Dessert @ Big Daddy's.

Following our hummus excursion, we still craved dessert. We wanted something simple, because we weren't that hungry. Diner dessert was thus conveniently located down the block at Big Daddy's.

I got the "She's My Cherry Pie," a la mode. The pie was tasty, but you could definitely tell that it was simple reheated. The crumbs on top were disappointingly soggy, but it still tasted great. The tartness of the cherries contrasted very well with the sweetness of the whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. The portion, here, was also perfect. As seen in some of my previous posts on Big Daddy's, there could be potential for huge portions at this popular New York City eatery.

Mic and Roomie wanted to experiment this time around. They contemplated intensely about what they could do. Waffles and ice cream came to mind. So they ordered a Belgian waffle, which is picture above. The waffle was fresh and fluffy, and Roomie proceeded to slather butter all over the face of the waffle.

The waffle would soon be combined with the "Big Daddy," a sundae of three scoops of ice cream, with marshmallow fluff, hot fudge, Oreo cookies, and whipped cream. They chose to have coffee ice cream. When combined with the warm and buttery waffle, it was sinful bliss. The contrast of warm and cold is always exciting and rewarding for our taste buds.

So we were finally able to sample the dessert at Big Daddy's. Usually, after a huge burger and tots, one could not fathom ordering dessert at Big Daddy's. Luckily, however, we were able to give it a try. As always, we were greatly satisfied.

Price: <3<3<

Taste: <3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3

Opinion: Now, Recommended for Dessert

Big Daddy's

in Upper East Side

1596 2nd Ave. (at 83rd St.)

(212) 717-2020

Hummus Kitchen.

On a surprisingly warm evening in early March, Mic, Volatile, Roomie, and I had a free evening to grab dinner, so we ventured out to further explore our new temporary home of the Upper East Side. We wanted to eat a place that had outdoor seating, so we looked at the various menus outside the restaurants along 2nd Ave. After very contented debate, we all agreed to go to Hummus Kitchen. After all, all four of us are pretty much well-versed in the tasting of hummus and this restaurant also opened up two weeks earlier. It was in need of a taste test!

We first started off with appetizers. This here is the Bureka, a puff pastry stuffed with feta cheese, eggplant, and dry tomato. It was very flaky and fresh with a very moist filling. It was buttery and crunchy. What's not to like, right?

Volatile loves feta cheese and is a vegetarian, so she had to order the Shredded Feta Cheese & Beets. The size of the dish was very disappointing because we all wanted a little bit, but overall, it was fresh and tasty.

Roomie, our resident health nut, got the Super Healthy Salad, a salad of quinoa, apricot, walnuts, and yogurt served on butternut squash. He said that it was really good and consumed it quite quickly.

Lastly, Mic wanted to try the falafels, so she ordered them. These were really good. They were really crisp and fresh and delicious.

For dinner entree, I ordered the Mushroom Hummus, fresh hummus with sauteed mushrooms finished off with olive oil drizzled over the plate. The hummus was warm and fresh, not too salty and combined very well with the spices from the mushrooms. It was nice to eat this, being that it was pretty cool outside.

You can't have hummus without warm pita bread to dip into the hummus. This regular bread was warm and refreshing, but I do believe that they charged us for extra bread. They do get points, however, for it coming to the table fast!

Overall, this was a very simple and healthy dinner. The food was fresh and the service was fast. The outdoor seating was beautiful on the wide street of 2nd Ave. I would say that the best place to have an outdoor restaurant experience would be in this area of the Upper East Side. Unfortunately, with the current construction of the 2nd Ave. Subway line, outdoor seating is no longer present along this stretch of 2nd Ave. In the future, hopefully we could all enjoy outdoor seating in this neighborhood again. For now, we'll just have to enjoy the food on the inside.

Price: <3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3

Opinion: Recommended

Hummus Kitchen

in Upper East Side

1613 2nd Ave. (between 83rd & 84th Streets)

(212) 988-0090

Crumbs Bake Shop.

After a great lunch with Roomie and H at Dallas BBQ, we sauntered up 3rd Ave. and decided to stop at Crumbs Bake Shop to pick up some of the enormous cupcakes that were sitting in their displays.

We each got one cupcake for ourselves. From top left is Fluffernutter, the "Elvis," and Lemon.

These cupcakes were huge. This here is H's Elvis, a vanilla cupcake with banana-flavored frosting and peanut butter chips on top. The amount of frosting on the top of these babies, however, wasn't the only special thing about these cupcakes.

These things even had frosting on the inside! This is my Fluffernutter cupcake, a vanilla cupcake with marshmallow-flavored frosting and white sprinkles on the top. The cupcake itself is very moist and soft, with great vanilla flavor. The frosting itself, however, was a tad too sweet for me and I will probably opt for more tart or less sweet choices in the future.

Overall, the cupcakes were fresh and the variety is vast. It truly is a sweet treat that is so good that only crumbs will be left on your plate after you start eating their cupcakes.

Price: <3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<3<

Atmosphere: N/A

Opinion: Recommended

Dallas BBQ.

Early in Spring of 2009, right when the weather began to warm up and my allergies began to kill me, H, Roomie, and I went down to Dallas BBQ on another lazy Sunday afternoon to grab lunch. I found out that it would not only be the allergy medicine that would place me into a hazy state, but the sheer amount of food, particularly carbs, that I would consume would also place me into food coma.

As seen above on the paper menus/place mats, Dallas BBQ boasted "Texas Specials" and Texas-sized drinks. Being that it was early afternoon, however, H did not want to consume alcohol and instead ordered a Shirley Temple. The sweet and fizzy drink came in this huge glass goblet and the three of us admired it in all of its red and shiny glory. It came with enough maraschino cherries to please any little kid. The drink was fizzy and sweet, ice cold and refreshing. Some would consider it to be overly sweet, but I am a firm believer that Shirley Temples should be very sweet, so I would give this one my stamp of approval.

Both mine and Roomie's meals came with a small bowl of soup, with pieces of chicken, some carrot, and potato. Warm, but overall bland and a little oily, I wouldn't have missed this soup if it did not come with the meal. The chicken was very tender, though.

I got the famous Bar-B-Q Baby Back Ribs with fries and cornbread. The ribs came out drowning in sweet barbeque sauce and the meat falling right off of the bones. I attacked to plate and my hands were soon so sloppy that I did not want to touch anything else. The ribs were pretty good, with the meat just sliding right off the bone. It was not overly salty and was done very well. The fries were nice and crispy on top, but were unfortunately soggy on the bottom because they were sitting in the sauce from the ribs. The cornbread had great taste, but it was terribly dry and I had to use the butter to attempt to add moisture to the bread.

Roomie, in all of his pig out might, ordered the Family Special, which is basically two orders of half chickens. He got one with fries and the other with rice. Both came with cornbread. He first told the waiter to pack the second half to go, and it was brought to our table mid-meal in a paper bag, sitting next to his platter with the other half chicken. He plowed through the first half of the chicken and cleaned the plate. Despite the huge amount of food he just consumed, however, he declared that he was still not satisfied and proceeded to open up the paper bag and eat the other half chicken! He even ate the cornbread from the second meal. He save the rice because he would not consume all of the carbs. He liked it very much, and did not criticize anything, and we can now joke about how Roomie ate a whole bird one day when we went to lunch!

H got the Full Order of the "Hot" Wings. They came out early, clearly freshly made and piping hot in temperature. The smell of hot sauce made me cough, even, as it was placed on the table. I tried one and the hot sauce immediately made me cough. It was totally unexpected, but as I went on to finish the rest of the wing, I was prepared for the heat and prevented myself from coughing anymore. It was fresh, crispy, and such a guilty pleasure.

Overall, my first experience at Dallas BBQ was a good one. I had always heard of the place, but never really thought of going there. I am not usually a big barbeque eater, because it is a little bit on the unhealthy side, so I was glad to try this place out. It was a treat for all of us and I would definitely go back if I want to have some good barbeque food.

Price: <3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3

Opinion: Recommended

Bagel Express.

On a lazy Sunday morning after I left the angelic realm which is that of St. Francis De Salles Catholic Church on 96th and Lexington, I wandered through my new temporary home of the Upper East Side in search of a late post-Mass breakfast. I heard from my new neighbors at the 1760 3rd Ave. Residence that there was a pretty good bagel place out on 2nd Ave. in the 90s. A fresh bagel sounded like the perfect answer to not wanting to go up to my room and cooking breakfast (with all of the post-cooking clean up that is also involved), so I walked on over to Bagel Express.

This place was pretty hard to find because there was heavy construction on 2nd Ave. in February of 2009. Much of this construction has now moved on down the Upper East Side and is now plaguing the 80s. Back then, however, I had to walk over metal street plating and through a construction site to basically get to Bagel Express. It was also cold and extremely windy, so I was very satisfied to finally get into the warm store. Upon entering, your nose encounters the wonderful smell of freshly baked bagels, along with the sour smells of various antipasti and salads. The variety of bagels is vast and there were kinds of bagels they were selling that I've never even seen before. In addition to the bagels, they also sold common breakfast fare, such as the New York-famous Bacon, Egg, and Cheese and other breakfast treats.

I saw that the lox was reasonably priced, so I settled for lox and cream cheese with a little bit of red onion on a toasted everything bagel. After happily ordering, I asked for it to go and brought it back to my warm dorm room to enjoy. The bagel itself was very fresh and soft, with the warmth of the toasted bread helping to melt the cream cheese a little bit, making it smoother. The outside of the bagel was covered all kinds of little goodies: onion, garlic, a little bit of salt, poppy seeds, and a little bit of sesame seeds. After being toasted, the outside of the bagel had a great crunch that pleasantly contrasted with the gooeyness of the filling inside the bagel. A great New York comfort food and a pleasant late breakfast for a quiet and lazy Sunday in the city that would ultimately be spent bumming around the dorm, spending time with Roomie, and studying before turning in. There's nothing like a lazy Sunday in the city.

Overall, Bagel Express is in a great location due to its proximity to the dormitories and its location in a highly residential area. The extremely wide range of bagels that can be purchased here is more than adequate and they are all of very fresh quality. There is a sitting area inside this bagel place if you wish to stay here to eat your bagel, too. The only thing that I can complain about is that they bump their prices up on breakfast items after 11 A.M. Most places don't bump their prices up that early, but I guess that's what you get with a bagel place that located in the Upper East Side. I would still definitely return there again if I am in the area to get breakfast.

Price: <3<3<3<

Taste: <3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<

Opinion: Recommended

Midnite Express.

Shortly before I left to attend the week-long National Model United Nations Conference, Roomie's younger brother MS and his girlfriend C came to visit and stay over for a week while I was going to be away. After they arrived, Roomie, Mic, and I took them out to a late dinner after they got settled. We decided to go to a local diner called Midnite Express for some hearty and quick food. Quick was needed because I was busy packing to leave early the next morning.

First, with our dishes, came a small cup of cole slaw, typical of any diner in the city and elsewhere. This cold slaw was only mediocre; the mayonnaise was way to heavy and liberal and that was the only thing you can taste. It was left unfinished, as seen here.

Fresh pickles also came with our dishes. These were kosher dill and had a fresh snap to them, with the sour, but also garlicky taste permeating your mouth. A great, refreshing New York taste.

C, because she was not that hungry, got a whole wheat bagel, toasted, with butter. She wanted to taste a New York bagel and had nothing to complain about as she ate the crispy bagels.

MS, who can probably eat more than Roomie, got a Beef Burger Deluxe, a regular burger with lettuce and tomato and a side of fries, cooked medium-well. The burger was made to his satisfaction and the whole plate was consumed within minutes. I never saw someone eat so fast before.

Mic got the Turkey Burger Deluxe, a turkey burger with comes with lettuce and tomato and a side of shoestring fries. She complained that the turkey patty was too charred, but overall, the burger wasn't bad.

I got the Texas Burger Deluxe, a hamburger that comes with a fried egg, lettuce and tomato, and shoestring fries, cooked medium. The burger was fine, with a nice and moist pink center, with the egg adding an interesting flavor to the burger. This was the first time that I've ever eating a burger with an egg as a topping and I was pleasantly surprised at how powerfully the taste of the egg came through, complementing the beefiness of the burger. I would venture again to have an egg on my burger someday in the future. The roll that was used to sandwich the burger was also fresh and soft, slightly toasted so that the edges had a tiny bit of crispness. The fries were also very good. They crispy and fresh, without any strong oil flavoring, and it came in great quantity.

Roomie, dieting for future eating competitions, got the Grilled Chicken Salad, a bed of mainly romaine lettuce with some sliced tomato and sliced grilled chicken placed on top. Roomie asked for oil and balsamic vinegar dressing to finish it up. Though the chicken looked dry, Roomie seemed satisfied and scarfed down his plate almost as fast as his brother did.

Overall, the service was pretty fast and the food was what it was. It was simple and decent for one of the only 24-hour joints in the neighborhood. The prices weren't too bad, but I was quite surprised at how expensive Roomie's salad was. It was nothing oversized and was just a typical salad, although the piece of chicken that they used was pretty big. They also placed us in the very back of the restaurant and it was kind of chilly. It was on the side where they have this semi-outdoor covered extension to the restaurant. There was a hole in the window there and we were kind of cold. If you want a diner, then this one is authentic, I guess.

Price: <3<3<3<

Taste: <3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<

Opinion: OK to try

El Paso Taqueira.

El Paso Taqueira is a hidden away on a small Upper East Side street under building scaffolding and behind many bushes on the sidewalk, but once discovered, there are many feasts for the eyes and reasons for your tummy to celebrate on the inside.

I went to El Paso Taqueira with Kitty, Squishy, Volatile, Twitchy, Roomie, and Mic on a cool winter evening after class. We were hungry and craving some very good Mexican food. Boy, were we satisfied.

First we got appetizers. One of the appetizers we got was the guacamole with fresh tortilla chips. The guacamole was fresh and creamy with the butteriness of the avocado coming through. You can tell that there was lime in there, but it was perfectly balanced, without the lime killing the avocado taste. Paired with freshly made tortilla chips, it was a nice start to the meal.

Our second appetizer was the nachos. The nachos looked extremely messy when it arrived at our table, but the appearance of the dish was not representative of its great taste. The flavors were blended very well, with the fresh vegetables adding to the lightness of what would seemingly be a greasy appetizer. With the crisp tortilla chips paired with more of the fresh guacamole, covered in cheese and sour cream, you can say that you enjoyed this guilty pleasure.

From the appetizers, we moved on the explore the world of El Paso's entrees. I apologize for the blurriness of some of the photos. When these photos were taken, I still had not learned how to take masterful pictures of food without flash. The reason could be that the camera was new and had many new functions I still had to learn. This is what you get for not reading the instruction manual, I guess!

After failed attempts at getting good enchiladas, I figured that this authentic Mexican restaurant would have good ones. I would be greatly satisfied. I got the enchiladas filled with beef and the green tomatillo salsa. The dish came with rice and black beans on the side. The enchiladas were warm and moist with the beef on the inside satisfyingly tender and complemented with just the right amount of spice. The green tomatillo salsa was not overly spicy, as I feared the red sauce would be too spicy (And it did turn out to be too spicy, as we'll see from Mic, Twitchy, and Volatile's dishes.). The rice was flavorful and when mixed with the beans, it was very hearty and warming a cold evening. The only thing I could complain about were the raw onions that were used as garnish. They were large and unnecessary to the dish and eating them would lead to killing all other flavors in the dish and bad breath for me.

Twitchy and Mic got the same dish as I did, but instead of the green tomatillo salsa, they chose to sample the red guajillo salsa. Mic's dish also varied in that she had chicken instead of beef. The sauce was tasty, but it was also overly spicy. As a result, you could not taste the rest of your food after eating this. If you like spicy food, however, you should always get the "red sauce." Mic also made the unfortunate mistake of declaring the dish not spicy enough and adding hot sauce to it. After a few more mouthfuls she died. Copious amounts of water were consumed on that side of the table.

But on our side of the table, copious amounts of water were also consumed. Volatile also made the terrible mistake of adding hot sauce to her enchiladas. She got the cheese enchiladas with the red guajillo salsa. Her face was very red after she consumed such a hot plate.

Kitty and Squishy, because they were as famished as we were, shared a chicken quesadilla and an side order of rice and beans. The quesadilla came with the great guacamole again and the quesadilla was warm and fresh. They enjoyed the heartiness of the rice and beans and were easily satisfied.

Strangely enough, the dessert was very limited, so three of us got the flan. For some reason, one dish came with a chocolate sauce, while the other two came with a strawberry sauce. Both were equally delicious and complemented the flan, which was smooth and light. The caramel sauce was strong, but not overbearing and it was a nice way to end such an enjoyable meal.

Mic and Roomie shared the fried bananas with vanilla ice cream. The crispy wrapping gave way to warm and gooey banana contents that, when paired with cold vanilla ice cream, brought us to heaven. The pairing of hot and cold inside your mouth is always a pleasing feeling when eating and is best achieved in the wonders of dessert.

Overall, El Paso Taqueira has great food with a pleasing atmosphere and festive decorations. Though small (we had to wait a short while for a table), the fact that it was still crowded when we were leaving is a testament that this is a little Mexican gem tucked away near the exposed tracks of the subway in a small abode in the Upper East Side. I would return there again when I crave authentic and spectacular Mexican food.

Price: <3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3<

Opinion: Highly Recommended

Yuka.

To continue our food orgy, Roomie, H, Volatile, Nico, Squishy, and I went to possibly the most sexy sushi restaurant in the whole city. The meal was extremely satisfying. There are two options at Yuka: (1) All you can eat or (2) Menu. We wonderfully decided to be fat pigs and decided on the all you can eat option. The way it works is that you have sheets of paper at the table with the sushi options. They (the restaurant staff) give you pencils and you mark off the number of rolls or pieces of nigiri you want. You generally order for the whole table, so the following pictures were basically for the whole table.

These were avocado-cucumber rolls. Volatile ate most of these because she's a veggie. She said that they were alright.

These were the spicy tuna rolls. They were extremely spicy, but that's how spicy tuna rolls should be in the first place. They were good.

Here is a plate of yellowtail and tataki nigiri. The yellowtail was extremely fresh and had great texture. The scallions that were sprinkled on top added a nice subtle onion flavor that complemented the yellowtail. The tataki was nice, but tasted just like regular salmon.

The top row is tuna, the middle row is mackerel, and the bottom row is egg custard. The tuna and mackerel were both very fresh. The egg custard was very fresh and soft, with a mild sweet flavor. It was one of the best egg custard sushi I've ever tried before.

Here is a beautiful tray of salmon and tataki nigiri. The salmon here was extremely fresh and practically melted in my mouth.

Beastly Roomie got some hand rolls for himself. Included were the crab salad and tuna salad hand rolls picture above. He shockingly stuffed almost a whole hand roll into his mouth at one point in the meal. He was so happy that night!

Here is more salmon. We also got unagi, but I was too busy eating some of the best unagi I've ever had in my life to take any pictures. It was the only thing I somehow missed, pictures-wise. I promise to have pictures next time.

Overall, this place was great. We got an both an extremely filling meal and good quality food at the same time. We definitely will be back there in the future.

Price: <3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<3<

Opinion: Highly Recommended

Ottomanelli Bros.; Beard Papa's.

March 26th, 2009 was day of epic eating for us.  To start it off, Roomie, M, L, J, and I went to Ottomanelli Bros. for lunch after class.  Roomie really wanted to go there because he fell in love with their Hulk Burger Challenge and wanted to ask the burger out for a challenge.  The food journey that thus ensued was sick, yet memorable.

M got the 1/2 lb. Steak Burger, I believe, with American cheese, cooked medium rare.  It came with waffle fries and a pickle.  He ate it extremely slowly, as he normally does, but stated that it was cooked just the way he liked it: bleeding.

J wasn't that hungry, so he got the Popcorn Shrimp appetizer.  He said that it was alright.  I tasted it with a little bit of the "spicy" dipping sauce.  The dipping sauce was disappointing and the popcorn shrimp was only mediocre.  It was nothing out of the ordinary.

Unfortunately, the Hulk Burger Challenge ended at 2:30 and we arrived at Ottomanelli's around 2:40, so Roomie and I both settled for the burger pictured above.  We both got it cooked medium well and it came with waffle fries and a pickle spear.  The burger itself was alright, but I did especially like the nicely cooked peppers on the top.  The roll that the burger was placed on was a potato roll and was nice and soft.  The fries were also nice a crisp and only need a tiny dash of salt.

Being stood up by the Hulk Burger Challenge, Roomie was dying to swallow something and preposterously proposed going down to Chinatown, buying a whole cake, and eating it all.  We, however, opted for something slightly less extreme and picked Beard Papa's.  I had heard about this sexy old guy after seeing some of Mellow's pictures, and wanted to check him out, so we headed on down to his joint in the village.

I got two cream puffs.  The first one, pictured above, was a Green Tea Cream Puff.  Unknownlingly, I bit into the puff and was splurged on by the precious cream filling.  I was unable to salvage a lot of the cream, sadly, but did enjoy whatever was left.  It had a very subtle, yet nice green tea bitterness to it.

As shown in the picture, I made sure to splunk right into the hole of this cream puff and did not waste any of the precious vanilla cream inside.  The filling was nice a light, not overly sweet.  The puff was very airy and light also, with a very flaky feel to it.  It was very delicious and satisfying.

Overall, Ottomanelli's was a decent place and I'd like to go back and try their steak one day.  They had good food for reasonable prices.  Beard Papa's was pretty good, but I must complain that they need more seats inside of there.  Maybe Papa should consider investing in a bigger place, no?

Ottomanelli Bros.

Price: <3<3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<

Atmosphere: <3<3<3<

Opinion: OK to try

Beard Papa's

Price: <3<3<3<3

Taste: <3<3<3<3

Atmosphere: <3<3<

Opinion: Recommended

Ottomanelli Bros.

in Upper East Side

1325 5th Ave. (On the corner of 111th St. and 5th Ave.)

(212) 828-8900