New York Night Photography & Ritz-Carlton Central Park

In this article, I wanted to share some of the night photos I took in New York, Ritz-Carlton Central Park, and few of delicious restaurants with an exception of image below, which were taken by my Samsung S8.

DUMBO Washington Street

I decided to do a weekend trip to New York because I needed to use my free night certificate from Ritz-Carlton credit card before it expired. I could extend it for another year, but I couldn't find any better location based on my travel itinerary in 2019. As a result, I ended up booking one night at Ritz-Carlton Central Park and hoped that I will get a park view room. Unfortunately, I only got a basic deluxe room even though I had a platinum premier elite membership with Marriott.

Bloomberg Tower

General William Tecumseh Sherman Statue

Ritz-Carlton Central Park
I was not impressed with this property, but it was still within my expectations. That's being said, the space was considerably quite large given that it was in Manhattan. However, the property was so popular and located right next to the central park, so there were many customers sitting in the lobby area and waited for their rooms to be ready. If you want to come here during a holiday, then you should expect the service to be relatively slow. The lounge and SPA located on the second floor. Additionally, few things you should know about Ritz-Carlton in general:

• They don't let you use the suite upgrade certificate
• They don't provide lounge access or free breakfast even if you are platinum member or above
• Redeemed room will only grant you one night credit instead of two

Lobby area - you can order something to drink or eat here. Restaurant is on the back.

Elevator hallway

Deluxe Room

Deluxe Room

Deluxe Room - King bed

Deluxe Room

Bathroom - restroom is on the left hand side

Desk

Closet

More drinks in the drawer under the television

Television desk full view

Night Photograph Spots

Some of the benefits to photograph at night:

• Avoid the crowds because there are always full of tourists in New York
• Lack of traffic, you won't have to move continuously
• Able to produce less commonly shots 

DUMBO Washington Street

Near Empire Fulton Ferry Park - Right in front of West Elm store

Brooklyn Bridge Park - Pier 1 Panoramic Viewpoint

Brooklyn Bridge

DUMBO Washington Street

Near Empire Fulton Ferry Park - Right in front of West Elm store

Flatiron Building

Sunset at Brooklyn Bridge Park - Old Pier 1

Restaurants

Ichiran Ramen

By far Ichiran is still my favorite ramen in the States. The combination of its saltiness and richness is perfect for my taste. A lot of people would rate Totto ramen higher, but it is totally subjective. However, if you haven't tried Ichiran, you must give it a try before you rank your favorite ramen places! In term of price, I think it's relatively quite expensive for a bowl of ramen, $18.90, but it's expected within New York. On the other hand, it has no tipping establishment policy, so I enjoy coming here.

Strong, Extra Rich, Medium Minced Garlic, With Scallion and Chashu, 2x Spicy, and Soft Noodles

Totto Ramen

When I first came here few years ago, I really thought it was the best ramen in New York. However, this time around I felt like something has changed. The broth was extremely heavy to me, so it sort of put off my appetite. Another issue was that you would see full of people waiting in line outside the store, space was tiny and it was very hot inside. Nonetheless, I still like Totto, just not as much as Ichiran. I dislike their egg though, unacceptable!

Ivan Ramen

Another highly rated ramen restaurant, founded by Ivan Orkin. It also appeared in the episode 4 season 3 from Chef's Table. I decided to come here and gave it a try. The place was crowded at 7pm when I arrived, and I left my name and number to one of their staff. An hour later, they texted me that the table was ready. I ordered a Spicy Red Chili Ramen, $16, and I thought it was just average.

Spicy Red Chili Ramen

Ikinari Steak

One of my lovely steakhouse restaurant located in East Village. When I first came here few years ago, there was no seat in the restaurant, and customers had to stand and ate their steaks. Nowadays, there are seats just like every other restaurants, so you no longer have to stand and eat your meals anymore. The interesting part was the variety of sauces they had to go with the steaks. One of them was wasabi! At first, it might sound weird to eat your steak with wasabi, but it actually turns out to be unexpectedly nice. I also like to add some garlic on top of my steak along with their Ikinari sauce. I do want to mention that there are two other ramen restaurants located right next to this place, Zundo-Ya and Ippudo. I would rate them highly as well, but Ichiran would still be my forever number one! At Ikinari, you will order the choice of your steak at the kitchen counter, and other side dishes with the staff. Price is on the slightly higher end for a casual restaurant in my opinion, average around $35.

10oz Ribeye

Garlic Pepper Rice, $8. It's not available during lunch.