Lunch at Num Pang in NYC

Whenever I'm in NYC and want a quick lunch, Num Pang is always a great bet.  A little pricy for a sandwich but super fresh tasting and always a great variety of meats.  This time I tried the Grilled Skirt Steak sandwich, with crushed coriander, peppercorn, and the usual fixins of cucumber, pickled carrots, chili mayo and cilantro, all on french bread.  Just amazing.

Home-made Irish Dinner

In honor of St. Patrick's Day Dan decided to make corned beef, cabbage, and colcannon (kale and mashed potatoes).  Everything turned out amazing and was awesome together.  Dan bought corned beef that had already been brined so saved himself five days in the fridge.  He cooked the cabbage in the corned beef water, which added great flavor.  And the mashed potatoes and kale together were sooo much better than either separately, because each bite was a little different and both rich yet healthy tasting.  Delish!  And he's not even Irish haha.

Corned beef

Everything together

Cabbage w/some carrots added in

Corned beef and colcannon

Dinner at Umami Burger in NYC

Nicole and I went to the only NYC outpost of Umami Burger in Greenwich Village.  Sooo many pros: no wait, fun drink and dessert options, delicious burgers, and only half a block from the 9th Street PATH station.  Only negatives I can see is that the burgers aren't as cheap as I'd like but for the quality of food I think it's worth it.  We shared everything of course and each loved both the truffle beef and duck burgers we had.  The manly fries were also super tasty, and normally I don't love fries that thin, but the beer cheddar and bacon plus onion straws just made every bite awesome and different.  My drink was a little tart for my liking, but still good.  We also both loved the various dipping sauces.  Definitely worth another visit as there were other things on the menu we wanted to try.  I don't think they take reservations so best to come with a small party.  The space was pretty big downstairs and there was an upstairs but plenty of people waiting to be seated.

Pear martini drink (forgot the name) and the four dipping sauces: (Top to bottom) 1. Umami ketchup 2. spicy sriracha sauce 3. jalapeno ranch 4. roasted garlic aioli.  Nicole liked the jalapeno ranch the best, while I loved the garlic aioli and the ketchup.  Something for everyone

Make-em-Manly Fries - fries with beer cheddar, bacon and onion strings. Such a great combo and some much fun dipping

Truffle Burger - beef burger with roasted garlic aioli, house truffle cheese, and truffle glaze. SOOO good.  You can tell the beef is quality by how it melts in your mouth.  Of course I loved the aioli and all the truffle flavor was wonderful.  We could smell truffles when we got in

Five Spice Duck Burger (special to this location) - house ground duck, peach apple chutney, Chinese 5 Spice, Madagascar pepper, topped with crispy duck skin & garlic aioli on a bed of caramelized fennel.  There were so many flavors here, it's kind of hard to remember but everything worked so well together.  I guess I would say there was more obvious "umami" flavor here than the truffle burger but both were really spectacular.  I would definitely order either of those again

Sea salt caramel - such a great balance of sweet and salty.  Only thing that would've made it better was some crunch, maybe pretzel bits.  Yummy.

Dinner at Orale in Jersey City, NJ

Dan and I returned to Jersey City for dinner and decided to go to Orale.  As it was a weekend it was pretty crowded but fortunately we snagged some seats at the bar so we could order right away.  We shared everything and it was all rich and delicious and sinfully bad.  Bone marrow pork belly tacos.  Yup.  That is all.

Esquites (my fav!) - charred corn, crema, citrus, and queso fresco. So so good

Tacos Machin - roasted bone marrow, topped with crispy pork belly and shredded cabbage.  Served with a side of rice and beans, which Dan doused with their green hot sauce, which according to Dan is the best shit ever that they should bottle immediately.  Now, back to the tacos.  SO f-ing amazing.  The fattiness of the bone marrow is compounded with the crispy and slightly fatty pork belly.  The cabbage is a nice way to lighten it up and make you feel a little less bad.  But let's be real, nothing this good can be good for you. There were five tacos total, each served over the empty bone marrow bone.  Plus the rice and beans.  Not bad for $16

Ceviche Peruano - mahi mahi, yellow chile, lime, and plaintain chips.  Nice and thick

Brunch at Candle Cafe in NYC

Sometimes the best thing in life are unplanned, though I rarely say that.  Ended up having brunch with Greg, Tyler, and Risheen on the UES at Candle Cafe - a VEGAN restaurant of all places.  All I can say is that the food was actually pretty tasty and filling and I was a good sport haha.  It was pretty pricy for brunch though. I guess vegan places can do that.

Nuevos Rancheros - spicy tempeh potato hash, corn tortilla, guacamole, tofu sour cream and tomatillo salsa

Cajun Seitan Sandwich - cajun crusted seitan, steamed greens, caramelized onions, avocado, on toasted foccacia with ancho chili aioli and fries.  The seitan actually tasted like crispy chicken and everything on the sandwich was delicious.  I think avocado honestly makes everything better and acts as a great meat distracter ha

Dinner at Red Robin in Clifton, NJ

Pre-movie date Dan and I went to Red Robin because I saw they had a gluten-free menu, and it's been a long time since we've gone out for burgers somewhere besides the Five Guys below our apartment building.  Although we had to wait a little while and I am constantly confused why chain restaurants have suchhh long waits sometimes, the food was actually really good and we both ate our dishes completely.  My drink of beer and booze was amazingly refreshing and reminded me of summer - blue moon white ale, svedka clementine vodka and some orange and lime juice, all served in a hollowed out beer can that was ice cold.  Perfect.  Red Robin also has gluten-free buns and even a dedicated gf fryer.  The fries were also seasoned with something awesome because I could not stop eating it and I usually don't like and can't eat too many steak fries.  Well done Red Robin. Would definitely come again.  Also, the burgers were each like $10.  Not bad at all.  So many good burger places.  Smashburger and Five Guys need to hop on the train and have gf bun options.

My bacon cheeseburger- burger, lettuce, tomato, bacon plus I added blue cheese.  And bottomless steak fries.  Thankfully I had some self control and we left before I could get them refilled

Dan's Royal Red Robin - bacon cheeseburger mayo, lettuce, tomato, and with a fried egg.  So decadent and delicious

Dinner at Kittichai in NYC

Dan finally went with me to Kittichai in NYC for Restaurant Week.  Although it took us a little while to be seated (granted, we got there 35 mins for our reservation haha), the quality of the food totally made up for it.  Dan was veryyy impressed with everything, and that's quite a feat.  They also had a $15 3-course wine pairing, which was amazing given that a regular mixed drink there is that price (though tasty and worth it).  I had no idea what everything was that I drank and on their own, not so great, but with the food definitely a great pairing.  Dan also splurged on sashimi that was not part of Restaurant Week and thought it was some of the best he's ever had.

Snapper sashimi, cilantro-tamarind vinaigrette, candied cashews, trout roe - super tasty.  Dan thought was top notch.  Had all the five tastes/flavors that the foodies rave about

Duck Confit Salad, sesame dressing, micro herbs, lychee and peanuts.  A very fresh and light appetizer to start.  Duck was cooked well but a little lost in the dish in my opinion

Barbeque baby back ribs, spiced tamarind glaze, spiced basil - the ribs were cooked great as the meat fell off the bone, but the sauce was a tad sweet, even for me.  The portion was pretty damn huge though.  I was already kind of full!

Chili smoked hanger steak, stir-fried long beans, preserved chili jam, micro cilantro - Dan got this and enjoyed it a lot.  The meat was perfectly cooked and well spiced, though the portion was a little small

Braised pork cheek, spiced palm sugar braise, steamed buns, truffle poweder - some of the best pork buns I've had, but after the sweetness of the ribs, I think my sweet tolerance was wearing thin.  I wish I had gotten something else other than ribs because the pork was phenomenal.  And you know I LOVEE ribs

Black cardamon lava cake, thai basil ice cream - this was another thing that on their own, each piece was fine.  But together it was AMAZING.  The thai basil ice cream was super herby and refreshing and the cake wasn't too sweet, but together just the right amount of sweet.  And whatever that flaky thing was made it great for crunch.  Kind of cap-n-crunchy

Jasmine tea panna cotta, raspberry compote, coconut tuille - Dan got this as panna cotta is naturally gluten-free.  Basically tasted like flowery/tea-flavored custard, almost flan-like.  Nice and light and not too sweet