New York is known as a vast city filled with flashing lights, famous landmarks, and delicacies from all over the world. This spring break, I finally got to experience it during my trip with my family. Visiting from Irvine, I was stunned by the bustle of NYC, with every corner and neighborhood offering different experiences. This fantastic trip lasted about a week, from March 30th to April 6th. During this time, I encountered diverse cuisines, beautiful streets and landmarks, and striking performances on Broadway.
Among these, the most memorable part of this travel experience was the various foods found throughout the streets of New York. The cuisine I experienced ranged from Italian pasta and pizzas to French cuisine, including escargots and steak frites. The first restaurant we visited after arriving in the city was Felice 56. As we ventured down to the restaurant, my family was welcomed with the deep fragrance of coffee, as this restaurant had a small cafe at the entrance. Our order was comprised of Italian pizza and pasta. The food was sensational and like nothing I had experienced before. As I write, I still remember the texture of the pasta, chewy and creamy, that melted into my palate.
After our experience at Felice 56, we visited the Chelsea Market, a large food hall, market, and shopping mall. Since it was Easter, the markets were decorated with baskets full of eggs and rabbits. It was full of different foods ranging from lobster to baked goods. The market itself had many different kinds of small shops inside like gift shops and different homegoods stores filled with odds and ends. Since it was a television production facility in the past, it still had old brick floors and a vintage feel.
I went to Lobster Place and ordered lobster sandwiches and clam chowder. While the clam chowder was flavorful, the lobster sandwich was mediocre. All in all, the Chelsea Market was a bustling food spot with lots of interesting options.
Another place we visited was Benjamin Steakhouse. This restaurant’s main dish was beautifully cooked steak. Our family decided on the power lunch menu, which includes and appetizer, entree, and dessert. My choice of selections was grilled calamari for appetizer, petite filet mignon for the entree, and finally, the New York cheesecake for dessert. This restaurant particularly stood out for me since we were the only ones there due to the early time. Thanks to this, we were able to enjoy a quiet and luxurious lunch.
The amazing New York food experience could not be completed without Rubirosa. Rubirosa is another Italian restaurant our family visited. The dimly lit space felt warm and cozy. It was raining outside, giving the room a sense of relaxation. We ordered the carbonara pasta, rigatoni all amatriciana and the famous tie dye pizza.
We also got the chance to taste delicious Korean food at Gurume near Times Square. My favorite dishes included the kimchi fried rice, as it had a unique style of making it. The rice was deliberately left on the hot stone to create the crispy texture of nurungji, or “scorched rice.” I’d recommend this place to anyone craving Korean food while in between seeing tourist sites in Manhattan. However, the amount of food was very minimal, as they recommend you to order 2-3 dishes per person.
Outside of the restaurants, simply wandering around the streets of New York was a fascinating element of the trip, considering that Irvine, my hometown, has streets filled with plain, perfectly cubical bushes. On the contrary, I was startled to see New York streets filled with people wearing flower baskets on their head decorated with a rabbit nose. I guessed it must have been for Easter time, perhaps a conference. Walking past classic tourist sites like the Vessel and Highline were the highlight of walking through the busiest city in America. I was impressed by the futuristic and grand architecture of the buildings scattered across New York.
On the weekend, I got to experience the impressive performances at the majestic theaters on Broadway. They were both Disney shows, “Aladdin” and “The Lion King.” It wasn’t my first time watching a Broadway show, but this time around it was more emotionally striking and heart wrenching. I was moved to tears during the performances because of the amazing actors and the musical scores.
Wrapping up the trip, the main dessert places I visited were Venchi and the Starbucks Reserve. Venchi was a gelato place near Columbus Circle. I got the lemon sorbet because I am obsessed with how refreshing lemons taste. The soothing lemon sorbet was the best flavor of lemon ice cream I ever had. The exterior was also lovely, surrounded by cherry blossoms in full bloom. Starbucks Reserve was original as they had a different variety of coffee and dessert that you couldn’t find in any other Starbucks stores. I chose the affogato, which had a rich and delicate flavor combining fresh espresso with a scoop of sweet vanilla ice cream.
On the plane back to Irvine, I felt content and impressed by the many different culinary experiences I got to experience with my family in NYC, an iconic city of the world. It was a shame that I had to leave; I wished I could have stayed longer.
