Food Tour of East Village

We had huge plans for today, but our late night and our hectic schedule caught up with us, and we all slept in. The planned Mafia Tour was called off because of the snow, and it was late, but we were determined to make the most of what was left of the day. We still thought we could get to the Brooklyn Flea Markets before heading off for our second Self-Guided Food Tour, this time of East Village.

Brooklyn Flea Markets

We had a quick "breakfast" at Fresh & Co (we we planning to make it to Shopsins or Clinton Street Baking Co.), and made our way on the subway over to the Brooklyn Flea Markets. For the Winter, they move indoors in Williamsburg and are open on Saturday and Sunday. To get there, we walked to Herald Square, took the R line to Union Square, and then the L line to Bedford Ave. We were only one subway stop out of Manhattan, and its a lovely area that I'm sure is highly sought after. The snow was increasing, and the kids decided it was as good a place as any to have a snow fight.

The markets took up the first floor of a building, and we entered through an innocuous looking set of stairs. Once inside, we were exposed to the hustle of the market, with an eclectic set of stalls selling clothes, furniture, art work, jewelry, old Christmas ornaments, baseball cards, old tools, and everything in between. A quarter of the floor was dedicated to food stalls in their 'Smorgasbord', but we had other plans to fuel or walk today...

What does the fox say? "Worth exploring".

Santacon

We re-traced our steps, and made our way back across to Manhattan on the L line. Our youngest daughter was very excited when someone dressed as Santa sat next to her on the train. Little did we know that there was more of this to come. We got off at 1st Ave, and as we walked down 2nd Ave, we started to see an increasing number of Santas. We initially thought this was a way of celebrating the pre-Christmas snowfalls, but we later learned it was Santacon, an annual festival of excessive drinking in Santa suits. Santas were everywhere on the streets, and most bars were overflowing with Santas - except the occasion empty bar which clearly stated "No Santas!" on the door. We particularly enjoyed this Santa on a bicycle!

Pommes Frites

Since it was already well into the afternoon, our planned food tour had to be cut down from my ambitious plans. Our first stop was Pommes Frites, who serve nothing more than "Authentic Belgian Fries" served in a paper cone and, most importantly, a selection of 30 Dipping Sauces (which they will let you sample to help with your selection). This is a small hole-in-the-wall cafe, with only two booths and bench - so will only seat a dozen or so. The tables have small holes cut in them where you can place your cones. We managed to get one of the booths, and sat down with our selected sauces "Roasted Garlic Mayo" and "Organic Black Truffle Mayo". They were sensational, and our middle daughter - who is the french fry lover in the family - was drooling.

Mighty Quinn's BBQ

I first discovered Southern BBQ, and in particular Pulled Pork, while in Boston at a place called Tennessee’s Real BBQ Real Fast, and I was instantly hooked. I later indulged on my many visits to Austin Texas at places like The County Line, Salt Lick, and Rudy's. So when planning the NYC food tours, I was keen to re-live some of these memories by seeking out the best BBQ in NYC. Mighty Quinn's BBQ came up high on everyone's list, and as it happens, is not far down the road from Pommes Frites. This place is a reasonable size with both individual and communal tables, so we found some benches and stripped off our coats and gloves. I ordered a full serve of Pulled Pork and 'Slaw, and also a small sample of the Brisket for the family to try. One taste of the Brisket, and my wife was back in the line to get a complete order! It all melted in your mouth as real BBQ should and we left wondering if the food tour could possibly get any better.

Before leaving, I stopped at the restrooms and saw three Santas lined up at the urinals. If I didn't fear getting arrested for doing so, I would have taken a photo.

Cafe Habana

Our next stop was Cafe Habana, another hole-in-the-wall cafe with three tables and a bench. We ordered the Mexican styled corn, which is coated with cotija cheese and cayenne pepper, and a Mexican style hot chocolate. As much as I enjoyed the last two stops on our tour, the corn at Cafe Habana left me salivating. We had to get a second serving of corn and a serving of beans and rice before we could leave.

We just have to find the cotija cheese in Sydney to try to replicate this...

Eiline's Special Cheescake

As every good meal ends with dessert, we made the last stop on our reduced tour Eiline's Special Cheesecake, which has won many awards. On route we crossed Houston street, passed many upmarket boutiques, and stepped inside a small gallery selling handmade jewellery and artworks. As the light was fading we struggled to find our destination. When we finally did, we found that Eiline's is tiny - and we found it difficult to squeeze the five of us into the shopfront with calls of "please close the door" coming from behind the counter.

An advantage of having 5 in the family is we can shadow all 3 tables simultaneously, and we managed to get a table again by the time we got our order in. We ordered the Traditional Cheesecake, the Salted Caramel Cheesecake, the Strawberry Cheesecake, and a Cannoli for good measure. Before you judge, remember that there are 5 of us! The Cannoli was disappointing and I've certainly tasted better elsewhere - but all of the Cheesecake's were unbelievably good. The last word on this place goes to our youngest daughter, who took one bite and said "we are so buying more of this!".

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park

This was our last day in NY, and while I was getting tired, the rest of family were not going to stop until they collapsed. So we boarded the subway again at Spring St, took line 6 up to 86th St, and walked through the Upper East Side, along the edge of Central Park, and to the Met. Our visit to the Met made it as far as the gift shop, as finally reality was setting in that we had to catch a plane again tomorrow, and we still had to pack.

After a final snow fight and a few snow angels in Central Park, we made our way back to our hotel, satisfied that we'd made the most of our stay in NYC - but only after one last stop at Macy's on the way!