Finding Beauty in Everyday Life

Monday, October 8, 2012

John's Pizzeria (Bleecker Street)

Coal Fired Brick Oven Pizzeria
278 Bleecker Street
(between 6th Avenue & 7th Avenue)
New York, New York 10014
http://www.johnsbrickovenpizza.com/

What's going to New York without trying their thin crust pizza! This pizza place was recommended by Oliver as one of the best pizza place to try in New York. John's of Bleecker Street Pizzeria is opened since 1929, and not to be confused with another franchise! This pizzeria is located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, where it is known for its artistic atmosphere. As we walk along the neighborhood, there are many small but neat restaurants and wine places. The Washington Square park is also located in Greenwich Village.

The restaurant claims: "No Slices. No Reservations. Cash Only. Dine In or Take Out."

We arrived at the restaurant and found the restaurant very packed. We waited about 20 minutes before we were seated. The decor has a lot of character and there are many pictures of celebrities and hockey players on the walls.

I have heard their most popular pizza is actually plain - tomato sauce and mozzarella. Since I'm not used to just eating plain pizza, we ordered a medium pizza with tomato sauce (6 slices $14.50), mushroom and fresh ground sausage ($3 each for topping). The pizza is made-to-order, and cooked in a coal fire brick oven. I enjoyed the pizza very much! Because its freshly made and nice and crispy. The tomato sauce is absolutely delicious!!! Definitely worth a visit.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.

Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
1501 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
http://www.bubbagump.com/

People always say Bubba Gump is one of those expensive themed restaurants that doesn't taste that good. But I think otherwise. I really like their food. After the first try in Chicago, I have been thinking about Bubba Gump for a long time. Their coconut shrimp is amazing! The best deal is to get the Shrimp Sampler with shrimp four different ways. And the seafood pot was amazing too! Now that we know Bubba Gump is also in NYC Times Square, we are back for another visit!

Strawberry Lemonade

Bubba’s Far Out Dip ($9.29)
Spinach, Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes and Monterey Jack Cheese with homemade Tortilla Chips.

Bourbon Street Mahi Mahi ($19.79)
Charbroiled Cajun spiced Mahi Mahi with Bourbon Sauce and grilled Shrimp, served over Mashed Potatoes.

Shrimper's Net Catch (2/3lb $12.99)
Our best Peel‘n’Eat Shrimp steamed in Beer. Choice of Bubba’s Garlic Spice or Secret Recipe Cajun Spice. We got a half and half mix!! This way is the best!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Guy's American Kitchen and Bar

220 West 44th Street
Between 7th and 8th Ave
New York, NY 10036
http://www.guysamerican.com/

Charles and I have been watching Guy Fieri's Diner, Drive-ins, and Dives on the Food Network for years and absolutely love the show! It was our dream to one day go on the all American road trip and try some of the best food in America. When we were touring NYC in Times Square, we found Guy's restaurant and decide to go in for a try.

The restaurant was very large with a 2-storey woodstone fire roasting many many birds. We were greeted immediately and the wait for a table was considerably short (10 minutes?). The waitress was very friendly, which I was surprised about (I usually find American's have a different sense of 'nice'). We ordered the rotisserie chicken and the cajun chicken pasta. The rotisserie chicken was very flavourful and moist. And the rosemary flavour still rings in your palette. Charles really enjoyed his dish. I was a little disappointed with mine because it wasn't as the name of the dish as described to be blackened chicken... although the flavours of the dish is still good. I'm more impressed with the Baked Alaska dessert. Normally I dislike lemon-ey dessert since I don't like sour things. This Baked Alaska was actually really tasty and cleanses our palette well after a heavy meal.

Rotisserie Roasted Garlic-Rosemary Chicken ($17.50)
Woodstone rotisserie roasted half chicken with garlic, fresh rosemary, lemon sauce and mushrooms. Served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes + seasonal vegetables


Cajun Chicken Alfredo ($22.95) Cajun spiced blackened chicken breast, white wine, sundried tomatoes, fettucinni + creamy parmesan sauce

Baked Alaska ($12)
Lemon sorbet covered with meringue and lightly baked

Friday, October 5, 2012

Buster's Sea Cove (St. Lawrence Market)

We have wanted to come to St. Lawrence market for a few times. Finally we decide to come to get some fish n' chips for lunch. After shopping around in St. Lawrence market, we found the line at Buster's Sea Cove is getting real long even it is only 11:15am! They only take cash. A guy actually come and asks your order while you are in line to speed up the process. Charles ordered the classic Fish n' Chips and I overheard someone talking about crab cakes and ordered that. Personally I like the fish n' chips more, because I find the crab cakes really heavy. Buster's Sea Cove serve the freshest seafood from the market, and cooked as your order. They have many seafood choices you can think of- haddock, cod, salmon, halibut... grilled or fried, served in a bun, with fries or with a salad! They also have large tiger shrimp, octopus, calamaris, as well as clam chowder and lobster roll. I have heard raging reviews on Buster's Sea Cove's lobster roll. They have a huge bottle of tartar sauce, vinegar and ketchup for you. The portion of fries is unbelievably huuuuge. You will definitely be very full and satisfied at the end. Although you may have difficulty finding a seat there because it is CRAZY busy.

Buster's Sea Cove
93 Front St East
Toronto, ON
M5E 1C3
http://bustersseacove.ca/

Fish n Chips (haddock) ($11?)

Crab Cakes with Fries ($12?)

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Smoke's Poutinerie

218 Adelaide St W
Toronto, ON
http://smokespoutinerie.com/Menu.aspx

Monday, May 21, 2012

St. Viateur Bagel

St. Viateur Bagel & Cafe Mont Royal
1127 Mont. Royal East
Montréal, Québec H2J 1X6
http://www.stviateurbagel.com/

We stopped by St. Viateur to pick up some Montreal bagel to bring home. We got the classic sesame bagels for about 80cents each. These bagels smells amazing and tastes really really good. Montreal bagels differs from normal bagels in that they are a bit chewier and have a bit more texture to it. They are also slightly sweeter than normal bagels. Also what sets them apart is that they use traditional fire roast oven to bake these bagels so they are super fresh and tastes different from electric ovens. Like!

The other famous one is Fairmount Bagel, which will need to try for comparison.

Resto La Banquise

Resto La Banquise
994 Rue Rachel Est
Montréal, Québec H2J 2J3
http://labanquise.com/

We came to La Banquise for a quick lunch before heading out of Montreal. La Banquise is a hip little restaurant with lots of cool Montreal beer bottles as decoration. If it wasn't for lunch, we would've order some beer to go with our poutine. First off we were having some high expectations of Montreal poutine, but La Banquise was not disappointing at all! For previous experience with poutine, I was found the dish too salty with fries and gravy and topped with bacon and sausages. But here their poutine was not overly salty at all, and you can taste the individual components very well. Their cheese is the authentic cheese, and it doesn't make the weird squeaky noise! Overall I love the place and there are many options to choose from. Will come back =)

La Petite vie (small $7.90) corn, steak, and onions

La Matty (small $7.90) bacon, green pepper, onions, mushroom

La maison du Macaron

La maison du Macaron
4479 de la Roche (angle Mont-Royal)
Montréal, Québec H2J 3J2
http://www.lamaisondumacaron.com/

This macaron place was discovered purely by accident - as we walk back from lunch to the car. I only bought 3 to try, they are on the pricey side, about $2 each. I got the pistachio (green), coffee (light brown), and salted caramel (dark brown) flavors to try. They are the best macaron I have tried. The flavours are soo intensely rich it feels your mouth for a long aftertaste. Definitely coming back for more when I get a chance. And if time permits, sit down at this beautifully decorated cafe and order some coffee and macaron desserts for the afternoon. YUM!

P.S. They also sell larger macarons!

Schwartz's

Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen
3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard
Montreal, Quebec H2W 1X9
http://www.schwartzsdeli.com/

Schwartz's is a must stop for anyone visiting Montreal. It has a long history making smoked meat since 1928! Be prepared to wait in line for 30 minutes+ to get a seat inside. Also be prepare to squeeze into the tightly spaced seats for a quick service. We ordered Montreal smoked meat sandwiches, fries, pickles, and pop drinks. There is an option for lean or fatty cut for the smoked meat sandwich. I had the lean cut, and a friend had the fatty cut. Next time I would definitely get the fatty cut because the lean cut was on the dry side. There is sooo much meat to bread too, the meat is tender and well seasoned. I might consider to get take out of the smoked meat only for the future.

Montreal smoked meat sandwich ($6.30)