This weekend, I took a little trip that will be forever known as “How much food can two gals eat in 36 hours in one of the best eating cities on Earth?” I think it will surprise absolutely no one that the answer is…a lot. Especially when it involves walking countless miles literally all over Manhattan and subsequently working up countless appetites. It’s my favorite way to travel!

I flew out to NYC to visit my best friend from college, Sara, for a long-overdue weekend trip. Sara was my host for one of the best food trips of my life (Paris in the fall of 2010) so I knew I’d be in for an awesome food weekend. My requests for the weekend included: something Momofuku, a real New York bagel, and Smorgasburg in Williamsburg. We hit up all these cultural (ish) highlights and then some.

Dinner Friday night was at Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village. I was surprised at how tiny it was for such a well-known and popular restaurant until I noticed that all restaurants in New York look like this. Oops – Midwestern gal problems. Sar and I split the pork buns, the shitake buns, some kimchi, and the classic Momofuku Ramen. (I’ve also heard the spicy cold noodles are amazing, but it was my first and only time in the foreseeable future here, so I had to go classic with a giant bowl of Ramen).

The verdict? Everything was very well-deserving of the hype. The pork buns were probably my favorite savory thing we ate – squishy, doughy bao buns are filled with incredibly tender pork belly and served up in two’s. The shitake buns had a similar hoisin sauce and were an awesome meat-free option, and the kimchi was a great chilled counter-point to all our saucy eats. The ramen was fantastic, with a super flavorful broth, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly and pork shoulder, and—my favorite part—a runny egg all mixed in. YUM.  For dessert, we ordered a few pretzel cake truffles from sister restaurant Momofuku Milk Bar that were life-changing. I was so full I could barely breathe, but I definitely finished them off down to the last crumb. So rich and decadent and perfectly sweet and salty – I loved these little guys and would pay big money to get them in Chicago!

Saturday morning, we started the day off right with a trip to Smorgasburg in Brooklyn. I would describe Smorgasburg as a farmer’s market that only consists of pre-made, incredibly delicious artisanal foods. The selection was so overwhelming – everything from BBQ to ramen to ice cream sandwiches to Mexican corn to the highly trendy “ramen burger” – but after taking a lap, we ended up continuing the pork train with some incredible pork pancakes from Outer Borough. They consisted  of a fry bread-like scallion pancake wrap, loaded up with incredibly tender pork, Asian sauce, and  a cooling cucumber topping. I absolutely loved mine, and it was even better eaten outside on a gorgeous sunny day in Brooklyn overlooking the water and the Manhattan skyline. Perfection!

After a fun but exhausting afternoon of whizzing around the Met and strolling through Central Park, we were ready for a snack. Enter: Levain Bakery’s insanely enormous cookies. For those who aren’t familiar, Levain Bakery is a teensy-tiny bakery in the Upper West Side that makes cookies the size of your face that are super thick and completely loaded up and served hot out of the oven. They are basically absolute cookie perfection. So that happened. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to finish the entire thing (we WERE on our way to dinner, after all), but I was rewarded by coming home to the other half at 1:00 in the morning. Best late-night snack ever.

Finally, I HAD to get a classic bagel while I was in NYC. We went to Black Seed Bagels, a bagel shop in Nolita which actually makes a Montreal-style bagel but is quite the bagel spot du jour. I loved my super-loaded everything bagel with cream cheese, lox, capers, and red onions, but Sara (the born and bred New Yorker she is) was not wild about it. I had no complaints, and it was definitely the best bagel I ever had – I’ll just have to make sure to get a “real” New York bagel on my next trip!

Also, not pictured: we had an incredible light, flavorful, and perfectly well-balanced dinner at Charlie Bird on Saturday night. We were too hungry and happy to take pictures, but I highly recommend if you’re a New Yorker or happen to be visiting the city. Must-orders include: the farro salad with pistachios, Parmesan cheese, and fava beans (trust me, it was my favorite dish by far), the broccoli raab, and the spring peas. I’m such a sucker for incredibly well-done veggie and grain dishes, because they usually get the short end of the stick and can be so freakin’ fantastic when done right. Charlie Bird does it ALL right. I loved it!

I hope you enjoyed this whirlwind best of NYC food tour – I certainly enjoyed living it, and I can’t wait to go back to try more of the thousands and thousands of inventive, unique restaurants and eating experiences that the city has to offer!

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