wafels and dinges

location

website

the dangers of watching foodtv. last weekend, derek and i were in our comfortable and warm apartment, hiding from the cold. we ended up watching an episode of throwdown with bobby flay that featured the big yellow wafels and dinges truck. the belgian waffles looked so amazing that i immediately checked twitter to see where the truck was located. it happened to be parked in the west village, which is a short cab ride away from our apartment.

after stopping at BLT burger for some dinner (derek can't eat sweets for a meal), we walked over to the yellow truck. despite the freezing cold temps, there was a short line of eager wafel fans. derek and i each ordered the wafel that we saw on foodtv - the famous "liege" wafel with one "dinges" (topping). we chose "speculoos" - a spread that they make out of belgian cookies. it's peanut butter-like in consistency, but the taste lies somewhere between graham crackers and gingersnap cookies. the liege wafel itself was incredibly dense - it could easily be a meal in itself for me, at least - and there are bits of caramelized sugar hidden in and around the wafel. yum.

resto

new york, ny

website

i love the rustic interior of this restaurant. it feels like we're sitting in a pacific northwest lodge and that if we looked out the window, we'd see an evergreen forest instead of apartment buildings. makes me a little homesick. i've been here a few times for dinner, which was amazing - pork toast with caviar, anyone? the theme is belgian, but the real focus is fresh quality ingredients from local farms (um, as local as you can get to manhattan). derek and i have been searching for a great brunch spot in our neighborhood and i think this might be it.

everything on the menu looked so good that it took me about 10-15 minutes to decide what to order. eventually, derek had to pull the menu away from me. i had the eggs benedict - two eggs over two belgian waffles stuffed with ham, served with a side salad and home fries. the waffles had a hint of sweetness so i decided to treat those as dessert and eat the eggs with the crispy onion-y home fries. the fries were a little salty, but matched well with the eggs. the waffles went very well with the excellent bowl-sized "cup" of coffee. (i think they ship their coffee in from portland!) derek had the chicken and waffles (pictured), which were pretty darn good. one of the menu items that caught my eye was the "belgian hangover pasta" with vermont ham, gruyere, sunny egg, and black pepper. i may have to drink myself into a hangover just so i can order that the next day.