Food feast at Madison Sq Eats

So, I finished class early that Friday and after hearing that Madison Sq Eats was going on, me and Mona decided to check it out and it turned into constant eating lol. So Madison Sq Eats is basically two blocks near Madison Sq park where various stores set up mobile trucks and sell samples of their products. Places like wafels and dinges, momofuku milk bar, robicellis, milk truck etc. So, after looking around we decided to get a classic grilled cheese from Milk Truck.

It was gruyere cheese on a buttery levain bread or something. It was pretty good. I would say definitely not traditional. You have to try it to know what I'm talking about as I cant really describe the cheese. Just go try it to see what I mean. Was it worth $5.25? Not really.

So, Mona wanted Shake Shack so we went and got Shack Burgers and the 'Shroom burger which I never tried before. The Shack burgers I wrote about earlier but they were out of this world good. I dunno how they do it but that is no ordinary burger. The shrrom burger, though very good and cheesy and delicious, does not beat the Shack Burger in my opinion. So the 'Shroom burger is basically a portabello mushroom that's deep fried and stuffed with cheese (mozzarella?) with lettuce, tomato, and shack sauce. It's really good and OOZING with really good cheese. It's a great vegetarian option. Then, I heard good things about their concretes, especially this one called the Concrete Jungle which was made up of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, bananas, and peanut butter. I thought that the top was really good (as seen in the photo), there was a good amount of fudge, vanilla, peanut butter, and banana in every bite. But after a few bites there was no more banana and it just tasted like vanilla with fudge. They didn't mix it all the way so it stank after a few bites. I was really disappointed about that. So, that was just ok.

Then we went back to Robicelli's to get some sort of apple pie resembling cupcake. I think it was like an apple based cake with vanilla cream frosting and apple spices and caramel. It sounded really good. After biting into it, the apple flavor was very dominant. The cream was light too. and there was a lit piece of sugared apple on top too. It was pretty good, but nothing to talk about.

I also got my friend a voucher for pie slices so we picked up a slice of momofuku milk bar's crack pie which I heard was so addictive it was like crack (hence the name). I think it was just a buttery crust with a sweetened butter filling. Sounds nasty but they did something to that filling to make it taste good. I had a bite when it was cold and it was really melt in your mouth buttery. I imagine when it's warm, it's even better. It lived up to the hype. Then we saved the rest for the gift for our friend. And then we called it a day, as we had been very piggy. Overall, a great day filled with great food! It runs until mid-October so get there before they wrap it up!

Sticky Buns from Flour Bakery= Nice Buns!

Sorry in advance for the jumbled dates but I haven't updated in a while even though I had the pictures. I've been busy. Anyhow, while in Boston, I made it my mission to visit something featured on the Food Network being as they had described multiple places and since I would be there for two days and would not likely come back for a while, I had to get something off of my list. As it turns out, Flour Bakery was only ten minutes by car from the bus station we arrived at. I heard really good things about their sticky buns which were only served on weekends and apparently were so popular that you can even reserve them! And that;s what I did. I reserved four of those bad boys and took em home and waited til after dinner where we ate em nice and warm. Man, was this worth the trip!!! As you can see from the picture, all that caramel goo and walnuts look AH-MAZING. I was jumping in my chair waiting all day to try these babies. As soon as you bite into them, theyre so pillowy soft its ridiculous. And it's also kinda buttery in a sweet, good way. You also get a pleasant surprise of nuts in the dough as well as on the top. The buttery, soft bread combined with the sweet caramel goo and crunch of the walnuts made for a perfect bite. It threw Cinnabon outta the water. Seriously, the bars have been raised. Sorry, Cinnabon. If you're ever in the Boston area, seek these sticky buns out. They're worth it.

The NEW BIG GAY ICE CREAM SHOP!!!!

Sooooo, the sis and I were walking in the city looking for costumes for Halloween and stopped for some grub. She had pizza, I had Caracas (you can see the previous post for details about the deliciousness). Then, time for dessert. As you know, I like trying new things as there are so many places in new york that I need to visit and the list keeps growing longer. So, I heard that the Big Gay i ce cream Truch had a store with ice cream sandwiches and other treats and it was down the block from Caracas so I thought why not? So, they were out of there Lovelet ice cream sandwich from Melt Bakery so I decided to try the Mexican paleta from La Newyorkina as I heard their popsicles were awesome. They had a rainbow one that had layers of fruit flavors that sounded really good. It was strawberry, then apricot, pineapple, and kiwi. All in one popsicle! So I decided on that. It was really good for a popsicle. All of the fruit flavors were on point! So close to the actual fruit! and i would eat the popsicle sideways to get multiple flavors in one and the combos were really nice too. It wasn't too sweet either. So refreshing and fruity and perfect for the sunny weather. It was nice and interesting, but I didn't really see why they were so popular. Still good none the less.

Mona got the American Globes which was vanilla ice cream, sea salt, pretzel chunks, all dunked in chocolate. Oh my gee. That was the star. After I tried hers I wanted to toss my pospicle away and devour that thing! It was the perfect balance of sweet and salty, as I expected it would be. Eve nthough there was sea salt and pretzels which are salty too, it wasn't overpowering at all. The vanilla ice cream and chocolate balanced it out with sweetness. It was smooth and silky crunchy salty and sweet. I will definitely order again. Now that I don't have to chase down the truck, I can just come to the store! Check it outttt

Sundaes and Cones!!!!

So, I finished my first day of classes early and went chillin with the sis Mona. After an hour of singing our hearts out at karaoke, we were pretty hungry so we traveled to the good old east village for some grub before going home. We were unsure what we we wanted to eat and decided to just check out whatever was in the area as my sister's main desire was for some 16 handles so we would deal with any other food in the neighborhood. I was really craving a panini and we saw a pizza/cafe thing that did paninis a few blocks away. I just wanna say that I LOVE SUNDRIED TOMATOES!! like seriously, they might be my favorite vegetable. Lately, i've been having a certain sandwich combo a lot. I love it. I get grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella with some type of bread ( i really love it on a panini). it's like my favorite sandwich ever. it was soo good, but this one was nothing special so i'm not writing a post about it. I'm writing a post about the best thing I had all day. After that we went to 16 handles and got some froyo but it was just ok and then I had this chocolate pudding from Chickalicious Dessert Club which I blogged about before but it was too bitter for me (it was made of dark chocolate though). After we had ice cream from Sundaes and Cones, hands down we would've ditched the rest of the dessert we had all day for some more ice cream but we had no more money. I wanted to try every flavor but stuck to Tiramisu and Lychee.Lychee was ok but it wasn't a strong flavor. and tiramisu was pretty good. i heard toasted coconut was good but was still undecided. My sister got the toasted coconut scoop and mango scoop on a cone. It worked out cuz then I got to try two more flavors without asking. My god were those two so good. The toasted coconut had like some actual coconut flakes and some crunchies in it and screamed creamy coconut. and the mango flavor was soooo powerful you felt like you were eating a mango but just smoother. they complemented each other wonderfully. next time I might get tiramisu and will also try other flavors but I know if I wanna be safe, I'll go with those two. they were so delicious I will probably get the combo again after I try some other flavors. Now that I know their ice cream is this good, I'm going back for some whenever I have an ice cream craving and you should too. You'll thank me later.

(I didn't take a picture of the cone but for display purposes the one on the left is the toasted coconut and the orange one on the right is mango)

Wonton wrappers= Many creative desserts.

Now usually i only write about food that I believe other people can easily access. that's why i dont really write about a food i've made or had at someone's house because how is john doe gonna taste that deliciousness? however, after much thought, I have decided that i'll write about food that I have had that can't be bought if I tell you how you can experience that yummyness too. so i'll only write about it if i can give you the recipe and tell you how to make it. cuz otherwise there would be no point in just me writing about it if you cant taste it! case in point, wonton wrappers. I had heard about the versatility of wonton wrappers but haven't had the chance to get my hands on some for a while now so when my mom mentioned she would be making eggrolls, i got very excited! first i tried savory stuff. she made the eggroll filling (mainly just chopped up vegetables- your choice, we have celery,carrots, cabbage, etc) and shredded chicken and some noodles). but they wrap it and deep fry it. i sprayed a muffin pan with non stick and then scrunched the dough up and then filled it with the mix and baked it kinda like a tart. it was crunchy and just as good as its fried counterpart, frankly i liked it a lot better, much less greasy. then for dessert i did the same thing, but filled it up with fruit we had (we had several- blueberries, banana, peach were used) and a cream filling recipe that i kinda made up along the way that ended up tasting good (just cream cheese, a little ricotta, sugar, and some milk- you can taste it along the way to tweak it, i didn't use measurements). and ta da! fruit tarts, not as pretty as the ones in the store but still something. they were good. some of the fruits were tart but the cream filling complimented it very well and made it balanced. then i also made faux crepes by laying the square out and filling it with chocolate, banana, and peanut butter and then just folding it up into a triangle and baking it again. pretty good for at home stuff. if you ever have wonton wrappers on hand (get em at an asian store?- i dunno where my mom got them) try out this stuff and get creative with your own recipes too!

Bouchon Bakery: Best Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Everrrrrrr.

So on Friday, I was hanging out with Megan in Columbus circle because we decided to use a coupon for 2 hours of biking! We rented bikes from some place near central park and rode our pars through central park, pausing to take lots of pictures! After returning the bikes, we were both very hungry by then as we had both not eaten breakfast. While being in the columbus circle area and recently watching a segment on nbc about the best grilled cheese sandiwhiches in new york, I figured, let's go to Bouchon Bakery! I remember last time I went to Bouchon I hadn't even bothered to look at their food because I was focused on the desserts. I found them to be ok, not out of this world, hardly worth the trek back. However, this grilled cheese sandiwhich was AMAZING!!! THE BEST GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH I'VE EVER HAD!!! Doesn't it LOOK delicioso??!!

It's a different kind of grilled cheese sandiwhc, not your typical sandiwhich made with Kraft cheese. It has fontina and gruyere cheese thats melted between two pieces of buttery golden brown bread. I was really loving the bread. It was crispy and buttery and something about it was just gooood. And the cheeses were superb! Ooey gooey and perfectly melted, it was a new (and great!) experience. The grilled cheese sandwhich came with San Marzano Roma tomato soup. Now, normally I'm not a tomato soup fan. I think I tried it once and wasn't digging it cuz come on, it's just tomatoes. But, this tomato soup ROCKED! It tasted like fresh tomatoes and it was super smooth. Dunk some of the grilled cheese sandwhich in that soup, take a bite, and it is just pure deliciousness.Yum! The whole thing came out to about $12 which is kinda expensive but definitely worth it. It's tasty and filling, and I will definitely be going back again soon!

Circles Cafe!!!

Sooo, I haven't written on this blog for a while. Again! But, come on, it's Ramadan. so we haven't really been eating at fancy places or anything worth writing about. But, me and Mona decided to do some late night eatin'!!! Cuz we think it's cool. lol. So, we rushed to Carvel before they closed (11pm) to get an ice cream cone cuz I have been craving it. Now, I'm about to digress a bit. This post is about Circles, but I MUST mention the ice cream at Carvel. We (well, me most of the time) always get the cookies and caramel ice cream on a cone when we go to carvel. I think it's vanilla ice cream with caramel swirls and cookie pieces (not dough, like actual cookie pieces) and it is like omg, so good. the vanilla with that smooth liquid caramel laced through and when you get a gorge of the smooth caramel and crunchy cookie- it is unbelievable! go get some. i think it depends on the location though so go to the carvel in bay ridge on 73rd st and 3rd ave. also, their ice cream cakes are the BOMB!! i get it every birthday and it NEVER disappoints. I could probably eat a whole cake. it's that good. go try that for yourself too. words don't do it justice. Back to circles. So, after our little ice cream cone bit I said I wanna do something like go to a diner at like midnight cuz i find it cool. but there weren't very many open in our neighborhood. We would go to one called Emphasis but quite frankly, theyre food stinks, and they got a B on their health report sooo PASS. I've always wanted to try Circles so we came there and they happened to be open for about twenty minutes. I looked at the menu outside so we knew we were getting the English burger- a sirlion burger on an english muffin served with lettuce,tomato, onion and french fries (we added cheese cuz hello CHEESE FRIES!!!!).

   


The people were really nice even though we were going right before they were closing. I've never had a burger on an english muffin and it wasn't so bad. to me bread is bread. doused that sucker in ketchup and call it a day. i split it with mona and it was gooood. just a good ol burger with fries. then we did some walking and went home. A good day.