Besotted with Boutique Eat Shop

Boutique Eat Shop has been on our 'must try' list since we've moved to Chelsea. When a voucher for a dinner for two with drinks came up on Travel Zoo's deals, I snatched it up for a special date night treat. The Mr has been working a lot recently, so it was time to cash in our coupon and spend a quality evening together.

I was super tempted by the Pumpkin Martini, but it sounded like dessert. Instead, we started our meal with The Spicy Mango (Maker's Mark, mango puree, chili powder, tobasco) and the Mexican Cider (Don Julio Blanco, fresh squeezed apple cider, fresh lemon juice, ground cinnamon). Delicious!

The Spicy Mango & Mexican Cider 

Eating like family at Kunjip

After some shopping in midtown, we had worked up quite an appetite so we headed over to K-Town for our evening meal. Kunjip came highly recommended to us by a friend who described it as the type of food your Korean Mom would make. This sounded tempting so we got in line- and yes, it is an actual line instead of a wait list. This place was bustling- everyone was zipping around like mad, which seemed kind of dangerous given there were portable trays of fire cooking food placed hapharzardly around. But they obviously knew what they were doing and the place was running like a well oiled machine.

Finally we were seated and ordered our OB Beers and way too much food. The banchan arrived at our table right away which was perfect because we were starving. We dug in immediately- sooooo good!

OB Beers & Banchan

Over the Falls for Burger & Barrel

We've heard soooo much about the famous truffle burger at Burger & Barrel that we made a beeline there to try it out shortly after moving to NYC. Unfortunately, when we arrived we were told that it is only a seasonal dish. So when we heard that truffle season is back, you better believe we found ourselves back in SoHo lickety split.

To whet our burger appetite we got an order of the Kobe Sliders. Delicious. Of course, if you are going to have "Burger" in your establishment's name, you better to do that thing very well. So far, our expectations have been met.

Kobe Sliders

I Can Cook: Football Snacks

We had some friends over to watch a Texas football game and I took this as an opportunity to try out some healthier recipes of some of my favorite snacks. 

There was the basic tortilla chips with guacamole and salsa (neither of which I made). Then there were the ruffle potato chips and what was supposed to be onion dip, but was out of Lipton onion soup mix, so made ranch dip instead.

Then came my home made goodies. Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers, Buffalo Chicken Wings with Bleu Cheese, and Potato Skins.

We lost the game, but this spread helped console us.

I Can Cook: Freshocracy Week 3

This week's Freshocracy meals kind of got away from me as I wound up having a busy week. I started out strong with Lebanese Roasted Eggplant, Grass-Fed Beef & Toasted Pine Nuts and a Yogurt Dressed Bibb Lettuce and Black Cherry Tomato Salad. I had tons of it, so served it to my visiting cousin who is half Lebanese and he said "Oh wow, it actually does taste like Lebanese food", so there you have it. Stamp of authenticity and approval.

Lebanese Roasted Egglant

Next on the menu was the Momofuku-Inspired Asian Green and Poached Egg Soup with Hot Bread Kitchen's Fall Apple-Cheddar Focaccia. I made the soup, but without the poached egg since it wound up coming to work with me as lunch instead of dinner. I was completely surprised how tasty the soup was even though there wasn't a lot of seasoning! Since it went straight into Tupperware and didn't have its eggy accompaniment, I decided that it wasn't camera worthy. I decided to save the focaccia for a get together on Thursday- but didn't pay attention to the fact that it clearly said that it needed to be used in 2-3 days. When I got it out to warm it up for my guests my beautiful focaccia was covered in mold.

Again, I foolishly did not put my squid in the freezer as instructed so was missing a key ingredient of the next meal: Sicilian Fresh Tomato and Squid Linguine with a Lemony-Pecorino Arugula Salad. Oh and I served the Lemony-Pecorino Arugula Salad at the afore-mentioned get-together, it was quite a hit. Since I was also making the meal for just me I skipped the provided linguine and served it over carb-free tofu shirataki noodles. Again, such an incredibly simple recipe with few ingredients, but bursting with flavor!

Will have to make sure to check my calendar in the future to make sure I will have the time to give these delicious meals the treatment they deserve- but even with my mess ups, I got some incredible meals out of it.

Shacktoberfest

The Bratburger & Currywurst

Was so excited to hear about Shake Shack's special Shacktoberfest menu that we wasted no time in making it over to Mad Sq Park for a taste. Unfortunately, we were disappointed and were left with remorse that we hadn't just ordered off of their regular menu.

Filling the Albert Hall

Special Appetizer 

Bangers & Mash

Purchased a Prix Fixe Dinner for 2 at Albert Hall Tavern on Living Social that I needed to use up, so invited my Dad for a night out. I thought it was a bit odd that it was paired with a bottle of wine, since to me a Gastropub is a place to drink beer and they have a great selection. But oh well, beggers can't be choosers I suppose. 

Back for the RUBurger

RUB Burger

Frito Pie

OK, so remember a few weeks ago when I said I wasn't sure if we'd go back to Rub BBQ? Well, we did. This time for their special burger that they only make on Monday nights. This burger gets a lot of attention so we were pretty excited.