Baked by Melissa

Given the little options we had on Thanksgiving, we stumbled upon Baked by Melissa. A few of my New York friends had raved to me about Baked by Melissa so I bought into the hype and I got some miniature cupcakes. We got 6 cupcakes for 5.50. Long story short, these were so over hyped. I really don't understand why anyone would want to eat such small cupcakes. If you want a cupcake, do it the right way and get big cupcake. We chose red velvet, smores, chocolate pancake, and the mini of the month, the chocolate graham. My favorite was the red velvet. My friend's favorite was the chocolate graham.

They sure are cute

Momofuku Noodle Bar

This place was rather hard to find. It was packed with people on the eve of Thanksgiving. We waited for about 5 minutes before we were seated. We were seated at the bar facing the open kitchen and while we waited we watched the chefs prepare dishes. We ordered two momfuku ramen bowls and one dish of pork buns. The pork buns came promptly though the portions were definitely on the scant side. It came with two pork buns marinated with duck seasoning, a small stalk of celery, and pork belly. The pork belly was very succulent and tender, very juicy. I've have Ippudo before so I was not sure if Momofuku would meet the standard that Ippudo had set. The portions were generous. It came with pork round, pork belly, raw egg, dried seaweed and some lettuce. The noodles had a slippery kind of texture while I prefer a more grainy kind of texture that has that homemade feel to it. The noodles were infused with a smokey taste. I found the broth to be too salty and the smokey taste of the noodles was overall too overpowering. The broth was too seasoned and had so many flavors jumbled together. I didn't end up finishing my bowl. I left disappointed and not completely satisfied.

Clinton St. Baking Company

While searching for good brunch places to eat, this place popped up on several best brunch places of New York lists. My friend was sold on the pictures that people submitted of their food on Yelp. Clinton St. Baking Company is located on the Lower East Side between Ave B and Houston St. Getting there was a bit of hassle since I asked about five people where Clinton St. was and they all did not know. Eventually we got there and stood in a long line of well-dressed posh New Yorkers waiting patiently to be called. About two hours later, we finally were finally seated. When we walked in, we were greeted by the scent of freshly made buttermilk pancakes.

We ordered the spanish scramble, eggs benedict, and the grilled chicken sandwich. I was bummed that I couldn't get the southern fried chicken sandwich since that was only a dinner special. The spanish scramble comes with three eggs, chorizo, tomatoes, caramelized onions, scallions, melted monterey jack, with hash browns and sourdough toast. It was delicious and it didn't taste too heavy or greasy.  The two hour wait was well worth it. For drinks my friend and I shared the vanilla classic thick shake which is made with locally made ice cream. It was really rich, topped with whipped scream and some chocolate sprinkles. A little indulgence never hurt anyone.

Eggs Benedict

Spanish Scramble

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

my milkshake brings all the boys to the yard...

Blue 9 Burger

A friend recommended this place to me once claiming that this was better than Shake Shack. It's been so long since I've had a burger so I wanted to try this place yesterday. I ordered the Blue 9 burger with caramelized onions topped with the mango sauce, an extra 50 cents. The burger itself is only $5.30. The burger was juicy but the portions were too small for me. I was left wanting more after devouring the burger in a few bites. Though it was a good burger, I don't think it surpasses Shake Shack's burgers.

Blue 9 Burger with Mango Sauce