Macarons at Little Oven - LIC

I had heard about the opening of macaron bakery, Little Oven, in Long Island City and was especially excited after reading that the macarons were only $1.75. This is considerably cheaper than the macarons at Bouchon Bakery for $3 each.

Little Oven is in a tiny storefront on a less-developed stretch of Jackson Avenue – from the subway, it’s the opposite direction from the modern high-rises and more gentrified section of LIC. Once I stepped in to the bakery, I was kind of shocked at how tiny these macarons were! They are probably 1.5 times the size of a quarter! Comparing these to the gigantic macarons at Bouchon – it actually seems like Bouchon might be a better value!

I got matcha, pistachio, caramel fleur de sel (their most popular selling flavor), and dark chocolate. These are the descriptions from their website:

• Matcha: Green tea macarons filled with a green tea and white chocolate ganache
• Pistachio: Almond macarons filled with a pistachio and white chocolate ganache
• Caramel Fleur de Sel: Almond macarons sprinkled with fleur de sel salt and filled with a caramel fleur de sel cream
• Dark Chocolate: Chocolate macarons filled with rich dark chocolate

One of my favorite flavors in any dessert I try is pistachio so I started off with this.

I loved it! While the pistachio flavor wasn't too strong, it is pretty nutty. The almond in the macaron makes up for it. I was also a little hesitant after I saw that it was white chocolate cream inside - I generally think white chocolate is overly sweet, but it wasn't a problem with this macaron at all. I actually enjoyed this a LOT more than the pistachio macaron from Bouchon Bakery, which I thought was way too sweet. The texture of this macaron was also a lot better - it was very moist, while I found the macaron from Bouchon to be too crumbly (although I had gotten it later in the day so perhaps it had dried out a little as the day went on).

I also really enjoyed the dark chocolate macaron - it was very rich, but somehow not heavy at all. I enjoyed the macarons at Little Oven, but I'm still not entirely sold on them given the price. Maybe for people who are more of a macaron fan than I am.

Little Oven: 12-07 Jackson Ave (btwn 47th Rd & 48th Ave), Long Island City, NY.

Testaccio - Long Island City

I've been meaning to try out Testaccio since it opened last year and I read about it in this New York Times article: In New York Restaurants, the Rise of Rome. I hadn't gotten around to it though because when I looked at the menu prices, their pastas and second courses were all around $15-25. I just can't bring myself to pay those prices when I'm looking for a casual bite in my neighborhood. I have a mental barrier that, for $20+, it should be for a nice meal in Manhattan. However, I had a friend come visit me in LIC for lunch one day. I was craving Thai food at Tuk Tuk, but he wanted Italian, especially after I told him that the restaurant had been written up in the NYT. Testaccio it was!

When we walked into the restaurant, I was absolutely blown away by how gorgeous the interior was! They have a gorgeous wine wall/display that separates the main dining area from the seating on the second floor, and really nice chandeliers as well. You would definitely not expect to walk into a restaurant like this off of Vernon Blvd in Long Island City. It would seem more suited for Soho or Meatpacking.

The food also did not disappoint. The prices at brunch were a lot more reasonable than their prices at dinner. The bread basket alone made me happy - breadsticks, focaccia and regular rolls. The focaccia was warm and fresh (I hate when restaurants give cold bread baskets!) and I had to stop myself from filling up on that before our food came. I ordered the bucatini all'amatriciana (hollow spaghetti with guanciale, spicy tomato sauce & pecorino, $11), a nostalgic favorite from my study abroad days in Italy. It tasted exactly like I remembered from Florence.

We also got the "Pizza con i funghi" with tomato, mozzarella, cremini, shitake & porcini mushrooms ($12). The crust was very thin and crispy. I'm not a super huge fan of pizzas, but I enjoyed it.

I was already stuffed from the bread, pasta, and pizza, however my friend insisted that I order my favorite dessert, tiramisu...and really, he has the best ideas because this was definitely the star of the meal. When the dessert came out like this, we were extremely confused. The waiter chuckled at our expressions as he explained that it was a "do it yourself" dessert - you take the ladyfingers and dip it in the mascarpone sauce with bitter cocoa & the cup of espresso coffee next to it. I love interactive stuff and playing with food - so my friend and I loved this. Each component was also extremely well made.

I didn't notice it at the time, but the menu actually lists this dessert as "tiramisu fai da te," so it tells you that it is DIY.

The service at Testaccio was also really nice. About halfway through our meal, we were the only table at the restaurant and it was really nice having the restaurant to ourselves! This is a new neighborhood favorite of mine!

I'm back! with tons of FOOD!

In this day and age, living without internet is extremely inconvenient! But I was determined to not fall into the trap of Comcast, so I chose to live in the stone age for awhile. Thus, I was not able to blog about my gluttonous activities for quite a while. But now I'm back to civilization. However, it's been so long since I took these pictures, I have very vague memories of the meals. So I'm just going to post it all in one giant brunch edition post.

44 & X - 622 10th Ave, New York, NY 10036


My opinion:

This place is definitely my go to brunch spot. Ambiance is very bright and pretty, with a fresh rose on every table. (The bathroom is magnificently decorated with candles and roses!) The cute waiters wear tight t-shirts that say "Heaven in Hell" (lol, get it?), food is solid, AND instead of bread, you get muffins and jam.

Good Enough To Eat - 483 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024



Review: The highlight of this meal was the strawberry butter! I could eat that stuff all day every day. Other than that, this place is pretty ordinary in my opinion. The restaurant is pretty small and for some reason it's very popular. So prepare to wait in line to be seated.

Thanksgiving Dinner - Home, NYC, cooked by roomie

Ever seen how brussel sprouts grow naturally?
$1.99 per STALK at the grocery store in Chelsea Market. It's a Thanksgiving miracle! Picture shown half "de-sprouted." Roasted in the oven with oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Addictingly delish!
Lobster Thermidor. Lobster purchased from Fresh Direct. So fresh that after being in the fridge for 3 nights and 2 days it was still alive! Poor lobster, thank you for providing us sustenance.

Cornish Hen stuffed with apple stuffing? Raw hen and mashed potatoes in background both from Fresh Direct. Apple stuffing - randomly made up.
A view of our humble but fulfilling thanksgiving feast.

Cafe Henri - 1010 50th Ave, Long Island City, NY 11109



Review:
Lol, as you can see, I was too busy eating that I forgot to take a pic of the escargot until there was only 1 left! I love that there is a good brunch spot right in LIC. So those days when I'm too lazy to commute into the city, I can enjoy a relaxing meal just a few steps away from home. The food here is pretty typical of what you'd think of when you say brunch. I thought the savory crepes were quite special and not something you can find in ever NYC brunch spot. We went during a cold winter morning, so the hot chocolate was especially inviting. They present it in such a large cup! The one I got has Grand Marnier mixed in. It actually became a bit too bitter for me to handle, I would have preferred something lighter and sweeter. But I have the commend their service. I asked for my left over hot chocolate to go and they gave me a piping hot cup of it. So they must have either heated it up again, or gave me a brand new cup! It was very thoughtful.

Uncle Ben's Chili Bowl- 1213 U St NW, Washington, DC 20009Review:
Uncle Ben's Chili Bowl is a DC food institution. It's beloved by everyone from Bill Cosby to Barack Obama, who are the only people allowed to receive free food from this chili joint. The restaurant is right next to the metro exit and very easy to find as it has a patchwork multi colored bear randomly sitting outside. Due to its popularity, its almost always crowded and being inside can be a bit claustrophobic. We ordered a half smoke and some chili fries. To be honest, the chili was tasty but I did not think it was extraordinary. The half smoke hot dog with chili is definitely a better choice than the chili fries which just weighed you down.

M. Wells - 21-17 49th Ave, Queens, NY 11101

Review:
This place was quite a shocking contrast for me. It's located in a pretty isolated area in the industrial section of Long Island City. It's basically an old fashion diner cart plopped on the side walk of an everlasting construction area. There is very little seating due to the size limits of the restaurant and nearly no space to wait your turn. The plus is that in such a small area, there is nowhere to hid the kitchen, so you can basically watch your food being made. The menu itself is quite different than expected. It includes upscale restaurant faves such as bone marrow and foie gras. I ordered the Biscuit and Jam and was surprised at what I received. Visually, it looked like a mess. But the apple sauce like raspberry "jam" was quite delish and refreshing. We were served our order of steamed eggs with bonito flakes in a cute little cauldron. I especially enjoyed this dish since it reminded me of the steamed eggs my mom made for me when I was still living at home. I have to say, I've only seen this dish in Chinese and Korean restaurants, so it was pretty unexpected for me to find it at M. Wells. That bone marrow you see? Hides a couple of escargots underneath all that marrow! From our entrees, the one that stood out the most was the lobster roll. It was decently sized and you can taste each bite of the fresh lobster meat. The one I enjoyed least was my breakfast sausage. I really just picked it for the "pickled jalapenos" that was on it, bad idea. It was too heavy for breakfast. Overall, I felt this place was a bit overrated. True it has a creative menu, but the taste was just not there for me to make that trek out to this part of town again.