The first thing we say to everyone who goes on a trip to the USA and already has co-living apartments is: “We will eat a lot of street food! Especially in New York.” Simply because the United States in gastronomic terms is street food. Of course, there are also talented chefs here who create culinary masterpieces in the kitchens of elite restaurants. Here you can also go to a cafe and eat chicken broth, salad, and a steamed cutlet. But let’s be honest. If France is cheese and wine, Greece is olives and feta, Italy is coffee and spaghetti, then the US is burgers, fries, and fried chicken wings!
We offer our personal TOP-3 dishes collected during numerous trips to New York! After all, food is another way to get to know the area where you come from as a traveler! Let’s get acquainted with the gastronomic New York!
Coffee and Bagels
Maybe for many, the morning begins not with coffee, but in New York – with a very large, even huge glass of coffee. Very often this coffee is cold, with a huge amount of ice, which turns coffee into the water by the end of drinking, so you need to drink it quickly! There are no problems with coffee shops in New York and, it seems, never have been. You will find:
- Starbucks;
- Dunkin Donuts;
- Coffee bean chains at every step.
And next to them there are invariable queues for coffee, especially in the morning. But if you don’t want to go to a network institution, just take a walk around the area in which you live. You will easily find a coffee shop with special and original coffee!
A bagel is the most satisfying breakfast sandwich! However, to order a bagel, you need to have some experience. Usually, there are very few offers of ready-made bagels on the cafe menu. Establishments operating in the “assemble it yourself” format. To do this, you will be offered 15 types of buns, 30 types of cheese, and 10 types of fish and meat. It will take a long time to choose, so get ready! The excuse “make me something classic” will not work here. The seller will still have a million questions for you!
The best bagels in New York are Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side and Tompkins Square Bagels in the East Village.
Hot Dog
Where in New York without a hot dog? One of the very first dishes that people imagine when they hear the words “American food”. There are a lot of hot dogs in the city. BUT! We want to talk about the most important difference between a real American hot dog and a non-American one! If in Europe a hot dog is a bun, sausage, salad, fresh or pickled vegetables, Korean-style carrots, and sauce, then in the USA a hot dog is only a bun, sausage, and sauce.
The best hot dogs are sold at Natan’s. And the best way to absorb them is at Yankee’s Stadium while watching a baseball match. Then you will feel like a real New Yorker, and the taste of a hot dog will be the most American!
Burger
The first thing you should pay attention to when ordering a burger in the USA is its size. By the way, very few burgers in Europe make them the same size as in the States.
The second is an addition to the burger: french fries, salad, and vegetables! This is a whole “complex lunch” in American style.
You can search for a long time where to try a real burger, and in the end understand that your favorite is sold on a small and unknown street in Brooklyn, in an eatery run by an Indian family. We can also recommend burgers at Minetta Tavern or at Shake Shack, which has restaurants all over the city!
Falafel
If this vegan dish came to Europe only a few years ago, then in the USA it has been loved for a very long time. And among the representatives of the Eastern countries (where it came from) there is even a joke about the difference in the pronunciation of the name of the dish at home and in the New York manner.
The most delicious falafel with hot sauce (be careful when adding it to your meal) is served at Mamouth’s Falafel East Village and Greenvich Village.