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On the Other Side of the Michelada

I never had a Michelada until I was intrigued by somebody drinking one while I was at Caracas’ Williamsburg location. For those of you that don’t know, a michelada is a beer cocktail composed of (obviously) beer, lime juice and assorted spices, salts, peppers, sauces served in a salt-rimmed glass. A seemingly bizarre concoction but it sounded interesting so we decided to try it out. Caracas‘ variety of the michelada is made with pacifo beer, lemon, home-made spicy panela and salt. I don’t know who came up with this random ass idea, but micheladas are damn good!

The above photos were taken at Barrio Chino while playing around with the camera. In each photo you see the other’s drink! Barrio Chino’s Michelada is made with a beer of your choice, Worcestershire, lime juice, and a salt crusted rim. I went for a Negra Modelo and Gao Di shot for Sol. The Negra Modelo version was awesome- I wasn’t sure what to expect from a michelada with a dark beer but it was super tasty. Gao Di was a little less pleased with the Sol. Barrio Chino also has really good food that I’ll be posting about later on….

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L’Ecole, French Culinary Institute Meal in Pictures

This is what a meal at the French Culinary Institute’s restaurant, L’Ecole, looks like.

Standouts: Pork belly appetizer was deliciously fatty. Lamb chop was amazing. Beer flight was a great run through different beer flavors.

For photos of the rest of the meal go through the jump… (more…)

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Giant Marshmallow in City Bakery’s Hot Chocolate

Went here a few weeks back planning on getting some special flavor of Hot Chocolate, but upon our arrival, The City Bakery had run out! City Bakery is quite large and when we went it was packed with people. There is a seating around the perimeter of the establishment as well as a second level seating area. Tons of marshmallows hang from the ceiling as decoration. Very cool, but what a waste of delicious marshmallows!

With the special flavor out of stock we settled for a large ‘regular’ hot chocolate with a giant marshmallow which, I believe, came out to $6 dollars. That’s a heavy price for hot chocolate, but this hot chocolates is rich. Creamy, thick/heavy/rich chocolate-y amazing. We definitely didn’t need a large… and that was for two people. We barely made it to the end of the cup because it was so heavy, but it’s deliciousness had me choking it down. The marshmallow itself was amazing. Really nicely malleable and almost melts in the mouth. These guys do hot chocolate right. We also ordered a chocolate zucchini cake, and although I didn’t really taste much of the zucchini, it was pretty good.

City Bakery’s regular menu features some tasty looking sandwiches, varieties of chicken, and a very appealing mac & cheese. The prices are a little bit up there, but maybe at some point I’ll give their food a try, although if I stop by here I’ll end up with a hot chocolate and not need anything else. Mmm. Perfect for a cold day!

The City Bakery is located at 3 W 18th St between 5th and 6th ave

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In Search of Ice-Cream Sandwiches

So, this dates back to September but I didn’t have this lil’ blog disaster then so I figured it’d be a good place to proclaim my deep love for It’s-It ice cream sandwiches.

We saw a recommendation from Time Out New York for a little bar in Park Slope called Pacific Standard. In the brief description it was mentioned that there were great ice cream sandwiches to enjoy with a beer (accompanied by a mouth-watering photo).

Gao Di and I set out on a Saturday with ice cream sandwiches on the brain. We first ended up at a random indoor German beer garden, the name now escapes me. We shared a brat and some beer and then stumbled into Habana Outpost for some more beer and their delicious corn, mmm.

Eventually we found our intended destination, Pacific Standard. The bar was a lot more low-key than I had been expecting. It was rather large and pretty empty. That being said, it was a lazy Saturday around 4pm. Here’s where I got a little confused. All along I had been assuming that the ice-cream sandwiches were fresh made at the bar, but staring at the menu I learned that they were actually It’s-It Ice cream sandwiches… from San Francisco!

A little upset that they weren’t made in-house, I still ordered one. Gotta stick to the plan!

The IT’S-IT ice-cream sandwich is a scoop of ice cream (mint in this chase), sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies and covered in dark chocolate. It is amazing. MMMMMM. And great with a beer! If you take a look at It’s-It’s website you even can get a box shipped over to you but it’s expensive and the absolute opposite of cost-effective, so if you are in New York, head over to Park Slope and experience an It’s-It.

We passed out in the train on our way home and ended up in K-Town where we indulged even further.

Sundubu yes…..

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Beerlao Dark – Try this beer.

I had the pleasure of trying Beerlao Dark during Peep’s happy hour. My first introduction to Beerlao was with their lager at Bia Garden. The lager is good but a dark Beerlao is great. Its flavor is dark but not heavy, and although it comes from Laos, it reminds me of my favorite Czech darks like Kozel and Krušovice. Anything that channels memories of Kozel = awesome. Beerlao, I approve!

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A Taste of Britain at Tea & Sympathy (not for your wallet)

Yesterday I went Tea & Sympathy in the West Village on Greenwich Ave (by 13th st). The restaurant is small and cozy, seating only 23 people, with lots of floral prints and patterns on all the tupperware and tables. Always a cheap-ass, I was worried about the restaurant’s pseudo-premium price point but Tea & Sympathy delivers!

We got the lamb shepherd’s pie and bangers, bacon and beans. The shepherd’s pie was deliciously lamb-y and accompanied by a side of peas. The bangers, bacon and beans came with warm toast that was so tasty. We might have overdid it on the meat, but who doesn’t love meat? While the dishes didn’t look particular big I was sufficiently stuffed after our two entrees (both pricing in around $14.95).

After our meal we followed up with a pot of Tea & Sympathy’s Rosie Lee tea (for two at, I think, $10.75). The pot was huge, with more tea than I could drink in one meal, but really soothing after binging on a meat festival.

If you like English food, go to Tea & Sympathy. You might feel like you’re paying pound (£) prices, but you get generous portions and the feeling of sitting in your British friend’s house and getting his mom’s home-cooking.

Their tea-time specials look delicious. The “Afternoon Tea for One” comes with an assortment of fancy finger foods (scones with clotted cream and jam, finger sandwiches, cakes and a pot of tea) at $35.00. Unwilling to shell out the money I jealously watched other diners enjoying this seemingly wonderful mix of foods (pictured below).

Also, their desserts are delicious. Try their sticky toffee pudding in warm custard. MMMMM!

pictures stolen from internet