Today marks the halfway mark of our journey through the amazing city, New York. We decided to take it slow on this day and simply head to Central Park and chill out. Though things didn't really turn out as planned (we were rushing to get to Central Park to actually have our lunch there and we underestimated how big Central Park could be), it was still quite an experience and I do look forward to heading to Central Park again.
We decided to take the 5th Avenue route towards Central Park, so as to kill 2 birds with one stone (which didn't turn out as well, because we ended coming back here a few more times). Along the way, we visited the
New York Public Library. Flanked on both sides by lions, the New York Public Library's exterior as well as interior are equally impressive. Beautifully designed, the interiors are filled with long hallways with several lovely reading rooms. Unless you are an avid fan of books, it wouldn't take long to tour the entire place. Please take a peek into the New York Public Library if you are around the vicinity.
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| Entrance of the New York Public Library |
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| Lions Flanking the Entrance |
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| Grand Hallway of the NY Public Library |
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| Going through the history to the library |
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| One of the many reading areas |
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| Exhibition Area |
After exiting the public library, we took a short (albeit rushed) walk down the famed
5th Avenue. This esteemed avenue (especially between 49th to 60th street) is known for its prestigious shops and is one of the most expensive shopping districts around the world. Naturally, you will find shops like
Tiffany and Co., Bottega, Salvatore Ferragamo, Louis Vuitton, etc. So shoppers, beware, because this street deserves more attention than the 1 - 2 hours that my group had given it. Oh, and for the
Apple fans out there, the iconic apple store is located at 5th Avenue, near the entrance of Central Park (sadly, I didn't go in and take a look).
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| Welcome to Fifth Avenue |
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| Streets of 5th Avenue |
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| Lots and lots of these Kebab Stands |
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| Side view of the Trump Tower |
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| Trump Tower |
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| Apple Store |
Past the
Apple Store lies the entrance to
Central Park. As aforementioned, we underestimated the size of the place and it took us longer than expected to get into the main park itself. Here are a few pictures of Central Park from the entrance to the reservoir.
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| One of the many entrances of Central Park |
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| Zoo in the park |
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| Sneak peek into the zoo |
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| One of the many rest stops |
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| Walking up towards one of the picnic areas |
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| 5th Avenue by the lake |
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| Alice in Wonderland - one of the many statues erected |
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| This looks straight out of Don't Mess With the Zohan |
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| Baseball Pitch |
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| The Jacqeline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir |
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| The Jacqeline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir |
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After the long park through and around Central Park, we finally decided to get out of there and have our first proper meal (we had a takeaway bagel for breakfast and a kebab cart takeaway for lunch). We headed to a place suggested by Andre -
La Esquina.
The place wasn't too hard to find once we figured out the correct station (was a breeze actually). It was situated in a corner of the
Kenmare Street &
Lafayette Street and very noticeable from far.
Note: They have 3 different locations (in the same area) - first one is their "Taco Shop" or
Taqueria which is at the corner of
Kenmare &
Lafayette, the second one is their upscale restaurant or
Brasserie located in their basement and requires reservation (there's where you will most likely find the often spotted
John Mayer).
We took our seats in their last location, which is their Cafe, where its in between their upscale restaurant and their Taco Shop, and it doesn't require any reservations.
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| Shop front of La Esquina |
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| Simple interior design |
As you can see, the interior of the shop ain't big at all (the picture was taken with me at the front door), so if you want a seat here, come early. Alternatively, you can always make a reservation for their Brasserie.
The easy part of recollecting my memories of this restaurant is remembering how good the food is, the tricky part is actually recalling exactly what food I ate. This is a testament to the quality of the food being served here.
La Esquina (if you haven't known by now) is an authentic Mexican restaurant that claims to sell only the freshest of products. This well-known place is also famous to be one of the hang-outs of the renowned singer
John Mayor.
We looked around for inspiration and got 2 pointers from our fellow guests. Firstly, the portions are huge--so sharing is the way the go. Secondly, everyone seemed to be ordering the sides
Yucca Fritas, so that was one dish decided for us.
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| Yucca Fritas |
If you don't already know, Yucca comes from the root of the plant
Yucca and actually taste like
Tapioca. The plant itself can be used for many medical purposes. The
Yucca was fried really nicely but was rather chunky for my liking. It goes very well with the
Creama Mexicana sauce. This side dish can be quite filling.
We were recommended the Tinga De Pollo (Pull chicken stew, tomato, chipotle, cinnamon, avocado, cabbage & tortilla) and the Bistec Tacos (Char-grilled skirt steak, charred onions, cilantro, salsa de chile de arbol). Note that I am actually guessing the dish from the looks of it for now, so there is a high chance that I might be wrong (but the type of meat is definitely right). |
| Our dinner for the day |
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| Steak Tacos |
First and foremost - A disclaimer: The food looks better than it looks. I apologize to the fantastic restaurant for making their food look bad. Lets start with the
Bistec Tacos (Steak Tacos). The skirt steak was nicely grilled. The onions and cilantro (a.k.a Coriander) blended perfectly and didn't overpower the taste of the beef. The salsa de chile de arbol (a.k.a Red Salsa) was SPICY!!! It was a little too spicy but I can't blame them - its Mexican food afterall. Love this dish - wouldn't mind a take out if I were to be back.
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Pulled Chicken with Black Beans, Rice and Veg
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Next up -
Tinga De Pollo (Pull Chicken Stew). This is one dish that has many things happening at once. You have the white rice as the base, the stew chicken for taste and the black beans for texture. The cabbages and avocado slices just add that "cooling" effect to this mildly hot dish. Nice blend of flavors that makes me crave for more mexican food.
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| Happy Customers - Andre & Dawn |
Final Verdict: I would definitely return to this place for more Mexican food. I wouldn't go as far as to say this is one of the best Mexican places in town (due to my lack of knowledge in Mexican food) but La Esquina does make me want to take it a step further. A solid 8/10.
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| Corner Street |
After dinner, we went to
Eileen's Cheesecake, which was conveniently located opposite
La Esquina and recommended by our dearest Dawn.
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| Shop Front |
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| This was as big as this place could get |
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| Their menu was really extensive |
The shop is very small (3 - 4 small tables), so I would recommend a takeaway. We ordered the shop's signature Oreo Cheesecake and the popular Strawberry Cheesecake.
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| Oreo Cheesecake |
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| Strawberry Cheesecake |
Personally, I'm not a fan of cheesecake in general. So I can't be the best judge of cheesecakes. But judging from how much Andre and Dawn enjoyed the cheesecake (and the fact that we came back a few days later), I believed that this is definitely worth trying out. I took a bite or two and found it to be pretty tasty too (though the "cheesy" taste did put me off - i hate cheesecake). Do try out this cheesecake place, especially if you are around the area. Good stuff!
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| Maybe thats why they are so good |
So here are the recommendations of the day:
1) La Esquina 114 Kenmare, New York, NY 10012
(between Kenmare & Lafayette)2) Eileen's Cheesecake17 Cleveland Place New York, NY 10012, United States
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