Fry up inspectors New York food adventure - Day 3

Day 3 - Central Park, The Highline and..

 The legendary Katz's Deli!

I had my usual morning cigarette on the veranda and Bibi suddenly appeared informing us that we had left a window open in our room and this was why we had been cold the previous night. The window was open when we arrived and we closed it shortly after arriving, oh well she seemed a bit happier now having blamed us for being cold. Time for breakfast! This morning there was no space at the breakfast table when we arrived, Bibi told us to come back later and this was the first time we saw her smile. We returned later just in time for a group telling off about some hair that had been left in the shower and everyone was reminded how grateful we should be for staying at her B&B considering the cheap price compared to staying in Manhattan. We did mention to Bibi that the glowing reviews about the friendly service and lovely house was our reason for choosing her B&B and she did eventually join us at the table. She was telling us a bit about the local area and asking us what we did back in England, things were looking up and this was more like the Bibi were expecting to find! Anyway, breakfast this morning started off with fresh filter coffee and a small fruit salad which after yesterdays day of unhealthy eating felt good and tasted nice too. 6/10

Next a warm bagel arrived with jam and cream cheese, it seemed like an odd mix but tasted ok 5/10

 We headed into Manhattan on the subway, the sun was shining today and we were heading to Central Park.

The contrast of Central Park's greenery and surrounding skyscrapers is stunning.

The park was full of vendors selling ice creams, pretzels and hot dogs.

You didn't have to walk very far before you found street dancers and acrobats.

I knew my visit to Katz's Deli was happening much later in the day so a hot dog wasn't going to ruin our appetites. At just $2 this quite large hot dog was really worth the money, you could chose from plain or spicy sausage, we both went for the spicy one as it was twice as thick as the plain one. So, a really soft bun, slightly spicy hot sausage covered in a generous squirt of ketchup and mustard, really delicious! 8/10

As we headed towards Central Park zoo we spotted this egg puppet with fried eggs as eyes, the kids loved it!

The day was getting hotter so time for an ice cream, my wife went for her favourite, a biscuit ice cream and I decided to try the birthday cake.

It looked like it had melted slightly and then frozen again. A slightly crispy and colourful outside with an ice cream and sponge cake centre, different and quite nice 6/10

This is the clock at Central Park Zoo, it moves on the hour. Sadly the queues for tickets to the zoo were not moving very quickly so we decided not to go inside.

 The Woolman ice skating rink becomes a fun fair over the summer.

 We headed through Hells Kitchen in search of The Highline.

 We spotted a couple drinking some of these huge (easily a pint) strawberry margaritas and a few minutes after passing them decided to head back and have one too. We asked the waiter if we could have what they were drinking pointing to the couples drinks. The couple warned us they were really strong, the man telling us he had carried his daughter home before after drinking one! It was really strong with a lovely smooth texture containing fresh strawberrys and by the time we had finished we did feel quite drunk! Our only regret was not asking the price before ordering, $42 for 2 drinks!! To be fair though they must have contained loads of tequila and tortilla chips and salsa were included in the price.

The tortilla chips were really big and the salsa dip delicious with quite a spicy kick, the best salsa I had ever tasted for sure! 8/10

We passed through a flea market and spotted Kermit.

The Highline is a disused overhead freight rail line that has been turned into a public walkway with plenty of greenery and great views.

It was nice to get away from the traffic and very popular with locals and visitors. 

There was plenty of things to see from The Highline and it took a good 45 minutes to walk the entire length.

Time to clean the car out!?

We passed through West Village district, it looked so different to other parts of Manhattan with no skyscrapers and lots of trees.  At this point I was so keen to try the Reuben sandwich at Katz's Deli and we were getting closer to it!



Katz's Deli

205 East Houston Street
New York City 
10002

 

Katz's Deli is found on the lower east side of Manhattan and has just celebrated its 125 year anniversary. As part of the celebrations they held a pastrami sandwich eating competition, the winner ate 25 in 10 minutes!

Katz's Deli featured in the film "When Harry met Sally" and the sign hanging from the ceiling marks the table where the scene was shot.

As you enter you are given a ticket which is marked when you order your food, simply hand the ticket to the cashier and pay as you leave.

We queued at the counter and as the customer in front collected his food we knew we were going to be eating a sandwich like no other!

The meat cutter gave us a generous sample of pastrami and turkey before making our sandwiches, both were really delicious!

This guy was a real pro sandwich maker assembling 2 giant sandwiches in about 2 minutes.

The sandwiches looked incredible and we couldn't believe our luck when we found somewhere to sit in this 24 hour deli that is always really busy.

I went for the Pastrami Rueben sandwich, heaps of pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing on rye bread. I knew months ago I would be choosing this sandwich having seen Adam Richman eat it on Man vs food, article here (about 1 min 30 secs in)

Standard pastrami is cured for 36 hours but Katz's cure theirs for 30 days giving it an incredible flavour and texture.

Words can't describe the taste sensation when I took my first bite, the juices from the hot pastrami blended perfectly with the sauerkraut and melted swiss cheese, the russian dressing compliments it so well. It was difficult to bite into and you will get messy doing so but you will also be witnessing the best sandwich you have ever had the pleasure of eating!! 10/10

The huge serving of full and half sour pickles come with the giant sandwiches and compliment them nicely.

My wife went for the turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo.

The hot turkey was juicy, really tender and they didn't skimp on the filling!

I washed my sandwich down with a Dr Browns root beer, my wife went for Katz's own lemonade, really nice!

When a sandwich is this good you just gotta finish it!

I left Katz's knowing I just had to return again someday. If you ever visit New York this place is a must, the best sandwich ever!!

Just across the road from Katz's we popped into the Doubledown bar, I really regret not trying the bacon bloody mary.

It was happy hour so we had a couple of vodkas.

It was a great bar but we didn't stay too long as we wanted to walk the sandwiches off!

The walk across the Brooklyn bridge is well worth doing, we spotted some love padlocks often found in big cites and left by couples to symbolise their everlasting love.

The sun was going down over Manhattan as we crossed the bridge into Brooklyn, we were knackered from walking so far and made our way back to Bibis.

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Day 4 - Staten Island and a trip to Coney Island.