Of course, since it is a break this week my Dad and I have to do a food crawl in the city. What’s a food crawl? It’s a full day packed with food. We start in one spot and go from place to place walking and eating. Our plan for this year was to start at Dominique Ansel. Next stop would be Dō, a place that sells raw cookie dough. Then we’d go to Ippudo for ramen, Sugar Fish for sushi, Beechers (the home of The World's Best Mac & Cheese), Eataly and Donut Plant. As you can see, there was a big day of eating ahead of us. My Dad and I both agreed that we would split everything because if we each got an individual portion it would be too much.
Dominique Ansel is the home of the famous cronut. You might have had a cronut before, but it was probably a knockoff. This was the real thing. The home of the cronut where it was originally sold. That was not the only thing they sell there. They also have frozen s’mores and cookie shots. My Dad and I were so overwhelmed that we almost bought everything in the store. We came to our senses that we could not buy everything. We paced ourselves and decided to buy a cronut, a frozen s'more, a DKA (which stands for “Dominique's Kouign Amann"), and madeleines. We ate the cronut, the frozen s’more, and one madeline there for breakfast. They have a monthly flavor for the cronut and the February flavor was lychee, rose, and pistachio. To be honest I thought I wasn't going to like it at first, but all the flavors went really well together. The outside was like a hard shell with a fluffy inside that had a mixed sweetness from the lychee and the rose. The frozen s’more was a marshmallow stuffed with ice cream and it was toasted on the outside. It tasted so good but it was super cold when you bit into it, but it paired well with a warm marshmallow. Even just one madeline was enough to get your taste buds dancing. When you ate them warm they taste so good. As I said, we each had one. They were moist and warm and you can taste the lemon zest which didn’t overpower the madeline but was just enough to it balance it with the fluffiness. I kept asking if I could have one more as we were walking to our different stops, but my dad kept reminding me that we had to save some for my Mom and my brother. At home, we tried the DKA. It was almost like biting into a pastry filled with creme brulee. The glazed outside was similar to the cronut, and the cream inside was heavenly. My mouth is watering as I even think about it.
Our second stop was DŌ, where they sell raw cookie dough that is safe to eat so you won’t get sick from the raw eggs and the flour. They used this special flour without any of the bad chemicals and used these special eggs that were specially grown. The lines at this place were said to be sometimes up to four hours. Now, I know what you are thinking four hours just for cookie dough! You have already eaten raw cookie at some point in your life. That is probably true, but they also have cool flavors like S'mores, Fluffernutter with marshmallow fluff, and Heavenly (with nutella, caramel, and chocolate). Now tell me you do not want to go DŌ even if you have had cookie dough! My dad and I got lucky and we were second on line and only had to wait an hour and a half. It seems long but it really wasn’t that bad. When it was time to go in, they gave the first 20 people tickets to go. My Dad and I of course already had a game plan of what flavors we were getting. We got their signature chocolate chip to eat right away in a chocolate chip cone and then got chocolate chip, S’mores and Heavenly to go. Since we were going to be walking around a lot, they gave us a freezer bag with the DŌ logo on it and two ice packs to keep them cold. We took the cookie dough in the cone to Washington Square Park and took cool pictures of it before we ate. It was so rich and creamy and it tasted better than any other cookie dough like Toll House or Pillsbury. My favorite flavor was the S’mores because it tasted like summer and sitting by the campfire. Basically, if you are on a food crawl or have nothing to do, go to DŌ and I guarantee you’ll love it.
Next we had to go to ramen. In the February weather, how could we resist? So, we went to one of my Dad’s favorite ramen spots in the city, Ippudo Ramen. We were the first ones in and my stomach was growling for real food, not just sugar. As soon as it opened we walked in and at Ippudo Ramen whenever someone walks into the back where the tables are, they shouted so that everyone knows that you are walking into the restaurant. It was very fun and creative. When we sat down it was kind of like looking at a forest. There was a huge tree in the middle of the restaurant. It was a cool design. We got the first bowl of ramen which we split obviously. But even that little bowl was enough for me to know it was the best ramen I had ever tasted so far. I know I always say that but I am not exaggerating. The description of the soup was: the original silky “Tonkotsu” (pork) soup noodles topped with Ippudo’s secret “Umami Dama” miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil. Now I am sure your mouth is watering. Usually I do not like tonkotsu broths, but this broth was different. It was silky and had a salty taste that balanced with everything in the bowl. The noodles tasted fresh and weren’t soggy at all, and the Umami Dama was super good even though I didn’t think it would be, but it was delicious and brought the soup together. Overall, it was the best ramen ever!!!
The next place we went to was a little bit far, but totally worth the walk. It was Sugar Fish, a really popular sushi restaurant. It had a pretty decent line, but we were in the first wave of people and we got the second to last table. We were doing really well on timing everything out. On the menu, yes they do have regular sushi rolls that you can get, but why do that at this amazing restaurant? Why not let them pick for you? So, we did. We picked the “Trust me” menu. I got the smallest size and my Dad got the medium size. At Sugar Fish they have a rule that they will not give you any extra soy sauce, wasabi, or rice. They did this because it was the traditional Japanese way of eating sushi. On the menu they also have other rules that they follow at Sugar Fish. For example, they want you to eat any hand rolls immediately, and also dishes that have sauce on them already should not be dipped in any other sauce. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first because although they show you what you are going to get, I wasn’t really familiar with what I was about to eat. We started out with edamame, but our first fish dish was tuna sashimi. Now, I have to say I do not like soy sauce it is way too salty for me. That day though I had an exception, because the sauce was so good. It was salty, but also a little sweet and it went really well with the tuna. The only complaint was that it was really little and I wanted more of it on the plate. The next dish was a sushi dish it consisted of; Albacore Sushi (1-pc), Salmon Sushi (1-pc), and Yellowtail Sushi (1-pc). The sushi had a sauce on it that was sweet and it really complimented the flavor of the fish and the soft hot rice. When you dipped the sushi in the soy sauce all the flavors blended making it so much better, especially since it wasn’t a ton of soy sauce and you can actually taste the dish. The last dish for me (my dad had one more dish) was I had a toro hand roll. When it came I was so excited to eat the roll it looked delicious and I was starving. The crispy seaweed went really well with the soft warm rice and the cold crisp fish. I really wish they had sent out two. It just felt like a perfect combination especially to end the amazing meal. I suggest if you do go there to just put a little faith in them and get whatever size Trust Me suites your hunger.
Then we just went around shopping at a few places. We went to Beecher's Handmade Cheese. It has the “World’s Best Mac & Cheese” that is the brand name but it actually is the best. There cheese is amazing and I especially like the Flagship. We got to sample them so we eventually got my favorite Flagship cheese to bring home.
After we went to Beecher's, we went to Eataly, but stopped to take pictures of the Flatiron building. It is a building that has an illusion of being flat. Inside there are all types of stores, but it is the outside that people really enjoy. Then we were off again to Eataly. The reason why I love Eataly is because it reminds me of an outdoor market, all crowded with different parts of the building selling different things. One thing it is famous for is a whole entire wall with Nutella jars on it. We walked through the markets and looked at all of the different vegetables in the market. We also got to taste a cheese that no one can touch because the cheese sweats. Now, I know that sounds gross, but we tasted the cheese and it was really good. We asked the man who handled the cheeses why it did that. He said that the cheese’s moisture builds up and turns into sweat. It was really cool to just go there and walk around, not just to try the food. I really love Eataly and hope I can go the next time we decide to go into the city.
The last place we hit up before going home was Doughnut Plant. They have very creative flavors of donuts that are super delicious. This was my first time though, but my Dad had gone before. There are so many names for donut shops that are so similar that sometimes I mix up their names, like Doughnut Plant and Donut Project. We walked into our last stop exhausted from our long day to the smell of delicious donuts. It was a little place that was perfect for our last stop. On the wall there were donut pillows that were awesome. We decided to order a creme brûlée donut, a carrot cake donut, and a tres leches donut. We took them home and didn't have any there. The creme brûlée donut had a nice creamy filling and tasted exactly like creme brûlée. The carrot cake was my favorite. It was a moist cake with an amazing cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting is my favorite frosting, so obviously I took a liking to it. The last donut was a tres leches donut. It is a donut that has three milks; whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It was a very moist cake and I thought it wouldn't be that good, but it was amazing. I would definitely go back if I was in that part of the city again.
Overall, I had an awesome time in the city and cannot wait for the next food crawl!
Dominique Ansel is the home of the famous cronut. You might have had a cronut before, but it was probably a knockoff. This was the real thing. The home of the cronut where it was originally sold. That was not the only thing they sell there. They also have frozen s’mores and cookie shots. My Dad and I were so overwhelmed that we almost bought everything in the store. We came to our senses that we could not buy everything. We paced ourselves and decided to buy a cronut, a frozen s'more, a DKA (which stands for “Dominique's Kouign Amann"), and madeleines. We ate the cronut, the frozen s’more, and one madeline there for breakfast. They have a monthly flavor for the cronut and the February flavor was lychee, rose, and pistachio. To be honest I thought I wasn't going to like it at first, but all the flavors went really well together. The outside was like a hard shell with a fluffy inside that had a mixed sweetness from the lychee and the rose. The frozen s’more was a marshmallow stuffed with ice cream and it was toasted on the outside. It tasted so good but it was super cold when you bit into it, but it paired well with a warm marshmallow. Even just one madeline was enough to get your taste buds dancing. When you ate them warm they taste so good. As I said, we each had one. They were moist and warm and you can taste the lemon zest which didn’t overpower the madeline but was just enough to it balance it with the fluffiness. I kept asking if I could have one more as we were walking to our different stops, but my dad kept reminding me that we had to save some for my Mom and my brother. At home, we tried the DKA. It was almost like biting into a pastry filled with creme brulee. The glazed outside was similar to the cronut, and the cream inside was heavenly. My mouth is watering as I even think about it.
Our second stop was DŌ, where they sell raw cookie dough that is safe to eat so you won’t get sick from the raw eggs and the flour. They used this special flour without any of the bad chemicals and used these special eggs that were specially grown. The lines at this place were said to be sometimes up to four hours. Now, I know what you are thinking four hours just for cookie dough! You have already eaten raw cookie at some point in your life. That is probably true, but they also have cool flavors like S'mores, Fluffernutter with marshmallow fluff, and Heavenly (with nutella, caramel, and chocolate). Now tell me you do not want to go DŌ even if you have had cookie dough! My dad and I got lucky and we were second on line and only had to wait an hour and a half. It seems long but it really wasn’t that bad. When it was time to go in, they gave the first 20 people tickets to go. My Dad and I of course already had a game plan of what flavors we were getting. We got their signature chocolate chip to eat right away in a chocolate chip cone and then got chocolate chip, S’mores and Heavenly to go. Since we were going to be walking around a lot, they gave us a freezer bag with the DŌ logo on it and two ice packs to keep them cold. We took the cookie dough in the cone to Washington Square Park and took cool pictures of it before we ate. It was so rich and creamy and it tasted better than any other cookie dough like Toll House or Pillsbury. My favorite flavor was the S’mores because it tasted like summer and sitting by the campfire. Basically, if you are on a food crawl or have nothing to do, go to DŌ and I guarantee you’ll love it.
Next we had to go to ramen. In the February weather, how could we resist? So, we went to one of my Dad’s favorite ramen spots in the city, Ippudo Ramen. We were the first ones in and my stomach was growling for real food, not just sugar. As soon as it opened we walked in and at Ippudo Ramen whenever someone walks into the back where the tables are, they shouted so that everyone knows that you are walking into the restaurant. It was very fun and creative. When we sat down it was kind of like looking at a forest. There was a huge tree in the middle of the restaurant. It was a cool design. We got the first bowl of ramen which we split obviously. But even that little bowl was enough for me to know it was the best ramen I had ever tasted so far. I know I always say that but I am not exaggerating. The description of the soup was: the original silky “Tonkotsu” (pork) soup noodles topped with Ippudo’s secret “Umami Dama” miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil. Now I am sure your mouth is watering. Usually I do not like tonkotsu broths, but this broth was different. It was silky and had a salty taste that balanced with everything in the bowl. The noodles tasted fresh and weren’t soggy at all, and the Umami Dama was super good even though I didn’t think it would be, but it was delicious and brought the soup together. Overall, it was the best ramen ever!!!
The next place we went to was a little bit far, but totally worth the walk. It was Sugar Fish, a really popular sushi restaurant. It had a pretty decent line, but we were in the first wave of people and we got the second to last table. We were doing really well on timing everything out. On the menu, yes they do have regular sushi rolls that you can get, but why do that at this amazing restaurant? Why not let them pick for you? So, we did. We picked the “Trust me” menu. I got the smallest size and my Dad got the medium size. At Sugar Fish they have a rule that they will not give you any extra soy sauce, wasabi, or rice. They did this because it was the traditional Japanese way of eating sushi. On the menu they also have other rules that they follow at Sugar Fish. For example, they want you to eat any hand rolls immediately, and also dishes that have sauce on them already should not be dipped in any other sauce. I have to admit I was a little nervous at first because although they show you what you are going to get, I wasn’t really familiar with what I was about to eat. We started out with edamame, but our first fish dish was tuna sashimi. Now, I have to say I do not like soy sauce it is way too salty for me. That day though I had an exception, because the sauce was so good. It was salty, but also a little sweet and it went really well with the tuna. The only complaint was that it was really little and I wanted more of it on the plate. The next dish was a sushi dish it consisted of; Albacore Sushi (1-pc), Salmon Sushi (1-pc), and Yellowtail Sushi (1-pc). The sushi had a sauce on it that was sweet and it really complimented the flavor of the fish and the soft hot rice. When you dipped the sushi in the soy sauce all the flavors blended making it so much better, especially since it wasn’t a ton of soy sauce and you can actually taste the dish. The last dish for me (my dad had one more dish) was I had a toro hand roll. When it came I was so excited to eat the roll it looked delicious and I was starving. The crispy seaweed went really well with the soft warm rice and the cold crisp fish. I really wish they had sent out two. It just felt like a perfect combination especially to end the amazing meal. I suggest if you do go there to just put a little faith in them and get whatever size Trust Me suites your hunger.
Then we just went around shopping at a few places. We went to Beecher's Handmade Cheese. It has the “World’s Best Mac & Cheese” that is the brand name but it actually is the best. There cheese is amazing and I especially like the Flagship. We got to sample them so we eventually got my favorite Flagship cheese to bring home.
After we went to Beecher's, we went to Eataly, but stopped to take pictures of the Flatiron building. It is a building that has an illusion of being flat. Inside there are all types of stores, but it is the outside that people really enjoy. Then we were off again to Eataly. The reason why I love Eataly is because it reminds me of an outdoor market, all crowded with different parts of the building selling different things. One thing it is famous for is a whole entire wall with Nutella jars on it. We walked through the markets and looked at all of the different vegetables in the market. We also got to taste a cheese that no one can touch because the cheese sweats. Now, I know that sounds gross, but we tasted the cheese and it was really good. We asked the man who handled the cheeses why it did that. He said that the cheese’s moisture builds up and turns into sweat. It was really cool to just go there and walk around, not just to try the food. I really love Eataly and hope I can go the next time we decide to go into the city.
The last place we hit up before going home was Doughnut Plant. They have very creative flavors of donuts that are super delicious. This was my first time though, but my Dad had gone before. There are so many names for donut shops that are so similar that sometimes I mix up their names, like Doughnut Plant and Donut Project. We walked into our last stop exhausted from our long day to the smell of delicious donuts. It was a little place that was perfect for our last stop. On the wall there were donut pillows that were awesome. We decided to order a creme brûlée donut, a carrot cake donut, and a tres leches donut. We took them home and didn't have any there. The creme brûlée donut had a nice creamy filling and tasted exactly like creme brûlée. The carrot cake was my favorite. It was a moist cake with an amazing cream cheese frosting. Cream cheese frosting is my favorite frosting, so obviously I took a liking to it. The last donut was a tres leches donut. It is a donut that has three milks; whole milk, condensed milk, and evaporated milk. It was a very moist cake and I thought it wouldn't be that good, but it was amazing. I would definitely go back if I was in that part of the city again.
Overall, I had an awesome time in the city and cannot wait for the next food crawl!
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