Cooking.

I’ve been cooking a lot lately. More cooking than eating out… I think. Some of the dishes I’ve made lately include: wontons, spaghetti bolognese, eggplant parm, dal, and chicken tikka masala (this tasted more Indonesian or Thai than Indian though).

Pictured above is fried shallots. I made a Chinese minced pork dish. I usually use the meat to make 嚕肉飯 or 麻辣乾麵 for all you Chinese readers out there. Luckily, Joe loves this stuff. Whew.

NEW YORK: Jules

65 St. Marks Place, New York, NY 10003
212 420 0998

PRICE: Reasonable/Expensive
RATING: Love it.
DIRECTIONS: 6 to Astor, RW to 8th Street, L to 3rd Ave
RESERVATIONS: You need them.  Ask for the front, I suggest something close to the window.
MUST GET: Everything!

Joe and I came here two weeks ago to hear his guitar teacher play. It was our second time here together for dinner and, once again, everything was perfect. I love this place– great service, great French food (mmm butter), and live music everyday… How can you go wrong?

NEW YORK: Butter Lane

123 E 7th St, New York, NY 10009
212 677 2880

PRICE: Normal for cupcakes
RATING: Love it.
DIRECTIONS: L to 1st Ave
RESERVATIONS: It’s a cupcake shop!  You don’t need them!
MUST GET: coconut cupcake!

Got some cupcakes here for Hagen’s birthday. Amazing. Their coconut cupcake is the best one I have ever had. Yummmmmmm.

They have specialty frostings such as: the elvis (peanut butter + banana), espresso, grapefruit + ginger, and honey cinnamon.  All the frostings can be found on their vanilla, chocolate, or banana cupcakes.

NEW YORK: Paprika

Another good brunch at paprika. This time I had their shredded potato, onion, and artichoke egg frittata. Pretty good.

And I’ll be back here tomorrow for a friends birthday…

NEW YORK: Vamos

348 1st Ave, New York, NY 10010
212 358 7800

PRICE: Pricey normally, but the Monday deal is worth it!
RATING: Love it.
DIRECTIONS: L to 1st Ave
RESERVATIONS: You don’t need them.
MUST GET: hard shell chicken tacos

Good enough for me to go two Mondays in a row. The best way to take advantage of this deal is to come with friends and share some tacos. My favorites are their grilled fish, skirt steak, fried shrimp, and hard shell chicken. Going any other day is just not worth it since a regular plate of 3 is $14-$20.

I love street fairs.

A taco from a mexican stand at a street fair near Washington square park made my day. It was just like the kind I used to get back in the days of weekend trips to Mexico with my parents– steak, raw onions, and cilantro on a corn tortilla. Yum.

When’s the next street fair??

NEW YORK: Duke’s

99 E 19th St, New York, NY 10003
212 260 2922

PRICE: Reasonable
RATING: Good food, but not a fan of the atmosphere.
DIRECTIONS: NQRW456L to Union Square
RESERVATIONS: You’ll need them during game times
MUST GET:

The food was good, but not good enough to make up for the frat like atmosphere. Maybe if I were into sports or white frat boys I’d come back.

NEW YORK: Hane Sushi

346 1st Avenue, New York, NY 10009
212 598 9889

PRICE: Normal for Japanese in this city
RATING: Not bad, I’d go back.
DIRECTIONS: L to 1st Ave
RESERVATIONS: You don’t need them.
MUST GET: rock shrimp tempura

It’s no morimoto or takahachi, but this place isn’t half bad. We ordered the rock shrimp tempura bites, sesame tuna roll, and their spicy maki combo. Everything was pretty good. I would definitely come back here again since it’s just around the corner from me.

NEW YORK: Kuma Inn

113 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002
212 353 8866

PRICE: Cheap for Manhattan (approx $7-11/dish)
RATING: Will not go back.
DIRECTIONS: FV to 2nd Ave, JMZ to Essex/Delancey
RESERVATIONS: You don’t need them.
MUST GET: nothing!

This hidden, second floor restaurant was decent, but nothing special.  I expected more out of Asian tapas.  You will not find me back at this place for a second time.

NEW YORK: Gyro King Truck

I love me some street meat. I used to have street food two or three times a week back in the days when I worked at MTV in the middle of times square. I’ve been working near Penn station for the last nine months and I have yet to find a great chicken and rice place. Today I went to the Gyro King Truck next to Lennys and across from Borders. The chicken and rice was surprisingly not bad, but by no means the worst. It’s, so far, the best spot I found in midtown west for halal food.

If anyone knows of a better spot, please let me know!