Today, Condé Nast Traveler’s Jesse Ashlock is going head-to-head with the internet to see whether New York City’s most recommended spots are the best or if there’s somewhere as good people should try instead. Is Katz the best Jewish deli? Is Prospect Park worth a visit over Central Park? As a New Yorker himself, Ashlock has the inside scoop.
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00:00Hi, I'm Jesse Ashlock. I'm a travel expert and a New York City local.
00:04I'm here to take on the internet suggestions about what you should do in my city.
00:07I'll tell you whether I think they're worth your time and what I'd do instead.
00:19Which sites should you see in New York City?
00:21The answer, of course, is all of them. It's New York City, the greatest city on earth.
00:24But let's consult the internet and see what its recommendation is.
00:27Number one site, Times Square. No surprise there.
00:31I'll be honest with you, a lot of New Yorkers don't particularly like Times Square.
00:34Myself, if I'm a half a block down the street, I'm most likely to stick my head down
00:38and walk as fast as I can until I get where I'm going.
00:40But there are all kinds of places in this area that I do love.
00:43There's the Rum House, a wonderful little bar a little bit over that way.
00:46There's the Algonquin Hotel where Dorothy Parker had her round table.
00:50And there's Jimmy's Corner right behind me, an awesome family-run boxing-themed bar.
00:55It's a place where you will come and feel like family too.
00:57Come in with me. Be careful. It's very narrow.
00:59We're in Times Square, and it's easy to get overwhelmed by Times Square.
01:02Crossroads of the world and all.
01:04Old people, there's people hawking Broadway tickets,
01:06people wearing stuffed animal costumes wandering around.
01:09It can be a lot, but it's still a neighborhood.
01:11It's always been a neighborhood, and there are little pockets where you can still find the neighborhood.
01:15This is one of them, Jimmy's Corner.
01:17Jimmy was my dad. He was a Hall of Fame boxing trainer and manager, a cut man.
01:22Him and my mom opened this place together about 52 years ago.
01:26I was on the train, and I was telling my friend that I was going to be coming here,
01:30and some guy across the train was like,
01:32they shot scenes from Raging Bull at that bar.
01:34So that is true. Robert De Niro used to hang out here.
01:37He was very quiet. He'd sit in the corner and read a book, but he liked my parents.
01:40The story was, when he was shooting Raging Bull,
01:43he said, look, I don't care what scene it is, but I want you to shoot something at Jimmy's.
01:48And in a big way, it was to help us out.
01:50Because back then, it was seedier. We didn't have the same kind of business.
01:54He wanted to do something nice, but when the directors came and looked at the place,
01:58we're so narrow, we're so small.
02:00They said, look, can we just pay them and shoot this somewhere else?
02:03It's going to be really hard.
02:05Jimmy's is most certainly a dive bar in the best and truest and most authentic way.
02:09New York City, Brooklyn especially, has its share of phony dive bars.
02:13This is not a phony dive bar. This is the real deal.
02:21One of my favorite things about New York City is the tradition of Jewish food and culture here.
02:26So I asked the internet, what's the best Jewish restaurant in NYC?
02:30And it told me Katz's Delicatessen.
02:32It's hard to argue with Katz's. I love the pastrami on rye there, really good pickles.
02:36But Katz's is very famous and very popular.
02:39So if you're not hell-bent on reenacting When Harry Met Sally,
02:42I'd like to suggest B&H Dairy as an alternative.
02:44Like Katz's, it's old, venerable. It's been around more than 80 years.
02:48It harks back to a slightly different tradition than the Jewish Delicatessen.
02:52It's a dairy, a luncheonette.
02:54These were famous Jewish lunch counters where you could get a bowl of borscht,
02:57get some latkes, delicious challah bread.
02:59You take a seat at the counter in here, and it's like taking a step back in time.
03:03Let's see here. Well, I feel like I've got to have a bowl of borscht and some latkes.
03:07Should I wear lenses too?
03:09Yeah, we have to do the lenses.
03:10All right, we have to do some lenses.
03:11That's it. Those cheese blends, please.
03:12And of course, challah bread with butter?
03:14Yes, please.
03:15You got it.
03:16That's the most comforting thing there is.
03:19How's the borscht today?
03:20It's so good.
03:21The perfect thing for a crisp fall day.
03:23So my grandfather used to live around the corner in the 1960s and 70s.
03:26He was on St. Mark's Place.
03:27And this was like the place that he would always come.
03:29So this is in your vein.
03:31It's in my blood. Yeah.
03:32Got borscht in the blood.
03:34Oh, my God.
03:35Toot, toot, toot, toot, toot.
03:42I like the applesauce.
03:45I mean, you know...
03:46Cheese lenses with sour cream.
03:48Oh, no, not the lenses. It's latkes.
03:50Latkes with sour cream.
03:54I'll be back real soon.
03:55Thank you. Promise, huh?
03:56I promise. Bye.
03:57We'll wait for you. Thank you.
03:58Bye-bye.
04:03Let's see what park the internet says I should go to.
04:05Well, Central Park.
04:07I'm sure that neither you nor I needed to be told that.
04:10Central Park is a fantastic park
04:12designed by Frederick Law Olmsted famously.
04:14But this is the park that Olmsted said was his favorite,
04:17Prospect Park.
04:18And, I mean, the competition is stiff.
04:20Not only is there Central Park,
04:21he designed the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
04:23and many other spectacular and iconic urban green spaces
04:26around this country.
04:27But I think this one's the best, too.
04:28It's wild. It's a little wooly.
04:30It's a place where you can really get away,
04:32which is super hard to do in Central Park.
04:33A place where you can walk the trails,
04:35experience nature in its pristine essence
04:38in the way that God intended for it to be.
04:40What am I f***ing talking about?
04:42This is Long Meadow.
04:43It's everything you could possibly want in a city park.
04:45It's the longest stretch of unbroken meadow
04:47in any park in the United States.
04:49This meadow in the summertime
04:51is just full of people playing games.
04:53Cricket, soccer, volleyball,
04:55games I've never even seen before.
04:57But honestly, this park is a great four-season park.
04:59Even on a snowy winter day, it's a wonderful place to be.
05:02Breakfast sandwich, cup of coffee,
05:04beautiful autumn morning in Prospect Park.
05:06Can't get any more New York than that.
05:11Best Thai food in New York.
05:14I know it is a subject of some debate.
05:17I know because I've seen the internet.
05:19And the internet says,
05:21Ugly Baby, Talong, Fish Cheeks, Thai Diner.
05:25Some very good spots on that list.
05:27I am calling it Elmhurst, Queens.
05:29This is the best Thai neighborhood in New York City.
05:32And I think this is the best Thai restaurant.
05:35It's called Zab Zab.
05:36It's a cheerful little spot that opened two years ago
05:38in the peak of the pandemic,
05:40showcasing the fiery, fresh, and very funky flavors
05:43of the Isan region of Thailand.
05:45It's going to be a wild ride.
05:47All these dishes, they're street food
05:49eaten everywhere in Thailand.
05:51When we're here, we couldn't find it.
05:53So that's why we...
05:54So that's why you opened the restaurant.
05:55Udon Thani. Udon is not Udon Noodle.
05:57Udon is the town.
05:59When I introduce a dish to my customer,
06:02I always tell them,
06:04I want to give you a journey of the flavor.
06:07It's got some zing.
06:08This dish make our restaurant popular.
06:11Our customer, when they come,
06:12almost every table, they will definitely order this lot.
06:15I just love the fresh herbal flavors,
06:17fermentation, and the crunchiness.
06:19It's about the balance of the flavor.
06:22This is so good.
06:23This has some real heat,
06:25which is why I need that beer.
06:27But it is bold. It doesn't apologize.
06:29This is a som tam.
06:31Let's try the shrimp.
06:32Is this raw?
06:33Oh yeah, I'm very okay with raw.
06:34Okay.
06:35Salted duck egg papaya salad.
06:37What's the difference between the Thai food
06:39across the river in Manhattan
06:40and Thai food right here in Elmhurst?
06:42I'm proud for Queens
06:43because we keep the original flavor.
06:45This is the style of the Isan,
06:47not supposed to be sweet.
06:49So I don't know what happened.
06:51Shouldn't be sweet.
06:53Queens is where the flavor is.
07:00Which museum does the internet tell me I should go to?
07:04It's the Met.
07:05That's hard to argue with.
07:06It is the greatest museum on earth.
07:08That being said, the Met's a lot.
07:09You can spend an entire trip to New York City
07:11just going to the Met.
07:12Where do you start? What do you do?
07:13What do you do when you get tired?
07:14For an under-the-radar museum,
07:15come to the Noguchi Museum in Queens.
07:17It's one of the great single-artist museums
07:19in the world, in my opinion.
07:21I love this place above all else
07:22because it feels like a real sanctuary,
07:24a place to get away from the hubbub
07:26and chaos of New York City.
07:27There are these anthropomorphic qualities.
07:29You recognize things from the outside world
07:32in these pieces.
07:33My kids always do this thing
07:34of looking for recognizable shapes and abstractions.
07:37It's like, look, a kazoo!
07:40And you can finish your visit by hitting the gift shop,
07:42one of the best in town, in my opinion.
07:44Pick up one of those iconic Noguchi lamps.
07:51I do believe the time has come for a martini,
07:54and I'm going to consult the internet
07:56to see where it thinks I should go.
07:58Thinks I should go to Martini's, or Valerie,
08:01or Keene's Steakhouse,
08:02which is a great spot for a mutton chop.
08:05If I'm just in the mood for a martini
08:07in its purest form,
08:09in the best possible environment,
08:10the place I would go is the legendary Bemelman's
08:13here in the iconic Carlyle Hotel
08:15on the Upper East Side.
08:17It's really a temple to the cocktail.
08:20My name is Luis.
08:21Pleasure to meet you, I'm Jesse.
08:22It is a pleasure meeting you.
08:23Coming to the Carlyle in general
08:25just makes you feel like
08:26part of the fabric of New York,
08:28the way that it's just nestled in here
08:30on the Upper East Side,
08:31the history,
08:32the kind of nooks and crannies.
08:34Enjoy.
08:35Cheers.
08:36There's probably no room in this town
08:39that makes a person feel more special than Bemelman's.
08:41And it starts with these glorious murals
08:43which capture the four seasons,
08:45which connect childhood to adulthood.
08:47It's a magical place,
08:48and it's a magnet for people who love magic.
09:01We're in New York City.
09:02There's no better place to come for fine dining,
09:04and there's everything you could want here.
09:06I'm going to take a look and see
09:07what the internet thinks I should do tonight.
09:09The internet loves Le Bernardin,
09:10and so do I.
09:11It's an institution,
09:12a temple to seafood.
09:14I'm in the mood for something
09:15a little bit younger and fresher.
09:16There's a place called Nara
09:17that opened two years ago
09:18in Rockefeller Center next to the ice rink.
09:20Two young and exciting Korean chefs
09:22named JP and Ilya Park
09:24who create a modern and experimental take
09:26on classic Korean flavors
09:28in an iconically New York environment.
09:30Here's our first dish, pork jokbal.
09:32It's literally translated to pork trotters in Korean.
09:35And then we cook in a pressure cooker
09:37with a lot of herbal, medicinal spices and ingredients.
09:40Transfer into a little bit different shape
09:41so that we wrap in brick pastry
09:43and deep fry it to make it a little bit crispy
09:45and then different textures into it.
09:47We have the rice underneath seasoned
09:48with a little bit of pork caramel.
09:50And on top of that, we have salted cucumbers
09:52and lotus root and shishito peppers.
09:54I've got this idea
09:55because I used to eat a lot of pork trotters
09:57back home as well.
09:58And this is like a really traditional way
10:00to cook the pork trotters.
10:01But they weren't cooked this way
10:02or plated this way when you were a kid, right?
10:04It's a totally different kind of format.
10:06This is comfort food of the highest order.
10:08Familiar flavors made strange in the best way.
10:11Vinegar and the sour with the caramelized sweetness.
10:14The comforting flavor of the rice.
10:15So much happening in this bowl,
10:17but it feels very integrated.
10:21I could go on eating this for days.
10:23The best fine dining restaurants
10:24are thing on emotion,
10:25what it means to be human,
10:26what unites us all.
10:27You can taste those feelings in this dish.
10:29So here's our second dish, abalone noodles.
10:31In Korea, we have a lot of abalone.
10:33So I wanted to obviously use the Korean abalones
10:35with the liver.
10:36And we commonly use the livers into sauces
10:38that will be really creamy and rich in flavors.
10:41And also we highlight it with Korean seaweed
10:43that you can only get it from local Korean areas.
10:45That's called gamtae.
10:46So it has a very unique flavor.
10:48You can definitely give it a try.
10:49Highly recommend for you to crack the egg
10:51and then give it a good mix before you have it.
10:53And then you can enjoy them all together.
10:54Such a trip to eat food like this,
10:56rooted in tradition,
10:57and yet is defiantly modern,
10:59facing the future.
11:00And it's fun.
11:01It's so much fun to eat a dish like this.
11:02And I think that's an important part
11:03of what makes fine dining a treat.
11:07These are a few of my favorite places in New York City.
11:09I gave you high and low.
11:11I gave you parks, art, bars.
11:13I gave you Manhattan and Queens.
11:15And of course, my home borough of Brooklyn.
11:17I hope you love them as much as I do.
11:19And I'd love to hear what your favorite places are.