself a hot chocolate to defrost. Big chocolately, frothed milk was before my eyes and I devoured the warmness very quickly.
It was hard to narrow it down so I got the loaded Time Square breakfast which was another word for a big breakfast. This came with the option of French toast or pancakes (I picked pancakes), eggs (any way you like), bacon, sausage, ham, hash brown and toast. The buttermilk pancake was fluffy and really hit the spot with maple syrup but it was so big, by the time I was 75% through the pancake I was already stuffed. At this point I haven't even touched the bacon, ham, eggs and toast yet. Hash brown is always good, but these were more of a fried potato hash and not a form single piece of hash brown. The streaky bacon was crispy. This is a lot of food and for $14.95 (USD) I found it to be very good value.
I really should have stopped when I couldn't finish the loaded breakfast but my curiousity got the better of me and I ordered the Time Square burger. This came with a huge juicy patty, mushrooms, relish and bacon. It was greasy but really good.
Overall 14.5/20 I think this place is good for the tourist diner experience. The staff were all very friendly and happy to chat. The menu had a huge selection and well rounded selection for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper.
What is a girl to do when she is alone on Valentine's Day in a city that reminds you about this holiday at every corner you turn to. Well she goes shopping, gets herself a manicure and line up for a burger from Shake Shack.
Shake Shack is renowned for it's famous burgers, I visited the branch on 8th Avenue in the theatre district. I got there around 6pm and the line was out the door. In the blistering cold weather and the snow coming down fast outside, people lined up and like all those other people, I wanted my burger so I joined the queue. Lucky the queue was moving fast and within 25 minutes I was placing my order.
I got the single shack burger, this was the classic cheeseburger. With a soft bun and medium cooked angus patty with cheese perfectly melted on top. I can understand why this place is so famous. The shack sauce along with the tomato and lettuce just tied everything beautifully together. The best part, was this burger wasn't huge so I could eat a second one if I wanted to or just get other things as well.
The cheesy fries caught my eyes as soon as I saw it on the menu. We don't get this on the menu often in Australia, so there was no debating in my mind. The chips were crinkle cut and cooked just right, the sauce was a creamy thick cheddar sauce. It was nice but I had to have a few chips dunked in ketchup along the way to help break down the creamy and cheesiness.
Finally, I decided to skip the drink and went straight for dessert. I got pretzel the concrete, which is what they call an ice custard. It was a chocolate custard with pretzel pieces, chocolate bites, mashmellow and peanut butter sauce. It is all your textbook naughties all mixed together in a cup and it was heaven in every spoon I ate. The flavour compliment each other well. All those toppings can be very rich, but that was combated with an ice cream that wasn't too rich but more creamy to bring the element together.
Since the first visit was so good, I decided to make another visit to try out more of the menu.
This time I got Smoke Shack which had a patty with cheese melted on top, bacon, cherry peppers and shack sauce. The bacon was crispy with a smoky taste to it. Complimented with the sauce and a bit of a kick in the peppers, it was a nice twist to the classic.
This time round, instead of fries I got the ShackMeister dog. This was a dog stacked with cheddar sauce and shallots. I couldn't help myself and added ketchup but it really didn't need the ketchup. This was the perfect snack size for anyone who was feeling peckish. The dog itself was not too heavy and the simplicity of this made it something you can happily eat more than one of.
Since it was my second visit, I decided to be more creative and make my own concrete. I put the chocolate custard with fudge sauce, cheesecake and doughnuts. I got lots of doughnuts and cheesecake in it. Can't say i did a bad job in designing my own, but I did like the predesigned pretzel one more. It had the salty and sweet that mine didn't.
Overall 17/20 I really enjoyed my visit, as you can tell I liked it so much I went twice. The burgers are the right size. If you are starving get 2, if you are just a bit hungry get 1. It was the right level of guilt with the bite and the taste made it a very rewarding experience.
