New York Again

It's been a while, but since my last post, I've spent a week and a half in New York City. While there my best friend and I did lots of wandering of the city, allowing us to explore and discover new restaurants in territory we had yet to delve into.

A good cheap eatery we found is on the Upper West Side: Soom Soom. They have amazing falafel. You order either a salad or a pita with falafel in it, then get to pick and choose from their open salad bar of pre-made Israeli salads. I cannot tell you the names of any of them, but they're AWESOME. I actually went twice while in town. I prefer the salad to the pita because the salad makes you feel so good. All veggies and chickpeas.

Soom Soom

166 W. 72nd St.

New York, NY

Another place my family and I discovered when they joined up with me for Labor Day weekend is Maya. It is a really, really nice Mexican restaurant on the Upper East Side with, hands down, the best Mexican I've ever had. Their chicken with mole is to die for. Guacamole is made fresh for you on the floor. I had their chicken enchiladas which were pretty tasty. We also got corn pudding and plantains on the side. Deelish. We were stuffed and going to get gelato after a show later that night, so we took a look at the dessert menu but didn't order anything. Were we to order, we would have gotten the chocolate tarte with cinnamon ice cream. Then our waiter surprised us with one, not knowing that that is what we were eyeing. Needless to say, he got a big tip. Haha. To our surprise, we also found out that there is a Maya in San Francisco (Yippee!) so we can go when we're at home to. Chevy's no more. We're converts.

Maya

1191 First Ave.

New York, NY

or for the West Coasters:

Maya

303 2nd. Street

San Francisco, CA

Lastly, my best friend and I were treated to some gelato by some family friends of hers that we were crashing with for part of my stay. It's called Screme and it is definitely not wallet friendly but SO worth it. With a small starting at $5, it may steer many away, but believe me, if you walk through the doors and start tasting (employees are required to give as many free samples as you want) you'll want to order a large (which, if you're wondering, will set you back $9...but it's practically a pint when they pile it all on, and it's totally worth it). The two Manhattan stores have 5,000 flavors that they cycle through from pear sorbet to Captain Crunch or Fig Tequila gelato. The flavor intensities are awesome (though the sorbets slightly less so). There is one location on the Upper West Side, and the other is in the lobby of Madame Tussauds in Times Square.

Screme Gelato

2030 Broadway

New York, NY

Screme Gelato

234 W. 42nd St.

New York, NY

Thai Food...The Best of the Best in SF

Some of my good friends and I had a bougie night out in San Francisco tonight. We got dressed up all snazzy and had dinner at Osha Thai Restaurant on 2nd Street. It was probably the best Thai food I've ever eaten...no joke. The yellow curry one of the girls got was peerless...and trust me, I've had my fair share of yellow curry. I had a Lava Guava drink, a spring roll, a piece of fried tofu with peanut sauce on it, and country chicken as my main dish. I think the dishes are supposed to be eated family style, but with 11 of us, we each decided to get our own entree then mooch off everyone else for tastes. It worked out perfectly and I was able to get my fix of everything I wanted: lemongrass chicken, pad thai, curry, pineapple fried rice...all incredible. The bill came out to around $35 a pop including drinks, 11 entrees, and a few appetizers to share. Not too bad for an AMAZING meal.

Osha Thai Restaurant

149 2nd Street

San Francisco, CA

Berkeley Brunch

Ate at a new place this morning for a friend's birthday. La Note Restaurant in Berkeley on Shattuck. It's Provencal French food. Though I don't eat eggs, their oeufs (eggs) looked awesome and tended to be what people ordered. I got the lemon gingerbread pancakes with poached pears. They tasted like gingerbread cookies of pancake consistency, and were pretty darn tasty. I had a taste of another guy's pain perdu (French toast, essentially) and it was good. Too rich for me to eat more than a taste, and very dense, but good. Their orange juice was fresh. The mocha I had left much to be desired but was what I needed at the time. I'm definitely going back to try the oatmeal raspberry pancakes next time.

La Note Restaurant

2377 Shattuck Ave.

Berkeley, CA

The Sensations of Summer

Having lived in Southern California for two years now, I think I'm finally starting to appreciate the weather. It is perfect, especially in the summer. Highs of 85? Brilliant, and it stays just warm enough to be able to sit outside without a sweater until about 9PM.

I went to the farmer's market this morning. On my way out, I heard an announcer at the swim club across the street. I didn't even know there was one, but it made me miss my childhood summers. Saturday morning meets were the epicenter of my life. It's nice to know that there is a club as close to my home now as there is up north. It's comforting.

The countdown to Balboa has begun...two more months and I will be all settled with six of my favorite people. It is going to be an epic year.

New Favorite Guilty Pleasure

I made dinner with my little sis tonight which consisted of bison burgers. (If you haven't discovered bison/buffalo yet, please head to your nearest Whole Foods to buy some pronto. It is very similar to beef, only it tastes better and is better for you because it has fewer calories, less fat, and more iron. Be careful, though. The lack of fat means it can cook very quickly. It's taken me a few months of cooking it finally master bison meat. Low temperature for a longer time does the trick.)

Anywho...back to dinner...we decided to have frozen yogurt for dessert. Trader Joe's plain tart froyo was the yogurt of choice. I had some blueberries. Check. I was also in the mood for peanut butter. The Irvine Whole Foods just started carrying Nuttzo Butter today, which is a multi-nut butter with lots of omega-3's; it's crunchy and delicious. I also had extra peanut butter I'm trying to get rid of before I move out next month.

So try this: Tart froyo, Blueberries, and Peanut or Mixed Nut butter. To DIE for. Very strange. Your tastebuds might get confused, but it is incredible. Also, if you use Nuttzo, you're getting your omega-3's, antioxidants, and probiotics all in one. Absolute heaven, and so dangerous now that I have it in my apartment...eeek!

My new favorite coffee shop, ever.

I went into Long Beach early yesterday afternoon to get some studying done before the Musical Theatre West Little Shop designer run so I wouldn't have to sit in traffic for an hour and a half. I wound up at this adorable little coffee shop, Portfolio, on the corner of Junipero and 4th. It is amazing. I was able to finish Midsummer in one sitting, get in some leisurly reading, and catch up with my parents in Hawaii (they're in Hawaii, Meg's in France, and I'm taking midterms in Irvine...fantastic) in four hours. They are all about natural ingredients and their plastic coffee cups are really made of corn so their 100% biodegradable. Yay!

Going back today to catch up on some more reading on my day off before heading home for the 4th.

Happy 4th of July!

On another note...my scale was friendly as says I've lost 3 pouds since I started this. YES. Maybe if I had been more diligent with my eating habits winter quarter I could have lost more weight then...damn.

Sunny Sandy Eggo

Pannikin

510 N. Coast Highway

Encinitas, CA

I haven't been here...yet...but my friend Angel took my friend Blair there and Blair came back raving about it and telling me I need to experience it, knowing how much of a foodie I am. It's a cute little coffee shop in an old railway station right off the ocean.

Extroadinary Desserts

1430 Union St.

San Diego, CA

The name of this place is no understatement. It is extroadinary. I would drive all the way down from Orange County just for their peanut brittle ice cream. They have a different selection of desserts daily. They also serve real meal food, but why would you go to a dessert place to get savory food?

Margo's Mexican Grill

2015 Garnet Ave. #102

San Diego, CA

On a roadtrip down to SD, one of my friends researched this place and among all her cross referencing, it was deemed the best Mexican food in Pacific Beach. After tasting it, I think we all agreed. Just be careful...eating a whole burrito can be taxing on your stomach. Yeah...it was that good. Their happy hour is pretty awesome, including cheap drinks and tacos. Their margaritas are also great.