Looking for a one-stop shop for all your Asian cooking needs? Head down to Hong Kong Supermarket on Hester Street. Hong Kong Supermarket opened at its current location in 2008. The supermarket sells everything from Filipino banana ketchup to green tea-flavored soy milk. There are sauces, condiments and candy from all over Asia. Most items have English language labels so it is a lot easier to shop here than at the little stands in Chinatown.

There are two levels to the store. On the ground floor, where the entrance is, you’ll see fresh produce and sushi. Further in the store, aisles are neatly categorized by the food products’ country of origin. There is a Southeast Asian aisle where you can get jars of spicy sambal oelek (chilli sauce) and tubs of authentic curry pastes. On the Japanese/Korean aisle there is a wide selection of teriyaki and soy sauces. You’ll find mainstream Asian staples like soy sauce far cheaper here than at regular supermarkets! Downstairs, there is an amazing array of dried noodles in every flavor, shape and form. Just think of all the exotic dishes you can prepare after a shopping trip here!

For the really adventurous, there are sometimes whole durians sold at $1.29 a pound and durian popsicles in the back freezer section at $4.67 for a box of four. The pungent fruit, which is creamy and rich, is an acquired taste. But it is definitely worth trying!

There are so many fascinating Asian foods that without guidance, it can be overwhelming. That’s where New York Food Tours comes in. We’re here to help. You can choose the Freakiest and Funniest Food Tour that includes tastes of unusual foods like the durian. But we also have the Tastes of Chinatown Tour, the Exotic Southeast Asian and Chinese Food Tour and the Asian Vegetarian Food and Culture Tour. No matter what you pick, you’ll leave confident and able to enjoy all Chinatown has to offer!

Guess what? It’s that time of the year again: New York City Restaurant Week, one of the city’s most anticipated attractions. Why? Because you get to eat and enjoy luxurious, costly meals at high-ended restaurants that may normally be out of your budget.

During Restaurant Week, New York City collaborates with some of the highest-rated, most popular, and priciest establishments to provide amazing lunch and dinner pre-fixe deals to the public. For the price of $24.07 (lunch) or $35 (dinner), you can eat a three-course meal—normally which would cost far more than that. More than 250 restaurants participate in this event, giving people the chance to taste new meals and explore new cuisines.

Some great restaurants that we’ll be checking out this week are:

• Barbounia on 250 Park Ave. South.
• The Breslin Bar and Dining Room on 16 W. 29th St. between Broadway & 5th Ave.
• The Modern–Bar Room on 9 W. 53rd St. between 5th & 6th Ave.

However, we can only visit so many. Please share your adventures and enlighten us! Do you know which restaurants you’ll be checking out? Here is the list of restaurants participating in Restaurant Week?

On another note, while Restaurant Week is a wonderful way to splurge on great food, when there are so many choices, how can you ever decide? A great way to really taste the cuisines of New York City and still save money is to check out one of our food tours. We offer tours in the East Village, West Village, Chelsea Market and Meatpacking District, and Chinatown.

All our tours not only include great tastings of foods from different countries, but also provide historical and cultural insight of the neighborhoods. Moreover, we feature special tours like our “Freakiest and Funniest Food Tour,” “The First Multicultural Bar Hopping Tour,” and “Everything Chocolate.”

Become our fan on Facebook, and you may win a free ticket to any one of our tours! Check out our tours today to join us for some fun-filled and tasty times!

One cannot visit New York City without eating its famous tomato and cheese pies. This Greek invention slowly modified by Neapolitans into tomato and cheese pies was brought to New York in 1897 by Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi. His pies quickly became a commodity and an on-the-go food for workers.

(Source: www.nycgo.com)

However, Famous Joe’s Pizza has become the essential pizza for New Yorkers and tourists, defining the true street pizza. Joe’s customers describe its pizza with a thin and chewy crust, thin but not too flexible, with just enough cheese and sauce, and having an ideal symmetry. Ask Ben Affleck what he thinks about Joe’s, and undeniably he will rate Joe’s pizza as his favorite in the Big Apple. This straight-out-of-the-coal-fired, brick oven pizza is definitely the best pizza in the city, prepared daily and with fresh ingredients creating a one-of-a-kind yummy tomato and cheese pie.

(Source: cache.virtualtourist.com)

Located on Greenwich Village, Famous Joe’s Pizza is a must stop—included in our Greenwich Village tour—when visiting the city, not only leaving New York having tasted its famous staple, but the best pizza in the entire city as well. New York City is well-known for its delicious greasy pizza, being the favorite snack, lunch, or dinner for every New Yorker since pie shops can be found as frequent as Starbuck’s on a block.  Famous Joe’s Pizza offers an outstanding pizza that is tried by our Greenwich Village tour members, being the perfect street food for a hunger killer or delicious filling snack.

Whether it is a celebrity’s favorite or the typical New Yorker’s on-the-go stop, Famous Joe’s pizza sure is New York City’s most known obsession. And New York Food Tours has included Famous Joe’s as one of its many tasty stops so that you can taste New York’s best pizza while touring Greenwich Village and learning about its historical background.