The food in New York. Ah man. Where do I begin?

New York City is a microcosm of the world, where you stumble upon four different ethnic eateries right next to each other.

You name it. New York has it. Mexican, Chinese, Italian, Indian, American… The list goes on. With New York’s diverse population, if you come across the right spot (especially the local areas) the food is pretty damn authentic.

Ok, let’s list the food I would urge you to try. Let’s start with the all American fave’.

NEW YORK PIZZA!

I’m talking about the 1$ cheap takeaway-on-a-napkin kind. None of the gourmet stuff. Thanks to New York’s historic Italian influence, this pizza is just dying to meet you. It isn’t shy of hearty tomato sauce & elastic cheese. Carbtastic and oily as f**k. I love it. You can get it pretty much everywhere in NYC.

NYC Pizza 5/5.

 Another American favourite incoming…

The bagel.

The bagel is a New York institution so I had high hopes for this one.

I opted for salmon, capers, onions and cream cheese filling.

This is a vain picture of me holding a bagel. Yes I know this is lame. I’m expanding my readership to the Korean target market, there seems to be some online trend of watching chicks eat ATM.

 The New York bagel is packed full of flavour. I find bagels in the UK a bit bland.

But overall, I wasn’t massively over the moon about them. I wasn’t craving them afterwards.

New York Bagel 3/5

Next up.

Meatloaf.

I first heard about meatloaf in F.R.I.E.N.D.S and in some other random American TV shows. I’ve always wanted to try it. When I told a New Yorker about my latest life goal, she laughed and said, “…ewww why? That’s gross because we used to eat it in 5th grade and it’s the kind of meal your grandma would force you to eat”.

She accepted my plea and took us to Chat N Chew.

How American is this menu?!

 Meatloaf wasn’t what I expected to be honest — I thought it would have a steak-like texture and shaped like a piece of bread. It’s actually a big stodgy piece of mincey meat. I can see why the Americans eat it — it’s easy to make and makes great convenience food. It’s a bit like pate accompanied by gravy, mash and veg’.

Tineal had some good ole mac ‘n’ cheese. Can’t go wrong with that.

Oh, before I forget: meatloaf 3/5.

Hi battered Oreo.

I love Oreos. I love dipping them in breakfast tea.

 This is my reaction when I discovered these bad boys on the menu.

 Giggling to myself, I tried a battered Oreo.

 It’s so weird. You eat the first one and you’re like, ‘nah, this ain’t right’. And then you eat another and another and you’re like, ‘no actually, this is really good’.

 Crispy batter, warm melt-in-the-mouth biscuits with jammed icing.

 It tastes like the lovechild of a fat chip and a cookie.

 Battered Oreo 4/5.

Ok, so I’m really sorry about the next one. Because I ate it before I could take a picture of it.

It’s a cake from the famous Magnolia Bakery. Yes, I obviously got confused and thought I was in Sex In The City at the time. I licked the cream and then next thing I knew, it was gone. I know. Naughty Monica.

 Magnolia lemon cake 4/5

Magnolia chocolate cake 4/5.

Have you tried any of my favourite NYC eats? Whatdya’ think?

Have I missed any nibbles that you think I should try?

Location: New York

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Dear fellow Brunchers,

I’ve always thought that London did Eggcellent brunch.

But oh no, no no. New York. Brunch in New York. It’s something else.

It makes sense; brunch is a New York institution. I would have had a strop if it wasn’t all cracked up to be. Ha, get it? OK, no more egg y̶o̶l̶k̶s̶ jokes.

Every weekend the NYC streets are jam-packed (on toast) with hungry (Bloody) Mary’s. I love a good melt-in-the-mouth eggs Benedict (my favourite) with creamy avocado on sourdough bread, topped with those hipsters chia seeds and the whole shebang. In London, I’ve noticed that all the little benedicts compete for creativity (dependent on what cafe you decide to go to on your brunch day).

My New Yorker cousin Amy ushered me to a little place called Colonie in Brooklyn.

Best brunch I’ve had by the way.

Amy told me that ‘Bottomless Brunch’ (hehe, bottomless) is very popular. New Yorkers love their breakfast with all-you-can-drink Margaritas, Bloody Marys, Mimosas or Sangria. I physically cannot handle more than one drink (my friends call me one-shot Wong) but who doesn’t love unlimited top-ups of anything?

Amy had the ‘Biscuit Benedict’. Sublime smoked ham & hollandaise, this type of sunshine is just the wake up call you need.

The ‘Mushroom & Asparagus Scramble’ is like a pick & mix bag of breakfast goodies stacked on top of each other. I, of course, opted-in for added chorizo (I was ready to eat my arm that morning). Paired with eggs: it’s crunchy, fluffy, comforting and works well together.

I love Brooklyn: quaint streets lined with inventive restaurants, stylish bars and eclectic shops. It’s just so damn cool.

A typical Brooklyn inventive hipsterish hang-out is Royal Palm.

It’s a retro Shuffleboard bar. It’s got a 60’s vibe and you feel like you’ve walked into an all-American diner/bowling alley.

 I know this is a Brunch post, but I have to share with you this ramen I had in Brooklyn.

The story starts with an octopus salad and a hint of lemon. It ended with a crispy + squishy happy ending.

A generous amount of Pak Choi and a good meat to noodle ratio = happy Monica.

But, the real key to a good ramen is the broth. Spicy and fragrant, it was Souper.

I’ve already shared this waterfront view in Brooklyn with you in my Yellow post. But, I love it so much; here it is again. It doesn’t need much of an explanation so I’ll end this post and leave you to the city.

Brooklyn, you melt my heart.

Your’s truly,

Fellow Bruncher. x

Location: Brooklyn, New York

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