I met up with Shonali on Stone Street in the Financial District. Holy moly! I didn’t realize this street existed –cobblestone street full of outdoor restaurant seating. It looks like a European town that you see in the movies!
There are several restaurants. We chose the Dubliner, an Irish pub… because I thought the Fish and Chips looked really good on someone’s plate. Although, I ended up getting the Guinness and Beef Stew $16. Shonali saved the day and got the Fish and Chips, so we could split both. They were both good.
Stone Street is really cool!
The Dubliner – 45 Stone St (btwn Coenties Aly & Mill Ln) New York, NY 10004
I stopped by Shonali’s place to be a part of her podcast with Christian. I haven’t heard it yet. I’m always scared to listen to my voice. Anyway, afterwards Shonali took me to Tandoor Palace nearby in the Financial District. It’s above a shoe repair shop.
We got the lunch specials. If you get the option, get the Naan bread over the rice. It’s huge and made to order. The size is what makes it such more impressive than the rice. Rice is just rice.
The food was decent oily fast Indian curry style. Nice spicy heat.
Tandoor Palace – 88 Fulton St (btwn Gold & William) New York, NY 10038
There are plenty of places to get beer and drink in the open outdoors at South Street Seaport, but the best deal has got to be Simply Seafood in the third floor food court (Pier 17 Pavilion –the big mall at the very end next to the water). Check out these prices.
And the large is in a huge styrofoam cup. $4.16 for giant Bud or $6 for giant Sierra Nevada/Blue Point. You can take it back outside and watch the bands perform, where they have $6 for a small cup of Bud. I believe the pizza booth in the food court is reasonably priced as well. I asked Nathan’s/Arthur Treacher’s last night about their prices and it was $6 for a tall cup of Coors Light, but not as large as Simply Seafood.
I took this large beer back out to hear Eleanor Friedberger. The band that opened, Ex Cops, was really good. I really dug their second to last song, “Spring Break (Birthday Song)â€.
Coincidentally, I made some friends at the show and one of them, Duane, hosts the radio show where I was able to find this Ex Cops song streaming. We all went to Lisa’s Pizzeria down the street so I could use the restroom. The pizza did it’s job and reminded me of 80’s skating rink pizza, but in a good way.
Lisa’s Pizzeria - 76 Fulton St (btwn Gold St & Ryders Aly) New York, NY 10038
Then they took me to a keg party in Bed-Stuy, where a band called Nude Beach was playing. I’ve been looking at apartment listings lately in Bed-Stuy. Some pretty good deals. But as I was leaving the party heading over to the G train, I got really freaked out. Everyone was partying so hard. It was like the young white ghetto, Bedford/Williamsburg 1999 (probably earlier). I thought shit, no way am I moving here. It’s so freakin scary. Then I realized that everyone looked like Rusty and me.
Funny enough, in such a sketchy neighborhood, I saw Asian hipsters with what looked like Prada sneakers and Alexander McQueen High Tops. Maybe this is my kind of neighborhood.
I went back to the South Street Seaport the next day for the 4Knots Music Festival. Davilla 666 is one of the best live bands I’ve seen in a while. They are like the Puerto Rican Black Lips. Singing in Spanish makes it awesome.
Shonali got me on a boat that was handing out Jimmy Buffet beer, called Land Shark. I didn’t know Jimmy Buffet had a beer. Would be the perfect beer to serve at my restaurant concept, Jimmy Buffet’s Homestyle Buffet.
We were trying to pick a place to eat. I only knew of the Russian Bath House restaurant I went to the previous night. I’ve always thought the restaurants at the South Street Seaport looked pretty nice, although touristy. We ended up at RED Mexican restaurant. Yep, the food and drinks were very touristy. The flavors were very tomato-y. I felt very much at home …in Orlando.
RED – 19 Fulton St (btwn Front & Water St) New York 10038
Last night, I went to see Asobi Seksu and The Radio Dept. play at the South Street Seaport. There was a Maker’s Mark vending machine that I tried to put money into, but instead a photographer took a picture of me looking confused and stupid. So I got a large cheap styrofoam cup of beer at Simply Seafood (3rd floor the mall food court). $4.16 plus tax for 32oz of Bud and Light. $6 for fancier beers. Best deal to beer up during a concert there.
On my second large beer, I started to get drunk hungry and called Rusty to start cooking me some turkey burgers. But when I got off the phone, I saw a sign for Russian food at a Russian bath house and spa and a super hot Russian girl walking out. So I walked in. I had to walk up down, around and up to get to the restaurant. I passed rich Russian men hanging out in white robes in the lounge. The restaurant was small and empty. A flat-screen TV with Vladimir Putin on it …later a late night variety talk show where there were girls with big boobs and fake lips.
I ordered the Siberian Pelmini “Moscow Style” ($13.95) and a seltzer. The Moscow Style means the dumplings are fried with cheese, cream and mushrooms. Awesome. They were delicious. Crispy dumplings and the bread on the side was good to soak up that cheesy cream sauce.
The super hot Russian girl walked back in. I think she was fighting with my waitress or maybe just talking really loud. She seemed to work there.
On my way out, I went to pee, but someone was in the restroom for a long time. When he finally came out, he saw me and went back into the restroom and locked it. After ten seconds he came back out and we both smiled at each other. I don’t know why he did that, but it the toilet was safe.
They have a good lunch deal –soup, salad and main course for $11.95. I would definitely hit that if I worked in the area. My pelmini dumplings were surprisingly good and quick to come out.
Wall Street Bath & Spa88 – 88 Fulton St (btwn Gold St & William St) New York, NY 10038
I met up with Suraj for lunch in the Financial District to give him his developer’s mobile phone he asked me to buy. I had met him at the Social Media Conference. It did seem a little sketchy to get a message via Twitter asking if I had an American credit card to buy a phone through a site I never heard of for a guy in Singapore that I had only met once. Phishing scams be damned. I did it. I don’t recommend anyone else doing this. I’m a trained fool.
Anyway, he came back into town and we got food from this Halal truck serving up African style Chicken Stew, Beef Stew, Tilapia Fish over rice and with salad and curried vegetables. Each between $5.50-6.50 a tray. I was able to get half chicken and half beef. Really nice flavors. I liked the chicken more because it was tender. The fish looked really good. I wish there were African style Halal carts/trucks up in my work area.
Kiflu’s Lunch Truck – Ann St & Nassau St. (Financial District) New York, NY 10038
Met up with Shonali for lunch at the popular Veronica’s Kitchen food cart down in the Financial District. My first time. I always heard the lines were long and food runs out quick, but this time it wasn’t so bad when I got there at one. The Goat Roti ($6.50) was soupy and had pumpkin sauce on it. The meat so tender and so good. I was sucking on the bones afterwards. The Jerk Chicken ($6) was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Heavily spiced thick coating of the jerk seasoning. The hot sauce on the side was the bomb. One of the best Caribbean meals ever.
