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

Lunch from Cafe De Novo in NYC

Picked up Korean food and Mexican churros from a nearby deli at our main office downtown.  The bibimbap was good and came with a lot of food - soup, separate container of rice, plus the meat and veggies.  The churro was also huge and filled inside with something sweet.  They have specific flavors but just went with original.  It was tasty but very rich.

Stuffed churro dusted with cinnamon

Chicken bibimbap.  Rice and soup were separate.  All for like $11

Dinner at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ

I had to post this because I was genuinely surprised that they had something like this at the Prudential Center.  These were from a slider stand, can't remember the name but they were actually really tasty and flavorful.  The biscuits tasted a bit like KFC but that's not a bad thing at all because I love them ha.  Plus the sausage gravy was sopped up well by them.

Chicken biscuit sliders with sausage gravy and fries

Lunch from Markie B's Jamaican Cuisine in Queens, NY

Had a clinic for work in East Elmhurst so went nearby to Markie B's for lunch.  I got a lunch special of jerk chicken which came with rice and bananas.  The chicken was tasty with a hint of spice, though had more bones than I thought.  I don't think I'd necessarily want to eat there again but glad I tried it.

Jerk Chicken with rice and plantains