Have you heard of the Soup Nazi?

I'd been hearing a lot about the Soup Man (a.k.a Seinfeld's Soup Nazi) from my co-workers for a good while now. Apparently the Soup Man is known for quality, hearty soups. Not being a Jerry Seinfeld fan, I couldn't quite say that I shared the same excitement as my co-workers. But the idea that this was one of the best soups to get in NYC, I thought that it was worth a try anyway. Before we left the office, there were a few things I was warned about.

1. The Soup Nazi is called the Soup Nazi for a reason. He's not pleasant and can be pretty rude to customers.
   
2. Don't bother standing in line till you know what you are ordering. If it's your turn and you don't know what you want, back of the line you go.
   
3. Make sure you have your cash ready. Patience is not the soup man's virtue.
   
4. For your patience and cooperation, you get a free roll, fruit and a Lindt Chocolate!
   

So with that in mind, I stood outside the stall and decided what I wanted before even stepping into the line. The menu changes on a daily basis and basically the shop would have at least one vegetarian, one seafood and one clear broth soup. I'd been craving lobster bisque for a good while now and was REALLY excited to see that the Soup Man had it that day! I hardly even had to consider the rest of the menu options (which, of course, I still did). So I ordered my soup (with cheddar topping.. yum!) and moved aside to wait for my order in true conveyor belt style.

 
(On a side note, I have got to say that the Soup Man has a very profitable business. Not too large overhead because it's just a shop window taking orders and placing everything to-go. No need to waste space and money with furniture or eating in. The soups are pricier than your average soup joint so I'm guessing that the company is raking in the cash). No wonder he can afford to be a Nazi.

 
But anyway… I got back to the office in eager anticipation. I mean, my co-workers have been literally raving about this place for a good while now. Those were huge expectations placed on a very small bowl of soup. I opened my soup lid and was welcomed with the nice creamy and seafoodie aroma. I'm probably not exaggerating when I say that the office perked up when the smell wafted through the area. I have to say that the picture that greeted me when I lifted that soup lid was not how I had envisioned it.

Maybe it's because I was brought up with the notion that lobster bisques are really rich and creamy, and always expected my bisque everywhere else to have that same rich creamy consistency. And I also expected the bisque to have a hint of tomato, giving the soup a slight tomato cream color. Instead I was greeted with a more green pea-mixed-with-curry kind of greenish/yellowish bisque. "Well it's probably just not what you're used to… keep an open mind" was what I thought. So with my first mouthful, I realized that I needed to banish my pre-conceived notion of what lobster bisque would always be to me. Once I did that, and not thought of the soup as what I had originally expected, it was actually rather good. Though not as creamy as I had expected, it was still a really good soup! (if you can't already tell, I love creamy soups). I can understand how they price their soups a bit more because I had big chunks of fresh lobster with every spoonful! And some of the chunks were big enough that I could tell that they came from the claw!

 
The large portion was just right for lunch on a cold fall day. I think it definitely hit the spot. Throw in a thick slice of white baguette, some strawberries, grapes and a Lindt Lindor chocolate, and you've got yourself quite a hearty lunch. I won't deny that I was a bit skeptical about having just a soup for lunch. I thought I'd be hungry by 3pm. But no, that soup proved to be very satisfying. On a cold blustery day, nothing hits the spot like a rich hot soup that warms you from the inside.

The Deliciousness that is Shopsin's

For a long time now, I've heard of Shopsin's and its seriously ridonkulous menu. (It's so huge, it may or may not have crashed my friend's computer when he tried looking at it online.) I read somewhere that after Kenny Shopsin learned how to use Adobe from his daughter, he hasn't stopped trying to cram more items onto this already monstrous menu. Btw, I certainly don't have a problem with this. My expanding stomach might, but I'm definitely loving it.

Until recently, I hadn't had the chance to go down since the restaurant is apparently a fan of keeping the strangest hours: Tues - Sat, 9am - 2pm, but a bunch of us decided it was time to make this trip, and an epic trip it was.

Important note: this place is not for people 1) who don't like waiting to get seated, 2) like to ask for the waiter's opinion (or like their waiter to be polite, period - you'll get thrown out if you flout any of their rules), or 3) care about their waistlines.

First up, we ordered the mac and cheese pancakes with chorizo.


Can you say Holy Baby Jesus?! Mac & Cheese is already amazing on its own, but throw it into fluffy light pancakes and load it up with savory, hearty chorizo? It's a friicken party in your mouth, and I'm not talking about the party you tried throwing in the basement of your mom's house while she watched Jeopardy upstairs. I'm talking about the craziest frat party you've been to, that or the wildest knitting party you've attended, whichever floats your boat.

Up next was the Junior (bbq pork, mac & cheese, scrambled eggs and toast).


The bbq pork was so juicy, it was literally sitting in its own juices. The bread was thickly sliced and served warm (with a side of jam), the mac & cheese was gooey and the scrambled eggs were made just right. Lex made a sandwich with all the components, and it oddly worked. It was cheesy, meaty, juicy and crusty all at once. Yum!


Chris ordered Mr Mitra (lamb curry, chorizo-a-roni, eggs & toast). I didn't try a lot of it, but remember the lamb being tender and very succulent. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the peas. After all, has it ever added any value to any dish?

... My point exactly.

My order was the last to arrive - the Ducky (poached eggs and sausage chunks over duck quesadillas).


I understand that eggs are easy to cook, but they're also easy to mess up (yea, I'm talking about myself - I tend to overcook the yolks), which is why I enjoyed Shopsin's. The center of the poached eggs were soft and oozy, and when it broke, it added a wonderful creaminess to the crispy quesadillas. And these quesadillas... they weren't the run-of-the-mill ones you get at every other mexican place - this one featured the cheese and duck wrapped in a flaky pastry shell.

We were stuffed by the time we were done with our entrees, but couldn't end the meal without something sweet. So we put in an order of chocolate chip ebelskivers - light puffy Danish pancakes.


Hello Gorgeous.

The ebelskivers were slightly crispy on the outside and completely dusted with warm cinnamon sugar. When I bit into it, I found it deliciously chewy and generously dotted with melted chocolate chips.

Man, talking about Shopsin's food makes me weep a little. Time to convince Lex to make another trip down.

Malaysia... Truly Asia!

Malaysian food is the BEST in the world! With the influence of Chinese, Indian and Malay cuisine, no food compares to that of Malaysian food! And so I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't share this exciting news that the Malaysian Kitchen Food Truck is in NYC!

I will definitely wax lyrical about this another time. Check out the link for the food truck's locations in Manhattan and Queens!

Whiskey... or Whisky?

So I never knew that there was a difference between Irish Whiskey and Scottish Whisky... Yes, the E really distinguishes them apart. I discovered this on a podcast that I recently subscribed to. The funny quote for the day "Ice is to whiskey the same way as ice is to the Titanic" haha I'll def keep that in mind and have my whiskey neat the next time I decide to drink a glass.

These little piggies went to market...

Earlier this year when I was still living in Philly, Alex W and I thought that it would be a wonderful idea to do a food day around NYC. I decided that New York, the food Mecca of the US, was the place that I needed to be. I packed an overnight bag and hopped on the bus, in great anticipation of the culinary adventure that lay ahead of me. It's a pity that there are only so many meals in one day. Well then again, maybe that's a good thing.

So the first stop on our food adventure was Petite Abeille, a belgian restaurant that was on Alex W's radar. Arriving for a late brunch (lunch.), Alex and I were ready to devour the place. The first thing that caught my eye was the Moules Marinieres, a fancy way of saying steamed mussels in a pot. They were cooked in a white wine and celery garlic broth, ooh la la! This took the cake in seafood appetizers!  Talk about fresh, these mussels were practically picked from the sea and placed on our tables. We were both really impressed by it, and then discovered that we could do an all-you-can-eat mussel night with a Stella Artois on Wednesdays. YUMMM...

And the best part is that they definitely do not skimp on the portions. By the time we were done with the mussels, we weren't sure if we could finish our sandwiches.

Right. L:ike that's ever a problem. 

Next up were the sandwiches... I decided to try the daily special of curried chicken sandwich with apple and tomato slices. I was a bit apprehensive about trying a curry sandwich. I mean curries are messy and they go on rice right? WRONG! The chicken curry sandwich was surprisingly tasty. And I guess they must have boiled down the curry so that it was all messy and dripping all over as I ate. And who would have thought that sliced apples were a great condiment? I wonder how chefs just decide that "Hey, this fruit is going to go great with this spicy gravy..." or "Hey this Indian meal can be turned into a great Belgian sandwich...". Well whatever they were thinking, it sure paid off. I was very pleasantly surprised by how all the ingredients came together to complement the sandwich. It's like they were made for each other. 

Alex decided on the Croque Madam, a ham and gruyere cheese sandwich, topped with two sunny-side ups. I have got to say that any sandwich with gruyere cheese is almost a sure winner. It's only my favorite cheese :) Well that being said, I had to take a bite out of her sandwich. It was good! I know I know.. it's a ham and cheese sandwich, how ordinary. But no, it was done perfectly. The ham was perfectly grilled and the cheese was melted just right. With some magic, the bread stayed perfect and not soggy despite the fact that the eggs were just sitting right on top.



I think this is a place that we can definitely visit again. Especially when we get friends from out of town. And this time, we're going to plan to be there on a Wednesday so that we can check out the magnificent mussel madness.

Next stop on our adventure was the Chelsea flea market. Probably every New Yorker has heard of the Chelsea Market. But alas, I'm from Philly. So I was like a kid on Christmas Day when Alex told me that it was where the Food Network offices were located! We stopped by this really colorful cake shop and were just amazed at the talent behind the cake decorating! I've only seen such cakes on Food Network, but never in real life.  

Yes, those are cupcakes.

Wayyy too cute to eat.

Amy's Breads. What an aroma.

We also decided that the visit to the Chelsea Market would not be complete without eating something (duh). So we stopped for some crepes with nutella and bananas. The guy was thrilled when we took his picture while making crepes. Though we were full from lunch, the smell from the crepe shop made us forget that we just had something to eat haha. So these little piggies had a crepe. To lessen our guilt, we shared :)

We were hoping for a celebrity spotting in Chelsea Market. For foodies like us, celebrity spotting involves seeing Rachel Ray, Ina Garten and Booby Flay shopping in the grocery aisles... we're sooo cool. But yes, we still wanted to see someone on the Food Network! Unfortunately, we weren't lucky enough to rub shoulders with these culinary gods. This time. :)
Anyhoo, check out this weird tomato! Someone's been playing in the nuclear reactor again...

 

Escargot ready for cooking

To end our gluttonous day, we stopped by the Shake Shack for the one thing on the menu that WebMD warned us against, the Shake Stack. The Shake Stack was essentially created for the people like us who couldnt decide on what they wanted on the menu. It is a combination of the cheeseburger and the veggie burger: a solid beef patty and a fried portobello, topped with all the usual condiments. By this point, our stomachs were just overloaded with unhealthy goodness, but still we pushed on. Why do we do that?? Well anyway we did. And while it was so good and tasty, there was only so much that we could eat in a day.

Yes, we still had fries with that.

So after a gruelling day of food, Alex and I decided that it might be a better idea to space out our food adventure over a weekend. haha. But at the end of the day if you asked me which food I would have given up for the mercy of my tummy, I would have just told my stomach to "Suck it".

Missing Philly

Now that I've moved to New York, I'm thinking back on the good times (and great food) that I have left behind. One of my favorite restaurants in Philly is Valanni. If you like Mediterranean food, Valanni is the place for you. Just thinking back on this place makes me hungry again! I first went to Valanni during restaurant week and was blown away by their Mediterranean cuisine and vowed to be back.

So I decided to surprise my girlfriend (well, ex-girlfriend) by making a reservation at this amazing restaurant. Being a big fan of tapas, I knew that she would just appreciate the quality of the food. Apart from Amada in Old City, Valanni serves the best tapas in town. Valanni is conveniently located in Center City, in the heart of the gayborhood, so there was no problem getting to the restaurant at all. I gotta say that if you do decide to do Valanni on a weekend, make a reservation.

Being the meatatarian that I am, I could not resist ordering the crispy pork belly! Thank god it came as a tapas because I would not have been able to stop eating. One bite of it and I didn't want anything else!

But somehow I managed to regain my composure :) and tried the rest of the tapas that we ordered. When I find something that I like, I just want to stick to it and not go any further. I mean, quit while you're ahead right? Well thank god my girlfriend yanked me out of that trance and made me try the out tapas dishes. (Probably because she saw my orgasmic reaction and needed to try it too haha).

The rest of the dishes didn't disappoint! The seafood flat bread with brandy and butter poached lobster and shrimp looked amazing, and tasted even better that.

We also tried the beef kebabs and they were really moist and tender. Topping it off with a heavenly chocolate-peanut mole and a balsamic glaze was just an ingenious idea.

The next time we get to Philly, I'm totally bringing Alex W. She's going to LOVE it.

Philly Night Market

Just got this emailed to me by my friends at the Sugar Philly Dessert Truck at 38th & Sansom in University City by UPENN.

Philadelphia's FIRST EVER Night Market FOOD BAZAAR!

October 7 from 6:00 - 10:00 PM

E. Passyunk & Tasker Street in Philly

Click HERE and submit your email for your invitation!

1 post!

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW EXCITING THIS IS GONNA BE! We're going to be fat.