06 July 2013

Early breakfast while waiting in line for Cronuts:

Grapes

Sample from Dominique Ansel Bakery, SoHo, NYC, NY:

Madeline
(Less buttery and more lemony than most madelines I've had. This was still warm, mmm.)

Breakfast at Dominique Ansel Bakery, SoHo, NYC, NY:

Chai tea macaron (shared w/Ben, Kelly & Daniel)
(More like spiced chocolate and I didn't like how "poofy" the macaron cookie was. It was good though.)

Dominique's Kouign Amann/ "DKA" (shared mostly w/Ben, gave pieces to Kelly & Daniel)
(Like a croissant except the inside was tougher. Still flakey and layered, but chewier and more sturdy. It was so good dipped in the cronut's blackberry sauce! I also liked how this wasn't very sweet.)

Blackberry cronut (shared w/Ben)
(Mmm. I really liked this flavour! I didn't like the sprinkle of sugar on the outside, but everything else was great. I don't even know how to describe the texture. It's fried and has a hole, making it look like a donut but that's where the resemblance ends. Then the inside is layered, like a crepe cake of sorts with the texture of a croissant, but the layering is the only resemblance to a croissant. The texture of the inside isn't flakey enough to be like a croissant, but it isn't "heavy"  or chewy enough to be like the DKA's either.  And the crunchiness as a result of the frying further adds to the cronut's hybridness. I thought it was really good, although I don't think I would call it the best thing I've ever eaten; I'm a bit perplexed by the "complexities" of it and I think that's preventing me from liking it more.)

Snack at Chobani, SoHo, NYC, NY:

Blueberry + Power: plain Chobani w/light agave nectar, blueberries, chia seeds, hemp seeds & walnuts (shared w/Kelly)
(THERE'S A CHOBANI BAR?! WHAT. There's two other flavours here that I really want to try!)

Snack at François Payard Bakery, SoHo, NYC, NY:

Sample of pistachio macaron (shared w/Kelly)
(Not bad, but tasted a bit artificial.)

Sample of coffee macaron (shared w/Kelly)
(Strong flavour, but a bit sweet.)

Pistachio raspberry macaron ice cream sandwich (shared w/Kelly)
(Not the best brekkie, but good. Better once it thawed a bit but I didn't like the sorbet to ice cream ratio. There should have been more ice cream because the raspberry sorbet is really strong. Almost off-putting at times. The cookie to ice cream ratio wasn't bad though.)

Samples from Hershey's, Times Square, NYC, NY:

Milk & dark chocolate kisses (threw away the milk)

Late lunch:

Mixed greens salad w/edamame & corn

Pineapples, grapes, honeydew, cantaloupe (shared all w/Kelly)

Veggie split pea soup w/pepper

Snack from François Payard Bakery, SoHo, NYC, NY:

Raspberry lychee macaron (2, shared both w/Kelly & Ben)
(The lychee sauce or whatever is too sweet! Tasted like almost artificial lychee. The texture was great, but I wasn't too keen on the flavour. The raspberry and lychee ratios are off. Kelly really enjoyed this one though.)

Passion fruit macaron (shared w/Ben & Kelly)
(Whoa, the passion fruit flavour is so strong! Instead of the light, tarty yet sweet passion fruit flavour I was expecting, the flavour was tarty and bitter. I think they added a bit too much passion fruit and forgot how acidic it was.)

Snack from Hungarian Pastry Shop, Morningside Heights, NYC, NY:

A bit of Kelly's almond horn
(Oh my god, this is always amazing.)

Snack at Levain Bakery, Harlem, NYC, NY:

Sip of Kevin's cherry seltzer
(Not really a fan.)

Chocolate chip walnut cookie (shared w/Kelly, Ben & Kevin)
(Mmm goooey. Reminds me of D.P. Dough's cookies but less oily and there's nuts. Really enjoyed this. I think I'll have to get some ice cream and make a pizookie out of this later.)

Kelly's chocolate chocolate chip cookie (ate about half)
(Ooh, also gooey and yummy. A bit too sweet and overwhelming at times, but delicious.)

Dinner at The Hummus Place, Upper West Side, NYC, NY:
*Shared everything w/Ben, Kelly & Kevin

Whole wheat & regular pita bread
(Super soft and pillowy!)

Falafels
(Pretty good falafels, but I think the ground chickpeas (or fava beans, or combination of the two) was sometimes a bit too grounded.  It fell apart pretty easily, but I really enjoyed the gritty texture.)

Roasted eggplant
(Yum. I thought it was perfectly roasted.)

Stuffed grape leaves
(I normally love stuffed grape leaves, but I wasn't too keen on the flavours of this one.)

Tahini hummus
(Super creamy! All the hummus were already creamy, but the tahini sauce just brought the creaminess to a whole new level. So amazing.)

Mushroom hummus
(I didn't eat the mushrooms, but the hummus was good! I'm assuming it's the same hummus as the others.)

Fava hummus
(Also delicious! I thought the fava beans gave the hummus a bit of Southwestern flair. One of my favourites.)

Masabacha hummus
(Mmm. Chickpeas galore. Also good, but chickpeas on chickpeas essentually just tasted like chickpeas.)

The entire hummus platter!
(Aw, Marie, I kept wishing I could send you some! We definitely should make a NYC trip during our senior year!)

Kadaif: bird's nest pastry topped w/vanilla infused ricotta cheese, Halva shreds & honey date sauce
(Oh my god, this is amazing. Slightly fried noodles of some sort topped with creamy yet light cheese and the perfect amount of syrup? Perfect! I loved how the pastry was crunchy and dissolvablly soft at the same time. God this was so good!)