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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.