It was on my list of things of to do in Manhattan, and I finally got to go to the Oyster Bar under Grand Central Station.  The setting is amazing – it looks like a large, fairy-light lit cellar, but we had the choice of long wait for a table in the main dining area or going to the more conventional looking Saloon Bar without a wait – with stomachs rumbling it was an easy decision!

Oysters of course were great – a menu of oysters from different locations in the US, but as a non-oyster-expert, I went for a recommended selection, and was surprised with the variation in flavour between them.  Not quite sure though about my choice of appetiser, oyster bloody Mary (shot of tomato juice with an oyster and topped with vodka was a little) – I was getting more tomato and alcohol flavour than oyster.  But definitely worth going to.

We also stumbled upon the a market within Grand Central Station which I hadn’t realised was there.  There were some great stalls – fish, meat, vegetables, sweets and cheeses of all varieties – pretty handy I’d guess to grab some food on your way home from work in the city.  We were chatting Toby at Murray’s Cheese Shop – it was really interesting to hear that the US is having somewhat of a renaissance in cheese making with many artisan producers across the country.  Saying that, Toby did insist on giving us a sample of a Wiltshire stilton before trying any American cheeses!  But it was certainly nice to see some non-processed cheeses out there.