My foodie highlights of New York City

For all of you who were asking, these are the things I really enjoyed - the best fun and my fondest memories - from my trip to wonderful New York City. It all took place in July and August 2012 when I journeyed there for the BlogHer blogger's conference. Well life is never all work. Gotta have some play!  Enjoy!

Zagat Restaurant Guide Book. The go-to restaurant guide for NY. Restaurants get rated out of 30 for Food, Décor, Service and Cost. Anything over 25 is pretty damn good. But we found the guide hard to search easily and quickly – nothing was grouped by area or cuisine just by rating so you'll need to ask or jump on the internet and search. You'll see signs like this on the outside of cafes quoting a Zagat survey or saying "We've been rated by Zagat". Next to God, methinks. Great name BTW. www.zagat.com

Balthazar Restaurant Soho. Had the MOST amazing late lunch here after a tiring shopping stint in Soho. Think hot, crowded, busy and shops galore. Too much choice, overwhelming variety, so many shoppers. We started with a glass of bubbly teamed with three perfect East Coast oysters ...

  ... then the house salad which was a meal in itself. Spot the radish, beans, lettuce and some sort of not-salty fetta in amongst all that. With the loveliest dressing ever. Heaven. 80 Spring St, bw Broadway and Crosby 212 965 1414. http://balthazarny.com

Prune Restaurant. One night we strolled to Prune in the East Village. Naturally I was drawn to this cute little eating place by its name. After all, I loooove prunes. But there wasn't a single prune on the menu. No matter as the dinner was sensational!  54 East First St NYC   212 677 6211  www.prunerestaurant.com

 Calves' tongue cooked slowly - it melted in your mouth! Have never had anything like it before ... 

       ... and a confit of fennel and carrot. Thick and earthy.

Farmers market.  Stumbled over a farmers' market outside the Rockefeller Centre. Charming. With the growers there eager and willing to chat.

East Village near 7th Street. See me peeping out of a pizza. 

Metropolitan Museum. Their art collection is gob-smacking it's so huge with so many masterpieces. Here's one of the treasures in the Met that I was fixated in front of. Wondering how the artist created the light and the water. It changed as you walked up close to it.

 Me with the funniest guard on top of the Rock. He sang, joked and posed for photos all day!

  Burger heaven. Yep. Plenty of burgers in NYC. Here I am in East Village with NYC's supposed best – and biggest. Would you like fries with that?

High Line. Walking the High Line at Chelsea. Cleverly designed and varied. So enjoyed the renovation of this old unwanted elevated train line. Surprisingly wide in places. Interesting grasses and unusual plantings.

 Tea in the US. It's not good. The Yanks have no idea - I'd get a paper mug of barely-hot water plus a tea bag. No milk. Nowhere to leave your used tea bag. Pl-ease! This cuppa was SO different, I had to photograph it!

Loved these old water towers which sat on top of many an apartment block to put out fires (which they're paranoid about). A feature of the NY skyline.

 Katz's Deli NYC.Made it to Katz's Deli in Houston St along with the usual crowd of tourists. It's where they filmed the movie 'When Harry met Sally'. Warning: it's crowded and the staff are not very helpful.Pick up a ticket at the door and pay at the register on your way out. It's all confusing. But the food is great!  205 East Houston Street (corner of Ludlow St), Lower East Side.1800-4HOTDOG www.katzsdelicatessen.com

Had to order Katz's famous Pastrami on Rye – they gave me a taste of the hot cooked pastrami (corned beef) before slicing and making up the sandwich. So unbelievably good. I can see why people queue to get some. 

EAT. That’s what you do in NYC.