Eat, drink and be merry

I've been meaning to write up some of my favorite eateries so far, but haven't managed to find the time. So this will be an abbreviated version for now with no photos. Hope to do better on this front going forward...

Mmmmm, summer in NYC wouldn't be complete without soft serve from a Mister Softee truck. I swear they follow B around because he sees them at every corner whereas I have to go seek them out. I can't believe they have a website!

Finally made it to Momofuku Noodle Bar and it was worth every minute and every dollar. They really know how to do pork. The ramen was incredible but the real star here was the steamed pork buns served open-faced. Oh I could sit there and eat pork buns all day. Delicious! As Homer Simpson says, pigs are "a wonderful, magical animal."

Okay so it may be sacriligious to even put a Mexican restaurant on this list, but there is something about sitting outside at Arriba Arriba in Hell's Kitchen on a warm summer day and getting a plate of nachos and a margarita. They are good and not in that Velveeta, Tex-Mex kind of way. Again, not mind-blowing, but it brings back fond memories of B's days in HK and the little studio apartment.

Mention of HK restaurants wouldn't be complete without Empanada Mama. Every filling I've tried has been good -- my faves are the Brasil, spicy chicken, and the Cuban. Priced at $2.50 each it's a good deal too! The only disappointment here was the overpriced and watered-down sangria.

There's an affordable Indo-Paki restaurant across the street called Sirtaj. It's not the best South Asian food I've had, but it's pretty tasty and for the portion-size to price ratio, you can't beat it.

Also in the neighborhood is Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Yes, I like this place even if you have to wait 30 minutes to order. The fries are bleh and I have yet to try a shake, but the burgers are yummy and reasonably priced. Mmmmm, I want a Shackburger now!

I'm still trying to find a good Vietnamese restaurant in town, but I am finding that I may have to get out to Flushing to find anything authentic and/or affordable. We did try O Mai here in Chelsea and while the lemongrass beef roll appetizer was amazing, nothing else really lived up to that first bite. The crispy fish in chili lime sauce was decent, but I can't even remember what else we ordered if that tells you anything.

I did try Pho Cong Ly in Chinatown and it was pretty good but it's a haul to get to. And when we tried to get banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from Banh Mi Saigon in the back of a jewelry store in Chinatown, they had "run out". Boooo! I will have to go back there soon.

Since I'm talking Chinatown I may as well mention the soup dumplings we had at Joe's Shanghai (not to be confused with Joe's Ginger just up the street). It was easily recognizable by the crowd of people waiting on the sidewalk for a table. For 2 people the wait was only 5 minutes but I probably would have waited an hour for these little bites of goodness. If you've never had soup dumplings, go to their website and watch the YouTube video on how to eat them properly. Cheap cheap cheap -- $5-7 for a steam basket of 8 buns.

I would write up John's Pizzeria in Greenwich Village, but our last visit was disappointing. Now I am gearing up for an adventure to Brooklyn where supposedly the best pizza in NYC resides at Di Fara's.

Now that we have a fully operable kitchen and trying to save money, we'll probably eat out a lot less, but I'll still post any foodie gems I find out there. Mmmm, all this talk of food has got me hungry! Time for lunch!