Come Fill Your Stomach: Taking a Bite into the Big Apple Day 2 - Chelsea Market, Time Square & Shake Stack

Day 2 of the trip started with an early morning breakfast at the Chelsea Market. This former National Biscuit Company factory complex (where Oreo was born) isn't your typical weekend Markets, but rather an enclosed shopping mall with various food stalls, flea-market type shops and offices within it.

Welcome to the Chelsea Market

Obviously, I was most interested in the food selection there. I knew beforehand that they have a wide selection, but I didn't know it was going to be THAT many choices. I was pretty much at a loss on what to start with. Oddly, we chose proximity over the natural palate progression (bread - mains - desserts). We started with desserts - Elena's Cupcakes. Located near the entrance, the colorful array of cupcakes and cookies caught our eyes and we were naturally drawn inside.

Cupcakes

Gift Boxes

We ordered the Chocolate Ganache Cupcake and the Red Velvet Cupcake. The red velvet was a pretty decent but nothing to rave about. However the Chocolate Ganache Cupcake was awesome. The chocolate ganache is so rich that it overwhelmed me on the first bite. Despite its richness, the texture is thick (yet it doesn't become the usual chocolate) enough to ensure that I don't get sick of it on further bites. A certain must-try!

Fine Selections

Chocolate Ganache

Red Velvet

Elenis

Next up, we headed to the famous Amy's Bread where they make their own bread and pastries right inside Chelsea Market. It was pretty interesting to see the bakers at work.

Fresh bread all-day

Bakers hard at work

The selection of bread and pastries was amazing. I'll let the pictures do the work.

Take your pick...

Alright, they might not have as much pastries as they have with bread, but the selection is still pretty amazing. We tried their special Amy's Bread special bread. I would say that the freshness of the bread and the quality of their bakery is certainly reflected in the bread. However, it's definitely not a life-changing experience that will win any bread-haters over (maybe it'll win some hearts of the neutrals). All bread lovers, you have to try this shop.

Our Order

Amy's Bread

The last place that we went is the famous The Lobster Place. Everyone has been telling to try the soup here and I should never leave Chelsea Market without exploring this place. And the moment I stepping into the shop, I knew the reason behind all the hype.

Lets take a tour...

Entrance to the Lobster Place

Cashier

Sushi Section

Menu for the day

Overview of the place

Here are the food selections... (We tried the clam chowder and it was really good. It was hot and creamy and a perfect way to start any meal).

Clams and more clams

One of the many fish stations

Lobsters Galore

Raw Salmon

Dragon Roll

After our breakfast, we made preparation for our 2nd activity of the day - Broadway Musical. We headed down to Time Squares to get our tickets and took the chance to walk around.

This is basically the 3rd time I'm taking a walk around Times Square and it still feels the same as my first time. The energy in this place is amazing and it seems to renew itself repeatedly. There is always a sense of expectancy is this area, like everyone is waiting for something to happen. It is the energy and this sense of expectancy that keeps drawing hordes of people back to this place. Simply hanging out in the middle of Times Square is already an experience on its own.

After Times Square, our stomach brought us to the Shake Stack which is famous for both its Milkshake and Burgers (i.e. Stack). The long queue didn't deter us and we joined the queue expecting to wait for at least an hour. However, the staff were efficient and we got our food is less than 1/2 hour.

Front of the Shop - Shake Shack

Crowded at Lunch Time

The Menu itself was easy to understand and pretty much self explanatory - choose a burger, grab a fries and pick your shake. The only bad thing is that there is no set meals, so basically everything adds up to a pretty expensive price for a set meal. The good thing - you can choose not to have one of the selection if ain't feeling too hungry. Oh and they have their daily special Shakes flavor, so do find out beforehand on their website if you are there for their shakes.

Drinks Menu for Shake Stack

I ordered their Shack Stack Buger, which is basically a combination of their Cheeseburger and Vegetarian Shroom Burger. It comes with a patty of of beef and a patty of Vegetarian Portobello filled with melted Muenster and Cheddar cheeses. This was the first time I was more impressed with the vegetarian patty than the meat patty. The beef patty was so-so but the portobello and melted cheese combination was so good that I was so tempted to get another vegetarian burger. The melted cheese adds a tasty flavor the mushrooms and the crispy outer layer puts a wonderful icing to the lovely burger. A double must-try for all.

Shack Burger and Cheese Burger

Shared a Plate of Cheese Fries

The Vegetarian Patty of my Shack Burger

After a quick meal at Shake Shack (which we were very tempted to come back again), we went for our Spiderman Musical. My advice for all musical-loving people out there - DO NOT GO! The musical is a good show for Kids looking for action, with the Spiderman stuntmen zipping around the theatre fighting the green goblin. But as a musical, it fails in many levels. The singing was below average, the plot was worse than any movies that was produced and overall it was a bore throughout. As my friend Andre puts it: "If this was a side show in Universal Studios, it would be worth the time, but as a Musical, its a no-go." Here are some photos: