After much urging by Amit, I have finally agreed to make my first post on our blog (more on this at the bottom for those who are really bored). As Amit mentioned, I was in Singapore for work for about a month and just returned in January. I have to say, living in SG made me miss NY…although there are some great things about Singapore (it’s clean, subways run on time and you don’t have to dodge rats while waiting on the platforms, there’s virtually no crime, the food is amazing, it’s in the middle of SE Asia, etc)…I’m not going to lie, it’s boring. And when you’re coming from the most fun city in the world, it’s a bit of an adjustment.
Sooooo I’ve been eager to remind myself what I missed. Some fun stuff we’ve done since we’ve been back:
– Sledding in Central Park – if you can find sleds (I’ve heard they are sold out in most stores in the city!), head to 72nd and 5th, walk into the park and there are decent hills right there. Or head to the west side where it’s more deserted – I hear 91st and Riverside is the best but I saw some pretty good ones between 70th and 80th too. FYI – garbage can lids are not ideal (we tried). Also FYI – sledding is more fun with alcohol. Some pics:
– Continuing with the winter sports theme, I did a day trip to Windham. Maybe it was just this particular day but I would recommend Windham over Hunter – way less crowded, the runs/conditions were as good and it was a bit cheaper. I went with Urban Escapes but there are a bunch of similar day trip operators, all of whom charge under $80, if you can get your ass to Union Square for 7am.
– A visit to one of our perennial favs, Bar 169. I love this place so much. Although my favourite bartender (the one who looks like Javier Bardem) wasn’t working on this particular occasion, a certain friend of ours who goes by the name Mother managed to bring home the “executive chef”. Not sure what this means for a place like Bar 169 that only serves dumplings from the restaurant next door…but their $5 beer + shot combos make me happy.
– Two Chinese restaurants I went to for the first time, both of which were awesome and made me question my long-held belief that Manhattan Chinatown sucks: Sheng Weng and Famous Sichuan. The former serves peeled noodles which are apparently a sub-set of the hand-pulled noodles that seem everywhere right now. Order the non-soup vegetable ones that come with bok choy and a scrambled egg…delish. At FS, the vermicelli and the beans were both up there with stuff I’ve had at Spicy and Tasty in Flushing. Got both ideas from this list.
– On that note, if you do decide to go to Flushing, the food really is superior. AND, you can get there in 20 minutes from Chinatown. Buses come approx every 5 mins to the corner of Division and Bowery and cost just $2. Once there, place I’ve been to that I liked include White Bear for the best dumplings ever, Nan Xiang for awesome xiao long bao, of course the Golden Mall food court, the all-you-can-eat-and-drink hot pot place and the aforementioned Spicy & Tasty. Oh and then there’s the Temple Canteen with amazing South Indian food (on Bowne st). Next time I go I am determined to try this. Here are some pics:
– Tammany Hall – new-ish live music venue in the LES. I am partial to anything on Orchard St since I live a block away but this place really is cool. Urban Daddy who describes it as “a multi-floor live music bar/dance hall/tour bus on steroids that looks like a speakeasy, sounds like a rock concert and functions with the necessary level of lawlessness required by both”.
– the Tribeca Grand has a pretty nice theatre downstairs where they show movies every Sunday. Sort of like those free outdoor screenings/Rooftop Films in the summer. Last Sunday I went and saw Manhattan for the first time as part of my movie education that Amit has undertaken. It’s free and it wasn’t crowded at all! Here’s the schedule. The Ace Hotel has something similar also on Sundays.
– Cask ale festival at dba Williamsburg – def check this place out if you haven’t been yet, on top of the extensive beer collection, it’s less busy than the e village one, the New Orleans style food is pretty good!
– Beer and Bourbon fest – it was super packed but the bbq was still delicious and we took advantage of the “whiskey tasting” (ask one miss RP)
– Spot Dessert Bar – this place on St. Marks is really cute, not overpriced and the desserts are tasty and creative.
– Fat Radish – I think this is the perfect date restaurant. It’s in an awesome location off Orchard at Division, the food is amaaaaazing, I really liked the decor…just really good New American (Amit’s fav). Speaking of date-y restaurants, I would say anything on this list is a pretty good bet…
– Les Enfant Terribles – we had a great night here post-Chinese New Year dinner last Thurs. I just think it’s my fav neighbourhood bar in the LES. The bartenders are super cool and I can eavesdrop on them speaking French with an accent that makes me jealous, I like the somewhat isolated location and everyone in the bar starts smoking at around 2am.
– Mile End – even if I didn’t wish I was the CDN guy who quit law school and opened this restaurant in BK with Mtl-style smoked meat and poutine…I would say it’s pretty awesome. Some pics:
Upcoming stuff I’m excited about:
– Ski trip to Stowe over the long weekend – we are staying at this cute looking place then heading to the Inn at Essex on the last night. I went with the fam a long time ago and they have some culinary school there and I remember the carrot soup doing things to my body that I didn’t understand…
– Fatty Johnson’s – the new pop-up place in the w vill by the Fatty Crab/Fatty Cue ppl. I mean, look at this.
– Rerun Gastropub – I love the idea of getting drunk off good beer at a movie theatre.
– Niko (new sushi place, the Rundown says “The mustard-glazed short ribs with beef jerky dashi is the softest, tastiest red meat we’ve had in months”).
– Bell Book and Candle restaurant – I like the “roof to table” idea.
– same deal (a place that grows its own stuff) with Farm on Adderley, which I have been meaning to visit since the summer. If it’s anything like Blue Hill, I can’t wait.
– Ashiya all you can eat and drink sushi – as may be evident from my hot pot and bbq fest recommendations above, I like all you eat and drink events. Although the sushi at this place is not amazing, it’s not gross either and you are encouraged to befriend other tables and then challenge them to sake bomb contests (see illustrative picture). I’m in withdrawal and can’t wait to go back.
– Musem of Moving Image – just reopened and apparently it’s now awesome. They also have these monthly parties that sound very cool – this is the blurb for the last one. And let’s be honest, I’m much more into parties than exhibitions. I went to the Natural History Museum one the other week and it kiiiind of sucked. Full of 20 year olds and and no one was dancing. I think you may have to escape Manhattan for it to be cool enough to dance pre-1am.
– Boxcar Lounge on Ave B for their Monday night piano bar thing – I love piano bars.
– Tatiana’s – I have been dying to go to this place ever since my friends went and took pictures like these. I’m going to try to organize it for when my friends are in town pre-Guatemala.
– this place in Clinton Hill for filipino
A tiny bit on our blog — we drunkenly decided sometime circa August of last year that we should start writing down our adventures, partly so that we could look back and be impressed that we managed to do so much while maintaining normal-ish jobs, and partly so that we could share with our friends who are looking for fun ideas…however, due to general laziness, we never got around to it. I really enjoyed writing this post (TBH it’s mainly that it’s nice to be writing something other than legal opinions) so I will try to be better about posting from now on!
The Butler Six 
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