American diners can be great value for money, especially in New York, but despite trying many of them this time around I can’t say I found a favourite.  I did find however that my mum was right and the chilli is often the best thing on the menu!  And if you don’t have a full on American diner breakfast at least once during your stay you’ll be seriously missing out.  (Although just one word of warning, for some reason, bacon is always burnt to within an inch of its life in New York.)

Although Rosa Mexicano was a random restaurant picked out of a guidebook (DK Eyewitness Top Ten doing sterling service as usual) when our first choice was er... unavailable (due to a strike), I instantly fell in love with it.  The decor is just stunning, the hostess friendly and super helpful (“er... excuse me, we have a group of about twelve, do you have room?”), all in all, a great find.

I loved that they made the guacamole fresh for us on a little cart when ordered, I loved that they serve beer cocktails (even though mine was so disgusting I had to swap it for a Corona), I loved my chicken taco (the best taco I have ever eaten) and I loved their quirky dessert menu (an ice cream with candied bacon!) even though I was too stuffed at this point to order any.

This was definitely my top pick of New York, but I have to mention some of the top choices if you’re not looking for an elegant Mexican restaurant.

If you need something healthy to counteract all the saturated fat in your diner meals, then check out the  WholeFoods Market at the Time Warner Centre (not in Times Square as you may think!) Columbus Circle and their great sushi counter.  Pretty pricey for a supermarket but very popular!

If you want to try out the red bean buns that I raved about from Beijing, then head to the Fay Da Bakery on Mott Street in Chinatown (or one of the other locations) for ridiculously cheap buns!

And of course you have to try the cannoli at Rocco’s, but you may want to eat a lot of salad beforehand - or maybe go on a juice fast or something, because this is seriously calorific!  I absolutely loved the cannoli but have to say that I’ve also had pretty amazing cannoli in London at the illy cafe stand at Euston station - definitely worth a stop off if you can’t make it to Manhattan.

And of course, how could I forget... Famiglia, the great pizza place we found in Times Square.  For a fast food type, pizza by the slice, it really was out of this world.  My favourite - the mozzarella and tomato - heavenly.

Oh and my best drink tip.  For some reason pretty much every bar in New York (and diners) has... a blender.  Which means that you can indulge in the heaven that is frozen margaritas, or a cocktail made of Oreos, vanilla vodka, vanilla ice cream and anything highly calorific you fancy!  Enjoy!

And last but not least, my search for the perfect New York cheesecake, yes, I made it to Lady M on the Sunday, but... they had just sold the last piece of cheesecake, so I had to make to with their vanilla cream puffs.  Were they worth the journey - absolutely.  Like the very best profiterole you’ve ever had, that doesn’t even need chocolate sauce!  And the address - if you’re looking for it... 41 East 78th Street, (between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue), New York, NY 10075