The best new find – Woodstock blueberry banana water. This was yummy! And no added sugar.
The best snack – Brownie batter Barebell’s protien bar. One of their best flavors; it was almost oddly filling.
The best dinner – crab rangoon baked quesadillas. The filling was crab meat, green onion, cream cheese, melted butter, sweet chili sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, and sharp cheddar. Plus bok choy sauteed with green onion and mushroom. Plus a homemade Sriracha mayo dip.
The best dinner leftovers – Buffalo chicken baked pasta. With whole-wheat bowtie pasta, baked chicken, green onion, garlic powder, onion powder, buffalo sauce, cream cheese, and sharp cheddar. Plus baby carrots.
King’s Coast coconut iced latte with coconut cold foam. 100/10.
See also – Beanmonger‘s strawberry white chocolate iced latte. A little too sweet for me.
Paris Baguette Dubai chewy cookie. Nowhere near as good as Bear Donut but still delicious (obviously).
Veggie cheese fries. Baked fries tossed with furikake, garlic powder, and onion powder / poblano pepper, corn, green onion, and honey goat cheese / six-minute eggs tossed in a skillet with butter, evoo, gochujang, chili crisp, maple syrup, soy sauce, and lime.
Bean salad. Great Northern beans, celery, cucumber, tomatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds, and sharp cheddar tossed with evoo, sesame oil, chili crisp, honey, and rice vinegar.
TWO new-to-me Jeni’s flavors. Frosted sugar cookie was great, miso butterscotch brownie was possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.
Kelang’s side dishes remained delicious as leftovers. Taro gnocchi and roasted cabbage plus roasted baby broccoli that I made.
We’ve made several iterations of these baked black bean tacos and we like them more each time! Our filling was food-processed walnuts, black beans, evoo, and sauteed mushrooms, green onions, and poblano peppers with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. Baked in tortillas with sharp cheddar. Plus roasted cauliflower on the side and a dipping sauce (Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, gochujang, honey, and mayo).
I used the leftover taco filling to make excellent baked meatballs; with ground turkey, panko, egg, and sharp cheddar. <– We will be making this set of dinners again for sure! Plus leftover veggies and ranch for dipping (plain Greek yogurt, Kewpie, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and pickle brine).
The relentless rain couldn’t drown out our weekend fun! Thankfully I had already planned indoor activities — lots of snacks, fun shopping for a home improvement project, vintage window-shopping in Greenpoint, and a trip to the Museum of Art and Design for the (excellent!) Haas Brothers Uncanny Valley exhibit.
Edible highlights…
Fun coffee mediums. The egg cream didn’t work in iced coffee (not enough body) but iced Calpico with espresso was a 9/10.
Blue Bottle iced Nola with vanilla and chicory cold foam. 9/10.
Falu House miso brown sugar iced latte with maple cold foam and birch-smoked sea salt. Best coffee of the weekend, 100/10. We loved our bun with cheese too and they also had incredible Swedish candy.
Bibble and Sip guava mochi croissant. We loved the mochi and the croissant but wanted the dish overall to have more flavor/balance. We thought their salt bread was a 9.5/10.
Bite Bao. I had tomato with scrambled eggs and Sichuan spicy diced chicken. Best Chinese food we’ve had in Long Island in awhile.
Kelang. This space was gorgeous. I had a Durian Milk Punch, obviously; durian, clarified coconut cream, spice mix, green tea, pineapple, aged rum, arrack, and velvet falernum.
I also had a kalamansi limeade with Tito’s.
We shared some really great dishes. Charred cabbage with butter, pineapple, chili, peanut, and cashew cream.
Paratha with red lentil dhal, Stracciatella, herbs, and sambal oil.
Crispy taro gnocchi with smoked shiitake, chili, and Shaoxing wine.
Hainanese Chicken. This was the only dish I didn’t love, though the bone broth and chicken rice were both lovely.
P.S. We had a no-photo lunch at Nobu and the miso black cod did live up to the hype (we also had great white fish tiradito)!
Yogurt bowl – plain Greek with honey, blueberries, and two types of kiwi. I started scooping kiwis out of their skin with a grapefruit spoon (rather than trying to clumsily peel them) and now I eat them all the time.
“Mountain city spicy flavor” rice snacks.
We had leftover pandan white chocolate blondie from Chim Chim in our freezer and I blended it into a great milkshake with vanilla ice cream, milk, pandan syrup, and malted milk powder.
Passionfruit smore’s! Effie’s pecan biscuit crackers, oven-roasted Malvi passionfruit marshmallows, and Chocxo dark chocolate passionfruit cups.
Dinners listed in order of how much we liked them. Satay-inspired tofu (just ok-good). Tofu – sauteed extra-firm tofu that was marinated in Jamaican curry powder, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, and coconut milk / lackluster peanut sauce – peanut butter, Sriracha, lime juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, and coconut milk / marinated cucumbers – with rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, Milu everything crisp, and sesame seeds / on a packet of Ben’s Original coconut jasmine rice.
Tuna joomukbap (very good). We’ve made this Cafe Maddy recipe before and will definitely make it again. I used leftover brown rice, two cans of tuna, and a poblano pepper instead of a bell pepper. Plus chopped baby broccoli roasted with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Red curry beans (excellent). Great Northern beans sauteed with garlic and ginger and cooked in a curry sauce (coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, lime juice, dark soy sauce, and Sriracha). Served on a mix of roasted cauliflower rice and brown rice.
Kimchi migas (best meal of the week!). Sauteed kimchi, green onion, and tomatoes with gochugaru, gochujang, honey, sesame oil, and sesame seeds, plus kimchi flavored kettle chips, eggs, and sharp cheddar.
I stole my title from a great cocktail at Finback. Some highlights from the weekend…
Yogurt bowl with blueberries and granola (sprinkled granola!).
Quad iced latte with guava and white chocolate at Humble Cafe. They have the best syrup options.
We went to a fun little neighborhood food truck festival to try the dirty sodas at Island Fizz. We shared two custom flavors – Diet Coke with strawberry syrup, cherries, and cream and Diet Coke with guava syrup and marshmallow fluff (my favorite).
It is finally popsicle weather! I got these from 99 Ranch. The grape cheese one is one of my favorites; it is delightfully weird.
Pest chicken salad. Chopped chicken breast with pesto, plain skyr, Duke’s mayo, North River crunchy yellow peas, and Wooly soft sheep’s milk cheese with espelette pepper. This was a great mix of creamy and crunchy and creamy and spicy. Served with baby carrots and leftover fries (we got Slider Joe’s take-out last week and it was fantastic).
Cheesy kimchi chicken dip. Plain skyr and Duke’s mayo with chopped chicken breast, extra-sharp cheddar, sauteed green onions, and chopped/caramelized kimchi. Scooped with kimchi flavored Kettle Chips! Plus broccoli roasted with salt, dried green mango powder, and garlic powder.
Doughnut Plant is hit or miss for me but this rosewater glazed doughnut was perfection.
Brunch at Vato. We shared a cinnamon bun and a burnt end, egg, and cheese burrito. The meat wasn’t my favorite but the housemade tortilla was great and their salsas were solid. I need to go back for a concha!
We were impressed with Jax Pizza; Adam liked the Rosso with six-hour tomato sauce and my favorite was the vodka slice.
Handroll dinner at Matsunori. We shared seaweed salad.
And steamed eggs.
My handrolls – spicy salmon (shown) / miso butter cod / toro with caviar / A5 Waygu. I also had a yuzu drop!
Dinner at Chuko was the best meal of the weekend. We shared some fun beverages like this ume soda.
And a Calpico.
Split a shrimp bun.
Fantastic okonomiyaki-style tots.
And kale salad (the best in the city!) with yellow raisins, miso dressing, and crispy sweet potato. They throw some fried kale into the mix and the texture mix here is just wonderful.
They offer all of their broth bases in vegetarian and are also my favorite ramen spot. I went with Kimchi (which comes with cabbage and curly yellow noodles) with pickled mustard greens, a soy egg, and chili crisp.
Yogurt bowl. Plain Greek with malted milk powder, brown sugar, and vanilla bean powder topped with Uncle Crumbles sugar cookie granola and all of the berries (blackberries, blueberries, and jumbo blueberries!).
Malted. Vanilla ice cream blended with milk, malted milk powder, and toasted rice powder.
A patty melt that was probably the best thing I’ve made all year. Turkey patties (ground turkey, lime juice, fish sauce, panko, and egg) cooked in a skillet with smoky pimento cheese melted on top on Trader Joe’s sourdough with mayo, lime juice, and red curry.
Paired with great seasoned fries. Baked green beans and frozen french fries tossed in a homemade spice mix – salt, white sugar, white pepper, Sichuan pepper, gochugaru, onion powder, garlic powder, toasted rice powder, dried fish roe, and green mango powder.
BBQ chicken bowls. Baked chicken breast tossed in a skillet with homemade bbq sauce (ketchup, gochujang, maple syrup, rice wine, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and sesame seeds) on a bed of sauteed bok choy, green onion, tomatoes, and ginger.
