For some time now, I’ve been wanting to take a trip to New Orleans, Louisiana to enjoy the Marsh Gras festivities and to eat the local food. I follow some people from NOLA on social media and the food that they post looks delicious, especially the seafood boils with crawfish. Since I have not been able to take the trip, my boyfriend decided to treat us to Hot & Juicy Crawfish in 14th street. The owners are from Louisiana and promise that their seafood boils are as delicious as they are in back home. We got “The Drool”  experience that included crawfish, shrimp, crab, calamari, andouille sausages, corn and potatoes with a mild juicy Cajun sauce. I’ve never had crawfish so this was definitely a new taste for me. The sauce was flavorful,sweet and spicy and definitely cleared up my sinuses as I have a cold. The crawfish had very little meat and tasted like Omega 3 pills. Some people suck the head of the crawfish which is full of guts and not pleasant. The shrimp,crab, calamari, potatoes and corn paired really well with the sweet sauce and were delicious. I still believe that this seafood boil has a New York spin to it and is not exactly as delicious as it would be in NOLA. I’m still would like to visit New Orleans and try the local food.

I recommend this restaurant but also warn people that it is a little expensive.

I’ve only had Greek Feta Salad and Gyros from Greek Cuisine and I decided to try something  new. I bought these canned stuffed grape vine leaves from the authentic Greek supermarket from our class tour. Of course, I did not expect canned food to be exceptionally better than fresh food but I somewhat thought I’d get something similar. The canned leaves were slimy and had a strong smell of dill and preservatives. There was a lot of leaves in the can and they rot quickly meaning they must eaten immediately after opening. They were soaked in oil and had a tin taste to them. The texture was slimy and soft and not very pleasant. It did not taste awful just like a cold concentration of dill and oily rice. I tried the fresh stuffed vine leaves at Premier 57 Spa in the city. I was surprised and excited to know that my hummus plate came with stuffed vine leaves. These were firm,not slimy or soaked in oil. I was able to taste the seasoned rice although its mildly seasoned. I tasted dill but it was not overpowering. I enjoyed the taste of the fresh stuffed leaves rather than the canned version. I recommend these to anyone looking to try something new! 

I did not exactly know what Tahini was when I bought it but I knew it’s an ingredient in hummus. I like hummus so therefore I bought it. Once i opened the jar, I realized it’s sesame seed sauce/butter. I thought tahini was a tan garlicky paste with a hummus like consistency instead it’s brown,smooth and oily. It has a nutty but off putting after taste. It ,quite frankly, does not taste like sesame seeds rather like a downgrade version of almond butter. While I do not enjoy tahini on it own, I definitely enjoy it in different dishes. I will be incorporating it into my cooking especially into my beloved hummus!

Although I’m not a vegan, on September 29th I attend my first vegan festival in Randalls.  I had the choco-nut waffle from Egloo. It was a rather regular chocolate ice cream waffle concoction. The waffle was rich and soft but flavorless with little to no sugar. The chocolate ice cream has a creaminess to it almost like gelato. The creaminess of the ice cream made me instantly thirsty. The banana slices on top were not yet ripen and the peanut butter sauce was the highlight component that brought everything together. This tasted like a banana peanut butter protein shakes offered at many health food stores and gyms. I must admit I was a bit disappointed because I expected more but this does not discourage me from trying out vegan foods and desserts.

The first time I ever heard of Baklava was on the show Bridezilla, in an episode where the bride was frustrated because she was not able to find fresh Baklava. That episode alone intrigued enough to make me want to try the dessert but I did not until our class visit to Artopolis in Astoria. Although pistachio baklava seems to be the most popular, I bought a piece of the walnut almond one because I’m not a fan of pistachios. I admit I was a bit surprised about the sweetness of it. I did not find it extremely sweet although it has a really sweet after taste and I would not eat more than two pieces in a day. The honey drenched filo dough was still a bit grainy very moist. The almonds and walnuts made a great combination and it tasted like a nut mix dipped in honey.The nuts gave it a crunchy texture while the filo dough added a chewy component. It was very tasty overall and I would recommend!