dominique ansel bakery

new york, ny

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jenny introduced me to this bakery when i visited new york city eons ago, long before dominique ansel invented its infamous cronut. i know. that's how far behind i am on my blogging. which is why i've adopted this new lazy format. type up some random thoughts. throw a big picture up. voila. blogpost done.

emack & bolio's

new york, ny

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perfect snack when you're shopping in soho on a hot summer day. my favorites are the mud pie (coffee with chocolate chips and oreos) and the grasshopper pie (creme de menthe with chocolate chips and oreos). and they don't skimp on the oreos - lots of big chunks.

lure fishbar

soho, nyc

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as i mentioned last october, derek and i had promised to meet up with hana for a meal in the city. she recommended this great brunch spot, lure fishbar, a nautical-themed restaurant in soho. the restaurant takes advantage of its basement location by decorating the place like the downstairs of a yacht. not that i've ever been downstairs in a yacht, but i've seen some in movies.

it was empty when we went, around 11 am on a sunday. my guess is that the usual crowd was still recovering from the night before. the menu, full of classic comfort food, could definitely cure any hangover. for example, i ordered the biscuits with sausage gravy. soft scrambled eggs on the side. the potatoes were carb overkill, but everything else was delicious. derek had a burger, per usual. if i remember correctly, he enjoyed it, but it was quite a few burgers ago ...

heartschallenger

mulberry & spring

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jenny and i were shopping in nolita when we came cross this little pink truck parked near desalvio playground. we were intrigued by the cute truck and its unique menu, which includes mochi ice cream and neapolitan ice cream sandwiches.

jenny tried the orange popsicle, which had frozen chunks of orange inside - she said it was very refreshing. my green tea popsicle (which was $2) was a tiny little popsicle, but delicious. it was essentially rich green tea ice cream on a stick. yum. it's a perfect little treat on a hot summer day.

lombardi's pizza

new york, ny

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one of derek's favorite pizza places. it's located right where chinatown and little italy intersect with the nolita and soho shopping districts. usually there's a crowd of tourists outside and a ridiculously long wait. the hostess actually has a loudspeaker that she uses to call out the names of parties. it's a nice corner - if you have to wait, sit on a bench outside and people-watch or do some quick shopping on mulberry and mott. but for some reason, on sunday night at 7 pm, it was only a five minute wait for the two of us.

perfect crust - thin and chewy. the sauce was a little too sweet for me, but i enjoyed the crispy and spicy pepperoni. i'd probably avoid it if there was more than a 20 minute wait. note: this place is cash-only. there's an ATM located outside, but since an ATM surcharge of $2.00 can buy an order of zha man tou, i ran to the nearest citibank on broadway, just south of broome.

blue ribbon sushi

new york, ny

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turns out derek and i don't have as refined sushi sensibilities as we thought we did. we ordered the omakase menu at blue ribbon sushi and were underwhelmed because, well, everything tasted like fish. the salmon was melt-in-your-mouth good and there was a particular sashimi that reminded me of fishing trips my dad used to take us on when we were kids. good memories, good sashimi, but that's all i can say about the meal. i think derek and i prefer the unique sauces and preparation in sushi seki's omakase menu.

when we were done eating the sushi and sashimi, they deep fried the fish head and bones. for us to eat. i ate the meaty parts of the head but i could not eat a fish's head whole. derek crunched on a few fried fish bones. not fun. we kept coughing as if the bones were still stuck in our throats on our walk back uptown (where i got a custard at shake shack and derek stopped by mcdonald's because we were still hungry). maybe if we had more sophisticated palates and stomachs we would have been satisfied by the amazing spread of fresh fish at blue ribbon sushi. unfortunately we don't and next time we go, we'll probably order some spicy rolls and tempura.