Spring NYC Trip 2015

We had a great time in New York City this spring 2015. We started the trip at the Waldorf Astoria for 2 nights on a special winter rate that included $100 resort credit. The hotel was beautiful and historic, our check-in was marred by a room that would not heat up on a cold night so we were upgraded to a nicer room. We tried several food items at this hotel and all were top notch although pricey. We went to the weekend lunch and Oscars for some Waldorf salad and Red velvet cake (2 of the many items that originated here) both were very good, especially the salad, the tea was an odd flavor though.




The Waldorf Salad

This is my Birthday breakfast in the room.

Bull and Bear signature drink Old fashioned and nut mix including wasabi, I thought I would not like this but it was very tasty.


On the second morning I ran down to a local Bagel place called Ess-a-Bagel 831 3rd Ave

Peacock Alley Peacock (cranberry-infused vodka, fresh sour, Marie Brizard apricot brandy

We only ate at a couple of chain places the whole week we were in NYC and one of them was Earl of Sandwich. I am a big fan of this place after trying it in Downtown Disney, (soon to be Disney Springs)

I tried out one of the local franchises called Hale and Hearty soup and sandwiches, I wish we had some of these were I live. They have a variety of fresh soups and sandwich and salad choices.
We stumbled upon the New city Kitchen food court near Times Square. I was looking for a Lukes lobster and found it and a lot more. My whole review can be found here.
http://whatsgoodaroundhere.blogspot.com/2015/05/city-kitchen-nyc.html

I wanted a New York hot dog so I went to a place that the food networks talks a lot about called Papaya King. I have tried Grays Papaya before but I wanted to try the original. I enjoyed the hot dog and the Papaya drink for a low price at this no frills hot dog joint.
Anthony Bourdain raves about Papaya King and he actually worked at the next place we went, here is the scoop on Les Halles below.
http://whatsgoodaroundhere.blogspot.com/2015/05/les-halles-brasserie.html
We had to have some Pizza while in New York. It seems most everywhere here has a delicious slice of pie.

We were walking around Wall Street and found this place and devoured a great slice.

Then on a recommendation we went to Don Filipo’s new Central Park and had more Great Pizza. I went for a non traditional Pesto Chicken slice.
Our next hotel was the Staybridge near Times Square by IHG, This is a nice clean newer hotel with a good free Breakfast buffet and evening meals on weekdays.

On Tuesday I had to try the dinner which was Bratwurst and salad with free beer and wine.

While walking around Times Square we found a Guy Fieri restaurant and had some good Rotisserie Ckicken

I also stopped at the Hard Rock and got a burger. The atmosphere was nice but I found the service and the food lacking.

We used the New York Pass and found it to be a good value for a 5 day trip. We hit most of the big name attractions including the Rock tower by day and the empire State at night. We also did 2 days on the Big bus.
One more stand out place is Fraunces tavern, it is a rebuilt tavern that George Washington used to eat at. I really liked the Pot pie and the Fish and chips. The free bread we could have done without, it was dry and gritty. here is my review below
http://whatsgoodaroundhere.blogspot.com/2015/05/fraunces-tavern-nyc.html



I also found time for some night time snacks and Amys Bread and Schmackary.
Thanks for visiting my site

City Kitchen NYC

City Kitchen is a new food court a block from Times Square that has some great local food choices, the address is at 700 8th Ave, New York.

Lukes lobster has several NYC locations and this was my first time to try it. I watch them break up a whole piece of Lobster on my sandwich and we opted to add some clam chowder as a side, Both were delicious although a little pricey at 17 a sandwich..


There are a ton of dessert choice here. We started with a Donut that was large and in charge.

I came back the next day for a shaved ice cream at Wooly’s, with fresh fruit toppings.

This pretzel cart looked good but we did not have time to try it this trip.

Les Halles Brasserie

This was one of my top choices to visit while in New York City due to the fame it has gained from the celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain , who worked here. I was very happy with the food we received although the waitress took forever to bring our check.
This is the view walking up to the restaurant, We walked past the Empire State building to get here and went back to it to view the city at night.


Here is the bread basket which was good

This is the Salade d’Auvergne, it contains - arugula, endive, bleu d’Auvergne, roasted walnuts and apples with walnut vinaigrette costing $10, we shared this before the steak dinner we also shared. We enjoyed it very much just as we did the rest of the meal.

Here is the star of the meal, the Steak, Frites, Salade for a low  NYC price of 21.00, The frites were the best I have ever had, they are sort of like a french fry coated with a potato chip. and the steak was a large portion and very tender.


We watched another table get this
Bananes Flambées Caramelized bananas, “flambéed” with rum table side (dinner only) $14.50
and had to try it. Our waitress made it by our table.
The only negatives I found were that the tables were so close they had to move them over to fit us between them, also we had a long wait for our check, maybe it was because the wait staff had to cook dessert. I would recommend you try this place when in NYC. there are 2 locations and this is the Park Avenue one.

Fraunces Tavern NYC

You are in for a real treat if you go to Fraunces Tavern in New York City near Wall Street. The is the location that George Washington used to visit, but it has been rebuilt several times due to fire, the last rebuild was 1904.

The atmosphere gives you a real sense of history, here is the leather menu cover. The menu can be found here. http://www.frauncestavern.com/

Here we have the bread which was disappointing in my opinion, this was the only thing we did not like, it had a bitter taste

The fish and chips are large enough to share, the Fish tasted fresh and the chip are large steak fries.

This is the George Washington favorite pot pie, I enjoyed every bit of it.

this is another dining room that was not in use.

Peter D’s of Murfreesboro

Today I tried the new Peter D’s breakfast.
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Peter D’s is a new restaurant started by Peter Demos, It is somewhat upscale for the Murfreesboro area and has high quality fresh food.



This is the Banana Nutella french toast that was done just right



I had the Ham, onion, red pepper, cheese omelet. There were so many omelet choices it was hard to choose (65 of them). This one was good although the onions were a bit strong, I really liked the potatoes also. On of the stars of my meal was the fresh squeezed Orange juice (not pictured)
Next are some pics from dinner on an earlier trip

This is the Ribs


And here is the Chicken Portobello, I hope you like the pics as much as we enjoyed the food.
The menus can be found here
http://www.thepeterds.com/menus

Collins River BBQ Mcminnville, TN

Just a quick note about a BBQ place I found in McMinnville

Located downtown in an old historic section

I had the loaded BBQ baked potato which was good to the last bite.

Not much room inside but it has a nice look to it and good quality bbq, I give it a thumbs up.