Dinner at The Counter in Clifton, NJ

Dan and I went to The Counter to try a new burger joint where you can custom build your burger, in addition to ordering a pre-set burger.  They also have gluten-free buns, and even more amazingly, unlimited sauces.  The inside was surprisingly large and very similar to Chipotle in my mind - lots of metal and kind of sterile yet modern.  For the build-your-own burger there are sooo many options, it may seem overwhelming.  But fortunately they have checklists so you don't have to worry about someone writing it down wrong.  Despite what the checklists say, extra sauce is free.  I def would like to come back to try other combos.  I didn't wanna get TOO carried away. 

Half & half - fries and sweet potato fries with accompanying horseradish sauce.  The fries were super thing but perfectly crisp and salted.  Like an elevated McDonald's fry ha.  The sweet potato fries were a little thicker but perfect amount of sweet and salty.  I also really liked the sauce even though I didn't think I liked horseradish

Dan's burger with american cheese, kale, spicy pickles, fresh jalapenos, and fried egg on a gluten-free bun.  With smoky chipotle aioli and roasted garlic aioli

My burger with cheddar, kale, jicama, pickled carrot and daikon with roasted garlic and sweet sriracha.  Great balance of flavors and almost felt healthy w/my toppings

View of my veggies.  All such unique choices for a burger joint

All the sauces!  We were good and only ordered two each but there are so many more I wanna try

Dinner at Provence en Boite in Brooklyn, NY

To bid farewell to Elena, I trekked to Brooklyn and we hung out around Cobble Hill.  Eventually we had dinner at a French restaurant that neither she nor her friend had eaten at.  Her friend once tried to go to brunch but waited so long that they eventually left.  They had a sign for Belgian night - mussels, fries, and a beer for $14, so we decided to give it a second chance.  Unfortunately that ended up being a mistake.  They had run out of mussels!  And only took American Express!  WTF.  Also no one's food was good.  Somehow their French Onion Soup was terrible, and my duck somehow was in a soup although it was def not supposed to be.  I think this is the first time I've had bad French food.  Lesson learned.  Do not go to Provence en Boite if you are in BK. 

Seared Duck Breast, honey and 4 spices sauce with vegetable cous cous.  This was what it was supposed to be.  Instead it appeared to be duck and shallots in soup with elbow macaroni and peas.  Not quite what I expected.  The duck was pretty overcooked, and the sauce was more bitter than sweet.  Plus three giant shallots that I could/would not eat.  Womp womp.

Traditional Onion soup, melted cheese, croutons - Elena had this and thought it was terrible.  I didn't try it but I find it crazy that a French restaurant could have bad soup.

Lunch at Vamoose Gluten Free Cafe in Kearny, NJ

There's at least one gluten-free place near our apt. and it's a cute cafe in Kearny.  You can tell that they cook everything from scratch and it kind of feels like it's someone house.  They have their baked goods in tupperware for storage.  Prices are a little expensive but the sandwich we had was delicious as was the coffee.  I forgot to take pics of the baked goods we got to go - two cupcakes plus chocolate chip cookies.  The baked goods were kind of a let down.  Cupcakes and cookies I've made were def better.  But I am a great baker :)  The food was good and we'd like to come back to try their home-made gf pizza.

GF meatball and mozz panini with chips.  And extra marinara dipping sauce

Inside of the sandwich.  That extra dipping sauce was clutch.  And the bread was good. I think it was Udis though, not home-made

Dinner at Amma in NYC

I went to Amma for Restaurant Week w/Karem because we both really like Indian and this RW dinner deal includes five dishes.  The service was a little spotty and the place itself oddly loud, but the food was decent for the price.  Unfortunately definitely not the best Indian food I've ever had, so would probably not come back.  But I'm glad we tried it.

Hara Bara Cold Soup - mixed vegetables with herbs & chef spice.  Def had a kick but was a nice starter. 

(L) Trio of Pakora - fritters of cauliflower, cottage cheese, and onion, and (R) Delhi Chaat - chickpeas, potato, yogurt, mint, and tamarind chutney.  Karem was detoxing from meat this week

Malai Prawn - marinated with coconut milk and hung yogurt, and Chicken Pakora - spiced chicken fritters.  The shrimp was tasty but couldn't really taste the marinade.  The pakora just tasted like pretty bland fried chicken.

(L) Rice, (Front) Chana Saag - chickpeas and spinach with spices, (R) Manchurian cauliflower.  Karem seemed to enjoy it and was pretty full about half-way through

Butter chicken - boneless chicken in creamy tomato sauce, rice w/peas, and Manchurian cauliflower.  The chicken was good; tasted like chicken tikka masala.  The cauliflower had a sweet taste and kind of tasted like sesame chicken sauce.  The portions weren't too large but I got full from the richness

Naan was tasty.  Nice and buttery and light

Karem's strawberry cheesecake that she took to go

Mango Kulfi - mango flavored reduced milk ice cream.  Not my fav.  Was so frozen had the consistency of a chocolate bar

Home-made broccoli cheddar bacon quiche

I made some delicious quiche with broccoli, cheddar, and bacon, along with a gluten-free crust.  Quiche is actually very easy to make, yet tastes so good it seems like it should take a lot of effort.  Next brunch I host will be quiche-ful.

Home-made gluten-free pan de bono & banana nut muffins

I tried my hand at pan de bono - Ecuadorian cheese bread that I first tried at Calle Ocho.  Apparently it is actually gluten free because the starches are tapioca and corn masa.  The texture was spot on and the cheese had good flavor, but it lacked the sweetness that the bread at Calle Ocho had.  Oh well.  On the bright side, my gluten-free banana pecan mini muffins came out great.  I made a bunch of them for Dan and me, and a couple nut-free for the puppy.  He goes crazy for them haha

My Pan de Bono

Gluten-free banana pecan mini muffins

More mini muffins.  The nutless ones were for the doggie

Brunch at Tick Tock Diner in Clifton, NJ

Dan, my parents, and I went to Tick Tock for lunch.  They had an amazing, inexpensive lunch special - soft shell crab BLT.  SO delicious!  I think they actually forgot the bacon, but barely noticed because the crab itself was so delicious.  Dan got his usual Route 3 Traffic Jam.  Delish as per usual.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Soft Shell Crab BLT with fries

Route 3 traffic jam - fried eggs w/cheese, sausage, and hash browns