What happened to me guys? All the fun has been sucked out of writing about food and eating .I blame Yelp. JK! It's still fun! But I just feel way less inclined to be doing it, which would seem sad but it's ok because I am doing other things like making a lot more art and also it leaves me more time to just eat and eat. It is summer, after all. And it has been the most mellow summer ever, meaning a lot of snacks and keeping my fingers crossed that I can convince my metabolism that my sporadic trips to the gym are actually enough to keep me from turning into a pile of jelly. Yup, here's some things I ate:
Hmmm, what is this? Kinda hard to say, but I am 99.9% sure it's a plate of food from one of Molly and Jeremy's BBQ. There is most likely a hot dog hiding under some of those vegetables. I still think it looks nice.
I ate a strawberry mochi! Mochi is so crazy dense, like way denser than bagels! "Dense" is also not a new cool word that I am trying out, like it is actually deceptive heavy and I always think that taking one down in just two bites will be fine but then it feels like eating squishy rocks that taste good.
It's hard to find really good fish tacos. I did not find them here (Cafe Habana, I think) but they were still pretty alright. If you put crunchy vegetables on top of most fried stuff it generally turns out ok. This is why I think most hot dog places do pretty well, even though hot dogs are not fried...but now I am thinking that's a good idea.
So this restaurant called "The Runner" opened up on my block, literally 30 seconds of walking from my house. I laughed at it because it sounds kinda dumb and also because I was sort of pretending to be like "WELL THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD" even though I have only lived in this neighborhood for a year and also am totally part of the reason that people say things like "there goes the neighborhood." But like many people who live in New York, I like to act like I have lived here forever and am totally shocked by all the changes this city's neighborhoods constantly go through.
So anyway, after I decided not to be an ass, Melissa and I tried this place out and it's really good. The food is great, it's nice and airy in there, it's REALLY close to our place...and now I have been there a bajillion times. Above is the short ribs which are braised with coca cola, not sure what else goes in there but that's all I heard and I was sold. Melissa had the steak frites, which is usually my first choice but not this day.
I like putting smiles on my food, partially because I am still 6 years old on the inside and also because I eat alone a lot and it's nice to have some company. That's not supposed to sound sad because I think it's kinda cute...
This is an open faced grilled cheese DUH! But guess what the secret is? I put grated Parmesan cheese on the other side and it gets nice and crispy. It's how I accidentally learned how to make cheese chips. I will tell you about that some day. Like maybe when I am on my death bed, and my children are clutching my hands and my last words will be telling them how to make cheese chips. That kind of sounds like a nice way to go.
YAY HAMBURGER!!!! I always pick the hamburger.
I came into Dudley's, I said I was hungry, and this is what they made me-- bacon wrapped shrimps with mango salsa and an avocado toast. I forget the drink, but it was probably great as always.
This was at Dudley's too, called the Moon Door or something...I actually didn't like it very much because it was kind of too floral-y for me, if I remember correctly. But it's sooooo pretty. And if I had objective tastebuds, I know I could say that this was still really good for someone out there.
Jeremy had another pig roast, which was, once again, the highlight of my summer so far. You can read about the last one
here.
HELLO PIG (thank you and sorry pig)
There have been some short-lived moments of me feeling "healthy!" so I eat things like this for lunch and imagine that I am satisfied. But then after a while, I remember that I hate radishes unless they are covered in butter and salt and that plums actually make my tongue very itchy and the skin is sour...and I return back to my trashy summer eating (see below).
I forget what Kat and I did this day. Pretty sure we just drove around eating 7-11 food, which was pretty cool. The Doritos Loaded were horrible because the cheese was not melted at all and it was just kinda a lukewarm chunk of soggy, breaded Doritos cheese, but I would try it again and heat them up in my oven at home. For research purposes. Those hot dog flavored chips, on the other hand, were AMAZING. They tasted exactly like hot dogs and I loved them.
This tomato looked like a butt. Then I cut it up and put it in a salad so nobody would have to look at something so vulgar. ;-)
A cauliflower sandwich with mushroom spread and kale from Court Street Grocers. It was such a great sandwich but I must always remember that at heart, I am 101% a carnivore and I will always regret not getting the meatier option.
More amazing chips-- crab chips (awesome), honey bbq flavored cheese doodles (weird), and nori/seaweed flavored lays (also awesome! like hot dog potato chip levels of good)
Some sausages in the grass from Jeremy's BBQ! I was just lying around in the grass, loving the fact that I was somewhere where lying in the grass did not involve picking up small bits of trash and accepting that there is no patch of grass that is not interspersed several dry patches of plain dirt...and then Anne Marie gave us these sausages. It was like Christmas.
There is a shaved ice place on East Broadway
Snow pea leaf dumplings at Nom Wah--this was the first time I've had them and now I have to get them always.
Pizza from Franny's. Now I can cross that place of my list of pizza places I haven't tried. It was great but the decor was so strange (like a fancy bathroom interior) and also everyone had to wear ugly t-shirts. Normally I don't care about that stuff at all but this time I was weirded out by it. I don't know why. Oops
My studio is right by Lorimer Market, which is a great butcher shop with great sandwiches.
This is a fried chicken sandwich from this restaurant in Williamsburg that I always think is called "Diner" but the sign actually just says "Dinner" and I have no idea what the name of the restaurant is. It has cute wall paper and a ~rustic~ interior--do you know where this place is? Anyway, the chicken was nice and crunchy, plus super juicy as well, but it was too big for that sandwich. Not everything has to become a sandwich.
Sometimes I think that Koreans must be geniuses. Sure they (we? I am only half) study really hard, work really hard, etc etc...but none of that makes me think that. But then I have naeg myun on a hot ass day and I'm like "OMG HALF OF MY ANCESTORS MUST HAVE BEEN GENIUSES." Because it's cold noodles in an iced beef broth! And even as it melts, it stays so nice and cold, plus the crunchy cucumbers and pear and radishes--it is the perfect summer dish. In Korea (and super legit Korean restaurants) they serve this with yook soo, which is a hot beef broth, in little cups or in a tea pot. You follow up all the icy coldness running down your throat with some hot broth, it really works out.
This looks like it was a "dark food" moment but while I was in my fake "healthy" stage. You can tell because there's all this fruit and popchips (which I buy instead of regular potato chips when I am feeling guilty) but then you see the cold french fries and steak poking out. Life is all about balance.
Oh eventually I did get the steak frites at the Runner.
