Tag Archives: restaurant food

Two Coffees

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We had a fantastic weekend! We ran on the Long Beach Boardwalk and got dinner at Lil Al’s and had a sunset burger picnic. We drove to Robert Moses Beach in a beautiful sunrise and did the walk to Fire Island (and saw so many deer, including a buck that was less than three feet from us!). We hung out just outside of the Blues Traveler and Gin Blossoms concert in Central Park and heard “Follow You Down” live (plus, even more excitingly, Spin Doctors performing “Two Princes!”).

Some food/drink highlights…

We had a fun time making mini lattes to taste-test these Bizzy espresso shots. I much preferred the dark roast but both were nice in milk.

Kismet Coffee served us the my favorite sweetened latte of the summer – with blueberry syrup and a coconut cold foam. We also had a banana bread cold brew.

This mint coconut cold brew from Bluestone Lane was so sweet that we had to throw it out after a couple of sips (but it was delicious!).

We loved (and finished) our coffees from Kora. Mint julep cold brew with oat milk (delicious!!) and iced espresso with leche fan cold foam.

We also loved our treats. Ensaymada croissant with buttered sugar and edam, kouign amann, FFG cookie with Medjool dates, pecans, toffee, and sea salt. These were all mind-blowing.

Mini black sesame bingsu with espresso from Seoul Sweets. This was tasty but not worth the hassle of the location for us.

The Greek yogurt frozen yogurt from Kostantina is the best froyo I’ve ever had. I got plain with stewed blueberries and peanut butter kataifi.

Fun drinks at Terrace including a trio of jello shots!

The best drinks of the weekend were consumed with dinner at Wang Lang. Adam had a satay old fashioned that was a 100% scent match for satay! And I get the hype around the mango sticky rice cocktail (Tito’s, mango puree, mango syrup, and lime with a toasted rice cream).

I also had their summer special – pandan-infused rice rum with ginger and green chili syrup and clarified lime. Delicious.

My entree – beef pad se ew – was also delicious.

And we shared the chicken larb spring rolls to start.

We ordered a lot from Masani Pizza but my favorites were the chicken roll and the swoon-worthy (literally!) cacio e pepe slice.

I made my Lil Al’s leftovers into something even better – macaroni and cheese (theirs was good but it was American-style and I much prefer baked) shaken up with a hot chicken tender from Dave’s Hot Chicken, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, and leftover roasted broccoli.

Super Duper

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Weekend highlights (mostly snacks!)…

My favorite Long Island coffee spot hopped on the fridge cigarette trend. Their version is diet coke with espresso, vanilla almond syrup, and a sweet cream cold foam. <– delicious

We also loved the tiramisu ice latte from MOTW. The espresso here had fantastic body.

We did not like this ube iced coffee with pandan cold foam (that’s on us, I really just don’t care for iced coffee with milk; I am mentioning it so maybe I stop trying it).

Meanwhile we adored our assortment of sweets from Fern and Aurora. Ube coffee cake swirl muffin / blueberry pop tart / pandan coconut butter mochi (the best butter mochi I’ve ever eaten, including in HI!) / ube krispie treat. We needed excellent snacks because we went to see Super Troopers at the movie theatre (I liked it! Not as good as the original but I preferred it to the 2nd one).

I also made a super duper homemade snack mix. Wheat Chex cereal and honey mustard protein pretzels baked with butter, ranch seasoning, and gochugaru plus peanuts, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds candied in a skillet with brown sugar.

Haribo bananas are a 9.9/10 for me.

Tori T’s is my favorite Long Island pizza. The texture on the square slices is unbeatable.

Red curry salmon cakes with a complementary dipping sauce. The cakes were a baked mix of canned salmon, red curry paste, lime zest, panko and egg. The sauce was Duke’s, red curry paste, Sriracha, honey, lime juice, and sesame oil. Plus roasted cauliflower.

Frozen dumplings (Bibigo chicken and vegetable mandu) plus frozen spinach, kale, and cauliflower rice sauteed with garlic, sesame seeds, gochugaru, rice seasoning, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Served in one bowl so I could easily top everything with chili crisp.

Sips, Sweets, Sandwiches

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It was another great weekend! We stayed local this time, but enjoyed longish walks in Manhattan and Brooklyn. And shared so many sweet treats and sweet treat drinks! I considered including slushes in the title! Like I said, a great weekend! Highlights…

Bean Monger ube biko iced latte.

Moon Coffee Lab salted caramel iced latte with banana milk. Banana is the best coffee milk.

Levain cookie milk iced latte. The cold foam was delicious but my favorite part was the espresso; I had never tried coffee from here before but I definitely will get it again!

The very best coffee of the weekend came from Smiley Coffee – espresso with coconut slushie.

We happened across a street fair that had red sorrel. The spot was serving it with mint which was lovely.

Speaking of things that tasted like home, this soursop infused coconut water was nice and not too sweet.

Tender Crush frozen Diet Coke with vanilla soft serve!

Red Gate Bakery Fudgenutter cookie.

Comfortland + Donut Diva never miss; this guava cheese Linzer tart was exceptional

Perfect frozen drinks at Antojitos BK. 2nd best texture in the city (only beaten by Connolly’s). We had an espresso martini and a Nutcracker.

Sandwich Board duck tsangwich was a 10/10 – bolo bao with roast duck, crispy duck skin, cucumber, scallion, hoisin sauce, and house chili oil.

We didn’t love our ribeye sandwich at Sanwits.

But my Halo Halo was excellent. Not exactly what I am usually used to but so creamy and I loved the caramelized plantain.

We were blown away by our meal at La Fleur Rouge. Really thoughtful, beautiful dishes in a great environment. Guava Plum – tequilla Empirical Ayuuk, pink guava, plum, and salt.

Peking duck bao.

Morel duck soup.

Crispy Chinese eggplant with pineapple, bell pepper, and sweet and sour. These were a can’t miss.

The cheeseburger, which came with pickled cucumbers and seasoned fries. This sounds mean but it is in fact the highest compliment — this tasted exactly like the breakfast sausages you used to get on planes! Doesn’t break my top five but I did love it.

Tai Chi Fried Rice with confit duck, shrimp, and squid ink. This tasted even better than it looked and kept wonderfully leftover.

Finally molten chocolate cake with rum raisin ice cream and Golden Graham crumble.

And egg yolk beignets with apricot marmalade.

The best thing we ate all weekend was the fried rice I made with our James‘ leftovers. White rice and eggs from home plus short rib ragu and charred broccolini with Waygu beef bacon.

Hudson 2026

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This was one of my best birthdays in recent memory! We spent a long weekend in Hudson, filled with an excessive amount of handholding, pastries, and cocktails! Some highlights of our favorites …

Hudson Roastery butter pean iced cortado (with an extra shot, this is the best ratio for us here).

Treats at Kitty’s. This cruller was actually only ok, but I had a puffed rice krispy treat with tons of marshmallows.

Treats from Mel the Bakery, all 10/10. Jalapeno cheddar pretzel croissant / blueberry jam and corn cookie sandwich / almond chocolate croissant.

Supernatural Coffee‘s blueberry jam oat bar tasted as good as it looks.

Huckleberry lemonade (this was the best premade lemonade I’ve ever had).

Hudson Brewing Company pink guava sour IPA.

Pez Husker Du – white and Oaxacan rums, Flor de Azul, blue corn, and lime. The incredibly nice bartender gave us a taste of the house-made blue corn syrup and it was amazing.

Hereafter Marigold Weather including gin, lemon verbena tea, meyer lemon, orgeat, and honey.

Breakfast at Cafe Mutton. This restaurant is so special. We shared a perfect meal. Delicious house-made celery soda.

Zucchini, corn, and onion omelet with goat gouda. With toast buttered to near insanity. I asked for hot sauce and they brought out a house-made sungold tomato situation that was one of the best sauces we’ve ever tasted.

Lettuces salad with sungolds, cucumber, corn, scallions, herb dressing, pecorino, and breadcrumbs.

Milk-soaked almond cake with honey and blueberries.

Breakfast at Gracie’s Luncheonette. Chicken biscuit with honey butter and hot sauce and a great hashbrown. This was some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten.

Dinner at Gracie’s Luncheonette (yes, we went twice, it’s that good!). I got the white bbq half chicken – broiled half chicken with Alabama white BBQ (also some of the best chicken I’ve ever eaten; we loved the sauce and rub too), slaw, a biscuit (excellent), and mac and cheese (weak; meanwhile Adam’s fries were swoonworthy). Sadly, we enjoyed neither our iced coffee nor our iced coffee cocktail.

Dinner at Lil Deb’s Oasis. Their upcoming closure is giant loss. I’m showing my three favorite things but we ordered a lot and it was all great. Charred snap peas with tahini sauce / tomatoes and cucumbers with fennel, perilla, roasted peach jam, and sesame chili crisp. <– these were both stunningly good

Burmese crispy tofu lettuce wraps with spicy ginger mustard.

Dessert was my favorite course. We had flan, a surprisingly good dessert cocktail (with vodka, brown butter, dates, orgeat, and nutmeg), and the best – boozy – affogato I’ve ever had (with sweet cream ice cream, grilled pineapple, and coffee caramel tequila). I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the pineapple but it actually made the dish.

Chicken Salad JCT

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Highlights from an extra-yummy week…

Brunch date at Twisted Fork. We had a surprisingly good blueberry pancake iced latte (with maple syrup and blueberry cold foam).

A breakfast martini with gin, triple sec, lemon juice, and orange marmalade.

A bloody mary.

And I had a chicken sandwich on ciabatta with avocado, housemade pickles, and sweet chili aioli.

Dessert yogurt bowls. Plain skyr with granola, honey sunflower butter, and red plum and banana cooked down with butter, brown sugar, and vanilla sugar.

Plain skyr with (microwaved frozen) blueberries, peanut butter, and brownies (THE brownie recipe with the addition of espresso powder, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips).

I also blended brownies into a shake with vanilla ice cream and coconut syrup.

See also – this iced matcha latte with coconut syrup was lovely.

It’s my birthday this week and my parents sent me a plethora of on-theme snacks that my coworkers and I have been taste-testing.

Speaking of themes, we did another Sandwich Week for dinners! Chicken salad JCT, ie a BLT but with jerky, chips, and tomato. My chicken salad was shredded baked chicken breast with Duke’s, plain skyr, pickled jalapeño brine, and chopped pickles. We mixed in butter mesquite beef jerky (we brought home several bags of jerky from New Mexico and we are obsessed with it) and bbq potato chips and topped with fresh tomato; on sliced whole-wheat. Plus sauteed baby bok choy with green onion, salt, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Takeout from the OG – Roast. Half a fried chicken sandwich – with pickles, Mike’s hot honey, and cheddar / half a filet mignon special – with chimichurri, onion jam, potato straws, mozzarella, and roasted garlic butter / unphotographed fries / and homecooked veggies – sauteed zucchini with tomato, dried basil, sumac, salt and pepper.

Meatball wrap. Mission tortilla / baked turkey meatballs – ground turkey, panade, egg, hoisin, pepper, urfa, and shredded cheese / cream cheese mixed with confit garlic / crispy fried garlic and onions. Plus roasted green beans.

Tofu wrap. Roasted Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch mixed with plain skyr, Kewpie, white miso, lime juice, and cotija / crunchy cheese bites / roasted super-firm tofu tossed in a skillet with honey, lime juice, soy sauce, chili crisp, gochujang, and ginger. Plus sauteed asparagus.

Hot pepper peach chicken bagelwich. One of my most important childhood taste memories is eating hot pepper peach jelly on cream cheese with my Ohio family and that informs this bagel. A leftover Apollo bagel, toasted and topped with a mix of cream cheese, baked chicken, Trader Joe’s sweet and spicy pickled jalapeños, and sauteed peaches. Plus baby broccoli sauteed with baby tomatoes, confit garlic, salt, pepper, and gochugaru.

A very important postscript – the 7-11 egg salad sandwich is a 10/10.

BBQ, Burgers, And Beans

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Obviously, we ate summer bbq themed nachos for the 4th of July. Red, white, and blue tortilla chips baked with sharp cheddar, vegetarian baked beans, and leftover esquites. Plus homemade cole slaw (roasted sugarcone cabbage with salt, sugar, Trader Joe’s ranch seasoning, lemon juice, and sour cream).

We had one of our best weekends in recent memory, including tons of dog cuddles, a picnic on the boardwalk in Long Beach, a few stops in Ridgewood, and a day at Industry City. Also some truly excellent food! My absolute favorites were…

Uluhuluh‘s sunny side up iced latte.

A lightly toasted sesame bagel with cream cheese and jelly at Apollo Bagels.

Hellbender‘s soft scrambled egg tostada with black beans, cheddar, salsa macha, and sesame.

Also from that same (fabulous) brunch – peanut butter jello with chocolate whipped cream!

Dolly’s black cherry pie. Excluding the key lime category, this was the best pie I’ve ever eaten.

Lil Al’s Burgers. It didn’t break my top five but this was a very solid cheeseburger. Plus very good fries.

I didn’t take a photo of Hometown BBQ‘s brisket sandwich with pickles, white onion, and sticky sauce on a crispy sesame bun that was possibly the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten. But Apollo sent us home with extra bagels and I did take leftover brisket meat and reheat it with scrambled eggs and sharp cheddar and eat it on an everything bagel with Kewpie and yellow mustard.

Best Of The Best

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It was a perfect New York summer weekend! Including great food (several of my top favorites and lots of sweet treats!), a couple of long walks, brunch on the water in Roslyn, a trip to Rockaway Beach, and a visit to the mall! The best things I ate were…

Rockaway Beach Bakery. Guava cheese danish. We also had a yummy slice of croissant bread. Their new location is great.

From Lucie. They make my favorite cake in the city. This was a (super duper moist) vanilla cake with Earl Gray frosting and blackberry jam.

Culture Espresso makes our 2nd favorite chocolate chip cookie in the city. This was the corn cookie and we also enjoyed a frozen maple coffee.

Pavlo Mochi. My favorite was the banana milk jam with a dulce de leche center.

Connolly’s Bar pina colada is my current favorite frozen cocktail.

I didn’t actually love my brunch burger at Naks but their wonderful vinegar fries were fantastic dipped in egg and gravy.

My cocktail was also a win; I got the Zesto – a milk punch with coconut, soursop, and rum (and that’s a pandan coconut rum jello shot!).

Roberta’s house-made bread + stracciatella + sugar snap peas with pea shoots and green garlic.

Best meal of the weekend = lunch at Rippers. Cheeseburgers and seasoned fries. This is Adam’s favorite burger.

Their cocktails were magical too! Lychee soju martini and a frozen sangria (we ate spoons of sangria with soft-serve and swooned).

P.S. No photos but I had a kale salad with salmon at Daily Provisions that knocked my socks off.

Chicory, Miso, Tiramisu

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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.

Small Batch tiramisu iced latte. 8/10.

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.

Daily Provisions yuzu crueler.

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)!