Food Pic of the Week

Brought to you by Bait and Hook ( *** ). For our Sunday Funday, the husband and I hit up this spot, which is in the E. Village. I’ve passed this place plenty of times, but it always was super pack and loud as hell. Folks know that I love seafood. Also, the restaurant has happy hour EVERYDAMNDAY!!!! The happy hour includes $5-6 well drinks/beer and various food items like $1 oysters, $3 fish tacos, and some other stuff. 

Half dozen oysters – my fav

Kung Pao Calamari

Normally, I do not like too many adaptations to calamari, but this dish was amazing. I wish that we ordered two. 

Happy Good Friday, y’all

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Food Pic of the Week

Still trying to get back into my blogging groove. 

Tomino Taberna Gallega

192 Grand Street, NY, NY 

Actually, I do not have any food pics for this week so I guess that I will go back to last week. The bf husband and I hit up Tomino Taberna Gallega for some northern Spanish bites. Honestly, this place can do no wrong in my book. The food (according to the husband and his crew of Spaniards) is pretty authentic and reasonably priced. Plus, they have a wonderful happy hour and make delicious gin cocktails. It’s funny that everyone says how popular gin is in Spain but I could not find a decent gin cocktail the two times that I visited. Oh, I remember. They do not really do gin n soda over there; it’s all about gin and tonic. Try ordering agua con gas (soda water) over there, and they’ll look at you like you have 10 heads. 

It’s not a Spanish excursion without a Spanish tortilla. BTW, I love the runny egg tortillas. 

Although this was a gin and tonic, the tonic water was not super sweet and not taste like musty water. 

I wanted to post a pic of the cod empanadas with an AMAZING carrot puree, but WordPress is being picky. With my mind constantly in the gutter, I love messing with the pronunciation of the Spanish word for carrot. It’s zanahoria, but I screw with the husband by saying zanaHORIA with extra emphasis on the (w)horia . . . even though you are not supposed to pronounce the “h” or hache in Spanish. 

Random recommendation: If you are visiting this place, try to commute from West to East. Going East to West, you will hit a couple of smelly fish markets on the way. The few times that I’ve been here, I had to wait a couple of minutes for my appetite to return. 

Food Pic of the Week

Although I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day . . . AT ALL. 

The Bu made a delicious chocolate cheesecake dessert. Now, I kind of want another slice. 

 

Have a kick-ass weekend. 

Food Pic of the Week

Cantina Taqueria and Tequila Bar

Yesterday, I accidentally fasted for 21 hours instead of my normal 16 hours, but I did not really notice until I left the office at 8:30 pm.

After work, I dropped by Cantina. This is the first restaurant the BF and I visited after moving into our apt.

Although I had not eaten for 21 hrs, I was not super hungry, I only wanted an adult beverage, to be perfectly honest. I decided to go with the nacho appetizer with chorizo (for an extra 3 bucks) and a frozen beverage. Overall, the nachos were a delicious gooey mess, and the amount of guacamole was quite generous. I was expecting a little, struggling side container of guac. I was a little disappointed that the cheese was a velveeta esque cheese because I was expecting REAL cheese from a Mexicanish restaurant.

How can you drink a frozen drink during a polar vortex? Ummmm, I’m not drinking it outside … duh.

At first, I was disappointed with the size of the beverage for the price of $14, but the Rum Punch definitely packed a punch (no pun).

Random:

I was bitching to the BF about the loudness of 90% of the restaurants/bars in this area of Harlem. He brought up a good point. The bars are super loud to keep talking to a minimum, making you drink more. That could be true. Yesterday’s visit to Cantina was an example of this logic. I really wanted to buy another drink but I was getting annoyed that the person sitting next to me couldn’t hear me. Oh well, I guess that I saved another $14.  Hey, that is almost the cost of a pack of cigarettes in NYC. Since I’m approaching 40, I typically leave after one drink in loud ass restaurant/bars. An exception – when I’m at a club/lounge-type of place because I’m expecting it to be loud as hell. (Not so) quiet as it’s kept, I’m usually the loudest motherfucker in a place.

Random Thursday Thoughts

-The United NYC Half Marathon course has been updated. No annoying hills in the northern part of Central Park. 

-Did you know that Times Square is closed to normal traffic only two times a year? One for the ball drop. The second for the NYC Half-Marathon. 

-Is it me or are students more aloof and delusional these days?

-Since this polar vortex or whatever it’s called is hitting 2/3rds of the U.S., I was wondering how cold is too cold for running.

-I do not understand when standing in a line with 5+ people why people never have their money, debit, or credit cards ready once they arrive at the cashier. You’ve been in this line for over 15 minutes and the thought of paying never occurred to you?

-iTunes should offer refunds. I purchased Thalia’s latest album. I bought it mainly because I follow her on Instagram and constantly hear parts of the first three songs that were released. I purchased the album and was very disappointed. Those are the only good three songs. C’mon, girl. . . do better. 

-Continuing with that story. The BF wanted to rent a movie from iTunes. I straight up told him “Since I wasted money on this damn Thalia album, I am not giving iTunes another red cent over the next 24 hours!!!”

-Yum. The BF made an empanada gallega.

-Fyre Fraud: This meme made my day. 

 

Enough randomness, I gotta put on 80 million layers so I can go to the gym. Right now, my weather app says that it’s 4 fuckin’ degrees . . . Fahrenheit. 

Food Pic of the Week – Ethiopian

This week the BF and I decided to explore Harlem even though we have been living here for a little more than a year. Normally, I like checking out many different new places in an area and line up a few regular spots. But for some reason, I found my local watering bar within two weeks of moving to the neighborhood, and that’s my main go to. Unfortunately, the restaurant/bar will be undergoing “renovations” for the next couple of month. Many times, “renovations” mean the owner is striping the place so he/she can sell it. But we’ll see. 

We decided on Ethiopian food and visited, Abyssinia Ethiopian Restaurant – 135th and Fredrick Douglas Blvd. I was very pleased with the food.

A nice platter for two. 

Of course one cannot forget a nice (actually, I do not know if it was a nice bottle) of wine. 

Yeah, we tore that shit up, and there was so much leftover food. This is the first time that my hunger was fully satisfied with Ethiopian food. 

I’m a little mad with the server because I specifically asked her to pack the chicken bone in the doggie bag. I was going to make a stew. 😉

Food Pic of the Week (FPOTW)

It has been a while since I’ve posted an FPOTW. For some reason, I just have not been able to get into my WordPress groove . . . much like my diet plan. 

Tacuba Hell’s Kitchen ( *** )

The restaurant is a kind of bougie-style, slightly upscale Mexican joint. This was my second time visiting the restaurant. For my first visit, I really had to pee so I bought a margarita, which was delicious. Normally, if I have to use a business’ restroom, I will order an item . . . it’s just polite. This was my first time eating at Tacuba. Although the food was good, it was a bit pricey because I have eaten better Mexican food for half the price. In NYC, you pay for a restaurant’s rent, not for the food. 

Carnitas

I was playing around the small ass tortillas. Then again, I do have large hands. 

Some drink served in a pineapple

My roommate from grad school and I shared this $24 “adult” pineapple beverage. It seems as it was a $24 thing of pineapple juice. I believe that there are grilled pineapples in there somewhere . . . maybe that’s why it was so pricey. 

All in all, it was an ooooook place that I would visit once in a blue moon. I would not mind getting happy hour drinks, then going someplace else for food. I tend to visit more hole in the wall type Mexican restaurants because the food is cheaper and you get more bang for your buck