New York Weekend

Categories: Food · New York · Travel · USATags:

A weekend in New York. Lucked out as the weather was quite comfortable for the season. Two good restaurants I tried out are Ignacio Mattos’ easy and fun place Estela and Wylie Dufresne’s neighbourhood spot Alder, which served excellent casual dishes and well-crafted cocktails. A friend of mine invited me to dinner at BLT Steak New York, the flagship location of this restaurant that operates in other cities, including one in Hong Kong. Billed as a modern American steakhouse, they also served a selection of seafood and blackboard specials. For coffee lovers, Birch Coffee is a must-try. They have several locations in the city. And for…

Good Eats

Categories: Food · New York · USATags: · · · · · · · ·

No visit to New York is complete without eating your way around the city. I was able to try new food places during my last visit, but also got to return to some of my favourites. The first one I checked out was Andy RIcker’s Pok Pok Phat Thai. After watching Andy Ricker play host to Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown in Northern Thailand, it got me more than curious. The Lower East Side Rivington Street location is a simple “hole in the wall” with only stools and counters that serves a limited menu of Phat Thai and Kuaytiaw dishes – worth a visit nonetheless.    …

New York

Categories: Accommodations · New York · Travel · USATags: · · 2 Comments

I’m in New York for three days.   For this trip, I stayed at Hyatt 48 Lex and was pleasantly surprised. This 3-year old hotel is not like the other standard flagged hotels. It is more of a boutique-hotel set up with only six rooms per floor and several original artwork throughout. There is a compact lobby on the ground level and a more comfortable lounge on the second floor.  One cannot complain much for a decently-priced hotel room located in midtown Manhattan.  

Buffalo

Categories: New York · Travel · USATags: · · 2 Comments

I have to confess that I have never been to Buffalo, New York despite it being only a two-hour drive across the border. So on a lazy but sunny Sunday, I joined friends who were raving about Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in the Theatre District of Buffalo. After we stuffed ourselves, we went for a leisurely walk in the Niagara Falls State Park to see how the “other side” sees the famous falls. Without bias, the view from the Canadian side is infinitely better! What I found more interesting are the few signs I spotted across town. Signs that might alarm the skittish — yet others might find humour…