HP Drinks

On vacation in Orlando I visited Universal's Islands of Adventure where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is located. I tried butterbeer and pumpkin juice there.

Butterbeer (left) and Pumpkin Juice (right)

Butterbeer

I am rather indifferent towards HP, I find LOTR to be much better. However, I was surprised by how much I liked butterbeer. Butterbeer tastes like cream soda topped with a thick and sweet butterscotch cream. It is sweet but just as sweet as any soda. They offer a unfrozen and frozen versions for $3.25 and $4.25 respectively. The unfrozen one is carbonated but I think the frozen one is better and less sweet. 

Pumpkin Juice

I thought I would like pumpkin juice more than butterbeer, but I wasn't a huge fan. It tasted like apple cider with extra pumpkin spice flavorings. I thought the pumpkin juice had too much added flavoring and I couldn't drink too much. You can get the pumpkin fizz too which is just a carbonated version of the juice.

Just a short post now, more to come about my time in Orlando...

Madison Square Eats

On the west side of Madison Square Park on Worth Square, Madison Square Eats (MSE) is a fabulous outdoor food fair. With booths from several of NYC's popular food establishments including Momofuku Milk Bar, Eataly, and Asiadog. Their website has the full list of vendors. I went with my boyfriend to increase the number of things we could try. So much of this post includes his opinions as well.

• MSE Website
• MSE is held from 11am-9pm everyday through June 1st.

Arancini Bros (Arancini: fried risotto balls $4)

• Carbonara Arancini: pancetta, carbonara sauce, and black pepper
• Crispy exterior with a creamy dense inside
• It was a bit salty but still delicious
• The bf said there wasn't enough pancetta
• I would definitely get one again to try another flavor

ASIADOG (1 hot dog $4.50, 2 hot dogs for $8)

• VINH: Vietnamese banh-mi style: aioli + pate + cucumbers + pickled carrot and daikon + cilantro + jalapeno
• The bf got these dogs, I just had a bite
• He thought the carrot and daikon was a refreshing compliment to the savory dog
• Although he said he couldn't taste much of the other toppings, it was overall delicious

• WANGDING: Chinese BBQ pork belly + onions
• An equally delicious hot dog with a sweet and savory taste
• The pork belly was very tender with a smooth and tangy hoisin-like BBQ sauce
• Bf: pork on beef is delicious all the time

Roberta's Pizza & Asiadog

Roberta's Pizza (pizzas $8-9)

• Bee Sting Pizza $9: mozzarella, soppressata, chili oil, honey
• They use a real pizza oven so it has that great charred taste
• The crust was thin, crisp, and delicious
• Honey on a pizza may sound weird but it goes well with the chili and salty soppressata, yum

Roberta's portable pizza oven

The Cannibal Beer and Butcher (local beers and meat dishes at varying price)

• Pig's head Cuban sandwich $10
• Another of the bf's picks
• A traditional Cuban with chopped pieces of delicious meat from the head
• There are yummy little cartilaginous bits of goodness
• The bread was great with the perfect crunch
• This Cuban was also fairly large and can easily be shared

The Cannibal Cuban

Hong Kong Street Cart (buns, dimsum, and other Asian snacks at varying prices)

• pork bun $4: pork belly, cucumber, green onion, hoisin
• My bf loves Momofuku's pork buns so he used this as his base of comparison
• In general, it wasn't as good as Momofuku's because the pork was less tender and juicy
• It didn't melt in your mouth the way Momofuku's does
• Kinda expensive for the one bun you get

• Snowflower Ice $6
• Very similar to Shave Ice but the ice has some flavor already in it. Also when it is shaved it looks very different from ice shavings, more ribbony.
• I chose the milk ice with passion fruit syrup, azuki beans, and mochi balls.
• This was more icy and less creamy than others I have had before in Hawaii
• It was still quite delicious and perfect for the warm day
• You get a lot for your money, you definitely want to share this

Snowflower Ice

To sum up, you'll find great food at MSE. If you're in the city I suggest checking it out. Be sure to bring plenty of cash, a friend, and your eating pants. You can easily spend $20 per person, but you will be stuffed. 

New Discoveries!

This past weekend I went on a little trip to Chicago.
This post documents my findings.
However, none of these are actually in Chicago ;)

COFFEE
While waiting for my flight to O'Hare , I began searching for some coffee in the American airlines terminal of LaGuardia airport. This terminal has terrible options by the way. I came across this little place called Healthy Gourmet. Their coffee selection was nothing special, but I was intrigued by their french press cups.

Healthy Gourmet french press cup

In previous posts I have talked about my love of the french press method of coffee preparation. It is so simple, the coffee is freshly brewed, and you can control the strength.

I had never seen the french press in this form before. To have an individually brewed portable cup of  french press coffee is a genius idea. You never have to wonder how long ago your cup of coffee was actually made. This cup really should be more widely available.

see the pressed down filter inside

The barista at Healthy Gourmet puts coffee grounds in the bottom of your cup then adds hot water and milk/sugar as desired. The french press filter is in the lid. You wait only a minute or two and then you press down the filter. There is also a filter attached to the opening on the lid that you drink out of. This prevents any loose coffee grounds from getting out.

I have to admit though the coffee was terrible. They don't use good quality coffee beans. It tasted bitter and very harsh. I need better cafes to start using these french press cups. We need to start a coffee cup revolution!

Side Note:

I went to Chicago (actually outside Chicago) for the Midwest Token Kai, which is a Japanese sword and antique show. If you're interested in this, the next show is in San Francisco  http://www.ncjsc.org/SF_token_kai.htm. 

Also go buy stuff from my parent's business http://www.togishi.com/.

BUBBLE TEA

The hotel where the sword show was held is conveniently located right across the street from the Woodfield Mall in Schaumberg, Illinois. Apparently this is suppossed to be one of the largest malls in America, but I didn't find it to be that big. It has the weirdest configuration. Stores on the same floor are at different heights from each other. There was also a random mezzanine level. I can't even describe the awkwardness of the layout. Nevertheless, as I was walking through the mall, I found this:

Chill Bubble Tea

Apparently everything they serve is blended with various real fruit and other flavor options. I was surprised to see they offered avocado. I have only really seen this being offered in Hawaii, I think. I have always been intrigued and wanted to try this flavor. 

I ordered: Avocado Banana bubble tea:

• Taste: perfectly blended, very creamy, well balanced fruit flavors. It actually kinda tasted like a vanilla cookie. I don't know how else to describe the taste.
• Boba: the right consistency of soft and chew, but the boba doesn't have its own flavor. Just a textural addition to the drink.



Avocado Banana YUM

• Price: regular 16oz. size $5.00 

First off this was delicious. I was surprised to find damn good bubble tea in this mall. I don't know anything about the quality or quantity of bubble tea in the Schaumberg, Chicago, or Midwest regions. I guess Chill Bubble Tea attests to the growing popularity of my favorite beverage.

The bubble tea was really good, I just wish the boba had some of its own flavor, even just a hint of sweetness. Also I thought the price was high. To pay $5 for a bubble tea I expect to get something at least three times this size. Okay not really three times, but somewhere around 20-24 oz. For the size to price ratio, Chill is the most expensive bubble tea place I have been to. I'm not sure why their prices are so high, maybe it is their location in a region with low bubble tea demand. Also the mall was practically empty when I was there, so maybe Chill doesn't have many customers.

Well I guess what I have learned from this discovery is that you might find a great bubble tea shop in the most unlikely of places.

4 out of 5 bubbles.

P.S. 

Happy Lei Day!!

YOYO Bubble Tea

http://yoyosnack.com/
1812 2nd avenue
(b/t 94th & 93rd St.)
New York, NY 10128

This brand new spot may not have the best bubble tea, but it is not the worst.

What I ordered: taro milk green tea

• Taste: not too sweet, light taro flavor that doesn't mask the nice jasmine green tea taste
• Boba: nice texture and chewiness, but with a rather plain taste
• Price: $3.50 for Med, $3.99 for Large plus tax

Newly opened last weekend, this is easily the closest bubble tea to my apartment. The second avenue construction makes it nearly impossible to get to, but I am glad I have a bubble tea option closer to me. When I first stepped in to YoYo it was very hot inside and smelled like Chinese take-out, to be honest I wasn't expecting much. Especially since there are barely any bubble tea places within 50 blocks. YoYo doesn't have much competition in the area to make it better. I was surprised that the bubble tea was not terrible.

They have a weird menu where only certain flavors are listed under certain teas. However, I imagine you can get any flavor with any tea if you like. They use powders and syrups for their flavoring. I think they also use powder creamer for their milk-based bubble teas. The bubble tea  I got had a sort of film from powder that wasn't fully dissolved, as you can see in the photo. But this didn't inhibit the flavor, which was actually quite nice. I loved that I could actually taste the green tea. The boba was of a good consistency but they didn't have any flavor or sweetness which I like.

YoYo also has a variety of dumpling and Chinese take-out foods. It is fairly average though and doesn't standout from better shops in other NYC neighborhoods, such as Chinatown. YoYo definitely has room for improvement if it wants to be one of the best.

3 out of 5 Bubbles

Argo Tea

http://www.argotea.com/

Locations in New York, Chicago, Boston, and St. Louis.

This tea-centric chain cafe is the answer to my dreams. With a market dominated by Starbucks' mediocre coffee, it is nice to see something new and different. I am a big fan of Argo's concept. They offer a large menu of signature tea beverages along with standard teas and coffees. They even sell a wide variety of loose-leaf teas, tea pots, and accessories. I love their tea wall where you can easily view and select any loose-leaf teas you would like to buy.

Loose-leaf Tea Dispensers

The Menu:
Their wide variety of tea-based drinks is hugely creative and tempting. There are so many drinks I want to try. They also offer BUBBLE TEA! I suggest checking out their entire signature drink menu.

Argo's Bubble Tea:
Their bubble tea isn't bad. It is very standard milk tea and they don't  have many flavor options. Primarily coconut, mango, and raspberry, but you can also get  the regular syrup flavors such as vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, etc. Argo's bubble tea is only available with nata de coco jelly, no boba. I must ask the question, can this really be called bubble tea without having boba as an opton? I guess I can forgive this since they don't focus on bubble tea and their jellys are healthier and delicious.

What I got: coconut green milk tea

• Taste: slightly sweet coconut flavor, not overpowering the great tea taste.
• Jellys: firm and chewy, slightly sweet and coconutty
• Price: small 16oz. $3.76 including tax

I also tried the mango flavor with black tea. I didn't like the mango flavoring. I didn't taste anything like the real fruit. There are just some flavors of fruit that don't translate well into powders for bubble tea. I usually only get mango if I know real fruit is used. Otherwise the flavor is always disappointing.

I give Argo's bubble tea a 4 out of 5 bubbles but only for flavors other than mango.

Other Notes:
I also tried the a vanilla and green tea Teappuccino. While I don't like the name, (I feel like a moron trying to say it) it was a great mix of tea and milk without being too sweet. It was more a latte than a cappuccino. It was good, but I got a small and it was $3.76. I can get almost the same kind of drink at Panya on Stuyvesant for cheaper.

One thing I didn't really like about Argo Tea was their fixed pricing for the entire signature drink menu. All small drinks are $3.76 regardless of the type of drink or difficulty to make. I wish they had some cheaper options. Some of their names are also a bit cheesy. Additionally, I was a little disappointed that they didn't have free WiFi.

Despite these issues I still want to try more of their signature drinks like the Mojitea, Tea Sparkle, and Tea Sangria. I will definitely be back to try more of their tea creations especially since I dislike other chains. I recommend Argo Tea to all tea lovers or for anyone unsatisfied with tea options at other chains.

Prelim Juice

I recently went back to Ithaca, NY to visit my old stomping grounds and I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about the excellent coffee options in Ithaca.

Stella's 
403 College Ave., Collegetown

Iced Hawaiian Latte

I have nothing bad to say about Stella's. They have a very inventive coffee and tea menu with the best names ever. Take for instance the Obama: a mix of dark and white mocha with macadamia nut syrup. Pure genius.

Their prices are very reasonable especially for the level of quality and craftsmanship that goes into every drink. In fact their menu is too good. I can never decide on just one thing to get. It is best to got with a friend so you can both try something. I have always been a fan of their classic cappuccinos. I love the many designs the baristas create with the steamed milk.

On my most recent visit, I tried an Iced Hawaiian Latte of course. This was a unique creation of iced coffee with macadamia nut syrup and frothed milk with red Hawaiian sea salt. This drink was so fun, creative, and the perfect thing on a gorgeous Ithaca day.

Don't forget to use their stamp card because you will be coming back.

I also highly recommend Stella's food and cocktail menu. You will never be dissatisfied. Try the Truffle Parmesan fries. They are great with any drink. My fave though is the Lavender Lady, a mix of vodka, lemon juice, and lavender syrup. So Good!


Manndible Cafe 
Mann Library, Cornell University

If you're on Cornell's campus, then the best cafe to visit is Manndible in the Ag Quad. Their coffee is much better than other campus-run cafes which usually serve Seattle's Best coffee. Manndible is all about sustainability. They do all their own composting and have many vegetarian and vegan options. They have great coffee and tea for the student on the run. I suggest bringing your own mug because then you get a discount. Also don't forget their stamp card.


Gimme! Coffee 
If you spend a significant amount of time in Ithaca you will learn about Gimme. They provide great coffee to several cafes in the area and they have three of their own cafes in Ithaca and a few in NYC. Here are their many locations.


Temple of Zeus 
Goldwin Smith Hall, Cornell University
This is my favorite place in the Arts Quad. They have Gimme! coffee along with the best soups you have ever had. I used to come here almost everyday during my undergrad. The coffee and soup is very cheap and you get a discount if you bring your own mug or bowl. SUPER!


Collegetown Bagels & Ithaca Bakery
There are several locations of this Ithaca establishment. Although I think there are better cafes to get coffee, this place made the list because it is a staple for Cornell students and Ithaca residents. They have the best bagels in town, great pastries, and delicious sandwiches. Their Collegetown location is a particular hotspot for Cornellians. On any given day you will run into someone you know sitting outside sipping sangria or waiting in line for their order.

To all the past, present, and future Cornellians ENJOY!

The Old Teahouse

407 Eddy St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
http://oldteahouse.com/

The Old Teahouse has a newly opened Collegetown location (next to Dunbar's) around the corner from its old place.

What I ordered: passion fruit green tea with passion fruit jelly and boba.

• Taste: great sweet fruit flavor
• Boba and Jelly: sweet with great textures
• Price: small $3.25 + .25 for extra jelly = $3.50

The Old Teahouse is easily the best bubble tea in Ithaca. When I was a freshman at Cornell I learned very quickly that there weren't many bubble tea options. The Old Teahouse was never bad bubble tea but it was somewhat mediocre compared to places in bigger cities.

It relies exclusively on syrups and powders for flavoring, so you can't find real fruit bobas here. They primarily offer different flavored milk and fruit teas, smoothies, and slushes.

Their tapioca balls were generally average tasting with not much flavor. However, with their reopening in a bigger location I found that the also improved their boba. There was a good balance of softness and chewiness. The boba also had a nice sweet taste that it was missing before.

The prices are also relatively low with ice blended bobas at $4.00

The Old Teahouse's new location now has tables and lots of seating areas. You can actually stay and study here without taking up half the store. This is a huge improvement on their part. More people can actually hangout and buy bubble tea. The Old Teahouse also offers waffles too fyi.

While this may not be the best bubble tea in the world, you have to come here if you're in Ithaca.

3.5 out of 5 Bubbles