New York is one of my favorite places to visit when it comes to food. When deciding on a place to stay for my recent trip, I decided to stay in Lower Manhattan, near Chinatown and Little Italy since I wanted to try many of the places to eat in the area.

Was this the best planning I could have done on my end? Maybe not. Considering I had some appointments in the Upper West Side on the day of the NYC marathon, the subway schedules are not the best on the weekends and traffic in the city is ridiculous. Was it worth staying here for the food, Absolutely!

The city has endless food options for every budget.

If you are like me and value ambiance/aesthetic in your dining experience, there are many restaurants that can give you that along with exceptional food.

Pro Tips to keep in mind:

1. Have some cash on you. Some places don’t take a card.

2. Early mornings are best to avoid the lines at peak hours.

3. Do your research on the times the restaurant serves the meal you wanted to try to avoid disappointment. Some items I wanted to try were not available during certain hours of the day.

4. Some upscale places have dress code requirements. This mostly applies to dinner. I normally give them a call or check their website to be sure.

5. Make a shortlist of places you want to try without jam-packing your schedule.

Okay now moving on to the food.

Le Coucou- 138 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10013

I ended up at this cute spot since it was one of the few restaurants open when I got to NYC. They had great service, great food, and ambiance. It was a great way to start off my trip.

I wish I had the time to try some of the delicious desserts I saw on their reviews online. They weren’t serving them until 11 am. This is what I meant by telling you to keep in mind when the meal you want to try will be available to order.

Also, they have a dress code for dinner. Their website says they “…politely request no shorts, flip-flops, sweatpants or tank tops, and…ask that gentlemen remove their hats.”

Shu Jiao Fu Zhou- 118 Eldridge St, New York, NY 10002

Best bang for your buck. I can’t remember the last time I paid 5 dollars for this amount of food in the U.S. I wasn’t crazy about the noodles with peanut sauce but the dumplings were great. The place is relatively small and gets crowded so try to avoid peak hours.

I hope you get to check out a few of these places on your next trip to NYC. Also, let me know your favorite food spots in the city. I’m already creating my list for restaurants to try the next time I’m in the city.

P.S. You can find more pictures of the city during my last visit here.