Wheres me jumpa

You must eat here! Maeve spotted this restaurant in a guide. The review said the restaurant is “low key” and can easily be missed when walking by. Sure enough, a tiny door with a simple canopy is what you need to look out for.

This is a Spanish restaurant with a great menu that has all the dishes you would expect from a mediterranean restaurant. We ordered lobster paella and a fillet of beef while we had chorizos and stuffed mushrooms to start. The starters were simple but packed full of flavour. The main courses were oversized and delicious.

The staff are very welcoming and entertaining, they seem very genuine, unlike some of the tip chasing staff you meet in NY. At the end of the meal you are offered a rum soaked grape that packs a punch!

This is a real find and we will be back again.

Cant seem to find a website for this restaurant, so here are the contact details:

303 E 56th St
New York, NY 10022

(212) 759-8767

This restaurant was recommended in a travel guide and the travel guide got it right. This is a Turkish restaurant located on the Upper West Side on 100th St and Broadway.

The walls of the bar and restaurant are lined with drapes which makes for a very unusual interior. The staff were very friendly and explained all the Turkish dishes on the menu.

We went for Iskender Kebabs. Coming from a country where a kebab is a late night takeaway snack this dish changed my opinion! For desert we tried the recommended baklava. I never had baklava before but I want more, delicious!

Prices were very reasonable also.

Click here for more details.

We found this restuarant the first time we visisted New York and we have gone every time we have returned. This small Italian restaurant and bar is located on West 56th St.

The menu has the usual from an Italian restaurant, seafood, pasta, steak, veal etc. Ive sampled the steak, lamb and veal. All were delicious! While Maeve can offer the same verdict for the seafood.

The staff are very friendly and really make you feel at home which really adds to the atmosphere. Its location in mid town also means its never too busy or overcrowded. The price is right too with a three course meal for two and a bottle of wine just passing the $100 mark.

Click here for more info.

Stayed here for five nights before we moved to Queens. It is located in Spanish Harlem on 105th st. and Lexington Ave. Really enjoyed our stay here. Rooms were huge, but more importantlyly had nearly 100 channels to watch on the television!

The 6 train stops just 3 blocks away at the 103rd st. stop. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Found a really nice, authentic Mexican restaurant just around the corner, the nachos were amazing!

Would definitely recommend this hostel.

We finally found an apartment. We are bassed in Woodside, Queens where we are renting a 1 bed apartment. Its a really nice place and Esther who we are renting from is just a nice!

The area has a large Irish population with lots of Irish bars and restaurants around. We are here for three months which by then we will have found employment which is our next task.

We found this completely by accident but it is definitely a place we will visit again. The park is located at the foot of the bridge in Brooklyn. Its a small park but the views are amazing. We were there at night when the park is illuminated with neon green fibre optic wires which are assembled to look like plants.

Stayed here for one night and would love to have stayed longer. Located in D.U.M.B.O. the suites are part of a health and beauty spa. In the same building is, by day a coffee shop and huge lounge area, by night a really quirky bar which had karaoke the night we were here.

The rooms were very nice. Bathrooms were stocked with all the items you would expect to find in a spa. Generous breakfast included (by the way, it turns out the really large coffee cups are actually cereal bowls, dont make the same mistake I made, biggest cup of coffee ever!). There is also a steam room, which we didnt get to try out. The host, Erika was very helpful and keeps the place in immaculate condition.

Another major plus is the location. Around the corner is the Jay St. station on the F line. On the same street is a great bar and restaurant called Superfines. Plenty of other restaurants, bookshops, supermarkets, clothes shops in the area also. While here you are also at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge.

I cant recommend this accommodation enough, its a great find! Details here.

Before we left Ireland, I bought two tickets for a basketball game between the New York Knicks and The Philadelphia 76ers at Madison Square Garden. Went to the game last night, turns out it was a pre season game

The arena wasnt even half full so didnt get to experience the Madison Square Garden atmosphere. Its a fantastic arena, very small and close to the court. We had the third cheapest tickets and to be honest they were fine.

Knicks won the game. Im still struggling with some of the rules. Some of the skill on show was unbelieveable. One guy in particular, Nate Robinson for the Knicks was very entertaining. He seemed to be running the show!

We paid a visit to this cinema last night, I had never heard of it before but seemingly it is well known in the city. We watched Lars and The Real Girl. The movie was great but the theatre was a real throw back to the old days.

Carpet lined walls, an upper level tier and of course great popcorn. It tends to show movies not of the mainstream so dont expect to catch the latest teenybopper flick here.

Definitely worth a visit, details here.

It might be a while before I live this one down, but yesterday I attended the sex and the city tour. I spent 3 hours driving around New York with a bus full of giddy women.

It was good to see parts of the city we probably wouldnt have seen, however the tour is definitely for die hard fans of the show. The highlight for me being the cupcakes we got from the Magnolia Bakery.