New York
Arrived in New York quite late - around 7 pm. It was a bit of a nightmare getting to the hotel as I had to get the metro. I was staying at a Holiday Inn and it didn't have a restaurant. Luckily there was a Chipotle.
We have Chipotle in the UK but it isn't as good as the US. I was working remotely from the hotel for 2 days and having one around the corner helped. There is nothing in Chipotle that has eggs in and it was cheap (meaning I could save my food allowance for a decent dinner).
I was in New York from Saturday - to Wednesday. Sunday was a free day as we have a mandatory rest day when changing time zones. I got a ticket for the hop-on bus and just explored a bit.
Wogies (Sunday)
Breakfast was lunchable. I know I'm super adventurous...
For lunch, I found a bar Wogies and they had loads of Philadelphia Cheese Steak Options. I had the Loaded Philly Steak Fries ( I figured New York is quite close to Philly.. so should be good). There were three cheese options - I went for provolone because I don't think I could have dealt with cheese whizz.
They were amazing... way too much food for one person and very indulgent but it was such a good food start to the trip.
The picture doesn't do it justice because a) I am pretty terrible at taking pictures and b)it was dark in the bar.
For dinner, I ordered Uber Eats - Colleta. A Vegan Carbonara, house salad, and a lemonade. I think I forgot to take a picture - but honestly, it was really expensive for what it was and wasn't great.
Monday - Gregory Coffee and Quality Italian
On Monday I was working remotely for a client (Due to the time zone changes it was not worth staying in the UK and then traveling in) It was quite intense but finished up at around 3 pm.
I had my breakfast/ lunch at around 12.30. I tend to intermittent fast because breakfast is so awkward for me with the egg allergy. I popped into Gregory's Coffee and got an Americano and a Breakfast Vegan Croissant and hot sauce. It was awkward to eat, and messy so did not take any pictures. I give it 3/5. It was quite nice and had an impossible patty, vegan cheese, and a buttery croissant, but was way too sweet for me.
I had booked Robert Deniro's Restaurant for dinner on Tuesday but I went to Central Park and decided to try 'Quality Italian.' I have the Amex platinum card because it enables me to get a little bit more comfort/ hotel points when I'm traveling for work. One of the benefits is a £150 credit for both UK and abroad dining. There are no restaurants on the list in Orlando or the Middle East and my travel is limited this year due to our wedding.. so I figured why not spend it on a fancy New York steak? I did not claim this back from work for obvious reasons.. my daily allowance would not go far here!!
I sat at the bar and was a bit sad that there was no vegan pasta on the menu as I would have loved to have started with a specialty but unfortunately, all the pasta options were egg-based. Instead, I ordered the octopus which is my standard 'steakhouse starter' option and as such I've had them all over the world. This was fantastic. The white bean and potato bed that it was on was one of the best things I've ever eaten.
The steak was also really good, had it with fries and a peppercorn sauce. But I have had better it was nothing special. The peppercorn sauce was very wine-heavy. It was also very very expensive. The meal cost £125 for the octopus, a fillet steak, and a mocktail. People say that Disney is expensive but New York seems to be way more expensive.
Tuesday - Chipotle And Eatly
Tuesday's Lunch was Chipotle (there's a surprise). For dinner, I walked to Eatly and was planning to go to one of the cafes or restaurants there. But I was tired, couldn't be bothered to go through all the allergy information, and had to pack so I just grabbed a pizza. Again no pictures.. Sorry, I just kept forgetting. I had one salami slice and one mushroom slice.
The mushroom was a white pizza and was not that great it went cold quickly and cold slimy mushrooms were not it. The salami was great and the crust and sauce were very good. It was similar to a Rome pizza but with a thicker crust. Very enjoyable.