Live like a local: Midtown, Manhattan

From cheap eats to hidden rooftop restaurants with hidden views, Midtown has it all. Photo / Getty Images

Apart from the people who pride themselves on avoiding Times Square like the plague, whether you're heading to Broadway or actually staying in the neighbourhood, Midtown has plenty to offer in the restaurant and bar department. "Midtown" is outlined by 42nd and 59th streets, from south to north, and Lexington and Eighth avenues from east to west. The area has many overpriced tourist traps but is also home to some truly great eating and drinking experiences. From the rushed Midtown lunch and dinner crowd, to the best street food, over-the-top brunch or pre-theatre dinner, you can truly find it all.

BREAKFAST

There's nowhere better in the world to eat a bagel than New York City. The day after your bottomless brunch (see below), this is exactly what you're going to need.

They're one of the city's defining foods. Done the right way, a true New York bagel is a beautiful thing: boiled, then baked, dense but not too dense, with a glossy, crackly outer crust and squishy insides.

It's a very New Yorker thing to do to start one's day with a bagel for breakfast, which you can buy at any corner bodega (that's dairy in Kiwi-speak). But as with all foods, some are far better than others. Try a Pick-A-Bagel sausage, egg and cheese - it screams utter deliciousness.

A Pick-A-Bagel sausage, egg and cheese screams utter deliciousness. Photo / Instagram

Locals know that here they won't be let down. Whether it's to cure a hangover or fuel you for a New York day, almost everybody untucks one from its double wrapping of wax paper and foil, at least once a week.

BRUNCH

Grab your crew and prepare to live your best Sex and The City life. Take them along to Haven Rooftop NYC for a stellar bottomless brunch. Escape the busy streets and enter a glamorous hotel lobby, walk through to the back and retreat to a rooftop among Manhattan's skyline.

For US$24 you'll be served bottomless mimosas, and, trust me, the staff look after you well.

Haven Rooftop NYC do a stellar rooftop bottomless brunch. Photo / Instagram

Though it might not be what you came for, the food is of great quality. Think classic American cuisine done well, like crab benedict or a hearty lobster roll. And whatever you do, don't forget to order their truffle fries.

NEW YORK PIZZA

New York City needs pizza the same way Kiwis need fish 'n chips. New Yorkers have a constant, consuming need for the quintessential pizza with a typically thin crust, covered in a tomato paste, smothered in cheese and often sold in wide slices "to go".

It helps when 99 cent slices are available on nearly every corner but there's an app called One Bite pizza to help ensure you don't end up with a bad one. It lets users read and post pizza reviews so you're in the know about where to get the best slices.

Angelo's Coal Oven Pizzeria pizzas have the perfect "New York flop". Photo / Supplied

For example, Angelo's Coal Oven Pizzeria has a rating of 9.3. When you see a pizza shop with a rating like this you don't walk there, you run. That rating promises some pretty incredible slices. As I discovered, Angelo's pizzas have the perfect "New York Flop": the slices are big, droopy, and foldable.

LUNCH ON THE GO

Caught up in the rush of the city and have no time to sit down? It's a familiar scenario when you're in the Big Apple. Is there anything more ideal than a hole in the wall eatery?

Grab a jianbing and eat it on the go! Mr Bing makes jianbing - traditional Northern Chinese street crepes - studded with sesame seeds and spring onion, filled with vegetables, chilli oil, a fried egg, crispy wonton, and a choice of meat.

Be prepared for a flavour sensation like never before - one that your tastebuds will thank you for. I recommend the peking duck, it is absolutely amazing and the different textures make each bite a surprise - I'm salivating at the memory, it's that good.

Jianbing are traditional Northern Chinese street crepes. Photo / Instagram