Another New York specialty is the egg cream. It is a beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water and chocolate syrup. No eggs or cream.




William Greenberg Desserts features not only the famous egg cream, but also tons of other goodies.



I was going to order a black and white cookie, as well as an egg cream. But then I was told the egg cream I ordered comes WITH a black and white cookie. Or, in this case, a pink and white cookie.


I took my egg cream and headed to Central Park.

I had ordered a vanilla egg cream (vanilla just sounded right?), and it is kind of like a vanilla flavored milk that's carbonated. In a really good way! It's quite tasty, but a bit different.

The cookie was by far the best black-and-white cookie I've had (of the two). The icing was perfect, and the cookie was not dry at all. It was quite good.

Grade: A

I've always seen "New York" style cheesecake on menus. What does that mean? Apparently it means a cheesecake that relies upon heavy cream or sour cream. It is rich and has a dense, smooth and creamy consistency.

After a bit of searching, Eileen's Special Cheesecake came up as a popular spot for cheesecake in the city. There are so many delicious goodies to choose from.

They have mini cheesecake tarts, which looked amazing. I got a strawberry cheesecake and pulled up a seat at a table.

The cheesecake was delicious! It was creamy, a perfect texture - not too solid, or too creamy - but a nice mix of the two. It was rich, decadent. Delicious.

Grade: A

Time for more bagels! When in New York, right?

Russ & Daughters is a family-owned shop specializing in high-end smoked fish, caviar and other foods since 1914.

Grab a ticket, get in line and figure out what you're getting. I keep wanting to try all these crazy things - like lox cream cheese - but I love the classic bagel and lox so much I have a hard time.

I once again went for a plain bagel, but this time I got scallion cream cheese, red onion, capers and belly lox. Belly lox is salt cured, which I didn't think much of. The guy making my sandwich asked me if I had had it before, and I said no. He warned me that it was salty. I said no problem, I'm sure it's fine.

After I received my sandwich, I noticed the famed black and white cookies. So, I grabbed one of those, too, before we headed outside to find a bench.

My first bite of my sandwich was good - I love scallion cream cheese. The bagel itself was good, too, and then once I got a mouthful of capers and the belly lox at the same time, and I puckered. It is SO salty.

Like, REALLY salty. I don't have an aversion to salt, but this was super salty. I'm pretty sure I got like a salt burn on the side of my mouth after eating this. My fault. I should have gotten a salmon that wasn't quite as salty - but I just didn't really know what I was getting myself into.

The cookie was good - crumbly, but tasty. And much welcomed after the salty sandwich.

Grade: B

My good friend Ben asked me if I had been to the White Horse Tavern. No? I thought. What's that? He explained how it is a famous literary hangout that has seen the likes of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, James Baldwin, Norman Mailer, Anais Nin, James Laughlin, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac.

The first thing I loved about this area was that it wasn't crazy busy. It seemed to slow down a bit here. There weren't people cramming the sidewalks, and I felt like I could take a breath.

Inside, it was fairly empty (though it filled up afterward), and we found a table with the much-coveted electrical outlet so we could charge our phones. It's cash only, so keep that in mind. I ordered a Coney Island Mermaid Pilsner.

To be honest, it wasn't my absolute favorite beer. I thought it was an OK beer, but I could've spent hours at this place. It just felt comfortable, and I was hoping to soak in some of the literary greatness from people past.

Grade: A

Affectionately known as "street meat," sidewalk vendors and foodtrucks are all over New York City. One of the most sought-after is The Halal Guys, found at 53rd and 6th (and other locations now).

This food cart had quite a long line - especially compared to other vendors nearby. The line moved quickly, though, and once we were at the front, we chose our meal:






Chicken, beef gyro, falafel, or a combo (over rice or as a sandwich). I went for a combo over rice.

I think this is one of my favorite meals in NYC. A huge portion of well-seasoned, delicious food (and the white sauce they give you is PERFECT all over it!) outside, watching as the world whips by. I think my expectations were also super low, and I was slightly terrified food poisoning wasn't out of the picture.

But the flavors of the meat, the fresh veggies and that delicious creamy sauce brought all of this together. I see why there's a line day in and day out now.


Grade: A

Josh instructed us to go to Bouchon Bakery and pick up a selected number of goodies. No problemo! He wanted some macarons, a brownie, and a TKO (Thomas Keller Oreo). Easy enough - he made my shopping list for me, too :)

In May 2011, Chef Thomas Keller opened the second New York location of his signature Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center.

Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center offers Keller’s unique twist on traditional French boulangerie fare. The menu includes a wide selection of soups, salads, sandwiches and viennoiserie. For the sweet tooth, the Bakery presents a wide assortment of classic desserts including hand-made chocolates, pastries, cookies, tarts, and traditional French confections.

Designed by premier restaurant designer Adam D. Tihany of Tihany Design, Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center is at the heart of this New York landmark, directly across from the studios of The Today Show. Large hand-painted murals by French artist Paulin Paris adorn the walls above the retail area, echoing elements of Keller’s acclaimed Bouchon restaurants in Yountville, California and Las Vegas. [SOURCE]

The TKO is an elegant oreo. The chocolate shortbread cookie is thick and a bit more bitter - rather than sweet. But the inside was this very sweet, white chocolate center. Truthfully, I didn't love the cookie part of this, but I ate the cream out of the middle.



The brownie was kind of the same for me - it was chocolately, with chips inside. Not my most favorite, but I understand why others love it. It's in the shape of a cork, bouchon, which is cool.




My favorite part was the macarons, though! A mini caramel and a mini vanilla found a place right in my belly. I noticed their regular macarons are actually quite large. But they were out of the caramel, so I looked toward the mini ones and luckily found both a caramel and a vanilla.

These are really, really good. I often overlook trendy dessert foods - like cupcakes - but macarons are totally worth the hype. The light crackly outside that gives way to soft meringue. Lots of texture and sweetness. Get all the macarons you can!

Grade: B

After a hot dog on Coney Island, it was only appropriate to get something sweet. We went just a few stores down to Paul's Daughter. This restaurant serves corndogs, ice cream, fries, beer and cotton candy. 

As the blue and pink striped candy cotton swung in the wind ... I knew it had to be mine. How often do you get cotton candy? Only at carnivals, and this is like the ultimate carnival.

It was good - cotton candy is always good. Pricey, yes, and could've been more bang for my buck. But good.









Grade: B

One day of my trip to NYC was devoted to getting to Coney Island. We were spending our nights in New Jersey and riding the bus into Manhattan each day. From there, we had to take the subway all the way down to Coney Island. There were so. many. stops. I seriously think there were like 29 stops. And once we finally got to Coney Island, I realized the rides weren't open. It was too late in the season.

Fortunately, the beach was still open, as were the restaurants. And Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs is the place I've heard about for quite some time. So I ordered a hot dog with chili. And, I must say, I don't love that chili. It's weird. Maybe I'm spoiled by delicious hot dog joints in West Virginia? But this one was chunky, closer to actual chili and pretty runny. I think, next time, I might choose a different place.



Grade: C