Caracas

You want good Arepas in the city, yeah they are not in Astoria.

http://www.caracasarepabar.com/index_2.php

I have a friend who is from Venezuela and he says that these are like the one from home.

They have a restaurant and then a to go place next door closer to 1st.

The problem with this place is that it always has a line, and the wait is always about 30 mins even for take out and all the Arepas are above 6 dollars, which being a Cali kid seem like to much for to little food. Nevertheless if you are with friends, you are payign for the experience and you can order it and then go to one of a few parks. Thompkins Park is just around the Corner, but if you want dessert later I would recommend to go to St Marks Church on 2 and 10th. It may be a longer walk but you are around a lot of ice scream places after that. There is a no dairy ice scream shop which tastes like jelato :) just across the street.

I digress while in Caracas try the A4 - La Guayanesa 6.50 the cheese is so good.

Also try the Tamarind water, I grew up with it and it is perhaps my favorite "Agua Fresca".

Image from the web :) someday I will get my own.

Battle Ramen

Who hasn't had Ramen before? please stand up! please stand up!

Ok, no one stood up...

Two ramen places in NYC came highly recommended - Ramen Setagaya and Rai-Rai Ken

Rai rai ken is a hole in a wall restaurant with ONLY 14 seats. The moment you enter this place, you feel immediately transferred to Japan. Ramen setagaya, on the other hand, has two locations in the city.

I went to Setagaya last week and rai rain ken two days ago. Two ramens in a week, it is time to write my review.

The most important ingredient in Ramen is the soup and I think both places are quite solid although Rai rai ken's soup has more intense flavor than Setagaya, which can only mean two things....a) they use better ingredients, b) they added more artificial flavoring. The second most important ingredient is the ramen (direct translation: pulled noodle). I think setagaya noodle has better texture than rai rai ken. However, I would love to one day have freshly made Japanese ramen.

As for the complete eating experience, Rai Rai ken definitely wins, because of the setting. Setagaya is good too but you are looking at St. Marks street's pedestrian (define it however you want).

The holy grail of Japanese ramen in NYC is Ippudo Ramen. I have never been. There is a 30-60 minutes wait at any given time. Ippudo better blow rai rai ken and setagaya FAR FAR AWAY to justify that wait.

Hoomoos Asli

I'm always looking for new lunch options around my office. One of my go-to blogs is Lunch with Front Studio, which blogs lunch and a 4pm snack every weekday and has been a fantastic source of ideas. Yesterday, looking for someplace new, healthy, and close, I checked out Hoomoos Asli on their recommendation. I tried the hoomoos sandwich (above), which was delicious and cheap at only $3.65. My friend had the falafel sandwich, which included the same ingredients as mine (hummus, Israeli salad, fresh warm pita), with the addition of some tasty falafel. They weren't too dry, as falafel sometime are, and when I go back, I'm definitely getting that sandwich. Their house-made mint lemonade is not to be missed.

100 Kenmare Street
(between Cleveland Pl & Elizabeth St)

Cafe Rio in Utah

The ONLY place, I was told, people in Utah go for Mexican food
is at Cafe Rio. It is a chain that has sprout all over Utah. According
to the locals, every Cafe Rio is packed from open to close.  I believe them based on what I witnessed at this place. People who works there are super friendly, and energetic. Everyone seems excited being there. You wait in line to get your food (like Chipotle) and there are plenty of comfortable tables and seats for you to enjoy. There were probably 8 people working behind the food line working in sync like a production chain.

Cafe Rio's signature and award winning dish is their Pork Burrito.
I skipped the burrito and had a Pork Taco as well as a steak taco. The pork is sweet, which was unexpected, too sweet for my preference. The steak, however, is delicious.

Chick-FiIl-A

Everyone from the South or has been to the South claimed that Chick-Fil-A has the best chicken sandwich.  Chick-Fil-A founder claimed that they invented the chicken sandwich.

Yep, I have to agree. Pretty darn good sandwich.

Chicken and Waffle on the same plate?? (Lola's chicken & waffle in Phoenix)

Is this just me being a foreigner that have never spend time in the South? Or is this something 'different'?

Check out the picture bellow 

How are you suppose to eat this? A friend jokingly suggested that I should cut the chicken into pieces and place it on the waffle, pour the maple syrup on the chicken and eat the whole thing like a chicken sandwich. Yuck? Yummy?

Well, that's not how I ate in anyways...I ate them separately. As for most fried chicken, this fried chicken is good. Crunchy outside, juicy inside. The waffle (there were two pieces actually)? eh..just a waffle. Never had Clinton Street Bakery Waffle, suppose to be amazing. Really?

Washed everything down with Southern sweet tea. This is for Sarah Davis...really that much different from McD's sweet tea? I can't tell. To me, it is tea with lots of sugar.

Deming's take on In-N-Out

As you guys know, I was in Phoenix and Utah for combine 10 days. One of the main thing I did during this trip is to 'eat'. Home cooked or at a restaurant. It will be too much for me to list down everything that I ate but here are same samples.

First off, In and Out.  This was my first time eating at In and Out. I had to do it to put to rest my internal debate on who has the best burger. My verdict? Shake shack beats In and Out, Burger Joint and Petey's (Antelmo's new favorite in Astoria). In terms of taste, I would put the latter three in the same category. Shake Shack is just different in the texture of the meat, and the 'special' sauce. Shake shack meat is juicer too. People have complained that Shake Shack burger bun is often soggy. You know why? It is because of the juice from the meat!! Now that debate is over for me...time to move on...(disclaimer: I fully respect people who prefer other burger venture)

A Piece of Mexico

Tamales

All over the city!!!!

GO READ ABOUT IT

and Mexican ingredients :).
READ ON HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN !!!