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

Lunch at Hill Country Chicken in Brooklyn, NY

I had a couple of trainings in Brooklyn so on two separate occasions went to Hill Country Chicken.  The chicken itself is good but nothing spectacular.  I really enjoyed my Cobb salad though since you could get it with fried chicken, which I guess makes the meal not really healthy, but still better than just eating straight up chicken ha.

Two piece meal with fries

Cobb Salad with fried chicken tenders

All mixed up so you can see blue cheese, eggs, tomato, avocado, bacon, lettuce, and beets

Dinner from New Thanh Hoai in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I ordered Vietnamese food via fastboy delivery, which is great because lots of restaurants participate that aren't on Grubhub/Seamless.  The food prices are more expensive than in the restaurant since private drivers are picking up the food and delivering but still overall an inexpensive meal.  I also love that two people can share one order of pho so we can get other things as well.  Love living in JC.

Grilled shrimp with lettuce on Rice Vermicelli

Grilled chicken

Toppings

Pho with grilled chicken

So much pho :)

Dinner at Andanada in NYC

Dan and I went to Andanada, a one-Michelin-Star Spanish/tapas restaurant.  We had to wait a little while despite having a reservation but it was worth it.  Def the best Spanish food I've had in NYC and reminded me of the delicious food we had in Spain.  The ambiance was authentically Spanish, very relaxed and no pressure to leave but rather to sit and enjoy the meal.  And I spoke to our waiter in Spanish.  They were going to have a Basque tapas night in the future but we couldn't make it.  Hope they have another one soon we can reminisce on our food in San Sebastian.

Complimentary squash soup with endive and dip.  Surprising combo but delicious.  The endive was also incredibly refreshing because it was ice cold

Group shot of octopus, patatas bravas and croquetas

Croquetas of iberico ham.  Perfect balance of cheesiness and ham.  Fried perfectly without being greasy

Pulpo a la gallega - mosaic of octopus over potato foam and rapini.  Octopus perfectly cooked.  The potato foam was amazing.  Very rich though

Patatas bravas with the best garlic aioli.  Perfection again.  The potatoes were perfectly crisp but not greasy and soft inside

Arroz Negro paella - squid ink pasta with fish and calamari.  We almost didn't get it but I am SO glad we did.  The best paella I've had in America. I only wish we would've gotten more seafood in it but the portion was a nice size.  Not ridiculously large

Presa Iberica - Pastrami-style pan-seared Iberian pork shoulder

accompanied with pearl onions, chickpea puree, and piqullo peppers.  I was pretty full by the time the pork shoulder came out, which I found salty. Dan said this sauce cut the saltiness and made it really delicious but I got too close to food-comaing so I couldn't continue 

Flan! Delicious and with a citrus-y flavor

Dessert at Beard Papa's Cream Puffs in NYC

Dan and I tried to go to Levain Bakery for cookies but the line was ridiculously long at almost closing time, so we went to Beard Papa's nearby for cream puffs.  They fill them to order and they were soo tasty and light with just the right amount of sweetness.  Also they were pretty inexpensive for a specialty dessert.  The only negative is it's far uptown so unless you're in the area you probably wouldn't go out of your way to eat there.

(L) Eclair cream puff with original vanilla filling.  (R) Original cream puff with special dulce de leche filling.  Both were delicious but very different because of the chocolate and different filling  I slightly preferred the original w/dulce de leche because of the texture and sweet caramel filling but the vanilla filling was also excellent