As we go off the tourist beaten track and head into the Canadian wilderness, I wanted to reflect on the happiness of my stomach!
I had this notion that while on this trip, we would be eating burgers and chips every day. Boy was I wrong. I had completely underestimated the multi cultural background of these giant cities.
From street food (a whole different entity to that which I have encountered in other travels of Asia for example), to Restaurants of all kinds, to hotel breakfasts, to pubs, we have been utterly spoilt.
Now, unfortunately I have no photos of food (shame my sister isn’t with us, she loves to image food). But, I will have a go at describing some of my favourites.
Night 1: Times Square. Shredded Peking Duck crepes from a street vendor. Thick, succulent pieces of duck with plum sauce and fresh crunchy cucumber and spring onion. Teamed with an ice cold beer. Yum.
Day 1: Ellen’s Stardust Diner. Broadway. This place actually didn’t rate that highly for the food but as I have not previously mentioned it, here is as good a place as any. Here we had a traditional American breakfast of Eggs, Bacon and tater tots (kids super happy with that). But, the special bit was the entertainment (another moment when my son’s jaw dropped and his eyes popped out of his head) as the waiters broke into song as they served you. A special highlight was the rendition of Neil Diamond’s ‘Sweet Caroline’ (both kids know this song from school and weirdly enough we have now heard it in several different places on this trip!).
This Diner lost 17 waiters to Broadway shows last year, so you can imagine the quality. Was so much fun!
Day 2: Fresh Strawberries from a street vendor in the middle of Manhattan. Juicy, sweet and plump. The family all agreed one of the best Strawberry experiences ever (and we eat a lot of them!).
Night 4: Sbarro. Times Square. Most amazing Italian buffet. Charged by weight this place had yummy bright fresh salads, pastas, meat (including amazing but heavy meatballs!) and pizza. With a glass of red in hand, I was in heaven.
Night 5: Family Restaurant. Niagara Falls. Baby Back ribs and Buffalo wings. My son’s introduction to baby back ribs. He was actually speechless. He mumbled something about why had we not told him about these before!! (Probably because we don’t see them too often). Also a very funny moment here worth mentioning…….. our son asking our waiter if he could please get Dad drunk so he will spend more money in the Arcade!! The waiter thought it was hilarious and did proceed to constantly offer more beer (although Dad resisted!).
Day 7: Poutine. Street vendor Toronto Waterfront. A local delicacy we had previously been told about, fresh cut chips, gravy and cheese curd. Simple but so good (probably our daughter’s favourite). Perfect while sitting on a wall watching a French speaking rock band!!
In addition to all this we have had huge buffet breakfasts (not every day!), sushi, Thai, burgers and chips (had to be done at some point!) Lebanese kebabs, salads, fruit and ice cream!
The next 10 days we actually have cooking facilities so no doubt my skills in the kitchen will not live up to the last week or so. However, the bank account will be grateful for the break!
SAA
The Travel Bee 