[USA Trip] Day 03/04 - Manhattan / Brooklyn : MoMA + NBA LIVE

Welcome to my blog! On this post, I have combined both Day 03 and Day 04 together, as I had spent most of my day 03 on shopping instead of doing sightseeing.

We started our day at The Grey Dog Cafe, and they served comforting American breakfast classics. The eatery place had a homely feel with alot of decor. The service was friendly and fast, and the food was exceptional good!

After our breakfast, we walked over to Burlington at Union Square for some shopping. I picked up this pair of Kicks from Calvin Klein at only USD25! What a steal! Shopping in New York is always fun! 

Baby booked a luncheon for us at a Michelin Star Restaurant - Rezdôra. 

We arrived at Rezdôra, and we were instantly transported to a trattoria deep in the heart of the Italian countryside. Even their restrooms were unique as they taught Italian lessons with audio cues!

We arrived on the early side for the lunch timing, and the restaurant was almost occupied. I think the dinner service might be even more chaotic! 

For our appetizer, we ordered Rezdôra’s signature gnocco fritto, a traditional Italian fried bread. They were light and airy, and tasted pretty delicious. 

I had gramigna giallo e verde (spaghettoni with slow braised sausage ragu 'in bianco'). I do enjoy this dish, but it was too al dente and kinda salty for my tastebuds.'

We ended off our meal with some Gelato! 

The service at Rezdôra was excellent, but it was also on the pricey side. However for anyone not accustomed to NYC prices, the damage here was still reasonable for a Michelin one star restaurant in NYC. 

To conclude, I'd say the food rating was 3.5 out of 5, while I'd give the ambience a 3.5 out of 5. The service was 4 out of 5 and lastly, the value for money was at a 3 out of 5.  However, I would recommend trying this place out anyway as it was overall passable, and economical for a Michelin starred restaurant.

After our lunch, we took a train to Downtown Brooklyn for more shopping, as generally shopping and dining is naturally cheaper in Brooklyn. 

We went to Lucali, which is a famous Brooklyn Pizzeria located at a popular neighborhood - Carroll Gardens for dinner. You cannot buy a single slice just for tasting, as the restaurant has a policy of only selling the whole pies and no single slices. Lucali is a pain to get into, but the thin-crust pizza and BYOB are worth it. 

The eatery place is famous enough to even get a shout-out by well-known West Coaster Kendrick Lamar. It has only 30 seats, and it doesn’t take reservations. 

Lucali’s pizza is simple but tasted good. The dough is wafer-thin and crunches like a saltine. Do mentally prepare yourself to wait between 1-3 hour beforehand. It lives up its name as one of New York's best pizzas. Lucali was definitely two thumbs up for me, but at 32 USD for a pie, the damage was rather steep. Oh well, maybe the portion made up for it!

The next day, we made our way to Chinatown which is located at Canal Street - a major east–west street of over 1 mile (1.6 km) in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Chinatown is a must-see in New York City, as it is rich in history. It is well-known for its bargain shopping scene. 

We stopped by at a restaurant which offered HK Dim Sum as we were craving for a Dim Sum fix for breakfast

Although, the eatery place was run by a Hong Kong Family, the food items were not as authentic and delicious as those from Hong Kong itself for obvious reasons, I suppose they had to cater to the 'Ang Mor' taste, but nevertheless, we had a decent Asian meal!

My visit to the The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was splendid!It is located in the heart of Manhattan.

It is home to the world’s greatest collection of modern and contemporary art. The collection features Vincent van Gogh’s ‘The Starry Night', along with works by Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and many other great artists.

Art is like beauty in the eye of the beholder. There are a few paintings that you Must See at the MoMA! 

THE STARRY NIGHT BY VINCENT VAN GOGH 

This is surely one of the most famous paintings in the world. It was inspired by the view from van Gogh’s room at the asylum. The rich blues and picturesque village seem dreamy instead of sorrowful.

WATER LILIES BY CLAUDE MONET 

It was an eye opener for me, as it was an amazing place to visit! 

Do note that the museum is enormous and the visit might take the entire day! What made the visit even better for me was that there was an ongoing collaboration of famous art pieces with one of my favorite characters! Yes, I picked up a Miffy wearing THE STARRY NIGHT dress! This is exclusively from MoMA! 

After that, we made our way to Madison Square Garden to watch a LIVE NBA Match. According to my baby, it was the Playoffs, and the first game of the series for the Knicks this year. In order to enter the arena, you must have a valid ticket, pass through the security baggage check and no drinks are allowed into the arena.  

It was a live match between the New York Knicks vs Detroit Pistons, and Baby was here to support the Pistons. This was my fifth time watching a live NBA match in the United States, but I was still feeling excited. 

Each guest who came down for the game received a Knicks Team Tee-Shirt, face towel and a LED Wristband as a keep-sake souvenir! OMG! We love it so much!

Although this time round, our seats were not as close the last Clippers game we watched at the Crypto.com Arena which was 15 rows-up from the actual court, it was still good seats as compared to the 'nose-bleed' seats which we had tried before! I felt so good to be part of the arena’s atmosphere rather than to watch it on television. Thanks Baby for bringing me there!

After the games, we had our late dinner at an eatery place called the Spaghetti Incident. This is my favorite restaurant in NY since my last visit back in 2018! I couldn't wait to dine here again, and we made a reservation prior our arrival in NY

I strongly recommend this place as the pasta was delicious, and I loved it so much! The pasta was al dente and was cooked with passion too. The Spaghetti Incident is definitely one of the better pastas joints I've been to!

That pretty much summed up my 2 nights in New York. Stay tuned to my next post on Easter Parade.