New York day 3

On day three of our New York stay we ventured over to Brooklyn to try Champs diner. After Cindy and Michael at Where’s the Beef had blogged so enthusiastically about it, it had become a must-try on my already large and ever expanding list of eateries.

After a lazy morning we arrived starving and ready to eat. The menu is vast and offers diner style sandwiches, salads and breakfasts. I wanted to eat it all. Champs is also definitely cool, with a retro diner look,friendly staff and good music.

We tried the Monte Cristo, a French toast style ham and cheese sandwich with maple syrup, home fries and salad, and a seitan Philly cheese steak roll with salad. I stupidly ordered a side of home fries before understanding how HUGE the servings are! 🙂

Sadly I seem to have lost my photo of the Philly Cheese Steak. You will just have to believe me it was magnificent.

Both sandwiches were great. The Monte Cristo was a great combination of sweet, savoury and smoky, and the Philly Cheese steak roll was incredibly delicious with caramelised onions, peppers, cheese and seitan on a crispy on the outside, soft on the inside roll that must have been about 35cm long. I gave up on the home fries to leave room for dessert.

For dessert we ordered an oatmeal streusel cheesecake and an Oreo cheesecake brownie. The cheese cake ‘slice’ was enormous, think of half a brick and you won’t be far off. We had espressos to wash them down. Best coffee I’ve had since arriving.

We love Champs!

Later we picked up some cheap tix in Brooklyn for the musical avenue Q. On the way home we stopped by van Leeuwen ice cream for a vegan sundae of chocolate and pistachio with chocolate sauce and almonds, plus an extra cup of salted caramel ice cream. Delicious!

Champs Family Bakery
176 Ainslie St
Brooklyn, NY

www.champsdiner.com

Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream
48 1/2 E 7th St
New York, NY

www.vanleeuwenicecream.com