Oodles of Udon!

Is there anything better than good food and cheap booze?

The answer is definitely "no" so don't bother contemplating that.

I stumbled upon a fabulous udon noodle shop in Midtown East over a year ago and save it now to impress friends who meet me near my work for a bite to eat.  Every single person I ever took here is blown away.  It's like an Ace up my sleeve, just waiting to be used for that perfect hand.  Okay, so I don't really play poker and I certainly don't cheat.  Work with me here...  It's all this damn heat!

The place I'm referring to is Onya Noodle Bar located at 143 East 47th Street, btw Lex and 3rd.  It's a cute eatery with a lovely back area that has a glass ceiling.  Their staff, all Japanese, are so incredible polite and attentive you never want to leave.  After arriving I realized that they must feel like a million bucks since Japan just won the Women's World Cup (congrats btw,  you guys did great!)

My good ol' buddy Zac met up with me for a hot delicious bowl of fresh udon and some cheap booze.

Happy Hour Special: $2.99 draft Sapporo 5pm - 7pm (M-F, I believe)


I arrived a few minutes before Zac and was greeted warmly, seated and given a cold beer almost immediately.  My server even gave me a little bowl of these spicy french-fry chip snacks.  No idea what they were but they were crunch, salty and spicy - perfect for beer.  I pretty much ate the whole bowl before Zac got there.  ::bad jaci bad::


Zac ordered the Double Beef Udon, Half Bowl ($10) to ensure enough room for another round of beers.  The full order is $15 and massive.  Its great to share with someone, but only someone with a huge appetite can handle one.  These noodles are heavy!

I was so indecisive!  Do I try something new like the super spicy udon with ground pork or get an old favorite.  I wanted something spicy, and their shrimp are so tasty.  So I settled on the Curry Udon with Sprimp Tempura (half bowl $10).  

The food came out after about 10 minutes, just long enough for them to cook up the fresh udon.  Our steamy, hot bowls looked picture perfect and tasted even better.  Zac was so impressed with how good our food was.  He kept exclaiming "omg, this is so good" in between slurps of the thick noodles and bites of the melt-in-your-mouth beef.

We stopped for a second and looked around at the other patrons enjoying their meals and realized that we were the only non-Japanese in there!  That's when you know its good!

Lunch is also great, ranging in price from $5.95 and up.  You can pick various tempura, which is only $1 each when you buy more than two pieces.  Their shrimp is my favorite, but also recommend the potato/onion mixture. 

Oh Onya, you are so magical... thank you for filling my belly with delicious udon.  See you next time!

No Substitution for the Original

Earlier this year, I reviewed the new Jackson Diner in Manhattan, which I was excited to try out.  Although this location is far more convenient, the original Jackson Diner in Jackson Heights is so much better, I just couldn't help talking about it a bit.

The original Jackson Diner is located at 3747 74th Street in Queens off the Jackson Heights/Roosevelt Ave stop for the 7/E/F/M/R trains - so there is no excuse as most New Yorkers can manage to get here.  Trust me, its worth the trip.

It's a weird looking restaurant with lots of room, high ceilings and gruff waiters.  They do their job, but I wouldn't necessarily call them friendly.

I came here with my dad, Mel and Adam on a Tuesday evening, about 7pm.  They weren't busy, so the food came very quickly.

We started with the Chat Papri, a mixture of crisps, potatoes, and chick peas in yogurt and tamarind sauce, something we usually order and enjoy.  It's a bit sweet, tangy and spicy - a really interesting mixture of flavors and textures. 

I don't usually eat dairy, but I had no issue avoiding the small drizzling of yogurt on this dish.  Our food came just as we were finishing off the last bite.

Perfect timing!


My dad ordered the Lamb Roganjosh, boneless juicy pices of lamb cooked in traditional kashmiri masala.  He's a huge fan of lamb and rarely eats it.  I loved the sauce and kept dipping the naan bread in it, but I'm not a fan of lamb so didn't really spend much time working on this. 


As long as dad was happy... 

Adam and I ordered two dishes to share, the first was Murg Tikka Palakwala, broiled chicken pieces cooked with spinach, tomato, and ginger tempered with cumin seeds. 

This was the first time trying this dish here. It was absolutely fantastic!!  It was very similar to sag but had that butter flavor from tikka masala.  I'm sure I shoudn't have been eating this since it most likely had dairy but I didn't care!  This is probably one of my fave Indian dishes of all time.  The chicken was so succulent, the spinach so flavorful that every bite was a dream come true.  The left overs were equally delicious.  

We also ordered the Chole Peshawari, chick peas and diced potatoes cooked in traditional punjabi style.  This is similar to Chana Masala which is a common dish seen on most Indian menus.  It was really good although I like my Indian food a little more spicy.  I think they were being gentle with us since my dad asked for his dish mild. Oh well! I like my food SPICY!  

Mel wasn't too hungry, so she ordered the Aloo Gobi, which is potatoes and cauliflower tossed with Indian spices, so that I could take it home and enjoy it for lunch the next day.  I like Indian leftovers almost as much as fresh at the restaurant.  They marinate and their flavors enhance - its just so freaking good!

This was the only "dry" entree we got, which complimented the other dishes nicely.  I'm a fan of the "wet' India dishes, but its nice to mix it up once in a while.  I took an Indian cooking class and learned how to make this, except it would never come out this good. 

 

It was an epic meal and we ended up taking home a ton of leftovers.  The naan was particularly greasy, but oh so good at soaking up the incredibly flavorful sauces.  I really love Indian food and Jackson Diner serves the best in NYC (or at least what I've discovered so far). It may not be the nicest restaurant with the best servers, but their food speaks for itself.   

So check it out if you have a chance, you won't regret it! 

Gut Bustin' Weekend

I'm a big fan of eating healthy during the week and then indulging in moderation on the weekends.  Weekends (or one's days off) are meant for pure enjoyment and I do my best to appease my cravings.

Adam dragged my ass via bike to the Rockaways and I figured that after 24 miles of bike riding on Saturday I might as well eat whatever the hell I wanted.  I earned it!!

Sadly, my first meal at a really cute Greek diner, Teddy's, 7 miles into our journey could not be documented.  I was on the verge of heat stroke and couldn't find the energy to take photos of our breakfast.  I definitely recommend a stop at Teddy's if your in the mood for some good, classic diner fare. We split an order of scrambled eggs with rye toast and home fries, which were cooked perfectly.  The potatoes were really tasty with a bit of crunch.  We also shared the homemade challah french toast which was out of this world!  I was able to recuperate and continue on our epic journey to Fort Tilden.

This beach ROCKS!

We also shared some deliciously crappy beach food at the snack bar in Riis Park.  For a whopping $23, we got two Corona tall boys (classy, I know), one hotdog, chicken fingers and some crappy french fries.  Although it was totally frozen food that was deep fried in old grease, there was something very satisfying about sitting at a beach, downing cold beer and eating crappy food.

Btw, as far as the beach is concerned - its fantastic.  Clean with fun waves to jump around in.  The sand is so fine and white, really a lovely beach to hit up.  Be careful of the rip current cause people can drown here!!

While we were in the Rockaways, we figured it was a good idea to eat some seafood for dinner.  Adam wanted to check out the Rockaway Seafood Company since he's worked on their ads at his newspaper for awhile now and they're really great to work with.

We had to wait about 15 minutes, but it was a pleasant wait at the bar with a nice cold beer.  The decor was really cute with a bit of a beach theme with lovely wood everywhere.  It was a mixed crowd of young and old with everyone enjoying delicious seafood!  

Our server was fantastic, offering his thoughts on a number of entrees.  He was attentive but not overly so.

Adam and I started with the California Green Salad since we wanted something fresh and tasty. 
The salad came with Candied Pecans, Fried Goat Cheese (which we asked for on the side), Roasted Pears, Honey Dijon Vinaigrette ($10).  It was heavenly!!
Although it was a really simple salad, the big, fresh leafy greens with the vinaigrette and candied pecans went together so well it was hard to stop eating!

Adam said if I could eat cheese, this would be the one I'd fall in love with.  Sweet, creamy with a bit of crunch from the fried bread crumbs.  He enjoyed it so much I was tempted to try it.  But the idea of going boom-boom in a nice seafood restaurant and then a 2 hour ride home prevented me from doing so.


For entrees, Adam ordered the Crab Stuffed Fillet of Sole, which came with green beans and rice, smothered in a lemon caper beurre blanc ($23).  I was shocked to learn that Adam never had stuffed filet of sole, one of my all time fave dishes when I was growing up.  (I was a weird child, don't ask)  I almost ordered this myself, but Adam knows by now I always order the best dish so stole this from me!  Alas, I warned him I was planning on eating from his plate if he didn't share.

It was a HUGE portion that neither of us could finish.  I don't even think Adam touched the rice and sort of nibbles the green beans.  It was a might meal and well worth the $23 price tag.  The stuffing was really delicious with lots of seasoning and crab meat.  You could definitely taste the fresh crab... always an issue in some places.  The fish itself was light and perfectly cooked.


I really liked the lemon caper and thought it greatly enhanced the lovely flavor of the fish.  It was a really good stuffed filet of sole - I don't recall having tried a better version of this in a long, long time.

As for my dish, I ordered one of the specials, which our server was very enthusiastic about!  It was called Angry Shrimp ($22) and it was really good.

The shrimp had a spicy rub and were grilled to perfection.  They were placed on a giant mound of creamy, delicious garlic mashed potatoes.  The grilled asparagus were cooked perfectly, blackened a bit on the ends from being grilled on charcoal!


The sauce was similar to Adam's lemon caper but mine also had bits of basil and a hit of broth.  It was good and rich, adding a tartness to the shrimp and a bit of tang to the mashed potatoes.  This entree was far too much for me to handle.  Adam took one or two of my shrimp and I'm could barely finished eating the rest of mine.  I guess we shouldn't have ordered the salad, oh well!


The meal was a little pricey after we ordered another round of beers and some coffees - but who cares after having such a magnificent day!  I would come back here in a heartbeat for some more fresh seafood!

flickr: joeymanley

On Sunday, I hit up Coney Island with my oldest friend Edmund and of course I needed the breakfast of champions - a Nathan's Hotdog.  I only ate ONE hotdog, but this photo (which I found on flickr) give you an idea of how amazingly delicious they are.  I like mine with a little mustard and ketchup.

Then we walked along the beach until we found a patch of sand that was clean enough to sit on and without screaming children running about.  Kind of hard to do on a Sunday here... plus this beach is kind of gross.  I don't swim here, ever, since its one of the dirtiest beaches in NYC (I don't have a report to prove this, but believe me its gross).

After basking in the sun for a while, we ventured to an old outpost of ours from way back when - Roll N Roaster.  My fellow Brooklynites, and other cool people, are familiar with this Sheespheads Bay gem. 

I've been coming here since my family moved to Sheepshead Bay in 1987.  Gosh that makes me feel old.  It literally hasn't changed except for the prices, which they claim have stayed the same for years. 

I always order the roast beef sandwich with extra gravy and gravy on the side.  It's a hot sandwich and the gravy is AMAZING!  It is one of the most magical sandwiches you could ever eat - trust me!



I also order their fabulous fresh brewed iced tea (sweetened) to help wash down one of my most favorite things in the whole world. 

If you're interested in sides, try the onion rings, which are great, as well as the mashed potatoes w/ gravy. 

Ed and I went for the chicken tenders instead as a side.  Their sweet/sour sauce rocks my world, so it was a serious win w/ my sandwich.  Needless to say I didn't eat for the rest of the day.  My bikini could barely handle the gut I was rockin'.  Aren't I sexy?

I'll be eating healthy for the rest of the week to make up for this gut bustin' weekend, but it was SO worth it!

Escape from New York

Everyone needs a little time away from the big city and although I was raised in good ol' Brooklyn, I am no except to this rule.  So Adam and I borrowed the family car and escaped during the long holiday weekend.

We drove along the Hudson to Connecticut to visit family and then took an overnight trip around Rhinebeck, NY near Bard College where Adam went to school.  Along the way we ate some really great meals and soaked in as much sunshine as possible.

Croton Point Park

Our first stop on our gluttonous tour was a quick bite at the Westchester Diner.   We were passing nearby from Croton-on-the-Hudson and needed some fuel in our bellies to continue on the road to Oakdale, CT for a show.



We didn't want to fill up too much, so Adam ordered the Garden Salad with Grilled Chicken and I went straight for a big bowl of Matzah Ball Soup (one of my all time favorite things to order anywhere).

Usually diners are super fast, so much so I'm always worried I'm getting an old order from someone else.

Westchester Diner did take a little while to bring out the food, but when we did we were pleasant surprised with the quality and quantity on our meal.

Adam's salad was huge, served in a bowl that should be used for a family of four.  The grilled chicken was hot and juicy.  I definitely stole bites from his giant bowl throughout our meal.

My soup has the largest matzah balls ever created, ever.  Seriously, look at the size of these things.  If this isn't food porn, I don't know what is.  Yes - please admire my giant balls! (hehe)

The soup was fantastic.  Fluffy perfectly salted matzah balls in a lovely chicken broth with lots of onions, carrots and celery.  It wasn't overly salty, which is something I always worry about when ordering this soup.  Definitely made top 5 best matzah ball soup I ever ate and this includes homemade at my cousins' house during passover.

Now that we were SUFFICIENTLY full (we were only supposed to get a snack!), we made our way to see Adam's dad play in his band at a local bar (Shortie's Pub) in Oakdale.  Here is ordered chicken fingers and french fries, but didn't bother taking a photo since it was typical pub fare.

On Saturday, we journeyed through back roads to Rhinebeck and Kingston.  I was fortunate enough to get a fun email from Refinery29 (which I read daily) about 5 secret shopping destinations 3 hours outside NYC.  We were going to drive near a few anyway, so Adam humored me and let me check out Millerton, which we were passing through near the border of Connecticut and New York state.

We did stop in all four stores mentioned in the email:

1. Harney & Sons: Had tons of really cool teas.  I tried their organic raspberry iced tea which was super tasty with a nice sweet hint of raspberries!

2. Hunter Bee: This place was so incredible with lots of expensive vintage finds.  They had this really awesome giant bird cage that I really wanted.  Everything was far too much for my poor ass to afford, but one day!

3. Terni’s: I thought this place was super weird.  We walked in and the old man working there look confused by our presence.  We took a quick look around and left.  They had random clothing, most of which looked like it was for more outdoorsy types. 

4. Kamilla’s Floral Boutique: Best floral shop ever.  They had the craziest flowers with a focus on orchids and succulents.  Totally affordable too, but I kill all plants with my black-thumb and refrained from even the smallest purchase.  (Perhaps for a wedding?)

Adam and I did stop in for lunch at the really cute coffee shop in town, Irving Farm Coffee Company. It was really busy and smelled delicious, so we ordered soup and a sandwich to share. 


You order at the counter, then get a little number so someone knows where to bring your food.

Adam ordered the split pea with turkey soup was really good, although not exactly hot in temperature.  Definitely homemade with lots of flavor.

I ordered went for the curry chicken sandwich, was very bold of me (if you ask me).

I had no idea what to expect, but it was absolutely delicious.  It was chicken salad with a hint of curry with a bit of sweetness from dried cranberries.

It came on this amazing toasted "health" bread with lettuce, onions and tomato with a side of chips (which I'm happy to report I didn't eat except for a few).  Irving Farm was awesome, so check it out if you're in the area.

View from Olana Estate

Now that we were on a full stomach, we were able to drive around and check out some of the nice areas near Rhinebeck.  We visited two estates and walked around the grounds.

We couldn't have asked for a nicer day!  We took in the sunshine and the lovely views of the Hudson.  It's amazing to think that just 3 hours south in busy NYC!

After a few hours, we worked up quite the appetite and got ready for dinner!

Olana's front door. Now this is an entrance!

Enjoying a cold beer in the Bard gardens.

Adam and I have a tradition of going to the Beekman Arms & Delamater Inn when we're in the area.  The Beekman is America's oldest continuously operated hotel and the restaurant is absolutely delicious.  First off, this place looks old but its in amazing condition.  A lot of love goes into its care to ensure that an Inn built in 1766 is still standing as tall and as proud as it did back then.  Pretty impressive if you ask me.  

There was a little bit of everything on the menu, so everyone is bound to find something they like.  Adam and I ordered whatever our heart desired, since everyone's diet should go out the door when you come here.  


They sat us in the garden greenhouse, which was lovely.  It's a fairly upscale place, so we had to be on our best behavior.  We started with the Sweet and Sassy Shrimp ($9), which our awesome server recommended and described as being fried shrimp in a sweet and spicy sauce.


We didn't know what to expect, but they were AMAZING!  Small fried shrimp in this delicious sauce. Whatever they put in the sauce, it was to die for and we savored every bite.  We were super excited for dinner at this point!

I ordered the 16 oz Prime Rib with fresh horseradish, mashed potatoes and asparagus ($28), which was cooked perfectly.  

Everything about this dish was perfect.  It was large enough to share with Adam (I could have ordered the 12 oz, but was glad I didn't). 

Adam said these were the best asparagus he's ever had, cooked perfectly with just the right amount of crunch.  I happen to make pretty damn good asparagus at home, so ignored his comment :)

Adam went with the Boneless Coffee Braised Beef Short Ribs with mashed potatoes and glazed carrots ($21).    This dish was simply divine, sent down to use from the heavens!  Now this is how you break a diet in style!! 


This picture doesn't do it justice, but it was SO dark (and romantic) where we were eating.  It was a nice portion of braised beef ribs with creamy mashed potatoes and sweet, crisp carrots.  The sauce was rich and dense, but I had no idea it was coffee based until after we were done eating.  I'm glad we shared our meals, since both were so unbelievably delicious.  And no dinner is complete without dessert!


This was called the Lemon Curd Napoleon ($8), but it was a total surprise when we finally saw it.

It was crisp slices of cooked puff pastry with a lemon curd center, a lollop of lemon meringue on top, some pineapple relish and raspberry sauce.

Needless to say it was light and mind-blowingly delicious!  We practically licked the plate, and we were already stuffed from dinner.

It was a glorious dinner that made us weak at the knees.  We had to take a walk around Bard Campus to ensure we didn't slip into a deadly food coma.  We'll definitely keep coming back for more of Beekman Arms whenever we have a chance, its just too damn good and really not that crazy expensive for what you get!

On Sunday, we took it down a notch and enjoyed breakfast at Michael's Diner in Kingston, Adam's old haunt from when he went to Bard.  He loved this place back then because you could smoke inside (remember those days?) and their food was good n' cheap, what every college kid needs.


Adam ordered his usual, which might not really be a usual since he hasn't ordered it in about 8 years.

Here we got scrambled eggs, home fries and a toasted corn muffin.

I stole some of his home fries since they were super tasty, with that extra crisp from being fried in butter.  The corn muffin was awesome - I wish I had ordered one.  Or better yet, a blueberry muffin! YUM!



I was totally indecisive and went with the Michael's Special which had a little bit of everything including two pancake, two over medium eggs (the way I like 'em), two slices of well done bacon and a sausage link.

The only thing that could have made this better was some home fries, which is why I stole from Adam's plate.  The pancakes were really good as was the sausage which I'm not usually a fan of.  All I left on this plate was a bit of egg white.  Yes, I'm a disgusting pig in the morning.

Later on we had a lovely bbq with a ton of Adam's family, but I didn't bother taking photos of that.  I was being lazy playing monopoly with his younger cousins.  And yes, I definitely kick some kiddie butt in that game!  I win!  Adam didn't do so well :)  Sorry Adam!

On Monday - July 4th - we had a MASSIVE BBQ at Adam's mom's house.  Her name is Barbara and she's absolutely lovely.

We went absolutely buck wild with shrimp, lemon sole, salmon and a ton of delicious veggies.  Here's a recap on the insane amount of food for 3 people. 

Delicious Quinoa (pronounced Keen Wa)

We cooked up some lemon sole with a big of fresh sage and lemon juice and salmon with just a dash of salt and pepper.  The skewers of fresh veggies include zucchini, yellow squash, onion, cherry tomatoes, green and red pepper.  We also had some pineapple, so we decided to grill that up as well.  If you never tried grilled pineapple, I suggest trying it out asap since its absolutely delicious!!!

We bought a giant bag of frozen shrimp, which we defrosted and skewered with some pineapple. We did one skewer of shrimp with a nice marinade made of olive oil, minced garlic and fresh basil.  These came out amazing!!

Grilled Veggies!

Barbara made some delicious quinoa, which is apparently super easy to make.  Just make the quinoa as directed on the package and added whatever veggies you have on hand.  Here we have raw carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes as well as black beans and cooked broccoli and zucchini.  Mix everything together with a splash of salad dressing (Italian if you prefer).  It was fresh and light, perfect for summer!








Everything else was incredible.  The lemon sole was super tasty and was more interesting than your run of the mill salmon. The salmon did come out perfectly though, but the lemon sole stole the show.

The shrimps were sweet and succulent.  You would never know that they were initially frozen.  Most supermarkets don't sell fresh shrimp any ways, so might as well get a bag of flash frozen, with the skin still on so they have that nice shrimp flavor.  They only take 5 - 7 minutes to defrost under cold water. 

The veggies were awesome as was the quinoa, which I'm planning on making sometime next week.

We obviously cooked way too much, but the left overs will not go to waste!  Food for a week?




It kinda sucks living in an apartment with no backyard access, so when Adam and I have a chance to grill, we go all out.  At least we have family we can take advantage of! 




Adam was obviously VERY excited for all the food!  He's ready to serve up everyone's plates. 












<------ Adam and his mom, Barbara, ready to dig in and enjoy our feast!












This was my plate, and yes I did eat everything except for the whole corn.  The corn wasn't as delicious as we had hoped, but it was on sale at the supermarket (5 ears for $1, so we didn't except much from them).  

So that was our weekend.  We took the train back to good ol' Brooklyn. 

It's always so nice getting out of the city and look forward to our next gluttonous adventure, which will be Chicago in a few weeks.  Something tells me I'll be forced to eat deep dish pizza before the end of the month.  Oy!