Tasti Dlite, Manhattan, NYC

There are a few of these scattered across the city and claim in selling tasty low-fat frozen dairy products (notice how they stay away from the word "ice-cream"). Partly out of curiosity more than anything else, I decided to pop in for something.

I settled for the ice-cream cookie sandwich because I'm always of fan of ice-cream sandwiches of some sort. This came in a vanilla-chocolate twist.

Ok.. I don't know what to make of this. It's not frozen yoghurt like how they claim on their website but it definitely did not taste as rich as ice-cream. There's something about how secretive they are in regards to what actually constitutes their product which makes it hard for me to accept that they're entirely kosher (and I don't like how their name is spelt as well). Anyway, this was fun just to try out but I'll go for the real thing the next time.

D

Menchanko-Tei, Manhattan, NYC

It's nice to know that there are some decent ramen joints in Manhattan. Menchanko-Tei opens till midnight on the Fridays and Saturdays which makes it pretty convenient for a late dinner.

We started off with the grilled gyutan which was quite tasty but unfortunately sliced too thick. It was also slightly overcooked which made it a tad bit tough.

Their signature menchanko ramen is a soy-sauce based ramen served in a pre-heated cast iron bowl. Steaming hot broth, kept warm continuously; this was very much appreciated in the chilly Autumn weather. The ingredients also tasted fresh and even if I wasn't a fan of cabbage, the shreds here were crunchy and sweet.

Soy-sauce based ramens are nice but I was always a fan of the heartier tonkotsu (pork-bone based) ramens. Even though their Hakata ramen is not their signature dish, it was pretty delicious as well. In fact the broth came close to what I used to have at Ken's, the ingredients are pretty simple though with just a few slices of pork making up the meat.

A nice finishing touch to the meal is the draft Sapporo beer. Sure beats its canned or bottled version anytime.

With two accessible locations midtown East and West, Menchanko-Tei makes herself a rather attractive ramen joint to hit when I get those cravings.

D

Big Wong Restaurant, Manhattan, NYC

Nothing beats a bowl of steaming hot pork and century egg porridge for a morning feed. Accompanied by crunchy dough crullers, the smooth porridge had that delicious taste and texture that could only be achieved by the tedious and laborious effort of stirring it slowly whilst it cooks. Big Wong is located on 67 Mott Street ((212) 964-0540) in Chinatown and is opened as early as 7am.

D

Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Manhattan, NYC

I love pistachios! I love ice-cream. A marriage made in Heaven.

D

Grimaldi's Pizzeria, Brooklyn, NYC

Brooklyn bridge is a pretty cool bridge to walk across for both New Yorkers and tourists alike.

Not only is the architecture rather interesting but the view of

Manhattan from it is pretty stellar as well. But the best thing really about walking the bridge is the exercise you get from it. Haha... I'm kidding!

The best thing is hitting Grimaldi's Pizzeria at 19 Old Fulton St once you cross over.

The choice of toppings here may not be massive but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality. And boy was this quality pizza. Everything tasted top notched. Even the crust was extremely delicious with a nice smoky and mildly charred taste.

These pizzas are baked to perfection in their 800degF coal-fired brick ovens. Was it worth the trek across the bridge? Hell yeah.

D

Saigon Bakery, Manhattan, NYC

I was quite pleased to find out that there's a place in Manhattan serving pretty decent banh mi.

This is their banh mi xiu mai which is actually filled with minced pork grilled similarly to nem nuong. Their recommended sandwich, this tasted pretty damn good especially with that huge dollop of pate. The sweet pickled vegetables tasted crunchy and fresh as well.

The standard banh mi saigon which has pate and pork in it was pretty good too but I prefered the xiu mai version because I actually liked the chewy nem nuong bits.

Of course, which banh mi meal is complete without some Vietnamese iced coffee?

D

Shake Shack again...

Here's just some more grub from the Shake Shake in Madison Square Park. The bratwurst with wholegrain mustard. Not too shabby a brat, with a nice snappy casing and chewy core.

The cheeseburger was also pretty decent.

The cheesy fries weren't too bad either although the crinkle-cut chips could have been crispier. Then again, having caught them at a good time (10 minutes queue), I've got nothing to gripe about.

D

Popeyes, Manhattan, NYC

One big plus about Manhattan over Singapore is that there's more than one Popeyes outlet.

There's still a steady queue going here to make sure the turn-over is quite decent. Hence the chook still tastes pretty fresh. Oh and they actually have two flavors here; spicy (for babies hah!) and normal.

The biscuits must be made according to a standardised recipe because they're still as fluffy and tasty here. Actually, I think they were fluffier than the ones in Singapore. Nice stuff!

I didn't get to try the coleslaw but since most of it was finished, I guess it was pretty decent too.

D

Rock Center Cafe, Manhattan, NYC

Smack in the area near the skating rink at Rockefeller Center is the Rock Center Cafe. Although this place does scream tourist trap in some aspects, it wasn't too bad.

We shared a very pleasant snack of deep-fried calamari. This was cooked just nice, the squid wasn't too chewy nor dry and the tangy dipping sauce accompanied it well.

What better wayt is there to sooth the evening heat of a stubborn summer with some cold Piper?

D

A typical New York thin slice...

Like the bagel, the thin slice is another staple for New Yorkers (this slice was from a pizzeria just round the corner of my apartment). It's popular for a quick meal on the go which is great for New Yorkers because they're always pretty much on the go. Most pizza parlors here sell pizza by the slice but don't be deceived; a slice is pretty damn huge. I placed my watch by that slice above just for comparison... see how it's exceeding the borders of the paper plate? I had to nibble the protruding ends so that I could reheat it in my microwave without letting the grease go all over. There's a certain method to eating the slice as well. Fold it in half and four bites later you should be done. There you go, a quick lunch which can be consumed in less than 5 minutes. A typical meal ideal for the typical New Yorker.

D

Wonjo, Manhattan, NYC

Although Wonjo calls herself a Korean and Japanese restaurant as with most of the Korean restaurants in K-town along 32nd Street, it's really a Korean restaurant. Not many people come here for the Japanese fare.

As with most Korean restaurants, there's a nice variety of side-dishes to start off the meal.

The main thing that sets Wonjo aside from the other Korean restaurants is the use of charcoal here. There's something about charcoal which imparts that smokey aroma that can't be replicated with just gas alone.

The ox-tongue is sliced mightily thin which makes for great quick cooking.

A few seconds on each side and you're done. Since it was unmarinated, it went really well with the salt and pepper in sesame oil.

Next came some spicy marinated pork.

The nice thing about the marinades is they aren't too sweet.

The special Kalbi which was marinated in a spicy sauce.

Tender and succulent, we made quick work of these tasty morsels.

We ended the meal with a little pot of spicy bibimbap. Overall, the meal was pretty decent which was a good start to sampling the fare along this street saturated with Korean restaurants. I'll be back to this street for sure, since some of these joints are opened 24hrs as well.

D

Garrett Popcorn Shops, Manhattan, NYC

I remembered seeing a Garrett's in Chicago once but since the queue was rather long then, I decided to give it a miss. I chanced upon one at Penn Plaza yesterday when I was at K-mart picking up a muffin tray and since they weren't really busy, I decided to pop (no pun intended) in for some popcorn.

I ordered a mixed bag of cheese and crispy caramel. This was pretty good actually, but the caramel was a little too sweet and the cheese a little too salty, so I guess the mixed bag helps balance those flavors. Even then, when I was about 3/4 through the bag, I still got abit sick of the stuff, luckily I didn't go for the gallon container.

D

Mandarin Court, Manhattan, NYC

Mandarin Court (61 Mott St, (212) 608-3838) was another dim sum joint that I checked out but this time I came with some of my newly met colleagues which translated as being to order heaps more (yay!). The servings here are slightly less dear than Golden Bridge but also noticeably smaller. The shumais were quite tasty still with a nice balance of pork, mushroom and shrimp.

The baked barbecued pork buns were next. Typical soft and slightly sweet bread encasing a generous filling of chopped barbecued pork.

Chicken feet were done just right, tender enough to slide of the bone easily but still firm enough for a decent chew.

Steamed flour rolls with shrimp were pretty good too. The skin wasn't too thick or dry and the sauce wasn't too salty either. The shrimp in it was a little scanty though.

More dimsum staples such as steamed pork ribs,

char siew soh (yet again, the skin here was too thick for my liking),

and steamed shrimp dumplings. Not too bad, the skin wasn't too thick and still quite moist.

The savory rice was quite tasty but it was rather filling as well so no one really paid much attention to it in the end.

The egg tarts although not warm were quite decent, the custard having a nice eggy flavor and the pastry being rather flakey and light.

The other dessert we sampled were the deep fried flour balls filled with red bean. I was never a big fan of this but I guess it was not bad, the oil tasted fresh which is a big thing to me.

Last but not in the very least, my favorite dimsum item; fried squid tentacles. This was pretty good, in fact we ordered two serves of this.

D