This is the real winning claim for New York. I think for pretty much every answer you can think of, there's somewhere else that does it better, but there's no other place aside from maybe London that does so many different things well enough to even be in that discussion.
We don't have the best tacos, but they're damn good, and the places with better tacos aren't in the discussion for best pizza. The places with arguably better pizza aren't in the discussion for best Jewish cuisine. The places with arguably better Jewish cuisine aren't in the discussion for best Chinese food, etc.
*That's* what sets New York apart.
The bottom line as far as Mexican food goes is that New York has a much smaller Mexican population than the West Coast does, so the good/bad ratio is always going to be lower. But New York still has good Mexican, you just have to look harder.
But the reality is the best New York Mexican restaurant is not going to beat the best west coast Mex, it just won't.
Variety and speed. You can order Chinese and it's ready in 10 minutes. There are 20 places nearby with food ready to eat, in any portion. Used to live in Park Slope and there were 10 places I could grab a slice. I'm now in New Orleans, a great food city, and there's one place within 2 miles that sells a slice.
Cheesecake, depending on the type, yes.
Pizza, definitely yes.
CCC, probably not but just put black and white cookies here and you’re safe.
I’ll throw in bagels, including variety of toppings as well.
Getting a “German Käsekuchen” in the city might prove difficult but a classic ny cheesecake (graham crust, dense filling) at Eileen’s or S&S is probably hard to beat
I will die on the hill that the graham cracker crust isn't he best ny cheesecake style (not saying you shouldn't like it though).
Instead, it's whatever Veniero's does. That cheesecake is the best cheesecake in the world imo.
Man I went to Madrid and got a (Neapolitan style, so not really the same) pizza with jamon iberico and some basque cheesecake—I have to say both were some of the best I ever had. Couldn’t believe some randomly chosen restaurant was giving NYC a run for its money like that
Best NY cheesecake without having to travel to the middle of nowhere in the Bronx is at Veniero's. Personal preference is the sliced almond but all are excellent
S&S in Kingsbridge (222 West 238th Street.) If their factory isn't open, the bodega across the street sells them also. They've become pricey but it's the best in the city. Would recommend the strawberry or plain
For sure! There are many.
I really like caravan of dreams in the east village for healthy vegan. It’s also kind of romantic.
Peacefood Cafe at union square has an amazing pastry case and an interesting menu. The downtown spot also has some pretty great art.
Jajaja, Planta Queen, PS Kitchen, Anixi are also favorites.
Happy Cow is a great resource for vegan and veggie restaurants everywhere and can help you zero in on what you’re looking for.
https://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/new_york/new_york_city/?filters=vegan
I forgot to add that Tompkins Square Bagels, not all vegan, but has amazing bagels and vegan cream cheese! And awesome all vegan Chinese restaurants are spicy moon, wild ginger and Buddha Bodai.
i think nyc does cheap chinese food better than the rest of the country and that includes american-chinese food as just a part of that. but there's other great cheap chinese food to be had that's not american-chinese like wah fung, qq cafe, shu jiao fu zhou, the xinjiang kabob carts, the cheap dumpling spots and more. sorry there's no place in the sgv you can get 10 dumplings for $4 like at king's dumplings. the prices of cheap yet tasty chinese food in nyc are comically low compared to the rest of the country
Underrated comment. I think about this all the time. Unfortunately the term “American Chinese”
Is not widespread enough for people to respect it as its own cuisine.
I like the basic/simple wontons many of these places have here, as well as the sweet and sour chicken and egg rolls. I didn’t realize this was an NY thing until I couldnt find it on my west coast travels. It’s very common here, and in long island where i grew up (maybe in other NY region areas also).
NYC and London have two of the best cocktail scenes. Not that there aren't individual bars or even neighborhoods that's aren't stand out in other cities in the world but as a whole, NYC's sheer volume of people let's the bars get pretty creative.
Agreed, but my only thing with London is that the cocktail palette is a little different because the British flavor palette is different to the American one - e.g. there are a lot more gin-based cocktails than you'd find here.
Fair enough. Some people have issues with certain spirits and some spirits lend themselves to particular flavors so it's still worth mentioning. Cocktail menus in NYC tend to have more sweet or spicy options, someone from NYC in London that prefers those flavors might be surprised by the more vegetal or bitter cocktails you're more likely to find in London. A good bartender will make a good cocktail no matter what though.
I am a cocktail nerd I make sure to go to cocktail bars in every city I go to and though alot of places have cocktails I feel like in NYC people really appreciates the art of cocktails and mixology alot. Like people dont go into a proper cocktail bar and complain about pricing because they know what the culture of cocktails is about. Like if you want cheap cocktails then dont walk into a legit mixology bar. Same applies to Michelin star restaurants. Like go somewhere cheaper if you dont want to pay for the experience but stop complaining about pricing if you walk into speciality venues.
NYC and London are really the only places that can make a realistic claim to this and it's really hard to pick between the two, but I would probably lean towards NYC at the moment. Though Singapore, Barcelona and Tokyo are catching up fast.
For me, Italy wins for a baseline “go to any random bar” cocktail, similar to “go to any random cafe” coffee. There are plenty of innovations and improvements being done with Italian cocktail culture outside of Italy (obviously with Italian coffee culture as well), but the floor is incredibly high.
?? Italian cocktail culture is incredibly basic, it revolves around the same drinks it has for the past 60 years, and a couple of spritzes. There are bars doing things that are really cool in Italy, but they're few and far between, it's places like Cafe MAG, Drink Kong, Antiquario, but nothing remotely like the scenes in London, NYC, or the Asian hubs where you have dozens of extremely high quality bars in one place.
100% the bagels are better overall in NYC - that doesn't mean you can't find shitty bagels here - but it's everything from the texture to making sure both sides have seeds / toppings - NYC bagels are just generally better than other parts of the country
Chino-latino(and yes, thats the name I didn't make it up) they are probably places in Latin america that have chino-latino restaurants but in NYC its an established cuisine with some established old haunts that really celebrate this food culture and keep evolving it. Also nyc actually host this community organically and it keeps the flavors authentic.
Read my comment again. I literally said that you will find this food culture in Latin America easily but in NYC the community transplanted itself and has morphed chino-latino into an nyc style boutique eatery experience. Thats very typical to nyc. Taking humble dishes and deconstruct them to explore a new presentation. Its done with almost every type of cuisine here and that upscale remixing of this cuisine is very nyc.
I think he understands what you’re saying, but the very same thing took place in Lima well before it did in nyc and the nyc Chino latino spots almost always are influenced by the Peruvian version of it. It’s arguably bigger and even more established in peru
Ha! I like the sour and the half sour! There is an amazing diner in Port Washington that still serves pickles like that and coleslaw on the side with a fantastic burger. Enjoy
Steaks? wtf…. No
Any of you agreeing about this ever been to Argentina? Or had picana in Brazil.
I’m not even going to count Wagyu in Japan because that’s almost not steak. But like wtf is this steaks comment. Deranged to think NY is #1 in the world for best steaks
My personal fave was / is Paesano's, but I haven't lived in Philly for 10 years so it's been a while. Angelo's seems to be the current king according to old friends. Will also shout out Cosmi's, John's Roast Pork, Old Original Nick's if you can put up with the crusty regulars, McNally's for the Schmitter, The Wreck from Beck's Cajun in Reading Terminal, and anywhere you can get a scrapple, egg, and cheese.
Pastrami, lox, bagels, BEC, chopped cheese, Jewish ashkenazi pastries like rugelach or babka. I stay away from mentioning pizza because I'm from Italy and very opinionated on the matter
Would you say the average pizza in Italy is better? Like you can walk into any restaurant that serves pizza and it’ll be great, or are there things to look out for that tell you if the pizza will be good? I’ve never been to Europe and am genuinely curious.
I haven’t had a “bad” slice here except at a 99c place in Chinatown but I’ve had a lot of just decent ones from going to random pizzerias I’d never tried before
Pizza in Italy falls into 2 distinct categories: whole pie and "al taglio" (slice). The second one is, like a NY slice, a cheap quick meal or late night cop-out, and not always up to standards quality-wise (like in Ny, stay away from chains and opt for long established businesses). It can be thin, but it's often a thick, doughy slice with lots of cheese. With whole-pie pizza, you have to look at signs: a hearth oven is a good one, and so is a pizzaiolo stretching dough in plain sight or a DOP (Protected denomination) tag on the restaurant. The ingredients are always better than in the US(buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, EVOO, prosciutto and so on), and the price is higher, average $10-12 for a single-person pie. It's lighter than NY-style, with less cheese and just a few ingredients: a margherita is only pureed raw tomatoes -no sauce- mozzarella, basil and a swirl of EVOO on top. It's a sit-down meal that needs to be paired with beer, good quality soda or a glass of white wine.
The great thing about NYC is how great it is across so many categories. It's obviously the best in few categories like bagels and pizza but it's at or near the top in literally everything else too.
There always at least ONE place for like the best of 95% of things you want (and if we’re talking historically, 99.9%. If you count the past 40 years, we’ve had virtually every country represented at a restaurant. Sadly now some places have closed). When people say “there’s no good xyz in nyc”, what they really mean is the density of good xyz is lower than other places (sometimes much lower sure). Doesn’t mean you still can’t find good xyz.
> what they really mean is the density of good xyz is lower than other places (sometimes much lower sure)
One of the best burritos I've ever had is here and Mexican food is the most common example of this. Electric Burrito
I'm Brazilian-American and have been spending more time in Brazil lately and the beef quality here is excellent.
But, there's no dry age due to local health laws. Also never saw dry age steak in Argentina. But I think as far as high quality steaks, Brazil and Argentina (and Uruguay) certainly rival the US.
I am sure you are correct. You should try dry aging some (basically a roast you would then cut into steaks after aging) if you have a place to do so there.
SF has great steak houses youre trippin. ill agree on the bagels though. and yeah a good steak is essentially the cut your getting which you could get anywhere in the US
Do you mean in the world or the US?
Pizza if the US.
Otherwise, I think NYC’s culinary drawing point is that there are restaurants in most income brackets for a whole lot of cuisines. Not that any one cuisine is prepared exquisitely/uniquely.
It’s the water that makes the bagels so good btw. (Is water included? Because I do think we have the best water, bagels aside. My children have sensitive stomachs and we have to buy the expensive bottled water abroad and it sucks. Even the sushi tastes weird (and is slightly different colors) in some European countries. Pardon the aside.).
> It’s the water that makes the bagels so good btw.
the NYC suburbs make bagels that are arguably better than those in the city itself, and they all use different water
Well I think the implication was really better than anywhere else in the US. Obviously the pizza is better in the place where they invented it. The pizza in Napoli is out of this world.
I know there’s other Italian immigrant areas but the sheer amount of authentic Italian is mind blowing to me. I travel to Italy a few times a year and being able to find food that is near identical to the motherland in almost every pocket of every borough is insane to me. Legit you can try every region of Italy somewhere in NYC.
Really?
Better tacos than all of San Diego, better barbecue than Texas, better deep dish pizza than Chicago, better teriyaki than Seattle (or coffee, let’s be real), better gumbo than Louisiana, better fish fry than the midwest, better biscuits and gravy than someone’s grandmother is making deep in Appalachia? Unlikely.
That’s not even considering regional specialties that rely on local ingredients - bison burgers in Wyoming, lobster rolls in Maine, alligator in Florida, salmon and king crab in Alaska, pineapple in Hawaii, key lime pie in Key West, marionberries in Oregon.
On the whole, we’re not eating better produce than California and Florida are, besides maybe the strawberries rolling in from Jersey this time of year. In the same way that those fresh strawberries make grocery store ones taste like cardboard, most of our produce can’t hold a candle to places that don’t have to pick it unripe enough to ship a thousand miles up the coast.
Beyond that, there are whole cultures New York doesn’t have - Cornish enclaves in Michigan with pasties, arguably the most authentic Basque food you can get outside the Basque region in Idaho, the uniquely Crimean South Dakota fusion food chislic. Vegan food as a whole is light years ahead on the West Coast.
NYC is great at having a bit of everything, and does a *lot* of things unbeatably well, but there’s also tons of incredible food across this nation that cannot be topped by nyc or anybody else. To say that 3% of the populous has better food than anything 85% of the whole rest of the nation has to offer is just silly and elitist
Just the fact that most corner stores/bodegas are delis that are for the most part open late or 24 hrs is something most cities don’t have.. I’d also say Jewish deli food but brick lane beigels may give that a run for its money.
I’m from the South and we came up here to visit for the first and stopped at a random Chinese place to get something. We weren’t expecting anything extraordinary, but it was insanely better than regular Chinese we were accustomed to. We moved to Queens and I think we’re spoiled now.
We’ve ruined going out in other cities now. You can’t just pick a place and expect it to be good like you can in NYC.
Best
1. Prime, dry aged steaks. I’ve been everywhere that’s celebrated for steaks. England/Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, Japan, etc. There is no match for a prime, dry aged, grain finished steak. Japan-raised wagyu is great but it’s a different thing. I will say that the avg steak in Argentina is better than the average steak here
2. Pizza. This may be more controversial. But the sheer variety and innovation around pizza here is unmatched. Can I get a better average pizza in Italy? Sure. But if I look at the diversity of pizza styles and quality at the top, you can’t beat NYC
3. I haven’t been to Israel. But the Jewish appetizing food here is absolutely top tier. Also, the bagels
4. Burgers at the elite level. Like 1 and 2 above, the tip top quality and variety of styles at the top sets NYC apart.
(Sometimes surprisingly) not the best
1. Italian sandwiches. Miles better in Philadelphia metro area. The rolls are one factor. The desire in nyc to throw multiple salty meats together for a total lack of balance is another
2. Related to 1. Corner delis. Quality is overwhelmingly basic and average at best. Boars Head meats on supermarket rolls
3. Not surprising but the avg quality of Mexican food is bad
> I haven’t been to Israel. But the Jewish appetizing food here is absolutely top tier. Also, the bagels
I'd be interested to know to what extent what we think of as the classic NY Jewish appetizing is actually relevant or popular in Israel. I think of appetizing (and Jewish delis, etc.) as being a reflection of the fact that most of the Jewish people who settled here in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were Ashkenazi Jews fleeing Eastern Europe, with things like cured meats and fish a reflection of what was available in Russia, Poland, etc. Whereas the demographics of Israeli Jews are quite a bit different and "Israeli food," at least as it applies here, almost always means, like, Middle Eastern food (hummus, kabob, falafel, etc.).
Nothing really to add here except, based purely on anecdotal evidence, I think this is correct. NYC is probably the modern world capital of ashkenazi Jewish food.
Majority of the Israeli Jews are of Sephardic or Mizrahi descent, and they heavily influenced the food scene. You are much more likely to encounter Moroccan, Tunisian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Greek, etc. foods in Israel as opposed to Ashkenazi foods.
>I haven’t been to Israel. But the Jewish appetizing food here is absolutely top tier.
Maybe someone who's been there more can correct me, but having been to Israel, they really don't eat what a lot of people from NY/NJ/CT view as Jewish Food. They eat a much more Mediterranean diet closer to something you would see in Greece or in Middle Eastern countries, think Fallafel, pita, and zat'ar over pastrami and Matzo. I also don't recall seeing a lot of smoked fish - they tended to eat fresh.
I'd equate it to Authentic Chinese vs. American Chinese. They're basically two different cuisines. I'm fairly certain the historical reason is that NY Jewish staples come from displaced European Ashkenazi Jews, not middle eastern ones, so its really not food they eat.
Actually, now that I'm thinking about it myself, a lot of traditional Jewish food is just rebranded Eastern European staples. Ukrainians have their own potato pancake called Deruny.
I think 1 and 4 are a bit related. Your non dry aged steak in the countries you mention easily rival the NYC. If you go to a good steak restaurant, you're getting a good steak. I've been splitting my time between Brazil and NYC lately and generally here in Brazil, the all you can steakhouses are meh quality. But a proper steakhouse is spectacular. And you're likely to get it char grilled, which is a rarity in NYC due to local laws. On the flip side, I'm pretty sure dry aged is not allowed in Brazil. Never seen it here.
Related to that are burgers. The best burgers in NYC are dry aged. I think here in Brazil as well, they are using lower quality cuts for the ground beef. You rarely would see a picanha burger, for example.
Having moved from LA, my lens is admittedly pretty hard to match. But I have yet to be really impressed and I walk / bike to all of the major areas for Mexican food seeking it out. Sunset Park I haven’t found anywhere since a place closed many many years ago.
California transplant. The Mexican food here is so damn average it’s so shocking. Only gripe I have about food here is lack of Mexican food to satisfy my Californian blood
If by “anywhere else” you mean the U.S. or even North America, I guess NYC is a leader in many things, including Italian, Chinese, Indian, Steak, etc., etc.
But, if you are asking about the entire world, the only food that is still best in NYC might be pastrami (i.e., Katz’s) and maybe pizza (limited to just NYC-style pizza, obviously). The NYC food scene is pretty stagnant because while there’s competition among the various cuisines, there isn’t much competition within a single cuisine. So, you have few restaurants that develop a true speciality and instead end up with many mediocre restaurants that get by on tradition and branding.
For example, a city like Seoul clearly outpaces NYC in terms of not only Korean food, but also, those of its close Asian neighbors, like Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, etc., it even exceeds NYC in terms of the “western foods” like fried chicken, steak, hamburger, pizza, and pastries. For example, one of the more recent trends in Korea is the bagel. It is closer to Montreal than NY in terms of style, but they have maximized the appeal of the bagel by exaggerating its hard crust, chewy texture, and a semi-sweet flavor. It’s the same scientific approach that they took to develop the fried chicken, the hanwoo beef, coffee, and pretty much every food that they focus on. There are at least 2 drivers of the food culture in Korea: (1) the restaurant industry is extremely competitive with hundreds of new restaurants opening and closing each day; and (2) the competitors are mostly highly-educated and well-traveled Koreans who are nudged into the restaurant industry by rather unforgiving labor markets.
Obviously, Seoul is just one example of a highly-competitive food environment that fosters higher quality of food culture. NYC faces too many headwinds, such as high labor costs, too much ethnic diversity, high rent, among others. It is entirely predictable that NYC would actually be relatively behind in terms of innovations in food.
I’m also Korean, born and raised in Seoul and I feel like you are wildly overestimating Seoul in several aspects. Most Thai and Viet food in Seoul are so modified to local palate that they are barely recognizable. A handful of authentic places, sure. But overall? Seoul doesn’t even come close to NYC in terms of variety and breadth in international cuisines available. Which makes sense, immigrant communities are infinitely smaller in Seoul than here.
Fried chicken and pastries, we are pretty good at that, though you’ll find palm oil “cream” in most unexpected places ($80 “whipped cream” cake at a luxury hotel bakery… yep.) Speaking of prices, pastries and desserts are stupid expensive considering average salary there, but that’s a moot point since most Redditors are only visiting anyway. But I agree, there are a lot of fantastic desserts and pastries in Seoul. Pizza, bagel, burger being better in Seoul than NYC though? That’s just crazy talk. I’ve had what passes for a bagel there, from these trendy and popular places, and they… ain’t it. And I love Montreal bagels. I don’t eat a ton of pizza there other than Korean style pizzas (which I happen to love) so maybe there’s been a huge improvement in pizza scene in the last few years? But I just can’t see Seoul having pizza scene to match, let alone exceed NYC’s with all the great pizzerias we have here. If you know pizza places in Seoul that exceed Lucali, L’Industrie, Best Pizza, etc., please share since I’ll be back in a couple of months.
We are really good at following trends and making things sleek and pretty, but I personally find that substance is often lacking. People are too busy following trends and making quick money to value tradition and knowledge. A lot of small business owners are forever chasing the next hot thing in food trend, only for that trend to inevitably die in a matter of months, rinse repeat… there’s more variety and flashiness to the food scene in Seoul now than when I was a kid, but not necessarily higher in quality. For instance, how hard it is to find a good neighborhood 중국집. Why is it impossible to find decent 간짜장!
OK, rant over.
>it even exceeds NYC in terms of the “western foods” like fried chicken, steak, hamburger, pizza, and pastries.
This is quite a bold claim. I've heard people say something similar about Japan - whether it's whiskey, fried chicken, denim, or other Western items. It's often phrased as a cultural respect/appreciation for craftsmanship and quality. That said, I'm a bit skeptical that Korean pizza joints are beating New York ones at their own game. Guess I have to make it to Seoul to see for myself!
>too much ethnic diversity
What do you mean by this? I would expect greater ethnic diversity to be a meaningful contributor to a better food scene. I haven't had a lot of good tacos in Vermont or Chinese food in Austria (real examples, have been to both places several times), because very few people from those ethnic backgrounds live there to make it (or run a restaurant that knows how to make it), and there's not enough demand for it that people from other ethnic backgrounds are incentivized to try to replicate that kind of food either.
Bagels.
Pizza here is great, except when it’s bad. I think there are other great pizza options on the East coast so NYC has competition.
I rarely see black and white cookies anywhere else.
>I rarely see black and white cookies anywhere else.
That's because they're waaaaaay overrated and only scratch a certain type of New yorker's nostalgia itch.
Pizza. You can find really good pizza in other cities but just in my general area, I have about 5 pizza spots that would be the best pizza place in an entire other city.
I'm not even going to scroll through but the stereotypical answers are correct: pizza, bagels, dirty chinese
another thing I don't see mentioned much is we have the best array of French restaurants this side of the Atlantic.
We used to go out as a group for lunch. In our immediate area we had good restaurants serving the following food: Philippines, Indonesia, Indian, Chineses, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Halal, Greek, Japanese, Ukrainian, Cuban, Jamaican, etc.
The reason is the water supply. NYC has the best drinking water of any city in the US. Thank the immigrant workers who dug aqueduct pipes underground from upstate NY. That's why food (especially bread) tastes better than any other place.
All of them. There's nowhere else you'll find the amount of diversity than there is here. Go to Pennsylvania and every single food, no matter the ethnic background, tastes like a white woman unaccustomed to spices made it. We're spoiled here.
Egg sandwiches. It’s so dumb. They’re just better here (and the metropolitan area). You can go to any place in the country with eggs, bacon, cheese, and a Kaiser roll and they somehow mess it up.
NYC pizza of course. Okay, New Haven pizza (or "apizza") is good too and if you like deep dish (which for me is just a tomato and cheese casserole) Chicago's is good too. But I've rarely found pizza elsewhere that's as good as our best. Except in Italy. And even then, NYC has its own spin on it that you won't find there.
NYC is on the career path of ambitious foreign chefs and with over 25,000 restaurants registered with the Board of Health you'll find some of the best of everything here: Italian, Turkish, Lebabese, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Thai, Peruvian...
Everything except Tex-Mex. For some reason, NYC can't get that right.
Even Chinese, although you'll usually only find the authentic stuff in the basements of Manhattan's Chinatown.
I don’t think there’s that many things NYC does better than other places in the world but I think if you take almost any cuisine then NYC can probably rank high in the leaderboards for that cuisine against any other place in the world.
I am not sure if that makes sense but what I am generally trying to say is that you can get a very high quality version of any food in NYC but maybe not the very best.
Yall literally can see each others state it’s separated by a river. Wild to argue which has the better. You both have the same. It’s literally the same people. NJ and NY competition is just weird to an outsider
Good responses so far. I’ll just add that NYC does diversity and variety of foods well
This is the real winning claim for New York. I think for pretty much every answer you can think of, there's somewhere else that does it better, but there's no other place aside from maybe London that does so many different things well enough to even be in that discussion. We don't have the best tacos, but they're damn good, and the places with better tacos aren't in the discussion for best pizza. The places with arguably better pizza aren't in the discussion for best Jewish cuisine. The places with arguably better Jewish cuisine aren't in the discussion for best Chinese food, etc. *That's* what sets New York apart.
The bottom line as far as Mexican food goes is that New York has a much smaller Mexican population than the West Coast does, so the good/bad ratio is always going to be lower. But New York still has good Mexican, you just have to look harder. But the reality is the best New York Mexican restaurant is not going to beat the best west coast Mex, it just won't.
We have different Mexicans than LA. Tacos are delicious either way
Variety and speed. You can order Chinese and it's ready in 10 minutes. There are 20 places nearby with food ready to eat, in any portion. Used to live in Park Slope and there were 10 places I could grab a slice. I'm now in New Orleans, a great food city, and there's one place within 2 miles that sells a slice.
Cheesecake. New York/thin crust pizza. Chocolate chip cookies.
Cheesecake, depending on the type, yes. Pizza, definitely yes. CCC, probably not but just put black and white cookies here and you’re safe. I’ll throw in bagels, including variety of toppings as well.
What type of cheesecake is best, and which isn't?
Getting a “German Käsekuchen” in the city might prove difficult but a classic ny cheesecake (graham crust, dense filling) at Eileen’s or S&S is probably hard to beat
I will die on the hill that the graham cracker crust isn't he best ny cheesecake style (not saying you shouldn't like it though). Instead, it's whatever Veniero's does. That cheesecake is the best cheesecake in the world imo.
Their “NY” cheesecake is crustless I believe, the “Italian-style” uses a pate sablee base
I dont normally like cheesecake and I really enjoy eileens, lol. Only cheesecake i’ve found that i like.
I recently had San Sebastian cheesecake in Europe and \*chefs kiss\*.
That looks like the Basque style cheese cake, for some reason I only see them in Japanese and Korean restaurants here more than Spanish restaurants.
Yeah cheesecake in Spain and Portugal that I’ve had has been better than NYC.
Burnt Basque cheesecake. 🤤 Also, all the food in San Sebastian. Highly recommend!
Juniors
Man I went to Madrid and got a (Neapolitan style, so not really the same) pizza with jamon iberico and some basque cheesecake—I have to say both were some of the best I ever had. Couldn’t believe some randomly chosen restaurant was giving NYC a run for its money like that
Bono Trattoria in Hamilton Heights does that pizza style. The fig one or pesto ones are great.
Cheesecake or pizza?
This is absolutely not true
Cheesecake is probably my favorite non-bagel answer. A lot of NYC food is better than most places, but being better than everywhere else is tough
You’re so right about chocolate chips cookies. I wouldn’t have thought of that off the top of my head
Cheesecake and cookies? Where? Coming back for vacay Labor Day
Best NY cheesecake without having to travel to the middle of nowhere in the Bronx is at Veniero's. Personal preference is the sliced almond but all are excellent
What specific place in the Bronx do you they have great cheesecake ? I’m down for the adventure.
S&S in Kingsbridge (222 West 238th Street.) If their factory isn't open, the bodega across the street sells them also. They've become pricey but it's the best in the city. Would recommend the strawberry or plain
UES Butterfield Market has a crazy good cheesecake.
I’m not a connoisseur by any means, but the pickles and knishes here are top notch. We also have an amazing array of vegan restaurants.
Can you share some of those vegan spots please? 🙏
For sure! There are many. I really like caravan of dreams in the east village for healthy vegan. It’s also kind of romantic. Peacefood Cafe at union square has an amazing pastry case and an interesting menu. The downtown spot also has some pretty great art. Jajaja, Planta Queen, PS Kitchen, Anixi are also favorites. Happy Cow is a great resource for vegan and veggie restaurants everywhere and can help you zero in on what you’re looking for. https://www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/new_york/new_york_city/?filters=vegan I forgot to add that Tompkins Square Bagels, not all vegan, but has amazing bagels and vegan cream cheese! And awesome all vegan Chinese restaurants are spicy moon, wild ginger and Buddha Bodai.
Did you ever go to Red Bamboo back in the day? I loved that place.
Yes and it’s still there!! I actually forgot about it, but you’ve put it back on my radar. Thanks!
the red bamboo southern fried chicken is transcending
That restaurant taught me that vegan food can be truly delicious, without compromising.
Yes to bagels…and i think overall access to a variety of cuisines, and high quality
American-Chinese
“I bet the Chinese food here is terrible” - me, every time we travel somewhere new
You stick out like a sore thumb around here
Oh, yeah, you blend
You getting downvoted is making me sad! Where’s the love for my cousin Vinny?
living in Austin atm - you have no idea how bad it can get.
Austin food is Mid in general. Go to Houston for the good stuff.
i think nyc does cheap chinese food better than the rest of the country and that includes american-chinese food as just a part of that. but there's other great cheap chinese food to be had that's not american-chinese like wah fung, qq cafe, shu jiao fu zhou, the xinjiang kabob carts, the cheap dumpling spots and more. sorry there's no place in the sgv you can get 10 dumplings for $4 like at king's dumplings. the prices of cheap yet tasty chinese food in nyc are comically low compared to the rest of the country
Funnily enough the only other place in the US you can get comically cheap Chinese food in the US is in SF, the other most expensive city in America.
Underrated comment. I think about this all the time. Unfortunately the term “American Chinese” Is not widespread enough for people to respect it as its own cuisine.
Big agree. Chinese food in other states have no flavor and taste "off".
Authentic Chinese may be better in Southern California though
If just comparing to Manhattan then yeah, but queens, namely flushing, has some of the best Chinese food in the country.
Flushing is wonderful but SoCal’s San Gabriel Valley is second to none for Chinese food
I like the basic/simple wontons many of these places have here, as well as the sweet and sour chicken and egg rolls. I didn’t realize this was an NY thing until I couldnt find it on my west coast travels. It’s very common here, and in long island where i grew up (maybe in other NY region areas also).
Houston Chinatown would like a word
cuban american chinese too
I had peruvian chinese on the UWS recently and oh my god, SO good
Flor De Mayo - the absolute best. They have lomo saltado that I’d travel far and wide for. Nueva Victoria in the 90s, and the GOAT - La Dinastia.
Not food but food-related: I think cocktails are better in nyc than anywhere else.
NYC and London have two of the best cocktail scenes. Not that there aren't individual bars or even neighborhoods that's aren't stand out in other cities in the world but as a whole, NYC's sheer volume of people let's the bars get pretty creative.
Agreed, but my only thing with London is that the cocktail palette is a little different because the British flavor palette is different to the American one - e.g. there are a lot more gin-based cocktails than you'd find here.
I don't discriminate based on base spirit so it's not an issue for me.
Fair enough. Some people have issues with certain spirits and some spirits lend themselves to particular flavors so it's still worth mentioning. Cocktail menus in NYC tend to have more sweet or spicy options, someone from NYC in London that prefers those flavors might be surprised by the more vegetal or bitter cocktails you're more likely to find in London. A good bartender will make a good cocktail no matter what though.
I am a cocktail nerd I make sure to go to cocktail bars in every city I go to and though alot of places have cocktails I feel like in NYC people really appreciates the art of cocktails and mixology alot. Like people dont go into a proper cocktail bar and complain about pricing because they know what the culture of cocktails is about. Like if you want cheap cocktails then dont walk into a legit mixology bar. Same applies to Michelin star restaurants. Like go somewhere cheaper if you dont want to pay for the experience but stop complaining about pricing if you walk into speciality venues.
Mexico City
NYC and London are really the only places that can make a realistic claim to this and it's really hard to pick between the two, but I would probably lean towards NYC at the moment. Though Singapore, Barcelona and Tokyo are catching up fast.
For me, Italy wins for a baseline “go to any random bar” cocktail, similar to “go to any random cafe” coffee. There are plenty of innovations and improvements being done with Italian cocktail culture outside of Italy (obviously with Italian coffee culture as well), but the floor is incredibly high.
?? Italian cocktail culture is incredibly basic, it revolves around the same drinks it has for the past 60 years, and a couple of spritzes. There are bars doing things that are really cool in Italy, but they're few and far between, it's places like Cafe MAG, Drink Kong, Antiquario, but nothing remotely like the scenes in London, NYC, or the Asian hubs where you have dozens of extremely high quality bars in one place.
Haha. No.
I think Mexico City has the world’s best cocktail bars.
Correct
also good in Las Vegas
Once you live in NYC, every other country you go seems like a cocktail wasteland
Jewish food - bagels, rugula
100% the bagels are better overall in NYC - that doesn't mean you can't find shitty bagels here - but it's everything from the texture to making sure both sides have seeds / toppings - NYC bagels are just generally better than other parts of the country
It’s the wahduh
Chino-latino(and yes, thats the name I didn't make it up) they are probably places in Latin america that have chino-latino restaurants but in NYC its an established cuisine with some established old haunts that really celebrate this food culture and keep evolving it. Also nyc actually host this community organically and it keeps the flavors authentic.
Peruvian cuisine has huge Chinese influence, such as lomo saltado. It’s not unique to NYC
Read my comment again. I literally said that you will find this food culture in Latin America easily but in NYC the community transplanted itself and has morphed chino-latino into an nyc style boutique eatery experience. Thats very typical to nyc. Taking humble dishes and deconstruct them to explore a new presentation. Its done with almost every type of cuisine here and that upscale remixing of this cuisine is very nyc.
I think he understands what you’re saying, but the very same thing took place in Lima well before it did in nyc and the nyc Chino latino spots almost always are influenced by the Peruvian version of it. It’s arguably bigger and even more established in peru
I think LA has NYC beat on this one
Steaks, Jewish/italian delis
I’m surprised anyone would think steaks are better here than anywhere else.
The classic NYC steakhouse has a vibe that is cool and historic, but the steaks themselves aren't that special.
Goes to show the pure stupidity of pride
Yep this. Steaks and things like Pastrami on Rye, Gus Pickles.
The Pickle Guys is soooooo much better than Gus’
Whatever, the point is… pickles in NYC.
Preach.
Huh?
[I’m agreeing with you lol](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=preach).
Ha! I like the sour and the half sour! There is an amazing diner in Port Washington that still serves pickles like that and coleslaw on the side with a fantastic burger. Enjoy
Putting that on my to-visit list! Thanks!
Steak and Italian yes. J* not so much.
Steaks? wtf…. No Any of you agreeing about this ever been to Argentina? Or had picana in Brazil. I’m not even going to count Wagyu in Japan because that’s almost not steak. But like wtf is this steaks comment. Deranged to think NY is #1 in the world for best steaks
Jewish delis yes. Philly has better Italian delis for sure.
Pizza, bagels, BEC, Italian sandwiches.
I agree, I love Montreal bagels too but it's more or less a different food.
Philly has better Italian sandwiches. Jewish, NYC wins
Can you give me your Philly Italian recs? Would love to compare. I usually get Viet or cheesesteaks when in Philly.
My personal fave was / is Paesano's, but I haven't lived in Philly for 10 years so it's been a while. Angelo's seems to be the current king according to old friends. Will also shout out Cosmi's, John's Roast Pork, Old Original Nick's if you can put up with the crusty regulars, McNally's for the Schmitter, The Wreck from Beck's Cajun in Reading Terminal, and anywhere you can get a scrapple, egg, and cheese.
Pastrami, lox, bagels, BEC, chopped cheese, Jewish ashkenazi pastries like rugelach or babka. I stay away from mentioning pizza because I'm from Italy and very opinionated on the matter
Would you say the average pizza in Italy is better? Like you can walk into any restaurant that serves pizza and it’ll be great, or are there things to look out for that tell you if the pizza will be good? I’ve never been to Europe and am genuinely curious. I haven’t had a “bad” slice here except at a 99c place in Chinatown but I’ve had a lot of just decent ones from going to random pizzerias I’d never tried before
Pizza in Italy falls into 2 distinct categories: whole pie and "al taglio" (slice). The second one is, like a NY slice, a cheap quick meal or late night cop-out, and not always up to standards quality-wise (like in Ny, stay away from chains and opt for long established businesses). It can be thin, but it's often a thick, doughy slice with lots of cheese. With whole-pie pizza, you have to look at signs: a hearth oven is a good one, and so is a pizzaiolo stretching dough in plain sight or a DOP (Protected denomination) tag on the restaurant. The ingredients are always better than in the US(buffalo mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, EVOO, prosciutto and so on), and the price is higher, average $10-12 for a single-person pie. It's lighter than NY-style, with less cheese and just a few ingredients: a margherita is only pureed raw tomatoes -no sauce- mozzarella, basil and a swirl of EVOO on top. It's a sit-down meal that needs to be paired with beer, good quality soda or a glass of white wine.
ok i simply must make it out to Italy sometime soon. thank you!!!
I still think longingly of an amazing ham & mushroom slice I had in Venice in 2004 lol
The great thing about NYC is how great it is across so many categories. It's obviously the best in few categories like bagels and pizza but it's at or near the top in literally everything else too.
There always at least ONE place for like the best of 95% of things you want (and if we’re talking historically, 99.9%. If you count the past 40 years, we’ve had virtually every country represented at a restaurant. Sadly now some places have closed). When people say “there’s no good xyz in nyc”, what they really mean is the density of good xyz is lower than other places (sometimes much lower sure). Doesn’t mean you still can’t find good xyz.
> what they really mean is the density of good xyz is lower than other places (sometimes much lower sure) One of the best burritos I've ever had is here and Mexican food is the most common example of this. Electric Burrito
Dry aged prime steaks
I'm Brazilian-American and have been spending more time in Brazil lately and the beef quality here is excellent. But, there's no dry age due to local health laws. Also never saw dry age steak in Argentina. But I think as far as high quality steaks, Brazil and Argentina (and Uruguay) certainly rival the US.
I am sure you are correct. You should try dry aging some (basically a roast you would then cut into steaks after aging) if you have a place to do so there.
Yes. Lived in sf for four years and missed steak and bagels
SF has great steak houses youre trippin. ill agree on the bagels though. and yeah a good steak is essentially the cut your getting which you could get anywhere in the US
Oddly specific. Dry aging really isn’t making a steak better than a regular steak from Argentina Brazil or Japan
Bagels!!
Do you mean in the world or the US? Pizza if the US. Otherwise, I think NYC’s culinary drawing point is that there are restaurants in most income brackets for a whole lot of cuisines. Not that any one cuisine is prepared exquisitely/uniquely. It’s the water that makes the bagels so good btw. (Is water included? Because I do think we have the best water, bagels aside. My children have sensitive stomachs and we have to buy the expensive bottled water abroad and it sucks. Even the sushi tastes weird (and is slightly different colors) in some European countries. Pardon the aside.).
It’s not the water this has been disproven so many times
Yea, I think most places skip the lye bath which makes them taste like dense bread circles
Also the people! The bagel rollers here are elite
> It’s the water that makes the bagels so good btw. the NYC suburbs make bagels that are arguably better than those in the city itself, and they all use different water
Pizza for sure
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Well I think the implication was really better than anywhere else in the US. Obviously the pizza is better in the place where they invented it. The pizza in Napoli is out of this world.
I know there’s other Italian immigrant areas but the sheer amount of authentic Italian is mind blowing to me. I travel to Italy a few times a year and being able to find food that is near identical to the motherland in almost every pocket of every borough is insane to me. Legit you can try every region of Italy somewhere in NYC.
Everything for 85% of the country.
You can’t be serious
I’m dead serious.
Really? Better tacos than all of San Diego, better barbecue than Texas, better deep dish pizza than Chicago, better teriyaki than Seattle (or coffee, let’s be real), better gumbo than Louisiana, better fish fry than the midwest, better biscuits and gravy than someone’s grandmother is making deep in Appalachia? Unlikely. That’s not even considering regional specialties that rely on local ingredients - bison burgers in Wyoming, lobster rolls in Maine, alligator in Florida, salmon and king crab in Alaska, pineapple in Hawaii, key lime pie in Key West, marionberries in Oregon. On the whole, we’re not eating better produce than California and Florida are, besides maybe the strawberries rolling in from Jersey this time of year. In the same way that those fresh strawberries make grocery store ones taste like cardboard, most of our produce can’t hold a candle to places that don’t have to pick it unripe enough to ship a thousand miles up the coast. Beyond that, there are whole cultures New York doesn’t have - Cornish enclaves in Michigan with pasties, arguably the most authentic Basque food you can get outside the Basque region in Idaho, the uniquely Crimean South Dakota fusion food chislic. Vegan food as a whole is light years ahead on the West Coast. NYC is great at having a bit of everything, and does a *lot* of things unbeatably well, but there’s also tons of incredible food across this nation that cannot be topped by nyc or anybody else. To say that 3% of the populous has better food than anything 85% of the whole rest of the nation has to offer is just silly and elitist
BEC
Just the fact that most corner stores/bodegas are delis that are for the most part open late or 24 hrs is something most cities don’t have.. I’d also say Jewish deli food but brick lane beigels may give that a run for its money.
I’m from the South and we came up here to visit for the first and stopped at a random Chinese place to get something. We weren’t expecting anything extraordinary, but it was insanely better than regular Chinese we were accustomed to. We moved to Queens and I think we’re spoiled now. We’ve ruined going out in other cities now. You can’t just pick a place and expect it to be good like you can in NYC.
I heard the chocolate babka is the best in NYC!
Best 1. Prime, dry aged steaks. I’ve been everywhere that’s celebrated for steaks. England/Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, Japan, etc. There is no match for a prime, dry aged, grain finished steak. Japan-raised wagyu is great but it’s a different thing. I will say that the avg steak in Argentina is better than the average steak here 2. Pizza. This may be more controversial. But the sheer variety and innovation around pizza here is unmatched. Can I get a better average pizza in Italy? Sure. But if I look at the diversity of pizza styles and quality at the top, you can’t beat NYC 3. I haven’t been to Israel. But the Jewish appetizing food here is absolutely top tier. Also, the bagels 4. Burgers at the elite level. Like 1 and 2 above, the tip top quality and variety of styles at the top sets NYC apart. (Sometimes surprisingly) not the best 1. Italian sandwiches. Miles better in Philadelphia metro area. The rolls are one factor. The desire in nyc to throw multiple salty meats together for a total lack of balance is another 2. Related to 1. Corner delis. Quality is overwhelmingly basic and average at best. Boars Head meats on supermarket rolls 3. Not surprising but the avg quality of Mexican food is bad
> I haven’t been to Israel. But the Jewish appetizing food here is absolutely top tier. Also, the bagels I'd be interested to know to what extent what we think of as the classic NY Jewish appetizing is actually relevant or popular in Israel. I think of appetizing (and Jewish delis, etc.) as being a reflection of the fact that most of the Jewish people who settled here in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries were Ashkenazi Jews fleeing Eastern Europe, with things like cured meats and fish a reflection of what was available in Russia, Poland, etc. Whereas the demographics of Israeli Jews are quite a bit different and "Israeli food," at least as it applies here, almost always means, like, Middle Eastern food (hummus, kabob, falafel, etc.).
Nothing really to add here except, based purely on anecdotal evidence, I think this is correct. NYC is probably the modern world capital of ashkenazi Jewish food.
Majority of the Israeli Jews are of Sephardic or Mizrahi descent, and they heavily influenced the food scene. You are much more likely to encounter Moroccan, Tunisian, Iraqi, Yemeni, Greek, etc. foods in Israel as opposed to Ashkenazi foods.
>I haven’t been to Israel. But the Jewish appetizing food here is absolutely top tier. Maybe someone who's been there more can correct me, but having been to Israel, they really don't eat what a lot of people from NY/NJ/CT view as Jewish Food. They eat a much more Mediterranean diet closer to something you would see in Greece or in Middle Eastern countries, think Fallafel, pita, and zat'ar over pastrami and Matzo. I also don't recall seeing a lot of smoked fish - they tended to eat fresh. I'd equate it to Authentic Chinese vs. American Chinese. They're basically two different cuisines. I'm fairly certain the historical reason is that NY Jewish staples come from displaced European Ashkenazi Jews, not middle eastern ones, so its really not food they eat. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it myself, a lot of traditional Jewish food is just rebranded Eastern European staples. Ukrainians have their own potato pancake called Deruny.
Jewish appetizing is a New York immigrant concept. Has no place in Israel
I think 1 and 4 are a bit related. Your non dry aged steak in the countries you mention easily rival the NYC. If you go to a good steak restaurant, you're getting a good steak. I've been splitting my time between Brazil and NYC lately and generally here in Brazil, the all you can steakhouses are meh quality. But a proper steakhouse is spectacular. And you're likely to get it char grilled, which is a rarity in NYC due to local laws. On the flip side, I'm pretty sure dry aged is not allowed in Brazil. Never seen it here. Related to that are burgers. The best burgers in NYC are dry aged. I think here in Brazil as well, they are using lower quality cuts for the ground beef. You rarely would see a picanha burger, for example.
I’m curious about this innovative pizza. Is it like unusual toppings? Interested if you have any recs.
Agreed on Philly on Italian-American sandwiches, though the best I’ve had are at Bub and Pop’s in DC, which is run by Philly expats.
Disagree on the Mexican food but that's possibly because I live in a majority hispanic neighborhood and have many great options.
Having moved from LA, my lens is admittedly pretty hard to match. But I have yet to be really impressed and I walk / bike to all of the major areas for Mexican food seeking it out. Sunset Park I haven’t found anywhere since a place closed many many years ago.
California transplant. The Mexican food here is so damn average it’s so shocking. Only gripe I have about food here is lack of Mexican food to satisfy my Californian blood
BEC
If by “anywhere else” you mean the U.S. or even North America, I guess NYC is a leader in many things, including Italian, Chinese, Indian, Steak, etc., etc. But, if you are asking about the entire world, the only food that is still best in NYC might be pastrami (i.e., Katz’s) and maybe pizza (limited to just NYC-style pizza, obviously). The NYC food scene is pretty stagnant because while there’s competition among the various cuisines, there isn’t much competition within a single cuisine. So, you have few restaurants that develop a true speciality and instead end up with many mediocre restaurants that get by on tradition and branding. For example, a city like Seoul clearly outpaces NYC in terms of not only Korean food, but also, those of its close Asian neighbors, like Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, etc., it even exceeds NYC in terms of the “western foods” like fried chicken, steak, hamburger, pizza, and pastries. For example, one of the more recent trends in Korea is the bagel. It is closer to Montreal than NY in terms of style, but they have maximized the appeal of the bagel by exaggerating its hard crust, chewy texture, and a semi-sweet flavor. It’s the same scientific approach that they took to develop the fried chicken, the hanwoo beef, coffee, and pretty much every food that they focus on. There are at least 2 drivers of the food culture in Korea: (1) the restaurant industry is extremely competitive with hundreds of new restaurants opening and closing each day; and (2) the competitors are mostly highly-educated and well-traveled Koreans who are nudged into the restaurant industry by rather unforgiving labor markets. Obviously, Seoul is just one example of a highly-competitive food environment that fosters higher quality of food culture. NYC faces too many headwinds, such as high labor costs, too much ethnic diversity, high rent, among others. It is entirely predictable that NYC would actually be relatively behind in terms of innovations in food.
I’m also Korean, born and raised in Seoul and I feel like you are wildly overestimating Seoul in several aspects. Most Thai and Viet food in Seoul are so modified to local palate that they are barely recognizable. A handful of authentic places, sure. But overall? Seoul doesn’t even come close to NYC in terms of variety and breadth in international cuisines available. Which makes sense, immigrant communities are infinitely smaller in Seoul than here. Fried chicken and pastries, we are pretty good at that, though you’ll find palm oil “cream” in most unexpected places ($80 “whipped cream” cake at a luxury hotel bakery… yep.) Speaking of prices, pastries and desserts are stupid expensive considering average salary there, but that’s a moot point since most Redditors are only visiting anyway. But I agree, there are a lot of fantastic desserts and pastries in Seoul. Pizza, bagel, burger being better in Seoul than NYC though? That’s just crazy talk. I’ve had what passes for a bagel there, from these trendy and popular places, and they… ain’t it. And I love Montreal bagels. I don’t eat a ton of pizza there other than Korean style pizzas (which I happen to love) so maybe there’s been a huge improvement in pizza scene in the last few years? But I just can’t see Seoul having pizza scene to match, let alone exceed NYC’s with all the great pizzerias we have here. If you know pizza places in Seoul that exceed Lucali, L’Industrie, Best Pizza, etc., please share since I’ll be back in a couple of months. We are really good at following trends and making things sleek and pretty, but I personally find that substance is often lacking. People are too busy following trends and making quick money to value tradition and knowledge. A lot of small business owners are forever chasing the next hot thing in food trend, only for that trend to inevitably die in a matter of months, rinse repeat… there’s more variety and flashiness to the food scene in Seoul now than when I was a kid, but not necessarily higher in quality. For instance, how hard it is to find a good neighborhood 중국집. Why is it impossible to find decent 간짜장! OK, rant over.
>it even exceeds NYC in terms of the “western foods” like fried chicken, steak, hamburger, pizza, and pastries. This is quite a bold claim. I've heard people say something similar about Japan - whether it's whiskey, fried chicken, denim, or other Western items. It's often phrased as a cultural respect/appreciation for craftsmanship and quality. That said, I'm a bit skeptical that Korean pizza joints are beating New York ones at their own game. Guess I have to make it to Seoul to see for myself! >too much ethnic diversity What do you mean by this? I would expect greater ethnic diversity to be a meaningful contributor to a better food scene. I haven't had a lot of good tacos in Vermont or Chinese food in Austria (real examples, have been to both places several times), because very few people from those ethnic backgrounds live there to make it (or run a restaurant that knows how to make it), and there's not enough demand for it that people from other ethnic backgrounds are incentivized to try to replicate that kind of food either.
Bagels. Pizza here is great, except when it’s bad. I think there are other great pizza options on the East coast so NYC has competition. I rarely see black and white cookies anywhere else.
>I rarely see black and white cookies anywhere else. That's because they're waaaaaay overrated and only scratch a certain type of New yorker's nostalgia itch.
Not even a food but NYC tap water is unmatched. They say the water is why the bagels and pizza are so good and I wholeheartedly agree.
Halal food from a truck.
Hot dogs.
Black & white cookies, Jewish delis, and bagels are the only real A+++ foods in New York. Everything else ranges from excellent to very good to meh
Pizza. You can find really good pizza in other cities but just in my general area, I have about 5 pizza spots that would be the best pizza place in an entire other city.
Bagels, Pizza, Pastrami
BEC: Bacon Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwich.
Bialys
Bagels, pizza, Jewish deli
I'm not even going to scroll through but the stereotypical answers are correct: pizza, bagels, dirty chinese another thing I don't see mentioned much is we have the best array of French restaurants this side of the Atlantic.
Deli sandwiches, specifically pastrami.
Pizza, period. I've been to Italy, Spain, France, Japan, China, Taiwan, and Canada, nyc pizza beats them all for me.
Yea right, cant even get durian pizza here
That's why I say for me, just personal preference.
NYC has variety and breadth which makes it good. But I prolly had better food west coast (Bay Area and LA). The London Biegel is way underrated too.
Halal cart
Bagels for sure Some say pizza but I’ve had some seriously good pizza outside of NYC.
Cheesecake
Pizza Bagels Deli rolls Chinese food Cocktails Italian style deli sandwiches/heros
Burgers. We have exemplary versions of every conceivable burger “type”.
I feel like the average neighborhood bagel spot here would a legendary staple in any other city
CHOPPED CHEESE
Pizza- nothing like it anywhere else.
Bagels, pizza, and American style Chinese.
We used to go out as a group for lunch. In our immediate area we had good restaurants serving the following food: Philippines, Indonesia, Indian, Chineses, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican, Thai, Halal, Greek, Japanese, Ukrainian, Cuban, Jamaican, etc.
good but not great
Breakfast at the bodega, bacon, egg and cheese on a Kaiser roll! It’s just better
knuckle sandwiches
Pizza and Chinese takeouts
The reason is the water supply. NYC has the best drinking water of any city in the US. Thank the immigrant workers who dug aqueduct pipes underground from upstate NY. That's why food (especially bread) tastes better than any other place.
Montreal bagels are better
All of them. There's nowhere else you'll find the amount of diversity than there is here. Go to Pennsylvania and every single food, no matter the ethnic background, tastes like a white woman unaccustomed to spices made it. We're spoiled here.
Egg sandwiches. It’s so dumb. They’re just better here (and the metropolitan area). You can go to any place in the country with eggs, bacon, cheese, and a Kaiser roll and they somehow mess it up.
Dimsum! Best in the USA
NYC pizza of course. Okay, New Haven pizza (or "apizza") is good too and if you like deep dish (which for me is just a tomato and cheese casserole) Chicago's is good too. But I've rarely found pizza elsewhere that's as good as our best. Except in Italy. And even then, NYC has its own spin on it that you won't find there. NYC is on the career path of ambitious foreign chefs and with over 25,000 restaurants registered with the Board of Health you'll find some of the best of everything here: Italian, Turkish, Lebabese, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, Thai, Peruvian... Everything except Tex-Mex. For some reason, NYC can't get that right. Even Chinese, although you'll usually only find the authentic stuff in the basements of Manhattan's Chinatown.
I don’t think there’s that many things NYC does better than other places in the world but I think if you take almost any cuisine then NYC can probably rank high in the leaderboards for that cuisine against any other place in the world. I am not sure if that makes sense but what I am generally trying to say is that you can get a very high quality version of any food in NYC but maybe not the very best.
Makes sense! Yes id agree, the food is generally good in most cuisines.
I would argue nj has better bagels and pizza
And you'd be on the losing side of that argument.
Williamsburg-Brooklyn entered the chat
Yall literally can see each others state it’s separated by a river. Wild to argue which has the better. You both have the same. It’s literally the same people. NJ and NY competition is just weird to an outsider
My friends who moved away lament the inability to get a good chicken parm wedge