Baohous, The casa Fox, Cafe Kajta -- LES food crawl

On this particular weekend, I was feeling nostalgic towards Manhattan.
We decided to hit the Lower East Side on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.


Baohaus is a small eatery that only offer Taiwanese style burgers.
I have heard about it, but never bothered to check it out.
Since we accidentally wandered to this place, we had to try it.


It is a common street food in Taiwan, and is called "Gua Bao".
The traditional Gua Bao uses slow cooked pork belly as the key ingredient.
Although a smaller portion, I was really impressed with Baohaus' Gua Bao.
It was very authentic and well prepared.


After the Taiwanese appetizer, we were hungry and ready to eat.
It was either Latin American cuisine or British Gastro food, and Latin American won tonight.
A Casa Fox was our main destination.


We love early dinners and being the only fews in quiet restaurants.


Encortido Salad
I really liked this pickled cabbage salad with the crunchy texture.


Mini Empanada samples
Among six different flavors, I love herbal chicken & olive, Portabello Mushroom & Smoked Guoda, and Queso Blanco.


Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Cilantro and Lime


On the left: Risotto Croquettes with Tocino + Queso
On the right: Red Pepper Crab Cakes with Chipotle Mayonnaise.


The risotto cro


Over the dinner, H mentioned that he has not been to Cafe Katja for a long time.
We decided to go there for beers & desserts.


Cafe Katja is an Austrian cafe that serves excellent food and drinks.
H especially likes to come here for a drink and talk German with the friendly owner & servers.


Forgot what beer it was....


Linzer torte/Schlag
Named after the city Linz, Austria, Linzer torte is the oldest known torte in the world.
It is made of hazelnut and red current jam.
I love the schlag (German word for whip cream). It is not your usual fluffy whip cream.
It is dense and rich with so much more substance.



It was such an spontaneous evening.
I loved hitting all these places and had small bites here and there.

Rhinback, New York -- 2nd failed attemp to ride the antique airplane

H is full of surprises these days. 
Another unexpected short getaway planned by him,
Rhineback is a little more than two hour drive from New York City

He felt bad for talking me out of the antique airplane ride last time in Cape Cod,
and wanted to make it up to me by taking me to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.

It was windy when we arrived, and the planes had just stopped flying an hour before.

We still bought the tickets and hoped that the wind condition would be better later in the day.

While waiting to get calls from the aerodrome,
we walked around the quint little village of Rhinback & Red Hook.

For the full Americana experience, we went to The "Historic" Village Diner for lunch.

The roadside diner was intact from it's manufacturing in 1920's.

We enjoyed the food as much as we enjoyed the ambiance.

The wind was getting stronger after lunch, but we did not want to give up just yet.
More strolling in town to pass time.

Finally at 3 PM, the flights of the day were all canceled.

So it seems H still owes me a ride.

One if by land, two if by sea -- American New cuisine in West Village

I met a friend for dinner at one of the most romantic restaurants in New York.


The main dinning room is elegant with dazzling chandeliers. 


The upstair dinning room is simpler with an old time charm.


Chef's appetizer: Beet salad with goat cheese.
I always love the gesture of a chef's dish, no matter how small or simple it is. 
It just makes me feel like a special customer. 


Tomato gazpacho: plum tomato, basil, dill, 50-year aged balsamic vinegar, virgin olive oil
Sweet, creamy, and fresh. 


Haricot vert salad - grape heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese, slithered almonds, basil, sherry vinaigrette


Grilled bavette steak - roasted radishes, fingerling potatoes, braised red cabbage, beef


Almond milk panna cotta with sable breton: fresh strawberries, strawberry sorbet
It was so silky and just melt in your mouth. I absolutely loved it!


Mascarpone cheesecake: huckeberry foam, huckleberry streusel, mixed berry compote, berry sauce.


The restaurant was so romantic that i thought using the flashlight would be way to intrusive.  
That is why the pictures came out blurry. 

One if by Land, Two if by sea is a restaurant reserved for date nights and special occasions.
Get a table in the main dining room if you can. It feels pretty magical.

Cape Cod, MA

As someone who is a bit of OCD when it comes to travel,
I am usually the one planning the trips in the family.
This year, I am running out of steam and rather uninspired in traveling.

This was a surprise weekend trip that H planned for my Birthday.
I had no idea where I was going until we were on the road.


Since there was no expectation of the trip, I just relaxed and enjoyed whatever came my way.
After we checked into the hotel, we drove up to Provincetown for seafood dinner.


Lobster Pot has a great review, and many tourists come to this restaurant.
However, I am not sure how you can steam lobsters better or worse.


We quickly realized that Provincetown is a very gay & lesbian friendly place.


After dinner, we took a stroll, checked out some interesting shops,


and watched the sunset by the shore.


 After the movie at the drive-in Theatre, we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.


The next day, we missed the boat ride to Martha's Vinyard.
It's okay - no expectations, no disappointments.
Antique shopping instead.


We passed by an antique airplane Anredrome. I wanted to take a ride with this beautiful airplane.
H was still traumatized from the last private plane that we took with his friend a few years back,
and refused to go on the plane. UGH... bummer! 


We had lobster again for dinner at the nearby restaurant.


I needed some exercises after dinner, and wanted to play the miniature golf on the way back to the hotel.


The miniature golf course was packed with families. We decided to hit some balls on the golf range instead.


We went swimming in the pool the next morning,
and picked up the lamps we bought  from an antique shop before heading back home.