For breakfast, my friend and I walked over to the Chocolate Spoon bakery in the neighborhood. It's a Brazilian place, believe it or not. She wanted to get Brazilian cheese break to eat with her coffee. I ended up getting a fresh-out-of-the-oven ham and cheese pastry.
Here's the cheese bread. It looks like a lumpy biscuit.
But inside, there is a white cheese that just melts away in your mouth. Quite tasty!Not sure what kind of cheese it is though. Bad foodie.
This time, N and I went out to the city while L stayed home with their dogs. We passed by the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy (it's a week long).
Since I didn't really have an agenda, we just walked around. Since we were in Little Italy, N wanted to buy some pecorino cheese at this place, Di Palo's.
Once you step in, you take a number. Hers was 93. They were on 78, but the lind seemed to be moving quickly. I believe this place was on some program about NYC on the Food Network because it seemed familiar to me. There are all kinds of dried/cured meats hanging from the ceiling. Ham, sausage...you name it. The shop is quite small and it was very crowded. I looked up this place on yahoo later that night and found out that DiPalo's is family run and owned and is known for their excellent customer service. Even if the line is out the door, the employees treat you like you are the only one in the store. They really do pay attention to you and you alone.
My friend wanted to get some pecorino cheese. The guy brought out two different types and explained, in great detail, the difference between the cheeses. He also gave her some samples as well as for me too. I was hanging out behind her trying to be inconspicuous, but I was impressed that he offered me some cheese as well. The first cheese we tried was really good - but the second cheese was even better. He explained that there was a grainy texture because the curds are chopped up during the cheese making process. My friend bought a little of both. Sold!
We were on our way to the Lower East Side but had to pass through a section of Chinatown, where we saw this Durian stand.
The vendor was cutting a piece out for a customer. I wasn't close enough to smell it. I still have bad memories of the time I tasted a durian popsicle ($1.99 for a box of 4 at Ranch 99). I wanted to scrape my tongue with sandpaper after that briefly horrific taste. Mind you, the durian popsicle flavor probably was a watered down version of what it really tasted like too. To me, it tasted like rotten onions. Shudder.
After some wandering in the Lower East Side, we chanced upon this place...
Kampuchea is a fairly new Cambodian restaurant. The decor was bar height dark wooden tables with tall square stools.
The menu was very short, sweet, and to the point. They serve small plates style here.
My friend ordered the Cambodian Savory Crepe. The filling was catfish, ground peppercorn, ground sesame seed and tofu. It came with a side of lettuce and cilantro along with a dipping sauce with peanuts reminiscent of
nuoc cham.
I, on the other hand, ordered the Chilled Flat Noodle which was served with seared chili tiger shrimp, crispy pork belly (there's that pork again), chives, cucumber, lettuce hearts, mint, sliced red onions, and hoisin sauce. The sauce was pooled on the sides (you can see it at the bottom) of the bowl. The toppings covered the medium width rice noodles. It reminded me of bun but without the chopped vegetables on the bottom of the bowl. This was a refreshing dish, especially since it was a super hot day (heatwave!).
We shared our dishes. I really liked how my shrimp was seasoned and my friend's catfish wasn't so bad either. I'm not really a big fan of catfish but this time, it didn't taste like mud! The portions were also just right. Not so overwhelming but not insubstantial either.
I was determined to go to at least one place on my list of "must eat" places. I was kind of bummed the other day when Lombardi's was too crowded, but my disappointment was short lived because of that awesome street pizza. So...we headed over to Il Laboratorio del Gelato which is on Orchard Street, and also, right next to a museum dedicated to the history of the tenements of this particular neighborhood. Okay, this gelato place had a long ass line. In fact, we waited 30 minutes in this line! Lotus recommended this place in one of her blog posts and Robyn from "The Girl Who Ate Everything" blog raves about this place...
Former tenements across the street from Il Lab...
There really is a lab in there. It's a tiny store front but there is some serious gelato making in the back! With this place, you can't really see the list of flavors until you get right up to the window. I think it would be better if there was a posted list outside so people could make up their minds ahead of time what flavor they want.
Sucky picture...but here's the gelato and sorbet bins beckoning me:
My friend had the Espresso and Green Tea. One cone with two flavors $3.25.
My cone was Blackberry and Pear. All four flavors were awesome! Especially my pear! You could see and taste real pear flecks in it. Although it was so damn hot and the wait seemed interminable, it was worth it!!!
For breakfast, my friend and I walked over to the Chocolate Spoon bakery in the neighborhood. It's a Brazilian place, believe it or not. She wanted to get Brazilian cheese break to eat with her coffee. I ended up getting a fresh-out-of-the-oven ham and cheese pastry.
Here's the cheese bread. It looks like a lumpy biscuit.
But inside, there is a white cheese that just melts away in your mouth. Quite tasty!Not sure what kind of cheese it is though. Bad foodie.
This time, N and I went out to the city while L stayed home with their dogs. We passed by the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy (it's a week long).
Since I didn't really have an agenda, we just walked around. Since we were in Little Italy, N wanted to buy some pecorino cheese at this place, Di Palo's.
Once you step in, you take a number. Hers was 93. They were on 78, but the lind seemed to be moving quickly. I believe this place was on some program about NYC on the Food Network because it seemed familiar to me. There are all kinds of dried/cured meats hanging from the ceiling. Ham, sausage...you name it. The shop is quite small and it was very crowded. I looked up this place on yahoo later that night and found out that DiPalo's is family run and owned and is known for their excellent customer service. Even if the line is out the door, the employees treat you like you are the only one in the store. They really do pay attention to you and you alone.
My friend wanted to get some pecorino cheese. The guy brought out two different types and explained, in great detail, the difference between the cheeses. He also gave her some samples as well as for me too. I was hanging out behind her trying to be inconspicuous, but I was impressed that he offered me some cheese as well. The first cheese we tried was really good - but the second cheese was even better. He explained that there was a grainy texture because the curds are chopped up during the cheese making process. My friend bought a little of both. Sold!
We were on our way to the Lower East Side but had to pass through a section of Chinatown, where we saw this Durian stand.
The vendor was cutting a piece out for a customer. I wasn't close enough to smell it. I still have bad memories of the time I tasted a durian popsicle ($1.99 for a box of 4 at Ranch 99). I wanted to scrape my tongue with sandpaper after that briefly horrific taste. Mind you, the durian popsicle flavor probably was a watered down version of what it really tasted like too. To me, it tasted like rotten onions. Shudder. 
After some wandering in the Lower East Side, we chanced upon this place...
Kampuchea is a fairly new Cambodian restaurant. The decor was bar height dark wooden tables with tall square stools. 
The menu was very short, sweet, and to the point. They serve small plates style here.
My friend ordered the Cambodian Savory Crepe. The filling was catfish, ground peppercorn, ground sesame seed and tofu. It came with a side of lettuce and cilantro along with a dipping sauce with peanuts reminiscent of nuoc cham.
I, on the other hand, ordered the Chilled Flat Noodle which was served with seared chili tiger shrimp, crispy pork belly (there's that pork again), chives, cucumber, lettuce hearts, mint, sliced red onions, and hoisin sauce. The sauce was pooled on the sides (you can see it at the bottom) of the bowl. The toppings covered the medium width rice noodles. It reminded me of bun but without the chopped vegetables on the bottom of the bowl. This was a refreshing dish, especially since it was a super hot day (heatwave!). 
We shared our dishes. I really liked how my shrimp was seasoned and my friend's catfish wasn't so bad either. I'm not really a big fan of catfish but this time, it didn't taste like mud! The portions were also just right. Not so overwhelming but not insubstantial either.
I was determined to go to at least one place on my list of "must eat" places. I was kind of bummed the other day when Lombardi's was too crowded, but my disappointment was short lived because of that awesome street pizza. So...we headed over to Il Laboratorio del Gelato which is on Orchard Street, and also, right next to a museum dedicated to the history of the tenements of this particular neighborhood. Okay, this gelato place had a long ass line. In fact, we waited 30 minutes in this line! Lotus recommended this place in one of her blog posts and Robyn from "The Girl Who Ate Everything" blog raves about this place...
Former tenements across the street from Il Lab...
There really is a lab in there. It's a tiny store front but there is some serious gelato making in the back! With this place, you can't really see the list of flavors until you get right up to the window. I think it would be better if there was a posted list outside so people could make up their minds ahead of time what flavor they want.
Sucky picture...but here's the gelato and sorbet bins beckoning me:
My friend had the Espresso and Green Tea. One cone with two flavors $3.25.
My cone was Blackberry and Pear. All four flavors were awesome! Especially my pear! You could see and taste real pear flecks in it. Although it was so damn hot and the wait seemed interminable, it was worth it!!!
2 comments:
OMG! My mouth is watering!!!
If my mom saw this post, she'd go nuts! She was talking about how much she misses durian fruit! She's going to the Philippines in a month (for three months until I give birth...and then she'd BETTER get herself back here! LOL!). I'm sure she'll be making me jealous with all the Filipino food she'll be eating there! I swear, the last time we were in the Philippines, I gained 10 lbs in 3 weeks!!!! Longsilog for 47 pesos?!?! OMG!!
P.S. I'm totally NOT a fan of durian. I don't like the taste of it at all. I don't know how my mom eats it. Then again, she loves green (as in VERY green) mangoes with salt on them! She even puts salt on her oranges! When we're in the Philippines, she eats stinky fish and rice (with coffee on top of the rice! It's a Batangas thing! She's from San Jose!)...and she eats like half a papaya! How that woman is so skinny, absolutely amazes me!
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