Dinner at Rustique Pizza in Jersey City, NJ

I was craving brick-oven pizza so Dan and I decided to go to Rustique in JC.  It has pretty good reviews on Yelp, with many people calling it the best brick-oven pizza in the area.  Spoiler alert - it's not ha.  Razza def beats Rustique in both of our opinions, though perhaps we were a little clouded by the disparate service.  The restaurant was oddly hard for us to find.  We entered in the take-out area and didn't realize immediately that there was an actual restaurant/seating area in the back.  Nor did they tell us til I started exploring awkwardly backwards.  The waiter also wasn't very attentive or friendly, and it took about thirty minutes for our food to come.  I realize everything was made from scratch but does pizza really take that long?  At Razza our food came pretty quickly and service was just wonderful.  I enjoyed both of the pizzas we got, and we had a lot leftover, but it was def not even close to the best pizza I've had.  The crust was kinda burned and not that fluffy - more thick and doughy.  Also the meats on Dan's pizza were wayyy too salty.  My meat was nearly non-existant on my pizza.  Oh well.  At least we tried it.  The sandwiches are allegedly better than the pizza, so I'd prob try that but take-out only.  I don't know if I'd wanna sit there again.  It is BYOB but apparently no places to go that nearby.

The Frank - soppresata, prosciutto di parma and capicola.  This is the SMALL size btw haha

The Proscuitto di parma - proscuitto, arugula, mozzarella, roasted garlic oil and shaved parmesan.  Loved the garlic and cheese but the meat was hard to find

Proof of meat but had to dig to get that pic

Lunch from Dario's in Newark, NJ

First nice day in a long time so we took a clerk trip to Dario's in Newark.  As usual, I food coma-ed hard afterwards, but it was worth it for this amazing and inexpensive chicken burrito. 

Chicken Burrito with complimentary rice, salsa, and sour cream

Dinner from Rasoi in Jersey City, NJ

I have been meaning to try Rasoi in Jersey City for quite awhile, but we always end up ordering from/going to Taj Mahal instead.  I guess because it's closer, but I wonder if it actually is.  Anyway, the Yelp reviews on Rasoi are all soooo positive, calling it the best Indian food in NYC area, with the best lunch buffet, and best lots of particular dishes.  It's a little more expensive than Taj Mahal and other places in the area, but in my humble opinion it's definitely worth it.  Not that I am by any means an expert on Indian food, but everything was DELICIOUS and had a kick.  I ordered the main dishes medium spice and they did not disappoint, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy my food.  I definitely want to try their lunch buffet sometime on a weekend.   P.S. Sorry these aren't the classiest pictures.  We figured it would get messy so we used the styrofoam places they provided so we had less to clean haha

Samosa Choley - crispy deep-fried vegetable patties stuffed with potatoes and green peas, served with sauteed chick peas.  Served with three sauces - some red onion-y, some spicy green one pictured, and a purple one that is kind of sweet and my fav, on the far right.

(L to R) Aloo Mutter - potatoes and green peas in medium sauce, naan, and chicken tikka masala - tandoori chicken cooked in spicy tomato sauce.  Also had peppers in it.  Best chicken tikka masala I think I've had

Dinner at Hill Country in NYC

I already have two posts on Hill Country in NYC.  Also this pic doesn't do justice to all the meaty goodness, but I just have two things to say.  One- the best side ever is white shoepeg corn pudding.  I don't know why it's called that, but it's f-ing AMAZING.  Not too sweet and has wonderful chunks of corn kernels plus whatever else they mix in.  Maybe cornbread?  Who knows but everyone loved it and wished we had ordered a bigger side.  Also lean brisket is def not as good as the moist brisket.  Perhaps that's obvious but I would spring the extra $2. Dan and his friends and I indulged in a ridic feast of beef ribs, pork ribs, moist brisket and beef shoulder.  All the meats were amazing and I enjoyed the beef shoulder (very prime rib like) and moist brisket.  Also discovered the new side, which I would come back for on its own.  It's that good.   I made a corn pudding courtesy of Paula Deen a few months ago, which was tasty but not at all comparable to this.

(L to R clockwise) white shoepeg corn pudding, beef shoulder, beef ribs, sweet potato bourbon mash, mac and cheese, corn bread and ancho honey butter, pork ribs, brisket, and more corn bread

Dinner at Bareburger in NYC

Finally took Dan to Bareburger.  While this time we had to wait, it was only 15 minutes or so, not too bad.  Dan got elk and I tried wild boar.  Both of us really enjoyed our meats - very juicy and similar to beef but definitely different.  Hard to explain why but I'm glad I tried something new.  We also shared onion rings and fries, which was a little too much food ha.  But everything was delicious and the meal overall not too expensive for elevated burgers.

Habanero Express - elk burger with pepperjack cheese, tomatoes, raw red onions, pobalano peppers, habanero chipotle mayo, buffalo sauce and topped with spicy fried pickle chips, all on brioche bun.  Dan really enjoyed this and def tasted a kick

Big Blue Bacon - wild boar with Wisconsin blue cheese, country bacon, sauteed mushrooms, fried onions, and bacon marmalade on brioche.  First of all, I got this last time and I cannot tell you how amazing it was.  The bacon marmalade alone makes this order-worthy, but everything together is perfection.  The blue cheese isn't too extreme/stinky and the roughness is tempered by the bacon marmalade.  The country bacon was really thick and almost hammy.  The bun was perfect ratio of bun to toppings.  Order this with your fav meat.

Rings and fries combo.  Onion rings were tasty, but the onions weren't melted into the batter so I pulled them out lol.  Fries were good but nothing that memorable.

(L to R clockwise) Smoked paprika mayo, smokehouse sauce, bare burger special sauce, and curry ketchup.  It was fun to dip in all but my fav was the BB special sauce and Dan really liked the smoked paprika mayo.  I think the thickness of those sauces worked really well with the friedness.  The ketchup and bbq type sauce were fine but there were two other bottles of ketchup on the table in little bear plastic bottles and both were better haha

Inside of my Big Blue Bacon.  Yumm

Home-made Vodka Pasta, Brussel Sprouts + Turkey Meatballs

This was another semi-homemade meal.  Had some leftover vodka sauce that I made last week, so we tossed it on top of a variety of garden pasta.  My fav - it has shells, rotini, and penne.  Turkey meatballs were all courtesy of Trader Joe's, so that "cooking" just entailed sticking it in the oven for 30-35 minutes.  Dan sauteed the brussel sprouts with oil and TJ's pepper turkey bacon.  The turkey bacon was actually really good with the sprouts and could've probably tricked someone and masqueraded as real bacon.  Overall a very successful and hearty meal.

Brussel sprouts with turkey bacon, turkey meatballs, and pasta in vodka sauce

Home-made Stir-Fry and Deep Fried Tofu

I made a stir-fry of string beans, mushrooms, and shredded carrot, sauteed in hoison sauce.  Then I deep fried some extra firm tofu and topped with sweet chili sauce.  The first batch was a little "well-done" haha, so it kind of looked like a dried sponge and wasn't so tasty.  The second batch was more edible.  I couldn't tell how cooked it was because the color didn't change that quickly.  I think that's what I get for deep frying it straight instead of breading in flour.  Next time I'll use flour.