5 hours in NYC

what does one eat in 5 hours in nyc? well, the question is what does susan eat in 5 hours in nyc?

my cousin's husband, J, is a total foodie so i asked him, "what should i eat in my short time in nyc?"
he asked, "well, it depends on where you are going to be?"
a very good question.

i wanted to go down to the flat iron district to visit a yarn shop there.
so he suggested a route that basically takes me on a loop.

first stop: shake shack
he thinks that they have the best burgers in nyc, some will argue better than in-n-out. i will be the judge of that. he recommended that i leave early b/c after 12:00 there is a crazy line. so i left the apartment at 11:00am, and i took a brisk walk down to the shake shack. since it was still pretty early there was no line.

i ordered the cheeseburger and diet coke. they are known for their custard, but it was too cold to order custard. there is no inside eating. it's all outside. however, they did have heating lamps available.

in just a few minutes, my buzzer went off. i went to the counter and picked up my burger. it is smaller in size than in-n-out, and it does cost more. a shake shack burger is $4.75. however, i will say that it was better than in-n-out. yeah, i said it. and i will say it again. better than in-n-out. they use romaine lettuce at shake shack. in-n-out uses ice berg. i believe the ice berg is a waste of a green vegetable. no nutritional value. it only holds water.

as i took a bite, i savored the warm juicy burger inside my mouth. i said to myself, "oh man... this is good...." okay, yes, i haven't had beef for over a week, but i am not bias. i know a good burger when i taste it. and that was one good burger. the lettuce and tomato were very fresh. the meat patty was absolutely delicious!

i didn't order the fries b/c i noticed they were the krinkle cut fries. i've never been a fan of the krinkle cut so i can't say anything about their fries.

if you go, go early. if you wait one hour, i don't know if you'll be satisfied.

but for the price, it was a pretty good burger. i think it ranks #3 on my list of best burgers. my #1 burger is still mccormicks and schmicks happy hour burger. (another post for another time.)

it was lovely to eat my burger in the middle of madison square park on a cool autumn day. after enjoying my list bite, i went over to the yarn shop and browsed for an hour. i usually wouldn't blog about this, but it is food related b/c they had these cute crocheted donuts!! they even included sprinkles and shaved coconut. how cute is that? food can also be about the appearance. they looked almost good enough to eat!

after visiting the lion yard studio, i started to head to artichoke pizza, J's second recommendation. he told me that they have this artichoke & spinach pizza that tastes like the artichoke spinach dip! mmmm... artichoke is located on 14th street between 1st and 2nd ave. it's a pretty small store, so i think i lucked out again with the line. they do have other items on their menu, but i ordered one slice of their artichoke & spinach pizza to go. my slice was from a fresh pie. before i put it away, i took a few bites of it. it was heavenly. the crust had a nice crunch to it. if you like bready pizza, you'll like this one. it is more on the thick bread side, but it works b/c the cheese and flavors are so strong. i think if it was a thin pizza, the flavors would overpower everything. however, the thicker bread balances out all the flavors. i couldn't finish the whole pizza b/c it's a huge slice, but i packed it up and headed for my next stop, ess-a-bagel. (btw, i ate the pizza when i got home later. i popped it into the oven at 400 for 10 minutes. it still tasted delicious!)

i ordered 2 everything bagels. i actually haven't tried it yet b/c i was so stuffed from the burger and the pizza. but the nice thing about bagels, you can pop them in the toaster oven, and they still taste great!




what did i spend today?
shake shack
cheeseburger=$4.75
diet coke = $2.00
total=$6.75

artichoke pizza
1 slice = $4.00

ess-a-bagel
2 everything bagels=$2.00

grand total=$14.75

not bad for 5 hours in nyc.

oh, and as a little amuse bouche, my cousin gave me these cute treats from financier patisserie, a place that my cousin loves. i had one when i got home after a 2 hour bus ride after my leftover artichoke pizza. it's a buttery taste of heaven! it had a nice thin shell on the outside. it reminds me of a combination of a madeline and a pound cake but with more of a baked shell. and they do a fabulous job with the packaging. very clean and simple.

in nyc, you can pay $$ and have an excellent meal, but i love how you can spend less than $15.00 and enjoy the tastes of new york city.

i heart ny.

**i took the bolt bus back to cherry hill for $12.00. so really my grand total in nyc was $26.75. who said ny was expensive?