NYC - Lower Manhattan - West Village - 8 Street - Gray's Papaya

Was there with the hubby last week, we had the 'Recession Special' which consisted of 2 hot dogs and a drink (served in styrofoam cup!) for only $3.50! Cheap is good! Me like it!

Gray's Papaya
402 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10011 (212) 260-3532

www.grayspapaya.com

NYC – Lower Manhattan – South Street Seaport - Pizzeria Uno Chicago Bar & Grill

Food so-so, service sucked, I close my case. Will NEVER EVER return.

Pizzeria Uno Chicago Bar & Grill
89 South St
New York, NY 10038
(212) 791-7999

NYC – Lower Manhattan – Ruben’s Empanada

We were out celebrating a co-worker’s birthday at South Street Seaport and while waiting for the rest of the gang to finish work, we stopped by Ruben’s Empanadas for a snack. The baked empanadas were very good and tasty, so many choices. The small little café is neat and cosy, definitely a nice hangout place.

List of the baked empanadas:

Broccoli Chopped Broccoli with Mozzarella and Ricotta

Corn Corn with Pimentos and Onions

Mushroom Sliced Mushrooms Wit Cheddar Cheese

Potato Seasoned Mashed Potato with a Touch of Mozzarella

Spinach Chopped Spinach with Tofu & Nutmeg

Spicy Tofu Tofu Blended with Tomato, Onion, Cilantro and Chili

Beef Ground Beef Stuffed with Onins, Raisins and Spices

Chili Beef and Beans with Chili Seasoning

Chicken Chicken Breast In a Creamy Bechemel Sauce

Spicy Chicken Chicken Breast Seasoned with Tomato, Onions, Cilantro

Ham & Cheese Diced Ham with a Blend of Cheese

Tuna Tuna, Hard - Boiled Egg, Pimentos, Onion, Capers

Turkey Seasoned Group Turkey

Argentine Sausage Ground Beef, Ground Pork Sauteed In a Red Wine Sauce

Shrimp Whole Shrimp In a Creole Sauce

Cherry Empanada

Apple Empanada

Guava & Cheese Empanada

Ruben’s Empanada
64 Fulton St - Btwn Cliff & Gold St
New York, NY 10038
212 962-5330

NYC - Lower Manhattan - Dean & Deluca

Hubby’s birthday was in April and I got him his usual favorite ‘Busy Bee’ cake from Dean and Deluca again like every other of his birthdays … heh heh, this time round they changed the topping to flowers instead of little bees … go figure, I am still puzzled myself … hahaha!

NYC - Lower Manhattan - Union Square - Trader Joe's

I simply luv grocery shopping at Trader Joe's, people are nice even though is it always crowded, you hear people saying 'Excuse me', 'I'm sorry' and I don't risk getting run over by the trolleys, which is very unlike the other grocery stores I go to.

On Tuesday night, I decided to go get more fish for my packed lunch and in addition see what I ended up with! Hee hee!

NYC - Lower Manhattan - Soho - Dean & Deluca

POLKA DOT CAKE (BLACK HOUND NEW YORK - 6IN CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE) -
One layer of bittersweet chocolate mousse, one layer of milk chocolate mousse, and three thin layers of chocolate butter cake blanketed in white ganache and decorated with bittersweet and milk chocolate polka dots.

The pictures and descriptions making you drool yet? ... hehehe. The cake was soooooooooo good, I don't usually take sweet stuff but I sneaked a taste of it and felt like I was in heaven, the hubby was all smiley when he ate it ... heh heh!

NYC - Lower Manhattan - Surf City Squeeze Smoothie

We first discovered Surf City Squeeze Smoothie earlier this year when hubby and I went to St Mark's Place in Lower Manhattan, we tried the yummy smoothies made with real fruit, juice and Surf City's own smoothie mix and enjoyed the drinks very much. Recently I was back there with Ms A, I had the strawberry and banana smoothie which was very refreshing and not too sweet which I liked. They have a small area with only 2 - 3 tables for seating, not a place for hangout, best to buy and drink while on the go.

Surf City Squeeze Smoothie
36 St. Mark's Place
New York, NY 10003
Tel: 212-6141216

NYC - Lower Manhattan - Congee Bowery Restaurant & Bar

I first heard of Congee Bowery Restaurant & Bar on the program Bizarre Foods hosted by Andrew Zimmerman, he had the goose intestine which Ms A and I were excited to try, so off we went one fine day.

The restaurant has a nice and grand entrance; inside is big and spacious with 2 levels, dining hall on the upper level and function rooms on the lower level.

On the menu, they have a wide variety of Chinese-American dishes. It took them quite awhile to come over and took our order, then came a waiter who looked like he was ready to pick a fight, since we were there for the goose intestines, that was what we first ordered. I went ahead and ordered the Goose Intestine with Black Bean Sauce, the waiter said ‘No Have’, so I said ‘fine, can we have the Goose Intestine with Soy Sauce then’, again he said ‘No Have’, by that time my blood pressure was raising so I said ‘do you have the Boiled Goose Intestine with bean sprouts?’, he said ‘No Have’. Oh dear God! I was about to burst so I asked him why don’t they have all those dishes, is it only for that day or they have they ran out of it or what! He just said ‘We don’t have goose intestine, you order something else’ ... trust me, I was in a calm mood that day or else I would have walked out so we gave them a chance and ordered Liver & Pork Porridge, Small Juicy Bun in Shanghai Style 小籠包 and Baked Fish Intestine (yes, you read it right, we had FISH INTESTINE, it tasted ok, I still like the ones I had in Singapore, the cooking was so much better).

We had to wait quite awhile before our food came, we saw that other patrons that were there after us already had some of their dishes served, and good thing the food came before we made a complaint. The dishes were so-so, the congee was decent but the Small Juicy Bun in Shanghai Style 小籠包 was lousy, it was tasteless and the skin tasted like they weren’t cooked.

Overall the meal was not very satisfactory and the waiter that took our order was a moron. On our way out, we asked the counter lady why didn’t they have the goose intestine since it was featured on TV only about 2 weeks ago, she explained very nicely that there has been a short of supply and they were supplied with chicken intestine instead so in order not to let the customers feel cheated since goose intestine are bigger and tastier than chicken intestine they stopped serving those 3 goose intestine dishes, at least she was nice, polite and even apologetic that we went all the way and didn’t get to eat what we wanted. We might give this restaurant a chance again someday and be back to try other dishes, for the moment we have a whole list of eateries to try out first.

Congee Bowery Restaurant & Bar
207 Bowery
between Rivington St & Spring St)
New York, NY 10002
Tel: 212-7662828