After a hectic first few days we took it a little easier on Monday. We do have a walking tour later in the day, so our morning was relaxed.
We ventured out in the local area and had a quick bite to eat at Juniors. Well known for their cheesecake and deserts, today instead we just had a simple lunch.
We then wandered around the shops just out of Times Square. I was after some new jeans and Mardi some cosmetics. So American Eagle and Sephora got a bit of a workout.
I then wandered around and took some photos.
We took it easy for an hour before heading out to Queens for our tour. Specifically Jackson Heights. Mardi had booked an interesting food truck walking tour.
We arrive around 5pm and search for our meeting spot. The hardest thing about any of these types of tours is finding where to stand and wait. Tonight the instructions gave us a restaurant to stand outside. Seemingly easy, but we walked up and down a few blocks before Mardi spotted it. Then as if by magic random people came up to us asking us if we were here for the food tour. First a Dutch couple, then an English lady. I didn’t think we looked that obvious, but there you go. We were soon joined by an American couple and then our guide, Greg.
Greg starts the tour by briefly introducing us to the area. Over 200 nationalities call this part of New York home. Influences from South America, Africa, Mexico, Nepal, Pakistan and India are among the hundreds of cuisines you can find in the area. We will be sampling seven tonight over the next two and a half hours. Everything, except desert, will be from a local food truck.
We kick the tour off with Tibetan. We start with beef momo – Tibetan style dumplings with some wickedly hot sauce. Delicious.
Next stop is chicken over rice, halal. It is something else. So yummy. Sammy’s cart, where we were eating was the first cart in the area offering halal food.
We walk and talk for a bit to the other tourists. Sharing travel and food stories, photos and where we are from.
We arrive at cart three. We are now visiting Bangladesh. The first Fuchka truck in NYC. We enjoy delicious fuchka. Little corn starch shells with chick peas and potato. Some tamarind sauce over the top and this little ball of deliciousness is done. I had five of them!
We then walk for eight blocks along Roosevelt Ave. the elevated 7 train rattles overhead as we pass shops. Clothes, trinkets, souvenirs, tattoo parlours, grocery and food shops line the streets in an eclectic mix cultures. The street is filled with noise from the trains overhead, cars blaring music, mostly hip hop and ghetto blasters from street stall sellers. Workers of all ages unload trucks and race to prepare for the next days trading.
We arrive at cart four. Birria. We have moved to South America now. The Birria comes in one flavour – beef. It’s a taco. Coupled with the taco is a rich dipping sauce. You guessed it, that’s beef as well. No vegetarians allowed.
We stand in a dark corner to eat. The street is busy, so we try and get out off of the way. Plus it’s messy and hard to eat. Deliciously rich, but messy.
Our final savoury stop is Mexican. A Mexican sandwich with chicken, chipotle, cheese, avocado. Another yummy treat. It is served with a little Mexican flag.
We then walk a couple of blocks to a bakery. Our last dish is a biscuit from la Gran, a Uruguayan bakery. We enjoy shortbread biscuit called Alfajores. It’s filled with dulce de leche and covered in coconut. It is so delicious. A perfect way to end our tour. We sit with Greg for a while as he dishes out great food ideas for us. Everyone wants to know where the best pizza or burger is in NYC. Or where great dumplings can be found. He gives us a few ideas to try.
Other members of the group start to peel off and we bid our farewell to Greg and the others.
We then walk five blocks to the train. We catch the elevated 7 which takes us back to Times Square.
We’ve had a great night and enjoyed some awesome food.
We grab a hot chocolate and head in for the night.
