Dinner at Latham House in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I went to Latham House for dinner.  I don't know why I didn't think there would be a wait on a Saturday night.  I think I assumed people mostly went there for brunch/lunch, which was an incorrect assumption.  Fortunately we didn't end up waiting for long.  The food was really wonderful, and Dan's pot pie was massive!  Bigger than his face!  My salmon was just what I needed.  Fresh and healthy but filling.  One of my new favs.

Seared Scallops and Crispy Bacon app - haricots verts, arugula, grape tomatoes citrus vinaigrette.  It was hearty without being heavy, if that make sense.  Scallops perfectly cooked.  Reminded me of how much I love scallops

Chicken Pot Pie - breast of chicken, vegetables, fresh herb cream gravy scallion-cheddar biscuit crust . One of the best pot pies I've had but oh so rich

Look at that pot pie in proportion to Dan's body.  It was HUMONGOUS.  Could've fed 3

Grilled Salmon, Grains & Greens - quinoa, bulgur, farro, arugula, pistachio, avocado, tomato, orange-basil vinaigrette. Just what I needed after the other two dishes

Brunch at Molly's Shebeen Pub and Restaurant in NYC

Went to Molly's for a book club brunch.  The book was told from the perspective of an Irish-American man, so fitting.  The portions were huge, at least my breakfast.  I could only get through half because it was massive.  Very authentic tasting though, so props to them for that.

Corned beef hash and eggs

The Full Irish Breakfast - Two Eggs, White and Black Pudding, Irish Sausage, Irish Bacon, Tomato & Home Fries.  Plus I added the irish baked beans.  Could have easily fed two people

Dinner from Conga Cafe in Union City, NJ

I ordered some cuban food from a new place on Uber Eats - Conga Cafe.  Food came pretty quickly and was delicious and tasted authentic.  I think this is one of the few places I've seen that even has arepas on their menu.  Their pernil wasn't as good as Me Casa, but still good.   I can't get over the arepa though - so delicious and topped with ropa vieja yumm.

Lechon asado with moro and plantains

Cuarteto de empanadas - the beef was the beset

Arepa con queso y ropa vieja - best thing we got

Dinner at Pasta dal Cuore in Jersey City, NJ

Tracy and I went to Pasta dal Cuore for dinner.  We tried to go to a Thai place but it was closed boo.  Their loss though since we had a delicious meal at PDC.  And it's BYOB so we saved money by not having to pay for drinks.  Always my fav Italian spot although the menu is smaller than most.  The quality of the pasta is just so worth it though.

Special of the night.  Fried mozzarella with dressed arugula and marinara

Fettucine al Aglio e Pepe ai Funghi - roasted garlic & black pepper hand-cut fettucine with mushroom (portobello, oyster, shiitake) ragu, truffle pate and finished with truffle oil

A spinach fettucine special with shrimp and clams.  Loved it and it wasn't too heavy

Dinner at Buddy Who's in Jersey City, NJ

There's a new restaurant where Park and Sixth Gastropub and York Street Tavern used to be called Buddy Who's.  Cute story about the owner and his wife and parents.  Food was great.  American bistro.  The waiter was definitely new, and it was mildly annoying, but I'll ignore that because the food was great and I know there are growing pains.  Interestingly, they have breakfast and brunch, so definitely want to come back and try it.

Dan got the Jersey burger - Grilled Pork Roll, over easy egg, bacon and cole slaw

I got the French Onion burger - Exactly what you're thinking but we're subbing in Swiss cheese with this one. Enjoy!  It was so rich but soooo good.  Tons of fries, which were perfectly cooked

Chocolate chip ice cream sandwich.  HUGE.  How the f could one person eat this?  The cookie was a little hard.  Would've been 10x better had they warmed the cookie for a few seconds in the microwave. Completely unnecessary but had no restraint

Dinner at Greene Hook in Jersey City, NJ

Greene Hook changed their menu for the winter season!  I just love when they add new things to their menu because their chef is so creative and always executes everything perfectly.  This dinner was no exception.

Winter menu

It was early so we made it in time for happy hour.  A dozen oysters for $1 each

The ravioli was a special that day

I believe this also was a special that Dan got.  Can't recall the meat but it was very French and fresh and herb-y

I got the burger special too!  It was lamb with lots of feta as you can see.  It was juicy and perfectly cooked.  And came with salad so I felt almost healthy

Banana cake with caramelized banana and espresso ice cream.  Dan really enjoyed it.  It was too real banana-y for me

Their creme brulee with berries is always incredible

Dinner at Anjappar in NYC

A bunch of us went to Anjappar after trivia.  This place was recommended to us by a friend but I didn't LOVE it, which I thought I would have.  I didn't love most of the curries that came with my thali.  The samosas were fine but I prefer them from Rasoi.  Glad to try it but will venture elsewhere in Curry Hill.

Samosas

My meat thali platter

Dinner at Capital Grille in Paramus, NJ

Dan and I went to Capital Grille for his work's annual holiday party.  We ate way more food than I felt comfortable taking pictures of, but I did snag shorts of our delicious steaks.  I got the NY Strip as usual and Dan got the cowboy steak.  I felt very jealous of Dan as his was much juicier.  I also got mine medium well instead of medium, which I regretted since we had so much leftover and re-cooking it the next day was obviously better w/medium steak than medium well.  No matter still super delicious.

My NY Strip.  Looks like a baby next to the Cowboy

Cowboy Steak.  Amazing

Dinner at Hecho en Dumbo in NYC

Risheen and Tyler were in town.  We tried to go to Uncle Boon's but the wait was so long.  Instead we went to Hecho en Dumbo, which has excellent Mexican food and it's very spacious and oddly not crowded.  I know they are at Smorgasburg but didn't realize they had an actual store.  Great food and very very meaty.

Queso Fundido - Melted chihuahua & asadero cheese, with crumbled Berkshire pork belly chorizo.  Different than the one at Empellon but still very very good. More cheesy than meaty

My super meaty taco trio.  You can mix and match.   From L to R: Taco de Costilla: Grilled steak short rib with chopped onion & cilantro; Taco Campechano : Cecina (salt-cured steak), chorizo, & chicharrón; and Taco de Lengua: Roasted beef tongue, beef marrow, morita xoconostle salsa, caramelized onion. All were so good but I wish it had more in it besides meat

Dan got Gorditas de Chicharron Prensado: Masa cakes filled with Duroc pork butt, chile guajillo Oaxaca cheese

Lunch at Rumi Turkish Grill in Jersey City, NJ

My cousins and I went to Rumi for lunch.  They have a really great lunch deal where you pick an appetizer, main course and drink all for $12.95.  So many options and the food is just as great as dinner.  The portions were generous so I had leftovers too.  So amazing I wish I were able to order lunch from there more often.

Amazing bread basket, grape leaves, eggplant salad, and my new fav babaghanush

Generous portion of lamb gyro, rice and tomato

Stuffed cabbage

My absolute fav - chicken shish kebab with rice and veggies.  That pepper was SO HOT.  Huge mistake taking a bite because last time it wasn't hot :( My tongue burned/felt numb for awhile

Dinner from Tex Mex in Jersey City, NJ

I think Dan was feeling like Mexican but most of our go-to places had a long wait.  We ended up ordering from a new spot on Uber Eats called Tex Mex.  We both got chimichangas though with different proteins.  I don't think the food is super authentic, as their menu seems very Americanized, but it did the job.

Grilled Steak Chimichanga. Came with rice and guac and salsa

Grilled chicken chimichanga.  The red "sauce" tasted a little bit sweet and almost italian, which was confusing

Dinner at Empellon Taqueria in NYC

I finally went to Empellon Taqueria with Jordan.  I had made reservations there in the past, both for restaurant week and not, and for various reasons, never made it there.  You could tell that the place was super trendy.  It was a little overwhelming in the front, but they had a back room that was much more spacious and less hectic.  Only negative was I saw a rather large, fast moving cockroach.  Food-wise, the place was delicious and I got pretty full despite the taco portions being smaller than usually (2 per order vs. 3).  Everything was delicious and well balanced.  Great spot that I would definitely return to since they had a great unique variety of tacos.

Red and Green Chorizo in melted cheese served with warm tortillas.  This app was very filling.  I think it came with 6 tortillas so we already ate almost a whole plate of tacos before our actual tacos came out

Lamb barbacoa with cucumber and salsa borracha - my favs

Shrimp tacos with pepitas

I can't recall the kind of meat but it was great as well

Happy Hour at Haru Sushi in NYC

Karem and I went to Haru Sushi on the Upper West Side of happy hour/dinner.  Love when places have happy hour food deals.  Almost everything we ordered as from the happy hour menu so it was very reasonably priced.  Everything was pretty good and they were nice about letting me sit there by myself even though there was plenty of people.

Tuna Poke - scallion, avocado, soy, ra-yu sesame and taro chips  Pretty delish and loved that they served it with taro chips

Short Rib Yakitori - Yuzu miso marinade, shaved cabbage and green apple salad, chili-lime vinaigrette, cashew, scallion. Really tender and flavorful

Cauliflower Tempura - Shichimi Togarashi, lemon-chili mayo.  Can't go wrong with fried cauliflower

Spicy Tuna Roll and Crunchy Spicy Salmon Roll

Sambal Wings - Sweet sambal oelek sauce, scallion, sesame.  My least favorite.  A little spicy for me

Lobster Tacos (only thing not on HH menu) - maine lobster, cucumber, avocado, cilantro, jalapeno-ponzu dressing, scallion, and gyoza shell.  Very tasty just wished the lobster flavor was stronger

Dinner at Greene Hook in Jersey City, NJ

Another dinner at Greene Hook. Honestly it never gets old coming here.  There's always something new on the menu that we want to try and we're never disappointed.  On this particular trip, we had insanely rich food that made us almost comatose.  Completely worth it though.

Tasty drinks

Poutine - cheese curds and gravy topped with duck confit

Bacon wrapped meatloaf  with mash, green beans, and demi

Insane Chef's burger topped with some french cheese and a patty of FOIE GRAS.  FOIE!  I died.  This place is literally a 3 min walk from us.  So incredible.

Lunch at Hanco's in Brooklyn, NY

I went to a Vietnamese spot with Laura.  It was a made-to-order place.  It took a little while for the food to come, busy lunch place I guess.  My banh mi was pretty good.  Good crunch of the bread and the chicken had nice flavor.  Didn't try Laura's bun but she said it was okay.

Shrimp bun /vermicelli bowl

Grilled chicken banh mi with mayo, butter, cucumber, julienne carrots and daikon raddish and cilantro served on a toasted French baguette

close up of the sandwich