Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia, NY

The morning after skiing at Belleaire Mountain, I stopped for breakfast at Phoenicia Diner in Phoenicia, NY. This place was located in middle of nowhere upstate New York, so what the diner was like on the inside surprised me. A good way to describe it would be "hipster." Which is a good thing. 

I had the Arnold Bennett Skillet. This was scrambled eggs, locally smoked trout, parmesan cheese, chives, and creme fraiche, served in a skillet along side toast. This was one of the best breakfast dishes I've had in a long time. Good job!

 

Belleayre Mountain Food (Discovery Lodge and Waffle Cabin)

I went skiing in Upstate New York at a place called Belleayre Mountain. I ate lunch on their property. First meal was at the cafeteria in their main lodge.

I had the Maple Pho. Interesting combination, since I don't think of pho as generally being sweet. The broth had the maple flavor. Noodles, brisket, bok choy, mushrooms, jalapeno slices, and scallions filled the pho. Tasted about what I expected from a ski resort cafeteria. It was totally acceptable, but not a meal I'll be craving any time soon.

 I had a snack before leaving Belleayre at the end of the day from a place called Waffle Cabin. This is apparently a chain that has locations mostly at ski resorts. 

I had a chocolate covered waffle. 

And a hot chocolate.

Arkville Bread & Breakfast in Arkville, NY

Had breakfast at a restaurant called Arkville Bread & Breakfast while traveling through upstate New York. I was staying at a hotel in a neighboring town, and this place was recommended by the people working in the hotel. Arkville Bread & Breakfast was inside of a caboose with an extended building built around the train car.

I had a chorizo omelet, served with home fries and toast. Good breakfast.

There were some neighboring train tracks from a nearby scenic railroad, explaining the caboose theme of the restaurant.

 

Shiro of Japan in Carle Place, NY

Goodbye Shiro of Japan in Carle Place, NY. I have happy memories of going here as a kid. Too bad they closed after being in business for over 50 years.

 

Soup

Salad

Rice, ginger, and mustard sauce

Salmon and noodles

Eggholic in Queens, NY

I tried a restaurant called Eggholic in Queens, NY. This was an Indian fast food restaurant where most everything was egg based in some form, whether it be actual egg or chicken.

Started with somosas:

I tried the Lachko. This was new to me when it came to Indian food and I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. The menu described it as shredded green bell pepper cooked with cheese and running eggs. It was served with roti. I enjoyed it. The egg wasn't very identifiable, but the cheese very much was. It reminded me of eating the roti covered in a cheesy dip. 

 

NY Food: Bagels (Pumpernickel Bagel, Zucker's Bagels & Smoked Fish, Russ & Daughters, and Liberty Bagels)

Since nobody can travel right now due to COVID-19, let's go back in time a few months and visit New York to eat. My last visit to the New York was in December for a few days. The last couple posts on this blog from New York had to do with the pizza and Indian food I ate on the trip. This post is about the Indian restaurants I visited while there. I ended up eating a lot of Indian food on my short trip.

Pumpernickel Bagel:

This was a random bagel shop I walked by in Long Island City when it was time for a bagel breakfast.

I had a whole wheat everything bagel, filled with lox cream cheese and onions.

 Zucker's Bagels and & Smoked Fish:

This bagel shop was located a few blocks away from Bryant Park. It was a chain. I ordered a sandwich called The Flatiron. This had everything seeded smoked salmon, avocado, and scallion cream cheese. I very much enjoyed this sandwich.

Russ & Daughters:

This place is a classic that I've visited before in the past. They have all sorts of delicious smoked fish here.

I had the Shteil. Smoked sable and goat cream cheese on an everything bagel.

Liberty Bagels:

This was my last bagel experience before heading back home. They were located close to the train station so I grabbed one last bagel before catching the train back to JFK. They had some interesting bagels that involved a lot of food coloring like their rainbow bagels.

They had some interesting cream cheeses as well. Can't say I've ever seen maple bacon or Oreo flavored cream cheese anywhere.

None of that matters though, because it ended up with me getting handed the wrong order. They confirmed what I ordered when I picked it up, but that's not what was in the bag. What they gave me was a sesame bagel stuffed with lox, avocado, tomato slices, onions, and capers. It wasn't a bad combination. It was almost a combination I would have enjoyed, except there was no cream cheese. Who in their right mind orders bagels with no cream cheese!? Unfortunately, I was already on the train to the airport when I opened the bag and saw I had the wrong order, so I ate it...

NY Food: Indian Restaurants (Deep Indian Kitchen, The Kati Roll Company, and Apna Masala)

Since nobody can travel right now due to COVID-19, let's go back in time a few months and visit New York to eat. My last visit to the New York was in December for a few days. The last post from New York had to do with the pizza I ate on the trip. This post is about the Indian restaurants I visited while there. I ended up eating a lot of Indian food on my short trip.

Deep Indian Kitchen:

This was an Indian fast food restaurant located right outside Times Square. With this restaurant, imagine a Chipotle, only serving Indian food instead. I ordered a meal called the Live Fire Feast which was a combo that included a main dish and several sides. I had the Chicken Tikka Masala, saffron rice, chickpea dal, beet kachumbar, and garlic naan. I had blood orange lemonade as a beverage.

The Kati Roll Company:

This tiny restaurant served something called kati rolls. This Indian street food was something new to me and was similar to a wrap/burrito. There's apparently several locations of The Kati Roll Company in New York. This location was on MacDougal Street. I ordered the Unda Chicken Roll. This was chicken tikka and eggs wrapped in paratha bread. Not exactly knowing what I was getting into with a new food, I was very impressed. This little wrap was delicious.

Apna Masala:

This was one Indian restaurant among many in the East Village. They had a nice dinner combination that came with tea, appetizers, a main course, and a dessert.

NY Food: Pizza (Vinnie's Pizzeria and Ray's)

Since nobody can travel right now due to COVID-19, let's go back in time a few months and visit New York to eat. My last visit to the New York was in December for a few days. The next few posts on this blog will focus on that trip. This particular post will discuss the pizza I sampled while there, because what trip to New York is complete without pizza.

Vinnie's Pizzeria in Williamsburg:

This was my first pizza experience on the trip to New York. Vinnie's was located in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

I had two slices. One was topped with eggplant and ricotta. The other was a sauceless white slice. Both were a good example of NY style pizza. I preferred the eggplant of the two, but both were very respectable slices of pizza.

Famous Original Ray’s Pizza:

I ate at this chain of pizzerias in New York. I ended up getting a slice of white pizza when I saw the crazy prices of some of the more exciting toppings ($8+ for a slice). It was alright, but nothing I'd go back to seek out.

NY Food (Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, Veselka, Totto Ramen, Sunnyside Pizza, Halal Truck, Shiro, and Dave's Bagels)

Continuing from my recent trip which took me around New England, New York was the next stop on the journey:

Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery (Manhattan):

This place has been on my radar for a while. They specialize in Knishes and have been around since 1910!

I had a Spinach Knish. Spinach was mixed into the potato in the knish. I very much enjoy knishes, and this was no exception!

Veselka (Manhattan):

I went here almost immediately after visiting Yonah Schimmel's. Pierogi are hard to resist and Veselka is one of my favorite restaurants in New York. Their Sunday Brunch was happening and I tried the bacon, egg, & cheese pierogi. The waiter told me I wanted them fried. I should have gotten them boiled. The amount of crispiness from being deep fried made them seem like empanadas more than pierogi. Filling wise, bacon egg and cheese in a pierogi was really good!

Totto Ramen (Manhattan):

Google listed this as a highly rated ramen shop in the city. They specialized in a type of broth which I had never had called Paitan. This is apparently a chicken based broth.

I had the Miso Paitan Ramen. It was noodles in chicken paitan broth, topped with miso, egg, scallions, bean sprouds, onions, and pork. Delicious!

Sunnyside Pizza (Queens):

This is a pizzeria in Queens that has good New York style pizza, available by the slice.

I had a slice of cheese and an eggplant/ricotta slice. I do enjoy that they put sesame seeds on the crust.

Halal Truck (Queens):

I had a Lamb/Chicken combo from a random Halal food truck in Sunnyside. They made the standard NY Halal cart fare a little more interesting by adding bell peppers and onions in with the meat. Served over rice and lettuce, topped with white and hot sauce.

Shiro (Grand Central):

I had an Eel Avocado Roll from a fast food sushi restaurant in Grand Central from Shiro.

Dave's Bagels and Grill (Queens):

I had an everything bagel with lox cream cheese.