The Archives

East Village, Restaurants, Small Shops
An East Village VDay: Sapporo East & Milk Bar – NYC
03.19.10 | Permalink | 6 Comments

I’m a month late or one year early with my Valentine’s Day post. I like to think the latter. Valentine’s Day is an annoying day to begin with. When you’re single, VDay is annoying because advertising, friends, and your mom will make you feel like a troll because you’re alone no matter how fabulous you are, and when you’re in a relationship, it’s annoying because it’s impossible to get a reservation anywhere, and even if you do, the restaurant will only offer mass-produced pre-made food from an overpriced prix-fixe menu. Saint Valentine, you suck. Anyway, since the last disappointing Valentine’s Day meal in 2005, David and I have been avoiding all restaurants requiring reservations, especially those offering “special” prix-fixe menus. This Valentine’s Day, we went to Sapporo East, my favorite cheap East Village Japanese restaurant since college. MORE »
Flatiron, Small Shops
Hot Chocolate & Tea Thievery at City Bakery – NYC
02.09.10 | Permalink | 11 Comments

The City Bakery Hot Chocolate Festival kicked off officially this month, but technically it started the last weekend of January. That’s when I went. I couldn’t wait. I keep saying I’m not a big fan of dessert, but since last month, all I want to eat are sweets. I’m not sure why. I think it may have to do with the fact that I joined a gym. My appetite has been insatiable ever since. Perhaps I need to quit. Or maybe I have to stop watching Food Network while I’m on the bike. MORE »
Jackson Heights, Restaurants, Small Shops
A Late Lunch at Thakali Kitchen – NYC
08.28.09 | Permalink | 1 Comment

For the longest time, my friend Simrit had been telling me about Thakali Kitchen, a Nepalese & Tibetan restaurant in Jackson Heights. I’ve had limited experience with Tibetan food; once in Vegas at Himalayan Cuisine for flavorful lamb momos (dumplings), and once on Houston Street at a tiny restaurant for bland watered down curry. The former was good, the latter, not so much. But since my Vegas memory was more recent, I happily made my way to Jackson Heights from Times Square, and got there only one hour late. (Thank you E train for failing so miserably and so consistently every weekend!) MORE »
Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Fast Food, Markets, Street Eats
Eatin’, Rockin’, and Burnin’ @ Sirenfest – NYC
08.05.09 | Permalink | 3 Comments

I’m convinced someone over at The Village Voice sold their soul to the devil because it was strangely beautiful on the day of Sirenfest (The Siren Music Festival, run by The Village Voice). In the first Saturday in weeks, we weren’t inundated by rainstorms, flood watches, and general meteorological crapiness. It was the way it should be in New York during the summer: blisteringly hot and humid. And so, David and I were off to Coney Island for some sun, music, carnival craziness, and of course food. MORE »
Hell's Kitchen, Small Shops
Sullivan Street Bakery aka Carb Heaven – NYC
04.02.09 | Permalink | 9 Comments

The bad thing about ever denying yourself anything, is that you’ll crave it even more and overindulge when given the chance. Case in point, the end of last year, I decided to reduce my carbohydrate intake. Subsequently, two weeks ago, I finally gave in to my cravings and ate three Chinese pastries immediately after eating a bowl of pho. Yeah, not so good. So instead of delaying the inevitable, I decided to forgo the carb diet nonsense, and have been happily spending my lunches at Sullivan Street Bakery, aka Carb Heaven. MORE »
Chinatown, Restaurants
Afternoon Snacking at Sun Say Kai – NYC
03.27.09 | Permalink | Comment?

Char-Siu Bao @ Sun Say Kai

I should really title this post “Desserts at Sun Say Kai,” since I went there after eating a few spring rolls and an entire bowl of pho, but Chinese pastries aren’t really desserts. They’re more like portable mini-meals that a normal person would probably eat for breakfast or a mid-day snack. So, for the sake of appearing less like a glutton, let’s just say the snacking took place a few hours after lunch, not a few minutes.

At a Chinese bakery, I normally get either a roast pork bun (char-siu bao), a pineapple bun (bo lo bao), or a slice of rice cake (baak tong gou). At an attempt to watch my weight, I decided to nix the pineapple bun and got a sticky rice roll, a roast pork bun, and a slice of rice cake. Yes, I could have gotten just one pastry, but my rationale at the time was that I would just have a few bites of each. Of course that didn’t happen, but each baked good was only seventy to ninety cents. In my mind, if it’s that cheap, it doesn’t really count. MORE »

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