will's collections

Comfy! I have a really firm version of this but there's lighter versions as well. So far I've had mine for a year and it's just as springy as it was when I first got it.

Great for having guests overnight. It inflates/deflates super fast with the electric pump that comes with it, and folds up nicely into a small corner of my cabinet. Mine is queen but they have them in all standard mattress sizes.

Comfy! They have a little quiz you can do to customize the mattress between more firm/soft, etc. Also super convenient shipping and IIRC they have a pretty good return policy as well.

Build in chromecast which is convenient, although sometimes it just fails to cast and you have to click it a few times which is annoying.

Clean air makes your brain work better, although I think this was more useful in California during fire season than in New York. Update: canadian wildfires have been blasting smoke into NYC and I'm very glad I purchased this earlier.

Great vacuum cleaner: a pleasure to use, good suction, comfortable to hold (much lighter than much corded vacuums I've used), and also looks good just lying around the house. It comes with a bunch of extensions which help clean different parts of the house.

I have a different, discontinued version of this but having a large & rollable laundry hamper is actually such a game changer. Not having to lug a huge basket full of dirty clothes around makes doing laundry so much nicer. The large size is also nice too, since I never have to worry about if there's enough room to add bedding or a towel or something to the current load. I can also keep the detergent and bleach in the cart so I never forget to take it with me to the laundry room. The only caveat is that you need to be able to get to your laundry without taking stairs (an elevator takes me to mine).

Super great for removing stains from clothes. I keep this by my laundry hamper and whenever I am about to throw in a piece of clothing which has a stain on it I just apply some of this. Even if there's still a few days before I do laundry, that treatment is enough to make sure the stain comes off and the piece of clothing looks good as new. I've removed coffee, blood, and grass stains with this: it also only takes a little dab (unless the stain is huge).

Used to use this, 2-in-1 lotion + sunscreen because I'm lazy. I also like that it doesn't feel super oily. Changed because they had some availability issues a while ago, but would switch back if those were fixed! They also have some oat version which I've used previously and was just as good. The daily sunscreen is one of the most important parts of skincare!

For breakouts, 2% salicylic acid. In my experience it's been very effective - the breakout goes away after a day or so.

Best lip balm/chapstick I've ever used. Very effective as moisturizing and doesn't feel like you have anything on your lips after a few seconds of applying.

I use this every morning, super easy to put on and doesn't feel sticky like many sunscreens. 2-1 lotion and sunscreen because I'm lazy. I like that you can use your FSA/HSA funds to buy, since it's a sunscreen. The daily sunscreen is one of the most important parts of skincare!

Great toothbrush, just need to clean it and replace the head every three months. I've had mine for 3 years and it still works very well and holds a decent charge, enough to go on a week trip and not have to bring the charger.

Perfectly fine, economic floss. Inoffensive taste and is sturdy enough to scrape plaque off without snapping.

Next time you get a checkup get a blood test and check if you're vitamin D deficient! I was and my doctor recommended I take these, and I felt generally better once I started taking them. According to the NIH, vitamin D helps with cell growth, neuromuscular and immune function, glucose metabolism, and bone integrity. You still need to get sun to activate these though! They come in different doses - this one is 1000 IU but I would check with your doctor for what dose they recommend.

Functional toilet brush, looks nice and the canister does a good job of the holding the brush and not displaying the bristles - it springs automatically when the brush is lifted. Feels sturdy and does its job.

For headaches. I learned that these are better to take for a hangover than something like Tylenol/acetaminophen (this is not medical advice). You can get anything that's labeled ibuprofen, they sell 500 packs in walgreens/cvs/etc.

Great razor, very easy to handle, comfortable to hold, and I haven't cut myself using it yet. Wirecutter's recommendation for best razor.

Great shaving cream, my skin doesn't feel dry after shaving with this and it's easy to get out of the bottle and spread. It feels nice and cool when applied.

Great japanese shampoo, feels good to use and my hair is bouncy after using it. Smells good albeit it's not a super strong scent, if that's what you're into. The pump is also great, never had any issues with it.

Great japanese conditioner, hair smells good and is clean and puffy after applying. Same pump as the shampoo in this collection, also great.

Measures well, doesn't even mind if it gets a little wet. I've had one for years and never had problems with the battery. Personally if I'm cutting I find it really helpful to do a daily weight check, but I totally get that's not for everyone.

Nice towels (definitely on the pricy side). They feel nice and absorb water well - one additional thing is that they have a little hook at the top which makes it very easy to hang them compared to a normal towel. This set has washclothes, hand towels, bath towels, and bath sheets, so whatever size you're looking for!

Functional bath mat, comes in a variety of colors/sizes and gives you secure footing on a wet floor. Make sure to use a coupon code, they're always on some kind of sale.

Refillable soap containers so that you can just buy a massive jar of liquid soap and not have to go through tons of containers. These are durable, the pump action feels good to use and dispenses a reasonable amount of soap, and they look good. These are clear colored but I've also recommended an opaque white color one in this collection if that's more your style. Large enough/can hold enough soap that you wouldn't have to refill it very often.

Another refillable soap container - similarly durable and good pump action. These are an opaque white color which looks pretty clean/neutral, and can also be used with hand sanitizer. Large enough/can hold enough soap that you wouldn't have to refill it very often.

I don't use this regularly but it's good to have around in case you need to freshen up before a date or event. I'm not sure if the burning sensation actually means anything but it definitely feels like it's doing something.

The O.G. points board game, I think I've literally played this game a thousand times. Fun: 5/5, there's elements of strategy, luck, and lots of opportunity for interaction between players. There's also a lot of big moments, which makes the game exciting.Complexity: 3/5, there's definitely a decent amount of mechanics with all the building and points and stuff, so it would take a while to explain to somebody who hadn't played it before.Replayability: 5/5, you could play this infinitely and once everybody knows the rules it's not so involved that you couldn't just have a conversation while playing.For 2-4 players.

A great game for casual environments.Fun: 4/5, depends a bit on the crowd: IMO if people play fun clues and go for lots of words at once it makes the game more fun. Complexity: 2/5, very easy to explain the rules and get a game going even if all the players are new. Replayability: 4/5, the game changes each time since the configuration of words resets, but the core gameplay is similar enough that you might not be able to play it that many times. For 4+ players. I would check out Decrypto if you enjoy this game (although I haven't played it enough to include it in this collection).

Another great game for casual environments.Fun: 4/5, really fun game, lots of exciting mini moments during the rounds since some of the cards have a delayed payout and you can mess with the other players who are going for them. Sometimes you might be totally out of the running if one of your rounds goes poorly though. Complexity: 2/5, pretty easy to explain the rules and get a game going even if all the players are new, although there might be some hiccups the first round with some of the mechanics. Replayability: 2/5, at some point the game can only play out so many different ways. For 2-5 players.

There's board games where you build engines, and then there's scythe where you build 5 engines at once.Fun: 4/5, depending on if you enjoy complexity. If there are folks who don't want to think about a lot of different systems while playing a board game this will not be fun for them. Complexity: 5/5, it will take some time and maybe a sample round for people to understand the game.Replayability: 4/5, definitely replayable although after going through each faction a few times I'm not sure how much more fun it would be. For 1-5 players, although I can't say I've ever tried the 1 player version.

Pretty fun but 1) some of the cards are just better than some of the other cards and 2) the art for the card 'Hackers' is just a photo of some asian dudes I think they ran out of art budget.Fun: 4/5, similar to scythe, depends on if you enjoy complexity. If there are folks who don't want to think about a lot of different systems while playing a board game this will not be fun for them. Complexity: 5/5, there's a lot of different mechanics at play for sure, with the three different terraforming components, multitude of cards, and keeping track of what everyone else is doing. Replayability: 5/5, there's a ton of different strategies you could play although maybe not all of them are viable. For 1-5 players, although I can't say I've ever tried the 1 player version.

Fun engine-building game!Fun: 4/5, I like a game with lots of great physical parts - some heavy custom dice and a cardboard bird tower that you get to put together. The gameplay is also pretty fun to think through, where your strategy will depend on which birds you draw which all have unique effects. The theme is also great - each bird card is actually a bird in reality and comes with a fun fact on the card which you can read while somebody takes 10 minutes to decide what to do on their turn.Complexity: 4/5, definitely gonna spend some time going over the rules with everyone before starting (I suggest just doing a sample round). Make sure everyone knows you need an egg to build a second bird, that messes up everyone's opening play the first time they play.Replayability: 2/5, at some point it's just laying eggs at the end, I gotta figure out if there's a variant where laying eggs isn't as good or something. For 1-5 players, although again I haven't played the single player version.

Fun mafia-like party game!Fun: 5/5 although crew dependent. If people are comfortable enough with each other to yell and get heated it can be super super chaotic and fun but might be tough if the squad isn't at that level. One time while playing this game person A said to person B "you are literally the dumbest person I have ever seen in my life". Complexity: 2.5/5, mostly easy to understand but might need a second to explain the mechanic of drawing blue/red and the special mechanics as more policies pass. Replayability: 4/5, could definitely play this many times although as a social game it's a little draining so not sure how many times you could play it in one night.For 5-10 players, although I wouldn't play with less than 7.

Very cute, simple game. Fun: 5/5 You say the words and play a card and if it matches you slap! They picked 5 fun words so it's good vibes. Complexity: 1/5, it's pretty simple if you know all 5 words that the game is called. Replayability: 2/5, definitely less fun once the novelty factor wears off, but really fun before that.For 5-10 players, although I wouldn't play with less than 7.

Decent for making single serving smoothies but it's definitely more finnicky than a vitamix (sometimes stuff gets stuck and you gotta detach the vessel, shake it, and put it back on the blender). Great for making a personal protein smoothie after a lifting session - it's super easy to just do some almond milk + frozen strawberries/banana + protein powder.

Got one of these for my parents and it's actually cracked at blending, a little too large IMO for personal use though. Great for making large batches of pina coladas for boat rides or for juicing watermelons into tasty watermelon juice.

Great knife, very comfortable to use and sharp.

Works better than a sponge for hard to reach places (e.g. inside of a jar).

Great scissors, heavy duty while remaining comfortable to use. Capable of cutting through pretty much everything I've tried to use it for.

Not really sure it was worth shelling out for a trash can but it's never given me any problems and it looks nice.

Has a variety of temperature settings for different types of tea, which is surprisingly useful! A side effect is that you can brew tea at a temperature where its ready to drink right after brewing, instead of still boiling hot.

Container for storing food. I like it because it's re-usable, easily dishwashable, light (unlike glass tupperware which is the other solution to this problem). Can hold wraps, sandwiches, snacks, and allegedly soups (although I haven't tried that one yet).

Glass 1-cup and 2-cup measuring cups. The handle is nice, they're dishwashable, and don't hold odors since they're glass. What more can you ask for?

Gotta keep the knife sharp, no matter how high quality of knife you have. Sharper knives are paradoxically safer than duller knives, since most injuries come from dull knives unpredictably failing to cut through things. This one has three stages, where the last stage removes the burrs from the first two stages. Super easy to use, takes like 20 seconds to sharpen the knife. It's done sharpening when you can't see the edge!

Stainless steel scrubber, useful for cleaning cast-iron pots without using detergent, which removes the seasoning from them. Pretty comfy, easy to use, and inexpensive.

Large rice dispenser, can hold a 25 lb pound of rice. I like having a container like this to avoid bugs getting into the rice. Super easy, I have a 1-cup oxo measuring cup underneath and then I just hit a button which dispenses rice and I stop when I fill the cup.

A nice dishwashable cooking ladle, useful whenever cooking/serving stews, chili, etc. Also useful for stir frying in a wok!

Hondashi powder, useful for making stock for various japanese dishes including oyakadon, a delicious chicken and egg dish with onion.

Grinder, has adjustable settings for coarseness and amount of grind. Grinding beans more fine makes the brew more bitter, while more coarse corresponds to a more sour brew.

Can brew both single cup and a full pot. The coffee maker has some drizzle action to spread the water around the ground, getting a better brew. Super easy to run, just turn on, pour water in the back, and press the brew button.

Used for brewing single cups, there's other sizes for brewing a full pot.

Good insulation, no leaks, press the button to drink. Great for drinking a cup of coffee in the morning, especially if you need to be out and about while drinking on a cold day and you want your bev to stay warm.

Amazing tool for making one pot meals: just dump the ingredients in and hit cook. My favorite recipes are chili (saute beef+onions in the pot, add tomato & beans and pressure cook), and chicken with salsa. They're also very durable - apparently the Instant pot company went out of business because people just kept whichever instant pot they had forever, so nobody needed to buy another one, kinda like crocs before they became the new Jordans.

Kitchen towels, useful for cleaning spills, wiping hands, carrying hot stuff, etc. These are obviously re-useable, and it's nice to have a decent stockpile of these so you can cycle through some being in the laundry and not run out and have to use disposable paper products.

Super useful for checking if meat is totally cooked. Especially useful for pork and chicken, or any marinated meat, where you can't completely tell from the color. Very easy to use, you just turn it on and poke it in at the thickest point.

Super useful to have a pair of tongs for moving hot things from A to B without worrying they're going to slip. If I were more cracked at chopsticks I would just use those like my parents but tbh these are just easier...

Super nice to use can opener, comfortable to hold, doesn't require too much effort to turn the knob, good at holding and cutting the can, and intuitive to use. I've never had an issue opening a can or with this leaving sharp edges on the can lid that result in cuts.

The classic aluminum foil. Easy to roll out, durable, useful for baking. I've actually used this since I was a child since it's what my parents used to get.

The classic plastic wrap. Easy to roll out, durable, useful for storing leftovers. You can also use it to make beef wellington like Gordon Ramsay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUaaeuPtX3U&ab_channel=GordonRamsayHell%27sKitchen.

Sous vide, easiest way to make a steak medium rare.

The only weight I had during quarantine at Stanford was exactly one of these dumbells - great for getting through a fullbicep (https://www.verywellfit.com/how-to-do-the-biceps-arm-curl-3498604)tricep (https://www.trxtraining.com/blogs/news/how-to-do-tricep-curls)shoulder (https://barbend.com/dumbbell-shoulder-press/)upper back (https://barbend.com/dumbbell-row/),and legs (https://www.verywellfit.com/the-wall-sit-quad-exercise-3120741)workout while watching TV or youtube.

I got this bar before I could do a pull-up! The progression I did was:hang -> negatives (start up and slowly go down) -> pull-up. Hanging also just feels really good for your back. Fits on most doors as long as there's a little molding jutting out and a little space on top of the molding for the top of the pull-up bar to rest on. Never felt like it had a problem supporting my weight or it was unstable at all.

The goated yoga mat, I've had mine for 4 years now with 0 problems. Good grip, feels comfortable, and doesn't smell weird. Also easy to clean, I just spray it down or dunk it in the bathtub. I have mine in black, comes in one size only.

I never really use the blocks during yoga but I enjoy shoulder flossing with the strap https://blog.alomoves.com/movement/how-to-do-shoulder-flossing-with-a-yoga-strap. You can also lie down and use it to stretch your hamstrings (stick your leg up, wrap the strap around it and pull both sides, it's a more effective version of the stretch where you pull your foot with your hands). The blocks are useful for easing into a few poses, especially pyramid or any forward bendy situations.

Protein powder for lactose intolerant people! Tastes like vanilla, I have it in shakes. I think it'd go pretty well with any banana based shake, but it's a bit weird with more tart flavors.

Standard dense foam roller, useful for recovery. Sometimes while watching TV I'll just roll my quads and hammies, great after a long day of work or a long workout on a weekend. You can also roll your back if you have any pain there. This one is pretty dense and there's not too much variety between rollers, so this could be substituted for a cheaper one as long as it's similar density.

The best hand massager for recovery, can use on basically any large muscle and is wieldy enough to use on yourself (or trade off with a partner), and very effective. Some downsides that I haven't seen mentioned in most reviews are that it's quite intense compared to other massagers, even on the lowest setting, so I'd try a friend's to see if you like it if possible. Another downside is that it's noisy, so it's hard to use while watching TV or doing anything else/are in an environment where you need to be quiet, like in a shared apartment at night.

My building has one of these, super convenient for getting in a quick workout. They have a ton of variety with the classes with shorter HIIT/tabata workouts to longer climb classes. They also have a pretty good variety of music for whatever you're feeling. My go to instructor is Olivia Amato for a hard ride and Denis Morton for a more chill ride. It's hella pricy though. Make sure to take some time getting the optimal adjustments for all the heights, etc. on the bike - I find that it makes a huge difference in how much you can output/how good the workout feels.

I think there's a free version of this now as of May 2023! Super nice selection of workouts so you can just turn on a video and start exercising. I mainly use the strength, yoga, and cardio (HIIT) workouts, which are all pretty good! I'm a big fan of Rebecca Kennedy, her workouts go hard for both bodyweight strength and HIIT. Aditi Shah is my go-to for yoga classes. I like that the classes are on-demand, you can reasonably pick what you're feeling based on the title, and they have different lengths based on how much time you have (10, 20, 30, 45, 60 minutes).

For training finger strength for climbing. My gym has one of these, super easy to just get started by doing hanging on the largest crimp as long as you can and going from there, either by increasing the length of the hang or going for the smaller holds. I've heard mixed things about whether starting finger training too early into climbing might be bad for your fingers since they aren't strong yet, but it might also be good since you get more finger strength and reduce risk of injury. I landed on just stopping my fingerboarding workout if I ever feel pain.

A very convenient cheap and sturdy bag for siloing sweaty workout clothes and gear away from everything else you're carrying to work or elsewhere. I had two of these in black in my grad school office, one for climbing gear and one for lifting gear.

V comfy for running, or general workouts/walking around. I have the 2.0 in black top white bottom. I've never had any foot problems since starting to run in these.

Great comfy socks for workouts, mega cheap at costco. I think my parents might've bought 200 of these a few years ago and we're just gonna work our way through them for the rest of our lives.

Hydrohomie up! Can replace with your water bottle of choice, but hydrating makes workouts way better, especially anything that's more than 20 minutes.

Hold your phone and other stuff while you go on runs!

Pretty basic standing desk. I bought the casters and it both rolls around and locks in place well. It also goes up and down and has 4 preset settings. You can buy accessories to mount your desktop below the desk and also have holes for power, but I didn't bite on any of them so I'm not sure if they work well. The actual material of the desk feels fine, but not super premium (I think you can shell out more for a nicer tabletop). I've also heard you can just get the base and DIY a tabletop, if that's something up your alley. I have a large desktop, monitor, and keyboard along with a few laptops on it along with other random stuff and I don't think it's anywhere near its weight capacity.

Office chair, super adjustable armrest (swivels on 3 axes), and lumbar support (how much the chair goes back when you lean). I've tried all the herman miller variants both at my office and in their flagship store, but I think this steelcase chair just works better for people my height (5'5). In particular, if you have broad shoulders I think this chair is really good because the arm handles adjust outwards wider than any other chair I've seen.

Split (up to 20 inches between left and right half of keyboard) mechanical keyboard, MX brown keys which are quiet enough for an office environment. It might take a little practice to get used to typing, since you can't hit some key/hand combos (e.g. typing b with your right hand). I bought this and my mouse when I started having wrist/back pain in grad school from being at a desk so much and I think it helped!

Lightweight ergonomic mouse (has a nice little side ridge for your thumb). I bought this and my separated keyboard when I started having wrist/back pain in grad school from being at a desk so much and I think it helped!

6 pack of microfiber cleaning cloths. I primarily use this to clean my glasses but they're also useful for cleaning screens. They're also re-useable, so 6 should be enough to rotate through while some of them are in the laundry.

Keycap puller for cleaning my mechanical keyboard. I do a deep clean once a year by removing all the keys with this keycap puller, which I then rinse with dish soap, and then cleaning all the gunk that gets under the keys on the keyboard itself.

My desktop computer doesn't have a built in mic so this doubles as both a microphone and webcam for calls. The sound quality is pretty good. One thing I didn't realize is that it doesn't come with a way to mount it to a monitor, but I just have it sitting in front of my monitor which works pretty well for me.

Good pens! Easy to write with, comfortable to hold, and they don't bleed or go dry. I've worked at multiple offices where they have these.

I use this to hold my phone when doing mobile development, it's adjustable both in height and angle and there's a little hole on the bottom so you can plug in a charger. I use it with an iphone 11, but I'm pretty sure it could hold any normal-sized phone.

Works both wired and bluetooth, I've been using one of these for 10 years since 2013 and it's still going strong. You can also take it outside to the beach or a picnic since it holds a decent amount of charge.

I really like having pen & paper within reach when I'm working, in case I need to jot something quick down at a meeting or I want to sketch an idea out without breaking my flow. You could probably substitute this for any notebook, this is just something cheap and generic.

I tried a bunch of these usb-c hubs when I was developing on a macbook in grad school and some of them just don't work which is wild to me. Every Anker product I've used has been pretty good so I'd recommend, I have like 3 of these floating around and use them to connect my macbook to everything (HDMI monitor, usb mouse & keyboard, etc). I like the one with a longer dongle attached to the main usb c since otherwise it hogs all the usb-c ports on the macbook.

Reusable dry-erase markers for whiteboard that I used in grad school since the people always stole the ones that the department provided or they were totally dried up. These write more legibly than the standard expo ones (bigger and bolder), are refillable so you don't have to buy any more markers, and are low odor. They're also pretty comfortable to hold (larger than the expo markers) and come in all the standard colors (I bought the 5-pack).

IMO the best headphone/mic combo for the office: wearable for long periods of time, it's light so you can take it to and from the office, good audio quality & connects easily to multiple devices, holds a charge well and the case can charge while the airpods themselves are used.

I used to carry around chargers between home and the office, but having separate chargers that live in the office is pretty game changing.

Same as the iphone charger, I have lifestyle crept passed the point where I'm willing to carry a heavy macbook charger to and from the office every day.

Use one monitor and switch between two computers, using three hdmi cables. (2x computer to switcher, 1x switcher to monitor). I use it to switch between my macbook and gaming PC.

The goated pants, 1/2

The goated pants, 2/2

Got this in the summer when it was on a pretty steep sale, used it for a NYC winter with no problems.

The goated sweatpants

The goated socks

Pretty good shanghainese food, although at midtown manhattan prices. My favorite dishes are the Yan Du Xian (salted pork & bamboo soup), Baby Eel with Scallion & Ginger Sauce, and Little Alley Lion’s Head.

This place is primarily a bar but by far the most memorable thing I had here was the Ushi-Wasa: raw marbled Angus chuck tail flap tossed in tempranillo-soy sauce blend, served with leek and wasabi stem. Eating this is like playing russian roulette some of the pieces will just make steam come out of your nose from the wasabi. Super super tasty though, and a great snack for drinking.

Great detroit-style thick crust pizza. I'm a fan of thicker crust in general, and the crust here is wild: it's super crunchy. The pizza itself is also very tasty, although they go a bit light on the cheese.

I think the hotboi slice here is my favorite slice in all of new york - I like to get it sicilian style but they also have normal slices. So tasty and they do a good job of getting enough sweetness with honey with the spice from the jalapeño.

These empanadas are cracked and they have a million different flavors so you could come back over and over. There's multiple locations so I'd look for which one is closest to your location. Some person favorites are reggaeton (Caribbean roast pork, rice, peas), el toro (Jamaican braised oxtail, onion, carrot, thyme), and a traditional ground beef.

The full lazy-susan chinese banquet experience. Come with a party of like 10 people and order a ton of dishes, everything is good and it's a great atmosphere to eat. Some personal favorites are Squid Salted Pepper, the Peking Duck, and Liang Mian Huang (two-faced pan-fried noodles).

Italian beef was popularized by Hulu's "The Bear" (I had never heard of it until then), and it's absolutely cracked. Allegedly this isn't as good as the ones in Chicago but it's still pretty friggin' tasty - I suggest getting it dipped. They also have Italian beef pizza which is just wildly decadent: they put the beef on top of a pizza. Crazy stuff.

Great sichuan food, great to share with a group. My favorite highlights are the Husband and Wife Special (Sliced beef & tripe seasoned with chili-peanut sauce), Chungking Spicy Chicken, and Spicy Cumin Lamb. I also got some green beer here which was pretty wild. I used to prefer Chili in midtown, which sort of comes from the same chefs (there's some drama involving a covid mutiny you can read about online), but they've reduced portion sizes.

The highlights here are definitely the namesake, the Lysee (Korean Toasted Brown rice mousse with caramel, Elliot Pecan Sablé, Praliné), as well as the Corn, which literally looks like a corn but is a pasty made of corn mousse. The first floor is a dining area that you need to reserve and the second room can best be described as a showroom for the sweets: it's an experience to walk through all the insanely pretty desserts.

A japanese restaurant which specializes in yakitori but also has a wide variety of other options. Every chicken skewer we got here was absolutely cracked, but make sure to go early because they run out of certain parts of the chicken later in service. Highlights for me were all the chicken skewers, the tori liver paté, and the scallop uni carpaccio. They also have a fun cocktail menu, a great place to go on a date or share some drinks over food with friends.

Absolutely mega hot spicy thai food. Everything is delicious and mega hot: we liked the fried tuermeric sea bream and some beef dish that I don't exactly remember except it was hot and tasty.

This spot is a classic, but the only thing I've ever ordered here is the basque cheesecake and it is absolutely cracked. I think it's the best cheesecake I've ever had in my life - just enough burn to be crispy and so delicious on the inside.

A family-owned and operated business, feels very homey and friendly inside but also like the people making the sandwiches know what they're doing. They have a great selection of huge sandwiches here, and it's right by the new york botanical garden where you can go picnic in the flowers.

Great casual thai food for groups, but the main attraction here is the cheap margarita. Order glasses they're cheaper per ml than the pitchers! I guarantee if you come here with the homies you will have a good time.

Awesome night market that's open in the summer, a huge selection of maybe half Asian half Latin-American/African food. It's pretty cheap as well (way cheaper than smorgasborg), I would come with a group, divide and conquer the lines (try to come before 630 to avoid super long wait times), bring a picnic blanket, and try all the food everybody brings together.

Super cool Egyptian restaurant where they have all the seafood out on a counter, you pick it yourself, and then they go cook it for you. Highlights for us were the calimari, whole fish, and shrimp in garlic lemon sauce (I did not realize shrimp could taste that good). Also the Babaganoush and Eggplant mesa'a'ah were absolutely insane - I wouldn't call myself an eggplant enjoyer but both were so good.

Happy hour $1 oysters which are tasty (sometimes you gotta watch out for the happy hour oysters but these are good!). Tasty cocktails and good tots as well. More places should do tots as an option I think they're kind of a GOATed way to consume potatoes.

The congee here is incredible - we tried three different ones and they were all delicious. Perfect after a night spent drinking. Pork and preserved egg is a classic and was my favorite, but they have tons of different variations to choose from.