Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Mike's Cafe',Vietnamese and Chinese Cuisine- Little Rock, Arkansas


           Back in May, my brother and I got invited by a friend to try out a Vietnamese restaurant that you could play pool in. I'm not crazy about pool, but I was hungry and went along, since I like what I had previously tried in other Vietnamese places. The place is very unique; it looks very unassuming on the outside, but inside it has a slightly higher floor, and the bottom level has pool tables a DJ area where they usually bring someone in on the weekends. The place is very relaxing and everyone is very friendly; it's also open until midnight, so there is no rush to leave. I wanted to try something a little different, so I tried the Bun Tom Nuong, a dish with BBQ shrimp, over pasta and vermicelli. (Oh, Mike's doesn't have an official page, but they have a Facebook you can visit.) It was very refreshing and tasted really good; it had vegetables and nuts on it, and the shrimp tasted a little sweet and tangy, which complimented the vegetables pretty well. (I can't recall what the white vegetable stalks are, but if someone knows, feel free to post it!) Anyways, it's a clean and refreshing place, and very airy, so go take a look if you get a chance!

                                                                           













Review on Bangkok Thai Cuisine - Little Rock, Arkansas


          School has started already, but I wanted to finish these while I'm not piled with work yet! I went to Bangkok Thai Cuisine in the River Market about a month before I left to New York.The place doesn't have a website but you can see more info here and here. I'm not really an expert in Vietnamese or Thai food , as I mentioned before, so I wanted to try something different. I ordered something called Tom Kha Gai, a chicken and coconut broth with herbs. The soup was good, it tasted like a citrus type flavor with coconut in it. The meat had coconut flavor in it; and tasted good, but was a little too chewy for my tastes. The soup was served with a box of rice, which had some flavor in it; it wasn't bland which I appreciated, (I forgot how many places I went sold plain rice with no flavor at all in it... it was very bland!) I was pleased with the order, (and I like their bubble tea too!) and will order again.

                                                                             




Monday, August 19, 2013

Cafe Ele - Manhattan, New York


         All right, school is starting tomorrow, and before I get bombarded by work, I thought I could try and organize my last few batches of photos beforehand. Let's talk about my big find. I was meeting a friend in Korea town in Manhattan, and before I left, I Googled shaved ice in Korean and typed it in Yelp. Sure enough loads of shops had them! So I decided if we were to sit down, to go and try one. We decided to go to Ele, a cafe. (Sometimes the place is called Cafe Ele by visitors; they don't have an official website, unfortunately.) Ele was a very narrow cafe, and I was glad there was hardly anyone when we went. I didn't take a photo of the front as the building was going through construction in the front, so you couldn't really see the entrance unless you was walking next to it. I thought of ordering food, but they were a bit on the pricey range; since we weren't that hungry, we just bought a shaved ice, (called bingsoo in Korean,) which was really huge! We got a strawberry flavored one, and it was topped with pocky, fruit, and ice cream, with the shaved ice in the very bottom; it was a little crunchy, but had a lot of flavor in the ice, also thanks to the condiments melted into it. It was pretty good, and the cafe' had a relaxing atmosphere; they let us stay as long as we wanted, (so much in fact, we worried that they forgot about us! We had to go to the counter to get a check and pay, so I guess that's what's expected in this cafe'.) The bingsoo was really nice, and now I think I'll try other shops in the area, to see which other ones I like. XD

                                                                               


                                                                           

Sunday, August 18, 2013

DK Kitchen - Bensonhurst, Brooklyn-NYC


           DK Kitchen was an interesting find for me; I'll share the story. This was towards the end of June, and I wanted to take a break from going to Manhattan all the time. So I looked up where to try some Baked Alaskan cake near Brooklyn, so I wouldn't have to travel a lot. So I find DK Kitchen in Bensonhurst, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. You have to reserve about half an hour in advance for a Baked Alaskan, so I called in and they said we could come whenever we want in the day. You can technically order the dessert while you're in, but you have to wait 30 minutes or so for them to prepare it. I had a seafood dinner with my friend, but the items we got don't seem to be listed on the online menu. We had two appetizers, calamari, and lobster with sweet sauce and mango, (both which were really good!) Lastly,was the Baked Alaskan, which was heavenly! They flame it up at your table, and the toasted meringue reminded me of toasted marshmallows, but with a lot of fruit and ice cream. XD The cake had cherries, strawberries, and kiwi all over it, and I really recommend it! The place was almost empty when we came, so you don't have to wait for lines here, I'm sure. Go visit if you want to try Baked Alaskan in Brooklyn. ^^

                                                                           




                                                                           
                                                                         




Saturday, August 17, 2013

The High Line- New York City


        Hey everyone! I wanted to post some photos I took when I saw the New York High Line. It's a redevelopment park, but I wasn't aware it was finished until I saw it. You can see more information on their website. It was an abandoned railroad bridge for several years until the city decided to make it a park. i think it's a few miles long; the scenery is beautiful, and you can see in the 5th or 6th story of most buildings. A lot of stands and kiosks are in some parts, if you feel like buying something. It's honestly worth a visit.

                                                                         









Wednesday, August 14, 2013

People's Pops- Manhattan, New York


      Back in June, I was exasperated for some Asian shaved ice, which looked far more decorative and fruitier than their American counterparts, (usually.) Since I heard there was a few locations in Manhattan that had them, (but I didn't know exactly where until later), I had my friend use her smart phone and find the nearest shaved ice place it could locate. The nearest was a stall owned by the People's Pops. They are a company known for making handmade popsicles, but I didn't know that either; I just wanted shaved ice. I had a sour cherry that tasted really good, but their version of shaved ice was more similar to sno-cones, which tend to have chunkier ice particles, not the soft and fluffy shaved ice other places have. It wasn't bad at all though, just wasn't what I was looking for. (I did find what I was looking for though, and will post it later!) I went to the location either in East Village or Chelsea Market; it was really late so I wasn't sure what part of town I was in, haha. (I just followed my friend, didn't read street signs, haha.) I haven't had their popsicles yet, but their shaved ice wasn't bad at all; it was pretty cool to watch how the guy literally shaved ice from a huge ice block. (Photos were taken at night so not the best quality~)

                                                                               



                                                                                 
                                                                           

                                       

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Washington Square Park - Manhattan, New York


             After Balthazar, my friend and I went to Washington Square Park. What I thought was interesting was apparently a cemetery was where the park is today. (I didn't know it at the time; we just walked there randomly.) The park has a lot of performers and little events going on, on any given day. When we went, there was a street dancer competition on one side of the park, (it was just finishing up when we arrived, so I couldn't get any photos on time,) a sand artist, and a bubble artist, who made huge bubbles out of rope. I'm pretty sure musical and craft events occur at the park too, where you can participate, but there wasn't any on the day we went. It's a lovely park to lounge around in; below are the photos I did remember to take.~