beXnlog

Gorilla Biscuits

An eventful weekend means i don't blog for days!

Friday 7/29
In the early evening a bunch of us attended the A/P/A Studies Moving Out Party. Due to some major structural changes at NYU, they're forced to move from their beautiful space designed by Maya Lin into a cold space around Union Square. I hope this is only a literal move and not a cutting/downsizing of their amazing Asian American studies programs and classes. Regardless, it was a fun sad time to catch up with friends while munching on some delicious foods. A/P/A served a pan-Asian spread which included sushi rolls, pad Thai, samosas and banana fritters. Most notable were the ginger, green bean and mango salads from Village Mingala. VM is another all time Top 5 of mine.

Afterwards, a smaller group headed towards La Lanterna in the West Village. I shared an arribiata (tomato sauce and crushed chiles) brick oven pizza with A while A$ and P shared one with fresh arugula. Their pizza has such an amazing crust. If it wasn't $10 (for a pie the size of a large plate, about 4 small slices), i would eat it all the time!

Saturday 7/30
DC MK and MY were in town for a wedding so of course we went to Vegetarian Dim Sum House in Chinatown. be, A$ and run-in Neil rounded out the group. Of course it was delicious but i wish we ordered better. Although dim sum is all about sharing, cutting bite-sized morsels in half or quarters sort of defeats the purpose. Maybe i'm just greedy. Their corn jook is yummy!

The usual post-dim sum stop is Chinatown Ice Cream Factory; i joined be and A$ in a long line out the door which still went quickly. I couldn't decide so i relied on Almond Cookie while A$ got lychee and be got half lychee and half mango-papaya. Mango-papaya is the best sorbet i've ever tasted! Their version is perfectly sweet and light. So good!

In the evening we drove out to Douglaston in Queens for J's birthday. We thought it was a barbecue but instead it was a Cuban-themed party with catered Cuban food. The spread started out with mini sandwiches, olives, cheese cubes and sliced meats for the carnivores (which would be everyone else at the party besides me and pescatarian be). As for the Cuban food, i thought the rice and the sweet plantains were too oily but i loved the steamed yuca with onions. The best thing at the party was the cucumber and tomato salad J's mom made from produce her garden - it was tossed in a light dressing and so fresh! On our way out be asked J's mom if he could have some green tomatoes and cucumbers which he'd been eyeing since noticing her garden. We reaped 2 hardass green tomatoes for more frying and 1 small but excellent cucumber.

Sunday 7/31
More out of town friends: SF Crack convinced NH Mama Sapp to visit for the afternoon. We started with brunch at the Brick Cafe in Astoria. The decor and feel of the place was very beautiful on a sunny day. They have many outdoor tables under a large awning and they open all the doors so it seems really airy. Too bad their food wasn't as nice as the decor. No one thought their dishes were excellent or even very good. Crack thought her French onion soup's toasted bread and melted cheese were good but the onion soup part was lacking. Mama Sapp didn't like her seafood chowder at all so be finished it. It only contained fish and she expected shellfish as well. Although i liked my orange juice it wasn't worth $5 and my French toast was too sickeningly sweet. The toast was made well but the syrups and cream were just too much. be didn't like his fettucine and was dismayed that the shitake mushrooms were lacking. The home fries looked tasty but were actually a little bland. And lastly, Mama Sapp's and Crack's omlettes were just average. Crack had been for dinner and thought it was fine, but as for brunch we all thought it was merely okay. Certainly for almost $80 we expected the food to be better.

Walking around Astoria one of our party fulfilled a craving for Dunkin Donuts' Coffee Coolatta while the other three shared a "like it" scoop from Cold Stone Creamery. This scoop ended up being vanilla ice cream with Oreos, white chocolate chips and caramel mixed in. We would've sat and talked for longer if the "tips songs" didn't make us insane. Back at our apartment, Crack headed back to NJ while the rest of us later shared some cheeses and wine.

For dinner we brought Mama Sapp to Dow Thong, our favorite Thai restaurant in Queens and perhaps all of New York. Everything i've had there has been excellent although i can't say anything about the meat dishes. Out of the tofu and vegetarian ones they've all been flavored well and hotness isn't dumbed down. Since we were all noodle fans we went against family-style eating and ordered vegetable & tofu pad Thai, shrimp pad sew ew and shrimp pad kee mao. Pad sew ew and pad kee mao use the same soft broad noodles but the kee mao has more vegetables and a much hotter seasoning. Everyone loved their noodles and Thai iced tea.

Right before Mama Sapp hit the road she needed to break a $20 bill at the corner store. be and i were checking out the U.S./Brazil Mart's offerings and upon my saying, "Hey look, what is Mentos Cherry Ice?" Mama grabbed the box out of my hand and used it to break her bill. be and i tried one each but Mama chucked hers when i exclaimed, "Wait. This is like cherry Halls but worse!" It's packaged in the same Mentos style box (not the roll) and is part of an entire Ice line from Brazil. Unless you really like chewy, more bitter cherry Halls i'd advise against them. And i like cherry Halls!

Monday 8/1
Before work i picked up one mini bag each of Stacy's White Cheddar Soy Crisps and Cinnamon & Sugar Pita Chips. I'm a big fan of the savory Stacy's Pita Chips and was not disappointed with the Soy Crisps nor the sweet Pita Chips. For me it's more about the texture than the flavorings, although too much extreme flavor powder makes me feel icky and my hands orange. So far every Stacy's product i've tried has exceeded expectations. Check them out!

be made a batch of Annie's Mac n Cheese for dinner, which we both agree is better than Kraft brand. Annie's is less powdery and a better company overall. Plus it has cute bunnies on the box. I like bunnies.

posted by beXn @ 12:48 PM