Where to Eat in NYC - My Picks and Pictures!

One of my blogger friends had asked for suggestions about places to eat in NYC. I would have written about this anyway, but since there was a specific request, I thought of coming up with it at the earliest!! Hope you find this useful.

NYC is a place where you get almost all cuisines, and in all price ranges. Pizza/ pasta/ salad/ burgers/ hot dogs are available readily and make the cheapest meal anywhere, any time. You can get a slice of yummy pizza with all possible meat toppings for just around $2-$3. And trust me, you will love it! As I mentioned in my one of my earlier posts, though pizza was first made in Italy, I bet it can't be yummier from the ones I had in NYC!!

Typical American or even British dishes like say Fish and Chips have may be a bland. So if you like it spicy, you have to let them know!

Now coming to the restaurants.. I obviously have not explored the food options completely to give an expert opinion, but I am writing about the ones I really liked and were located in the most popular destinations. These are all reasonably restaurants.

Times Square
Times square has a plethora of restaurants. And the funny bit is that I have not been disappointed by whichever restaurant I have tried! My favorite ones are.

Olive Garden
It is basically an Italian place but offers a decent variety of items on the menu. The best part I like about this place is that they offer a very nice and wholesome complimentary salad. The ambiance is nice and casual, and it's a good place to with date or family both :)
http://www.olivegarden.com/
Meal for 2: < $60

Bubba Gump Shrimp
This is a seafood place based on the theme of the movie 'Forrest Gump'. If you can answer 5 questions about the movie, you get candies too :). I also managed to win a really nice cocktail glass. You get a huuuge variety of shrimp items here. My favorite is the Cajun Shrimp, nice and spicy and suits the Indian palette.
Another interesting thing about this place is the way you're supposed to call your sever. They come and attend you if you display the 'STOP' board. Else you hold the 'Keep Running' board. They also have a nice way to celebrate birthdays :)
http://www.bubbagump.com/
Meal for 2:  $90

Hard Rock Cafe
This of course needs to introduction. They usually serve very nicely mixed drinks though I was a bit disappointed in my last visit I hate to say. The decor is grand and nice. It's located right in the heart of Times Square, and so has long waiting time.
The suggestion that I have here is that since HRC is there almost everywhere including Delhi/ Mumbai etc, you could skip this and try something new!
http://www.hardrock.com/locations/cafes3/
Meal for 2:  $70





Chevy's Fresh Mex
This is one of my favorite Mexican joints. They have some nice Margaritas too! And is very reasonable.
My absolute favorite here is Shrimp fajitas.
http://www.chevys.com/
Meal for 2:  $60

Red Lobster 
By now you can feel my love for seafood! And if you are a fan of seafood like me, you will like this place too :). The restaurant welcomes you with a display of live lobsters in an aquarium! They have decent variety and also offer a nice complimentary ceaser salad.. I usually avoid lobster as they are a bit cumbersome to eat. But I did not want to not eat lobster in a restaurant that had lobster in the name! So after our server promised that it would be not be that big a deal,  we ordered the Fire-Grilled Lobster, Shrimp and Scallops! And it was pretty good and easy to eat too!!
http://www.redlobster.com
Meal for 2:  $70-$80

34th Street: Lucy's Cantina Royale
I will not rate this placevery well in terms of the menu but the location and the view from the top is pretty amazing! There is an open air section on the second floor from where you get a somewhat aerial view of the 34th street. You can see the Empire State building too! In terms of food, they do not have a great variety, you get the common American items like burgers etc and some mexican stuff too.

View of the Empire State from Lucy's

South Street Seaport - Pier 17
I have eaten at a few places here and frankly liked all of them. The USP of the restaurants here is the view they offer more than anything else. Having a romantic dinner (or actually any kind of meal) by the riverside is something I have always fancied. You get a breathtaking view of the Brooklyn bridge as well. Just choose something up the stairs, by the river! And if you like seafood, try the Grilled salmon.

One restaurant that I really thought was interesting but never visited is Beekman Beer Garden Beach. It's a relatively new place and looks great! They have created an open air restaurant on a water taxi with seats that glow in the dark. I thought it was pretty awesome, will try it the next time for sure!

Beekman Beer Garden Beach

China Town
This is different part of NYC altogether. All signs are in Chinese, many people here can't speak in English and you often may have to talk with your hands! Busy, crowded yet very lively, and I had one of the best Singapore noodles there. This is the best place for some authentic Chinese food. And all the restaurants are very reasonably prices, most items between $10-$15. And it is highly likely that you will get the bill also in Chinese :)

A Glimpse of China Town

Little Italy
Right next to China town is Little Italy, the place for some great Italian food. They also have some food festivals or the other all year round. An interesting place to be at!

Little Italy Food Festival

Bleeker Street
This is close to the university area and has a line of small and homely pubs catering to the student population. The pubs have an informal environment and give you a perfect value for money.

Meatpacking district
This is really known for the night clubs and the speakeasy bars. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to explore this place well, although we accidentally went into a restaurant that served us an amazing octopus dish! Here is a list of the restaurants you will find there. It's a rather long one!
http://www.meatpackingdistrict.com/restaurantsbarsclubs/

My Latest Obsession: A Forever 21 Necklace

While I was not exactly impressed with the clothing collection of Forever 21, their accessories collection was interesting. Some were junky while some were sleek and pretty. And most importantly they were mostly under $10.

I bought this cute necklace from one of their stores! Loved the two-layered design and the fake 'diamonds' :). And the style was such that it would go with both closed and deep necks! There were 2 colors - purple and silver. I chose the silver one as it would go well with almost all colors!

After wearing it for the first day I left it on my table and it had got tangled. In my desperate effort to untangle it, I ended up tangling it further. Two-layered and long chains are bad in this regard. Eventually a salesgirl helped me in getting this back in shape after working on it for almost an hour!! She was an angel. And ever since, I wore it for almost everyday and totally fell in love with it!! My trip pictures provide a perfect evidence!

Are you wondering how much did I pay for it that I loved it soo much.. Well it was rather cheap, yet pretty :)

Here are some pictures from the Forever 21 website itself.

Forever 21: Sneak Peek into an NYC store, and a Few Things They Could do Better!

The fact that I keep talking about Forever 21 obviously means the brand holds a special place in my heart. We all love the brand because if makes fashion very affordable. A few days back I was looking at their site and found almost 200 items under $5!! Though I always felt the quality of the clothes was not the best, but they were worth the money and trendy, I had a slightly different experience this time during my trip to NYC.

There are quite a few stores in the city and surprisingly have different collections. The one at the 34th street, though is very big, did not have a great collection this time!  All I wanted was a casual skirt, and there were almost none to even try. I did not like anything! The quality of the clothes were a bit disappointing, you could find better stuff at Sarojini street shops. Nothing against SN since it used to be one of my favorite shopping destinations during college days, but you'd expect better in a NY store. The not-fitting and asymmetric seems to be the in-style these days! The store was flooded with them. But I am not a fan!

The Union Square is a better one. I found a nice $10 skirt there, which on trial turned out to be a little too tight and sexy ;). I picked up a very pretty necklace though. The best Forever 21 store however is the one at Times Square! First of all it stays open till 2am!! It is also quite huge and has the best collection. It is very organized too.

All said and done, I still can't not visit this store if I'm visiting NYC! The Delhi store hasn't impressed me much as they charge very high prices compared to the US stores! I have a soft corner for this store, and I hope I can find something nice I visit them the next time! For the same price, H&M offers some more sophisticated stuff. Forever 21 still is a very popular brand for college kids, 70% of the collection meant to woo them.. but it would be fabulous if they could bring out some classier and chic clothes for us, the office goers too!

Another thing I wish F 21 could change was their exchange policy. Most stores allow you to return the products in the US. This only gives you a store credit so that you can exchange it!

How has your latest Forever 21 experience been?

Here are some photos from the 34th Street store. It was such a nice feeling to be able to take photographs freely inside a store, unlike here in India where you're always prohibited!!

My Travelogue Begins - 10 Places to See/ Be at in New York City! Part 1

It's been almost a month since I've been back in Delhi and thinking of writing about my trip. I've been both busy and lazy, but I finally got some time and decided to start writing. I was in New York City for 3 weeks for work and then traveled to visit the Niagara Falls, Disney World, Universal Studios and Miami. The focus for this article is my first destination, though I have to admit I'm already dying to write about the last ones too!

Though I have been to NYC a few times before for work, this was a special trip for several reasons. I discovered some new places in the city in terms of food, shopping and experiences, almost making it as exciting as the first visit to any place. Also, the romantic air of the city always made me miss my husband and I had him with me for the first time, though for a rather short time in the end! My selection of the best 10 places to see/ be at in NYC obviously has a a bias towards things I love - Walking around, Riverside, City View, Shopping, Eating. The night-life coverage unfortunately will be a little low. And I promise, I will try to cover them more in my next trip :). So here are my favorite places of the New York City! Since it is going to be long, I am splitting it into 2 parts.

Brooklyn Bridge

Thanks to my poor memory, I had forgotten what it was like to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge and hence went on to relive that experience. And guess what, my heart skipped a beat yet again as I stepped on to the wooden walkway and felt the vibrations of the cars racing under my feet. I could actually see them through the gaps between the wooden planks right below me. At the centre of the bridge, you can even throw a coin in the East river below (not sure if that is allowed though). It was quite a feeling, not to mention the view! It is almost impossible to not feel a little bit romantic there :)

Central Park

Yes, you have seen a lot of it both in Hollywood as well as Bollywood, but it's still worth seeing it with your own eyes. Honestly, I'm not really a fan of greenery but the vastness and serenity of this place is  breathtaking.  Seemed like the Central Park had also become a favorite spot for wedding couples. Saw quite a few of them with their crew of photographers following them along the park! The huge park spreads from the 59th street to the 110th street and has a drive space of 10 km inside the park used by joggers, skaters, cyclists etc. An interesting fact is that though the park looks very natural, it has been entirely landscaped and several lakes inside have been created artificially, but you simply can't tell!

Bridesmaids..

Street Show outside the Central Park

Central Park Zoo: While this zoo is one of the smallest in NYC (Bronx being the largest), a few residents make a treat for the eyes. My favorite are the seal and the penguins! They also have a snow leopard and a polar bear amongst other interesting beings. It is not a bad place for an entry fee of $13! In fact on two weekends every year, they allow complimentary entries to all corporate employees and I happened to be there on one of those weekends!

Times Square

I call it 'The I Make Everyone Smile' Square. No matter how I feel, the liveliness of this place cheers me up. The lights, the crowd, the hustle-bustle - all make it a happy place. I love sitting on the red stairs in the main square and watching the hundreds of people before me with something unique about each of them. You could often see an Elvis Presley or a topless but starred female guitarist or a Micky Mouse! The place also outlets for most of your favorite brands which also stay open till later than the other stores. The Times Square Forever 21 has the best collection and shopping hours, remains open till 2 am!

Eating options galore too!

Check him out, Elvis!

Breakfast @ HRC, A bit ironical :)

Inside HRC

The 34th Street

For someone who loves shopping, 34th street cannot be missed! You have the huge 9 floor Macy's that has a solution for almost all possible shopping needs! The shopping in Macy's experience deserves an independent article I believe! You also have Victoria Secrets, H&M around though the Forever 21 isn't exactly great. And I have to make a special mention of the Fossil store. There was a small problem with my Fossil watch and I had gone there to get it fixed. Since the duration of my stay wasn't long enough for them to fix it, they gave me a brand new watch!!!!!!!!!!!! I was rather shocked with this 'unthinkable in India' gesture! But I would recommend that Fossil store to everyone for their courteousness and generosity. And please don't blame me if you had entered the store to just buy a watch for your girlfriend but ended up buying two for yourself as well :).

Though Pizza is an Italian dish, they are absolutely yummy in America!!

Empire State Building

The spectacular view of the entire city from the top of the Empire State Building has again been dramatized in several movies and my first reaction too was nothing but a 'WOW' back in 2007. It is a different story that I went to the 45th floor of my office the next day and was equally mesmerized with the view that I got there! But if you're a tourist without the access to an office space in the 45th floor, you must visit this place! And the best time to go there I think is a little before sunset so that you can get both the day view as well as the night view! It is a photographer's delight! The lights, the buildings, the streets - it has to be experienced rather than read! It is not one of the post popular attractions of NYC for no reason.

Though I have been to only the 86th Floor and not the 102nd floor, 86th has an open space and I have read is better than 102! (You need to know this as there are separate tickets, 102 being more expensive). The skyride is also good is what I have heard.

  

Souvenir @ the Empire State

This is it for today. Pardon me and also correct me if there has been any factual errors. I have written this article more share my experiences rather than the widely known facts :). These snaps have been taken by three people (one of them being me), hence I cannot take all the credit :). Enjoy!

Movie Review: Ra.One - An Insult to Our Intelligence

We ended up watching Ra.One last evening after a lot of contemplation. Though we knew that it wouldn't exactly be an intellectually stimulating movie, we thought it would still give us a reason to have a good laugh with friends. So did we have a good laugh?.. I wouldn't answer that right-away, but it definitely inspired me to write my first ever movie review!

The film starts with an imaginary scene where Shahrukh, a game super-hero has to save Priyanka Chopra by fighting the three 'Lee' sisters and then the main villain Sanjay Dutt. The three sisters were called Iski Lee, Uski Lee and Sabki Lee and Shahrukh had to do nothing to kill them since 'Ladkiyan Uspe Marti Hain'. Now, that was when I almost knew what the rest of the movie would be like - silly and low IQ!

Shahrukh is playing Shekhar, a nerdy south-Indian video game developer whose  character has an overdose of bad caricature - he keeps messing up, gets slapped by women and can't even park his car without banging into ten other cars (and we always said, only women were bad drivers). He tortures you with his overacting while trying to get into the south-Indian's character, conveniently losing his native accent whenever he wishes. In one moment. he acts like a stupid moron while mixing cud with spaghetti and eating it with his hand and simultaneously boring everyone with his 'quotes', and then suddenly gives super-cool dance number in the song 'Criminal' at the launch party of his new video game, 'Ra.One' where he created the most powerful villain ever. It's not like we don't like Bollywood Masala movies. But Ra.One is a movie that treats the audience as if they are retards and will laugh only at stupid and 'crotchy' jokes. 

Things happen, Ra.One comes out of the game to find Lucifer (Shekhar's son Prateek's gaming name), who was the last one to leave the game half-way without getting beaten. He finds Shekhar, kills him and then gets after his son. Out of the game comes G.One, our good superhero with the face of his creator, Shekhar, to protect the child and his mother, sexy Kareena who has decided to move back to Mumbai. Just when I thought the movie was getting sensible, intense and in sync with the theme, I was reminded I was watching a Shahrukh Khan film! Even before the mother and child got enough time to grieve Shekhar's death, the director came back with a silly scene of a gay airport agent getting turned on with G.One's body piercings and then a fight sequence at the Mumbai airport which would have been much better without the stupid humorous interferences. The fight was followed with a brief Rajni Kant cameo where he was playing our dreaded super-hero 'Chitti' and had come to give some words of advise to G.One. The purpose of this scene nothing but to draw crowds in southern theatres. The rest of the movie is about how G.One protects the family from Ra.One with a predictable and rather boring climax.

It's sadly ironical that we were treated like an audience with zero IQ while watching a movie based on artificial intelligence. Anytime the movie got a little serious, we were interrupted by some cheap humor by the nosy south Indian neighbor Satish Shah or some melodrama between the G.One and Kareena/ Prateek. The action sequences are rather few and copied. Even in the sequence where G.One has to stop a Mumbai local train that has lost control, he needlessly indulges in some comic moments. By now I was so upset that I actually did not even enjoy my favorite song 'Chammak Challo'! And let me tell you a little secret here, that song was actually at a kid's birthday party (with the scantily clad green hot babes in the background) - non sense, right! 

Arjun Rampal's entry was out of nowhere and despite playing the 'title role' so to say, had nothing more than a few dopey and cliched dialogues. The director did not even do justice to his six-packs (for which he would have worked out for months) because we barely saw them for a minute! Kareena looks hot, but the character has no depth.

The film has been 'inspired' by several hollywood movies like Iron Man, Spider-Man and Terminator 2. There were some blatantly copied scenes (One of them being Dalip Tahil playing Tony Stark while introducing his new game in a lavish style in the midst of some hot dancers, hard to imagine right :)) . I mean I did expect some 'inspired' scenes, but even those did not do justice to the theme of the movie. Though the plot was ambitious and could make a good movie with a better director, the film had nothing in terms of intensity and grip and thoughtful cinematography. The action sequences though few were not bad but the caricatures, the cheap, mindless and crotchy jokes and the melodrama were unbearable. Shahrukh overacted even while playing an android and managed to include his usual arm spreading scene even with this character!

It's not like there haven't been worse movies (Robot was far worse, couldn't even watch it on TV), but that does not justify continuing to make mindless movies.  

My Verdict: The movie is a big disappointment, with an endless list of unnecessary elements and lacking all the ingredients of a good action packed super-hero movie. Frankly speaking it is an insult to our intelligence and not worth spending our hard-earned money on. It is going to come on TV soon anyway.

Dear Shahrukh,

I was never a fan of your acting skills but had great respect for your impeccable business sense. And now I know that you had to spend so much on the marketing of this movie because you exactly knew how bad the movie was. I guess you would manage to recover your money but please stop treating us like we are retards without any theatrical sense. You do have a charm, but those open arms cannot embrace us forever! 

Diwali Gift Options from The Nature's Co.

Indulge your loved ones this Diwali with gifting options from The Nature's Co.

  

Diwali is round the corner and if you are wondering what to gift your loved ones, The Nature's Co. has the perfect option for you.  The Nature’s Co. your one stop shop for beauty and wellness products brings you special gifting options for your near and dear ones this Diwali, which can be completely personalized by you. 
Choose from an exciting range of exotic and luxurious beauty products at The Nature's Co. Customers making a minimum purchase ofRs.1,795, will receive a beautiful wooden basket to pack their products which comes along with a diya and incense cones with a holderto add to the Diwali spirit.

Patrons who make purchase of Rs.1,995 or more, will have the choice between a Copper and Wooden tray to package their Diwali giftsfrom The Nature’s Co. These trays come along with a few more Diwali surprises - a diya, incenses cones with the holder, a coffee bean candle & incense sticks.
Keeping with the festivities of Diwali, The Nature’s Co. is all set to pamper customers making these purchases with a free refreshing Express Facial.
So be sure to visit any of The Nature’s Co. stores and make this Diwali an indulgent one!
Offer valid from 15^th–30^th October 2011.
For further information you can visit: www.thenaturesco.com

Available at all The Nature’s Co. stores and on the company website.
Mumbai Store Address:
Unit No. S-15, 2nd floor Block No. 34/14B,
"Palladium" Phoenix Mills Compound, 462,
Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel,
Mumbai - 400 013
T: +91 22 32211771
E: helpdesk.mumbai@thenaturesco.com
Store timings:
Weekdays / Weekends: 11.00 am to 9:30 pm

Delhi Store Address:
Shop No S-12(b), 2nd floor, Plot No. A-3,
Select CITYWALK,
District Centre, Saket,
New Delhi - 110 017
T: +91 11 46150600
E: helpdesk.delhi@thenaturesco.com
Store timings:
Weekdays: 10.30 am - 9.30 pm
Weekends: 10.30 am - 10.00 pm

Chennai Store Address:
Shop No. S-012, Ground floor,
Express Avenue, 50L, Whites Road, Roypettah High Road,
Chennai - 600 014.
T: +91 44 31900070
E: helpdesk.chennai@thenaturesco.com
Store timings:
Weekdays: 11.00 am - 9.30 pm
Weekends: 11.00 am - 10.00 pm

Ahmedabad Store Address:
127, Ground Floor, Iscon Mega Mall,
Sarkhej Gandhi Nagar Highway,
Ahmedabad - 380015
E: helpdesk.ahmedabad@thenaturesco.com
Store Timings:
Weekdays: 11am - 9.30pm
Weekends: 11am - 10pm


Kolkatta Store address:
Unit no. - S010,
Ground Floor, South City Mall,
375, Prince Anwar Shah Road,
Kolkata 700068.
E: helpdesk.kolkata@thenaturesco.com
Store Timings:
 Weekdays: 11am - 9.30pm
Weekends: 11am - 10pm


Pune Store address:
Unit NO. F-38, 1st floor,
Phoenix Market City Pune,
Viman Nagar,
Pune-411014
E: helpdesk.pune@thenaturesco.com
Store Timings:
 Weekdays: 11am - 9.30pm
Weekends: 11am - 10pm

Hello NYC

I have been missing in action for over a month now!! Looks like I suddenly disappeared from the blog world.
But that's not quite true.. The truth is I am in NYC and I feel I don't have enough time to even breath. Infact things like sleeping, bathing, TVing feel like a waste of time in the city :). (But I don't exactly skip any of those except the TV)..

I will be back soon. Shopping has just started. Got a DSLR to start with.. Rest will follow. I have been taking a few photographs, but honestly don't get the time to even transfer them. I know you're probably wondering what is she soo busy with, but the city has too much to offer. The stores are so huge that they actually buffle you with choices and turn you into an inefficient shopper! Here's one of our favorite ones! More will follow..

Forever 21 at the 34th Street!