Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Uppies and Cuppies on the Road: NYC


Smalls, Beardy, and I took a trip to New York City over Thanksgiving this year. We were a little nervous about hauling a two-year old through airports, and then around the city for a week, but the trip went great. We found an apartment to rent on VRBO.com instead of trying to all pack into a tiny NYC hotel room. That was good, too because we could cook there if we wanted, or go out. We did plenty of both. I carried a container of apple slices and carrot and celery sticks the whole time, just in case we ended up at a restaurant Smalls didn’t like, but mostly she did fine. Here are some highlights of our dining adventures.

Sabor a Mexico
This is a small Mexican restaurant in the Yorkville area near the apartment we rented. We went on a Tuesday night, and we were the only people there, but it looks like they do a lot of delivery and take out. It was perfectly comfortable for dining in, though. We had an assortment of tacos (very good), and shared the chicken ones with Smalls. She seemed happy with the tacos and the chips and salsa.

This is Buzz Lightyear's fist. The closest we got to seeing the Macy's parade was looking at the inflated balloons the day before the parade.
Chinatown
We had lunch at Old Shanghai Deluxe because it was there and it was not crowded. The restaurant was big and not crowded, so there was plenty of room for us and our coats and scarves and bags and stroller and everything. We got sesame noodles for Smalls (the ones I make at home are better) and soup dumplings, noodles with beef in broth, and General Tso’s chicken. The food was ok but not great, but it was a good place to sit, relax, spread out, and warm up at lunchtime.
Afterwards, we went to the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, just down the street from the restaurant. Smalls got strawberry, I got green tea, and Beardy got lychee sorbet (dairy free). There’s nowhere to sit inside, so walk up Bayard Street to Columbus Park to eat your ice cream. There are plenty of benches and you can watch people play mahjong and card games at the tables. Even if it’s only 50 about degrees.

This lovely elephant can be found across the street from the Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory on Bayard Street.






















Fatty Fish
This one was an adventure (or I thought it might be—it turned out pretty tame). Smalls and I met one of my friends from high school here for lunch on Saturday, and Beardy stayed at the apartment to watch the Iron Bowl (that’s the Alabama vs. Auburn football game. It’s kind of a big deal). So I rode the bus by myself with Smalls and a stroller, and it went fine. Someone even held the bus door open as we got out, and other passengers gave us the “she’s so cute” as Smalls nodded off on the bus ride back to the apartment. Smalls ate yakisoba (just noodles) and my friend and I ate sushi and talked for about two and a half hours. Smalls ate the noodles and put sparkly taxi and bus stickers on paper the whole time (really! I was amazed). I probably wouldn’t recommend Fatty Fish for a dinner with kids, because the restaurant wasn’t that big, but for a late lunch on a Saturday, it wasn’t crowded, so it was just fine. The sushi was very good.

Sabor a Mexico
1744 1st Ave, New York, NY 10128
(212) 289-2641

Old Shanghai Deluxe
50 Mott St
(between Pell St & Bayard St)
New York, NY
(212) 566-4884

Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
65 Bayard Street
New York, NY 10013
(212) 608-4170

Fatty Fish
406 East 64 Street, New York, NY 10065
1 212 813 9338

A couple extra:

Uno Chicago Grill
This is a chain and we ate at the location behind the Natural History museum (432 Columbus Avenue). They have a kids' menu, a huge dining room, and calorie counts on the menu.

Mole Mexican Bar and Grill
We actually ate at the UES location twice--once for dinner and once for lunch. No kids' menu, but good margaritas.

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