nw3 to nyc

Observations on moving my family across the Atlantic

Category Archives: Food


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In the land of the coupon

So, my take on coupon sites is that the company or organisation selling their wares at a discounted price want to drive new traffic to their business. Treat your new customer with their discount like a king (or queen) and you may get a loyal new customer who returns time after time without a discount. I think I may be being a bit naive here. My experience of the NYC coupon scene is varied, verging on poor and if you read Yelp reviews, I have to wonder why anyone bothers at all.

I’ve taken my $20 for $10 from Amazon Local to a deli to buy lovely smoked fish, bagels etc and been treated like I was trying to rob them and treated appallingly – I’ve not been back, but I did just find another discount there on another site, so I’ll try again, as the food was pretty good. Perhaps they were having a bad day?

I’ve been to the Science Museum out in Queens with my coupon and been treated beautifully, it made no difference to them. I forget I had this one and Amazon helpfully told me it was about to expire, so I could only use half of it in time – beware expiry dates.

I’ve been to my local pizza place, had to walk there and collect (yes, no delivery on this coupon, that was a mistake) and found my coupon code was not on their rag eared list so I had to rely on their largesse. I love their pizza anyway, so it was just a bit of a bonus – no need to get my loyalty, it’s already there Two Boots!

I would buy a coupon for a cheap massage or pedicure but quite frankly I wouldn’t dare. I don’t fancy being treated like crap because the staff think you are a cheapskate, not an experimental customer who may become a loyal customer, and given a terrible experience when such things should be an absolute pleasure. Check out Yelp to see what I mean.

I’ve just bought a Groupon (probably the most well known discount coupon site) to experiment at a vegan (yes, vegan) restaurant nearby that I’ve been curious about for some time but will never get R to visit.  I will lure him with cheap food and allow him to be as insulting as he likes about the lack of meat afterwards. Who knows, maybe we will become loyal customers and give up meat! Fat chance.


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All the way to the end of the Q line

Hot dog! Yes, it is possible to eat 69 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Every year, Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest takes place on Coney Island. Sadly we missed the competition itself, but we did visit Coney Island to admire the results.

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So excited are Nathan’s that they have a digital countdown going until the next competition in July 2014.  Joey “Jaws” Chestnut won this year and is a serial winner of this competition. I only found out about it because when I bought frankfurters in my lovely local butchers they said “they’re the best, Coney Island Franks”. They then proceeded to tell me, with great glee and pride, about the annual hot dog eating competition held on Coney Island and how I should go. I tried to persuade R, but he was having none of it. But today we got here, R queued for 20 minutes to watch inefficient service eventually give him three ‘franks’ and a pretzel dog! Yes, a pretzel dog – it tastes good, just looks like a slightly loose pastry jacket twirled around a pink sausage.

Coney Island is of course not just about scoffing hot dogs. It’s home to a huge fun fair called Luna Park that’s well worth a day out from the closely packed streets of Manhattan. Set off from the board walk it’s a mix of new and old rides, it could be a UK seaside resort but without the fish and chips and not a seagull in sight.

Oh, and the end of the Q line is a very long way from our part of Manhattan, especially on the local line, best bring a snack, but not too much as you’ll not want your hot dog.


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What is a cronut?

At the suggestion of R, I introduce you to the cronut, half croissant, half doughnut with an injection of cream to really up the calorie count. This is a pastry developed by a chef called Dominique Ansel here in New York City. Unleashed on the world on May 10, 2013, I am slightly behind the curve on this one and I suspect R only found out about it because someone mentioned it on Reddit, his favourite website. Anyway, I have researched the artery hardening lovely and found that you have to get to Spring Street, to their bakery, which is way down town in Manhattan. You have to be there around 6am in order to have a chance of getting one, as you have to join the incredibly long queue of pastry diehards. The bakery opens at 8am, they only make 300 and only sell you 2 at a time. So you do the maths to know where in the queue you need to be to be successful.

Whilst I like croissants (I had one from Dean and Deluca only earlier today) and I like doughnuts, I don’t think my dedication stretches this far. I could order 6 by phoning up after 11 on a Monday in the hope of getting them in the next two weeks, but I just can’t be arsed. Check out the Dominique Ansel website to see if you would make the effort.


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A new type of dog

Introducing the Pretzel Dog, combining the salty bready taste of the New York pretzel with the equally salty frankfurter-style sausage. Note that every other item on this menu from a local park fast food van has the calorie content listed, with the cheese pretzel out on top with 510 calories. So if you add the calories of the hot dog at 320 plus the calories of the pretzel at 465 and take a bit off to compensate for the hot dog roll, it’s probably around 680 calories. Worth it? Knowing the calories certainly stops me from snacking in the park!

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Looking forward to coming back

We have just returned from our first foray out of the US, across the border to Canada. Six days in a twilight world that’s not American and not British, but a pleasant hybrid of the two. I discovered Tim Horton’s – a crossbreed cafe somewhere between Dunkin’ Donuts and Greggs the Bakers. I ate the Boston Cream doughnut, a custardy, chocolate covered delight. I struggled with Canadian vowels, where ‘mud’ rhymes with ‘could’ which you discover you buy your toddler a Canadian board book, so you have to adapt when you read it. I scrutinised Canadian currency with its nod to Britain with the Queen’s image firmly ensconced on the coins. And the weather’s just like NW3, all wet, a bit warm but mostly boots and rain coat weather. Kind of comforting. I thought it was telling that I looked forward to returning to NYC with its 30 degree heat where it is warm enough in the evening to stroll around in a t shirt and shorts (not that I have unveiled my knees to NYC yet). I’ll tire of the heat and humidity soon, but for now, it’s good to be back.


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Cheese danish

So my trip to a local cafe went like this:

“Waddaya want?”

“Hot tea, please”.

(I have learnt to ask for hot tea, as opposed to iced tea.)

“Cheese Danish?”

(He looks confused.)

“No. Hot. Tea. Please.”

(The server looks pleadingly to his co-worker.)

“She wants tea. Hot tea.”

(The co-worker looks bemused, just like me.)

“Ah. OK.”

(He’s happy.)

“Yes, hot tea.”

 

(I’m happy.)

I point to the packets of tea behind him. I am relieved to see earl grey (gray here) as an option. I am more relieved to see him put the bag into the cup and then pour the water on. A proper cup of tea.

Really. Since when does ‘hot tea’ sound like ‘cheese Danish’. And more importantly what is a cheese Danish?


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Breakfast doughnut anyone?

I’ve written previously about the preponderance of Dunkin’ Donuts in New York. We have one near us and I visit to buy iced tea and the occasional doughnut. Every item has a calorie count, with the least calorific thing being the hot tea (zero calories) to the tuna melt on a croissant (680 calories). But this must have been beaten into second place with their latest offering: the glazed doughnut sandwich with bacon and a fried egg! I kid you not. No calorie count specified.

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Do your kids eat sushi?

Mine don’t. I was amazed to see a babysitter giving some kids sushi as a snack at the playground next to the Met on Fifth Avenue earlier today. And they ate it without complaint.  Mind you it was from the food hall of the gods, Dean and Deluca, so that might explain it. That’s the Upper East Side of New York for you – the Fifth Avenue side anyway. We had pizza on the way home instead, from the wonderful Two Boots. Much more normal.


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It pays to tip well in New York

Every weekend I loyally go to Fairways for my weekly shop. It’s not quite as good as driving to Sainsbury’s, but I’ve got used to it. I started off by being really friendly to the staff, expecting them to comment on my accent and be nice back. But no, it doesn’t work like that, so I stopped bothering. The staff are helpful but not friendly, they all speak Spanish to each other and pretty much ignore you. On a more positive note they do pack your bags and offer a delivery service.

Today it was raining and cold. I did my thing, wandered around my usual circuit and expected no interaction. I was stunned when the guy who served me on the deli counter asked me if I was Australian or English. He must have served me dozens of times before and now he decides to be friendly and ask a question. The cheese guy corrects my pronunciation of Comte cheese and smiles. What is going on?

At the checkout I witness the woman at the checkout next to me having to justify the type of beans she has bought because the cashier won’t let her use her coupon. She says chick peas are not beans. Come on, give her a break, she wants to save 50 cents or something like that and they are giving her a hard time because it doesn’t say beans on the tin and she has six tins to get the discount. They are mean to her. Then my cashier starts giving me grief because my food is perishable they don’t want to risk delivering it. What? It’s cold outside and raining; they aren’t busy, they usually deliver pretty quick and I’m prepared to take the risk that my milk might go off. It won’t!  Urgh. My unusually pleasant experience is blighted by the perishable policy being invoked. I threaten to use Fresh Direct but they don’t seem to care. They take $85k a week in this store so my dollars are insignificant. I recognise the delivery guy and explain my plight. He says I tip the best in my building, so he’ll take my delivery straight away. It pays to tip well in New York.