We had lunch at a tiny Polish restaurant in Greenpoint called Lomzynianka that has only 9 tables. It looks unremarkable from the outside, and it was an amazingly delicious bargain. First, a mug of borscht (beetroot soup). Then a plate of various cabbages and salads each – coleslaw, sauerkraut, carrot, etc.

Then veal dumplings in a cream dill sauce and a mixed platter – spicy sauerkraut with bacon, a sausage, pierogi (dumplings with cheese inside), mashed potato and stuffed cabbage. All this for $23.

Dinner another night was artisinal sausages, wild boar for me and duck and fig for my girlfriend, with pickles, and fries and craft beers at Williamsburg bar Rosamunde, where we sat watching the locals cheering at a football game on the tv.

Another night we ate at a tiny and very popular modern retake on soul food in Williamsburg called Pies n Thighs. My girlfriend had fried chicken with a biscuit (like a savoury scone) and kale salad, while I had chicken schnitzel in a biscuit with a bizarre vinegary hot chilli honey sauce and a side of mac n cheese. We then had key lime pie and tart cherry pie.

Finally, we loved the newish Zizi Limona, a modern middle eastern place also in Williamsburg. We ate: tershi (roast pumpkin purée with cumin, cinnamon and ginger, topped with chickpea stew); home fries with smoked Spanish paprika mayo; oxtail and lentil soup; crazy baba (babaganoush with feta cheese and basil) with grilled pita bread; and shawarma wrap (chicken and lamb). We also had glasses of Greek and Lebanese wines.