If you’re a tourist in New York, chances are you’re going to get barged around, tutted at, and witness more eye-rolls than you’re used to. This is why guided tours are such a great idea, and combining city sightseeing with urban food tasting? Genius.

This is what I was treated to on a fine Monday afternoon when I joined the Midtown Manhattan Food Tour with Urban Adventures. We met our tour guide, Josh, at the clock in the middle of Grand Central Terminal’s main concourse (a terminal not a station because it’s the end of the line – who knew?), which is apparently a very popular meeting point for New Yorkers. So much so, that if you were to say ‘we’re meeting at the clock’, a true local would know where you meant amongst the millions of clocks in New York City.

More than just the start point, Grand Central Terminal was also a main feature of the tour; here we learned about the astronomical ceiling, how it was painted as an accidental mirror image, and how Cornelius Vanderbilt justified this mistake by claiming it was painted as if by the hand of God above us. We also discussed the unique designs of the many chandeliers, and played around with the acoustics at the Whispering Arch.

Heading out through a secret exit that most people miss because they assume it’s not public, we emerged on street level and headed towards our first food stop; Urbanspace. A trendy and ever-changing food court, Urbanspace is home to a range of artisan and classic eateries that produce chef-quality food on the go. Our destination was Roberta’s Pizza, where we each had a slice of incredible wood-fired margarita pizza, accompanied by a jug of tap water – New Yorkers are very proud of their tap water!

The second sneaky shortcut that Josh showed us on the tour was through Roosevelt Hotel, which took us almost directly to our next stop; the inconspicuous Church of Sweden. Looking more like something out of a Harry Potter movie than a NY establishment, the Svenska Kyrkan is open to the public, houses hundreds of books, and has a cafe that bakes fresh cinnamon and cardamom buns every day. I asked Josh how he knew about this place, but it seems to be a bit of a mystery even to him!Up next was the Rockefeller Center, where we admired the awesome mural American Progress by José Maria Sert, and learned about the controversial mural by Diego Rivera that came before it. The Rockefeller Center is yet another way of navigating through the city whilst avoiding the crowds, and we soon found ourselves in the Diamond District listening to fascinating stories about the history of the industry. The food stop on this part of the tour was another gem (excuse the pun), in the form of samsas from Taam-Tov, an Uzbeki restaurant above one of the retailers. You definitely wouldn’t know it was there unless someone told you!

We ate our samsas with hot sauce sitting in a small plaza just off West 47th St, chatting to Josh about the strange laws of New York City and the air rights of the various buildings around us. There were only five of us on the tour so it was easy to ask questions and get a good conservation going, straying away from the main theme of the tour – just what you want as a visitor to a new city. All this walking and eating had made us a little weary, so we headed into an unassuming office building for the next stop; coffee at Simon Sips. Josh discovered this place because his girlfriend worked in the building, so it’s a true local New Yorker haven!

Our final journey was through Times Square, one of the most iconic plazas of NYC. Josh was clearly quite passionate about the history of the Theatre District and the people who inspired many of the famous theatres, particularly the Lyceum Theatre, one of the oldest still operating in the city. The tour ended on a sweet note at Dough Doughnuts on 8th Avenue, inside the City Kitchen Food Market. Here we each got to choose a (huge) doughnut, so between the five of us we went for cinnamon sugar, Nutella, cheesecake (yes that’s right, a cheesecake doughnut), salted caramel chocolate, and dulce de leche. Bliss!

Food tours will always be my first choice for sightseeing in a new city, but this one was a cut above the rest with a great range of sweet and savoury, gourmet and street, and commercial vs no-frills. Big thanks to Josh for being such a friendly and enthusiastic tour guide, and I look forward to discovering more of New York’s wonderful food!