Sunday, September 30, 2012

Bubbly Tea

55B Bayard St.
New York, NY 10013
http://www.mybubblytea.com

I tried a new boba place in NYC's Chinatown. Bubbly Tea is just a few storefronts down from my favorite boba place, Vivi.



I ordered: Passion Mango Kumquat Green Tea with Pop Boba
  • Taste: very refreshing, fruity & citrusy
  • Boba: they pop in your mouth with a yummy yogurt juice inside
  • Price: small (16 oz.) $2.75

My Drink


In a neighborhood where there is so much competition, Bubbly Tea is doing its best to standout. They offer many unique offerings that I haven't seen in other boba shops. They have milk tea, fruit tea, slush, hot tea, creamy foam drinks, and bubbly tea drinks. They also offer toppings like pop boba and basil seeds.


Menu

Bubbly Tea also has seasonal real fruit slushes. This is one of the only places I have found that offer real fruit slush bobas. There is a real lack of these in this city.

Their regular price for small drinks is $2.75 which is some of the cheapest best bubble tea in the city. But Bubbly also offers a stamp card where you get a free drink after you buy six. Additionally, on Tuesdays and Thursdays there is a $0.99 milk black tea boba special from 11:00 am - 7:00 pm. 

I'll definitely be coming back to try more of their unique options and seasonal real fruit slush.

4.5 out of 5 bubbles

Monday, September 3, 2012

A Delicious Sunday

This Sunday I had an excellent culinary adventure. I started off the day by going to Luke's Lobster Shack.

They have several locations in NYC and I went to the one on the Upper East Side at 242 E. 81st near 2nd Avenue.

This place has a very casual New England maritime style interior. They specialize in typical Maine cuisine of lobster, shrimp, and crab rolls. They also serve Maine Roots Sodas and various Maine microbrews.

Me and my BF got the Noah's Ark for $38

this includes:
2 half lobster rolls
2 half crab rolls
2 half shrimp rolls
2 Maine sodas
2 chips
2 pickles

mostly eaten shrimp roll, lobster roll, crab roll

Each roll is packed with seafood. Only a little bit of mayo, lemon butter, and special spices are added. The roll is also nicely toasted and it compliments the seafood nicely.

My favorite was the crab roll. I think it had the best flavor of all the seafood options.
-
-
-
Then later in the day we went to Torishin, a Japanese yakitori place at 1193 1st Avenue (bt. 64th & 65th St.)

This has been one of the best meals I've had in the city so far. Torishin has one Michelin star and has been recommended by the Michelin guide for three years. I think this is the first restaurant I have ever tried with this rating and I wasn't disappointed.

We each got the Omakase which is the chef's tasting menu. It is a bit pricey at $55 per person but it is so worth it for a special occasion. I left absolutely stuffed. Everything was delicious.

here is what it includes:


The chef picks the types of meat and veggies so you aren't sure what you'll get exactly.

It was kinda dark in Torishin, so the photo quality isn't very good. Here are some things we ate:

My view of all the skewers
Simmered Shrimp, daikon, and tomato sauce appetizer
Chicken heart and Gizzard  

Special chickem meatball with egg yolk and shoyu dip
mid meal break of radish, quail egg, fish roe, wakame
asparagus and chicken
my rice dish of ume ochazuke

Out of everything I had, I think my favorite yakitori was the chicken hearts. They were tender and had a more robust meaty flavor than other parts of the chicken. I also really like the chicken meatball, and something called a chicken oyster which is part of the thigh. I also really liked the mid meal dish. It had the texture of natto, which my BF wasn't very fond of, but I loved it. I only wish I had more money so I could eat like this every day.