new york trip part 4: broadway, comedy clubs, & more!

have you made it this far in my new york trip? here is part 1, part 2, and part 3 if you arent up to date. i have one more post in me after this one...so the end is near!













































































a few things:

+ i finally got to check seeing a broadway musical off my bucket list. i LOVE musicals (really emphasize that LOVE.) we saw wicked, and i highly recommend it. my sister isnt as big of a fan of musicals as my cousin & i. she fell asleep during defying gravity (who falls asleep at the climax/the reason everyone came to see wicked?!!?!?! we made fun of her the rest of the trip)

+ bar americain is bobby flay's restaurant...and honestly it was just ok. i wouldn't return. the food wasnt memorable enough that would make me return (unlike morimoto's...see ny trip part 2.) i would say if you are a huge fan of bobby flay, check it out. if not, pass. on a more positive note, i DID really enjoy the lamb salad pictured!

+ that hazelnut icecream bar was from a random shop we walked by (i think it's called pop bar?) and it tasted JUST like nutella.

+ any huge comedy fans out there? my cousin is a comedy NUT. we went to the comedy cellar and gotham comedy club. comedy cellar > gotham. the comedy cellar was a blast! i am pictured with judah friedlander (he's from 30 rock)

+ the grisly pear was a bar we stopped by in to kill time before the comedy cellar show (we had to wait for the previous show to be done.) they had a free comedy show (which sucked) and the bartender was VERY snooty/snarky. i dont recommend this bar at all.

+ poor milford plaza...out of all the letters to go out on their sign...why did it have to be the 'o' 'r' and 'd'? people were chuckling in the street and taking phone pics of the half lit sign.

+ the famous magnolia bakery was packed! we passed it on the way to find nbc studios. my sister wanted to try something so she got a vanilla and banana nut cupcake. i tried both and they were good. very moist and not too rich. but...i wouldnt go out of my way to return back (only because im not a huge cake/dessert fan and they both had WAY too much frosting.)

+ nbc studio tour was neat and relatively inexpensive. if you are a fan of SNL it might be worth your while. we were lucky enough to glimpse the SNL set while kristen wiig and alec baldwin were rehearsing a skit. i LOVE kristen wiig so i was very thrilled! she is SUPER SUPER skinny in real life.

+ pomme frites was so great. definitely try this place if you are ever in nyc, i know i will be returning. you get some thick cut fries and your choice of different dipping sauces (we got pomegranate teriyaki, lemon dill, & mango chutney.) dangerous times since almost all the sauces are mayo based. my favorite was lemon dill. mango chutney is the most popular choice according to the worker.

+ boka was recommended to us by my sister's co-worker. i have never had korean chicken wings so i have nothing to compare it to. i REALLY loved the wings (so crispy!) we also got watermelon soju, which isnt on the menu...you have to ask for it. it is fun but expensive and i felt like they didnt put enough soju in it. i wouldnt get it again unless i wanted to impress someone who has never had it.

+ i wanted to try out brick lane for two reasons. 1. adam from man vs food has been here 2. they claim to have the hottest curry ever. we only got a side of the "hottest sauce". it wasnt even that hot and the flavor was awful (it tasted artificial.) i didnt find it that impressive (authentic thai/lao food is the only thing that has made my mouth hurt from heat.) but the other curry dishes we got were decent.

+ we went to a burlesque show in coney island and it was definitely an experience. bizarre stuff!

one more post to go! the end is near....until next time when i take china town and little italy.

new york trip part 3: eataly, korea town & more!

are you getting sick of my food porn yet? if you are, i regret to inform you that i have a couple more posts still yet to come. on to the pictures!



















































































































a few things:

+ eataly was incredibly cool. it is a mixture of shop, restaurant, and market. it was super super packed. i am guessing it is always like that? there were so many separate food stations and little restaurants inside (one served mainly fish, another pasta, yet another pizza, etc.) unfortunately we didnt get the chance to try out anything besides the gelato pictured...we were too hungry to wait for a table (1-2 hr wait.) too bad because i really wanted to try out the appetizer area (everyone stands and eats cheeses, bread, sliced meats and such. finger food!) i am definitely returning someday.

+the gelato flavors we got were chocolate, white peach, and pistachio. the pistachio tasted like the actual nut...not like pistachio ice cream.

+ the calexico food stand was AWFUL. we ordered the carne asada and it was so plain and disappointing. not even the hot sauce could salvage it.

+ the oral fix bar in the basement of the museum of sex was neat. i liked the decor (cool light bulbs, brick interior.) we ordered the 'hot sex on the beach' and it was very unusual. it was infused with jalepeno so it really did have a hot kick to it. wouldnt really recommend it though, it was hard to finish, even with us three sharing it (it starts to irritate your throat after a while)

+ we didn't go inside the actual museum of sex, just the entrance with all the gimmicky merchandise. see that weird dog toy with a hole in its butt? costs $500! i wonder if anyone would buy a such a sex toy for their dog?!?

+ korea town was very fun. we returned here about three times within our trip. this was my first time trying korean bbq (we went to miss korea, try the beef over the pork...it is much tastier) and it was really spectacular but OUTRAGEOUSLY priced. so expensive. regardless, i would return back here because the state i am from has no korean bbq! :(

+ we only went to the lobby of the empire state building. if you watch 'how i met your mother' you know that it doesnt really count as going to the empire state building :P we didnt want to pay $50 just to see the building/skyline. maybe someday i will but not this trip.

+ we stopped by a BCBG store because it is my sister's favorite brand. it was so lavishly decorated. i love the black&gold necklace in the display.

+ random beauty note: i wore opi cajun shrimp for most of my trip. it wore like steel! it definitely became a firm favorite of mine. also, we stopped by a sephora and i tried on the dark vampy lipstick pictured (perfectly matches my cardigan, eh?) i dont remember what shade it was, but it was by makeup forever :)

+ when we first got to grand central station, i immediately said "we are!" hahaha. if you have no idea what i'm talking about CLICK HERE. also, we tried junior's cheesecake here. DELICIOUS. i loved it. it had the perfect firm texture and right balance of cheese and sweetness.

+ bryant park was SO NEAT. people were just chilling and relaxing while some music played. the lady pictured above was recording herself hula hooping! it looked really neat in the dark since her hoop glowed.

+ it was my cousin's birthday so we treated her to VIP karaoke. it was outrageously expensive and the song selection wasnt the best. i forgot the name of this place pictured, but i dont recommend it. there are cheaper/better options (we went to another one later in our trip. much cheaper, much better selection)

+ lastly...almost everything we did this day (yes we went to all these places in ONE day!) we stumbled upon on accident! we really only planned eataly, miss korea, and karaoke. everything else we just ran into while we were walking around to our destinations! neat, huh?

until the next post where we explore times square, broadway, and comedy clubs