Alice's Tea Cup

Just went to Alice’s Tea Cup today with Kamilla, my roommate. It is a small lovely place for breakfast and lunch on upper west side. I ordered two scones and a small teapot which tasted amazing! What a great way to start the day. I recommend this place if you are a tea lover. The tea list is impressive with many unique and fresh teas. It took me forever to decide. They have 3 different places in New York. Check out the website for more information, alicesteacup. 

A Box of Happiness

Do you see what's in this box??? Yup, I just had to have some macarons AGAIN. Of all dessert, macarons happens to be my favorite.I wish I liked something cheaper sometimes. The macarons are ruining me. My wallet and my weight. ... I should exercise soon... soon. Maybe next week.

I just ate my first Pretzel

Yay, I ate my first pretzel yesterday! I went to the metropolitan museum of art just to get a quiet chilled Saturday. The museum was great. It was huge with a lot of different arts which I love. Even though you are not a “museum person”, I still recommend you to check it out. It’s lovely, and it looks just like in the movies. Haha, I went to a museum on a Saturday, who says I’m only partying in New York? I think I am a good girl. Pretzel, museum and some cosmos on a Saturday. I love New York

I am sorry for being lazy with the photos. I will deff come back to this museum and take more photos.

Shake Shack

 

Finally, I got some good American food. Burgers, shake and fries obviously. Don’t go to McDonald's or Burger King to get a burger. Shake Shack is the real thing. I had a Shroom Burger and chocolate milkshake yesterday and it was so good that I just had to come back today after school. Today I had a Shack Stack with some fries. YUM, but I think I am done with junk for now.

(Wonder when I will post about another junk restaurant).

 

Tao restaurant review

“Tao, the largest and most popular Asian restaurant in New York City, was created to offer guests a sensual trip through the cuisines of Asia. From the moment one enters, they are transported to another world designed to relax and indulge all the senses. Open since fall 2000, this action packed venue hasn't lost one bit of its buzz. Tao is frequented by celebrities on a regular basis from Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, Ricky Martin, Robert DeNiro, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Madonna, Paris Hilton and members of the N.Y. Yankees, Giants and Rangers” - taorestaurant.com

Well, I don’t know about that. Just because celebrities like this place, does it means it is a good place? Tao was a nice place, but I am sorry fans, this place has got more credit than it deserves. I mean, since when was Britney Spears a food expert? 

Here is my review. The REAL review.

The food was good, standard good Chinese food. Nothing special with no new twists that made a statement. Tao is just another Asian restaurant with a big Buddha sitting next to you.  I can name at least 10 different restaurants with the exact same thing. Besides the boring dishes, I must say I have never seen uglier presentation which gave a very VERY bad first impression. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t thrilled by the food?  

And I quote “They are transported to another world designed to relax and indulge all the senses.” Designed to relax? How can I relax when it is a DJ playing loud music? I had to scream just to make a conversation with my friend. The service wasn’t spectacular either. It was, I don’t know. Like other normal Chinese restaurant? I also had to wait till 9.30pm to get a table even though I made a reservation for 9.00pm. 

You are not convinced? You are still going to check out Tao (and Ricky Martin) the next time you are in New York? In that case, stay away from Crispy Orange Chicken. It tasted a bit better than KFC chicken, but I wouldn’t pay 30USD to get something that is “a little better than KFC”. I also got Satay of Chicken with Peanut Sauce. I ate it with Squab Lettuce Wraps, which was good. 

Ok, so this place didn’t get a good review, but I am willing to give them a new chance. Next week probably. Then I will take photos (so you can see how bad the presentations are) and try some of the desserts, which I didn’t this time.

Ladurée

 

I have been craving for macarons for a while. Last time I ate good macarons was in Australia last summer. It is so hard to find that where I live, but I recon I don’t have to worry about that anymore. New York, a place with everything you can imagine. At least when it comes to food. Anyway, I went to Ladurée with Kamilla this afternoon and got a couple of macarons. I got vanilla, chocolate, rose petal, pistachio, coconut and grape and cinnamon. The vanilla was heaven, but I think it is because I LOVE vanilla in general. Rosa petal was really weird. It tasted like roses (?). Hmm, I still have to think about that, whether if I like it or not. The chocolate was really "heavy", I wouldn’t recommend it, unless you LOVE chocolate. When that is said, we loved the place.  We both got so sad when the box was empty. No more macarons. We are definitely coming back. 

Address: 862 Madison (71st street)

7. Ippudo, the best ramen in New York

I went to Ippudo yesterday and got “New York’s best ramen”. I feel a bit proud of it since it is impossible to get a table there. It was crowded and the waiting time was way too long. I think I waited for more than 2 hours, that’s crazy isn’t it? It is also impossible to make a reservation. The ramen tasted good, but that was the first time I have had one so I don’t really know what is good and what’s not, but the pork bun! That was amazing! I have never eaten better pork bun in my whole life, and I am an Asian!

 

 Urgh, another bad photo. I blame my ugly IPhone!

Photo:ippudony.com

Address: 65 Fourth Avenue (Between 9th and 10th Street)

Sushi of Gari, authenticity at its best

For four years, I have worked in many different sushi restaurants. I have eaten sushi frequently for 10 years, and when I say frequently I mean 3-4 times a week in average. Sushi is one of the few things you can never get fed off. If you do, you haven’t eaten great sushi. So I went to this sushi restaurant called Sushi of Gari. Gari is the name of the sushi chief that started this avant-garde sushi restaurant. He wanted the costumers to enjoy the sushi without dipping too much soy sauce that kills the real taste of sushi. His concept is to sauce the sushi directly during the preparation stage. This meant the diners will get the perfect amount of sauce in each sushi piece.

Do you feel guilty for dipping the whole sushi with soy sauce now? After serving sushi all these years, I have recognised that people ask for too much soy sauce, especially take-away. One of my bosses used to say that they like to drink the soy sauce, while another thought it was bullshit. He believed they took a bath in it.

 

Photo: sushiofgari.com

Each nigiri piece was an explosion of flavours. Every single piece tasted different. I really can’t imagine better sushi than what I have eaten at Sushi of Gari, and trust me; I know what I am talking about. I have eaten a lot of sushi from all over the world. 

I would recommend “Omasake” which means the chief will select for you, each piece will be different and is a great way to taste the menu. I think I ate something between 20-25 pieces and all were unique. I don’t remember all of the nigiris I got, but one of them was salmon with onion cream and roasted tomato which tasted amazing. Everything was just perfect together.  

Photo: sushiofgari.com

PS: just a little honestly here. If you are one of those that believe you love sushi but eat premade sushi, then don’t bother to spend your money on this. You still don’t know what sushi is.

Adress: 402 East 78th Street New York, NY 10075

There are also one at Columbus and one at 46th street.

Not in New York? Gari has also a restaurant in Aoyama, Tokyo, Japan.

Sex and The City tour

This was so not worth 37$. All we did was sitting in the bus! Ok, so we did go out a bit, but it wasn’t that interesting. We didn’t visit Carrie’s apartment even. What kind of Sex and the City tour do not stop by her apartment? Anyway, we got free Magnolia cupcakes, so I won’t complain…. I am probably going back there to get some treats in the future.