ChikaLicious

We walked by this place many times.  We never knew what it was.  It didn't look inviting from outside until we saw ChikaLicious on TV.  Yes, I admit it, I saw it on TV, but even after watching on TV, we still didn't put it together, until we walked by again.  It's right by our favorite restaurants - Curry Ya and Rai Rai Ken.

ChikaLicious is a dessert bar.  They offer 3 course menu or you can order a la carte.  You can also pair your dessert with wine.  Cheese cake, which looks like a white dome above is my favorite thing on the menu.

Also the chef prepares everything right in front of you, which is exciting to watch.
ChikaLicious also has a smaller and cheaper version right across street for quick bites. 

ChikaLicious
203 East 10th Street  New York, NY 10009

(212) 475-0929

www.chikalicious.com/

del Posto Prix Fixe lunch for $29

Those of you who follow this blog know how much I love Mario Batali, especially del Posto.
So as soon as I found out that del Posto has Prix Fixe lunch for $29, I had to go. Right after I came back from Spain, I still had a few days off from work, so Chris and I went for lunch (early lunch at noon, because it's still hard to get a reservation).

It's a three course menu, even though some of the dishes have extra charge, most of the courses don't. Plus it was good to know that you still get bread & lardo (my favorite). Portions were good enough for lunch and dessert was good size too.

Apparently, the lunch menu started to get people in and hope they would come back for more expensive dinner. But you know I would go back to del Posto any time.

http://www.delposto.com/menu.cfm?restaurantid=1&id=4

***UPDATE***  Price has gone up to $39.  But it's still a great deal!  (update: 9/1/12)

Roberta's

Roberta's is a well-known pizza restaurant in Bushwick. Even the ones that don't know where Bushwick is, they know Roberta's. We recently discovered that Roberta's has brunch menu. A place where brunch is hard to come by, it's a good option.


Roberta's
261 Moore Street
NY 11206-3816
(718) 417-1118
http://www.robertaspizza.com/

Momo Sushi Shack

Our new neighborhood, Bushwick, Brooklyn, is a "food wasteland." But more restaurants are opening (not as fast as I would like) and Momo Sushi Shack opened recently on Bogart.

It's not a normal sushi restaurant, so don't expect a big menu, but it's definitely a nice change. Plus it's around the corner from Roberta's. So while you are waiting for a spot at Roberta's, you can grab a bite here.




43 Bogart Street
Brooklyn NY 11206-3820
(718) 418-6666
http://www.momosushishack.com/

Mobile Food Trucks

I am starting a research on Mobile Food Trucks for my marketing class project. So I thought I would share some info on what I am reading & looking at:


http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2010/67139/

http://dt-works.net/

http://streetvendor.org/vendys/


Happy Eating!

Restaurant Week 2010

Restaurant Week is here, everyone. I am not a fan of Restaurant Week, but I may try this time around.

July 12 - 25

http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek#rw_grid

Free Food @ Xi'an Famous Foods!

Do you remember our last visit to Flushing for some lamb burgers and handmade noodles?
Apparently, while I wasn't paying attention, that specific restaurant has been expanding. There is one location in Chinatown now, 2nd location in Flushing, and a new one is opening in East Village.

And on their opening day of one in East Village, they are giving out their free burgers.

Go check out Xi'an Famous Foods' new location on July 3rd! You must RSVP!

Opening on July 3rd:

81 St. Mark's Place
New York, NY 10003

Happy Anniversary!

Every anniversary, we try to go to a restaurant that we have never been to. This time, we decided on David Burke's Fishtail after trying out his other restaurant.

It's at a quite location, and restaurant itself was quiet, too, which is a plus.
My seafood tower had more to be desired but fish tacos were very good.







Fishtail by David Burke
135 East 62nd Street
New York, NY 10065-7301
(212) 754-1300

David Burke at Bloomingdale's

A friend of mine recommended a movie called Agora, which was about the fall of Roman Alexandria, and we went to see it today. Since we have been to Alexandria, I was curious how it was supposed to be...

Movie was very well done but was such a traumatic story...

After the movie we had to eat something good and Chris suggested David Burke at Bloomingdale's. Bloomingdale's is probably the only department store I go to... and I have never seen this restaurant before. The entrance is on 59th Street and we were served by the friendliest waiter.

Now I am interested in checking out his other restaurants.

Meatloaf

Hanger stake

David Burke at Bloomingdale's
1000 3rd Avenue New York, NY 10022
212-813-2195

Events in June & July in and around New York

Here are few events that caught my eyes in June & July:


June 3rd - 6th
Umai Gourmet Food Fair at Mitsuwa

June 6th
Japan Day at Central Park

July 12th
2010 Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital in Central Park

July 13th
Free New York Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony Concert


Enjoy your summer, everyone!!!

Happy Birthday

Chris's birthday is around Mother's Day, so it's always hard to make reservations at restaurants. We wanted to go back to one of Mario Batali's restaurants, but the only place that we were able to get a reservation at was Lupa at 10PM.

So before dinner, we ate at Salt - the above picture is from Salt.
Salt serves everything organic, so it was very refreshing. We had appetizers there.
Plus it was nice to get a table without a reservation on a Saturday night, which is very unusual for Manhattan. It was very cozy inside and casual, which we enjoyed very much.

Then we were off to Lupa. We weren't that impressed with entrees, but were extremely happy with pasta dishes. We would definitely go back to Lupa for pastas.

http://www.saltnyc.com/
58 MacDougal Street
new york, NY 10012


http://www.luparestaurant.com/
170 Thompson Street
New York, NY 10012-2575

By the way, there was a Japanese restaurant next to Lupa, and people were lined up.
If you are in that neighborhood, check that out... Sorry, I can't remember the name...

Taverna Kyclades

I still keep in touch with a few ladies that I used to work with from my airline days. I can't believe that I left there almost 4 years ago. I still travel, but am definitely paying a lot for it these days.

This time we went to Taverna Kyclades in Astoria. A few friends told me about this place for a long time, and this time I was determined.

It definitely lived up to its hype. Greek salad (as shown above) was great. We also had grilled octopus, sea bass, and stuffed shrimp, and they were all really good and fresh.
But then what's there not to like!!! Fresh seafood, good weather, and great friends!!!
This time Chris joined as well.

Make sure to get there early. We were there by 6PM and got a table right away.
They don't take reservations, because they don't have to. If you don't get there early, be prepared to wait for an hour or more.


Taverna Kyclades

www.tavernakyclades.com
33-07 Ditmars Blvd
Queens, New York 11105

Mango with Sticky Rice!!!

Who knew that I could find Mango with Sticky Rice in a box.
But I found it at Trader Joe's.

Because I didn't know how it was going to taste, I only bought one box. Now I regret it... I should have bought more.

You just have to defrost in a microwave for 5 minutes.

Now I can have my favorite Thai dessert everyday!!!




Trader Joe's
142 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003-4170
(212) 529-4612

http://www.traderjoes.com/

Artichoke Pizza

I was told Artichoke had the best pizza in New York. I don't know about being the best but I have to say, it was pretty good. But don't expect to get a table, there are none. There are few benches outside.


We ordered Margarita, Artichoke, and Crab. Highly recommend all three of them.


http://www.artichokepizza.com/

328 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 228-2004

Takoyaki at home

You can finally eat takoyaki at home. At Sunrise, you can find frozen takoyaki's.
I tried to cook them in macrowave, which wasn't successful. Chris finally put them in a toaster oven and they came out to be perfect.

Otafuku in East Village only makes good takoyaki's. A lot of restaurants in the city try, but they are not the same. But now I am glad that I can eat these at home.

This is the brand that I buy and I am extremely happy with it.

Sunrise Mart
29 3rd Ave
(between 10th St & 2nd Ave)
New York, NY 10003

Otafuku
236 E 9th St
(between 2nd Ave & Stuyvesant St)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 353-8503

Happy Valentine's Day

We decided not to exchange any gifts for this Valentine's day to save money for our upcoming trip. But of course, we got something for each other. This happens all the time.

But that's not the funniest part. Apparently, we went to the same chocolate shop on the same day, at different time. We are assuming that the same lady sold the boxes to us as well.

Some of you know that I have an obsession with Neuhaus chocolates. It's an expensive obsession so I try to control it. Now we have two boxes of goodness!!!




Neuhaus
http://www.neuhaus.be/

Boutique Neuhaus
569 Lexington Avenue,
NY 10022 New York (United States)

Boutique Neuhaus
2151 Broadway,
NY 10023 New York (United States)

Kiosque
Grand Central Terminal 460 - 42nd St.,
NY 10017 New York (United States)

Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos

We saw Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos on TV while back. One of Chris's favorite cuisines is Mexican and he has been complaining about a lack of real Mexican restaurants in New York. So when we heard about Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos, we were very excited.

When we finally visited Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos, it didn't disappoint.
Tacos were huge and they were $2 each.

We didn't talk very much because we were busy eating. Eating a taco and half made me very full. A lot of gringos know about this place now, so be prepared to wait for a seat.


Tortilleria Mexicana Los Hermanos
271 Starr Street
(between Wyckoff Ave & St Nicholas Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11237

Kababish

We used to look for a place to live in Jackson Heights, Queens for 2 years straight. That's why we know so much about Jackson Heights. During winter, we don't get out too much, especially to Queens, but we had to be in Queens for some reason.

We couldn't go to Queens without stopping at a restaurant or two.
I have been to Kababish before, but apparently, this is where Chris picks up his 40 kebabs to put them in our freezer. It's not a restaurant. Kababish specializes in catering, but has a few stools if you want to stay, which we did.

While they were preparing 40 kebabs for Chris, we ordered Naan (as shown above) with veggies and spices. It was very good. I can eat this everyday.

Kababish
7064 Broadway
Jackson Heights, NY 11372

(718) 565-5131

Shopping!!!

We were out of a lot stuff, more specifically Japanese food products, we were headed to Sunrise Mart. While we were buying necessary items such as Miso and Japanese mayo, I was distracted by Kimchi Natto.

If this isn't biological weapon, I don't know what is.
I am not that brave to try... if any of you are willing to try, let me know...


Then, I found frozen Taiyaki. I was thrilled!!!
I just put them in microwave for a minute and half. It was better than I expected.


Older Sunrise post -
Sunrise Mart
29 3rd Avenue (between 10th St & 2nd Ave)
212 598 3040

Gajyumaru

Mom was in town and she took us out for sushi. Gajyumaru was not only convenient, but also has good sushi considering where we live. And yes, it's actually owned & operated by Japanese people.

They also have ramen on weekend for lunch (not on the menu, so you have to ask for it).

Maguro was good...

hamburg steak

Older post -
Gajyumaru

Gajyumaru
1659 1st Avenue at 86th Street
212-860-8857