it had been at least a couple years since our last visit to olea, and definitely longer than that for

lunch/breakfast food there. we treated ourselves to some yummy meal today - m got his old

favorite, lamb meatball sandwich, and i got a turkish egg platter. everything was so good!

then for a snacky dinner, we went back to café 232, for some beer and appetizer type food :

we got ourselves a happy hour pint of sapporo, fried gyoza, tofu salad (sesame dressing was so

amazing!) and kimbap - their kimbap is always so freshly rolled and perfectly seasoned.

mmm everything was so good, and surprisingly filling after all!

made a mini (hack) pizza at home with pizza crust pita bread we accidentally found at the

store the other day, topped with fridge ingredients (thought most of it was csa veggies) -

kale, tomatoes, chard, basil and muenster cheese. pretty impressed with the results!

i even janked it up an extra notch by using ketchup in lieu of tomato sauce, although it was my

fancy ketchup from a friend's company - pretty dang delicious!

we finally tried café colador in bed stuy for breakfast this morning.

one good thing was that their food wasn't too bad - i actually thought my french toast was

one of the better/best ones i've had in recent months - years, even. their lox bagel sandwich

was decent too.

but something about the atmosphere (which we normally don't get swayed by) didn't sit right

the whole time, making for a semi-uncomfortable meal. maybe it was the big bouncer-like guy

behind the counter with a fat chip on his shoulder? not sure.

not sure if we're going back there either. oh well - you win some, you lose some!

another meal at café 232, on a super stormy evening.

we ordered the usual dak gui (grilled chicken) with spicy sauce, although it seems like it used

to be even better (looking, at least) before.

and i tried one of the dishes i almost never order (might be my second time in my whole life),

duk mandu-guk (rice cake & dumpling soup) - the broth, as they do so well there, was so good.

very umami, almost silky in texture, very hearty. the dumplings were excellent too, not disintegrating in the soup nor mushy. but their rice cake!! it's always overcooked, even in their

dukboki.

still the chicken and the soup made up for a very nice meal, especially for a rainy walk back home.

having an unusually (& insanely) early morning appointment in borough park/bensonhurst,

we found ourselves eating banh mi's at 8:20am at thanh da in sunset park.

they prided themselves on being super clean (washed cilantros, etc), and you could taste the

cleanness - very light on mayo, crisp & fresh tasting pickles & herbs, and the bread was perfectly

crispy/toasty on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. we got the classic and a roasted pork - both of them being so excellent.

we stopped by for some egg tart (not our first of the day) to bring home, which ended up being

a great afternoon snack in the studio :

castro's mexican food for a late lunch after dragging our feet around the neighborhood

in the convection oven heat (low humidity).

m's ground beef burrito (before we knew about this... oops) and i got their fish tacos.

decent food again - just not super exciting - i want my appetite back. it's this heat!!!

café 232 is a pretty reliable place - even when we don't really feel like eating any particular

kinds of food at all, we end up enjoying our food so much.

their bibimbap is always fresh and well-balanced (shown pre-mixing/bibim) - such a well-

rounded meal. and their jeyook hokum (spicy pork & veggie stir-fry) over rice was so flavorful

and perfectly cooked. my mom used to cook this dish a lot when i was a kid, such a nostalgic dish,

along with kimchi jigae.

one of our go-to meals, a platter of veggies, cheese and sometimes cured meats!

today m made some salmon salad with tinned salmon - csa scallions & horseradish giving it

a nice kick, along with the tangy creaminess from the greek yogurt, it really was one of the best

fish salads i've had. so much nicer than heavy mayo things from delis.

nice lunch at pillow - m's huevos verde (eggs & green salsa) with guacamole, home fries, and

ciabatta toast, and my "garden bagel", possibly my favorite bagel sandwich around - everything

bagel filled with cream cheese, veggies, and a drizzle of pesto!

thank god the heat has subsided a bit! this summer hasn't been kind to my appetite.

we walked a bit aimlessly and ended up at a thai joint we'd walked by before called national.

surprisingly, in contrast to their appearance, the prices were surprisingly inexpensive,

and their dishes HUGE. we got som tom (green papaya salad), green chicken curry, and

pork and veggies in garlic soy sauce, with brown rice.

we were beyond stuffed by the end of the meal - definitely the best bang for the buck!

finally the heat has relented a teensy bit and we actually had some real cravings.

we took a long walk down to nicky's and got some pho, and banh mi.'s.

exactly the same meal as this one. the pho was so refreshing, even in the muggy weather.

the banh mi's were a bit on the dry side than their normal ones, but still delicious.

our lapse in judgement (and part curiosity & part forgotten memory) made us return to

kum kau, where we'd been once or twice ages ago, only to realize why we never went back.

we got a dinner platter combo deal of crispy shrimp, general tso's chicken, and beef with

mushrooms - the beef being the worst, tasting like stamped out rubber mats.

dang, chinatown is only a mile and a half away, but our brains were melted from the heatwave.

last night's (disappointing/gross) dinner at kum kau left us wanting something

surefire, reliable, and, of course, delicious.

so today, we turned to café 232 korean food again and ordered our favorite dishes:

soon dubu jigae (spicy silken tofu stew) and the soy sauce marinated chicken.

we have been cleansed.

dinner at castro's in mad hungry mode - m ordered a chicken tinga burrito, and i, with my eyes

larger than my stomach, i ordered a platter of molé poblano.

and yikes! it was too much food for me. the tinga burrito (first tinga here at castro's) was pretty

dang good. molé poblano was good, though the chicken may be a bit too dry - the best molé i

remember was at la taqueria, which sadly no longer exists. :(

we finished the night by walking to a korean grocer where they sold some good old fashioned

korean ice cream treats, like samanco (fish shaped ice cream sandwich, reminiscent of taiyaki),

which we ate walking home in the sprinkles of rain.

craving bibimbap, we went to the good ol' café 232 korean for some.

i got their regular bibimbap, which comes with plentiful of ingredients, such as beef,

all kinds of marinated veggies & fresh veggies, and topped with a soft sunnyside-up.

m ordered their codfish maeuntang, which i failed to photograph this time, was so good, just

like the last time we'd ordered it - so brothy, refreshing, earthy and comes with copious amount

of codfish!

somehow being up at 7:30 am, we went to try the newly relocated bergen bagels.

we got a white fish sandwich and a lox/cream cheese sandwich, both on everything bagels.

their fish is very good, as are their bagels, especially the white fish salad.

next time, i'll order the lox with lettuce, tomatoes and onions as well, to balance the saltiness

and the richness.

it's been a while since we last have been to clinton park café since they started

closing early - but we woke up early today so thought we'd go there for some simple

breakfast/lunch.

unfortunately, it seems that their quality or flavors are not quite the same as i remember.

the pancakes were not very cooked - kind of soggy inside - though the sausages & eggs were excellent.

my veggie burger, which used to be my favorite, was also bland and undercooked.

oh well, you win some, you lose some!

lunch special at manee thai - mmm it was so good!

tofu in thai ginger sauce, and their excellent green chicken curry.

both came with a salad, rice and a spring roll for $7 each - pretty perfect!