Totally cool day of eating and drinking and more

So last week, we bailed out of Hester Street Fair. I was stuck in inner Queens so we decided to try this Saturday.

I think we will need to wait for Grub Street to get the full effect. This was the regular fair so it was smaller. Tried and true favorites Pies and Thighs and Luke's Lobster Roll were in attendance as was Ample Hills ice cream, a New York favorite.

I tried the Salted Crack Caramel from Ample Hills Creamery which was interesting. You can taste the saltiness of the pieces of saltines and sweet of the caramel but to be honest, my heart belongs to the Salty Pimp - vanilla, dulce de leche, chocolate, and sea salt.

Afterward, we went around to Essex Street market and walked around. Some of the aisles were so small, it was rather claustrophobic to stand in. But we opted to go to Agozar's instead of staying for some sandwiches or even the dominican place across from Economy Candy because they don't have alchy!

Not-so-great Sangria

So off we went to Agozar, newly dubbed hotspot for white loud and valley sounding crowds all around! It made us resort to texting.

Vaca Frita with Eggs

Anyway, we got the brunch special which comes with a complimentary sangria or bloody mary. I got eggs benedict with Spanish ham over toast. Barb of course got the eggs over vaca frita. Normally, their service is awesome and so are their drinks. For Cinco de Mayo, it was some shaity service. Food was great, as usual. I quite enjoyed it. Then they tried to make us pay for the unlimited service brunch, which was $22 but Barb corrected them to $14.95. We just couldn't escape fat enough with all that noise.

Eggs Benedict with eggs

We walked around St. Mark's with no luck. Barb opted to drag my butt out to Brooklyn, to shop for shoes and dresses. However, I ended up buying two dresses and a short cardie. Then we walked down to Smith street and found Coco Roco. Frankly, Barb insisted upon learning that they had all sorts of Pisco drinks!

So, this is one spot where the owners care about the comfort of their patrons. There is a bar at the front on the right side as you enter and a bunch of tables on the right. There is a smaller room separated by a glassless partition, through which there is a outside patio for outside dining.

The staff is super-friendly. I didn't catch our waitress' name but she was really nice and made a really great drink. The restaurant was really nice and even charged Barb's phone which drains its battery rather quickly! (iPhone, I heart you)

Pisco Chilcano (upfront) and Pisco Sour (in the back)

We started off with a pisco sour and a pisco chilcano (oddly enough, doesn't show on the online menu). They were great - so great that I went for a pisco sour and Barb asked for a 2nd round. Just so you know, pisco sour is the traditional cocktail - made of pisco (peruvian brandy), simple syrup, lime juice, egg whites and Angostura Bitters (which seem a bit like cinnamon). My other drink - the chilcano is made of pisco, ginger ale, and lime. Both were delicious but the Pisco Sour really hit the spot at this restaurant.

Empanads and fried Yucca

As usual, we started off with one beef and one chicken empanada. They were not as seasoned as can be so we asked for the chimichurri, a lovely garlic, parsley oil sauce that goes well, with...well, everything!!

Fried Yucca, Chicken Empanada, Beef Empanada

The empanadas tasted way better filled with chimichurri sauce. Chicken was nice and tender, with a nice shell. The Beef empanada, was just as tender with crispy shell.

Chimichurri sauce - after we decimated it

After much debating, we got advice from our waitress, Barbara decided on the pescado al lo macho, a filet of red snapper with shrimp (they are willing to alter their dishes to suit your taste).  It usually comes with seafood - which is a lot of different items that Barb didn't eat so she asked for just shrimp.

Pescado al lo Macho

I decided on the Paella Coco Roco because I love paella, seafood and this dish combined both.

Paella with seafood and chorizo

This was pretty tasty on its own. I hated the green peppers but then I'm not a peppers person. This dish was just full of seafood - mussels, one clam, octopus, chorizo, 4-5 shrimp, and chopped up carrots, some corn, and string beans.

Closer view of the dish

So, of course, you know I didn't skimp on the chimichurri sauce over my paella. I know, but I will eat chimichurri sauce over toast, over empanadas, over ANYTHING non-dessert like. The chimichurri sauce kicked it up 100%. It made for just an awesome food experience. I have to say this though, because I wanted my dessert, I only ate just a bit - one-third, really. It is really quite enough food for about 2-3 people, honestly.

The restaurant loses points for not having crepes. Crepes are awesome. How can you be without dulce de leches crepes or tres leches cake?!!!!

So after being bitterly disappointed, we decided on the chocolate empanadas and flan. So, where to begin on the empanadas???

Chocolate empanadas with coconut ice cream

Be forewarned. The ice cream is coconut. They do not have vanilla or whipped cream, neither of which would have saved this dessert. The dough was too thick and a bit salty. The chocolate bled out like an cut artery. I will need to insist...do not get this dessert ever!!! It needed to be made with a sweeter dough, rolled thin, and possibly not this syrupy chocolate... I would have gone with a thicker consistency in the chocolate before frying it. I love the coconut ice cream but was not happy with the chocolate empanada. Waitress confirmed it is not one of her favorites either.

Coconut and lime flan with dulce de leche

The coconut and lime flan with dulce de leche was so good. I would have loved coconut on it but Barb is picky and doesn't eat coconut. :P But this was by far the better dessert. It was not overly sweet and the dulce de leche drizzle was delicious.

I'll still have to go to Chimu for my desserts but this place has a lot more to offer in terms of drinks, and dishes. I still say bring back the crepe!!

Ample Hills Creamery

623 Vanderbilt Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11238

tel. 347.240.3926

Hours:

Sun-Thurs: 12 pm - 10 pm

Fri-Sat: 12 pm - 11 pm

Agozar's

324 Bowery

New York, NY 10012

Tel: 212.677.6773

Hours:

Mon-Thurs:
Lunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 11 pm
Friday:
Lunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 3 am
Kitchen is open until 12 am
Sat:
Brunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 3 am
Kitchen is open until 12 am
Sun:
Brunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 10 pm


Coco Roco
139 Smith Street (Bergen & Dean St.)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
tel. 718.254.9933
Hours:
NA
Delivery hours:
Sunday to Thursday 12:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Friday and Saturday 12:00 pm - 11:30 pm
Happy Hour:
Mon-Thurs: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

A cookiediment!

So today, I started my own Tim Tam hunt. And I scored with caramel Tim Tams at Gristedes! I am keeping this a secret but if you are my facebook friend, you would know where - yep, the location was revealed there.

I ended buying the newer mint milano melts which I thought were too gimmicky but here you go.

This biscuit looks like a fatter half of the regular mint milano cookie, sans chocolate center. The crispiness is definitely there. The difference is in the melted center of minty chocolateness. Although, it was thoroughly enjoyable, I prefer the crispiness of the original mint milano cookie.

Now for the caramel Tim Tams which I was fortunate to find in my local Gristedes. If you don't already know, Tim Tams are the best import from Australia besides Hugh Jackman. They are layers of cookie with a center of caramel, covered in chocolate.

Caramel is yummy. The chocolate is tasty and the flaky layers of delicious cookie and biting into a sticky chewy center of caramel.

And believe me if I find any other Tim Tams, I will stock up!

Another dinner at Chimu's!

Once again, I am behind on posts but as I am the only contributor and also free, you get what you paid for. Ha!
So a few weeks back, another trip back to Chimu was in order. So my BFF and I got ourselves back to the familiar intersection of Metropolitan and Union for more.

Pisco Sour, fried corns, and empanadas

As usual, Pisco Sour was the first thing we ordered along with one each of their beef and chicken empanadas. Just like the first time, they were most delicious.

Unlike last time, we did switch out the main courses.

Tallerin Verde

This time, Barb opted for the Tallerin Verde with skirt steak and more minced garlic in oil. It looked tasty and was served with potato. It seems Peruvians eat lots of carbs.

Aji de Gallina

Take for instance my own order of Aji de Gallina, which with the aji sauce over rice is just divine except there were more potatoes and rice than of the shredded chicken.

Tres Leches

Of course there were leftovers for the next day since we saved room for the dulce de leches crepe and tres leches cake. Both were extremely satisfying for my sweet tooth and sends one into sugar highs for the night.

Dulce de leches Crepe

As usual, service is quick and friendly. But I totally would come only when I feel like getting starchy foods.

Chimu Peruvian Cuisine and Steak
482 Union Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Tel. 718.349.1208
Hours:
Monday 3:00-11:00 pm
Tuesday 3:00-11:00 pm
Wednesday 3:00-11:00 pm
Thursday 3:00-11:00 pm
Friday 12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Saturday 12:00 pm - 12:00 am
Sunday 12:00-11:00 pm

Brunch at Luna

Okay this post is out of sync because I had technical difficulties uploading the pics via iPhone app. Apparently, if you don't hit publish, they will no longer save the pics?! Methinks some writing will be done to the app devs.

Our last morning in DC, we opted for late check out and went to look for brunch. As there was nothing close by, we went off to Dupont Circle and scored at Luna, a kitschy looking place next to the Mad Hatter (I would have chosen this place because I like the name but they were pricier than Luna).

As it turns out, Barb remembered that she ate there before - a while back. And she only remembered once we stepped through the doors...

So upfront - there are no meat substitutions. If you don't like pork or are allergic to pork, then you can't have meat here. 

So that said, they have a small brunch menu full of hearty pork filled meat breakfasts or french toast or omelets.

Waffle with egg and cheese

Barb ordered their waffles with egg and cheese. They did not have meat subs so the pork filled menu was not a good choice for her. However, the waffle looked nice and fluffy and delicious.

A nice hearty platter

Since I am more likely to eat a pork product, I choose their platter - toast with eggs (I like mine over easy) which they served perfectly done and their maple syrup sausage. It was very delicious. My eggs were actually over easy!! Some places overcook them. And the sausage was very tasty - seasoned but with a lovely taste of maple!

Overall, I find this place to be friendly yet fast - a good place to grab a quick bite - just don't come here if you can't eat pork but want meat for breakfast.

Luna Bar & Diner
1301 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Washington, DC 20009
tel. 202.835.2280
Hours:
Sunday -Thursday

8:00 am – 11:00pm
Friday & Saturday

8:00am – 12 midnight

 Brunch on Sat & Sun Only