Where to Eat in New York City

Some NY city views and four of the best eateries in the Empire State.

Sunny NY! Central Park and uptown Manhattan views from Top of the Rock... in December! 

Destination? New York, NY
Travel Mode? Air Norwegian return flight from London Gatwick to JFK

Time spent here? 7 days

Month? August / December
Stayed at? Doubletree Hilton Financial District (Wall St)

As I now have family in NYC, I visited last summer (2014) for the first time and loved it so much I went back for Christmas holidays (2015). We booked Norwegian flights with STA Travel, and apart from a small mixup with passenger details, I would highly recommend Norwegian for budget transatlantic flights. Their brand new Dreamliner aircraft make for a much more pleasurable flight, and the food was the best airline meal I have eaten. I also appreciated how seriously they took my peanut allergy.

Manhattan lights

I asked around for recommendations from friends and family before we visited the city. 

Of those we tried, here are my NYC Food and Drink Highlights ♡

Abc Kitchen  $$
We had a wonderful Christmas Eve lunch at Abc, where they serve some of the healthiest food I've seen across the US. Abc Kitchen is located in the ground floor of a trendy homeware store in SoHo and serves "new American" food with an accessible menu. The servers are extremely enthusiastic and highly knowledgeable of the market produce. 

Lavo Restaurant NY  $$$

Lavo NY describes itself as a nineteenth century Italian bistro. The decor is stunning and the food exceptional. Reservations are an absolute must, we were there on a tuesday night and it already felt like friday in here. All of the food we had was incredibly rich, decadent and delicious. You might not need to eat for a day afterwards...

Italian food, NY style

Lavo is famous for its speciality dessert, deep fried oreos served with an oreo milkshake. My boyfriend assured me it was delicious. I have never been so full in my life so maybe I'll skip mains and go straight for it next time.

Oreo spectacular

Brunch at Fred's at Barneys $$

Everything that came out of the kitchen here looked (and smelt) wonderful. The atmosphere at brunch is great; I felt like all the tourists stayed downstairs in the department store and Fred's was full of genuine New Yorkers! I would recommend visiting on a sunday as then the menu choice is particularly wide: you can eat lunch, brunch or both!

Brunch steak and eggs - divine

We decided to have dessert as well! Barneys profiteroles.. 5x the size of the usual version and so 5x better.

Tapas at Boqueria Soho $$
A trendy place to meet up with friends and enjoy delicious tapas. The wine list here is excellent. The staff are really clued up on their Spanish wines, which change regularly.

Other picks: if you happen to be in Queens or you fancy a trip over the bridge to look back at Manhattan, the view from the Penthouse bar is great. And don't miss the Sprinkles cupcake ATM off Lexington Avenue!

Quick note on where we stayed: our hotel was not the most centrally located (we stayed in lower Manhattan), but we saved at least £300 by staying in the financial district during the off-peak holiday season. We requested a room with a view and were delighted with the 34th floor room we were given. The hotel also had 4 subway stops within walking distance so it was really easy to get around, and we were really close to the bridges and ferry terminals.

I'm sure I will use NYC as a base when I next go to the USA so if you have any comments/suggestions then let me know! 

With love, Tania xo