New York Eats - Gray's Papaya (Hot Dogs), West Village, 402 Sixth Ave. at 8th St., 212-260-3532

Prior to my uncle taking us to Gray's Papaya, I had no idea it existed at all. This, despite the place appearing in countless films and being famous in New York for its papaya juice (hence the name) and hot dogs.

From Wikipedia:

- Fools Rush In (1997)
- You've Got Mail (1998)
- Down To Earth (2001)
- Sex and the City (2002, Episode "Plus One Is The Loneliest Number")
- How I Met Your Mother (Episode "The Limo")
- Anthony Bourdain ("No Reservations", Season 3, Episode 9)

And that's not even the complete list.



But enough name-dropping and fact-quoting. How about what we were doing before we went to Gray's Papaya?

1. First thing we did on The Food Tour of NY Day was to eat fish and bagels at Sable's - full and happy

2. Then, we decided to stop off at Lady M Cake Boutique for some Mille Crepe - full, slightly worried about how full we were getting, but still happy

3. After which, we stopped off at Gray's Papaya for a 'snack' of a few hot dogs each and some papaya juice - very full, very happy, slightly fatter than when we woke up that morning



We got the Recession Special which was something like US$4.50 for 2 hot dogs and a papaya juice (or any juice of choice). Now this is not the largest hot dog we've had by far (Manchester German Bratwurst are twice the size of this, but that's a completely different ballgame altogether).

However, for the price, this was definitely a crowd-pleaser, albeit a very full and somewhat reluctant but yet persistant crowd. The buns were toasted, the sauerkraut was just the right balance of sour and crunchy, and the yellow mustard topped off a perfectly pleasing little snack to round off our NY Food Tour.