Dinner from Buon Appetito in Jersey City, NJ

We felt like non-chain-y pizza so tried out Buon Appetito in Jersey City.  The pizza and pasta we had were both excellent, though without meat.  :(

Tomato, Basil and Fresh Mozzarella pizza.   Everything tasted super fresh and the crust was super thin.  I wish it had been thicker but it was okay because I dipped the extra crust into the vodka sauce

Tortellini with vodka sauce. I think this is hands down the best vodka sauce I've ever had.  All the Yelp reviews of this place talk about how amazing the vodka sauce is, and I can confirm that is true.  I know they just sell quarts of the sauce, so maybe one day I'll do that and just make my own pasta because the sauce by itself is the same price as this platter.

Dinner at Dinosaur BBQ in Newark, NJ

Dan had never been to Dino and I was feeling meaty, so what better place to go than Dinosaur BBQ.  We shared everything and the total meal was under $40 - great deal.  Still not as good as Hill Country in my book, but definitely one of the better BBQ places I've been to around here.

3 meat combo but we doubled the pork ribs and had brisket.  Sides included corn bread, gumbo, and BBQ fried rice.  Fav side was the gumbo but apparently not the best according to my gumbo connoisseur eating companion

Hot Jumbo Wings with garlic chipotle sauce.  Some definite heat above the Wango Tango sauce

Home-made salmon patties and buffalo roasted cauliflower

I was feeling like fish so made some of my usual salmon patties.  I found a cool looking recipe on foodgawker for buffalo roasted cauliflower so we tried it.  I think it was a little TOO hot for my taste and the buttermilk coating created a somewhat weird texture.  Perhaps deep frying the cauliflower would have made it better haha, but oh well.

Salmon patties

Buffalo roasted cauliflower

Entire plate

Home-made Massaman Curry

Second attempt at Massaman curry, and this time it was even better because we added extra jalapenos.  We made a huge batch and eat it for multiple meals.  A very healthy and inexpensive thing to cook that lasts forever.

Assorted BBQ from Hamilton Park BBQ Festival in Jersey City, NJ

One of the best parts of summer is BBQ.  Jersey City had its third annual Hamilton Park BBQ Festival and of course I had to go, especially since Dinosaur BBQ and MAE were both present.  All the food we had we delicious and not super expensive considering it's BBQ and that they could easily jack up the price.  We left very full of delicious meats and home-made ice cream.

Pulled pork, baked beans and cole slaw from MAE

Half a rack (they're double layered) of pork ribs from Dinosaur BBQ

Pulled pork sandwich from Dino

Dinner at The Brownstone Diner in Jersey City, NJ

Another trip to Brownstone.  This time I went healthy and Dan a little less so.  He got the County Chicken, which was an insane mass of gravy soaked goodness, and I got broiled salmon.  Very different meals.

Country Chicken - cutlets sauteed with mushrooms, peas and sausage in a gravy sauce served over mashed potatoes

Broiled salmon

Sides - baked potato and some herbed succotash.  Not a fan of whatever herbs they used

Dinner at Max's of Manila in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I took Laura to Max's for the first time!   Such an epic moment haha.   We had bicol express - lechon cooked in a spicy coconut-y sauce, niligang baka, lumpia shanghai, pancit miki bihon (half rice noodles, half egg noodles) and some garlic fried rice.  As usual everything was really tasty, and we left very satiated and with leftovers. 

P.S.  This was my first time using Instagram for my foodie pics.  My ipod quality isn't as good as my camera, but I think the Instagramming helped.

Niligang baka - soup with beef cubes, potato, greens, and scallions.  Uber comfort food

Bicol express - one of the few "spicy" Filpino dishes

Pancit miki bihon - with shrimp, pork and beef

Lumpia shanghai

Dinner at LITM in Jersey City, NJ

Went to LITM for happy hour/dinner and they have an amazing deal for mussels on Thursdays.  $10 for a pot of mussels with bread and frites.  Yummm.  I got the chorizo one and Nicole got a white wine one I believe.  Sorry the picture quality is so blurry because it doesn't capture how awesome the mussels were.

Mussels w/tomato and smoked chorizo

Mussels with garlic and white wine

Frites!

Restaurant Week Dinner at Colicchio & Sons in NYC

NY almost always extends Restaurant Week, and this summer was no different.  Dan and I went to Colicchio & Sons in Chelsea a few nights ago and have to say, overall I was a little disappointed by the food.  Part of it was probably that I have just been exhausted from work and I don't think I was in the best mindset upon going there, but the food too wasn't as amazing as I thought, especially having been to Craftbar and having such a great experience there.  I thought perhaps it was because it was RW and places sometimes give you less great food, but we go to order off the regular menu.  So I dunno what happened.  It was just kind of forgettable. 

Bread and Butter

House-made Mozzarella cheese w/cherry tomato panzanella - very tasty but skimpy on the cheese :(

Chilled Sweet Corn Soup w/grilled kernels & truffle vinaigrette - possibly the best thing I ate that night

Roasted Hanger Steak w/Potato Puree, Spigarello & Bone Marrow Butter - pretty tasty but not the best or most memorable steak I've had

Crispy Pork Belly w/Succotash and Pickled Okra - the biggest disappointment of all.  The pork belly was NOT crispy and had the consistency that reminded me of tuna fish. Maybe b/c I'm Filipino I expected some super succulent and fatty but meaty piece of pork.  It was not like that at all.  The entire dish had a very sour taste.  Boo.

Warm Chocolate Souffle Cake w/smoked peanuts and blueberry sherbet.  A nice combo and the peanuts were a great addition.  I wanna learn how to make a souffle!

Zeppole w/vanilla ice cream and hot fudge. Def better than my dinner but still not as good as say the doughnuts at Stanton Social/Beauty & Essex

Home-made Spicy Linguine

Dan made spicy red sauce with chicken sausage over linguine.  Good flavors and use of fresh herbs, and of course TONS of fresh garlic.  I also really enjoyed the sausage, which you might think is obvi but sometimes sausage creeps me out haha.  I think it's because it's such a mix of different things/parts plus the shape.  I know, I'm 5.

Brunch at Tick-Tock Diner in Clifton, NJ

I've been to Tick Tock probably around 40+ times since it's the closest diner to my parents' house.  For some reason I've never thought to take pics of my food there haha.  This particular dish, which I've had multiple times, warrant a little feature on HP though.  Some of the best chicken and waffles I've had.  I think the breakfast there is usually on point though.  I would recommend if you are feeling sweet and savory and like eating breakfast food.