Over the past few decades, New York City has had more halal cart street food vendors. They’ve become popular outdoor dining spots, offering dishes like lamb, chicken, or falafel over rice. While halal carts might look similar, each vendor adds their own special touch to stand out. It's great for quick meals, perfect if you want to enjoy cheap food while watching people from a bench. Spicy food fans should try the hot red sauce.

Setting fire to a cocktail is a great way for creative bartenders to impress customers. But skilled bartenders know that the flames aren't just for show – doing it right requires skill, precision, and an understanding of how the fire can enhance the flavors of the drink. The Honeywell excels at this with their Disco Inferno, a drink made with rum, beer, orange oils, and agave, featuring cinnamon-torched cocoa butter.

New York's food scene offers a global culinary experience. Look for Singaporean hawker-style places that mix flavorful Chinese, Indian, and Malay cuisines. Make sure to try nasi lemak, a delicious rice dish cooked in coconut milk, served with spicy lamb curry, crispy fried anchovies, a hard-boiled egg, and fresh sliced cucumber.

New Yorkers love gnocchi, and you can find both traditional and modern styles all over the city. Clay, a farm-to-table restaurant in uptown Manhattan, serves gnocchi with mildly sweet butternut squash, crunchy hazelnuts, fresh sage, maitake mushrooms, and pickled Fresno chilies.

Bagels are ring-shaped, long-rise yeast breads that are boiled before baking. This gives them a shiny outside and a soft, doughy inside. Some say the unique taste of New York bagels comes from the local water. Bagels were brought to New York by Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the late 1800s. Like pizza, bagels are a source of pride for New Yorkers. In many bagel shops or delis, you can find flavors like poppy seed, sesame, cinnamon raisin, and a popular one called "everything," which is topped with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, dried onion, and salt.

No matter when you visit, there are numerous fantastic spots to savor oysters in New York. They are best enjoyed with a chilled glass of prosecco or white wine. Don't forget to check out the raw bar happy hours for some great deals that make indulging even more tempting.

These iced cookies, characterized by their half-black, half-white appearance, resemble a sponge cake more than a traditional biscuit. Originating in upstate New York in the early 20th century, these treats were created from leftover cake batter, with a bit of extra flour added to help them keep their shape. Instead of choosing the plastic-wrapped versions, go for the freshly made ones at local bakeries, featuring a vanilla cake base with fudge icing on one side and vanilla icing on the other.

Eating ramen in New York on a chilly or rainy day is a beloved local activity. This Japanese dish features wheat noodles in a hot broth made from meat or fish, flavored typically with soy sauce, miso, or garlic oil, and topped with ingredients like sliced pork belly, dried seaweed, bamboo shoots, and soft-boiled egg. Each ramen spot in New York adds its own twist: ROKC serves Okinawa ramen with a chicken broth seasoned with yuzu and sake lees, while Jin Ramen offers tonkotsu ramen made with pork bone broth.

Enjoy your pizza followed by a refreshing serving of spumoni, a delightful Italian dessert blending the characteristics of ice cream and Italian ice. Originating from Naples, spumoni is an early version of Napoleon ice cream, featuring a combination of three flavors—usually chocolate, pistachio, and cherry—though variations such as vanilla, cannoli, or cremelata may replace the cherry.

Fried chicken placed on top of breakfast waffles may initially seem puzzling, until you try it. The first known pairing of chicken and waffles originated in Pennsylvania, but a Southern-inspired version gained popularity at the Wells Supper Club in Harlem during the mid-1900s. Although the restaurant has closed, this savory-sweet dish continues to be celebrated in New York's top soul food establishments.

Originally from the Yiddish term for dumpling, a knish is a dense, thick dough that can be baked, grilled, or deep-fried. A quintessential New York favorite is the potato knish, typically enjoyed with spicy brown mustard, although varieties filled with mushrooms, spinach, and assorted vegetables are also popular. Introduced from Eastern Europe in the early 1900s, knishes are widely available at diners, Jewish delis, butcher shops, and from street vendors across neighborhoods ranging from Brooklyn to the Bronx.

Delicately sliced pastrami, stacked generously and served hot on toasted rye bread sprinkled with caraway seeds, deserves a top spot on your New York foodie must-try list. Originating from Romania as goose pastrami, it evolved in New York's best Jewish delis like Katz's, now crafted from beef brisket cured in brine and seasoned with garlic, coriander, and plenty of black pepper. Pair it with classic dill pickles for an authentic New York lunch experience.