Having been to NYC before, we have done all the tourist stuff like Central Park, Statue of Liberty, Empire State, 9/11 Museum, shopping, Times Square and more. This blog will not be about those. These are all amazing things to do but you need at least a week to do all of that. Here’s where to visit if you are revisiting or just have a small amount of time like us.

Accomodation 

We stayed in SoHo in an AirBnB because hotels are super expensive. We like Soho for the cool boutique shops, restaurants and cafes and you can easily get a subway uptown or walk, like we did.

Food

Milk

Well known to instagrammers and foodies alike, this small milk bar is famous for its cereal milk and birthday cake ice cream, cookies and crack pie, it is certainly worth a try. Get over to their Brooklyn store, they are offering these flavours in shakes with booze added and they are pretty cheap too. We tried the cereal White Russian with vodka and Kahlua, it’s definitely worth requesting sprinkles on top.

Dominique Ansel

A patisserie like no other. It is famous for cronuts and beautiful patisserie goods. Get in early because they do sell out of the cronuts. You’ll also wait in a line of about 20 Mins or so for everything else.

We tried then frozen s’mores – quite possibly best dessert ever. Frozen cake and chocolate on a stick covered in Marshmallow and torched in front of you. It was delicious! I also had a cookie milk shot which is essentially a soft cookie cup with a chocolate lining on the inside then milk is added. An awesome dessert too. So many good things here, you’ll find it difficult to pick just one.

Supermoon Bakehouse 

Over near the Williamsburg bridge they do pimped croissants, famous for their creamy fillings and artistic toppings

Dr Smood 

A super healthy cafe with protein snacks, juices, salads and other breakfast and lunch meals. There’s also a number of products to go. I tried the hot oatmeal – topped with nuts and dried fruits and also poached pears. I really enjoyed this. It’s also great to see this place recycles.

The Bombay Bread Bar

This is a modern Indian restaurant with a cool fit out. The Bombay Bread Bar delivers their own interpretations of traditional cusine and some great cocktails. Service here was excellent.

The cocktails here were stiff. We tried the ‘Bollywood Swingin’ made with Beefeater gin, bay leaf, lime and passionfruit. Quite nice, bitter taste with a hit of fruity notes. We also shared the Duplex Complex.

The bacon and cheese naan was out of control amazing. We can’t even explain it. You must order this. Like a thin naan filled with cheese and bacon.

Kurt was keen for the monkfish as we don’t get this in oz, but he was sadly told they didn’t have it when he ordered. The fish curry was instead striped bass, the fish was nicely cooked but the curry had no bang or oomph to it, flavours seemed a little underdeveloped.

The Dutch

A cool Bistro with a great drinks list, the sevice at this establishment was on point, allowing a sample of the whisky before purchasing a dram. We ordered a summer crusher cocktail and were sipping away, only to be informed the wrong cocktail was delivered. This turned out to be a blessing as this mystery cocktail we enjoyed more than the actual summer crusher, that was also provided to make up for the error. Having eaten prior to visiting, we ordered a beef tartare to share, a very good version of this dish and we were also impressed with the house made bread, the jalepeno corn bread was the bomb!

Katz Deli

What can we say, this place is a favourite of many for a reason. Grab a ticket and mosey up to the counter, request a sample of the different sandwich meat on offer.

It is almost impossible to go past their pastrami. We ordered the Pastrami Reuben, possibly the best sandwich ever and would usually serve two.

This sandwich was so good, Kurt got very protective of it and almost ordered a second. There is alot of foreplay involved in getting the meat so tender and moist. It is pickled in brine for 3 weeks, smoked for 3 days, boiled for 3 hours, then steamed at the counter and seved in a generous portion.

To do 

Musical lotteries 

Although we didn’t win one this time, sign up for all the lotteries for the musicals. If you win, you buy a ticket at roughly $40 instead of the face value price of the ticket. This is an incredibly good deal. Some shows do this online, others you need to be at the box office 2.5 hours before to put your name in the barrel. Make sure you have your ID.

Sports 

Not really the right season for much sport, but if you go to NYC, be sure to get to a NYC Knick’s basketball game, Rangers hockey game or the Yankees or Mets baseball game. You can also get to Chelsea Pier to participate in some sport, by hitting golf balls toward the Hudson River, stepping into the batting cage for some baseball action, there is an indoor track and a number of courts including basketball and beach volleyball.

Brooklyn

Walk the bridge to Brooklyn via Brooklyn Bridge or Williamsburg bridge for a look around an eclectic area of boutique stores and cafes.

That’s all we could fit in 48 hours – but keep in mind this is a lot. We did walk for about 20kms each day!