I've been half awake the entire day and studying for most of it at school has not helped the fried state of my mind so I apologize if parts of this post make no sense.
Friday night my adventuring took me to Union Square, another intersection of Broadway not so well-known because it has nothing touristy to see.... and that's why New Yorkers love it so very much. It literally has nothing substantial to offer--at least, that is what I thought until I did a little more exploring...
Union is an interesting and quirky extension of Midtown. It pretty much offers more of the same shops, but less of the crowd, and a rather pleasant park. It is an excellent place to people-watch as it is the common stomping ground of chess-players, skate-boarders, and the occasional African-drum circle. There is also a really cool farmers market that sets up here every other day. Also, there is an adorable, must-see holiday market that appears around this time of year (if you go, you have to try Belgian waffles from Waffles and Dinges).
As I said, Union is quirky, and at times, downright bizarre. Like, does anyone know what the clock means? My highly-educated theory is that it is counting down to the end of the world... don't believe any lies that anyone else has to tell you about the clock... they're all crooks.
Right down the road from the clock is a hole-in-the-wall Pakistani restaurant. Ashley, my adventuring buddy for the day, and I would have passed it had we not been ridiculously hungry.
I was quite pleasantly surprised with Desi Shack (#1 on the map). Aside from having good quality Pakistani cuisine and having relatively low prices, it has a fun and whimsical atmosphere for only having enough room to seat 10 people comfortably (how do I keep finding these places?). Compared to its closest chain-restaurant counterpart, Desi makes your rice bowl meat-heavy (like a 3-1 meat/rice ratio), whereas Chipotle has more rice than anything else. And, did I mention, it's the same price, if not cheaper? Ashley and I split a bowl with brown rice, ground beef, chicken, chickpeas, and other vegetables with cucumber chutney and my favorite, a Mango lassi (basically a yogurt smoothie. Ashley hates pretty much any dairy product so I got it all to myself :D ).
There's a good picture of our meal before we inhaled it... I drank more lassi than anything else so I got filled up pretty quickly, but this meal totaled roughly $14, and fed both of us. What really made the experience, however, was the explanation and mini culture lesson that they have on their chalkboard:
My reccomendation: If you are anywhere near Union, choose this place over Chipotle. It's better, cheaper, and far less basic... ;)
Finishing dinner, we walked out and in the direction of the Strand bookstore (#2). And this is where my adventuring buddy left me for fear that I would pull her in and forbid her to leave. She knows me too well. Yes, I admit that I have been here countless times before, but I can never resist poking through the dollar or the travel section when I'm in the area. Barnes and Noble seriously has nothing on this place... aside from their miles upon miles of books, they have an entire floor dedicated to first editions, as well as tons of reader/geek paraphernalia. They totally pull off the Beauty-and-the-Beast-esque library look too... just look at this!
For the most part, everything here is cheaper than at Barnes and Noble *gasp* (yes, it's true... everything in NYC really is better...). I mean, nowhere else could I buy 3 books and a calendar for only $10. This place is truly a New York City gem, and if you do not already live here, I highly recommend scrapping that lame touristy thing you were going to do and coming here instead. We also visited a coffee shop during our adventure but I will have to save that for another post... ;)
Au revoir!
-H
Oh! but before you go... here's what I bought at the Strand :D
(bottom to top) The title of the first obviously captured my attention... the second is about living in Australia during the 1960's, the third is an adorable calendar that is currently hanging above my desk, and the last was simply intriguing... all for $10! I still can't get over it...
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