Happy New Year Everyone!
What better way to start off the new year than to be
reminded that you’re still constantly on “Filipino time”, aka always late. In fact, I’m so late/so behind on my posts
that Blogger looks totally different now, and screaming right in my face how
much I have not kept up with my blog, with all these stats of views, comments,
etc. I didn’t have to be a former engineer
to understand that the graph they show when I first log in shows that I haven’t
written in ages, er, and people are not “viewing” it if I am not writing.
SO, if I write it, they will come, eh?
I was planning to write this post just prior to the new year
(see above paragraph). Many of you might
have seen the show Best Thing I Ever Ate on the Food Network.
Well, it’s definitely one of my faves that I am consistently watching,
and also inspired me to write this post.
Since James and I moved to the city, our culinary adventures have
expanded, mostly because now it is so accessible to us. Many of these have become REPEAT RESTAURANTS
(brush up on your foodie vocab people – see sidebar on your right) for me,
mainly because they have some LIFE CHANGING (vocab) items on their menu.
So who made the cut for me in 2012? In no particular order…
Cherry Cream
Scones from Amy's Bread
Typically a
tourist trap, but still fabulous in its own right, Chelsea Market is just a hop, skip and
jump away from our apartment. And thankfully because right in the market is Amy’s
Bread, and no contest to the other 5+ bakeries/pastry shops that reside there. These
scones are not just any scone, it’s the scone that you wish you had 5 more
after you ate the first. Good balance of
tart and sweet, you almost don’t feel like you’re not indulging because it’s a
scone and not French fries. But it turns out that scones are really fattening
so you are, in fact, indulging. But so
so worth it.
Crispy
Brussels Sprouts from Alta
I actually
wrote about Alta in one of my posts, The
Tour of Little Plates . So that’s says something in itself. People who know me well know that I have a
really weird obsession with Brussels sprouts, random, since pop culture tends
to give the veg a bad name. Like on
family sitcoms, it’ll be used as a threat to be eaten if the child did
something bad. I have yet to find a
place that makes that good of a Brussels sprout dish; heck, maybe if you try
them at Alta, you might become obsessed too.
Chili
Vinegar from Dirty Bird to Go
I am not
even sure if that’s what they formally call it, but they have this vinegar that
has a spicy chili flavor that is so good, I even dipped my Brussels sprouts in
it (see above regarding obsession with brussles spouts). I am typically not a
fan of vinegar flavor, or anything that spicy, but for some reason, you feel
like you keep wanting more and dousing the vinegar on everything on your
plate.
Brussels
Wafel from Wafles and Dinges
Do we see a
trend here for names of food that I love?
Well if you don’t know, know you know- Wafles and Dinges is the best
food truck around. I imagine that this
truck has legitimate stalkers, people who google search, twitter follow them,
and hunt them down to see where they are located on a daily basis just to grab
one of these bad boys. I may or may not
be one of them. You don’t even need to
get all the bells and whistles, just powdered sugar. It’s that good. Amazing.
Maple Glazed
Bacon from Tipsy Parson
Silly
people, a best thing I ever ate list without bacon? If bacon became a lollipop,
this would be it. And I don’t think I need
to say more than that.
Crème Brulee
Doughnut from Doughnut Plant
Take it for
NYC to make something that should be inexpensive, like a doughnut, and up charge
3 times over. In walks the crème brulee doughnut! It is the ultimate indulgence,
both in taste and price. It has the
crunchy outside, the inside its doughy with crème filling. And it’s this tiny, tiny doughnut that it shouldn’t
even be called a doughnut, it should be called a munchkin, with the price of an
individual sized cake. Nevertheless, I am
a sucker, and I am obsessed.
Mac n Cheese
from Dinosaur Barbeque
You know
when you’re out, and you see mac n cheese on the menu? You always have to get
it right? And I have been tricked every
single time because till this day, I have yet to taste better mac n cheese than
the one from Dinosaur. It’s worth the
schlep uptown. Ya heard it here.
The Tribeca
Burger from New York Burger Company
Ok, I may
get burned at the stake here for saying this one, but I have to say, this burger
never disappoints. I know, I know, there
are probably a million places that have life changing burgers, but every single
time I go there, it is always a really good, solid burger that hits the
spot. This puppy comes with cherrywood smoked bacon, blue cheese & avocado… not to mention
a perfectly sized brioche bun. And if
you get French fries, they have a killer sauce bar with 10+ types of
sauces.
Everything Bagel from Murray's
Bagels
No NYC list would be complete without having a bagel on the
list. And really, who gets a bagel if it’s
not an everything bagel. Good balance
of crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, another one of those up
charged items that are worth it.
Banana Cream
Pie from Billy's Bakery
Billy’s is
known for their cakes and cupcakes, but I know them for their banana cream
pie. Large chunks of banana, perfect
crust, not too sweet whipped cream topping…it’s the best.
I know I typically
put pictures on my posts, but somehow my iPhone has no pictures of my faves,
apparently just ones of my niece, nephew and dogs. So I made a huge effort to bust out with the
hyperlinks – use them people! They were an extra effort to stick them in, and
you can delve into the places a little more yourselves :)
What are
some of the best things you ever ate? Which ones do you think I am just plain
cray cray for thinking that they are best?
