New York Take a humongous bite of the Big Apple’s eating-out scene

MOST people go for the sights: the shimmering upturned ice cream cone of the Chrysler or the razor clam spikiness of the Empire State Building. But I’ve come for the food, and New York does not disappoint – in fact the choice is overwhelming. So how do you decide to what to eat?

AMERICAN SOUTH

Southern American food is in full-on revival mode, so if you haven’t time to take in its homeland, Louisiana’s New Orleans, during your US trip, New York will plug the gap. Promising “honest Southern food”, Root & Bone in the East Village is all rustic wood, exposed piping and wire buckets of fried chicken, served alongside golden waffles and molten mac and cheese. The rural American grub is so moreish and earthy, I’m still chewing on the salty, lemony chicken bones when a gooey Mississippi mud pie arrives.

At Harlem’s Red Rooster, the food is more Technicolor. We sit on plastic red chairs (everything is red) out on the street, people-watching between trying to stuff humongous crispy bird sandwiches in our mouths. They’re dripping with a signature, terracotta-coloured sauce that’s tomatoey without being too sweet.

Over near Hudson Square, back in Lower Manhattan, Harold’s Meat + Three serves decent fried chicken but its Southern side dishes eclipse it. I wolf down three nuggety “biscuits” before getting started on grilled asparagus spears and traditional creamy grits.

Root & Bone, www.rootnbone.com; mains from about £15; expect a queue if you don’t have a reservation

Red Rooster, www.redroosterharlem.com; mains from about £20; reservations and walk-ins available

Harold’s Meat + Three, haroldsmeatandthree.com; mains from about £14; walk-ins only

FAMILY STYLE

Don’t like sharing? Family style – where portions are made for dividing among your party – might not be for you but it’s only a matter of time before egalitarian scoffing becomes a “thing” in British restaurants. On the edge of Madison Square Park is the cosily understated Black Barn. The mentality here is one of farm-to-table – and the portions are absolutely colossal.

We feast on platters of barbecued beef ribs, each one as wide and thick as a hardback book, foraged mushrooms on chunks of toast and a bubbling rum and butterscotch bread pudding that pads out my stomach lining, and presumably my arteries. It’s hearty, homely fare that makes you feel well fed and well loved, much like at Atrio, at the downtown hotel Conrad New York, where American chef Gerron Douglas serves hunks of halibut on a mattress of lentils, alongside vats of spaghetti Bolognese.

Black Barn, blackbarnrestaurant.com; mains from about £15; reserve ahead

Atrio, www.conradnewyork.com; mains from about £18; reserve ahead