Some Columbus Circle pics:
Waiting in Line
Climbing the stairs
View towards Broadway
View of the entrance line below
View of the entrance line below
View of Trump Tower
The man himself, in his living room
View out the living room window
American wallpaper
Another stair view
All pics taken with the old school iPhone 4.
Taking the road less traveled…
Manhattan to Brooklyn.
Pier 15 is just South of the famous South St Seaport in downtown Manhattan.
Street Side Entrance
With the Winter weather over, Pier 15 is a great place to soak up the Vitamin D on a lunch break for those near Wall St.
Pier 15 with South St Seaport in Background
Pier 15 is a two level structure, and they’ve applied to serve drinks here during Summer.
Stairs up to the Rooftop Lawns
From the upper level, you can see the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges.
East River Bridges
Upper Level looking Downward
SHoP did a great job here.
Northern Staircase looking towards Brooklyn
Upper Floor View towards Brooklyn
Wooden Upper Floor View towards South
From Pier 15, as well as most of the Southern portion of the East River, you can see the helipad and Governors Island.
Downwards View of Seating and Planted Area
Seating Area View from Ground Level
The design (including furniture) is mostly well done.
Large Open Space next to the East River (Facing Brooklyn)
Small Enclosed Tiered Seating Facing South
Pier 15 has a great, open air dynamic that allows many people to use the space at the same time.
Lower Level Room with South St Seaport Reflected
From Front to Back: Pier 15, the East River, and Brooklyn
With Winter behind us, this park will continue to get more and more attractive to the public.
Some food photos, mostly downtown Manhattan.
Pho & Taro PMT @ Vicky's Vietnamese
Go Go Curry
Taiwanese Pork Chops @ Bian Dian (Food Court 32)
Blueberry Pancakes with Maple Butter @ Clinton St Baking Co
Grilled Corn Mexican Style @ Café Habana
Roast Pork with Noodles @ Big Wing Wong
Burger with Onion Rings @ Wall Street Burger Shoppe
Chihuahua & Tater Tots @ Crif Dogs
Shack Stack @ Shake Shack UWS
Pre-Set Menu @ Ayurveda Cafe
Cheeseburger & Cheese Fries @ Steak 'n Shake
The Times has a great article about circumnavigating the city. By foot.
The idea is simple: walking the circumference of Manhattan in one go. The writer mentions 12 hours and band-aids. Walking for 12 hours sounds like a doable endurance challenge and it’s not nearly as bad as trying to become part of the Adirondack Winter Forty-Sixers.
Who’s with me to do this? My only concerns are that Winter is fast approaching and you would need to dedicate one full day (a Saturday) of your weekend to do it.
A place that can take on In-N-Out? Impossible you say?
While In-N-Out will always have their incredible Double Double (with onions), Five Guys has great burgers and better plain fries. In-N-Out’s animal style fries are another story.
Five Guys in Brooklyn Heights
There are various locations throughout the east coast.
Brooklyn Heights
Here is a view out of the front of the restaurant.
Five Guys Decor
The decor inside is somewhat similar to In-N-Out with a retro, red & white tile fast food theme.
Cheeseburger
This cheeseburger had a good heft to it, and the ingredients were noticeably fresh. Between this and In-N-Out, I would say both are good choices. I do cherish the thousand island sauce from In-N-Out as that’s what I’m accustomed to.
French Fries
Portion-wise, you get a lot of fries. One regular order of fries is enough for 2 or more people. Plus, they have free peanuts before you get your food.
Brunch at Alice's Tea Cup
Moving onto Manhattan, this was a nice brunch from a small tea house. The food was prepared well and I think it shows.
Poached eggs on ham & cheese scones with Potato-chicken hash
Martin, how does this compare to your eggs benedict? I’m sure both meals can stand up to a food challenge. What struck me as amazing is that the potato-chicken hash is so homogeneous. The chicken pieces and potato bits looked nearly identical.
Mixed fresh fruit crepes
The crepe had an excellent texture to it, but I would consider this plate more of a snack or light meal. Not exactly your hearty American breakfast.
A touristy shot: the Manhattan Skyline with the Brooklyn Bridge.
NY Skyline
The Verizon logo’d building kept getting in the way from my vantage point.
Another day, another post of Manhattan food.
BonChon
BonChon 20 “wings” plate. I’d say they are more like drumettes. Sorry Bay Area, but this is Korean Fried Chicken done right.
I went to the one on East Village and split 20 soy garlic ones with a friend. The sauce and texture are as good as they’re known for. Apparently they have a happy hour from 4-7pm for all you can eat wings…
Absolute Bagels
I thought this was part of Upper West Side (UWS), but apparently it’s so far up North that it’s considered Manhattan Valley on Yelp.
Bagel Spreads
Don’t be surprised – I went for the Bacon & Cheddar cream cheese.
Garlic Bagel with Bacon & Cheddar cream cheese
I decided to try the Garlic instead of Everything. Not so apparent in this picture, but size-wise, Absolute Bagels is a bit smaller than other bagel shops.
This bagel pictured was toasted and was a lot harder (stiffer?) than I would have liked. The cream cheese spread, as you can see, is pretty ridiculous in it’s own right. The giant chunks of cheddar and bacon visually overpower the cream cheese.
Hello Kitty
Maybe I shouldn’t say this, but I went back to the halal cart. This would be the 2nd time within a few days. On the way to the cart, I took the scenic route and came across the Lever House. Seeing a large Hello Kitty, I had no choice but to stop for a moment.
Brooklyn White Castle
Coming from the west coast, I had to give White Castle a try. They have all sorts of retro posters, some proclaiming White Castle as part of a balanced diet.
Double Cheeseburgers
OK, so it is fast food after all. Fast food tends to be cheap, fast, and unhealthily tasty. White Castle was none of these for me. I mean, I would expect it to be tasty (by fast food standards) and not much more. I only had two of these sliders, and I can’t imagine “grabbing a sack” of these to eat.