I’ve visited New York quite a few times now, with my parents, family, and friends. However, I had never explored the city with a New Yorker until yesterday. In what turned out to be a day filled with bar hops and small bites, James had something to say about every street we walked.

I headed to the city from Princeton by taking the Northeast Corridor Line and switching to the PATH at Newark Penn station. After arriving at the World Trade Center, in what would be the perfect rainless cloudy day, I walked to Chinatown to meet James at Nom Wah Tea Parlor. We arrived just before it opened at 11 am and got a table by the entrance. With a limited but delicious vegetarian fare, it was a great start. Nom Wah dates back to 1920, and is said to be New York’s oldest dim sum parlor.

Next, we went to Alimama Tea, where we got a Brûlée Mochi Donut and a Vietnamese Coffee Boba Cream Puff. After this, we walked through Chinatown for a bit and then went to Book Club to browse titles while sipping on a round of beer followed by their book-themed cocktails. James got a Murder on the Orient Espresso Martini (vodka, coffee liqueur, espresso), and I got a Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Baileys, Jameson, coffee, whipped cream). We spent quite a bit of time chatting about our favorite books and exchanging a few solid recommendations.

We then headed to Cooper's Craft & Cocktails for happy hour, where another friend joined us. Two more rounds of drinks later we hopped over to 212 Hisae’s for a quick bite and a couple more drinks, while waiting for three more friends to join us. 

The six of us went around the block to KENKA, which had an interesting atmosphere. We ordered a tower of Asahi and some food. At the end of the meal, they gave us sugar and skewers to make our own cotton candy at the machine outside. 

While I headed back to Princeton, the night went on for my friends who went to Swingers Crazy Golf. Two places that James wanted to take me to, but we couldn’t go, were Spot Dessert Bar and Sake Bar Satsko. It was a very non-touristy, fun day in NYC.