presents:

Day 2 in New York City:

1. Oms/b
2. Ess-a-Bagel
3. Katz's Deli
4. Lombardi's Pizza
5. Grand Central Oyster Bar
6. Beard Papa

What kind of square thinker doesn’t like a good rice ball? Not me. When I heard about this little Japanese shop I made a beeline.

Atmosphere:
Clean, chic little Japanese café.

Beverages:
Japanese Green tea ($2.50) was the perfect complement to these rice balls. Lots of other soft drinks are available.

You can buy their set dishes which include three rice balls, an appetizer and a miso soup for about $6.50. This is a great little place for a bite on the run.

Rated:
3 carrots out of 4

"The pearly gates to bagel heaven."

What kind of cut up doesn’t like a great pastrami sandwich? Not me. I had a chance to visit this pastrami emporium and it was just the ticket.

Atmosphere: Old style confusing cafeteria.

Service: Once you get the hang of it, it’s a snap. You get a ticket as you walk in the door. Check out the menu on the wall and order at the counter that corresponds to what you want to eat. Hand over your ticket as you order, they mark it and give it back to you. Present this ticket to the cashier and pay on your way out.

If you want to get fancy about it, sit the designated area for table service and someone will do the legwork for you.

What kind of brick head doesn’t like thin crust pizza? Not me. When I heard that there was a great pizzeria on Spring Street, I sprung.

Service: Line up outside. When the no nonsense host shows you your table, you’d better keep up.

The servers are quick and efficient there’s not a lot of friendly gabbing, hey, they’ve got stuff to do.

Yummy pizza worth checking out.

Pepperoni pizza: ($10.50 small)
Their coal burning oven gives off the intense, radiant heat to make a crispy and chewy thin crusted pie. The cheese, mushrooms and pepperoni meld together in a fatty meaty ooze that is cut by the anchovies that cut through with their salty flesh.

Atmosphere:
A dark, narrow, brick walled dining room that opens out to the pizza kitchen. Plastic clothed tables are packed together like anchovies in a can.

Oysters, Oysters, Oysters: (market price hovering in the $1.75 - $3.00 per oyster neighborhood depending on what you order)
Delicious fruits of the sea, freshly shucked before your eyes by strong-armed dudes at the raw bar in front of piles crushed ice.
Yummy seeded flatbread are delivered to you as you are seated. I ate them all. Yum.

Atmosphere: An echoey tiled series of rooms create a subterranean feel. Little lights trace the contours of the ceilings. There are commuters, couples, people in suits and folks in jeans.

If you like to buy bivalves and gorge on gorgeous seafood. This is the grand center where you should station yourself.

What kind of cream puff doesn’t like a good cream puff? Not me. When I heard about this beloved Japanese chain opening outlets in the U S of A I had to take a look see.

Service: You order and the puffs are promptly filled fresh so that they retain their crispy exteriors (nice touch.)

Atmosphere: This particular franchise is located inside of a bustling Asian café. Most of the other branches aren’t connected to other businesses. Not fancy, but not a dive.

I can see how people can get into these because of the crisp exterior/creamy interior thing. It’s just not something I’m into, (I’ve never been an éclair person either. Maybe this is a personal defect on my part.)

Regular Cream Puff: ($1.25)
Crispy outside contrasts nicely with creamy inside. Nice enough but I would spend these calories on ice cream if given the choice.

Chocolate Cream Puff: ($1.45) Special not available everyday.
I was hoping that the special would be the green tea flavor that I had heard about. This was pretty good, but didn’t ring my bell.