Eating Up the East Coast

For my Spring Break vacation I traveled from Atlanta to Chapel Hill to NYC to Montreal and back again. Overall, it was extremely easy to indulge in NYC and use "I'm walking everywhere" as a--perhaps valid--excuse. Montreal was dominated by healthier choices, while the modes of transportation between these cities dictated making food choices out of convenience.

During my first day in NYC, I walked 27,000 steps and was ravenous. My sister and I ate dinner at Chelsea Market, the trendy food hall on the West Side of Manhattan. I think it might be impossible to make a bad food choice here, but we opted for huge bowls of handmade Taiwanese noodle soup. Ethically, I thought this food was a great choice because I could see the noodles being made right in front of me, and the dish was also the only vegetarian choice on the menu (it was actually vegan). It was made with an incredibly flavorful broth as well as mock duck made out of seitan. According to the gentleman at the counter, people order this dish and get worried it's actually real duck because of how believable the texture of the seitan is. I've never tried duck because I felt too guilty, so I can only assume these people are correct. Also on the menu for my dinner that night was a pint of Brooklyn-made Pilsner and a slice of delicious, fairly low-sugar halvah.

Taiwanese-style vegan soup at Chelsea Market

My second day in NYC, my sister demanded a trip to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a rainbow bagel. I wasn't so sure. They seemed gimmicky and probably not that good. However, I obliged, mostly because I was starving and hadn't eaten anything else that day. We arrived and made our orders at the Bagel Store, whose purpose seemed to only be fulfilling orders of rainbow bagels. It was exactly as I expected: overly sugary yet hedonistically satisfying. 

A couple of days later, we boarded the Amtrak for an 11-hour ride to Montreal. The total downside of traveling via train is that it's impossible to eat well without some intense forethought. The dining car on the train has pre-packaged sandwiches, sodas and candy bars at a marked-up price. My sister and I packed food we knew wouldn't spoil, like fruit, Clif bars, and sandwiches. I also picked up an orzo salad in Penn Station to eat, but was disappointed to find it was old, sort of slimy and flat out unappetizing. Thankfully we'd brought enough food on the way up, but on the way pack our supply wasn't as great and I bought a candy bar and soda, as they were out of everything else. I wish Amtrak had healthier options. This is probably a tall request for an antiquated mode of transportation barely making ends meet as it is. For the record, I loved traveling by train, and highly recommend it, just remember to bring plenty of food. 

Once in Montreal, the food selection was bountiful and easily accessible. I ordered a pizza on our first night out of convenience, and then picked up fruits and vegetables from the nearby grocery store the next day. My sister joked that our shopping cart looked like an American shopping cart, as we'd also loaded up on some less-healthy foods for the train ride back. I also ate copious amounts of macarons, bagels, and rolled my own maple syrup candy. Montreal was full of great people, and although the language barrier slightly intimidated me at first, they appreciate the effort of those who attempt to speak French and don't seem to mind switching to English when necessary. The only Quebec delicacy I didn't venture to try was poutine, which I'm sort of disappointed about, but I didn't really need a bunch of fries, gravy and cheese anyway.

Maple syrup candy

After spending a week in 2 different countries, I couldn't gather if Canadian portions or eating habits were similar to the American way of eating, but it seemed like I saw far less people with large waistlines in Canada than I do at home. I'm sure I could find the data on this, but I also wonder if people who live in walkable metropolitan areas tend to be more fit than those who live in areas where we spend more time in our cars. 

To sum up my trip, it was a great eating adventure. As noted above, it was interesting to consider the different eating habits of  the Quebecois versus Americans, a difference that I couldn't fully discern. I was glad to be in cities with incredible access to food, but neglected to make the healthiest of choices in either city. Eating well was most difficult on the train, where meals had to be carefully thought out. Next time I travel, I think I will utilize nearby grocery stores as much as possible to both pay less for food and pack healthier snacks.