Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Crif Dogs - The Hot Dog Gets Some Love

About two weeks ago my husband and I decided that it was high time we tried Crif Dogs. They have a reputation for being some of the best hot dogs in NYC. Seeing that the dirty water hot dog seems to be an endangered species in this city, this would be a place definitely needing to be checked out to give proper homage to a food that was once an NYC staple. While you can be a purist and have your dog with just mustard or ketchup, Crif will present you with options you never knew you could have with a hot dog.

We decided to be unconventional and tried the Tsunami Dog and the Garden State Dog. The Tsunami is a bacon wrapped hot dog topped with chopped pineapple and green onions and teriyaki sauce. While the bacon, teriyaki sauce and pineapple work well together complimenting each other, the raw green onions can be a bit sharp and unsettling to take in. The Garden State Dog is also bacon wrapped but it is topped with chopped pepperoncini, mustard and american cheese. Both of these options were filling and tasty and have made us believers in the existence and survival of the hot dog in the concrete jungle. We will be back for more.

 Tsunami Dog

Garden State Dog with waffle fries

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Googa Mooga!!!!

Well I am sure that I am probably not the first nor will I be the last to write about this festival, but I hope that my sincere review of my experience at this festival will not be tossed away into oblivion without any regard. Overall my experience was a good one and I did attend both days of the festival thanks to being persistent about getting tickets. I will start things positively by showing pictures of some of the great stuff I tasted and saw (although unfortunately I missed out on taking a picture of the Hammagedon Pig which was pretty friggin awesome). Anyway here are the few pictures I managed to take while not distracted by something more awesome.

 The infamous Foie Gras Doughnut by Do or Dine

 Maple Cotton Candy on a Pretzel stick

 Bourbon Bacon Popcorn

 Inside the Beer Tent

 The Market Place

 Urbarn a magical place of learning

Police barricade tables were awesome.
(The vendors in the background were some of our favorites)

 La Newyorkina Popsicles - My daughter's favorite vendor.

 Italian Rice Balls Form Arancini Bros. 

 Deconstructed Aranci Balls

 Sloppy Joe Sadnwhich from Dyker's Farms 
(It was yummy. I drool over it)

 Field in front of the main stage

 Hall and Oates closing the festival = Awesome!!

 My daughter's favorite area.

OK here is my description of the experience I had. I arrived late in the day on Saturday so by then most stands were running scarce in food, but to be truthful the only reason I really wanted to go that day was to listen to The Roots and I accomplished that plus also got some treats so I was not really bothered by the same issues that other people who attended that day were pissed off about. My husband mentioned that when things started to get ridiculous with the currency system that was established for the alcohol the organizers responded as quickly and efficiently as possible by going to a cash system promptly. Since I did not witness this mess I will take everyone's word for it. What I did experience that day was that even though there were loads of people the festival was distributed in a great manner that allowed for areas where people could put down blankets and sit without other people trampling over them (at least for those not trying to do so in the vicinity of the vendors by the main stage area). I have already posted on Googa Mooga's facebook page to offer my point of view on this so I will not bore you with it. This day ended for me on a great note by having the pleasure to listen to the Roots while watching my little girl go crazy from sugar overload and great music.

Sunday was a fantastic day because this is where I made up for having missed most of the festival on Saturday. I got to try the infamous Foie Gras Doughnut by Do or Dine. Quite frankly it did not live up to the hype. It was not what foie gras should be, which is delicate and melts in your mouth upon contact. Although it was not horrible because it was still somewhat tasty it was not my favorite, but it was novel so I will give it points for that.

Among other things we had battered fried Oreos by James, which were alright. My favorites were the rice balls by Arancini Bros., because they were perfectly made with just the right amount of crispy breading on the outside and tender yummy, ricey goodness on the inside. Although the red gravy one was delicious, my favorite was the pesto one. My daughter's favorites were the popsicles by La Newyorkina, in particular their chocolate paletita. As far as libations I am hoping that Brooklyn Brewery will make their Maple lager a part of their regular menu because it was absolutely fantastic. I love a dark beer that does not have a bitter aftertaste. They definitely delivered what they promised.

In any case I think that the only disappointing thing about the festival was that some of the vendors I wanted to try did not bring enough food to the festival and so I did not get to eat some of the food I wish I had gotten to try. However, I cannot put this entirely on their shoulders because I had ample opportunity to get it since I arrived with my family and friends very early on in the day. I should have seized the chance to get in on as much of the food I wanted to try as possible. Then again I did manage to try some of the places I wanted to try and find some new favorite places to visit when I am feeling hungry. Sincerely for it being the first year that this was done I think the event lived up to the hype by providing a very eclectic collection of food.

My only comments overall are that next year the vendors need to come prepared with loads of food and bigger staffs to expedite the waiting process. If anything was learned is that this was supposed to be a food experience and more focus should be placed on this. It is not enough to come up with a good menu if you make people wait for food for too long. Ten to fifteen minutes should be the most you should have to wait.The layout of the place by the main stage area needs some tweaking but overall I was pleased by the amount of room and having the chance to lay down a blanket and not feeling like I was going to be trampled at any point.

My sincerest thanks to Superfly for putting the event together and also for the way in which you have handled the criticism and responded to it. You guys are a class act and I am looking forward to attending next year. I will be getting the Extra Mooga next year so bring plenty of food because I plan on bringing my appetite.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Puddin - Oh Yeah!!!

If you, like me are someone fortunate enough to have watched MTV when it was actually a good channel to watch, then you must have been lucky enough to have watched The State. One of the skits form that show that is most memorable to me is the Barry and Levon 240 dollars worth of pudding skit.

This was the only thought going through my mind when I saw the store front for Puddin' in New York's East Village. My husband and I decided that since Criff Dogs (fodder for my next post) was not open yet, we could very well reverse the order of our meals and indulge on dessert first.

I am in love with this place and the fact that if you decide to stay and eat your pudding there, the most wonderful smell of chocolate pudding being made from scratch is constantly wafting around. I opted for their Classic Pudding, which is chocolate pudding at the bottom, a middle layer of whipped cream and a top layer of butterscotch pudding. My daughter of course had the chocolate because she is a purist and who can blame her when it comes to pudding, especially from this place. My husband went with their Banana Cream Dream, which is layers of banana pudding, graham cracker crumbs, banana cake crumbs and whipped cream. It was a fantastic way to start lunch. Here are some images to help you with your visual interpretations of this place.





 Classic Pudding

Banana Cream Dream

Chocolate Pudding with Sprinkles



I am definitely going back to this place, especially if I am feeling low because nothing can pick you up like a small batch of well made pudding. Oh and this will always make me laugh.