Road Trip!!!

Sometimes the best food comes from the most unassuming places. Screw the notion that good food usually comes from big fancy restaurants. The best food is at those mom and pop restaurants, the hole in the walls, and family restaurants. You know the restaurants that all the locals know about but none of the tourists know. The ones that have been around for multiple generations and is not only enjoyed by old but young as well. Being in the city for so long has somewhat skewed my perception of what good food is all about: nice people, fresh ingredients, and of course the love that goes into making the food. Forget ambiance and decor. Food and friends (and of course the occasional drink) are the only real necessities. Going to Michigan reminded of all this and after eating delicious food after delicious food (not to mention gaining many many pounds and almost having a heart attack), I realized that food and friends made the trip more than worth it.

However, there is one place I have to talk about is this place called blimpie burger. i've eaten enough burgers to distinguish what is a normal burger and what is "the burger". I thought, at first glance, that this place was going to be another ordinary place, but after hearing from all the Michigan people to go there, I expected it to be good. And o man, was it good!!! The menu is simple but the flavor is beyond anything I expected. A triple patty burger with salami, egg, lettuce, and pickles had to be one of the best burgers I've ever had (maybe even being "the burger") Man, the flavor when those fresh burger patties mix with the saltiness from the salami, the texture/creaminess of the fried egg, the tang from the swiss cheese, and the crispness of the lettuce and pickles is an unbelievable harmony of flavors coming together to produce an unforgettable experience. Everything was there and couple that with some really good french fries and REAL onion rings (like the ones where they actually cut the onions by hand and coat them in a light batter) and you have a person who desperately who wants to go back at the first chance he gets.

The only regret I have is not having enough time to explore everything else michigan had to offer. And it had a lot to offer. I can't begin to describe all the other food we had (everything from awesome sandwiches to steam vegetable pitas to deep fried ice cream to hippie hash to $3 pitchers) but it was awesome. if only we didn't pack in a lot of food in such a short amount of time, we wouldn't have been as full.

All in all, nice people, good drinks, great food, and great friends result in one awesome trip. Maybe ill have to come back one day. Just maybe!!!

Puerto Rico

It's amazing how important first impressions are in a person's perception of pretty much anything and food is no exception. Eating the food in Puerto Rico for the first couple of days was somewhat disappointing not only because of the inflated prices but also due to the quality of the food. The breakfast on our first day was like a meal I would have at a normal diner with the exception of the plantains, but even that didn't have too much flavor. The lunch, although having some bright spots, ended on a sour note when having my first mofungo left me in a state of shock and not the good type of shock. I was legitimately hoping that the first mofungo I ever had in puerto Rico wouldn't be the flavorless, hard, and weird texture that I got, but it was. Even the Asopao that was supposed to be from an authentic food stand was at the most decent. As you can see, my first impressions of Puerto Rican food was, indeed, not a good one. I always had this mindset that the food really does define a culture and I just couldn't believe that this is what Puerto Rico had to offer.

However, in the midst of all this bashing, I would have to say that the once bad impression of Puerto Rican food I had would all but soon disappear. It was funny that because of my first impression of mofungo that I wouldn't have it again, but going to different restaurants in the San Juan and Old San Juan area and people's recommendations, I had to give it another shot. And trust me, that was the best decision I had made. Having the Monfungo at Raices replaced every bad impression I had, and having that spherical shaped cup filled with the monfungo and chrrasaco with chimichurri left me not only wanting more, but also imprinted what Puerto Rican cuisine was all about. Then, we also had great paella at a restaurant called Siglo XX and for what it was worth, it had some really really good paella (some of the best I've ever had). Having seafood paella is something that I tend to have a craving for and when it's done right (seafood not overcooked, rice perfectly cooked with a good balance of spices, etc.) it's actually quite amazing. Finally, what's a vacation to Puerto Rico without rum. I do have to say that the mojito's over there are very good and quite refreshing. So to make a long story short, Monfungo, paella, and mojito's and you'll be good. Just kidding. There's so much more to Puerto Rican cuisine than just this. Unfortunately, i did not have enough time to explore the cuisine, but i hope to return and explore more of their cuisine. It's so interesting how all of our food can really not only define our culture but also be similar yet different from everywhere else. While at first, I was left disappointed, I am now a person who is forever hooked and longing to one day go back to the island known as PR.

Restaurant Week

I don't what it is, but whenever I hear the two words restaurant and week put together, it just conjures up immense excitement within me. Maybe it's the opportunity to try new places that normally poor students like me :( would never be able to try, maybe it's just an excuse to have good food, or maybe it's just the fact that there's so much good food to be eaten. This week has been the first time I've really been able to experience restaurant week to its fullest.

On Tuesday, I was able to go Wildwood BBQ. Wildwood BBQ had the ambiance of a true authentic BBQ joint, but unfortunately, it didn't taste like it. They were good things and they were bad things, but nothing that I haven't had before. The ribs, which were decently good, were a little tough and didn't meet the expectations that I originally had. While the sauce that accompanied it was quite good, it was disappointing that the sauce was better than the ribs themselves. The side dishes were pretty good too and definitely better than the ribs, but that's the thing. You can't have your sides and your sauce being better than the star of the dish. Overall, I can't say it was one of the best experiences, nor can I say that it was worth the $50 I paid (including two pitchers of beer), but it wasn't bad either. It was so-so at best, but hey I guess you can't win them all.

On Wednesday, I was able to go to one of my old favorites that I was able to go to last year, Delmonico's. And to say the least, it was better than I could've imagined. Last year, Delmonico's was really good, but it wasn't that wow factor I really wanted. However, this year, with the same expectations, Delmonico's definitely stepped up and gave me that WOW meal I've been so desperately been searching for. For the appetizer, a very simple scallop and bacon dish, but a dish that was simply cooked to perfection. The flavor when you put the scallop and bacon together was an amazing combination of the sweetness from the scallop and the saltiness from the bacon. For the Entree, I had a 20 oz. boneless porterhouse that was exponentially better than those typical chilis, applebees, and outback steaks. The steak was quite tender and cooked to a pretty good medium. It was pure and simple, a steak with some salt, pepper, and olive oil with a beautiful char cooked very well and the result, a wonderful flavor with every bite. I wish it didn't end, but sadly it was gone before I knew it. Finally, for the dessert, i had a nice apple tart, but the experience would've been complete if only I had the baked alaska. Unfortunately, they ran out of the baked alaska, but the apple tart was a definitely good substitution. The apple tart was flaky with again a simple filling that was just a very nice way to end the meal. If there's one thing this meal taught me, it's the fact that if you prepare simple, yet fresh ingredients together properly, the flavors are just as good, if not better than a complicated recipe. It's an ideology that I support in cooking in that less can certainly be more!!

Finally, today was an experience that not only definitely exceeded my expectations, but gave me the restaurant that would impress me. This is more than a WOW meal. This is a meal that was perfect on all accounts and for a decently cheap price. For the appetizer, i had a wonderful steak tartar. The flavors of the steak, coupled with a fresh baugette as a nice medium to spread the tartar was an astounding combination that put a myriad of flavors in my mouth. Tartar is something that I don't get to have often and to have it part of the restaurant week menu was a chance I couldn't pass up and I'm so thankful i didn't For the entree, I had a beautiful skirt steak with french fries. That skirt steak was cooked to a perfectly amazing medium rare, and each bite was so tender and had so much flavor that I couldn't say the words to describe it. That's how good it was. Honestly, this is the best steak I've had since Alberto's skirt steak with Chimichuri. The french fries were double fried and cooked really well and had the lovely church ans flavor that you want in french fries. Finally, their homemade coffee ice cream with doughnuts was a wonderful way to finish the meal. What I loved about the ice cream is the fact that it wasn't too sweet. It still had the texture and flavor of ice cream that I love so much without the abundance of sugar in it. And if you're wondering what this restaurant is called, well it's no wonder they're called Quality Meats. Thank you quality meats for giving me the complete meal experience I wanted. (I hope I'm not hyping it up for other people too much)

If there's one thing that this restaurant week has taught me, it's the fact that not only am i an avid foodie, but how much joy and how much there is to experience with food. Food is such a simple thing, but one that can be molded in so many different ways. And it is these different perspectives on food that really get me to continue to love food like I do, both cooking it and eating it. While there may have been disappointments and great experiences, I finally got to experience restaurant week to the fullest and who knows I may be back for more next week. And even though I spent over $150 this week in food and the fact that my body hates me, it was more than worth it. Yet the one thing that's so amazing with food is that there's still so much more to experience and I know this is only the beginning of my culinary adventure. Only time will tell what else I will experience, but so far the ride has been great.

P.S. Let's continue the adventure and for anyone who says it isn't worth it to spend $50+ on a meal, trust me you don't know what you're missing. Try these restaurants while you can. (If you need someone to subsidize your meal partially, I might be able to help you there lol! MAYBE!!) It's an experience that you are missing out on and definitely better than those fast food and chain restaurants.

P.S.S. Pictures will hopefully be up soon!!!!

Perry St.

It is not everyday that you go to a restaurant expecting a pretty good meal, yet when you come our, you just had your expectations met and more. However, this was one of those rare instances. I hear a lot about the critically famed Jean-Gorges restaurants, and I thought it might be over hyped like some of the other popular restaurants. Fortunately, it lived up to the hype and I had one of the best tasting I have had in a while at Perry St.

For a long time, I've been waiting for a restaurant to surprise me and impress me. I thought I would have to wait for an eternity to spend $100+ on a meal in the city. However, this meal not only was impressive, it was decently cheap considering the amount of food I got. It's not everyday that when you're at a restaurant that you can see the appetizer was the star of the meal, but it was unbelievable. Having calamari with a lemony yogurt yuzu sauce and mussels perfectly steamed a white wine broth was simply divine. These weren't your normal, everyday appetizers. These were exceptional. The calamari was unbelievably crispy yet chewy and the sauce just complemented it so well. The mussels were perfectly steamed and that broth penetrated the flavor into those mussels, producing a wonderful yet balanced flavor to the taste buds.

Moving onto the main course was equally as tasty. Having both a grilled yellowfin tuna burger and grilled hangar steak, it was quite a contrast, but quite good. The yellowfin tuna was fresh and was cooked properly. However, I had a couple of problems with the texture of the entire sandwich, but all in all, very good. The hangar steak was an interesting dish as well. The hangar steak by itself was good, and with the sweet sauce and bitter greens, it proved for one great combination. But if you ate the components separately, it can get rather confusing as to what the dish is and the taste of it. The greens were really better that if it wasn't put together with the sauce, it left a mark on your taste buds. Again, all in all, I can't argue with the flavors presented in that dish and when combined, it was an awesome combination of sweet, savory, and bitter.

Finally, last but not least, the dessert. Both desserts looked amazing and both were made quite well. My roommate had a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, while I had a carrot passion fruit cake with a sorbet (because I needed to be healthy lol). Both desserts were amazing and offered two completely different tastes. The molten chocolate cake was amazing and was a lot better than those triple chocolate meltdowns at applebee's. The sweet cake with the dark chocolate filling, vanilla ice cream, and brittle proved for one wicked combination. As for the passionfruit cake, it provided a great contrast. It provided a lightness and a well needed fruitiness and soothingness to the party.

Just like having high expectations into a movie, I thought I might be disappointed at the end of it. But it's truly amazing how my expectations were met and more. The meal from beginning to end was truly amazing and where some restaurants may have one aspects that was great, Perry St. certainly clicked on all aspects. It wasn't the fact that it was a complicated menu or the fancy decor or even the great service. It was more that they took menu items that are so common and took them to a new level. Foods that I thought couldn't get any better did get better, and that's

what I really appreciated today.

Old favorites

There's something about going back to your old favorites. The memories that flow back when you first went to that restaurant, and the things that made it memorable. It's ironic that the majority of my favorites are the chain restaurants (Applebees, five guys, cheesecake factory). Maybe it's the fact that the food is decent, but it's more for the countless memories me and my friends have at these places. Yet when I think about my favorites in New York, I remember a restaurant that I was impressed by during last year's restaurant week. It was impressive in all facets. The service, price, environment, and ultimately, the food were astounding. I was quite happy that day and couldn't wait for the opportunity to go back again. Unfortunately, a busy schedule has prevented me from coming back to this restaurant, but yet when I was asked to pick a restaurant, I was tempted to pick a new place. (I love trying new restaurants for the simple fact that I love to see different chefs' views on different foods.) Despite all this, I couldn't help but feel that I had to go back to my old favorite, Tabla

I had the opportunity to go back to one of my favorite restaurants in the city today and enjoy the 3 course menu. While it was a little disappointing to not see their short rib dish I absolutely devoured the first time, I was still happy that they were still serving an interesting, different, and quality meal. Having a bread sampler of their nann (bread baked in a tandoori oven) was quite interesting in that it's amazing how you can have so many different flavors with the same white canvus (in this case bread). While the bread could've used a dipping sauce, I can appreciate the fact that I could actually taste the flavor of the nann they were trying to portray. Also, trying their Frissace Wild mushrooms with polenta was an interesting dish. The textures worked quite well with each other and yet, there would be this subtle hint of curry and lemon in the background. It was quite surprising how such a simple dish was, in fact, so good. However, the main dish was a story all in itself. The Confit of Duck was absolutely delicious. The crispiness, coupled with the succulent meat, all on a bed of risotto was to die for. I just wish there was more of it, so I could enjoy it even that much more. Finally, the dessert was something I had the first time called Kulfi and to say the least, it was as good as the first time. There's just something about that dessert that makes it so similar to ice cream yet it's not. It's creamy, yet not sweet. I wish I could explain it into words, but it's just something that one has to try for themselves. Overall, the dinner experience was quite nice, but unfortunately, just like a really high expectation into a movie, it just didn't live up to the expectation I was hoping for. It just wasn't as mind-blowing or as impressive the first time (maybe because my expectations were that much higher). Nevertheless, it was a great meal and in the end, that's all I can ask for.

I want to leave myself with one more question. What does an old favorite actually mean? An old favorite is a place that you are excited to come back to because you know what to expect and yet you don't know what to expect. You know there will be good food, but the type of food selection is still a mystery. That's what make old favorites the best, not only being surprised, but being amazed at how good it is every time you go back. But I guess what makes an old favorite an old favorite is the memories you have there with both your friends and family.

Brunch!!!!!!

I'll believe it when I see it. When I saw this unassuming restaurant on Spring Street with a 26 rating in zagat(which is rly rly good by zagat standards), I just didn't see what all the hype and praise was about. But as I was going to see that there was a reason this place was one of the top brunch restaurants in the city.

Aquagrill surprised me right from the start with a showing of their fresh oysters right in the front of the restaurant. I thought that was impressive, but I never thought that bread could make such a big impression on a meal? When I first put their homemade baguettes and onion foccacia in my mouth, I was thinking how this bread was so different than typical bread that you would get at a normal restaurant. The texture, crispiness, and freshness was astounding, and I have to say it definitely beats the normal cheesecake factory bread that many people I know really like. I think that set the tone for the rest of the meal because that was just the start of what was to come.

As we were sitting down on the table and looking through the menu, I couldn't help but just see how serious this restaurant was about their seafood, especially their oysters. I couldn't pass up the chance to try some of these oysters and shrimp as well. I always wonder is there a difference between fresh oysters or the ones that come in frozen bags or better yet the ones at the Chinese buffets? YES!!!!! I believe it is so evident where there's fresh seafood and the one that you get from a package. The taste as the oysters (perfect with cocktail sauce and a little lemon) and shrimp cocktail went into my mouth screamed freshness, rather a taste that I haven't had for such a long time, a taste that I needed to be reminded of. It's amazing to realize how good food can be when it's not messed with and just served to you straight up.

Finally, the entree, a crispy cod sandwich served with homemade french fries, was simply amazing. For as simple as everything was, it was a medely of flavors that exploded in my mouth. The sandwich was great. The cod was so fresh and perfectly fried, but the other ingredients (simple things like sun dried tomatoes, argula, and a mayonnaise sauce) that were in that sandwich just simply complemented the flavor of the fish, rather than overpower it. It was, in the end, an amazing that got better with each bite, and the fact that it was made on homemade bread doesn't hurt either. The fries that accompanied it were quite good as well. Add to that simple, fresh cut french fries double fried and sprinkled with some sea salt, and it continues to amaze how the simplest of things can be so good.

My only regret is that I didn't get more oysters and take advantage of the eclectic seafood options they had. If I had the chance, I would get what my friends got, the crab benedict and the crab omelettes. The crab benedict was amazing and even though it was only a small taste, I would go back strictly for that.

Oysters, shrimp, cod sandwiches, crab benedicts, and crab omelettes may seem like an odd array of brunch items, but at the end of the day, it left me and my friends in a very happy state. We didn't just get a good meal with good service, but we got food that was fresh, simple, and ultimately, satisfying. It satisfied a craving that hasn't been satisfied in quite a long time. What does that produce? A very happy diner!! :)

Home Cooking

Today, I had an awesome meal, but it wasn't at a resturant. But yet I can say it wasn't just a meal. It was an experience, a time of relaxation that helped me to get away from the stresses of life. I'm talking about home cooked meals, and me and my roommate had one today, that even though everything wasn't perfect, it tasted like I was at a five star restaurant. Ribs and Green Been Casserole. How can you go wrong?

I think there's something to be said when people actually take the time to cook a home cooked meal. Yet it seems that in the hustle and bustle of our lives, cooking is the last of our priorities. I'm guilty of this as much as any other person. I just think it's unfortunate that we don't do it as much as we can. I think when we cook ourselves, it's much more than just feeding our bodies. It's an opportunity to get away from all that life throws at us. It's an opportunity to experiment and try new things, whether for better or for worse. Ultimately, it brings comfort in a good day or even a bad day. There' just something to making food yourself that no matter how much you mess up or how much it deviates from the restaurant or how bland it is, it makes it taste that much better.

Home cooking requires some effort, but the rewards of those effort pay much more dividends than the original cost (which is a little money and time). My hope is that this will be a regular occurrence, not just a rarity. I also hope that other people will start cooking at home. You know those ribs and that green bean casserole may not be good in the eyes of a restaurant or a food critic, but in my eyes, they were perfect as perfect can be. The perfect 5 out of 5 rating.