It's difficult to find something more affordable than doubles from the Trini Paki Cart. I actually had it maybe a month or two ago and I can't even remember the price, but I think it was $2. It's really a simple thing. You get two pieces of flat breads and you spread some chick peas in the middle of the bread, and you get this really delicious carb-y sandwich kinda thing. Even though it might look like a sandwich, you'd be wise to eat this delicious thing with a fork because it gets a little messy if you tried to pick it up. They even add some hot sauce on there if you want an extra kick, and it makes a difference for sure. If you don't know where to find the Trini Paki Cart, it's on 6th ave and 43rd street, on the south east corner of the intersection.... [Continue reading]
Did y'all catch the article last week by Eric Asimov about the state of being a critic? I think if there's one thing to note about the state of restaurant criticism, I think it's very safe to say that big publishers have won out. Most of us that visit sites like Yelp just look at the star rating to make sure it's not below three stars and to see the address. Sure there's sites that carry the latest news and openings and other sites that let you order online or check the menu, but those do not take away from major reviews. Then with Google buying Zagat, all that's going to do is dilute the usefulness of a site like Yelp because all most users want is contact info about the restaurant anyway. As for bloggers? Most bloggers I know are blogging less and less, and the ones that make a living out of this do recipe blogs and cookbooks. We could say that a blog like immaculate infatuation has made it, but they're just one blog out of an infinite number of blogs that have tried restaurant review blogs. So what's a little guy in the game supposed to do? We just do what most of us did in high school, which is go to places that the cool kids are going to. Midtown Lunch and Serious Eats - New York went to Cafe China recently and I knew what I had to do. Follow the cool kids to Cafe China and hope to get some traction when people search for this new-ish Sichuan restaurant in Midtown. See what I did there? Keywords baby. Still can't beat the big guys.... [Continue reading]
Usually by mid-December, I'm already knee deep in fantasy basketball. Usually it consumes my life the way that some people are consumed by things like work, family, or relationships. Seriously, can anyone think of a better way to spend time? I sure couldn't. But since the NBA decided to have a lockout, the fantasy basketball season is just getting underway. With fantasy basketball or any fantasy sports in general, the best way to win is the have no one on your team get injured. This is often difficult to control. The next thing is to hope that you get someone on your team that's underrated by everyone else. If you find good value, you'll do well. Essentially you want to pleasantly surprised by a gem, that way you come out on top. This idea works well in dining as well. Finding an underrated gem really makes you feel good. It's hard to call The Bar Room at The Modern as underrated because its main dining room has been ranked by the Michelin Guide and by The New York Times. But I feel like this place doesn't come up that often when people talk about nicer sit-down places in Midtown.... [Continue reading]
Did y'all catch the whole SAT cheating scandal recently? Apparently some kids got busted for taking tests for other students. What's the problem here? It's just kids taking advantage of what they got. The test taker was utilizing his skills and those who paid him were utilizing disposal income. It's a win-win situation, especially since the SATs is a completely poor indicator of student performance and human being life performance. Taking advantage of what's available is exactly what everyone should do. It's easy to take a hole-in-the-wall Chinese take-out restaurant in Times Square for granted. How many restaurants in the heart of Midtown is actually good? Obviously more than a few if you follow Midtown Lunch, but it's also a wasteland full of Olive Gardens and shitty pizza fit for Palin and Trump. Well, taking advantage of what's in front of me is exactly what I did this week. Pearl's is a completely random looking restaurant that looks like nothing much on the outside, but they sling a decent version of one of my favorite lunch take-out item: double cooked pork belly.... [Continue reading]
Leon Bakery is a Mexican bakery on 9th ave in Midtown that does tamales for lunch. These things are pretty wicked since they only cost $1.50 a piece. Apparently that's a slight price increase from what it was before, but it's still quite affordable. The shop is new looking since they underwent a renovation recently and everything looks super clean in there. There's an array of baked goods in there, but since I was there only for savory food, the tamales were the thing that caught my attention. They have two kinds, cheese and chicken. I'm not an expert on Mexican food but I liked these tamales, and from what I could tell, they were fairly fresh.... [Continue reading]
A new thing that I'm trying to do more of is to assume that things are going to work out for the better. Too often it's easy to get caught up on things... [more]
It's difficult to find something more affordable than doubles from the Trini Paki Cart. I actually had it maybe a month or two ago and I can't even... [more]
Recently I tortured Steph into watching Game of Thrones with me. There's dragon eggs in that show, and I've previously told many of my friends that... [more]
Thirty five point two nine percent. That's how much of my life has passed by based upon a life expectancy of getting to 85-years-old. It certain could... [more]
Did y'all catch the article last week by Eric Asimov about the state of being a critic? I think if there's one thing to note about the state of restaurant... [more]
