Sep 10 2008
Eating out or not, that is the question!
Along with millions of citizen living in New York, I tend to dine a lot of my meal out. Not out as in outside, but more a long the lines of out side of my house: bars, restaurants, cafes, and diners. I don’t cook so this is the perfect deal for me. I’m fairly ignorant when it comes to cooking and preparing food and that’s why I’ve never learnt how to do it. I find it boring and timeconsuming. I know there are ways to get around that and prepare great meal in just a couple of minutes, but I just don’t care. For me to sit down, deside what to eat and then actually plan how to make it, is not a realistic situation. That’s simply not something I would do. Now, cooking with someone or for someone is a hell of a lot more fun than being by yourself, cooking to yourself, so being in a new relationship I’ve started taking up cooking. Well, actually I’ve started thinking about cooking again. I haven’t made it to the stove yet, but I’m working on it.
Just the other day, a friend told me about this really great book about dining out that he had just gotten. It’s about dining out in New York, and doing it by the bar, not in the actual restaurant. I, having just heard about this, haven’t read it yet but my friend told me that the book is easy to read with great recommendations. The island of Manhattan is divided into 4 parts (Uptown * 2, midtown, and downtown), giving you a comprehensive overview no matter where you are or want to go.
The book gives you a number of bars/restaurants for you to visit in each area, and tells you what is good to order in terms of both food and drinks to go with it. It tells you why you should visit this place and why dining at the bar is so much better than dining in the actual restaurant. The reason is aparently that it gives you the best of both world. What that means is for me to figure out when I purchase the book. It’s about the same size as you wallet so you can carry it around with you and use it when you and your friends don’t know where to go. Spontaneous and fun!
Some of the places that are being mentioned in the book are P*ONG in the West Village, Bar Milano, Bar Lupa, and Bar Blanc. All of these places have normal, regular restaurant seating as well but you should sit by the bar if you come. That’s almost an unspoken rule!
