The Best of New York City

For my first trip to NYC, there were some pretty high expectations, derived mostly from t.v. shows like Friends and Seinfeld or any of the hundreds of famous movies made in this city. After experiencing the gorgeous fall weather, chaotic city life, and delicious and diverse food right around any corner, I have fallen in love with this place.

For this post, I want to focus on giving a few of my favorite places that we visited, starting off with restaurants. In New York, it is pretty hard to get a bad meal, so either way chances are you will be eating well here. But still, it is good to have suggestions, so if you are going to the city any time soon, here were some of the highlights: 

#1: IPPUDO NY 

Hidden behind the busy street life on the outskirts of New York University, this restaurant has the most delicious food with incredible flavors. Known famously for their noodle soup, we had to wait 25 minutes to get a table but it was most definitely worth it. Theres a small menu so here's what you need to know: 

Pick and chose your soup, there are about seven options. I chose the only vegetable based one (the others had pork) and loved it. All the soups are served with noodles but if you want more, say "kae-dama, please". 

My absolute favorite item on the menu was an appetizer, the Hirata Chicken Wings with a special black pepper sauce. Words cannot describe how good these were, so you have to go and test them yourselves!


Aside from amazing food, Ippudo had insanely good
  service, everything on the table was always provided or out of the way when needed and meals were served in record time. The atmosphere here was awesome too, overall its a 5 star restaurant and a must if you're visiting the city.

The address and website below for more details.

65 Fourth Avenue, 
New York, NY 10003 

http://www.ippudony.com

#2 TAMARIND  

Number two on the list is a fabulous Indian restaurant, also around the NYU or Tribeca area.
The food here was made with so many diverse flavors, everything was delicious.

The naan is my personal favorite, I love the warm lightly baked bread and of course it goes perfectly with any of the dishes.


Other than bread, I recommend the Dal Makhni, a lentil dish that has been simmered overnight on a slow fire, creating an intense creamy rich flavor.

99 Hudson Street 
New York, NY 10013
Tel 212-775-9000








Aside from eating, there are a million things to do here in New York City, something I really loved while I was here. Starting with the tourist traps:

Empire State Building 
Only do this if you have the patience to wait in insanely long lines and don't get claustrophobic in elevators. Also this little adventure to the top of a building costs a fortune, its around 100 dollars per person. Here is a picture of the view for free, minus 5 elevator rides:

All in all it was a pretty spectacular view and a good thing to check off the bucket list. One thing I learned the hard way though is that when you are 108 floors higher than ground level, the wind is a LOT stronger so avoid wearing skirts. I almost got blown over twice just getting outside to the observation deck.

Central Park 
Another icon of New York City... we were welcomed here by a screaming man waving around his social security card and yelling explicits in peoples faces. But other than that, the park was a really nice place for our first visit...

Rockefeller Plaza 
This was one of my favorite places in the city, for a couple of reasons. First of all the actual place itself is such an icon, just like Central Park, and it was amazing to see it in person.

We went one step farther, in actually going to see the Today Show Saturday morning. If you plan on doing this here is what you need to know: 

Try and go on a week day, that way you can see the main newscasters, like Al Roker or Savannah Guthrey. And if you do go to one on a week day or more importantly on a Friday (when they usually have concerts/special guests) make sure you arrive early to get a good spot. Depending on the day, I would say earlier than 6:00 to get there and go through security. And if you want to be on T.V make a sign! 

And if you're a Saturday Night Live fan, like me, you can visit the NBC studio and take a tour. But even better, you can attempt to get stand by tickets the Saturday morning before the show at 7:00 a.m, they're sold right outside of the Experience Store.
Visit this website for more details:   http://www.nbc.com/tickets/

Two last things, Dylan's Candy Bar and Henri Bendel. Dylan's Candy Bar is awesome and obviously perfect if you love candy, there is a huge circle of different kinds and you can fill a jar or bag with your favorites. 

Henri Bendel, located right on 5th avenue is also a great store if you like shopping. They don't carry a clothing line anymore, but have many small sellers for miscellaneous products. For example, my new favorite jewelry line, ela rae. They have awesome and unique pieces here. Here's there website: http://elarae.com 

I know this post was a little long but there is so much I wanted to talk about due to the endless amount of things to do in NYC. It is probably one of my new favorite cities and I am so glad I got to experience it!

XOXOXO Rana