Tasty Travels: Vegetarian Dim Sum & Buffalo Wings

Some of my favorite restaurants in NY happen to be vegetarian restaurants.

Two of those include Red Bamboo and The Vegetarian Dim Sum House.

1. Red Bamboo 140 W4th Street New York, NY

This is the place jk took me too when I was in college that made me fall in love with fake meat. More specifically, their veggie barbecue buffalo wings. Yum. They even put little sticks in it so it's like a 'bone'. Also, this is the only barbecue sauce I've found whose smell doesn't make me nauseous.

2. The Vegetarian Dim Sum House at 24 Pell St New York, NY

This is my dim sum dream. Going to dim sum, ordering random things off of a menu without asking "does this have meat/pork/fish/shellfish in it?". They have a little dim sum check off menu as well as a real menu. I'm sure the real menu is fine, but the dim sum [small plates for cheap] is the real prize. We got six dishes which turns out to be way too much for two people. I'd go with 2 dishes/person (especially if not TOO hungry) and share.

Don't ask me what we ordered, just know it was delicious. Though I will say, if you make it here make sure to get the sesame balls. mmmmm. This place is really in the heart of 'real' china town (not the Canal street fake purse market) and it's a much nicer experience. Stop in at Green Tea Cafe or Quickly if you're around for some bubble tea afterwords! Also Aji Ichiban for any-kind-of-preserved-fruit-you-can-think-of-and-random-Chinese(and some Japanese/Korean)-candies is also always fun.

I think these had red bean in them.


Sesame balls! Inside paste was almost peanut butter-y as one would expect from sesame paste.

These had lots of stuff in them. I think they had something to do with monks or buddha?

Some kind of gelatinous rice with kale. It was okay, the least interesting of the bunch though.


I think these were the 'treasure balls'. They were mostly potato with some filling in the middle. Think deep fried mashed potato croquets.

Some kind of dumpling?

Tasty Travels: Grey Dog's Cafe, Banh Mi, and Pretzel Croissants

1. Grey Dog's Cafe on 33 Carmine Street New York, NY.

We spent a lot of time at Grey Dog's.
a) It's very close to my dad's apartment
b) They have free internet!
c) They make some tasty coffee and food.

On one of our several trips there, we opted for some breakfast. We shared a nice breakfast quesadilla with egg whites. Mmmm...

The real highlight though was the 'home fries'. Nice and thinly grated and crispy. Very nice addition to our otherwise healthy breakfast.

2. Banh Mi at Baoguette 120 Christopher Street New York, NY

New York is experiencing a surge in Banh Mi restaurants. Basically they are Vietnamese sandwiches. I had a really great veggie one. It came on a nice crispy bun with some tasty pickled daikon/radish/carrot type stuff and the faux meat was really tasty. The only downside is there was mayo (which was not listed no the menu but I should've asked about) so I had to eat around that. The online menu doesn't list the veg option, but it was there when we went.

3. Pretzel Croissant at City Bakery on 3 West 18th Street New York, NY

In the wintertime (well, really year round) you can get the richest tasting hot chocolate, but seeing as my visit was filled with 85+ degree days, I decided to keep it on the cool side opting for refreshing iced teas. But that didn't distract me from the real prize here: pretzel croissants. Flaky and lovely on the outside but crispy and salty on the outside. This is a must have snack if you're in the neighborhood.

Tasty Travels: Kyotofu Dinner

One of my first evenings back in NY I went to dinner with two of my best college friends, jk and jn. We decided to go to kyotofu because it it was on our 'lists' of places to try (and it was convenient for after work time for jk and jn).

Kyotofu - 705 9th Ave (between 48th and 49th) NY, NY 10019

The place itself is not very large. There was a graduation party going on in the back so all us walk-ins were crammed in the front part of the place. We had a nice spot on the bar which the host was very kind to clear out for us.

I had the tofu salad which came with a nice big heap of silken tofu. It was a bit strange since silken tofu has the texture of pudding, but a savory/not sweet taste. It took some getting used to. Otherwise, a nice refreshing salad with some tasty dressing.

Now, don't let the name fool you, just because it has 'tofu' doesn't make it vegetarian. jn had the tofu sliders which were adorable and came with some very cute lotus root chips.

jn opted for the curry puffs (which look similar to the sliders). A bit too curry-y for me, but then again I can't stand turmeric.

Of course, we all just had to have dessert. I went with a cobbler which was lovely - crisp on top and fruity with a nice minty ice cream.

jk opted for some sort of chocolate tofu pudding which was very tasty as well. The little shortbread cookies that came with it were also excellent.

jn went with the strawberry shortcake which had strange jello-y squares in them (which I didn't particularly care for). It also came with some sorbet!

All in all a cute place for a small party to get a bite in Midtown. The take away baked goods were really nice too (I took some minicakes home to share with my family).

Tasty Travels: High End Street Food...Pizza and Falafel

Ever since leaving NY I've been missing pizza, bagels, and falafel. Especially falafel. I made sure to get my fill while at home.

1. Pizza and Una Pizza Napoletana @ 349 E. 12th St NY, NY 10003

I've been meaning to try this place ever since they were featured on chow and I made the mistake of trying to go there on a Wednesday when they are clearly only open from Thursday to Sunday. I tried again on Thursday. They only have four pizzas. no salads. no pasta. Just four pizzas and drinks. My friend and I opted for the Filetti and it was lovely. Not unlike my beloved Pizzaiolo in Oakland. The pizza serves two -- but not to total fullness. If you need something more, I recommend Chikalicious just a block away!

2. Falafel at Azuri @ 465 W 51st St NY, NY 10019

My dad's favorite falafel place in the city, and I can see why. Apparently the owner makes everything on the premises - including the pita. Sadly, the pita was the one thing that I didn't find absolutely delicious. It was a bit too 'crispy' for my liking. The falafel itself was perfect. I think a good idea is to get the falafel 'platter' style (w/o the pita).

3. Falafel at Taim @ 222 Waverly Pl NY, NY 10014

This is the falafel I've been craving since moving away from New York. Soft thick pita, nice crunchy falafel, and a nice tang from the pickled cabbage. Oh and extra tahini. I can't say I've ever had a better falafel in my life. If you go to NY and go to one falafel place, make it this one. It's the real deal.

Tasty Travels: Truck Food

NYC has many trucks roaming the city feeding people with some kind of high end food actually. Here are the few that I sampled.

1. Belgian Waffles at Wafels & Dinges

I had a plain Liege Waffle (soft) and cjr had the Brussels Waffle (crunchy, more like the American ones we're all used to) with Speculoos Spread [gingerbread-y spread that has the consistency of peanut butter]. They weren't as good as the ones we had in Vancouver, but those are some serious standards. These waffles are still quite worth finding if you're around.

2. Treats at the Treats Truck.

I grabbed a mexican brownie ("spicy") and a sandwich cookie for cjr. We actually found the Brownie tasted a lot like our Mark Bittman brownies that we baked for our smores brownies. Cjr found the cookie quite buttery but he was happy with this suprise snack.

3. Ice cream and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck

We went to an event at BKLYN Yard along the Gowanus canal called Parked! where we thought there would be a bunch of food trucks parked awaiting us with tasty treats. Sadly, the only interesting one was the Ice Cream truck which I'd been looking for all week. I went with Pistachio and it was lovely. My friend went with Vanilla, which I've never been a fan of, but she enjoyed. The truck can be a bit elusive, but if you find it... make sure to stop.

Tasty Travels: Cake Edition

Cjr and I went off for a week to NYC [our hometown, give or take 30 miles] and the place where we met. We [I] had a lot of tasty treats while I was there. Here's the cake sampling of my adventure.

1. Cupcakes and Oat Cake @ Sweet Revenge in the West Village at 62 Carmine Street NYC, NY 10014

The cupcakes were pretty good, but the cake portion was a bit muffin-y. The frosting is nice and rich though. We sampled the "Pure" (vanilla) and "Strawberry". The Strawberry frosting was good, but the vanilla was the best all around. The Oat Cake was a nice breakfast treat though. Though potentially too rich for breakfast?

2. Dulce de Leche cake @ Momofuku Milk Bar in the East Village at 207 2nd Ave NYC, NY 10003

This cake was way too rich. The frosting was delicious, but the cake way too dense. I only got through the first of three layers. I will say that the cookies are supposedly the real winners at this place and I probably should've stuck with the plan and gone with the Arnold Palmer cake. We also had some Atomic Fireball soft serve which was quite interesting and tasty.

3. Caramel Cupcake @ Chikalicious Dessert Club in the East Village at 204 E. Tenth Street NYC, NY 10003

This was the best of the bunch.... by far. The cake was delicious and moist. The frosting was velvety and the caramel filling was a welcome surprise. And it was the least expensive! The premium cupcakes, while not huge, were only $2.25 and the regular ones only $1.60. Much better than the $3+ ones we had at Sweet Revenge.

Caramel Cupcake & Smores Cupcake

4. Mini Cupcakes @ Baked by Melissa in SoHo at 529 Broadway New York, NY 10012

These cupcakes are absolutely tiny. A nice little pick me up if you can manage to only eat 2 or 3. Just don't do the 'but they're so small' and inhale a million.