Dinner from Villa italia Restaurant in Lyndhurst, NJ

I was in the mood for Italian so decided to try some place new.  Villa Italia has various family specials so I got one that was pizza + pasta.  It came with a large order of chicken parma, pizza of our choosing plus salad and soda for $35.  Great deal.  Everything was good but still loyal to Lyndhurst Pizza.

The whole family meal

Pizza with mushrooms

Chicken parmigiana

House salad

Garlic bread

Dessert from Lyndhurst Pastry Shop in Lyndhurst, NJ

In a town not that big, I'm thrilled that we have multiple pastry options.  My fav cannolis and thus cannoli cream are from here.  My absolute fav thing to get is the pignoli cannoli because I love the pignolis, and I love the cannolis, and together it is unbeatable.

There was some festival with these donut-type desserts stuffed with cannoli cream.  Of course got the pignoli cannoli, and also tried their cream puffs.  The cream puffs were okay but I prefer the ones from Erie

Brunch at Sonoma Bistro in Rutherford, NJ

Went to brunch with Laura and Affi and found a great spot which to date has become my fav brunch spot nearby.  They have plenty of both sweet and savory options on their brunch menu, plus more dinner-y foods.  I've only made my way through a few options but everything has been delicious and pretty affordable.

Guava Cream Cheese Croissant French Toast topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries with side of bacon.  Excellent.  The guava/cream cheese could have been more but it was everything I wanted in terms of a balance of sweet and salty, slightly more sweet

Salmon Eggs Benedict with home fries

Huevos Rancheros - Crispy tortilla chips topped with fried eggs, black beans, homemade chipotle sauce, avocado crema,

Dinner from Mighty Quinn's BBQ in Clifton, NJ

 In the mood for meat?  Mighty Quinn's BBQ is an excellent spot for those bbq meat cravings.  For the NY/NJ area, I think it's excellent and you can order and not break the bank.  Their brisket is probably my fav meat (as it usually is in most places).  I like the combos so you can get multiple meats, and love their vineger based sides and that you can get a bun if you want to make a sandwich.

All our food including 2 meat platter (brisket and sausage) plus pickled cucumbers, pickled red onions, broccoli salad and crispy honey chicken sandwich.  Made the beans

Crispy honey chicken sandwich - nicely fried and loved the honey but the sandwich wa pretty bare

Sandwich with needed slaw

Semi-home-made fish and chips

I found mushy peas at the grocery store so of course had to have some fish and chips.  We had TJ's fish nuggets, the mushy peas, and I made potato wedges in the air fryer.  Honestly, the air fryer is a God send.  We use it daily for so many things.  Great as a toaster, cooking many frozen things from TJ's, making veggies, wings or chicken.  Our instant pot fryer is one of the best on the market.

Fish nuggets, potato wedges and mushy peas

Close up of the air fried potato wedges

Snacks from Cubita Cafe and Kubo Coffee & Creamery in Nutley, NJ

Nutley apparently has great food.  On one street, side by side, are these two spots that have tasty and delicious snacks.  Dan is made at Kubo because of bad service he recently encountered, but I can't hide that their food particularly ube offerings, are delish.  Cubita Cafe has delicious Cuban food and some amazing empanadas.

Kubo menu

Ube iced coffee

Ube iced coffee, ube cheesecake and white chocolate macademia cookies

Creative empanadas - one bacon egg and cheese, the other taylor ham egg and cheese.  So New Jersey

Brunch from Daily Provisions in NY, NY

Having Daily Provisions right by the Peloton Studio is truly a blessing.  You can order online in advance or if you order inside, it's usually a pretty quick turn-around.  Great to eat in there quickly after working out or on the go.

Arguably the best BEC in NYC

The bacon is thick cut and everything

Had to try the sausage egg and cheese.  Sausage had a bit of a kick

Also excellent but the bacon has my heart

Home-made Korean dinner

Dan and I love korean food and thankfully we have HMart not too far away so we can pick up marinated meat and grill it up.  Making some rice and having lettuce, and buying ban chan, and you can have a delicious Korean meal at home.

Marinated bulgogi and spicy pork with various kim chis, rice and lettuce wraps

TJ's spicy rice cakes

Dinner at Fernandes Steak House in Newark, NJ

For my birthday, Dan and I went to Fernandes Steak House for giant steaks.  As usual, we ate and drank too much but it was worth it.  We hadn't been out to eat in awhile so it was nice to get out and remember the good old days haha.

Giant jarra of sangria

My ribeye steak with rice, veggies and fries

Dan's giant cowboy steak

Another view of the cowboy steak.  I took his dipping sauce for the fries and chips

Another shot of my food

Side of fries because one type of potato isn't enough

B-day tiramisu :)

Dinner from Iron Works Barbecue in Austin, TX

Amidst the wedding festivities, one day we wanted a mid-day snack so picked up some BBQ at Iron Works and ate at the hotel.  It was dirt cheap and delicious and hit the spot completely.

Sausage with german potato salad

BRISKET.  Amazing

Breakfast at the Fairmont Hotel in Austin, TX

We stayed at the Fairmont and thanks to Chase, we had many points for meals each day.  We got room service other days but the first morning had a delicious breakfast in one of their restaurants.  We felt fancy haha

Dan of course got sausage with biscuits and gravy

Close-up of the biscuits and gravy

I got lemon curd ricotta pancakes because I always have to get that if it's an option.  Definitely solid.  The blueberry compote which normally I wouldn't like actually worked well w/the curd

Dinner at Better Half Coffee & Cocktails in Austin, TX

While in Austin for Pooja's wedding, we met up with Micah and Cliff for dinner. We ate outside which was nice although night so a tad chilly, but they had heat lamps and was definitely warmer than in NY/NJ.  The food and vibes were great and such a stark contrast to the crowdedness of the NY/NJ area.

Delicious drinks - something and pink sangria

Got burgers and fries but done right

Glazed donuts

Dinners from Topaz Thai Cuisine in Belleville, NJ

As mentioned Clifton Thai is usually our go-to, but Topaz Thai is another excellent Thai place and their menu is a little more expansive.  It's a little more expensive but great variety when we want Thai but a few different dishes.

Dinner #1

Steamed Dumpling. Basically Shumai, and pretty good for a non dim sum place

Tom Yum soup

Volcano crispy chicken.  Not too spicy but was in the mood for something fried

Pineapple fried rice with pork.  Loved all the cashews and great flavor.  They sadly don't have pork sausage as an option though which is why Clifton Thai's pineapple fried rice is my fav

Dinner #2

Pineapple fried rice with chicken

Curry puff.  These were excellent and I think meatless

Crispy chicken fried rice

Steamed veggies.  I liked that this was an option because it was a cheap addition but good way to get in veggies