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So... going to NYC, I already had a huge list of places to eat. But everyone we talk to had their own recommendations. So my friends insisted we check out this ice cream place. We went Thursday afternoon.
Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
65 Bayard St.
New York, NY 10013
(212) 608-4170
www.chinatownicecreamfactory.com
Price: $
Obviously from the name... it's located in Chinatown. It's a little ice cream shop with a logo that looks reeeeally similar to Bowser from Super Mario Bros. haha. I hadn't even heard of it. Seriously... one of the best ice creams of our lives.
My friends HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended the Almond Cookie ice cream. They had a bunch of other really unique flavors too. Like pandan! Most people don't even know what that is! Myself included up until about 2 years ago. And durian... ew. haha. I like that they had an "Exotics" section with flavors like chocolate and vanilla and mint chip listed under there. haha.
My fiance got the Almond Cookie & Pandan (2 scoops) $6.99~ Where else can you get these flavors?! And the combo of these 2 was magical. Sooooo freaking amazing. The Almond Cookie was definitely out of this world. And it had large chunks of crushed up cookies in there.
I got Black Sesame (1 scoop) $4.35~ Cuz let's face it.. I've got a bit of an obsession with black sesame. It is LEGIT! So much sesame flavor. Delish!! Just don't eat it on a date cuz you get black sesame all up in your teeth. hahaha.
We went back again Saturday night because he wanted to take his sister there. Loved it! Of course.
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This was one of the first places on my list. I came across some of their dessert pics on Instagram and was like "OMG. I MUST HAVE THIS!"
Spot Dessert Bar
13 St Marks Pl.
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-5670
www.spotdessertbar.com
Price: $$
There are like 2 locations I think. We went to the one in Korea-town. It was in a food court inside an office building or something. A little random... but made me feel like I was back in Asia.
We went up to the counter and they had all these amazing pics up on the menu. They recommended that we get the pick 3 tapas for $23~. Essentially you Buy 2, get 3rd at half price. And on the menu it said that 3 desserts feeds about 2-3 people. Now... where I'm from, "tapas" means small plates, and the portions are usually smaller and meant for sharing. So we didn't think anything of it. Each dessert was freaking FULL SIZE! Unless you have 2-3 hungry teenagers or something, I think 3 of these will easily feed 4-5 people. Whoa.... Challenge ACCEPTED! (Keep in mind, this is only about an hour after we finished up lunch at Madison Square Eats! O.O )
Chocolate Green Tea Lava Cake (warm dark chocolate cake filled with green tea ganache served with green tea ice cream) $9.15~
Had to try this cuz we love lava cakes AND matcha. It was pretty and the inside was ooey gooey. But I expected more matcha flavors in the inside ganache. We didn't taste any at all. It was delicious. But the Chocolate Souffle Cake at Roy's is still the best!
Kabocha Cake (warm Japanese pumpkin served with condensed milk ice cream) $9.15~
We all loved this one. Like a warm pumpkin brownie, rich, moist, and full of flavor. I think it was everyone's favorite.
The Harvest (layers of berries, soft cheesecake, meringue kisses, served with raspberry sorbet and black rose milk tea) $9.15~
We got this one cuz it's such a fun dessert! You take the milk tea and pour it all over the "dirt". And it's in layers, so we kept discovering new flavors as we ate this. The best part was the cheesecake crust on the bottom. So try to scoop up all the layers in one bite. The raspberry sorbet was a bit too tart for me so I left that alone.
We ordered wayyyyy too much. There's no way this is for 2-3 people. We still ate it all... what can I say. We don't waste food! :P OMG. I won't lie, I was hating myself a little after cuz I was hurting. And the overabundance of sugar made my face break out! :( Worth is? I'd still say yes. :P
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I had given up hope that we'd make it out to Levain on this trip cuz it was just so out of the way. But luckily, our plans changed Friday and we went to Upper West Side. So then we HAD to take a detour for Levain.
Levain Bakery
167 West 74th St.
New York, NY, 10023
(212) 874-6080
www.levainbakery.com
Price: $
They make my favorite cookies IN THE WORLD! Yes, in the world. I'm not lying, you have to go try it for yourself. Each one weighs like a pound and have the most perfect texture. :) They usually have a line, but it's TOTALLY worth it!
We got a bunch to take back to Dallas with us.
Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie
Oatmeal Raisin Cookie
Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie
$4~ each
You pop one of these babies in the microwave for a few seconds after a few days and they are still amazing.
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
Ahhh.. I can't believe I've been back from Taiwan for almost a month now. Time flies. Need to do posts.... There's a lot so I tried to categorize them.
We stayed at the Fu-Hau Hotel in Tapei. It's next to Da-an MRT station. Super convenient. And free breakfast every morning.
Hotel Breakfast (All You Can Eat):
Black Sesame & Matcha Milk
Black Sesame Steamed Bun
Breakfast Sandwich place
Bacon Sandwich plus Egg NT$45~
Ham & Egg Pancake NT$30~
A must go for me for breakfast in Taipei. In this little alleyway, the best rice noodles with all sorts of sides. Pig Intestine, pork, tofu, kelp, and more. The best!!
We discovered that 7-Eleven had the best soft serve. Made with milk from Hokkaido. It's magnificent. And 7-Eleven's are EVERYWHERE! We had a lot of these.
One day we decided to go light on the food and just eat a little from place to place. I took him to this gua bao place by my grandma's. Their gua baos are huge, one is enough to sustain you.
Loaded with fatty pork and lean pork, and a bunch of other stuff. The buns are steamed to perfection and holds everything together so well. He loved it. After we finished the owner lady actually ran out after us to ask how he liked it. And she told us they had been in business for almost 60 years now, spanning 3 generations! We wanted to go back again, but didn't have time. :(
I got hungry while shopping in the underground shopping street (under Sogo), and got some potstickers. (From left to right) Curry, Original, Korean Spicy. All very good. I think the curry was my fav.
Traditional Taiwanese Breakfast: Rice Balls! Stuffed with all different types of things but generally a Chinese donut (yo-tiao), some shredded dried pork, pickled veggies, maybe an egg. Deeeee-licious! And it's grab and go food!
I finally tried Mos Burger. My sister's bf wanted to try it too. And a friend of mine is so shocked that I've never had one. There's just so much other stuff to try when we're in Asia, I never got around to it. So on the way to lunch, we bought one to share among 4 people. The one with the rice buns of course!!
We got the beef patty one with rice buns, lettuce, onions, an egg, and some sort of sauce. NT$105~
And we had them cut it in half and wrap it separately. For a fast food place, it wasn't so fast... I think we waited about 10 minutes to get this burger. And it's so pricey! I can get cheaper and better at McDonald's. I didn't care for it at all. The rice bun was soft, the patty was soft, everything was one texture. The flavor was ok. But totally didn't get the hype. At least I can say I've had it now!
We went to the Taipei Zoo one afternoon, and they had a McDonald's inside. Of course... Mickey D's are everywhere! They had a tea flavored McFlurry. So when you eat it with the soft serve, it's like milk tea. Pretty pretty awesome!
After the zoo we went to ride the Maokong Gondola to go up the mountain. It was sunset and soooo beautiful. The sun made the whole city look like it's on fire! At the top of the mountain there were some street food so we got a snack. It was about a 30 minute ride up so we got hungry. haha. The guys got to try Stinky Tofu for the first time!
Needless to say, they hated it. It smells like the name, it's pretty dang stinky. And it's an acquired taste. You either love it or hate it. And if you love it, once you start eating, you don't smell it anymore. And if you hate it... well... stop eating then!
We also got some interesting Green Onion Pancakes.
Black Sesame Ice Cream in one of the mall food courts. It was super black sesame-y. Love it!
Gotta hit up the night markets at least a few times right? :P
This wasn't technically a "night market" but XiMenDing has a ton of street food, shops, vendors, and performers. It's where all the young people go. Good for people watching!
Yilan Onion Pie. These small pan fried things filled with green onions and soup. HOT soup... be careful when eating! And assume a squatting stance so it doesn't get on your shoes!!
Fried Chicken. We got one regular and one spicy. Also got fried squid!
Black Sesame Milk Tea. Noms!
Super Matcha Latte! Good but this place, Tsujiri, was soooooo expensive. I could've gotten 4-5 pearl milk teas for this one drink!
The last morning, at the Taipei airport, I got some breakfast as a last hurrah. Congee with pork, thousand year egg, chinese donut, and green onions. Huge bowl! The 2 of us shared it and it was more than enough. And really really good. :)
~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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