This incredible bar is located in the Four Seasons restaurant, an architectural and culinary landmark since it opened in 1959. You can drink and/or have a light lunch while sitting under a stunning Richard Lippold sculpture of brass rods hanging from the ceiling. It's not cheap, but definitely a 'must-do' splurge. (It's nice to feel special and privileged even if it is only once in one's life.) The Four Seasons is still the place where New York's movers and shakers, political, financial, editorial and otherwise come for lunch ($100 at least per person) and the bar offers a nice perch to view them from. (Well, you can always rub shoulders with them in the lavish restrooms.) Plus there's a good view of what's happening on glorious Park Avenue.

99 E. 52nd & Park Avenue in the landmark Seagram's Building. Go to www.fourseasonsrestaurant.com for pics, menus, etc.

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Fabulous all-American bar in one of the best NY hotels where the bloody mary was invented. You have to go in the cosy bar with comfortable leather armchairs, fabulously attentive staff, lovely nibbles and, of course, the best bloody mary in town.

Two East 55th Street, at Fifth Avenue, New York
www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis/index.html

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A rooftop bar with a spectacular view of the Empire State Building. Drinks are expensive, but worth it for the view!

230, Fifth Avenue, at 27th St. www.230-fifth.com

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Along Greenwich Avenue there's plenty of bars and food stops. Enjoyed a cheap Sam Adams during happy hour (forget the name but it was Irish!).

Bleecker Street seems to cater for every type of drinker so if you can't find a decent boozer there, something is wrong with you. Blind Tiger very popular and my sort of place with good range of ales.
The pace here is more laid back than midtown.

Greenwich Ave or Bleeker Street (between 8th Ave and 6th Ave)
Search out your own gem on any of the side streets

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Small cluster of Irish bars away from the madness of Times Square. All have bar side and dining side so cater for mix of crowds.

Try Perfect Pint or O Lunneys. Beer served in those not-quite-pint glasses. Adequate, but don't expect to sample the essence of NY as they're in the heart of Tourist Central.

45th St, Midtown Manhattan

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Tried two of their premises. One on 44th St near Times Square (I think) and another at a prime spot at the South Street Seaport.

Good pub grub and found both the lager and wheat beer very appealing. Good choice of ales and plenty of seasonal brews. Probably equated to about 3.50-4 quid a pint but hey, good quality microbrews in the middle of NY; you'd pay the same for cooking lager in a generic fun pub, anytown, UK.

44th ish.
South Street Seaport, Lower Manhattan
Other venues across the city (check the web)

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Decorated with an extravaganza of white subway tiles, this Lower East Side haunt snuggled up against the Rivington Hotel is a funky hybrid - think old skool diner meets Islington gastropub.

A great place for brunch, lunch or dinner, traditional dishes like stewed lamb meatballs and Schiller's steak frites hit the right notes.

131 Rivington St at Norfolk St Subway: Subway: F to Delancey St; J, M, Z to Delancey–Essex Sts Mon–Wed 11am–1am; Thu 11am–2am; Fri 11am–3am; Sat 10am–3am; Sun 10am–1am.

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One of the oldest and most authentic bars in Manhattan.

Frequented by many (it gets busy) but mainly by locals and workers around Grammercy and Union Square.

A very long zinc bar, an amazing tin ceiling, some of the best burgers in town and just a great place to hang out and feel as if you are a part of New York. As with most things in New York, this bar just 'works'...it's a great place.

18th street between Park Avenue south and Broadway

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Notoriously it was once the most difficult velvet rope to negotiate in Manhattan and apparently they’ll soon be opening a sister venue in London. In it’s heyday, a key card was pre-requisite to gain entry. Whether this concept will work across the pond remains to be seen, and to be fair it’s the kind of place I’d usually avoid like the plague.

But when in New York, and when with a mate-who’s-mate’s-mate-knows-a-mate-of owner Amy Sacco, then why not.

Is it worth the effort? Well, the pretentious git in me did feel kind of smug at leaving the mere mortals behind on the sidewalk, but the place certainly didn’t blow me away.

Inside was “Beverly Hills themed” whatever that means. It was much smaller than expected, music was identikit hip-hop and R&B and there wasn’t a single celebrity du jour to gawp at. The only thing that blew me away was checking my Amex receipts in my wallet the following morning.

Chelsea, Manhattan
515 W. 27th St (between 10th & 11th Aves)

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The best bar in NYC. Fact. Friendly staff, great food and well-priced drinks.

151 Bleecker St, Greenwich Village, NY.
Tel : (001) 212 260 9797.
www.redlion-nyc.com.

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Hoboken is a mile square city best known, perhaps, as Frank Sinatra's birthplace. It also disputes Cooperstown, NY as being the birthplace of modern baseball. It is an eclectic, thriving community located directly on the Hudson River across from Manhattan, sporting amazing views from one of three riverfront parks.

The main street - Washington Street, hosts trendy and traditional cafes, restaurants, bars, and shops -a pleasing blend of the "old time" Italian and German Hoboken, and the gentrified new Hoboken.

Hudson Street, just two blocks from the river, is lined with elegant brownstones and mansions that once belonged to the rich and famous of NYC who sailed to Hoboken for a days' respite.

One can get Hoboken from NYC via the PATH train (subway from NYC to New Jersey), at Christopher Street in Greenwich Village, 9th, 14th, 23rd and 33rd streets.

A $2.30 bus ride (gate 205) from Port Authority Bus Terminal will take you to Washington Street, the main drag, and the 38th street and pier 11 ferries will give you a lovely ride across the Hudson River in a matter of minutes.

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A haven amongst the sports bars of midtown, this is a friendly pub which offers loads of different beers - including local ones - on tap. Try the Blue Point toasted lager. I did.

11 East 36th St. www.gingerman-ny.com

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