Food Comic Monday: Food. Food. Food!

Crawdaddy's: I Ate a Reptile!

I will be honest, I have never, ever had cajun cuisine in my life. I know. I suck. Thankfully, the people of West Chester PA seem to be fond of this type of cuisine, and I had a pick between High Street Cafe or Crawdaddy's. Alas, High Street Cafe was all booked, so off to Crawdaddy's it was!

The interior seemed more like a log cabin, rather then being in the streets of New Orleans. Almost depressing? 

 Mint Julep

Extra long straw. It was awkward.

Price: $9.00

 Complimentary Bread

Mini wheat bread topped with cajun spices. Nothing special, but something to nibble on if your stomach wants to eat itself.

Blackened Alligator

Thinly sliced alligator topped with honey mustard. This tasted like cheese steak. Minus the roll. It was a little on the greasy side, and a bit overcooked, but over all pretty satisfying. Would I get it again? Meh, probably not.

Price: $10.00

 Crawfish Etouffee

Etouffee means to be smothered in liquid. This was made of a roux of onion, peppers, and scallions. Pretty tasty, and came in a gigantic portion. Definitely large enough to split between two people. Just a tad bit spicy, but still a complete comfort food. The flavors really popped in this and the rice soaked up all the sauce perfectly.

Price: $19.00

Voodoo Crawfish

XXX Spicy BBQ sauce served over rice and a side of sour cream. Hot, hot, hot! Now I know why they give you the side of sour cream! Other then the heat, the sauce was almost gelatinous, slightly sweet, and pretty tasty. My only gripe is that crawfish are just shrimp with smaller bodies, why such hype??

Price: $10.00

Verdict: Egh, Louisiana, you were just okay. Maybe another restaurant will do you better justice.

Keste: Best Pizza of My Life ( in America that is...)

Neapolitan Pizza places are popping up around the city faster than you can say bedbugs! But my go-to "lets impress the family" pizza will always be Keste. On a lazy afternoon, I headed to the West Village to grab a delicious bite with a friend for lunch.

Funghi

This was made with fresh mozzeralla, basil, tomatoes and of course, mushrooms. The sauce tasted like someone just crushed fresh tomato's over it. It was light, delicate and just the right amount. Every component of the pizza was perfect, but the one thing about this place that puts the other pizza places to shame is their dough. It is spectacularly chewy, airy, and perfectly charred. A little bite of heaven. For carb-ophobic freaks out there: To not eat the crust is a complete and utter sin! I was watching some skinny bitch at the table next to me cut off all her crust. I had the urge to pick it off her plate and eat it all for myself. ( Wow, that sounded really fat).

Price: $ 14.00

Verdict: If you are in New York, living, planning, or even teleporting here. You  must stop and try the pizza! On the weekday's they serve sandwiches made from the dough and gluten free pizza's on Monday and Tuesdays!

Keste

271 Bleeker Street

New York, NY 10014

http://kestepizzeria.com/

Paris Baguette: Asian Pastries Are Freaking Awesome

Paris Baguette. They aren't French, and they definitely do not sell the best baguettes, but they are conveniently located 1 block from my office and filled with tasty pastry treats.

 Cheese Croissant

Flaky chewy croissant with a slice of American cheese in the center. Basically, a fat kids grilled cheese. I suggest if you do get this one, throw it in the toaster to melt the cheese more. The cheese was a bit rubbery, but still tasty.

Price: $1.70

 Red Bean Squares

Basically mini croissants sandwiching red bean paste. Tasty, and sounds like exactly what is in it. Nothing special, I probably wouldn't get this again.

Price: $ 1.70

Cream Cheese Stuffed Bread

Holy Shit. 

Get this.

 Warm fluffy bagel shaped bread topped with toasted almond slices. Inside? Sweet creamy cream cheese. Freaking awesome.

Price: $2.00

Matcha Green Tea Bread with Sweet Potato Filling

The sweet potato was a little too sweet, but still pretty good. Nothing I would hunt down again.

Price: $1.80

Strawberry Spongecake

No, this isn't all for me! I got the awesome job of picking out a co-workers birthday cake.

It came with a super cute cake slicer and matches!

Pineapple slices stuffed inside. Light and spongy, almost guilt free cake! The perfect portion for 8 people (or 2?)

Price: $22.00

Verdict:  Trial and error hear, but go for your gut feeling (aka, what pastries make you salivate at first glance) and you won't be disappointed!

Paris Baguette

various locations

Food Comic Monday: M & M's

Pasticceria Rocco: Honey I Blew up the Cookies!!

Walking around the West Village again, I spotted a crap load of tourists outside a pastry store listening to some tour guide. As she rambled on about the store, my gaze turned toward the giant cookies on display at the window. I shoved past the crowd of people to investigate.

I would eat every last crumb of eat cake and lick my fingers with delight afterwards. Which makes me wonder...how many cakes does one eat in a life time? I think I'm already up to 70, possibly even 100....

Somebody was going cookie crazy in front of me at the counter, they were the size of a boob, maybe a 34B?

Rocky Road Cookie

Holy moley did they get the ratio of chocolate chips to cookie down right! Folded in between were pieces of melted marshmallows lending a chewy bite. Chocolatey and even a bit of a coffee aftertaste. A solid rocky road cookie.

Almond Lover Cookie

This was not for lovers, it was for crazy almond stalkers who carry viles of almond oil around their necks! Literally all almonds, the only thing holding the cookie together was the minimal amount of cookie dough. The healthy drizzle of dark chocolate was a perfect topper. Amazing.

Price: $3.00 per cookie

Verdict: Satisfying cookies, and an endless array of other sweets. They have seating too if you want to relax and get coffee or espresso.

Renaissance Time Square Hote, RLoungel: Free Food and Drinks? Where Do I Sign Up?!

A couple of weeks ago, my former boss Ana invited me and the rest of the crew to a free happy hour at R Lounge in Renaissance Hotel. Free? Food? Liquor? FREE?! I was totally in.

*just a note, I forgot to write down the prices and name descriptions, so all of these are just educated estimates. Their website isn't up yet with the menu.

Strawberry Alcoholic Concoction

Acai Martini

I got this... and boy was this filled with alcohol. If you really want to get hammered and crunk with Britney ( for those of you who know what I'm talkin about) then just 2 of these babies will do the trick. I couldn't even finish my one drink! 

Price: $10.00

Queso Dip

Nice, cheesy, gooey dip, freshly fried torilla chips hit the spot and pairs perfectly with beer.

Price: $ 8.00

Calamari

The marinara sauce was the kind that I would totally want to pour over pasta. Light, not too sweet and not too sour. The calamari were chewy, and a nice size.

Price: $10.00

Beef Sliders

Rock Shrimp

Okay, so 2 of us at the table ordered the shrimp. I only got 4 shrimp, and they got 5!! I totally felt ripped off. Granted, they did just open, so maybe they are working out the kinks in the kitchen. But still for the money, I hope everyone eventually get 5 shrimp. This came with a side of mayo and cocktail sauce. For what it's worth, the shrimp were huge.

Price: $10.00

Hummus Toast

A little too excited, someone already took a piece before I could take the picture

Pork Chips

This was deep fried and topped with cheese and spices. Like a rich mans pork rinds.

Price: $8.00

Pulled Pork Sliders

Chicken Wings

4 hole chicken wings. Too much breading, not enough meat! The breading was also tasteless, but the honey helped.

Price: $8.00

Pigging out, a girls other favorite hobby other then shopping.

Fried Peas

Tempura battered, with a side of mayo (??) Now eating vegetables can be yummy!

Price: $6.00

Chicken Burgers

My first touristy picture, ever. Not a bad view at all.

My former co-workers! Aww, I miss them.  From left: Aaron, Janelle, Me, Priscilla, Giselle, Ana, Donna, Carly, Cherry, and Kristina

The Lobby

Hanging testicles, and ass shaped pillars. I guess all the sexual innuendos are supposed to help you get laid ( with the help of that acai drink!) 

Verdict: I normally would never suggest voluntarily going to Times Square, but if you happen to be in the area and are in desperate need of a drink, snack, and hanging balls, this is the place to go. The view is amazing and not too crowded when I went on a Thursday night. There was a DJ there, but he kind of sucked so maybe they fired him, or hopefully he picks better songs. 

The R Lounge at Renaissance Hotel

714 Seventh Ave

New York, NY 10036

http://www.rloungetimessquare.com/