one of the best thai food i've had in NYC happened at manee thai tonight, for dinner.

we got tom yum shrimp soup, green chicken curry, seared striped bass & bok choy in garlic

sauce, with brown rice, and fried bananas for dessert.

they were all so so so good - curry was perfectly spicy yet creamy, striped bass was seared

crispy with amazing sauce, and the fried bananas were made with wonton skins in lieu of batter,

which made it extra crispy and less rich - perfect!

m cooked up an amazing meal today, just in time for me to come back from running.

spicy shrimp with brussels sprouts, kale, garlic, carrots & some super hot jalapeños peppers,

and a dish of spicy home fries with sun dried tomatoes, perilla leaves, and peppers.

they were so spicy, but so so good over rice.

a huge meal at nicky's vietnamese - hot brothy pho, so perfect for a windy day,

and 2 banh mi's - a sardine (on whole wheat) and a classic dac-biet.

yum yum.

then we strolled a bit over to one girl cookie to split a cupcake, but saw that this

last slice of olive oil lemon cake was left, so we snatched it up :

almost like a madelein in consistency and not too oily or sweet, it was perfect for my taste.

i actually preferred this over the normal olive oil cakes like the one from pedlar, which

oftentimes feel a bit too soggy with oil.

breakfast at mike's diner - i got my usual eggs & grits (and some sausages)

and m got chicken & waffles special - their fried chicken is one of the best i've ever tasted,

and i don't even like fried chicken that much. so yummy!

then for dinner, pasta expert m made another amazing spaghetti dish - with smoked oysters

and sardines, dried mushrooms, garlic and tomatoes. it was so good that i almost finished

the whole plate even though i wasn't that hungry - couldn't stop eating!!

a huge salad dinner returns!

m made this giant salad of arugula, potatoes, blue cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, carrots

and eggs, with toasted walnuts, and roasted red pepper/artichoke tapenade dressing.

mmm so yummy!!

i recreated this kang denjang stew with different ingredients, including a can of tuna.

then of course, with rice, banchan, and lettuce/perilla leaves ssam dinner!

something about the fragrance of the perilla leaves goes so amazingly well with the flavor of the denjang stew. so good - we ate up everything!

yummy noodles at menkuitei - i know these are no $16 bowls of ippudo noodles,

but i love the hiyashi-chukamen and the shoyu ramen there - reasonably priced,

and always reliable. so delicious on a beautiful, summery day (broth for the sore throat).

late lunch at vegetarian ginger - hands down one of our favorites anywhere.

we got a general tso's seitan and bok choy with king oyster mushrooms, with brown

rice - which included a hot & sour soup and salad appetizer.

the dishes were so delicious - definitely better than most veggie chinese restaurants,

because they keep theirs pretty light and not too greasy.

that general tso's is hard not to get every time - and their brown rice (mixed a bit with red

rice, it seems?) is also so good.

and it was beautiful out today :

it'd been ages since we last went to choice market, so we decided to give it

a visit, especially since we were so uninspired for anything else.

i got a grilled salmon sandwich, which was great with some horseradish sauce

and fresh ingredients - and m got a beef burger, cooked perfectly - both good,

except for the mediocre buns... and slightly soggier fries.

we're always a little hesitant to eat there because the communal table, though i don't mind it,

sometimes makes us rush through our meals... (not to mention occasional run-ins with some

weird entitlement issues).

it's that time of the kimchi rotation - the ripeness/sourness is perfect for

cooking it, and i opted to cook it in kimchi fried rice this time.

kimchi, along with roasted garlic & brussels sprouts, laminate kale, and

mushrooms was a pretty good mix for the fried rice.

i made so much but the spiciness of it made us eat the whole huge bowlfuls!

dinner at tepango - m got an enchilada platter & i got a torta tinga (chipotle chicken sandwich).

the enchilada was said to be mediocre, but my torta was so so good!

definitely better than the ones at castros.

one of our most frequent/favorite/typical meals has to be something in the lines of what's

above : a spread of veggies, fruits, hummus, sometimes with crackers, most times with cheese

(we'd just run out). sometimes with a kind of charcuterie meat, like the pepperoni above.

i made a mini sandwich with a crispbread, topped with hummus, avocado and tomato.

yummy!

then for dinner, i cooked myself a kale miso soup over rice, with poached egg, and

copious amount of scallions, hoping to expel this bug that seems to have crept into my

system overnight. mmm~ brothy and soothing.

feeling out of inspiration, and despite having had some koreany food last night,

we decided to still give it a try at the new-ish cafe 232 korean food.

i got bibimbap & m got a jampong, a spicy seafood noodle soup that is a very popular

korean-chinese dish in korea, along with jajangmyun.

they were both pretty good, especially the bibimbap - prices and flavors were both

comparable to dokebi and some restaurants in manhattan's ktown. the best part, i think,

is the diversity in their menu selection, combining that of a college neighborhood join in korea

and some other more popular korean restaurant food items.

m's huge pastrami & corned beef bagel sandwich at bergen bagels.

delicious!

rainy day breakfast at john's diner - m got a waffle with eggs & sausages,

and i got eggs & grits with sausages. they were just a decent diner breakfast,

and though i have to say i still prefer mike's, their grits here was perfect - chunky

and gritty.

then for dinner, i concocted a kind of kimchi seafood jigae, with dried

mushrooms, over rice. it was just haphazardly thrown together, but pretty

decent, i dare say!

another beautiful mid-march day - after some iced coffee & hanging out

at the park, we went to grab a bite at black iris, where i ordered a falafel

platter and m got a lamb gyro sandwich.

the gyro wasn't as good as the one he used to get at seven hills, but i liked

the falafel platter, the baba ganouj being especially good. i loved their homemade

pita/roti as well... but sorta ho-hum otherwise, i guess.

and curry with broccoli rabe/shiitake/garlic stir-fry over rice for dinner.

i wasn't super hungry from the lunch, so i only had half a bowl.

still so good!