Brunch at Snooze in Denver, COC

Dan and I went to Snooze, which is well known in Denver for their amazing breakfast.  I was worried we would have to wait awhile, because the Yelp reviews go on and on about how lines are so long, even mid week, but it's worth it.  While there was some confusion regarding seating when we got there (the whole outside was empty, and we asked to be seated at first available spot, yet somehow people who came in after got seated first), we were still seated in a short time frame (like ten minutes or so).  The food was ridiculously good, cheap, and also huge portions.  I was sad that we didn't have more meals there because there were many things I wanted to try.  Also our "side" of pancake was a meal in itself.  If you're in town stop by!

Dan's side Peanut Butter Cup pancake.  

Chile Verde Benny - Slow cooked pulled pork over a stack of green chile sauced tortillas and melted cheese with poached cage free eggs and green chili hollandaise, pico de gallo and cotija cheese.  Dan loved it.

Benny Duo!  You can half two different kinds of bennies in one dish!  So exciting for someone like me who wants to try everything!  The one on the left was Bella! Bella! Benny - Thin slices of prosciutto, Taleggio cheese, and perfectly poached eggs on toasted ciabatta, topped with cream cheese hollandaise, balsamic glaze and arugula. Ciao Bella!  The one on the right was the Chilaquiles Benedict
Flavorful barbacoa beef over a stack of ranchero sauced tortillas and melted cheese, with poached cage free eggs, roasted poblano hollandaise, pico de gallo and cotija cheese.  I preferred the Bella Bella Benny because it was a little more unique.  Both were delicious.

My side Sweet Potato pancake -  sweet potato buttermilk pancake topped with homemade caramel, candied pecans and ginger butter.  This was SO good, I think the best thing either of us had there in my view.  Too bad I had eaten so much benny otherwise I would have demolished this.  The pic doesn't do justice to how large this was.

Dinner at Carrino Provisions in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I finally made it to Carrino Provisions for one of their weekly bbqs.  They have all you can eat and drink for $30 per person, which ordinarily sounds like a great deal, but this particular week it was like we were robbing them because the theme was Korean BBQ.  Ordinarily one meat dish of Korean bbq is like $30 on its own, and the ingredients used here were pretty quality.  Loved it but ate too much.  I was also so full I didn't have more than one sangria, which was solo cup size a.k.a. LARGE.  I definitely want to come back, particularly if they have another week where they do Filipino BBQ, which I inquired about and was told they would likely repeat.

Pork belly, stick rice, fried chicken, kalbi (short rib), mung bean and sprouts salad, cabbage kim chi, and pickled cucumber

Dan's plate.  So much meaty goodness.  Also the veggies were great

Dinner from Bon Chon in Jersey City, NJ

Another reason I love living in JC is that we have a Bon Chon in the neighborhood!  It's a bit of a trek walking but they deliver and only took like 40 mins or so to arrive!  It is definitely less good for its non-chicken dishses that the Bon Chon in NYC.  I've only been to the one in midtown but that one is the mecca of all Bon Chons.  The "bibimbap" we ordered was not good and def overpriced.  Instead of seasonal veggies we got salad.  But the chicken was still delicious, so I'll forgive and just order better next time.

Bibimbap or salad?  Your call

Half soy garlic and half spicy.  Best for Dan and my sharing

Jap Chae with beef.  Delicious though a tad greasy

Lunch at Sam No. 3 in Denver, CO

Dan and I went to Sam No. 3 for our first meal in Denver!  I didn't think the two hour time change would affect me, but the time we got to the hotel I was starving since it was like 4pm our time.  The food portions were ridiculously large, and sooooo hearty, rich, and so bad for you it was good.  Clearly this is a city for HP.

I asked for an iced coffee.  And got a giant iced coffee flavored milkshake doused in whipped cream hahaha

Fried cheese curds!  The BEST

Some kind of omelet Dan got smothered in green chili, which appears to be a Colorado thing. And tots.  Because of course tots

I got a little carried away with my ordering.  After already having the coffee milkshake and fried cheese curds, I decided on the Smacdown Burrito - chorizo, tater tots (no homefries & no cheddar), mac-n-chz inside and smothered in Kickin Green Chili.  INSANE.  I had so much leftover because the plate was like the size of my upperbody haha

Brunch at The Kitchen at Grove Station in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I went to brunch at The Kitchen at Grove Station for a super cute, rustic, and very hipster meal.  The "uniform" of the waiters was a Canadian tuxedo a.k.a. denim on denim.  So hipster haha.  The inside was super cute; it legit looked like a Pottery Barn ad.  Bonus was that dogs are also allowed outside but it was crowded and we didn't want to wait.  Brunch seems much more affordable than dinner, which can run about $30 per entree.  Our meal was very hearty and tasty overall.  The waiter messed up my coffee order but I will let it pass for now since he definitely seemed new and Dan saw his manager ream him out at one point.  I would like to try some of their dinner selections, as they seem to be seasonal and rely on fresh, local ingredients.

Ordered a medium sized (16 oz) regular coffee.  Got a 6oz espresso.  I have never ordered a drink that small

Crispy Pork Belly, Egg, and Cheddar Cheese sandwich. Delish but so heavy

Farm Egg Avocado Sandwich with jalapeno cream cheese.  Dan's choice.  Interesting veggie combo.  Very rich

Bag of Donuts - homemade donuts with cinnamon sugar. A little bit of a disappointment as they were surprisingly not very sweet. And my coffee was so small I didn't really have any liquid for dipping

Dinner from Buen Appetito in Jersey City, NJ

Buen Appetito is another place we loved ordering from before when we used to live in JC, but now the food comes so much faster since we are in downtown  The portions were also pretty large so lasts several meals, as was the case here.  The restaurant also had a fire at the old place and they relocated.  I'm happy to say the quality of the food has remained the same.

So much delicious Italian food

Cheesy garlic bread.  Only $3.75 for so much carby goodness

Chicken bruschetta - breaded chicken cutlets with mozzarella and bruschetta mix

Pesto Tortellini - delicious even sans meat

Penne vodka that came with chicken bruschetta.  Their vodka sauce is sooo good

Dinner from Sawadee in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I ordered delivery from Sawadee for our first dinner in our new home.  And already we can tell our food life is going to be 200x better since moving.  There are soooo many restaurants of basically any kind of food we'd want that either deliver or are within easy walking distance.  The food also comes super quickly compared to when we were in Harrison and we had faced several places that took nearly TWO hours to arrive.  Sawadee is so reliable and the food is both delicious and well presented, and reasonably priced.  Also came within 35 minutes!

Overview of our meal

Pad See Eow with beef.  Delicious and reheated well

Curry Fried Rice with chicken.  Also super tasty and had great flavor

Vegetable fried dumplings.  Even without meat they were delicious!  And not overly greasy which is often the case with delivery

Dinner at City Diner in Jersey City, NJ

This may be controversial, but I think City Diner is the best diner in JC.  One, it's super close to us.  Two, it's not expensive even though it's in downtown/Exchange area.  Three, it's open 24/7!  Unlike Brownstone, ahem.  To be fair,  I have not yet had the pancakes, which I think are not that good at Brownstone, which is named Brownstone Pancake Factory, so you'd think the pancakes would be the best you've had.  Oh also number four, they deliver, though we haven't been that lazy yet.  The menu is more manageable than say Tops.  So far, there are many things I want to try in the future.  So glad it's so close by.

Dan's burger with bacon, egg, and cheese.  Plus sweet potato fries, which were excellent with that chipotle dipping sauce

My turkey burger, which also had lettuce, tomato, guacamole, bacon, and I think cheese.  Plus you can get a side of homemade chips, which I think were even better than the sweet potato fries.  So good.

Breakfast from Legal Grounds in Jersey City, NJ

Since moving back to JC have found an excellent breakfast spot.  Well, more of a brunch spot since I would never have time during the work week.  Legal Grounds is run by the same people who run Legal Beans, a Filipino bbq joint in another part of JC.  Legal Grounds is focused on coffee along with sandwiches, esp. breakfast.  I love that their bagels are from Wonder Bagel, because WB is still a bit of a walk from us.  Also, the coffee here is 100x better than anything at WB.  The garden patio is also dog friendly, so Walker's been able to sit out there with us.  The only danger now is too many carbs ha

Everything bagel with taylor ham, egg, and cheese

Plain bagel with bacon, egg and cheese

Plain bagel with scallino cream cheese, lox, capers, onions, and tomatoes.  Dan's new fav

Turkey bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll.  Attempt to be healthier hahaha

Close up of the goodness

Dinner at Quaker Steak & Lube in Edison, NJ

Dan and I FINALLY went to Quaker Steak & Lube.  I've been wanting to go ever since I saw the Man vs. Food episode with the super hot wings.  Not that I wanted hot wings, but just the breadth of flavors of wings was intriguing.  The inside was fun - very loud and sports-oriented.  Dan got one of the hottest flavors but not THE hottest, since you have to sign a waiver and that was slightly frightening to me haha.  The garlic wings I got were excellent.  I think we got a little too much food, but not super expensive and so many other flavors I'd like to try.  The closest one is not that close, like 45-50 mins away, but we had a dog custody appointment that made it convenient.  Def a great place for wings!  Better than Buffalo Wild Wings in my opinion.

Just for funsies

Dan got half super charged (3rd hottest) and half hot wings.  The hot wings were manageable for me, and had a great balance of heat to flavor.  Super charged were a little much even for him, and def too much for me.  I refused to try them haha

My custom built combo - pretzels with beer cheese and Golden Garlic wings.  The wings were perfection.  I really enjoyed the pretzels too but was not in love with the dip.  I think maybe there was some kind of pepper that left an aftertaste that didn't go over well for me.  Still, amazing wings.

Lunch at Burger Walla in Newark, NJ

My co-worker and I tried Burger Walla on Halsey Street for lunch.  I'm not sure if this is where Coffee Cave used to be, but anyway, the food is really good and such a unique concept - fast casual Indian burgers.  I got a lamb burger, which was super tasty and moist.  My friend got the veggie burger which she really enjoyed.  I also got a side of sweet potato tots, which were good but not as mind-blowing as I had expected after reading various raving Yelp reviews.  Overall though a great meal.  Not super cheap but doesn't seem like anything in this area really is.  A good treat every once in awhile.  I definitely would come back as I need to try a regular beef burger.  I think their supplied is Pat LaFreida which means it must be awesome.

Veggie Burger with Samosa side.  Samosa definitely had a kick!

Lamb burger with side of tots

Sweet potato tots.  Nicely fried and good flavor.  I think maybe needed a little more salt?

Dinner at Me Casa in Jersey City, NJ

Went to Me Casa for a girls' dinner to celebrate an engagement.  As usual, the food was delicious and we had a great time without feeling pressured to leave since we were there for quite a long time.  Also they still don't have a liquor license, which is great for us since we BYOB-ed almost a bottle per person ha.  I selfishly hope we can continue to do that since the food is so good but can get pricey if you to order a lot of things.

Mofongo with beef stew.  So delicious and hearty.  And it actually wasn't terrible reheated.  The mashed plantains are obviously dense, but with sauce mixed in tastes good even heated

Side of yellow rice with pigeon peas.  Looking back, this was a lot of good.  I didn't even take pic of our apps ha