Thursday, September 29, 2011

bugers 4ever

I don't think I can ever eat too many hamburgers. Gotta love that Asian metabolism...or whatever it is that is keeping me from reaching a dangerous size.



This burger is from New York Burger Co. This burger falls into a different category than the one from Paul's, but I don't really know how to describe it. It's not really a greasy diner burger or the kind of patty, cheese, bun burger that tastes like its been cooked in butter sent from heaven. But it's also not some gourmet kobe beef burger from a nice restaurant, obviously. I guess it's that weird in-between burger that restaurant chains have that don't can't get too fancy but want to be better than trashy, so they give their burgers titles, like this one the "Chelsea Burger." I have no idea how onion rings and a chipotle honey sauce epitomizes Chelsea in a burger, but that's what it is. I thought it was good, and the sort of sweet-spiciness was nice too. I don't know how to describe the way the meat tastes different than a Pauls burger, but it does. Maybe it just tastes more like beef? I have no clue. It's enormous.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

more food from the summer

I didn't want to put up a picture of my dinner or lunch today because I had Chipotle in a bowl and that just looks like mush, and my dinner was same thing as "Dinner with Molly" except with different flavors and it didn't look nice. I made some soy ginger salmon that I rubbed with brown sugar, then marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. It was good, but I think I went a little bit overboard with the sodium...I'll watch out next time. I also had green beans, which I guess I am also allergic to because I am so itchy right now.


Neal made california rolls this summer.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

blast from the recent past

I don't have any pictures from food I ate today because I wasn't very hungry all day and only ate some cauliflower and and other miscellaneous snack-type things. I was going to make this ginger salmon, which is marinating in the fridge, but decided not to because I am trying this thing where I don't eat if I'm not hungry. It's a crazy concept and actually requires way more self control than I thought. Who knew

Corned beef and tongue sandwich from Carnegie Deli. Holy cow, these sandwiches are so outrageously large. Why? I could feed myself for a week on this sandwich. I don't really remember how to this tasted. I mean, I've had it before and I liked it so I ordered it again and I liked it again, but I don't remember the specifics. The only thing that got me was the tongue. It tastes really good and I have had tongue several times before, but this time it just looked SO MUCH like a tongue. like when all the pieces were stacked on each other, I felt like I could see the whole tongue just flopping on my sandwich. I could even see the little taste bud bits, gross. I don't think this will stop me from eating tongue again, but I think next time it will have to be a little less recognizable.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Dinner with Julia

I took Julia to Costco for her first time. Then this dinner happened. Roasted garlicky blue potatoes (thx Jermy), asparagus, this steak cooked in butter. Yup

Dinner with Molly

Salmon, garlicky green beans, mashed potatoes

Going to Costco again, I need a life

Sunday, September 25, 2011

leftover breakfast

Leftover mashed potatoes turned into potato pancakes. One with mushrooms and bell peppers and the other with mushy pears because I didn't have apple sauce. The pear one was sort of weird because the mashed potatoes actually have some mashed parsnips in them too. I don't think I'll do that again.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

NYC's best burger, apparently

Ugh, I don't even have the energy to write about this burger. I'm so full from eating it that just thinking about how it tastes is making me fuller. I don't feel well.

On 2nd Ave & St. Marks Place


For some reason, I didn't think 1/2 a pound of meat was that much. Here is a news flash: it is.
This is just a plain cheeseburger with grilled onions and pickles. That glop is mayo, but I didn't use all of it, too much. If you want tomatoes and lettuce, it's an extra .75 cents, not necessary for this burger. I think this is the best burger I have ever had. Picking the best burger is sort of difficult since there are so many different types, but I generally like the greasy diner burgers the most, and this falls into that category, so it wins. The patty was HUGE so huge and juicy. It was definitely bigger than the bun, which really lacked the structural integrity to support such a patty, but I thought that was ok and half the fun. I don't even know how to describe the taste...I guess like, when you're drunk and you get a so-so or bad fast food burger but in the moment it tastes like the best thing you've ever eaten and it just melts in your mouth like butter. It tastes like that except that you are sober and its juicy, delicious goodness is all real. It's a really basic burger and the ingredients aren't the greatest, but somehow it is the greatest food to ever reach your mouth. The fries were pretty whatever. Not bad, not good, I wouldn't get them again because it was just way too much to eat.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Pork chops with pears in a balsamic vinegar with brown sugar reduction that isn't reduced all the way. On wilted arugula with mashed potatoes. Made this with Jeremy, haven't cooked with him in forever. The new Neal?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Lunch

Made myself this ham sandwich for lunch today, but I ate it before I even left my house to go to my internship. Whoops, frozen yogurt for lunch instead.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Hasaki

The East Village is littered with Japanese restaurants!! I went to Hasaki because according to David, it's the best and he loves sushi more than anybody I know.

Clockwise: Yellowtail roll, something I can't remember, salmon and salmon roe and shiso, spicy tuna roll. It was all delicious and fresh. I really liked the salmon roe and shiso together, and I think that was the best spicy tuna roll I've had. That's all I have to say about that. I could play the "I'm Asian" card and pretend to know about sushi, but I really don't.

Grilled banana and sesame ice cream. This was so good! I thought it would be mushy on mush and all too soft, but it wasn't at all. I know ice cream isn't crunchy, but the sesame make it seem that way and it's nice with the warm, soft banana.

Also, am I on a roll with keeping this thing updated or what? But I also think I am less funny now that I'm trying to have a daily blog. I can only bring the jokes so often.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Zito's in Park Slope

I thought I had posted this already, but I guess not. Actually, it's good because I don't know what picture I would have posted today and that would have been a bummer. Especially since I am going to try to post everyday because I like the satisfaction of not seeing my blog views plummet the next day on my Google Analytics chart. I also feel like my blog is turning into one big Yelp review.

Zito's is an Italian sandwich shop that opened recently in Park Slope. Mel and I went there the first week it was open, so they didn't have any beer available yet. They also have some other food besides sandwiches like arancini and proscuitto wrapped Italian pretzels! Also, if it matters to you, I think that they get most of their ingredients locally, but I'm not 100% sure.

I got the meatball sub. It was huge! It's definitely enough for 2 people, and is cheap for how enormous it is. It was a while ago, so I no longer have the right adjectives in my memory to accurately describe how it tasted, but I do know that it was good. The cheese was very melty and stringy and got every where but I like that. It's actually disappointing when cheese doesn't do that in a hot sandwich. Melissa got the chicken parm sandwich, but that one was not as tasty and juicy as mine. But it was still delicious and definitely not dry, which can be a big problem with chicken parm sandwiches.

Monday, September 19, 2011

sandwiches

Bea and Neal left for Germany today so I made them airplane sandwiches. I felt like a mom sending her children to first grade or something.



I also made myself this breakfast sandwich

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Temple Ganesh Canteen

I went to Queens again today to get some good food. That borough rules, there is every type of food you can imagine. It's too bad it's not closer. Neal and I have been meaning to go to this place, but it never happened until today, his last day before moving to Berlin!! And I am bummed out because he has been my #1 food buddy for a long time, but he's moving on to the land of beer and sausage so it can't be so bad.

There is this Hindu temple in Murray Hill called Temple Ganesh. In the basement of the temple is this canteen where you can get really cheap Indian food. It's all vegetarian, but it will fill you up real fast. The portions are enormous. I don't really know much about Indian food, so I don't have much to say other than it was delicious. And Anthony Bourdain agrees, so I can't be wrong.

I forget what this is called, but they are like donuts, but a little more dense and savory, not sweet. They are actually pretty bland on their own but are good vehicles for the sauces. I have no idea what the sauces are, yogurt based, I guess. The vegetables on the left are a soup type thing, maybe? At least that's how I approached it, but it was a little too spicy for me to handle.

Rava dosa. I think that basically means this dosa has parsley and onions in it. It's thinner and crispier than the other dosas we ordered.

Butter masala dosa and a mango lassi. The mango lassi was so rich and fruity and cheap! $1 for one of those. I also thought butter dosa meant it would be like..infused with butter, but they really just meant it comes with butter slapped on top. I think I prefer that. On the inside is a potato medley.

These are samosas and yogurt rice. The samosas were alright, a little bit cold, but probably since I didn't eat them right away and waited to for all my food to show up first. But the yogurt rice is SO good! I didn't know what to expect, but I got it anyway. It is a little creamy, like risotto or something, but has some tang to it. It really helps to cut the spiciness of some of the other food.

Uttapam with a sauce to eat with it...I think that unlike the butter masala dosa, the filling came on the side. It's in the bowl on the left and is like a curry. It looks like the soup on the right, but is a different consistency. I can't remember if they tasted similar. The uttapam is like a dosa, but is more pancake-y and thick. It reminded me a little of Ethopian flat bread because it had a little bit of a sour taste to it. But very very slight, and I actually liked it.

There was also some tamarind rice, which I only had a bite of and it was pretty spicy. Then there was a cardamom and mango lassi ice cream bar. I tried the mango lassi one. All fruit type drinks should come frozen and on a stick.

I want to come back here again and again. It's a little bit of a walk from the Flushing-Main stop off the 7, maybe a mile or so, but you'll definitely need the walk after your meal. I have mostly had Indian food that has meat and is based in a lot of cream, so this was a little new to me. It was a lot more starchy and vegetable-based than other things I have tried. Maybe the food I ate today is from a different region than the other types of Indian food I've tried.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

things i ate in the east village

Ok, I just spent way too much time trying to figure out what version of the word "hedonism" I should use to describe my week of food indulgence but turns out I'm not smart enough to figure that out so I'm not going to use that word after all. This week I made a lot of excuses for eating way more than my stomach and arteries can handle. But it's getting cold and I need to bulk up for the winter.


From Veniero's on 11th & 1st...so many Italian desserts. Jeremy and I went there after a big bowl of ramen from Minca. Even though it was late so many people were in there and every person that came in said, "This is my favorite place in the world!" This is a chocolate cup with sponge cake inside and pistachio creme (cream?). The cake layered between the pistachio creme. It was light and airy, which was nice compared to the creme since it was actually thicker than I thought it would be, and it was fun to eat with the crunchy chocolate shell. But I think it was a little too much (sweet) to handle for one person or even two. But also I like to end my meals on a savory note so maybe it's just me. We also had a carrot cake, which was not as spice-y as other ones I've had and a mini raspberry tart. I like the tart the most and would probably get more of those next time. We had pizza later.

From Mark on St. Mark's Place between 2 & 3rd, I think. Sliders with cheese and onions, plus a huge order of fries. God, this girl next to us didn't even eat all of her fries or get them to go. She even had this hungry, whimpering dog and didn't give him any either. I would not be her friend. These sliders are nothing special if you want a good burger, but they're really perfect if you're drunk/starving/hungry/bored...just some soft, greasy little patties that melt in your mouth in a good way and not in the way those nasty White Castle sliders do. Plus if you go at happy hour you can get good beer for cheap to balance it out or something like that. The fries were good too, maybe a little greasy but I liked that they were skin-on fries. They also have 4 different sauces: BBQ, Jalepeno, Chipotle, and regular ketchup which is good if your food is starting to taste a little too satly. The jalepeno is spicy!

From Bite on 14th & 3rd. I went in here randomly because I was hungry and it was the first place I saw. This is an 1/2 an "exotic tuna sandwich" and a salad with balsamic dressing. The salad is good, but just like anything I'd make at home in 5 seconds but the sandwich was so so tasty. I don't really know what made it "exotic" but it's probably the curry, raisins, and walnuts which sounds weird but tastes great. Plus I didn't feel like I was gagging on mayo salad with tuna chunks, which is what happens a lot with tuna sandwiches. This was all $7.50 which I think is a good deal for how much food you get. You can also get soup instead of salad, which I'm gonna do now that summer finally peaced out of NYC.

Not pictured: the multiple slices of greasy, over loaded with meat toppings pizza I ate even though I was not even hungry. Having cheap pizza all around me is a curse. I learned that in Rome and now I am learning it again.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

brunch

I met KJ for brunch at this place called Maggie Brown in Clinton Hill and it was so great. I sort of regretted my brunch choice when I saw this guy eating a hamburger with a fried egg on top, especially when the egg started getting really drippy. If he had a beard and the egg got into it, I would have been grossed out. But it fell very gracefully onto the plate and I'm pretty sure he mopped it up with his burger. What a great meal.

Breakfast burrito with eggs, cheddar, chipotle mayo and salsa. Plus a salad and homefries.


This was mine-- corned beef hash with 2 fried eggs + chives (which really didn't do anything except make it look nice) and a homemade biscuit. I wish there had been more biscuits so I had a reason to eat all of that butter. It was so flaky and sweet and perfect. The corned beef has was also really excellent, not super oily or salty or too soft. The whites of the eggs were a little less cooked than I would have liked, but once it's spilling everywhere and mixed with the rest of the food, who cares.

I'm glad I got off my lazy ass and walked here because then I realized that even though there is nothing around me within a 7 block radius, everything good is only a 15 minute walk away. I think I got so used to having everything I need around the corner in my old neighborhood that I forgot what it was like to live in Providence and have to walk everywhere for everything. Using my legs...what a great idea.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

I spent way too much time indoors this past week...unemployment and rain are real good reasons to never shower or change my clothes. Gross. But now I have things to do again, including eating all the food I compulsively bought at the grocery store (4 trips in 3 days, BORED).


From Nick's Burger Joint with Joey. I imagine this is what RISD cafeteria food would look like if it was served in a diner, which I guess is just a few steps up. Egg salad BLT...so many of my meals were used up on these sandwiches at the Met. This one was good, nothing special, but also this sort of sandwich is not really a special thing anyway. I wish it wasn't cut into fourths...it was too hard to eat my left overs on the train ride home.

This omelete looks huge but it was really only 1 egg. With sausage, tomatoes, onions, avocados, and little bit of goat cheese hiding in there.

Lots going on in this salad bowl. It's like Cobb salad, who are you kidding when you order it and say, "Oh well, I'll get fries too since I'm eating a salad." But I really wanted vegetables and proscuitto and eggs so I just put it all in a bowl. It worked out fine for me!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

new food, new home

I moved into my new apartment this past Thursday and it was the longest day of my life, holy cow. The movers were 9 hours late and I spent a lot of that time alternating between fake crying and yelling on the phone with the most miserable people ever. Customer service was not my friend this week.

I went on a (grocery) shopping spree to help me get over the nightmare that was moving day. I bought this salmon which has dijon mustard on it from Trader Joe's, but it was a little bit bland. I think I'll do something to it when I eat the other piece.

SoCal dog plus fried pickles from this hot dog place in Clinton Hill...I forget what it's called. This hot dog was alright, it was good, but not memorable and the toppings didn't really make it stand out like they probably wanted it to. But there were also some other hot dog options that looked better and probably would have tasted great, judging by what the other people were ordering. If I go back, I'm going to get the deep fried, bacon wrapped hot dog with gorgonzola. The fried pickles were good, but the batter didn't stick to all of them. I don't think I've ever had the perfect fried pickle though.

Lobster roll from Lobster Join in Greenpoint. This place is open til 2 AM! Probably because you can count on lots of drunk people to eat $18 lobster rolls. They are super generous with their lobster portions. It's so soft and sweet and just melts in your mouth. It's also not heavy on the mayo and the buns are perfectly toasty and buttery. The fries and coleslaw are whatever, but who cares. Too bad I don't know what's up with taking good pictures or else you could really see how good this lobster roll looks instead of overly fried fries.

Sushi art by David, not the actual rolls though. Or maybe it is. He can make pie too, you know.