single best link i’ve clicked on. ever.

The wine list cover – very cool! The owner Alex, explained that they had to buy thousands of different wine labels off eBay to create these covers because you could only purchase them in bulk. Cool theme, it also appears on their website.

Tastevin cutlery
In case you were wondering about that teensy weensy spoon and fork at the end, we ordered oysters which I forgot to take pictures of!

Tastevin’s gnocchi a la parisienne
Mmm, soft fluffy gnocchi and cheesy, cheesy sauce.

cassoulet of confit duck, pork sausage and grilled speck
It just fell right off the bone! Delicious, this is the dish I would come back for!

char grilled beef eye fillet with pommes frites & peppercorn sauce
Perfect French fries – so crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside

.. But not before one missed stop, a mishap with an express train and 3 L train rides…  The L train rides wouldn’t have been so bad if we didn’t have to get off at 14th St Union Square every  friggen time – the place seriously WREAKED of piss! We wanted to die between connecting trains!

But the reward was well worth it…

Porchetta Sandwich – generously flavoured roast pork – none of that dry, bland shit!

porchétta [por'ketta] n. roasted pork with crispy skin, highly seasoned with aromatic herbs and spices, garlic, sage, rosemary and wild fennel pollen. Typical plate of the Roman cuisine. Slow cooked Italian fast food.

Home fries with burnt ends. Mmm! Potatoes in one of its most tasty forms.

And then down the road for dessert at the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop (complete with rainbows and unicorns) where(_I_)head got a Big Gay Ice Cream and I, a Tang Shake.

http://www.porchettanyc.com/

http://biggayicecream.com/

We had plans to do the whole Momofuku thing but it didn’t open until noon which meant we would be cutting it a bit close to catch the Lion King at 1pm.

This joint was suggested to us by JuBert and we happily took it up. Four stars and 3000+ reviews on Yelp – couldn’t be bad, right? Turns out, it was the best ramen I’ve ever had! DEEEELICIOUS. It was the perfect meal to alleviate the mildly ill effects of the night before.

We were a bit worried to find the huge line out front when we got there at 11am on the dot but it was all good because they had just opened. It took us 20 minutes to be seated but only because they didn’t have enough menus to go around… A bit silly but hey, at least it’s an easy fix if they want to do something about it.

The cool bowl display at the bar/entrance

Hamachi Carpaccio    $13
Thinly sliced yellowtail sashimi with Japanese carpaccio sauce

Hirata Buns (2 pieces)    $9
Steamed buns filled with your choice of pork or chicken, served with Ippudo original spicy buns sauce

Haven’t had the Momofuku ones but peeps on Foursquare have said they are comparable! Momofuku or not, they were fucking good! I could eat these all day.

We were seated at the counter where we could watch the chefs prepare our meals in their cute shirts! This guy had cherry blossoms on his – my favourite!

And the ramen! (_I_)head went for the classic:

Shiromaru Hakata Classic     $14  + Onsen Tamago (Poached Egg)
The original “Tonkotsu” noodle soup topped with pork loin chashu, kikurage, menma, red pickeled ginger, sesame, and scallions

And I had the one that everyone loves:

Akamaru Modern    $14 + Onsen Tamago (Poached Egg)
The original “Tonkotsu” noodle soup topped with Ippudo’s secret “Umami Dama” miso paste, pork chashu, cabbage, kikurage, scallions, and fragrant garlic oil

A definite must-go for anyone visiting NYC. Oh, how I miss the Big Apple.

Om nom nom nom. That is all.

I didn’t realise you could make your own playlists! Pretty nifty!

We arrived a bit early for our 7pm booking and settle for a pre-dinner drink at the Flinders where I overheard the bar staff talk about their special guests upstairs. Interesting! Anyway, enough celebrity excitement, here are the pictures!

Leather Jacket Cheek, Oyster, Cucumber
Hunk of leather jacket fish in an oyster shell, under a layer of cucumber jelly

King George Whiting Fish Finger
That sauce was deeeeelicious!! Shame they were a bit tight with it! C’mon man, dollops! Big fat, dollops!

Nasturtium, Goats Cheese
I can safely say that I am not a fan of goat’s cheese… Will obligingly finished this off for me but not before I fucked him up by eating all the biscotti thing and leaving him with nothing but the cheese and other stuff, lol

Prawn, Pasta
Delicious, fat king prawn! Perfectly cooked, soft and succulent. The pasta was good too, this dish reminded me of an asian egg noodle dish

Boar Neck, Garlic Shoots

Pig Tail Tile, Bone Marrow

White Miso Caramel Eclair
A bit weird, but it worked. I’m a huge fan of salty and sweet, just ask the (_I_)head who is disgusted when I indulge in Canadian pancakes. Mmm, bacon and maple syrup!!

And photographic evidence courtesy of popsugar!

Grabbed a quick bite at the food court Din Tai Fung before heading over to the Australian Museum for my birthday weekend outing.

We crossed Hyde Park to find Cathedral Square decked out with an ice rink! The Winter Festival was on so we stopped by for a few quick photos before continuing to the museum which was awesome but very tiring for a sickling like myself.

Hello my camouflaging friend!

And what kind of museum would it be without stuffed animals?

I love the museum! Can’t wait to visit the American Museum of Natural History! An NYC local who I met on a ferry last weekend told me that that the Australian Museum is only a postage stamp in size!

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