Street Eats: International Food Festival 2011

I apologize for not posting this up sooner for those that wanted to attend the festival.

This past weekend, the only weekend of the year that the International Food Festival was held. I missed it all the other years so I was super excited to go to this years. The festival stretches from 42nd street to 57th street, a wide span of 15 blocks worth of food and activities (more on the food side).

I'm warning you all, this is going to be one heavy post of photos so bare with me!

J and I decided to work our way downtown, therefore we started our journey from 57th street. Quite convenient since I need to get a book from Borders and Columbus Circle was just 2 blocks away! Anyways, starting from atop was a lot better since there weren't much people. In a right person's mind, they would start down south and work their way up but my mind isn't always right. I was hungry for food so we scrounge around quick to find something to munch on.

We love empanadas but this was so different from the last time we had it. Shouldn't have gotten chicken because beef was so much better. It was oily, but oily goodness.

Crazy turkey drums. I'm quite PO-ed that I didn't get this. We wanted to purchase it from this vendor but he said he's out of gas/coal so his turkeys ain't cooking. I pushed it off til later to get it as we walk further down but by the time we got down there, I was full so that was a total fail. I assure you, next IFF I will definitely get the drum first even if it fills me up!

Red light, green light, one two three?
J and I absolutely love the green lemonade. It's so rare to find vendors with the green one because they usually just sell the yellow and pink one. The green one is actually lime, so the taste is quite different. To me, it's not quite as tart.

I saw this stand and was completely in awe. I love fried food and I love seafood. They even had raw oysters that they shuck on site for you. Whole lobsters for $8 and even soft shell crabs, I was in total bliss heaven.

Somewhere down the road we got a Kobe Beef Slider, a little bland but I love the thickness of the burger. They need to have salt and pepper at the stands rather than ketchup and mustard.

Yay to free popcorn! They let you try some, so just pour a hand full in your hands and chow down. It was extra soft, light, and crispy at the same time. Love me some fresh caramel popcorn.

Random pig just chillin' out and waiting to be taken apart and devour by human carnivores.

I don't know why but I was totally surprised that Red Hook was here. After having Luke's Lobster, I do want to try the other well-known lobster shacks out there, Red Hook being one of them. And what's better than having Red Hook come to us rather than us going to them. We got the Maine style instead of the Connecticut because what's the big deal with mayo? I do prefer Connecticut style since it's a lot more cleaner with only butter. Kudos to them for giving us so much lobster meat.

Kyotofu, so cute. We always end up getting something from them even though we know how it taste and all. They usually never really come up with anything "new" so that's the only downside. I mean we don't crazy love their sweets but it's good to munch on them once in a while. Plus, it was only $2.

Alright, here I go regretting that I didn't get something again. We got the Gator sausage but what I really wanted was the crawfish boil for only $12! I'm still sulking over it. But it's ok, the sausage was pretty good. Loaded with spices you would expect from a Cajun place and that mustard totally worked well with it.

So, that concludes my adventure through 9th Ave. And, no that is not J and me dead center.
I'm quite shocked at how little people there are this year at the festival, maybe people didn't know about it? Overall, the weather was good. I don't like hot sunny days where there are tons of people pushing around to get food. If you missed this year's IFF, there is always next year so look out for that.

International Food Festival
42-57 Street
9 Avenue

Street Eats: Hester Street Fair

The Hester Street Fair just opened this past weekend. J and I went on the day of opening which was probably a mistake since there were a lot of people and the weather was literally hot. I was quite excited knowing that the fair will have food and was also curious as to what kind of vendors will be there.

The entrance was quite tight as were the walkways within the fair. Surprisingly small for a fair because within minutes you were just stuck in place and can't move a muscle. There were endless vendors, maybe over 30? Anything from food to clothes, and there was a live band playing for your muse.

First stop, Mighty Balls. No idea what the hype was about but the line was reaching all the way out the gate. Where there is a line, there is good food. Basically, you choose your meat (beef/pork/veggie), then on goes the sauce, and then either slider, hero, or just the balls.

I had just the pork balls with "not just your average brown sauce" along with cheese (extra $1). It was mediocre, maybe it was because they had to cook this quick or just reheat it but it was just average. The sauce on the other hand was quite nice, I would have liked it better if my mozzarella cheese had melted.

J opted for a slider with beef meatball along with the saucey Jamaican and onion sauce, plus he thew on blue cheese. I liked the slider a lot more and the onions gave the entire slider a bit of texture. The sauce was on the spicy side, just to let ya'll know.

J wasn't really happy with his little slider so he scrounged around to find more food. There were tacos, crepes, lobster rolls, but we wanted to try the Beef Po'Boy at Cheeky Sandwiches. I'm so glad we got this because it was so good. The bread was lightly toasted with marinated beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. This was worth the $5 plus there was no line (I wonder why).

So, before we left we remember to stop by this vendor.

The Shaved Ice Shop. Again, $5 for all that. You can choose up to 3 toppings and have your choice of ice cream, topped off with sweetened condensed milk and you're in heaven. It was perfect for the day since it was getting quite hot.

The fair will be there until summer is over so don't worry about it not being there. It also opens from 10am-6pm so you can grab breakfast, lunch, brunch, and early dinner!

Hester Street Fair
Hester St & Essex St
New York, NY 10002

Flex Mussels

I'm so excited that it's May already. The weather has been nice the past few weeks which makes eating out a lot more enjoyable. J had found out about this place a while back and since I love seafood, it was perfect!

It's an all-you-can-eat mussels fiesta. Surprisingly, the price is only $20 but there's a time limit and only 3 different broths you can choose from. The special starts at 5:30 and ends at 7pm. Along with the mussels you get fries as your side and a glass of beer.

The neighborhood was quite nice. And those cherry blossom trees makes it look that much more inviting.

Fried Oysters

The pot of mussels were pretty huge. There are 3 different broths like I said before, Classic, Dijon, and Fra Diavolo. All 3 are absolutely delicious, my favorite would be the Classic. Call me bland but it tasted so simple and fresh. The fries are good also, perfectly seasoned with salt and there's ketchup to accompany it.

Flex Donuts

For dessert, we had their donuts. Heard they made some good ones so we gave it a try. There were so many flavors or should I say fillings? From left to right in the photo above, Fluffermutter, PBJ, Chocolate, and Strawberry Shortcake. All the way on the left is the vanilla bean dipping and that was the bomb!

Definitely an enjoyable meal. $20 for all-you-can-devour mussels plus fries was absolutely amazing. If you're a seafood lover, or a mussel lover you would love this place. They also have other amazing broth which I will be trying the next time I come. By the way, they specialize in oysters so be sure to check out their daily specials.

They have two locations, one in the West Village and the other in the Upper East Side.

Flex Mussels
154 W 13th St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 229-0222 

Weekday Lunch: Goodburger

This is my second visit to Goodburger and it doesn't disappoint. I know I can go to a fast food chain and get a burger but it's definitely not as satisfying as Goodburger's burger. Plus, my company is just two blocks away from Goodburger which gives easy access. A burger from here starts around $5-ish but with all the knick-knacks you add in the burger, it'll most likely hit around $6-7. Add a complete meal, with fries and a drink (I replaced mine with a milkshake) and that would be $10-ish. But it's great to indulge in some greasy burgers once in a while.

Fries, Burger, Milkshake

They give quite an amount of fries but it lacks texture. I mean, it's really crispy, really really crispy, maybe even hard and it lacks salt. I love salt with my fries and if it's seasoned well, then there's no need for ketchup but that's not the case with their fries. But, I do like how it was packaged - every french fry stayed inside the bag.

The vanilla milkshake was alright. Nothing too surprising. A small is definitely enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Medium-cooked, cheese, onions, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and ketchup

Call me weird but I like my mayo with ketchup, it taste almost like the Thousand Island salad dressing. I guess the one thing I really like about Goodburger would be the way they cook their burger. I asked for medium and they cooked it quite well, you can still see the pink in the center which was such a beautiful thing. A little crust on the outside and the middle of the patty was so tender. Though, I do wish they added just a tad bit more sauce and a bigger slice of cheese.

Overall, a great lunch. This is a burger, which won't ever compare to a fast food chain burger. And one more photo for good time sakes.

You can totally see the beautiful layers of the burger.

goodburger
101 Maiden Ln
Manhattan, NY 10039
(212) 797-1700 

Luke's Lobster

This actually wasn't my first time at Luke's but the Nth time. J and I went to the one in the Lower East Side tons of times but we decided to give the Upper East Side a try. Why? They had fried clams and shrimps, and anything fried will get us there in a heartbeat. It was a long trip up to the UES since we both work way below midtown.

Finally hiked to the place, a lot bigger and roomier than the one in LES. We were so excited to order but we got shot down pretty quick. They didn't have the fried items! I was in panic. Seems that they don't have the fryer anymore, and they only had it the first month when they first started opening up the place. Oh, what disappointment! But that ok, because we got our usual Noah's Ark which consists of -- 2-half lobster roll, 2-half crab rolls, 2-half shrimp rolls, 4-empress claws, 2-bags of chips, 2-bottles of beverage. And if that wasn't good enough, we wanted to try their New England Clam Chowder.

Noah's Ark

New England Clam Chowder

I think I was perfectly satisfied with or without the fried clams/shrimps. I'm sure J was also but he was still hungry afterward, men just got a big appetite. I'm telling you, once you eat at Luke's all the other lobster rolls just won't suffice. I guess it's because they don't cover their lobster in endless thick mayo. Plus, their bread is so crispy and buttered up. And, there's something about their special spice. You can find that spice in a red claw, which is apparently in the first photo above.

If you come here, you definitely won't be disappointed. By the way, their bathroom is a lot roomier than it looks and watch out for the creepy lobster photo in the bathroom!

Multiple locations, but I went to...

Luke's Lobster
242 E 81st St
New York, NY 10028
(212) 249-4241  

La Zarza Resto-Lounge

I'm a roll with using my vouchers these past few weeks. I actually bought this last year and never came around to using it because... I have no idea.

J and I finally made reservations and hauled our butts to this nice and cozy small restaurant. The interior was definitely dim and it actually reminded me of the restaurants in Cancun within the hotels. Funny thing - apparently that night we dined in was a Speed Dating night. Another funny thing - all the dudes and dudettes were Asian. A bit weird but nonetheless quite amusing. But, they were soon moved to a private room so we couldn't see anything but we did hear bells ringing for them to rotate.

Back to my dining experience...
We got our drinks quite fast. I had the Payoso Loco which tasted like Bacardi Raspberry but in an extremely red way, quite sparkling as well. But, the drinks are overpriced but they were indeed good. For appetizers, we had mussels and sweetbread. They were absolutely delicious, the mussels were very plumped and they gave a very generous amount. The sweetbread was cooked perfectly, so you wouldn't get tired of the texture and taste of it. Might I add the salad along with the sweetbreads was an amazing touch, the dressing they used (which I have no idea what) was tangy yet sweet and paired really well with the sweetbreads.

For entrees, I had the NY Strip and J had the lamb chops. I really liked his lamb chops, just because it was cooked nicely, but the mushroom risotto that came along with the dish was way too overpowering. Too cheesy and way too much of it on the bottom of the lamb. My NY strip was ginormous, but was cooked too well done when I asked for medium. I think I'll just pass on entree next time and stick with the appetizers. To end the meal, we got the Churros. Since we were at a Spanish restaurant, why not choose their churros! Fresh and crispy with chocolate dipping, not bad at all.

Mejillones De Invierno

Mollejas Con Salsa Criolla

Corderito Pampero

NY Strip

Churros

I realized that my photos under dark lighting really sucks...
I'm hoping I'll be able to get a new camera by summer, something with better focus in dark lighting or bright lighting. Any suggestions?

La Zarza Resto-Lounge
166 1st Ave
New York, NY 10009
(212) 477-1111 

SobaKoh

Refreshing as can be.
J and I came here for an early dinner. Luckily, we were only the second pair of people there. Before you enter the restaurant, take a moment to look at the chef on the right window. The chef is making fresh soba noodles on the spot. J and I sat right by the window - the only window seat there is. The restaurant is quite small with friendly staffs.

The food was surprisingly good.
The drinks could have been better.
Overall experience was great.

Octopus Carpaccio

Grilled Sea Bass

Kamonasu Soba

Snago Tempura Soba

Soba Flavored Ice Cream

It was a very satisfying meal. They give a generous amount of soba here and if you think that wouldn't fill you up, think again. I was quite amazed by the dessert, it sounded weird but tasted otherwise. There was a little crunch to it, I'm assuming it was the buckwheat seeds (probably should've asked the waitress).

Sobakoh is definitely a nice soba spot to return. By the way, don't forget to stare at the man making the soba when you leave...

SobaKoh
309 E 5th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-2244