Street Fairs Part 2 - UWS edition

The best part of living in New York is that on any random day, you never know what can happen. Last weekend, we were blessed with one of those rare "don't have anything to do" days and happily walked out our door to find another street fair.

So we wandered along Amsterdam Ave. from W 86th down to W 73rd street and checked out the local offerings.

Our favourite neighbourhood Thai spot, Land (450 Amsterdam Ave btwn W81st and W82nd Sts), were setting up to offer their delicious pad thai, Thai iced tea, and chicken skewers. Land is our go-to place for their $8 2-course lunch (available for both dine-in and take-out)

Sido (403 Amsterdam Ave. btwn W79th and W80th Sts.) offers fantastic falafel wraps, grape leaves, and other satisfying vegetarian treats. We usually come here for a quick, healthy meal all for under $5.

This is our first glimpse of what recipe, the new restaurant on Amsterdam between W81st and W82nd Sts., has to offer.

recipe was offering oysters, clams, and calamari. We look forward to dining at this new restaurant.

And of course, who could pass up $3 beers on draft?

Who could miss the giant beer bottle outside Irish pub George Keeley's (485 Amsterdam Ave btwn W83rd and W84th Sts).

Lots of beer on tap!

And the before shot of the porchetta...

mmm...the meat on the grill smelled so good!

And the porchetta looked delicious!

We opted for their Frickadelle burger ($8). A mix of beef and pork, topped with onions and peppers. It was fantastic and very satisfying.

The porchetta ($9) was so good! The skin was crispy, but not too hard, and the meat was well seasoned.

The peppers and onions were tender and tasty. It gave the sandwich a nice rustic flavour.

There was tons of Indian Food. There were this appetizing buffet from Earthen Oven (53 W72nd St)

And then there was this spread from Alachi Masala (488 Amsterdam Ave btwn W83rd & W84th Sts.)

Everything looked good and we have been meaning to dine here because it is a BYOB restaurant.

We got the "end of the day" special from Alachi Masala. The large takeout container of naan, basmati rice, goat curry, chick peas, and red chicken tikka only cost us $7. The 2 huge samosas and fried onion set us back a mere $2. The food was fantastic! The chicken tikka was slightly sweet while the goat and chick pea curries were wonderfully spicy. The samosas weren't greasy and filled up with lots of potato and peas. The onion was incredibly tasty...not burnt, but fried enough to bring out the sweet caramelized taste of the onion.

We love street fairs - they're such a quick and tasty way to (re)discover new places and old standbys right in your neighbourhood!