Russ & Daughters {New York, NY}

Haha, I laugh over how obsessed my sister and I are with The Best Thing I Ever Ate. We just had to, HAD TO, visit as many of the show's spotlights as we could... even if it meant eating five meals a day, which if our stomachs couldn't handle, were made to handle.  

I love, love, love smoked salmon. It's briny, salty, and delicious. I also love, love, love bagels and it's perfect that they go so well together! Did I mention that I once worked at a bagel shop? Well, I did, and when I worked there I inhaled just about 3 bagels a day. I also gained 3 pounds a day... haha.

The spread of fresh cream cheese and lox was more than I could bare. It was all so gorgeous. We decided finally on an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese and an onion bagel with lox, cream cheese, red onion and capers.


The Gaspe Nova (the lox we chose) was so utterly unctuous. Quite possibly, the most buttery lox I've ever had - so delicious. The bagels were nice and chewy but my favorite was the everything because of the salty kick it had and all of the delicious flavor. Mmm I love bagels and lox - I should have been born Jewish.

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Ippudo {New York, NY}

So far, I've tried the "best" ramen of two major cities in the country. Katana-Ya in San Francisco and now, Ippudo in New York. In this battle, East coast is in the lead. BUT, I have yet to try the famed Daikokuya in Los Angeles, so until then, the verdict is out.

I got the special ramen of the night, pictured above. I forget the details but it was topped with garlic toast, which was surprising, in the best way possible. It was perfumed immensely with garlic, which I die for since garlic is what I live for! The broth was rich and velvety and had great flavor.

I most often enjoy my ramen at hole-in-the-walls but surprisingly when I walked into Ipuddo, I was semi-shocked to see a hip, trendy restaurant. I was happy that the ramen delivered in taste and tradition. Everyone else's ramen was thoroughly enjoyed as well, my sister had this spicy one (which I forget the name of now) that she died for.


Since it was my birthday, they also threw in a complimentary dessert; we chose the green tea ice cream with mascarpone. It was a perfect ending to the meal: delicate, light and delicious. I love anything green tea so it won me over just with its name.

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Shake Shack {New York, NY}

SHAKE shack! SHAKE shack! SHAKE shack!

It's hard for a native Californian to open her heart and allow it to love another burger when memories and history have dictated a deep connection and love to In & Out. Sometimes I think, even if some foods are better than what you know, the connection you have to certain foods outweigh their actual taste. 

Despite my love of In & Out, I still enjoyed Shake Shack's cheeseburger immensely. My favorite part of the burger was that they used fresh, thicker-cut, tangy pickles rather than those soggy, thin pickles of most fast food joints. The patty was moist and thicker than In & Out's but I still enjoy In & Out's toasted sesame bun over Shake Shack's. 

The french fries, though, were awesome. Crinkle cut, which kind of reminds me of those good old days when I used to buy OreIda frozen French fries, but of course, these are much better. 

Shake Shack is also famous for their concretes, which to me are just thicker versions of milk shakes with add-ins. The chocolate-peanut butter, above, was delicious but... extremely, extremely decadent. I suggest splitting it with AT LEAST one person, but probably three would be optimal.

The pineapple upside down cake, below, was less decadent so perfect when shared among two. It had nice chewy chunks of shortbread, pineapple chunks and maraschino cherries. It was a nice treat after our burgers but nothing special enough to make me get it again next time. 

I don't know about you, but I love adding tons of black pepper into my ketchup! Weird, I know but its delicious and I urge you to try it!

Cross-section of the burger:

So sad - the last bite.

I LOVE eating my ketchup with bunches of black pepper!

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Clinton Street Baking Company {New York, NY}

Clinton Street Baking Company was one of the refreshing surprises of our trip to New York. Although we had heard wonders of their fluffy blueberry pancakes, we didn't expect to have one of the best breakfasts of our lives... OUR LIVES!

AHHHH, look at those fluffy, gorgeous, utterly perfect blueberry pancakes! These were, quite frankly, the best pancakes I've had. But, my ultimate favorite was the maple butter served with them. It was salty, sweet and so good.

My favorite thing though was the brown sugar bacon. See that gorgeous, crispy bacon? Oh my goodness, I need to eat brown sugar bacon everyday for the rest of my life. I'd probably die from a heart attack by the age of 35 but hey, at least I lived right??? Oh and those fried green tomatoes in the center were quite spectacular as well.

Now, I personally, for some odd reason, don't really like egg scrambles but, my friends thoroughly enjoyed the chorizo scramble pictured above. The flavors were really great and I must admit, the chorizo was pretty fabulous! Plus, the potato side dish they served with it was like velvet and so comforting.

MMMM bacon.

Close up of the scramble:

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Grimaldi's {Brooklyn, NY}

Ah, that perfect slice of NY pizza - it's something that has eluded me all my life. There was not a shortage of good words for Grimaldi's pizza. After a tedious and tiresome five hour flight, a trip to Grimaldi's was well deserved for our first night in New York. 

Even though everyone told me to just try the 'Plain Pie' I couldn't help myself from trying the delicious sounding 'White Pie' listed in their menu. We added sausage and it was delicious! Crispy, slightly chewy, charred thin crusts are my favorite and Grimaldi's has got it down perfectly. Topped with gooey cheese, fresh basil and gorgeous olive oil. It was beyond words...

But... I don't think anything could top the beauty and perfection that is the 'Plain Pie.' Simply dressed with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil it was magical. Simple, yet so satisfying. Oh geez, I still dream about it!

Look at that cheese!!!

Plain Pie FTW!

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Boiling Point {Hacienda Heights}

I love hot pots. There's Vietnamese hot pot, Japanese shabu shabu, and this, well this is Taiwanese hot pot and it's so freaking delicious!

Taiwanese hot pot is different than any other hot pot I've ever had. Most hot pots are light, simple, fulfilling. This hot pot was full of all types of delicious things, had tons of flavor and is served with the most delicious sauces I've ever had!

Above is the fermented bean sauce, on the left, and the garlic sauce, on the right. There was also a SUPER spicy sauce which is not pictured because even the picture would send fury and heat down your throat - that's how hot it was!

The lunch special comes with a free drink - I chose the green tea which was super refreshing and cute served in these little mason jar-ish cups.

See, inside the hot pot, there's all kinds of things: pickled greens, a raw egg, bean curd skin, glass noodles, lamb, fish balls and more to boot! 

I like to stir the egg in so that it gets all throughout the broth. Mmmmmm mmm mmmm!!!

Gosh I really love this on a cold, winter day!

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Class 302 {Rowland Heights}

After seeing this, I stopped to manually use my hands to close my jaw. I was in pure shock. It was something so beautiful, so foreign, so WEIRD!

It's shaved snow is what it is! No, it is not shaved ice, not at all. It's something completely different and completely more delicious. The most fabulous part about this shaved snow is that the ice itself is flavored. Today, we chose the green tea/ matcha ice which they use a special machine to shave off super thin sheets of ice. 

Topped with sweetened red beans, condensed milk and huge chunks of chewy rice cakes, it could not have been a more perfect treat. Mind you, we even ate this huge pile of ice on one of the colder days of Winter and enjoyed it immensely despite the teeth chattering. 

The texture is so enjoyable and odd at the same time! The whole time when eating it, my friends and I couldn't stop commenting on how odd the look of the ice was but how delicious it was all the same! It's basically fun and delicious - two good things when talking about food.

Best treat ever!

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!

Look at those layers upon layers of ice!!

Mmmm chewy rice cakes!

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New York, New York!

Hello! I'm back from New York and I can't wait to tell you all of my delicious adventures!

I'll be posting a new 'New York' entry in the Eating Out page, so be sure to check it out if you are ever in need of some great, spectacular, mind-blowing and utterly indulgent eats!

But for now, here are some of my favorite photos from the trip, enjoy!

One of my first photos after landing in the glorious New York!

We stayed in Brooklyn and the view of Manhattan was amazing!!

Oh how I just love long exposures - the water and sky almost look creamy!

Instead of staying at a hotel, we rented a super cute studio apartment through Air BnB. This was the sunrise as seen from the roof.

My favorite part about the apartment was the rooftop access! These steps to me, personify everything I know about living in the city.

Of course, what is New York without its subway? We bought unlimited weekly passes and sure used the heck out of them! Everyday our feet were pulsating from the pain of walking millions of miles a day - but it was worth it!

Our home subway stop - Parkside!!

Central Park was gorgeous and I expected no less. We were told it would be raining and stormy - this photo begs to differ.

My ultimate favorite thing about the city though, if not the food, are the trees and not just the ones in the park. There's foilage EVERYWHERE and the trees are so unique - ones I've never seen in California. They just filter the light so perfectly.

THE MET! Thoroughly felt like a socialite from Gossip Girl while taking photos on the steps! Me (on the left) with my sister (on the right).

All of the art at the MET was fantastic - from Van Gogh to Magritte to Dali. There was even a temple from Egypt! I could have stayed there the entire day and not have looked at everything there was to see. One of my favorite exhibits though was the Big Bambu exhibit - it was interesting and incredibly gorgeous.

The Guggenheim is another museum must see, if only for the structure alone. To me, it's The Getty of the east side - both with the most beautiful architecture housing tons of great art. 

Good eats! I think the primary goal of this whole trip was to eat New York, literally. We ended up eating at 20+ places in a matter of 5 days - which is insane. I feel so bloated haha, but it was truly worth it!

Fall! My favorite season although it wasn't really Fall weather in the city as it was still quite sunny and warm. Nice though that I got to see some leaves turn their color at least.

Grand Central Station is just one of those places where you can feel the history. It was vast and filled with hustle and bustle.

See! Beautiful trees EVERYWHERE!

If you love Italian food, you have to check out Eataly - the creation of Mario Batali, Joe Bastianich, Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Oscar Farinetti. It's filled with all kinds of imported and authentic Italian goods, handmade pastas, dried meats and cheeses galore!

I heart & pretzel New York!!

I heart New York trees!

Chinatown/ Little Italy! It's funny because in San Francisco, they're right next to each other too and they're so similar in all major cities. Although, I must say, New York's Chinatown sure did have a nicer selection of goods :)

Last and final museum visit: The National History Museum, which was probably my favorite of all three. It appealed to the inner geek and science lover in me.

Deep sea creatures are probably the MOST interesting things on the planet to me, probably because we almost know nothing about them!

We like to take pictures, lots of them.

Me, in Bryant Park, which is a lot smaller than I thought it would be, but also, a lot more beautiful then I thought it would be! It's the perfect place to take a midday break and enjoy a bit of quiet in the midst of the busy city.

Times Square! I actually didn't see much of it but it in the minute I was walking through it, I was amazed by how many people could be in such a small space.

The last night - bittersweet, but maybe just a bit more bitter. Having dinner at the famous 63rd and 5th Halal Cart near Radio City and watching the people move past me.