Author Archives: Dale Campbell

Coquito Cupcake

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Coquito is not something new to me. Every year being that my fathers side of the family is Puerto Rican we have this drink at our  Christmas eve party . I saw on my Instagram a local  custom cakery and sweet shop called The Best Goodie Bag was having a happy hour on all there cupcake and cookies so I stopped by. I picked up a few different kind of cupcakes and cookies. They offered a bunch of classic cupcake flavors and some spunky ones as well. The cupcake that stood out to the most was the Coquito cupcake. The cupcake itself was a light and airy cinnamon cupcake with the coquito soaked into the cake with a sweet whipped cream frosting dusted with some spices that are usually inside a classic coquito drink. To put the icing on top of the cake the cupcake came with a little shot of coquito. This cupcake was everything that I expected a cup of coquito to taste like. I’m definitely bringing this to my families Christmas eve party this year

 

 

Rainbow crepe

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A few weeks ago I took my niece to this Thai restaurant for her 13th birthday called Dek Sen in queens. Honestly the meal was great but the whole reason for us going to that restaurant was to get the Rainbow crepe. Den Sen is the only place in queens to have them and to be honest what 13 year old girl wouldn’t want that for their birthday. The crepe was beautiful to look at with all the thin layers of colored crepe and sweet white cream. I believe the whole rainbow crepe was overhyped. To me there was really no flavor besides the over sweetness of the cream. It was just pretty much bland and the crepe had a rubbery consistency.

Indian grocery store

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The Patel Brothers grocery store was very authentic to me. They had fruits and vegetables ive never seen before which made me take my phone out and google them. Towards the back of the store the wall was covered in spices most of them iv’e also never heard of or they were just called something different but once I translated them I kind of knew what they were.  Finding things that I never seen or heard of was easy. I believe out of all the grocery stores we went to this semester this was the most authentic one. The labels on all the products seemed like they received all the items from India itself. I don’t believe I found that many items that we can get in any American grocery store. One interesting thing I found was something called Ghee or what we call clarified butter. It stood out to me because they were on large glass jars and had a weird yellowish color to it. Iv’e cooked with clarified butter before but never seen them sold like that. I learned that ghee is used a lot in Indian cooking. Over all I enjoyed the grocery store.

Lombardi’s

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I think the concept of  Lombardi’s being the first pizzeria in America is great.This place has a lot of history being right in the middle of little Italy.  While i was sitting there waiting for the class to arrive i noticed a lot of tourist looking for the pizzeria and taking pictures in front of the pizzeria. With that said, being born and raised in New York Lombardi’s is not a place where i would recommended the best pizza in NYC is. i feel as if you want the experience of going to America’s first pizzeria than this is where you need to go, but for taste wise it is not.  it was very cool that they still use the traditional coal oven. The thinness of the crust was just right but to me the crust had a salty taste to it. The tomato sauce had a bit of sweetness to it that was kind of over baring. On a good note i think the amount a mozzarella cheese and fresh basil that was on the magherita pizza was perfect

seafood gumbo

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In New Orleans our uber driver told us we had to go to this restaurant call Dunbar’s famous creole cuisine which was out of the tourist area and where the locals went to eat. He told us to try the seafood gumbo. i was a little sceptical because it had okra in it and i’ve had a horrible experience with  it when i was younger but the whole point of the trip was to try new foods and experience new culture . white rice was at the bottom and in the broth it had shrimp, oysters, crab legs, crab meat , clams, sausage, veggies and okra. I thought the okra would give it a slimmy texture but it just thicken the broth and the all the Cajun spices made it that much better. I kind of wished the bowl was bigger.

Jollof Rice

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My bestfriend was born in Nigeria and wanted us to taste food that her grandmother used to make for her. So she took us to a restaurant Tropical grill in Queens. I ordered the Jollof Rice. i love spicy foods and my friend warned me that it was spicy but this was on another level of spiciness. I could not even taste the flavor of the rice through the spiciness but my friend told me that the spice was a flavor. My mouth was on fire for a few hours after eating the rice. I had to eat a few spoons full than guzzle some water down. The rice also came with goat and plantains which cooled the rice down a little.

Fried Alligator

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This summer i travelled to New Orleans to try anything and everything i laid my eyes on.  while on my vacation my friend had a weird obsession with all things alligators.  So naturally we did a bayou tour and spent all morning on the boat. Than we went to this restaurant called Royal House on royal street near our hotel . We let the waiter talk us into ordering fried alligator as an appetizer to share for the table. it came with a cocktail and tarter sauce.  I believe the alligator was over cooked because the crust was dark and extra crunchy and the meat was very chewy and leathery. It was a cool to say that i ate alligator but i could would never try it again.

Artopolis

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I am a big fan of baklava and I can honestly say this is one of the best ones that I’ve tried. Baklava is made with layers of filo dough and chopped nuts with either syrup or honey. from ones that I’ve tried before its usually too sticky or soggy, but this one had a perfect syrup to pastry ratio. The bakery had a beautiful décor with tons of traditional Greek pastries and sweets. I found the layout a little weird. I didn’t like the fact that all the desserts were out in the open. Even though some of the stuffed is covered with plastic I still feel like it should be more monitored. I also liked the seating area outside. If I lived closer to the area I would definitely visit Artopolis.

Union Square Green Market

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Union Square Green Market is located on E 17th st and union square . Its open Monday Friday and Saturday 8-6.  The market started in 1976 to bring fresh farm food to a urban area. The market sells plants, artisan bread ,jams, cheese, pickles, maple syrups, wines , ciders, wines, and fresh fruits and vegetables. The market has something to offer for everyone. When i walked around i was attracted to the fruits and vegetables. I saw a lot of things that i was used to and seen before but i also saw some things that I’ve never seen before. I purchased a pound of Mexican Gherkins. they have the shape of grapes but the skin reminded me of watermelons. the fruit had the taste of a sour cucumber. i actually enjoyed them and brought some home for my family. I feel like 12/lb wasn’t a bad price. The market also offed tastings of tomatoes, apples, peaches, peppers, and pears. overall i had a great experience at the Union Square Green Market. When ever i am in the area again i will be going back to find and try out some new things.

Mexican Gherkins