We stumbled upon this cozy Mediterranean restaurant in Brooklyn. Here’s Zizi Limona.
P.S. Apparently, they’re planning to extend their branch to Chelsea.
A fluffy, warm, hallow on the inside, flat bread.
Mix some chickpeas, tahini, and lemon.
The perfect texture of creamy, paired will with the warm flat bread, we (literally) liked this bowl clean.
The chicken was warm and juicy and I liked the saffron couscous at the bottom of plate.
I liked this main dish much more than the chicken. The food was a little salty for my taste but the combination of eggs, tomato stew with chickpeas, and to top it all off the warm, tender, skirt steak brought this dish together.
If the weather is nice, you can grab a seat outside or stay inside for a nice cozy meal. I loved the hummus and the Shakshuka with skirt steak.
I now understand why people talk so highly about the Omurice at Hi-Collar in the east village. I highly recommend this place. The Omurice was so fluffy. So. Good.
This restaurant has limited seating, so if you’re going on a weekend, make sure you line up early, so you can grab a seat (unless you don’t mind waiting, which is worth it, in my opinion).
Wow. I have no words. The egg was soft, wiggly, fluffy, not too runny but just very slightly runny once you scooped up a bite with your spoon. The Omurice was warm, not sweat, and I almost inhaled this is one go. Did I mention how fluffy the egg was?
Ten out of ten out of ten I would go back.
One of the most famous Jewish deli’s here in New York. Hi there, Katz’s.
Okay, let me explain: the only thing we’ve been doing and we’re planning to do all day was eat, eat, and eat. We went on a food tour in NYC, so we thought we’d at least TRY to be a bit healthy where we could.
You know, I’m usually not a huge fan of pickles, but this paired nicely with the rich deli meat.
I’m so glad I got the half order because, I mean, look at this thing! Kat’z wasn’t shy with the amount of deli meat they gave you. I now understand why people love this place so much.
If you haven’t been to Katz’s yet, you have to check this place out and get their corned beef and pastrami sandwich.
I love going to cafes to do work, catch-up with old friends, journal, or sit around to kill time. I recently moved to New York, so I’ve been looking for a new go to weekend cafe for all the above events. Here’s Manhattan’s Devocion.
A cafe with nice ambiance, good coffee (just kidding I’m a tea person, but good coffee is still important so my coffee-lover-friends will have an enjoyable experience too), is always a must.
I haven’t been to the Brooklyn location, but from the photos, it looks like that Devocion is a lot more spacious than the one in Manhattan (but are we surprised by this? Nope).
I love the smell and am staring to love coffee more and more again, but I tend to lean more towards tea since the caffeine is easier on me. It took me a few beats to figure out what I wanted (& thank goodness there was no one behind me to rush me!) since I had to refresh my memory on the coffee language.
I decided on the Soy (since I’m a bit lactose intolerant) Latte and wow this cup is the reason why I started to like coffee again. I know the espresso to latte ratio is about 1:3, but please be patient as I slowly ease my way back into the world of coffee.
I ordered a side of this peanut-buttery, walnut, pumpkin seed granola bar. It was a little too sweet for the morning for me but if I ever went back, I’d probably order this again.
I arrived around 9:30 a.m. and was able to easily snag a seat. The cafe did start to get a bit more crowded as we got closer to noon but the noise level stayed moderate.
The only down is that there isn’t wifi on the weekends, but if you’re coming in to work on a paper, catch-up with friends, or want a good cup of coffee (it’s seriously so good!), this is a great go to cafe.
We all have those night when we’re starving, craving something greasy, carb heavy, and hoping for a quick food delivery. I was debating whether I wanted to even write about this place because it was a disappointing meal, but felt like I had to write about it to remind myself how this meal went.
I’ll keep this short.
We got garlic bread and pepperoni/mushroom pizza. There was something off about their dough. It was fully cooked but felt thick and a little stale. Their garlic bread was disappointing too. I most likely will not order from this place again.
That’s all for Little Italy Pizza.
You know I love a good brunch spot. A friend and I stopped by Good Thanks NYC on a late Saturday morning.
The place got crowded pretty quickly and people were lining up to get a seat, so make sure you get there a little early if you’re planning to stop by this bright-cozy brunch spot.
They had toast, eggs, smoothies and juices too.
Everything was really fresh. They weren’t shy with the amount of avocado they added on your sourdough and I liked the sea salt kick. If you’re a big avocado toast fan like I am, I highly recommend this one.
Local mushrooms roasted in herbed miso butter on sourdough bread. The friend I came here with usually orders this or the Avocado toast depending on her mood, so this is another highly recommended dish.
They have “small” “medium” and “large” eat options on their menu. We ordered off their medium eats section, but I plan to come back to try their Banana Bread and House Made Granola from their small eats and the Good Morning bowl from their large eats.
The bar area is the first thing you'll see once you enter this restaurant.
P.S. you can check your winter coats at the front desk if you ask.
The vibe of the whole restaurant was set up so you feel like you're at a modern-contemporary-traditional Korean restaurant.
I know, the food is what you're really looking to read about and what you should order, so keep scrolling down for more.
The bartender mixed Korean rice wine and soju. You're probably thinking that's a weird combo, and trust me, I thought so too, but it was surprisingly great.
Also, we're Korean and we ordered a meat dish, so of course we had to have a drink with us.
Korean seafood scallion pancake. This is such a simple dish, but you'd be surprised by how many restaurants go overboard on the oil. Fortunately, Gayeon's "jun" didn't feel greasy and I loved the presentation too.
Spicy stir fried octopus, bean sprouts, vegetables. My spice tolerance isn't that great, so my mouth was burning (a lot), but would I order this dish again? Absolutely. It was refreshing that Gayeon wasn't shy about making this dish spicy, like a true Korean cuisine would.
Braised pork belly, octopus & spicy radish kimchi, aged sesame leaf. Okay, the trick to eating this: wrap everything in the sesame leaf and your taste buds will thank me later.
Fresh salmon, deep fried rice, honey soy, chili mayo. I think this was one of my favorite dishes (I'm also a huge fan of salmon). The salmon was fresh and the deep-fried rice had a nice crunch when you took the first bite. The warm sticky rice with a hint of sweetness would then kick in.
From potato salads to carrots to kimchi. Just your average palate of Korean side dishes.
Wow just look at that meat. This meat would melt in you mouth from the tenderness.
This meat has a thinner texture than the rib eye, but was still tender and would melt in your mouth. This meat is also a bit more flavorful and I actually enjoyed this one a bit more.
Cold noodle soup. I was incredibly full after everything but having a bite of the cold naengmyun was a refreshing way to (almost) end the meal.
This wasn't too sweet, which was great, and it was warm and felt like I was taking a bite out of a warm soft fluffy cloud. This was the perfect way to conclude our meal.
One of the best authentic Korean foods I've had in America in a while. You'll definetly see me coming back here for more in the future.
So glad I was finally able to check this place off my list. These are my favorite types of museums, so I could easily get lost here for hours. There's so much to see, so much to learn, I wish I had more time to explore each section more intimately. I stopped taking photos after awhile to take-in what I was learning, but here are a few images I was able to capture.
You know I love a good slice(s) of pizza, so when I stopped by New York, I had to stop by a good pizza place. Here's a look into John's Pizzeria.
We came right before the lunch crowd hit, so we didn't have to wait too long, but by the time we were done eating and were heading out, I was surprised to see how many people were waiting and lining up to eat here (aka, try to get here early if you want to miss the crowd).
I loved the interior of this place and how people carved their names to the tables, seats, and walls.
We ordered a medium size pizza with sausages, mushroom, and pepparoni.
I loved the thin crust pizza and how the warm cheese melt in my mouth. We literally inhaled this pizza in 2 - 3 minutes (oops!).
The pizza here was great and if I'm in the area and I'm craving pizza, then I'll probably stop by, but it's not a place I would go out of my way for.
I've heard nothing but great - amazing things about Ippudo, so I knew I had to make this stop a priority when I finally had some free time in New York. Shall we begin?
Luckily, I came here during lunch, so I was able to get seated pretty quickly. If you have a big group, you'll be seated at one of these larger tables, but otherwise, you'll be sharing a large table with a few other people.
I knew what type of ramen I wanted when I sat down, but after examining the menu, I decided to order an appetizer too.
The buns were perfectly warm and soft, they melted in your mouth while the outside layer of the chicken gave a nice crunch. The chicken had a slight sweetness to it and it went well with "Ippudo's original spicy sauce", which gives you the perfect amount of spice kick without it being spicy.
This broth was pork based and I liked how it wasn't too heavy and creamy. I was extremely full (and satisffied) towards the end of this meal.
We added an egg and pork to this dish. The pork was a lot more prominent in this dish and the broth was a bit creamier than the Akamaru Modern.
The ramen here was delicious and because I was starving I ended up inhaling my dish. It was gone in minutes.
Overall, 10 out of 10 out of 10. This place was amazing and I would definitely go here again. I know this place does get crowded, so I highly recommend coming at an off hour so you miss the crowd, coming early, or during lunch.
First of all, who takes photos of their keycard in an elevator these days? Apparently I do.
Just Kidding, I didn't swim. Everyone was sleeping-in from staying up the night before, so I decided to take my camera out on a date.
I'm not a huge casino person, so unlike everyone else I was with, I was able to start my day early; see those empty chairs around me? Exactly.
Decided to pick up a book and enjoy the nice breeze early in the morning -- okay, it wasn't that early, this was taken around 11 a.m.
Finally, as everyone slowly crawled out of bed, we feasted by ordering way too much to fill our empty stomach.
This pretty much summarizes my trip to AC. I warned you, this isn't exactly your typical AC trip. I don’t gamble, so I’m not a casino person. I did end up eating a lot of good food, took some nice photos, and got to catch-up on sleep. Wow, I never thought I’d say that post AC-trip.
P.S. I went on this trip with a few family members. If I had gone with friends, who knows, maybe my experience would've been different. Actually, I know for a fact that it would've been different.
What an amazing night. From the Foie Gras to the Steak and of course, Apple Tarte Tatin for dessert.
Foie Gras
Steak & Wine
Tarte Tatin
Gotham serves American Food and is in, surprise, New York City. The interior was beautiful, the room was perfectly dimmed, and although this restaurant is fairly big, the noise level was very controlled. I was still able to make conversation with everyone at my table an easily hear them too.
This was the first time I had Foie Gras and after trying it at Gotham, I couldn't believe I wasn't introduced to this dish earlier. I've never tasted something like this; it's a very rich and distinct soft taste that just melts in your mouth as the sauce gives it a bit of a sweet-kick. The steak was very tender, flavorful, and was right in between medium rare and medium well done (that's a little confusing, I know). The fried onions was probably the winner for me (just kidding) but they were really good. And of course, ending the meal with something sweet is always needed, especially with my big sweet tooth. Might as well go big or go home, right?
Ranking of food: Apple Tarte Tatin, Foie Gras, Onions, and then the Steak. I know, I'm putting the main entree last, but I'm just not a huge meat person. Why did I order the steak? Oddly enough, I was craving steak that night.
