flavor bombs

My favorite thing about going out for Thai food is that the flavors are just so intense and punchy. Nothing is subtle, and I don't want them to be. I want a jar of every sauce I put in my mouth at Fish Cheeks.

Notes to self: eat more crisp raw veg with super savory spicy pasty dipping sauces, crunchy herb salads on everything, 

Grilled pork cheeks - marinated in fish sauce, jeaw sauce.

Nam Prik Goong Siap - spicy shrimp relish with garlic, shallot, chili, lime, fish sauce, palm sugar an and fresh veggies including these tiny little radishes *face holding back tears emoji*

Crispy rice salad & pork - crushed coconut crispy rice tossed with sour pork, mint, chili, saw leaves, lime, ginger, peanuts. Feel like I've had crispier rice salad though.

Fried fish with garden herb salad - whole fish, culantro, cashews, chili, pineapple, ginger, pickled garlic dressing. We love a varied textural experience.

Coconut crab curry - Southern style, house-made curry paste, betel leaf makrut lime. Almost punishingly spicy, but did that stop me? No.

bday things

Momofuku Ssam Bar spread from Goldbelly:

pork shoulder

brown sugar glaze

kimchi

potato rolls

korean red pepper sauce

ginger scallion sauce

pictured but not included:

congee from Ann's recipe

cilantro

scallion

romaine

mint

thai basil

chili crunch from TJ's

fried onions from TJ's

included but not pictured:

jasmine rice

fried rice seasoning sauce

i need a giant bowl

 It is one of my goals to make a big ass serving dish in ceramics.... whenever I can resume that life again.

Look at these GIANT bowls at Raku. 

Can you tell how big they are? Knowing that those are standard chopsticks, you can kind of gauge how freaking deep these troughs are. I mean, I'm going to tell you right now that I ended up taking home a full takeout container's worth of leftovers home even after eating to what felt like bursting to me. Like one of those tall ones that they put the broth into at pho places. It was maybe a little bit shameful, but I was still recovering from a weekend of unrestrained eating.

sammich chart

 So as you can imagine, Chelsea Market is not bustling anymore. That part I'm okay with because I hate crowds. How guilty should I feel for enjoying the relative emptiness and secretly hoping it stays this way forever? That and outdoor dining.

The market has one way traffic now with one entrance and stationed peeps to make sure you don't go backwards. So basically you have to be very efficient... unlike us.

My mission was to get a lobster roll. After the craving suddenly hit when I processed I was standing on Northeast land.

The restrooms are kind of in the middle, so if that's your first stop like it was for us... well you can check out some cheese and ciders right next to the sectioned off hallway, and I think you can still pop into the Asian trinkets store at the top of the stairs, but if you want a lobster roll, you have to exit the building and go back to the main entrance.

Let's be efficient, we said as we began our second pass. Let's get a taco on the way.

This adobada taco on corn tortilla with everything was... so GOOD. 

nonononononono

Wherever I go, I just end up eating Asian food. We walked a couple blocks to NONONO, and I was only slightly hung up on what the name means. Isn't の like one of those parts of speech that connects or fills things? Anyways.

Can I literally get this as a poster for my bedroom?

first order of business

Well the first order of business is really to nap.

BUT THEN. Breakfast bagel sammiches (not pictures).

AND THEN. Sundae Service's new fall flavors.

Yuzu candy apple - super soft yogurt-like texture, smacks you in the face with yuzu, wish it had more apple chunks, but I looooooved how tart it was.

Honey butter chip - super buttery and they even made their own chips for this! but the chip texture becomes soggy naturally, and it was kinda gritty throughout, I'm not the best person to ask because one deliciously rich spoonful was enough for me. [Kenny looks down on me now that he knows ice cream is not my preferred dessert because I get overwhelmed by dairy richness in sweets.]

thursday on a saturday

Do we mix friend groups?

We should mix food groups. With limits probably.

Is there another word that isn't "fusion" though?

living in the past

About to go back to my favorite city to hate but also love because the fucking food. So let's throw it back to the nearly two years ago when I was last there. Can it really have been that long? What are years anymore? Why did I say "from like two years ago" when referring to a video clip from 2015? Where is my life going and why am I wasting away?

Welcome to my daily existential crisis - guaranteed to surface once if not twice a day. My name is Amelia, and this is just what I do now.

Anyways

My favorite dessert thing was a kiwi ice cream sammich from Dominique Ansel while wondering these city streets. Look how cute. Kiwi fuzzes and everything.

no time passes

Have you ever seen a long-ago friend?  One you would have to refrain from running towards and tackling to the ground?  I hadn't seen this girl in nearly two years, but when I finally found her (because of course I got a little lost in NYC), it felt like I had just lunched with her a couple days ago.

I successfully dragged this chick out of her sick bed in NJ because Instagram-able dessert and guilt :)

"When will I ever see you again?!?!?"

So I followed city savvy Joellah to the Spot Dessert Bar, getting there at just the right time because even Sunday nights are busy.

belated nyc food diary

Because we're learning about DNA in biochem.

Apologies in advance for the sideways picks... it seems blogger in Australia insists everything be horizontal.

Chorizo appetizer at Cuban place//first lunch stop when we got to NYC, starving, sweaty, and someone was a little grumpy.  Slightly regretted not getting a whole plantain dish because we couldn't stop stealing glances at the table next to us.  I want Latin food now.

Momofuku Noodle Bar... only took us seventy two thousand hours to find.  Nothing quite like walking around the city at night, lethargic and ready to keel over in hunger just to stuff our faces with a hot soupy dish on a grossly suffocating night.  It's actually funny how often that happens to me (in variations, of course).

mesa grill-more nyc

A small taste of restaurant week.

At Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill.

Complimentary bread.  Corn bread was a little dry, but that's why I saved it for my soup.

Lydia's Cod Fish Cakes
with roasted red pepper-black olive relish + basil sauce

Ann's Grilled Asparagus Chopped Salad
with wild mushrooms, blue cheese, toasted pecans + red chile mustard vinaigrette

My Roasted Tomato Soup
with avocado + cotija

Pan Seared Grouper
with salsa verde + cherry tomato vinaigrette
Typical Bobby Flay move, two sauces, but I love that.  Definitely taking that page from his book.

Mexican Chocolate Pudding
with gingersnap crumble
Heavenly, die, sigh.

city sweets

You would think, upon examination of my pictures, that my diet consists primarily of cake-like desserts.  Given my new found college sweet tooth, this would be true if I had extra body and money to spare.

Instead, I just take pictures.
[a continuation of this]

 3D cupcakes.  Eye candy, but the ratio of frosting to cake would make me terribly sick.

 Baked by Melissa

It's curious how, to certain boys, food can never be considered "cute."  Either way, these have to be undeniably cute.

Paris Baguette

So misleadingly named: the place has such an Asian feel.  Counting down the... years until I can venture back to China for another fancy fruity cake.

Van Leeuwen

From afar, the flavors looked exotic but surprise!, the pictured plants are your typical household pantry dwellers: vanilla and chocolate.  So my beloved ingredients don't grow in bottles on the grocery store shelves?  I often forget.