This is a funny sign outside a restaurant on our way through East Village. CHOMP.
Veselka, recommended by fellow blogger Watch Me Eat, specializes in Ukrainian cuisine and is the spot for late night snacking by East Village bar patrons. The prerogies were recommended here but we were still recuperating from the past 4 hours of eating, so I must place this on the to-go-list for my next trip to New York.
Looking around East Village, I appreciate and cherish the sheer diversity and complexity of all the stores, shops, restaurants, and people living and working here together in one small area no larger than a square mile. I wish one day Orlando could become like this, full of quirky shops and tasty treats all in walking distance of each other. Maybe one day…
Baoguette, inside
Crepe Cart in NYC!
Beard Papa’s – pastry puffs – found its way to NYC as well!
I continued my thoughts as we trodded down to St Marks Place, the late night bar hopping area of choice for New York University and surrounding college students, and met up with brother Ronny. He just got off of work and had been trying to catch up with us on our food expedition, but missed us by a few seconds each time.
After a quick pit stop at a cafe, we drudged onward to our next destination:
Gray’s Papaya
West Village, Manhattan NYC
Gray’s Papaya, opening as a spin off of Papaya King in 1973, sits on a corner in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.
The festive displays inside Gray’s Papaya
Gray’s Papaya and their Hot dogs: ready to eat!
Gray’s Papaya is a simple concept: great hotdogs with great fruit drinks. The drinks, in addition to the papaya namesake, also include orange, grape, piña colada, coconut champagne (non-alcoholic), and banana daiquiri (non-alcoholic).
The wall of fruit drinks at Gray’s Papaya
Gray’s Papaya – Hot Dog with sauerkraut and ketchup
Gray’s Papaya – Hot Dog with sauerkraut and ketchup
Gray’s Papaya – Papaya drink
I choose the hot dog with sauerkraut and ketchup ($1.50) and a papaya drink to go along with it (Thanks Ronny!). Individually, the hot dog is a bit salty and the papaya drink is a bit too sweet, but together they make a marvelously good combination of sweet and salty. The combo is cheap coming in under $4.00 and there is even a recession special where you can save a dollar on two hotdogs and a drink.
Gray’s Papaya
402 6th Ave, New York – (212) 260-3532
Tasty Chomps rating!!!
4 out of 5 Tasty Chomps!!!!
Thanks for the mention!