Fry up inspectors New York food adventure - Day 2

Day 2 - A walk around Manhattan and Brooklyn

We were up early for breakfast, I headed outside and realised how nice the house we were staying in was, every house on the street looked similar.

 The smoking area was rather nice too.

We nervously entered the breakfast room at 8am realising we would be surrounded by strangers. As everyone arrived at the table we smiled and chatted with them getting very little back in return. Eventually Bibi arrived saying "Hi, I'm Bibi" then she disappeared again, moments later scrambled eggs with spinach and cheese served with toast was placed before us. The scrambled eggs were cooked beautifully and the spinach was a nice touch, the cheese making it even more delicious. Eaten on top of the toast with some ketchup it was a great first breakfast, fresh fruit, tea and filter coffee was also available. 9/10

We thanked our hosts as we left the breakfast room telling them it was delicious but got pretty much ignored. Something didn't seem to add up and the friendly welcome we were expecting just wasn't happening, perhaps we were being paranoid from jet lag? Anyway, time to head into Manhattan! 

Avenue H subway station was 5 minutes walk from Bibi's and about a 20 minute ride to Manhattan.

As the train passed over the Manhattan bridge the skyline suddenly appeared.

We got off the train at Times Square and decided a double espresso was needed to wake us up a bit. These salt caramel cake pops (2 for $2.50) were really delicious with a crisp chocolate shell and soft cake centre, the sticky salt caramel drizzled on top blended the flavours together beautifully 9/10. 

With a caffeine and sugar boost we headed towards ground zero passing iconic sights on the way.

I was determined to sample a Twinkie but later discovered they were no longer being made (I have since discovered from July 2013 they will be back again!) The 7-Eleven store we were in had many unusual snacks so I bought a couple of things to see how they tasted.

My wife pointed out the Biscuit sausage and curiosity got the better of me, what on earth could this $1 snack be?

 30 seconds in the microwave later I unwrapped what looked like a slightly sweaty burger. It wasn't looking so good but when I bit into it I was pleasantly surprised. The bun was more like a scone and the burger shaped sausage was lightly spiced and really quite tasty. As a $1 microwave snack goes I was quite impressed! 7/10

As we reached Madison Square Park I wished I had saved some of the biscuit sausage bun for the squirrels, they were everywhere and really friendly. 

I was curious about Big Mama's pickled sausage and decided to open it.

Hmm.. looked a bit like a saveloy. 

 As soon as I bit into this $1.50 snack I discovered it was not very special, a cold slightly spiced sausage with small pieces of gherkin 3/10

As we walked past the Flatiron building we decided to build up an appetite and not eat anything for a few hours.

These giant homemade cookies stopped us in out tracks on Bleecker Street though.

We decided to share one as they were so huge and chose the snickers cookie at $3.

It was quite soft with a cake like texture but captured the snickers flavour really well 9/10

We decided to take a look inside Bleecker Street records.

 3 huge cats lived inside the shop.

 There was a vast selection of vinyl in the basement.

 As we were approaching ground zero we spotted this classic looking diner but weren't feeling hungry so decided we would try and return to it another day.

We passed plenty of these elevated car parks, when space is limited the only way is up.

We spent some time at the 9/11 memorial garden and visitors centre, the new freedom tower is nearing completion.

Mid afternoon we headed towards Brooklyn passing plenty of steamy man hole covers.

The Lafayette Avenue of Brooklyn had a nice feel to it, we decided to walk to Williamsburg.

We walked for a long time and saw so many school buses along Bedford Avenue.

Eventually we arrived in Williamsburg.

This fella was taking it easy and we decided a rest was needed too.

A well deserved cappuccino.

We weren't  particularly hungry so ordered something quite small. This bagel cost $6.50 and was the best I have ever eaten, plenty of cream cheese and really fresh smoked salmon served in a warm bagel. 9/10

We popped back to the B&B and looked for Bibi, our bed only had a thin sheet and thin bed spread on meaning we were a bit cold the night before. My wife eventually found Bibi asking if it was possible to have a blanket. She asked if everyone was cold and turned the heating on telling my wife it was very confusing, eventually we were given another thin blanket.

We had a cup of tea and a few Chips Ahoy cookies, similar to Maryland cookies 7/10

We headed back out to Williamsburg in search of Duffs Bar.

 We were struggling to find somewhere to eat on the slightly shady looking street close to Duffs Bar so we went into Checkers burgers. This crispy BBQ burger with seasoned fries was really nice and much better than we were expecting from a fast food place. A soft bun with swiss cheese sandwiched between 2 burgers and topped with onion rings and crispy bacon smothered in BBQ sauce. The seasoned fries were really crisp and although very unhealthy bloody delicious! 7/10

We only had one drink in Duffs Bar, it looked great inside but it was so noisy you just couldn't speak so we headed back to the B&B feeling quite knackered.

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Day 3 - Central Park, The Highline and the legendary Katz's Deli!