I think I liked the supermarket the best out of all the stops we made on this tour. It is huge and you can find things there you wouldn’t find in regular supermarkets. I was surprised how many different kinds of seafood they offer. I could not believe they also have carp which is a type of fish that is in abundance in my country and is traditionally served for dinner on Christmas Eve.

Let me begin by saying I had no idea that Brooklyn had its own china town located on 8th Avenue. Kai Feng Fu is an Asian restaurant located on 4801 8th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11220. On our last group tour we visited this restaurant which was definitely a whole in the wall. My classmates, professor and I walked about 14 blocks in search of this restaurant, it seem like a mile. When we finally got there the place was very tiny and I wondered where were we all going to fit, but we were shown to a back entrance where there were more table and chairs. I ordered the chicken and mushroom dumplings, the scallion pan cakes, and the beef pan cake. The dumplings tasted like thick dough with only a little chicken filling, after eating two dumplings, I began opening the others and only eating the inside. I was excited about the eating dumplings before we got to the restaurant, but after tasting it I was not impressed.

I also had the beef pan cake, and was not impressed. I taught they would of fried the the pancake with the beef, instead I was eating a flat bake sliced open where they inserted the beef. The beef was tough and the pancake was to thick. There was some redemption with the scallion pancakes, they were soft and savory with the scallion fried within the pancake giving it that mild onionny flavor. Will try the scallion pancakes again.

On December 11th our class took a trip to Sunset Park to eat at a “Hole in the wall restaurant”. We walked about 13 blocks to get to Kai Feng Fu, we were all pretty much hungry to eat dumplings. When we first got there I thought it was too small for all of us to sit down and eat. We then walked to another door that didn’t seem part of the restaurant. I can say we were all surprised to a room connected to the restaurant with seats for all of us. It looked pretty shady in there, I guess that adds to the authenticity of it. We all pretty much ordered dumplings, I wanted to try their shredded pork noodle soup. The noodle soup had close to no shredded pork in it and the broth was a little sour, I was pretty disappointed. The language barrier between our class and the people that worked there didn’t make our experience better. I would go again though if I’m ever around that area again. I would just get some dumplings to go.

Yesterday, Friday December 11th we toured 8th Ave in Sunset Park Brooklyn. We visited two places yesterday which were very interesting. The First place we visited was was a super market named Fei Long Market. It’s fairly new as its been there for a few years and it’s the biggest supermarket in the area. It was located on 8th Ave. This supermarket was so huge, the first section when we walked in there were 2 pot boiling , one with eggs and the other with peanut which had a weird smell to it. As you walked more in there were stores selling all kinds of trinkets and other things. The food court had about 10 different stores with all kinds of Chinese dishes ranging from buns, dumplings to tea and roast duck. The next section was the produce and fish/ seafood section. There were all kinds of Asian inspired food products and Teas as well as American products. There were a server all different types of tofu, a variety of dried seafood. The fresh seafood was as fresh as it could get with the workers butchering and live seafood still in the tank behind them. They had unusual things like frog and eel. All in all, it was a great experience and for me a cook like me it was a dream to see ingredients so fresh . I would definitely go back if I want fresh seafood.

I had no doubt prior the the visit of this iconic eatery that I would like anything we try. I love fish prepared in any way. Needless to say I looove lox!! We tasted bagel with cream cheese and lox (my favorite of course, except that I would choose an everything bagel). We also tried herrings in cream sauce which is a delicacy somewhat similar to what I know from my country so I was familiar with the taste.

Neither did I know that chocolate comes from white slimy seeds of a fruit! (Sounds healthy, right?) Although most of the class did not seem to enjoy the goat cheese chocolate, it was my favorite! Not only because I like weird stuff but also because I am a huge fan of goat cheese.

I love trying new foods, especially foods from other countries. The Greek bakery Artopolis has an extensive selection of desserts and baked goods. Besides of traditional Greek goods, such as spanakopita and baklava they make cakes, cookies and bread. I will be back!

The place used to serve american dishes.  It serves authentic Indian food.  It is inexpensive and is really good for 12 bucks for all you can eat buffet.  It is very simple but the food is not entirely fresh.  It is fresh only if they make it and eat it after its out.  The place is a definite go to place for the first time.

I was very happy we went to Maharaja Sweets because I had planned on visiting this Indian dessert shop. I am familiar with Indian food and I love their desserts. I didn’t like the ones we tried on the tour that much but I went back after class and picked different ones. I loved all of them. Most Indian sweets contain spices such as cardamom, curry, and anise. They are often made with nuts and condensed milk.

The “donut” on top left is pretty much a soft donut soaked in syrup. The square next to it has a texture resembling baklava – it sheds thin layers when you take a bite. The almond-topped piece is a traditional Indian cookie that I believe is made of chickpea flour, nuts, and spices. The last piece is a soft mixture of nuts with condensed milk.

One of the stop we made last week in the Lower East Side of Manhattan was Lombardi’s Pizza which is located at 32 Spring Street. It first opens its doors as a pizzeria in 1905 but what you may not know is that it started of as a grocery store in 1897. The grocery store was located at 53 1/2 Spring Street and began selling tomato pies for lunch to feed local factory workers. When they acquired a licence to sell pizza, they became a pizzeria and a loyal clientele followed. in 1984, Lombardi’s closed its doors but reopened at its current location 10 years later. Today it holds the title in the Pizza Hall of Fame as the worlds first Pizzeria in the United States and has been reviewed as “The best pizza On the Planet”. Unfortunately we were not able to sample the pizza Lombardi’s had to offer during our tour last week but based on reviews and some friends i know that went there to eat, the pizza does in fact live up to the hype.

As far as New York Pizza vs. Pizza from Italy, they are in fact very different from one another. New York Pizza is know for having a very thin Crust with Sauce, Cheese and if you want, a various choice of toppings ranging from Pepperoni to Pineapples. Italian pizza on the other hand is very different, it is actually know for having a thicker, bread-like crust. In fact, when the Italians first came to the U.S. the pizza they introduced did not have tomato sauce at all, it was just dough, herbs, garlic, cheese and oil. It more closely resembled what we know today as Foccacia. It became popular because it was easy to make, cheap and it could feed a lot of people which is exactly what the Italians needed, living in the LES. Eventually people started experimenting with adding sauce and toppings and it evolved into what we know today.