After some days in New York’s Lower Eastside we decided we were ready for the busy streets of Midtown.
So we left our rather relaxed and for New Yorker conditions really spacious hotel in exchange for a small but really central room just around the corner of Times Square. The Sanctuary hotel is definitely a good choice if you want to have all famous Midtown spots in walking distance. But with Times Square basically two minutes away you can imagine how limited space is. The room was really alright but nothing for claustrophobic people. However, they have a really nice rooftop restaurant which we had to test at our first night.
Right in the middle of Manhattan Haven Rooftop really has some views to offer – even though it’s relatively low compared to surrounding buildings. But the food is very nice as well and so are drinks and music. It has been really crowded so you definitely should book in advance – but I guess that’s needless to say, it’s New York City.
We had crispy calamari and crab & avocado for starters followed by mussels and fries as well as a truffle cheese pizza.
Quite alright but not by far what I had in mind for proper New York food. So the next day we didn’t focus on breakfast but decided to go for a proper lunch AND dinner. We ended up at Madison Square Park queuing for a Shake Shack Burger.
It was a really good burger but again, not that special to stand in line for half an hour.
So we wandered around the city visiting Central Park, Bryant Park, Grand Central Station and all the fascinating spots in between feeling New York’s energetic spirit.
For dinner we already made a reservation I was so looking forward to. A proper New York strip at Lincoln Square Steak, a really nice steakhouse in the upper west side. We walked from our hotel what took us about 40 minutes but helped us getting hungry again. We started with a crab cake and oysters from the raw bar.
As main dish we had filet mignon and the prime New York Strip (you only live once). We shared truffle mac and cheese (overrated), spinach and garlic herb fries – and a nice bottle of Syrah. The meat was really soft and went very well with the wine, the sides were alright. To make sure we would never be hungry again the nice waiters provided us with different kinds of cake.
Unable to move we called a cab bringing us back to Time Square where we ended the night with some drinks over New York’s skyline.