Brunch at Amelia's Bistro in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I took the puppy to brunch at Amelia's.  We hadn't been there in awhile and seemed like a nice day to eat outside and have Walks with us.  It ended up being colder than anticipated but we toughed it out. Always a solid brunch spot.  My meal was too large so I had some restraint and took my leftovers home.

Dan's smoked salmon benedict.  Their potatoes were amazing btw

My very large breakfast burrito - eggs, tomato, peppers, cheese and I added bacon.  Sides of salsa, guacamole, and sour cream.  And breakfast potatoes :)

Dinner at Razza in Jersey City, NJ

We hadn't been to Razza in quite some time so we went on Friday night for dinner.  Since they don't take rezzies, we had to wait a little while, but it was fine because we had a drink and they always make them nice and strong.  We actually ate at the bar because we didn't want to wait at a table,  but I think it was even better because we got access to the bartenders and got them to make us a drink that we love but was no longer on the menu (vanilla coke with real vanilla beans).  The pizzas we had were excellent.  We also got kale caesar, not pictured because we've eaten in pretty much everytime so figured I had enough photos.  I keep hoping they will have the amazing crepe cake, but their salted caramel panna cotta is a great dessert as well.

Special pizza that night - white pizza with four kinds of mushrooms

Project Hazelnut pizza - fresh mozzarella, Rutgers University hazelnuts, ricotta and local honey.  I've been on a ricotta and honey kick lately but it was great with frehs mozz and the nuts.  The nuts made it almost meaty and I liked having that combo warm because the prior ricotta/honey toast I've had were cold

Salted caramel panna cotta - great ending to a great meal

Dinner at Dullboy in Jersey City, NJ

The original Park and Sixth is now Dullboy, a bar with some food and very cool, dark, NYC-bar environment.  I assume the same chefs because a lot of the menu is similar to te original P&S and now defunct P&S Gastropub.  The food was solid but the drinks are outstanding.  Great vibe too - we ended up coming back a few days later for cocktails.

Dan's fav drink on the left - Scout - bourbon, blackberry, lemon, artichoke amaro, and vanilla.  Don't remember what I got but it was tasty though strong

Guanciale Mac and Cheese - smoked pork cheek, yellow cheeses, truffled panko. Great flavors. Loved the little pieces of guanciale in it

Corned Beef spring rolls - corned beef, swiss cheese, houseslaw, homemade russian dressing.  Their spring rolls, no matter the filling, are always excellent

The "Big Smack" burger - two flatiron patties, american cheese, lettuce, pickles, caramelized shallots, special sauce, sesame seed bun.  Like a classy Big Mac haha.  Great meat though honestly.  Juicy and proportions just right

Thai Honey and Salt wings - signature sweet and spicy wings. The only thing I didn't love. I thought it would be like P&S G's wings with a sweet honey glaze but this was more curry tasting

Lunch at Parm in NYC

Finally made it to Parm! Been wanting to go for so long but never made it.  The one on Mulberry Street seemed out of the way and whenever I eat at Brookfield Place, there's so many other places in the main food court to choose from.  This Parm is separate from the food court but still close and physically connected.  Everything was great and the leftovers reheated well.  The ice cream cake got a little obscene, yet I finished approximately 85% of it.  I felt kind of ill after as I think it should be shared by 4 people rather than 2, but I'm not sorry haha.

Mozzarella sticks - my Achilles heel.  Not sure why it's not actually on the menu but the waitress asked if I wanted them as if she were a mind reader.  Nice breading and very thick piece of mozz but well cooked.  We contained ourselves to eating only 3 to save room because they were filling.  They reheated fine the next day

Thick cheese

The Ruth Ozersky - house roast beef, mozz, and pepperoncini.  Dan really liked this

Chicken Parm Hero - all great flavors.  Pretty sizeable too

Italian fries - didn't really need it but enjoyed it

Smores Ice Cream Cake.  Giant.  You can't even tell how tall it was but maybe like 8-9 inches tall

The aftermath.  For the record this was 85-90% me.  I could've finished that bit but Dan was already impressed and trying to save me from self-destructing I think

Dinner from Super Sen Hai in Jersey City, NJ

I wanted some quick Chinese take out and got some menus in our apt. from Super Sen Hai.  I think we've ordered from there before but I couldn't remember.  The food was standard take-out fare. It came quickly and was cheap so what more could you ask for.  The dumplings were the only negative - clearly pre-made and frozen.  Sometimes I just hope they'll be nice dim-sum style but alas, was asking too much.

Shrimp Shu mai - not home-made obviously

Green Jade Vegetables - wasn't sure what it would be but was pleasantly surprised.  Broccoli, snow peas, and green beans in brown sauce.  Tasty, large, and made me feel somewhat healthy 

Boneless bbq ribs with shrimp fried rice.  Can't complain

Dessert from Downtown Yogurt in Jersey City, NJ

Everytime we're by Grove St/Newark Ave we look in the window at Downtown Yogurt to see what donut flavors they have.  We showed some restraint and only got two donuts. Both were cake donuts though so very thick and super rich with toppings.  I liked the flavor combos but could only eat about 1/4 of each donut in one sitting because of how rich and sweet they were. Hence why I called this post "dessert" instead of breakfast.

White chocolate sea salt pretzel donut.  Insanely rich

Reese's peanut butter donut.  A cake donut sliced in half and also slathering in the middle with peanut butter. Insane

A lot to handle

Dinner at Miso Ramen in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I finally got to try Miso Ramen.  We went on an off night and still had to wait but for much less time than originally thought and it was worth it.  It was also BYOB, which is always great to lessen costs.  The noodles are house-made every morning at 6am and it shows.  The broth options were very flavorful and our appetizers were also great though not the stars of the show.  I know there are some other appetizers that weren't available but which they will be having soon (various grilled items) so psyched for that.  Great addition to JC if you have a ramen craving. Definitely the best in town so far.

Shao mai - shrimp dumpling. Good but not outstanding

Marbled pork buns with lettuce and mayo. Pretty tasty and def wish I had more

Wild Pepper Spicy Ramen in shoyu broth - chasu pork, chili pepper spice, sesame salted mustard, peanut, mushroom, scallions, black garlic oil and nitamigo (softt boiled egg). Really tasty broth and nice kick but not overpowering.  The pork seemed ground though not like the pork in mine (below) which was supposed to be the same

Chasu ramen - I think I got this in tonkatsu broth.  Came with chasu pork, which was tender and flavorful and in a hearty portion, sesame, bamboo shoots, mushroom, scallions, black garlic oil and nitamigo.  Excellent bowl

Lunch at Nish Nush in NYC

My co-worker and I went to Nish Nush for a quick and delicious lunch mid-training.  Despite the entire menu being vegetarian I was very happy and satisfied with my meal though it at the end became a little too spicy for me ha.  Fortunately by that point I was already full

Deluxe sandwich - three kinds of patties, original, spinach and roasted red pepper which was very spicy but at the bottom.  Sturdy pita with hummus, israeli salad, white and red cabbage, pickles, eggplant and tahini.  A lot going on but all very delicious and took me out of my comfort zone in a good way

My coworkers falafel sandwich. I think he got the roasted red pepper one

Fries were excellent. Great seasoning, crispness, and not greasy

Brunch at Ravagh Persian Grill in NYC

We had a book club meeting at Ravagh in the East Village.  The place was empty until we got there so our food came out fairly quickly.  The portion was pretty large and everything was really tasty, well-cooked and well-seasoned.  We shared a lot of things which was great because I love trying as much of a menu as possible.  My leftovers were also delicious the next day

Complimentary bread and sauces.  I enjoyed the green one, which was some kind of light herb blend, mixed with the white one which kind of was like tzaziki but less thick

Hummus - didn't have any but looked good

Stuffed green pepper with rice, ground beef and tomatoes.  Very tasty and reminds me that this is a dish I should think of cooking at home

Kotlet - ground beef and potato patty pan fried.  I think this is the Persian equivalent of an empanada. Very tasty

Barg Kebob - beef tenderloin strips with grilled veggies

Lamb Shish Kebob with rice.  Both meats were well cooked and spiced nicely, and incredibly filling

Tracy got some stew, which I think she really enjoyed too since it was a little chilly out

Baklava - nice end to dinner esp with the honey drizzle

Ice cream with rose water, pistachio and other fragrant aspects.  Very different than any typical ice cream flavor but I really liked it.  Some people did not as there was a very distinct almost spice quality to it, but I ate a good portion of it

Dinner at Hamilton Pork in Jersey City, NJ

We went to Hamilton Pork for dinner, which is a BBQ joint run by the same people who run the Hamilton Inn, both of which are - duh - right by Hamilton Park in Jersey City.  I made a reservation on Open Table thankfully, which was very necessary as it was super packed by the time we went.  The majority of what we ate was amazing and def warrants a return trip.  I was only a bit disappointed by the beef rib because I thought it would be a legit beef rib not short rib, but we at least didn't pay that much (unlike $20-25 ribs at other places in the area).  The lamb gyro tacos by themselves make me want to return. They were sooo good and unique.  Oh and the nachos.  Okay definitely need to go back soon now that I'm reliving in my head how tasty our meal was.

(L) Cucumber Margarita and (R) Tea Quiero.  The Cucumber Marg was sooo good, def something I want to copy and drink at home because of how refreshing and delicious it was.  Seems simple to make - silver tequila, cucumber, lime and triple sec. Maybe the prob is I usually don't have silver tequila at home, but it's very mild so the rest of the flavors take over and they were wonderful.  The Tea Quiero was Medley Brothers Bourbon, peach schnapps, housemade lemonade and iced tea.  The peach schnapps made the drink a little too sweet for Dan's liking.  I think just the bourbon and lemonade and iced tea would've been perfect

Nachos with brisket, burnt end beans, jalapeno, crema, guacamole and queso. Perfection.  The chips were def homemade and you could taste it in how sturdy and flavorful.  The beans were possibly the best part, though close call with the brisket.  This was also a huge portion and had everything you'd want so I could've just stopped eating the other stuff and only eaten this.  Highly recommend this with brisket (could also do with chicken or shrimp)

Gyro taco - lamb belly, pickled onion and crema.  I also would def recommend this.  Great bbq flavors but also something different with the gyro flavors

Mini beef rib.  I think this was a cut of a short rib.  Because it was so small it was very charred and a little burned.  Good flavor but also fatty so in conjunction with being burned, felt like not the best deal

Side of corn pudding.  More like soft corn bread?  Wouldn't get again. 

Churro Waffle Ice Cream sandwich.  The ice cream was delish but the churro waffle was a bit confusing and not what I expected.  Overall kind of a let down, but since I was so full at this point it was okay

Home-made churros

Dan and I made home-made churros and salted caramel dipping sauce.  The churros themselves were close to Spanish style but the real standout was the salted caramel dipping sauce, which was actually really easy to make and super delicious.  Could use that for so many things too.  May be a little dangerous now that we can make churros ourselves haha.  Next time we'll make Spanish-style chocolate sauce a la San Gines in Madrid.

Churros dusted in cinnamon sugar.  The recipe actually made a lot of churros considering only two of us were eating

Home-made salted caramel :)

Brunch at Greene Hook in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I went to a nearby restaurant for brunch since we walked by a few times during happy hour and it's always packed.  There were lots of tempting things on the menu but we were both very happy with what we settled on.  Portions were just right and both dishes were immensely flavorful. We'll be back for dinner I'm sure.

Crispy Pork Belly and Eggs with biscuits and sausage gravy.  Perfect combo.  Wish you could see the pork belly in the shot but it was beautifully cooked and not too flaky

Fried chicken and waffles with maple butter, hot sauce, and syrup.  Loved this.  Chicken was very flavorful and perfectly fried.  Waffles were a little overcooked but still tasty.  Perfect ratio of chicken to waffle.  Wish they had given more butter

Dinner at Mercato Tomato Pie in Newark, NJ

After a Devils game we went to grab pizza at Mercato Tomato Pie next door to the Rock.  It was pretty empty so didn't have to wait at all to be seated or order.  The chef messed up one of our pizzas (forgot to put on the cheese) so we ended up with two huge "small" pizza and another cheeseless pizza topped with a ton of bacon and clams.  The pizza itself was good but nothing that would make me come back, though the portions were so large I would recommend it for being a great deal.

Margherita Pizza - nice thin crust.  A little more tomato sauce than cheese

The messed up pizza. You can see it's burned because it cooked too fast since there was no cheese.  But we def picked off the clams and bacon while we waited for the correct version

Clams Casino pizza - fresh clams, bacon, grated pecorino cheese, olive oil, fresh garlic, and oregano.  Delicious but the toppings were super filling.  At the end we left with three large pizza boxes