The first week we were in New York, the weather was cold and mostly dry.  But, come Day 8, it poured like cats and dogs.  Proof, as I stayed nice and dry in the hotel room.

Thankfully, the rain let up in time for dinner at Seoul Garden.  I was craving some rice.  A week without rice is a long time!  We both ordered combination soon tofu, which came with beef, seafood, shrimp, clam, and vegetables for $9.95.  The rice and ban chan were just what I was hoping for.  The tofu was good, but towards the end it started to taste funny to me.

Day 9:  We followed the recommendation of N to Shake Shack on the southeast corner of Madison Square Park.  It is a stand inside of the park and probably better spot to hit up during the warmer months.  They did have heat lamps around the tables, but it was so close to the hotel that we just took it back to eat.  We each ordered the Shack Burger, which comes with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and Shack sauce ($4.75).  We shared an order of french fries ($2.75), and Hubby ordered a vanilla hand-spun shake ($5.25).  The shake was the best!  The burger and fries made my belly happy.

Day 10: I recommended either Italian or Thai and somehow that evolved into ramen.  At 9:30pm, Ippudo was busy, and we waited 30 minutes for a table.  The decor was trendy, and the wall behind the bar was decorated with different styles of bowls.  Everything was tasty and the service was excellent, but it was pricier and had smaller portions than most ramen places I have been to before.

Appetizer: Tori Tatutaage $9 

Ebi Wonton Ramen $13

Shiromaru “Classic” Ramen $14

Day 11:  We woke up to falling snow.  It was beautiful!

That night we met up with Hubby’s co-workers in Brooklyn at Barcade.  It is as the name sounds: a bar with walls lined with old school arcade games.  It was a fun place to hang out and enjoy happy hour.  They ordered in some pizza with square slices.  I thought the coolest part of the place was the mural out front made out of bottle caps.

Day 12:  Our last full day in NY.  We gathered for dinner with some of Hubby’s co-workers at the Belgian restaurant, Markt.  We did not partake in the eating of the raw seafood appetizer platter, so we cannot comment on that.  But, the meat in my beef stew was really tender and delicious.

Plateau Markt – a generious iced platter of house selections from our raw bar $60

Carbonades Flamades - Belgian beef stew prepared with Leffe Brown beer $16

Hamburger Accompagne de Frites – Grilled sirloin burger on a toasted roll and Belgian fries $16

Day 13:  Time to go home!  Breakfast at Creperie before catching our flight back to SFO.  It satisfied that craving.

Left: ”The Famous Crepe” – Strawberry, Banana, Nutella, Ice Cream and Whipped Cream $10
Right:  Baked Pears, Caramel, & Almonds $8

After almost two weeks of being away from home, we were excited to go home.  Home sweet home.

Seoul Garden – 34 W 32nd St, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10001
Shake Shack – SE corner of Madison Square Park (Madison Ave and E 23rd St) New York, NY
Ippudo – 65 Fourth Ave, New York, NY 10003
Barcade – 388 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
Blind Pig – 233 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003
Markt – 676 Sixth Ave, New York, NY 10010
Creperie- 135 Ludlow St, New York, NY 10002

Previous posts in the Big Apple series:
Getting There
Sleep and Eat
J’s Birthday
Weekend