NYC — Spring 2012: Cambodian Cuisine, Mamoun's, Gray's Papaya, and Grom

For our first night in New York, we felt like having a casual, mellow dinner, and taking a stroll around the neighbourhood. So my brother decided to take us on a little "cheap eats" tour around Soho and Greenwich Village:

Cambodian Cuisine food truck: On the street looking to survive

Chhar Kuey Teo Koke: Triple sautéed flat rice noodle with egg, chicken, garlic, baby bok choy, and cabbage

Karry Koke: Sautéed chicken with bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, browned potatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, and baby bok choy in Cambodian curry sauce on rice

First stop of our tour was the Cambodian Cuisine food truck. I don't have much experience in eating Cambodian food, but if the food from this truck is any indication, then I need more of it in my life. Just the right amount of spice, generous portions of meat and vegetables, and super tasty curries. Wondering why they stated, "On the street looking to survive" right on the truck, I checked out the web address that was posted across the top of the truck, and read the super-sad story behind Cambodian Cuisine. This article basically sums it up. If you're ever in New York and are looking for some super-tasty and cheap South East Asian food (and want to help out a dude and his family to survive on the street), definitely hit up the Cambodian Cuisine food truck. (You can check out their Twitter for their whereabouts.)

Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant

Falafel sandwich: Falafels, lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini stuffed in a pita

After our Cambodian food, we hit up Mamoun's and shared a falafel sandwich. There's nothing fancy about Mamoun's; there is a single counter in front of the kitchen where you order and pick-up your food from. There are no seats inside, but if you're lucky, you might be able to snatch up the single bench outside. Either way, you can be damn sure that a place that calls itself "falafel restaurant" is going to have a damn good falafel. And what do you know? It was the best falafel sandwich I've ever had. The falafels are made fresh in-store, so they're perfectly soft and flavourful on the inside with a lovely thin crisp exterior. The pita is then stuffed to the brim with lettuce, tomatoes, and tahini. At $2 each, it's easy to see why the line-ups are so damn long here. Falafel fans heading to New York need to check out this place.

Hot dogs at Gray's Papaya

After the falafel, we walked over to Gray's Papaya — you can't go to New York without getting a classic New York hot dog. If Gray's Papaya sounds familiar, it's because it's been featured in many movies and television shows (Carrie eats a hot dog there on Sex and the City, Ted and Robin go there on How I Met Your Mother, Anthony Bourdain featured it on No Reservations, etc.). Gray's Papaya is not fancy, nor do they have the best hot dogs in the city. But they're cheap and tasty, and they are open 24 hours a day. We got two, one with sauerkraut and mustard, and one with ketchup and mustard. Any hot dog craving was totally satisfied. And at under $2 each, they're cheaper than the hot dog carts.

Chocolate fondant, pistachio, and vanilla bean gelato at Grom

Of course, our "cheap eats" tour ended with dessert: Gelato at Grom. The best way to test whether or not the gelato at any given place is good is to try the classic flavours. We shared three flavours in one cup: Chocolate fondant, pistachio, and vanilla bean. The cup looks really small, but each gelato is so rich, dense, and flavour-packed, that all you need is that small cup. Any more, and you'd be over-doing it. The pistachio is seriously the best and most true-to-flavour version I have ever tasted. Chocolate fiends need to try the chocolate fondant, which is a ridiculously decadent, almost bitter chocolate flavour, not "milked down." The vanilla, as boring as it sounds, helped temper out the strong flavours of the pistachio and the chocolate fondant. You can tell they use real vanilla beans in there, too, not just flavouring.

A very successful New York cheap eats tour, if you ask me!

Cambodian Cuisine Food Truck

Find location on Twitter

Mamoun's Falafel Restaurant

119 MacDougal Street

New York, NY 10012

(212) 674-8685

Gray's Papaya

402 6th Avenue

New York, NY 10011

(212) 260-3532

Grom Gelato

233 Bleecker Street

New York, NY 10022

(212) 206-1738