Customer Reviews

Nosh New York: The Food Lover's Guide to New York City's Most Delicious Neighborhoods

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you are interested in exploring New York's vibrant, delicious underbelly, and are willing to venture deep into the boroughs to experience the many cultures of this great city, this book is a good place to start.

I thank the author for getting me into neighborhoods that I might not have otherwise ventured into. I have used it to explore about a dozen locations in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. You are pretty much guaranteed an interesting afternoon if you follow one of these walks, in spite of the book's many weaknesses.

The organization of information around neighborhoods is a good starting point, but beyond that the infomation is not presented in a way that is easy to follow on your feet. Yes there are maps, but the maps do not delineate the routes of the walks nor do they show any of the places mentioned in the text. The text gives addresses of restaurant and shops but rarely gives cross-streets. A little more information on the maps that visually shows the route of the walks and location of the points of interests would have made a huge difference here.

The book is bulky and just not well designed for walking tours. It is very difficult to find your way walking while trying to keep your place in a page of text. And besides the weaknesses in design, many of the points of interest are inaccurate or outdated. It just seems like the book was put together very quickly and cheaply. It is obvious that some neighborhoods were not researched very extensively when the author mentions that a restaurant looked interesting but she did not try it on her [single] trip to the neighborhood.

Overall, I do recommend this book simply because I know of no other guide like it for NYC. But use it just to put yourself in the right neighborhood, don't waste too much time searching for specific places listed here. I use this book as a starting point and supplement it with more current and intensive infomation from chowhound.com.

Here is a book that helps you to enjoy the wonders to be found in all those little amazing neighborhoods in the 5 boroughs of New York City. This marvelous book overflows with both eating and touring adventures. Each page brings a new surprise, a hidden market here, a De La Vega mural (a variation of Picasso's Guernica) as well, a garden there, Her tours bring you tastes you couldn't imagine...the Nosh adventures go way beyond the food. Another added surprise are the recipes sprinkled throughout the book. This book gives a range of shopping tips as well. Ms. Alperson provides excellent maps as well as detailed travel instructions so that you can find your way around the and exciting areas and experience your very own nosh walks. It's like touring the world and never leaving New York. Ms. Alperson is at the cutting edge of culinary discoveries...check it out!

This is a very exciting book. Myra Alperson guides the reader through neighborhoods in all five boroughs of NYC showing you the wonderful bakers, butchers, grocers, and restaurant owners who have settled there, bringing the food products of their native cultures to our city. Each walking tour is clearly laid out making for the prospect for many delightful afternoons. Bring a camera and a knapsack to record your experiences and carry the goodies back home from these enriching experiences.

I have to say that I can't think what this Seattle person can possibly know about the subject of this book.

The book is a wonderful introduction to neighborhoods that even people like me who have lived here for many years have never visited. Through the food and restaurants of New York's unique ethnic neighborhoods, we come to understand their culture, history, and points of interest as well. Ms. Alperson exhibits enthusiasm for the simple and inexpensive foods made and sold by the residents of these neighborhoods for other residents. This is a different and welcome approach from that of all other books addressing the restaurants of New York.

Both New Yorkers and visitors can have fun discovering these places. Good directions are provided in every case.

I actually did not read this book but did take an actual tour of Sunset Park, Brooklyn with Ms. Alperson (I rate the tour 4 stars). Ms. Alperson has a sense of humor and is passionate about food, as are those who take the tour. The whole point of the book is to get you into these neighborhoods to sample the foods. So if you aren't a book lover, go to Ms. Alperson's website (www.noshwalks.com) and sign up for a culinary tour. It's a great way to meet people, get to know a different NYC neighborhood, and try stuff you never would have otherwise. I have recommended the tour to friends who have really enjoyed it.

It was so nice to see neighborhoods in the outer boroughs covered here--they are so often overlooked. Ms. Alperson's passion for the food and culture of New York comes through on every page. Well done!

The first trip I took using this book was to Brighton Beach Avenue and the address of the first establishment I looked for, Goldfield Bakery, is given as 358 Brighton Beach Avenue. However, there is neither a bakery nor store at that address since the street numbering for the 300 block ends below 350 and the street numbering for the next block starts at 400. Not very auspicious.

This book stinks. An inelegant way of putting it, but it is so boring and so poorly written that even a hardcore "foodie" would lapse into a coma from reading it. Don't waste your money or your time!!!!