When I go to New York I have 2 objectives in mind – 1) see lots of theatre and 2) eat lots of food.  It’s the simple things in life that make me happy.  The truth, though, is that New York has a lot of great theatre and a lot of great food.

Courtney and I were starved by the time we reached the city (2 flights + no time for an actual meal + a small pack of pretzels per flight = hungryhungryhungry).  After getting to our “hotel” we made ourselves feel more human and then went in search of food.  We ended up getting empanadas at a little place in Times Square and eating them on the big red TKTS steps.  Not a bad start, really.

And of course cupcakes were soon to follow…

While Crumbs does have some good/interesting flavours of cupcakes, the size is quite big (the cupcakes on the bottom are monsters).  1 cupcake is more than enough for a snack, I discovered.  On our last day Courtney and I split a cupcake, which was just the right size.

Magnolia, on the other hand, has cupcakes that are sized perfectly for an afternoon snack that you won’t feel guilty about later.  Actually, skip the guilt part – you’ve been walking all day and you’re on vacation, so go ahead and eat that cupcake!  And since they’re small you can have 2!

We went to the original location in Greenwich which was nice and cute, but super crowded (especially around the “pick your own cupcake” area).  It doesn’t have the “flow” that the Rockefeller location has (in one door & out the other), so it gets cramped when there are a lot of people inside (and there’s always a lot of people inside).

Another sweet treat came from our adventure to the Brooklyn Flea Market – donuts!

That picture should be bigger to showcase all the nom-y wonderfullyness, but I didn’t want it to take up the whole page.  I had the dulce de leche donut (I settled for only eating 1 – self-restraint I have learned ye!).  It was so good that I insisted Courtney take a bite.  That’s not weird at all.

Speaking of weird food – Courtney discovered a place that served hot dogs in baguettes – Dogmatic.  Yup, hot dogs in baguettes.  Instead of a street vendor it was an actual store that was much classier than I thought.  I mean truffle sauce?  Air-popped fries?  That’s fantastic! 

I also tried a restaurant that I heard about from The Everywhereist – Hummus Kitchen.  It was conveniently located close to where we were staying.  It was, without a doubt, the creamiest hummus I’d ever eaten.

I had the Hummus, Bureka (mushroom & Potato), and Cauliflower.  It was good (the cauliflower was my “healthy” choice), but it was also super filling.  The spicy stuff that came with it was quite interesting.  I’d love to go back and try more of their menu.

By our last day we were done with all the fancy foods and were looking for some good ol’ fashioned burgers and beer.  That’s when I suggested McGee’s – the inspiration of the McLaren’s bar in How I Met Your Mother.  The only problem was I couldn’t remember the address, so we had to walk a lot and ask some people for directions.  But it was worth it.

The burgers in New York can be cooked to your choice (something that we don’t really have in Halifax).  Of course, I’m always a well-done person, so it makes no difference to me (unless it’s not well-done).  It was so relaxing to just sit and eat, and have a beer on the side. 

And on top of our delicious meal, we also had great service.  Good food + great service = a place that I will whole-heartedly recommend.