I am not ashamed to admit I like to follow the hype. For a couple of years now, the Meatpacking District has been the big thing with funky bars, clubs, cool hotels and fancy shops in old warehouse buildings. Spice Market, just across the popular Gansevoort Hotel, is a cool place to eat.
In summertime you can sit outside and spot the fashionistas and New Yorkers walking by like models on a catwalk. Pass the plain black building in the winter and you’d never in your wildest dream imagine that what an exotic and colourful palace it is inside. Like a magical, Arabian ‘1001 nights’ room with small separate dining sections stacked with sparkling pillows and silk lanterns.
You go (and pay) for the entire experience. The food is spicy delicate Asian - like ginger fried rice and delicious chicken samosas with mango and mint. Don’t miss a cocktail like kumquat mojitos. This is street food made glamorous.
Spice Market, 403 West 13th Street (at Ninth Avenue in Meatpacking District).