New York, New York Day 10 - Tenement Museum, Katz's Deli, Greenwich Village and East Village

It was day 10 of our New York adventure and our last full day spent in New York.  We started off with another breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien, where I opted for the lemonade iced tea ($4.50):

and the smoked salmon breakfast with a soft-boiled egg, ricotta, herbs and capers:

It tasted as good as it looks.

We then set off for The Tenement Museum on the lower East Side.  On the way, we passed this building:

which I will always have affection for because I won a travel guide back in the day for knowing where this was.

There are a number of different tours you can do in and around the tenements.  We chose one called "Sweatshop Workers", which gave us an insight into the lives of the early immigrant garment workers.  It was a very sobering experience, and you cannot help but feel for these workers and the daily struggles they faced. 

When we had finished our tour of the Tenement Museum, we saw this cool street art nearby:

For lunch, we went to Katz's Deli, made famous by the movie When Harry Met Sally:

As you can see, although we went for an early lunch, it was busy:

 

At Katz's, the hardest part is negotiating the system.  When you walk in the door, you are given a ticket.  You then proceed to the counter, with separate counters for sandwiches and other food.  There is a kind of chaos in ordering - the "line" is a big clump of people all trying to get to the counter (although if you want to skip this, there are a few tables reserved for service):

 

 

Tim ordered their famous Reuben sandwich (~$18), which was huge:

 

 

 The size of that sandwich made me glad that I went for the chilli instead (~$12), which came with bread and pickles on the side: 

 

 

The food was very good, and despite the higher than normal price tag, the serves were generous.

To drink, I ordered a New York cream:

Nope, when I ordered it, I didn't know what it was either, but it is, according to Wikipedia, a mixture of milk, soda water and vanilla syrup - thank goodness I didn't order the chocolate version.  It tasted OK, I guess, but is not a repeat.  Also, it did not go particularly well with the chilli.

Here's a close up of the vast serve of pickles which came with the chilli:

There is a sign hanging from the ceiling in Katz's indicating where Harry met Sally for that famous "I'll have what she's having" scene:

We shared a table with a great couple called Spencer and Linda, who were visiting from Boston.  It was fun talking with them, and Linda correctly surmised that we were from Australia (you'd be surprised at how many people place our accents elsewhere).

If you go to Katz's, make sure you do not lose your ticket, even if you don't eat anything, otherwise they will charge you anyway:

Close to the Tenement Museum and Katz's is a glasses shop called Moscot with very cool signage that reminded me of the eyes of TJ Eckleberg from The Great Gatsby:

and a fun window display with old fashioned optometry gear:

With our afternoon free, we decided to go back to Greenwich Village, one of my favourite places in New York.  I remembered to take a photo of the IFC Cinema that Bridget from our walking tour told us hosted the very first screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show:

I also spotted The Blue Note jazz club, which interested me as an intellectual property lawyer because of the trade mark case of Bensusan Restaurant v King - read about it here:

 

When we went on our Greenwich Village walking tour, we had passed The Big Gay Icecream Shop, and I wanted to go back  because I had read about it on The Amateur Gourmet:

 

Unfortunately, when I looked up the address online, I wrote down the address for the Grove branch, so we walked way further than we needed to.  However, we did eventually find The Big Gay Icecream Shop, albeit not the one I was aiming for.

Look at their menu - I just love the names of the icecreams.  Salty Pimp anyone? Or how about a Bea Arthur: 

We ordered a Monday Sundae (~$6.50) to share - twist icecream, Nutella lined cone, dulce de leche, sea salt and whipped cream: 

 

It was a hot day, so both the cool icecream and the drip tray were appreciated.

I then asked Tim what he wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon, and of the options proposed, he decided to go for a drink.  We accordingly wandered the neighbourhood until we found a likely looking place in the form of  San Marzano, a big, open, airy, light-filled establishment: 

 

I ordered a mimosa ($6 - a pitcher for $15):

 

and Tim ordered a Blue Moon wheat beer ($4):

 

I love the mason jar that Tim's drink was served in.  We then whiled away most of the hot afternoon in the cool interior of San Marzano, talking and people watching until it was time to go home.

 

 

Katz's Delicatessen

205 E Houston St

New York, NY 10002

United States
Ph: +1 212-254-2246 

 

Big Gay Icecream Shop

61 Grove St
New York, NY

United States
Ph: +1 212-414-0222

 

San Marzano Pasta Fresca

117 2nd Ave

New York, NY 10003

United States

Ph: +1 212-777-3600