New York City Weekend Food Tour - Joe's Shanghai, Lady M, Sushi Seki, Schmackary's

In January, we took a weekend trip to enjoy some good eats in New York City.  We went to some of our favorite spots: Joe's Shanghai and Lady M.  We also tried some new places like Sushi Seki, Schmackary's, and Tony's Di Napoli.




Right after landing, we headed straight to Joe's Shanghai.  They had a relatively new location in Midtown West, which is near Times Square where we were staying.

This location was definitely swankier than the one in Chinatown we usually go to.  Apparently, it's "The Center of Exotic Specialties."  I don't know about all of that - I just wanted some xiao long bao (soup dumplings)!

We ordered some crab and pork soup dumplings.  They were delicious!  I didn't notice any difference between these and the ones at the Chinatown location.  The real crab bits inside were SO good!  These are still the best xiao long bao on the East Coast, and second best overall after Din Tai Fung.

After lunch, we headed over to our hotel.  It was January and freezing outside!  Fortunately, the hotel wasn't that far away.  We got a really good deal at The Knickerbocker in Times Square.  They even gave us a free double upgrade when we checked in!  Sadly, there was renovation going on, so we couldn't have the windows open to enjoy the view of the city.

After getting settled in, we headed out to our favorite cakery, Lady M.  The crepe cakes here are amazing!  I can tell that they're catered to an Asian palette since they're tea flavored and not too sweet.

This time, we tried the banana mille cake.  We also tried the earl grey mille crepe cake, which was a new flavor that came out after our last visit.  The banana mille cake was decent, but nothing to write home about.  But the earl grey mille crepe cake was the BOMB!  The amount of earl grey tea flavor was just right.  Easily the best out of all their flavors.

For dinner, we decided to try Sushi Seki.  It was restaurant week, and they were a participating sushi restaurant with good reviews.

The table arrangement was really nice.  I like the stone on the chopsticks, which is then used as a chopstick holder.  I later realized from the Chinese character on the menu that the restaurant's name means stone/rock.

Instead of the restaurant week menu, we decided to try the omakase.  The omakase plates came out with four pieces of sushi each.  The fish was good quality, but the plates were definitely hit or miss.  I personally enjoy sushi that is simple and all about the fish.  The first plate was straight up sushi and was delicious.

However, by the third plate, they tried to get a bit too fancy with the sushi.  Pieces were topped with a lot of different sauces, had vegetables and tofu on them, etc.  Some people might enjoy that, but I personally did not.  To their credit, I gave the waitress feedback after the third plate, and the fourth and final plate was great.  But for the price that I paid for the omakase, they should have gotten it right from the get go, gauged my reactions for themselves, or even just asked me for feedback.

Afterwards, my New Yorker buddy recommended Schmackary's.  We thought the name was hilarious and decided to try it out.  We got the classic chocolate chip and sweet corn cookies.  The cookies were extremely soft and also moist, which I love.  But they were so soft that they kept falling apart when I tried to eat them.  Overall, the flavors were good and the cookie were not overly sweet.  No big complaints, but I was not blown away either.

For breakfast the next day, I went to Charlie Palmer at the Knick since it is where we were staying.  It was early in the morning and the restaurant was pretty much empty.

I ordered one of my breakfast favorites, which is eggs benedict.  For $20, it had better be great.  The side hash brown actually was great.  It was crispy and seasoned really well, giving it a different flavor than your typical hash brown.  But the eggs benedict itself was not so great.  The ham was too thick and tough, which ruined the dish for me.

We had time to grab some lunch before heading to the airport.  My wife was craving Italian, so we went next door to Paul's on Time Square.  However, we were the only people in the entire restaurant, which usually is not a good sign.  We decided to leave and try someplace else.

We found Tony's Di Napoli nearby and decided to check it out.  Unlike Paul's, this place was packed!  It also looked like a very authentic Italian joint.

We noticed that everyone around us was ordering the veal, which looked amazing.  The waiter came and he was highly recommending it also.  We decided to give it a try, and it did not disappoint.  The veal even came with a tiny fork to scoop the bone marrow, which tasted amazing!  The portions were very generous and we left stuffed and happy.

We had a great time in New York and enjoyed some good eats.  We will definitely be back and plan to check out some Michelin restaurants next time.