Trip to NYC

[HaloGirl]

Cool night shots.

[Matt]

I finally went back to NYC for a leisure trip, not to see Broadway or Times Square, or anything, really. Just to get away, shop some stores, and eat some ethnic food. Yeap. I wanted to find Tibetan and Sichuan cuisine, because I missed those exotic spices. While I was there, I walked some random streets and snapped pics.

First, some food....

Flushing is the extension of Chinatown. Walking the streets, it's barely indistinguishable from some cities in china. The sights, the smells, the food.
I visited a dumpling house for breakfast.
Fried:


Steamed:


I ate at Juniors off of broadway. Always a good meal.
Egg creams are interesting. Can't say I would get another.


Pile of turkey and a few plates of sides. No room for that famous cheesecake after this, unfortunately.


Authentic Sichuan Beef


Sichuan pork noodles.


Which i had at pretty much every sichuan place.


Fried pork belly in a light and crispy batter covered in a sweet sauce


Sliced potato


An unusual form of Kungpao (not sichuan style)



Someone recommended I walk the High Line, which was an abandoned elevated rail system in the meatpacking district. Why was it elevated? Because a bunch of people kept getting killed when it wasn't. It has been turned into a pedestrian walkway with gardens, vendors, art, and historic information. It's not quite finished, but the parts that are, are very well done. I highly recommend checking it out.

Everything in NYC is, or is next to, something under construction. I wanted to shoot historic buildings for NYH, but the two that I went to has scaffolding all over them. So I gave up hunting.




























Then off to the harbor late at night. No tripod, so these are all hand-held.

[L_G_D]

Nice shots. How does the food compare to the "real thing"? Is the "authentic" really authentic?

[Brenda]

Wonderful photos Matt! Thanks for sharing!

[Matt]

Nice shots. How does the food compare to the "real thing"? Is the "authentic" really authentic?

I hit several restaurants in search of Sichuan food. Chinatown, Manhattan is a disappointment. It's more of tourist place than a culture center. Sichuan was basically spicy food. I couldn't recognize any peppercorns or chilis used. I call these places "Brown Sauce restaurant." They order brown sauces that come in regional flavors (Hunan, Szechuan, Cantonese) from a wholesaler and just add them to poorly prepared approximate ingredients.

Flushing is where all the real stuff is. The dumpling place in Flushing has a cuby off to the side where I watched two ladies making the dumplings fresh. Just like I saw in China. The taste was spot on, but they were a lot smaller than the meal-sized ones I got in asia. When I found the Sichuan place in Flushing, it was just like being in china. walking in,I could smell the spices. Taking a first gulp of noodles and my mouth got an electric sensation form the peppercorns.

Speaking of Sichuan Peppercorns, here's an article on why they are so awesome : http://news.sciencemag.org/brain-behavi ... zz-peppers


The tibetan cafe I found in Manhattan was delicious, but more nepalese than the Tibetan stuff I ate.

[hobkyl]

What's up with the parking structure?

[Matt]

I saw a few of those. They are machines that stack the cars, because there's no space to park anywhere.

[Kelly]

I looked at these a couple of days ago on my phone and was anxious to see them on a bigger screen. Finally got a chance. Very interesting. I always enjoy your food photos! And the night scenes are really sweet!
As much as I enjoy visiting and exploring big cities, living in one wouldn't be for me......