ashbox greatness.

my usual half salad (avocado/mushroom) & salmon onigiri,

and m's turkey sandwich on ciabatta.

iced matcha is always ace.

we always forget how good brunch is at supercore.

japanese classic breakfast, with my choice of misoni

(salmon simmered in miso glaze) came with kimchi,

hijiki salad, spinach, & brown rice.

american classic breakfast with poached eggs, potatoes,

collard greens, salad, sausages with bread.

vamos al tequila hasn't disappointed us yet, and maybe

this was my favorite meal so far, since i didn't feel like i

was about to explode when we were done - thanks to the

salad!

"mexican salad", grilled chicken, mango & jicama on greens

was amazing and HUGE. and of course, their molé is just

so good - and chicken braised to tenderness.

we actually got around to trying dessert - key lime pie.

not too sweet or rich or heavy, it was perfectly limey and

creamy, with ice cream & whipped cream on the side.

ashbox can do me no wrong.

my usual, tofu salad & salmon onigiri, is always good.

and their lunch specials are so homey and delicious.

today's was a chicken drumstick curry on rice ($6.50!).

feels like i'm eating over at a friend's place, whose japanese

mom cooked this fresh meal for us.

burger thursdays at habitat - everyone there was eating burgers,

pretty much, except for me! i got a cobb & corn salad,

the corn part being the huge wedge of corn bread.

fluffy and yummy.

the salad was also HUGE, very filling, especially with all those

bacon bits and cheese. i got mine with balsamic vinaigrette in lieu

of ranch on the menu, making it taste way better, imho.

burger, of course, was perfectly cooked today - and the fries!

i love me their fries.

as a mini celebration of dropping all my pieces for my show at the framers,

we decided to have sushi at a new place.

another conclusion we arrived at is, as with chinese food,

we should just stick to what we know in manhattan for sushi.

(except for samurai mama). any other kind of food, i feel like

brooklyn is better. even korean passes, since dokebi is around.

this rainbow roll, spicy salmon roll, and katsu-don at samurai weren't bad,

in fact, they were pretty decent. definitely the best i've had in recent days in brooklyn.

but still, not quite good enough for the cost (with which you can get

a very satisfying meals in the city).

and what's with people who keep asking you what your nationality is

at sushi places???

having learned from our last couple trips, we ordered a little lighter

this time for brunch at vamos al tequila.

the avocado salad & huevos poblanos were decidedly nowhere near as good

as their mole dish or the huevos rancheros, but definitely helped us

achieve the right amount of fullness at the end.

we could definitely order one of our previous dishes next time.

then later for dinner, m made me a fry-up with sauteed kale

and vegetables.

and topped with eggs! yummy.

in an effort to erase from our memories yesterday's shameful meal,

we concocted this warm/cold salad at home for dinner.

sauteed mushroom, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes & fried eggs (warm) atop a bed of spinach,

carrots, and lentils (cold).

so satisfying & insanely filling.

another meal to enter the hall of SHAME!

chinese musician restaurant was intriguingly named and decorated

(seen from outside) and even while we were waiting, i had high hopes

what with the ambiance resembling some old chinatown diner.

but the food was just disappointing. the non-pictured hot & sour soup

was really starchy and had a weird aftertaste, and the general tso's chicken

was... just too slimy.

the mapo tofu was probably the best one of out of them all,

i still wish we would've gotten some greens in lieu of the general tso's.

yuck.

burger special night at habitat.

the burger is definitely the best deal for the best taste in the neighborhood

at $8 - great flavor, portion, good bread too.

i got a salmon niçoise salad, surprised to find out how good it was.

it was made more as a grilled salmon atop a bed of vegetables & egg,

but it was so satisfying and delicious.

lunch special at supercore.

$5.75 will got us a bowl of brown rice, miso soup and a mini entrée :

meatballs and chikuzen-ni (chicken simmered with veggies).

simply delicious (though the chikuzen-ni was too dry this time)

and a good amount too!

our first breakfast at five leaves (we'd only had lunch so far.
house made baked beans with poached eggs, bacon and wheat toast buried underneath,
and a big brekkie - overeasy eggs, hash browns, bacon, kale, with toast.

unfortunately, their sandwiches are much better.

breakfast out at a fancy place is just not worth it sometimes.

lunch today - mushroom, tomatoes, tatsoi and egg over brown rice.
very satisfying, breakfasty & savory, simple, all at once! :)

lunch at home. kale salad with over-easy egg, and coffee.
the yolk breaks making a perfect extra creamy dressing for the salad.

we went back to vamos al tequila for lunch this time.

had one of the best huevos rancheros,

and m's chuletas plate was great too.

one thing about their food is that they're good

and insanely filling. if i didn't have a potluck planned

for dinner, i would've not eaten for about 10 hours.

then the said potluck dinner with friends :

goat cheese/walnut/pear salad, kale salad (mine), almond paste soba noodles,

saffron risotto, edamame, veggie maki rolls & inari sushi.

then amazing vegan brownies that i didn't get to photograph.

gooey, chewy, and crispy all at the same time.

what's not to love about potlucks?

another great meal at ashbox.

the same old, but great all the same.

half avocado mushroom salad (perfectly dressed as ever) & spicy salmon onigiri.

m's salami, sundried tomato & yellow pepper on ciabatta sandwich.

finding good sushi that's reasonably priced is quite hard in NYC.

after all these years, i still have yet to find something good.

i guess took it for granted while living in california.

another one of the places we tried - kyoto sushi.

still wasn't cheap but better than the last place last time.

the sushi (just ended up picking a "sushi deluxe" plate after

browsing the 4 page sushi menu) sated my cravings

but the katsu don (nothing is better than this one) had too much rice.

reminds me how important perfect rice is to a sushi place.

this place had slightly undercooked (al dente!) rice, which was

in a way better than mushy, packed rice under the fish like last time.

my search will continue...

i don't know what took us so long to try vamos al tequila,

but when we did today for a late lunch,

we were so pleasantly surprised.

first, they gave us a complimentary basket of chips with salsa,

which i hadn't seen much since leaving california!

then their pollo en mole poblano was excellent,

and the enchiladas rojas were good too.

almost too much food - but now we have a good mexican spot

(in lieu of the disappointing papacitos or douche- central calexico)

to turn to when the craving hits!

late-ish dinner at supercore.

chikuzen-ni (brothy chicken & vegetable stew) with brown rice,

and their yummy tomato sauce meatballs, also with brown rice.

very satisfying.

first meal outside the neighborhood in a while, at menkuitei...

(first bike ride out of the neighborhood for me in a long while as well due to snow & ice)

we tried for cocoron for a warm bowl of soba first, only to find out we were 45 minutes too early for their opening time.

we headed to menkuitei, where we got an oyako don & shoyu ramen.

so yummy!