Yes, breakfast is important. Yes, you should make it as balanced and nutritious as possible. No, these two things aren't true when it comes to New York.
At least where you are concerned, it isn't. New Yorkers are a different thing. If they have to get up at 6 am and then commute for at least one hour on the subway to get to work, then it is understood he is going to need a hearty pick-me-up first thing on the morning. But you, tourist you, are in a completely different situation.
What you should do in it is eat brunch.
Like anything that's outside the norm, this half-meal, half-breakfast invention is best served in Lower Manhattan. Since there are no brunch institutions in New York, you should ask around the locals where to find the best one. If not, you can always take our recommendation and go to 212 Lafayette Street, where you will find a small restaurant called Café Select. Don't tell anyone we told you this. This is a favorite of the locals. You'll get to see why inside.
So you think you know Chinese food. Even worse, so you think you have an opinion on Chinese food. Well, Manhattan has one of the biggest concentrations of Chinese people on the Western Hemisphere.
And somehow it was preserved its independence over the years. Unlike most of the so-called Chinese food that is delivered in most countries of the world that are not China, the food here is real Chinese food. Food like you have never tried before. Just one word of advice, though: sometimes the best restaurants are not the best looking. Don't be afraid to walk into the darkest restaurant and order away. Just be concise and succinct in your order.
Chinese people like to be efficient.
We could recommend an area with plenty of restaurants for the a nice Manhattan dinner. We probably should. But then you might pass on trying a Sparks dinner. And that would not be acceptable. While Peter Luger's may have the best beef in New York, Sparks is Manhattan's finest steakhouse.
The fact that Woody Allen, a man with famously staunch ways, has gone on record several times for saying it has the best steak. If a quintaessential New Yorker like Woody Allen doesn't convince, you can always base your opinion on The New York Post, who claimed it was indeed the best in Manhattan.
Not only does it have those fantastic steaks they have been cooking since 1966, but the restaurant's current location (on 210 East 46th Street between Second & Third Avenues) is a historic site as far as the New York mafia is concerned. This is where John Gotti, became head of the Gambino family by killing its head, Paul Castellano on December 16, 1985.
Paul Castellano was an endearing mobster. John Gotti not so much. The New York mafia changed forever because of this event. The steaks have always been delicious.