Tierras Colombianas & Omonia Bakery

My flight to NY was, thankfully, uneventful despite some slight turbulence due to thunderstorms. I was kinda worried while in the lavatory and it was rocking! Ha ha. It was already raining upon my arrival here. I took a taxi by myself for the first time. The driver must have had an earpiece on or something. He was talking to someone in his native tongue for the entire trip. A bit unnerving. But I was dropped off safely at my friends' place in Astoria. My friend N is on her way back to NY after being in China for nearly a week for work.

For dinner, her husband and I went to Tierras Colombianas, which is a Colombian restaurant in their neighborhood. It was just a few blocks away.

Both of us had apple soda - the brand was called 'Postobon' and each can contains 44 grams of sugar! Whoa. The apple soda was pink too. The one brand they sell in San Diego (it's a Mexican brand, forgot the name) is yellowish brown. Not very appetizing looking.

My friend L had the Milanesa, the Breaded Beef Steak. His plate had the meat with rice and beans, plantains. The rice and beans were served on a separate oval plate while the main entree was placed on top of salad (iceberg lettuce). As mentioned earlier, I didn't finish my food so I may just be eating it for breakfast tomorrow. Healthy.

I ordered the Bandeja Campesina (the Country Plate). Actually, I wanted the Bandeja Montanera (the Mountain Plate) initially, but the waiter thought I would like steak instead of chopped beef. Like a sucker, I upgraded my plate. I wasn't planning to eat all the food anyways. The Country Plate consisted of Carne Asada (not the Mexican style), Chicharron (this was a thick ass slice of fried pork with the crunchy skin, the fat and the meat attached), arroz, frijoles, maduros (plantains), arepa (a corn cake), huevo (one over easy egg), and aguacate (avocado). Yes! That's a lot of food!

The beef steak was sliced really thin and it looked and tasted really good. However, I only had 2 bites because I really wanted to eat the chicharron!!! It reminded me a little of lechon kawali. Good stuff! I barely made a dent in the rice and beans though. The arepa was too hard and dry. Not very tasty. I didn't know I was going to get an over easy egg which lay uneaten. The avocado was not of the Haas variety. It was a quite a large slice and had thin green outer skin. That pork though...Fkn' A!

After dinner, L suggested a nearby bakery just down the street - Omonia Bakery (it's Greek).

Desserts...

I bought two slices of cake - Both were chocolate but one slice had layers with chocolate and Grand Marnier while the other was all chocolate mousse. Super sweet. I think I only had a few bites of my slice. The fridge is now their home.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be a little better. Just scattered showers but it will still be humid. Not sure what the plans are for tomorrow. Maybe Lombardi's (the first pizza place in NYC) or Cendrillon (Filipino fusion place in SoHo) or ???

Gotta get some rest.