HungryBecs in New York: part 5

It’s the penultimate week of eating my way around the city. I feel like I’m on over drive trying to squeeze in (it literally is a squeeze in my jeans!) every place I’d added to my list.

This week my friends surprised me with a trip upstate to a small town called Beacon, I had just about the best pie I’ve ever tasted and finally, after five weeks, I had my first proper New York bagel.

Let’s start off with something healthy…

The Butcher’s Daughter
There’s a juice bar on every corner in New York, most of them are in-and-out types but The Butcher’s Daughter is one where you can stay put and graze on healthy, vegetarian and mostly dairy-free treats. Sit in the window, order a smoothie like the Solar Power (avocado, pineapple, young Thai coconut, kale, coriander and hemp protein) and feel really good about yourself… until your next stack of pancakes.

Two Hands
A little Australian café with a focus on good coffee (there’s almost every serving variation you could dream of) but they also serve juices, smoothies, breakfast and small brunch plates too. Portions are quite small so make sure you order extras – the Avo Toast definitely needed a side of chorizo.

The Hop 
Upstate, in a small but very cool town called Beacon, there’s a great (and maybe the only) place to go come nightfall. The Hop is a craft beer shop and bar which serves artisanal food too. There is, as you can imagine,  a lot of beer including 16 different types on draft alone.

The Yankee Clipper diner
Whilst still in Beacon we visited the Yankee Clipper diner – it was just like the diners you see in films. A wonderfully kitch restaurant filled to the brim with locals ordering ‘kwaafee’ and lunch. They serve HUGE portions of almost every type of American food you can imagine. Pancakes, club sandwiches, milkshakes, waffles and hotdogs… you name it, they’ve got it.

Jack’s Wife Freda
Back in Manhattan and back again to one of my favourite places for brunch – Jack’s Wife Freda. It’s so good there that we even battled with pretty chilly temperatures outside just so we didn’t have to wait for an hour to be sat inside. Order one of the many brilliant egg dishes and keep warm with a hot cup of bottomless drip coffee.

Huertas
Every Tuesday Huertas has special offer of one pintxos for $1 which can also be supplemented by the regular menu. Expect a feast of mouth-size portions of croquetas, boquerones and tortilla as well as larger plates like griddled octopus and the Huertos Rotos – spiralised potato with chorizo and poached egg.

Blackseed bagels
A staple and must-eat in New York (why did I wait so long?!) is the bagel. At Blackseed they come with a myriad of fancy fillings including this, the #2, beetroot-cured salmon, horseradish cream cheese, radish and herbs.

Petee’s Pie
A lovely little sweet pie shop selling whole pies to-go or slices to have there with a Parlor coffee. Fillings vary from brown butter pecan to sour cherry. The crust is made with organic flour and grass-fed butter and is a thing of beautiful crumbly, buttery perfection.

Next week is my last week here as I wave goodbye to New York for a little while… see you then.