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Some people skip dessert and some people eat it first. If you're the latter, then visit either the ChikaLicious Dessert Bar or Club across the street from each other on East 10th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues. I recently visited the popular Dessert Bar with a friend and had a three-course dessert served by Chika herself. Desserts are of the beautiful, fanciest-meal-of-your-life variety. You can pair them with wine, sherry, or tea. My favorite detail: Everything comes on pretty china! I visited on an unusually slow night, but there's usually a long line. If that's the case, you can pick up something less delicate to-go across the street at ChikaLicious Dessert Club. ChikaLicious Dessert Bar is at 203 East 10th Street. The Dessert Club is right across the street at 204 East 10th Street.
www.chikalicious.com/
204 E 10th St, New York, 10003, United States
+1 212 475 0929
Google map: bit.ly/YspNS2
+1 212 475 0929
* Amanda is our Been there local for New York. You can check out her page here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/new-york-local-amanda-green.jsp and her own NYC blog here: www.noisiestpassenger.com/. She's also on Twitter: @amandagreen
The best place in NYC to enjoy an Old Fashioned and look back towards central Manhattan.
The views are fantastic and unimpeded stretching from Central Park down to Wall St - well worth a trip out to West 48th to go and watch the city that never sleeps from one of its best vantage points.
www.ink48.com/
653 11th Ave, New York, NY, United States
+1 212 757 0088
Google map: bit.ly/XWfn84
Everyone knows the best thing about heartbreak, loneliness, and unrequited love is the music. Especially the Smiths. This Valentine's Day, February 14, you can celebrate your love, or lack thereof, with The Sons & Heirs, a Smiths and Morrissey cover band at The Bell House in Brooklyn. (Check out their songs here.) Doors open at 8 pm and the show starts at 9 pm with a Smiths-inspired cabaret. You can buy tickets in advance for $12 or $15 at the door. And yes, there will be lots of alcohol and singles there! The Bell House is located on 149 7th Street off the F and G trains.
www.thebellhouseny.com/
149 7th St Brooklyn, NY 11215, United States
+1 718 643 6510
Google map: bit.ly/TNui8e
* Amanda is our Been there local for New York. You can check out her page here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/new-york-local-amanda-green.jsp and her own NYC blog here: www.noisiestpassenger.com/. She's also on Twitter: @amandagreen
Based on an old-fashioned European apothecary shop, Apotheke is a cocktail bar like no other. The menu is eclectic and the bar is more of a chemistry lab than a drinks station, surrounded by medicinal jars from around the world. Great atmosphere, potent cocktails and attractive bar staff.
www.apothekenyc.com/
9 Doyers St, New York, NY 10013
+1 (212) 406 0400
Google map: bit.ly/TKviFw
It's a cafe, restaurant and bar with a terrace with great views facing the Hudson.
www.boatbasincafe.com/
West 79th Street, New York, NY, United States
+1 212 496 5542
Google map: bit.ly/Jr3mlC
It's where W79 St meets the Hudson. Take a 1 train to 79 St and walk west (downhill), or take the M79 bus a block or so. Walk under the West Side Highway and keep going. You don't see it till you're there.
If you see stand-up comedy in NYC, you'll probably be stuck with an admission fee and a two drink minimum. The night won't be cheap, and there's no guarantee that the performances will be worth it. Especially at an open mic - believe me, I've performed in them. My favorite comedy in NYC is actually a $5 variety show in Brooklyn. "Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen" is a weekly labor of love put together by Kristen Schaal of The Daily Show and Flight of the Conchords and Kurt Braunohler of various improv troupes. Every Monday night includes musical performances, comedy, general weirdness from up-and-coming funny people. (One recent guest was Jenny Slate, formerly of Saturday Night Live.) The show starts at 8pm at Littlefield in Park Slope, Brooklyn. If you've worried about venturing outside Manhattan, don't. It's an easy train ride over and so worth it.
www.littlefieldnyc.com/
622 Degraw Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
+1 (718) 855-3388
Google map: bit.ly/jFJKqd
New York, like most cities, is best seen on foot. Too often, when you're fixed on seeing a specific attraction, you get there the quickest way possible and don't always notice everything else on the way. Take time out to explore a few neighbourhoods, with no specific aim other than to get a real feel of New York. Check out lower Manhattan, starting with SoHo, and stop for a drink in O'Nieal's Grand Street (the bar filmed as Scout in Sex and the City). Then wander further down Mulberry Street into Little Italy and scoff a bowl of pasta in an authentic local restaurant, before sampling the chaos and colour of Chinatown. Or head to the Village to queue with New Yorkers for a cupcake at the Magnolia Bakery, before wandering down the tree-lined streets of mega-bucks brownstones for a glimpse of how the other half lives.
www.onieals.com/
174 Grand Street, New York, NY 10013
+1 (212) 941-9119
www.magnoliabakery.com/home.php
401 Bleecker Street, New York 10014
+1(212) 462-2572
Google map: bit.ly/hLrnCu
We walked from the north side of Central Park up Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem to the Lenox Lounge. It's a famous Harlem jazz bar and club where the likes of Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and John Coltrane plied their trade.
Malcolm X worked here before he found religion.
More recently this place has featured in movies such as Malcolm X (obviously) and American Gangster.
288 Malcolm X Boulevard (between 124th and 125th streets)
Harlem
New York, NY 10027-4921, United States
www.lenoxlounge.com
Cocktail bar in Lower East Side. AMAZING cocktails, including ones made with house-infused vodkas in various flavours. Has a nice zinc top bar for that classic NY cocktail bar experience. The bartender was really friendly, and we even got some lovely aperitifs on the house to go with our drinks.
Make sure you don't miss it though - we initially thought it was shut, as there is just a small sign and you have to go downstairs to get to it! Incidentally we also ate at one of it's sister restaurants, Schillers, which was also lovely.
www.pravdany.com
281 Lafayette St
Bar on Houston St in New York. A really nice little bar with a great atmosphere. Make sure you go up the stairs and not to the bar below, which is a completely different place! We went in happy hour (around 6pm-8pm I think), which was cheap cocktails and 2-4-1 on draught beers (and good ones at that - try the Brooklyn white or pilsner). The best thing was that here Happy Hour stipulates that you MUST have two drinks each to benefit - brilliant, more beer! Also it's just down the road from Katz's deli so perfect for pre/post sandwich drinking. They also had cheap tacos on that night, which also looked pretty good, and they seemed to have various different food and drinks offers on each night of the week.
www.nolitahouse.com/
47 E Houston St
This trashy rock bar is the home of punk rock karaoke (Mondays, 10pm) and it has gigs in the basement almost every night. It's free to go for a drink upstairs, where the beer is the cheapest in the area - around $3 per pint. Plus, if you're lucky the barman will also throw in a few New York Dolls stories for you.
59 Stanton Street, New York
www.arlenesgrocery.net
Elegant art deco bar diner with superb cocktails, all-day food and Sunday brunches.
8th avenue and 23rd
A superb restaurant and bar, The crowd which frequent it are lively and friendly, the food is reasonably priced and very good, not to mention the authentic European tin bar. After finding it by accident it turns out that it's known city wide with the locals as THE place to hang out. Travelling alone? Then go and eat at the bar, you're bound to end up befriending some regulars.
80 Spring Street between Broadway and Lafeyette, Soho.
A must if you love bubbly. With 300 types of champagne and sparkling wines this place offers everything you can imagine, like the Pimm’s Moet Cocktail or the house favorite Bubble Bellini; they also do exotic martinis, the Kit Kat Martini is amazing. Try the downstairs bar complete with comfy sofas for a more intimate experience.
228 West Broadway,
New York, NY 10013
nr. White St.
A great place for some really tasty and interesting drinks in Manhattan is the Flatiron Lounge on 19th Street. It's a small, cozy, dimly lit, laid-back Art Deco lounge where you can get mixed drinks that you won't find anywhere else. Then for dinner, walk a few blocks over to Mesa Grill on Fifth Avenue for some terrific southwestern US cuisine and great desserts. But just make sure you call for a dinner reservation as far in advance as possible.
The best (and biggest!) Manhattans are at Quality Meats. It's a chic and buzzing basement hangout that is always packed. Glamorous clientele, classic decor; stay for dinner, which is also a great idea as the food is fantastic.
Quality Meats, 57 W. 58th Street just at the south end of Central Park
I'm a Brit living in NYC, and for cocktails I can highly recommend one of the secrets of New York that many native New Yorkers don't know about. I would try The Beacon. They have a special deal during their 'happy hour' that gets you two classic New York cocktails of your choice and an appetiser-style small pizza made by Waldy Maloof (one of the best chefs in NYC) for $20. Or you can skip the small pizza and dive straight in the cocktails.
This would only whet your appetite for one of my favourite restaurants in the city: Gramercy Tavern. It is still one of the highest rated restaurants in the city. Food, service and wine list, are all superb. You won't be disappointed.
The Beacon (25 West 56th Street between 6th and 5th Avenues)
Gramercy Tavern (2 East 20th Street, near Park Avenue South)
A great place for cocktails is Ava Lounge which overlooks Times Square. The drinks they make up are really good - true American cocktails, and the views can be amazing if it's a clear evening and you get a good sunset!
Also nearby for an interesting meal is the fun Benihana. Although if you are more interested in food rather than entertainment then The Red Cat in the heat of Chelsea is a great spot - very intimate but not too stuffy. The food is wonderful but affordable.
www.avaloungenyc.com/
www.benihana.co.uk/
www.theredcat.co.uk/
The Jazz Standard is an amazing night out with good cocktails and great jazz. If you book the early showing you can catch dinner upstairs too, which is yummy.
The River Cafe has great views of Manhattan being on the other side of Brooklyn bridge – again, they do good cocktails and good food. It is very pricey though so definitely one for a treat!
Little Branch in the Village is great for drinks – it's much like visiting a speakeasy with classic and innovative cocktails in a strangely enticing basement space.
For dinner: You can’t go wrong with 11 Madison. It’s a wonderful, adult place to eat which exemplifies a certain sort of American and New York high cuisine. It’s an utter pleasure.
Little Branch: corner of St. Luke’s and 7th Avenue
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