I heard a lot about Greenwich Village, from friends who have visited or lived in Manhattan, and it turned out to be one of my favourite places in NYC. According to my friend, it reminds her of London, especially along Bleeker Street, which may I mention, is where the original Magnolia Bakery store is located!!
I LOVE the banana bread pudding from Magnolia Bakery. Needless to say, I sneakily led Javin to Bleeker Street to "check out the area", when I just wanted to get some of that heavenly pudding. It was crowded as usual and all the other baked goods looked so tempting but we kept our eyes focused on their crowning glory, the banana bread pudding. Alas, I gave in and got a Hummingbird cupcake along with the pudding but it wasn't memorable. I even forgot I actually got the cupcake. Now I can't even remember if it was really a Hummingbird cupcake.
We sat outside to eat as there were no seats in the bakery. The weather was really cold and even the direct sunlight wasn't enough to keep us warm, but the banana bread pudding was worth it!
After walking around for a bit, we shared a falafel sandwich from Taim, which I thought was really good, better than the one from Maoz, another chain where you can get your falafel fix. I love falafel bars here! They're usually vegetarian since vegetarian/vegan is pretty big here, so it's great for Javin and I. Taim has three falafel flavours: Green (traditional taste with cilantro, parsley and mint), Harissa (mixed with Tunisian spices and slightly spicy) and Red (with roasted peppers). The staff recommended Harissa so we went with that. If I were to go again with an emptier stomach, I would have gone for the mixed falafel platter to try all flavours!
I'm not sure about the other stores, but this store was pretty small, with seating for about five to six people. Probably not much of an eat-in place, but more of take-out. I heard the smoothies are good, but I didn't try because I knew nothing could beat Juice Press.
Greenwich is a very photogenic place with the "village vibe", so it's also known as The Village. It's the type of houses you see in Sex and the City - rows of houses with stairways that reach the pavements and many trees, which were all just branches when I was there because it was winter. I suppose it would be very pretty in other seasons!
There are many bars, cafes, book stores, clothing stores... Just walk around and explore on your own; soak in the feel of the entire place! You can visit Washington Square Park and NYU as you move towards the East.
Oh in case you're wondering, West Village is part of Greenwich Village. I know it can be confusing. There's East Village too, but East Village is not part of Greenwich Village.
Magnolia Bakery (Bleecker St)
401 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014
West Village
Taïm Falafel and Smoothie Bar
222 Waverly Pl
New York, NY 10014
West Village
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