Mmmmm, laksa. Besides chicken rice, laksa is one of my favorite Singaporean meals.  Perfectly melding seafood, coconut, curry and carbs, the end result is sweet, savory, creamy and spicy.  I ordered prawn laksa at a food court (not to be confused with a hawker center), where I could witness my laksa being made to order.  Excuse me for a second while I wipe the drool off my keyboard.

Putting together a scrumptious bowl of laksa is a multi-step affair:
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It snowed like CRAZY here in NYC last night, so I’m hoping I can tempt the warm weather gods back with this post!  Can anyone tell me what the above is?  Well, it’s an ice cream sandwich of course – DUH.

So yeah, the ice cream sandwich in Singapore is a little different from what you may be used to.

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On the second day of my Singapore food trek, I had one of my favorite Singaporean dishes – Hainanese Chicken Rice.  It’s actually considered by some as one of the national dishes of Singapore.  One of the benefits of eating with locals is that I not only had chicken rice from a restaurant renowned for the dish  (Boon Tong Kee), but at the best location of that particular restaurant.  Hardcore, huh?  As you can see, Hainanese chicken rice looks like any other boiled chicken, but the taste is oh so different.  Where do I even begin?

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Both the unblogged photos in my “Singapore” folder and my friend DoublyHappy’s fabulous Singapore photos have given me a swift kick in the booty – I need to finish my Singapore posts!  Additionally, I’ll be returning to Singapore next month to take even more food pictures, so I’ve got to clear my current backlog.  Next month I’ll be posting about some of the special Chinese New Year foods in Singapore, so stay tuned!  But first, I’d like to share with you the wonderful world of roti prata.  Singapore’s  demographic mix of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian leads to a plethora of food options and variety, with roti prata being a prime example.

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This post could also be called “Is eggplant supposed to taste like that?” or “Where did I go wrong?”  For my third veggie resolution, I continued tackling veggies that were scary or blah – after all I was 2 for 2 with veggie WINS!  I hoped I’d face similar success with the eggplant.   The eggplant, or aubergine, as I prefer to call it in my hoity-toity voice, looks beautiful.  However, my rare encounter with it have left me disappointed – either bitter or bland, mushy and just generally unappetizing.  General blergh-ness all around.   I then happened upon this recipe from David Lebovitz, with some of my favorite things – salt? Good.  Olive oil? Gooood.  Cilantro? Yummers.

So why did it come out funny?  Help me out, readers.  First, the recipe.

You will need:
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In the days of warmer NYC weather, I was wandering around the East Village with my friend Laura and her hubby Steve.  We were food-hopping, having stopped by an izakaya on St. Mark’s and for some pierogi and latkes at Veselka.   On the way back to the subway, we passed by the Wafels & Dinges truck, so OF COURSE we had to stop!  Wouldn’t you also stop for this shiny yellow truck?

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Some of my favorite dining experiences arise from walking into a random restaurant with no expectations, information or preconceived notions about the food.  I was in the West Village the other day and passed by a cute little winebar called Doma.  After a quick perusal of the menu, I walked in and was treated (by yours truly) to a really scrumptious meal!  There were a variety dishes to choose from.  I first started with…

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I am just jumping right into the scary vegetables with my Veggie Resolution – first kale and now Brussels sprouts! Oh geez. When I was eight, I had my first encounter with Brussels sprouts. I thought I’d be super cool and be the kid who actually *liked* them (uh yeah, my definition of cool was a little skewed).  I took an enthusiastic bite, and….blergh!  Mushy, bitter and not pleasant at all.  No wonder they had a bad rap.  Well, after some reassurance from blogger buddies that they actually weren’t that bad, I decided to give these cute yet potent veggies another chance. Of course I needed some help from some pork and sugar…

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Here it is again, another rare 4-apple review!  This time the title is bestowed upon an unassuming greasy spoon that is not only a hole-in-the-wall, but an underground one at that – one of my favorite Chinatown joints, Hop Kee.  Yes, there are “We ate here” photos on the wall featuring Anthony Bourdain and Bill Cosby, but I was a customer way before these famous dudes!  What kept me coming back?  It’s that finger-lickin’ dish above.  But first you’ve got to know how to order…

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I recently had brunch with several lovely ladies (and one lucky gentleman!) at davidburke townhouse.  The restaurant offers a 3-course, $39 brunch special.  While not mondo cheap, the food is quite innovative and delicious.  Located, as the name implies, in a transformed townhouse, the decor at decidedly unique, with glass balloons, a magnificent fireplace sculpture and rich, luxe fabrics.  But let’s get real here – I was there for the food. So let’s jump right in, shall we?

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