Cabana - Nuevo Latino - NYC

Last night a few friends and I went out to eat some Latino food! We went over to Cabana - Nuevo Latino, over in Forrest Hills, Queens. Inside was dark and festive, quiet yet exciting at the same time. The restaurant itself is very narrow and long, and it was quite packed when we got there at around 7:15 PM.



We were greeted by a waitress that told us all of the daily specials- and everything sounded delicious! I ended up ordering a drink, a Passion Daiquiris. My take on it? Extremely fruity- but I guess I like the fruity stuff so it was all right. The only complaint that I had was that it was little too thick, and the super thin straw they provided me with didn't allow anything to come up.




As an appetizer, we ordered the "arepas con queso blanco". Which, to me, sounds like, "a Rape butt". (YES, i AM SO immature. I know.. but COME ON!) Anyway, it was actually pretty delicious. It basically was a doughy flat corn bread, topped with mozzerella (or white cheese?) and a little touch of black beans. The cheese mound was huge, but it really made the taste. The bread was a little dry but it was nicely covered by the cheese... and the last touch, the beans had a sour-ish taste to it, really made the whole thing come together.



For dinner, we ended up sharing a Paella Valenciana.. and it was basically a rice dish with clams, mussels, shrimp, chicken, sausage (Chorizo) and some vegetables all mixed in. It was enough to serve 3 girls and it was AWESOME. It was a perfect mix of flavor and spices. I often find Spanish foods a little too salty for my liking (usually) but this was really well balanced. I believe it was the peppers that evened out the taste for me.



For dessert we had 'tres leches cake'. And it is NOT on the menu, but it is REALLY delicious. It's basically a cake with condensed milk integrated into it. It was extremely RICH, super SWEET, and it came with a side of Strawberry ice cream, and a few fresh fruits on the side. The fresh fruits came in handy to equal out the super-sweetness. I don't actually advise eating this whole piece of cake by yourself, it's probably diabetes-friendly. We shared it amongst 3 people and it was definitely good enough.

So, to sum it up, my experience was very delightful. Minus the not-so-friendly waitress attitude we received for a little bit. But that was forgivable due to the food.

Taste: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Cost: Range about $24-$30

COMMENTS? SUGGESTIONS? INQUIRIES?? Please comment. :)

Sticky Lips - Rochester

I went up to Rochester this weekend. No, we forewent the Garbage plate experience. Instead we opted for some delicious southern BBQ. In Rochester (I know this because I went to college there), there are 2 places that are very well known for BBQ. Dinosaur BBQ is the big one, which 'everyone' knows about... so popular that it has a chain in Syracuse and there is also one in Harlem, New York. But Sticky Lips is the lesser "well known" - yet great in every aspect.

I've eaten at both, and I can tell you... to each their own.

At Stickylips, my friend Christine and I shared the "Billy Holiday Plate" - which consisted of Chicken (leg&thigh), pulled pork, beef brisket and a slab of ribs. We decided to get the "dry-rub"- which is when they rub the slab of ribs with some type of garlic/peppery spices. (I think in turn, this was a bad decision.. the ribs ended up tasting really dry, not my cup of tea). We also got a side of Sweet Potato Fries (a plus, because Dinos' BBQ does NOT have this) and another side of Chili. Everything was pretty good. The pulled pork was a little dryer (I honestly think Dinos BBQ does a better job with the ribs and the pulled pork). But the chicken here at Sticky Lips were UNBELIEVABLE. Super tender, super soft, perfectly spiced. It was great. Everything else was pretty decent too. The sauce they have there is really good. They have their own specialty sauces and they do carry a spicy one, that most people generally like. But, since I'm not a fan of spicy foods, the original tasted great to me!

The atmosphere is really nice too, it's got a bar/family resturant vibe. The waiters/waitresses are very kind, patient and friendly. They have a really great 'sweet tea' drink too. And each table cloth comes with puzzles and word games for little kids (like us) to play.

SO, as my friend Alex says, ""succulent and juicy chicken [but] sub par pulled pork" That pretty much sums it all up.

**** on a random note, i'm going to start giving it a rating system, since it would be more viable to some people**** so here it is:

Taste: 4/5
Atmosphere: 5/5
Cost: Range about $12-25 / plate

Venetian Sandwiches - Italy

This probably won't be a recommendation to any of you, since the next place I'm going to blog about was a little hole-in the wall-pub/sandwich area that my friend and I stumbled upon in Venice. So here's the back story. Basically I went to Italy for about 10 days back in early December. Most nights we stayed in Hostels, but on the day we went to Venice, we were going to sleep on a night train that night to journey over to Naples (which is about a 8 hours trip). So, that whole day in Venice, we had to carry around our Backpacking Backpacks.. and it was pretty horrific.

So here we were, two angry (and sick of each other friends), super hungry- haven't-slept enough-because of loud snoring hostel-room-sharing backpackers, super fresh post graduates, been traveling already for 7 days...and we had no freaking clue where to go to eat. Now, Venice is a beautiful city, and there are TONS of restaurants everywhere...but they all had the "Tourist Special" on the Menu- which is a huge picket sign that says - "DO NOT EAT THERE BECAUSE THE FOOD IS PROBABLY CRAPPY AND YOU WILL PROBABLY BE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR IT". And we've already had enough of that, so we REALLY wanted some GOOD FOOD.

We walked for a really long time before finally giving up, and we saw this little pub.. so we went in. We saw wooden benches and tables lined against the walls and this place was basically a bar and sandwich house. We plopped down, threw our bags on the side, and was like, "OK LETS EAT".


Basically what they offered were these little sandwiches that were cut in 4 pieces, kind of like how my mom used to cut my peanut butter & jelly sandwiches when I was in 5th grade. They had many different types, turkey, roast beef, avacado, salmon, whatever... and you can buy 1/4th of a sandwich or 4 pieces to create a whole sandwich. You could mix and match all the different flavors too.



I'm not much of a sandwich person, but I was hungry, and I didn't really speak italian,... so I pointed at something that looked like turkey. There was a lot of meat in the sandwich, and there was a tangy mustard sauce that they used inside the sandwich. I think i also tried a Roast beef piece, but that was pretty dry and didn't taste as good. The turkey and mustard/salsa mix was a good choice and tasted awesome. Pairing it with a cappuccino probably wasn't the best idea, but nonetheless, good experience. It was probably the best meal I had ... in all of Italy. No joke.

"Birreria Forst" is the name of the Restrant and its about a few streets from the famous St Marc's square in Castello 4540. It's on this narrow street that leads to Molo Riva degli Schiavoni and of course the Grand Canal. (Go to Venice.. and you will understand that there are no directions in venice). Ha!

For more information check out this link.

Luke's Lobster - NYC

Luke's Lobster - http://www.lukeslobster.com/
"From ME to you" (ha ha, for the slow ones, ME = MAINE) ;)

A friend and I went up to the Empire State Building tonight to do the MOST touristy thing a person can do in New York City. I bet if you're reading this, and you're a New Yorker, you'd be like, "why the hell did you go there?" -- Yeah, the people that worked there asked us the same question too... but it was definitely worth while, and c'mon- have you REALLY, REALLY seen the city? In that type of view.. pretty breathtaking.. for like 20 minutes anyway. So, it was quite beautiful and afterwards we were tired and starving.. and wanted to eat some really great food.

We went over to 7th street and 1st ave, and had some LUKE'S LOBSTER!
It was amazing. I mean, when I first saw it, I was like, "ugh, I thought this was going to be a freaking restaurant.. " but instead, it was a chic little place, with somewhat of a fast-food aura to it. There were small counters and stools for maybe about 8 people to sit down and eat. The stools were really cute- had little lobster decor all over it. The spices on the table were also really cute, they were little claws of lobsters that were labeled, "Secret Spices". The little "sandwiches" were amazing- I don't know if I was super hungry or what--, but the lobster, the crab and the shrimp were ALL super fresh tasting..and delicious! There was none of that fishy-taste crap.. and the sauce was to die for. It was some kind of marinara-type sauce- but it was a little bit tangy and spicy and worked really well with the meat. The rolls that the meat was on was also VERY well made. It was lightly buttered and toasted!

I highly recommend this place- at least try it once! The only setback really, is the price of the food. It IS little pricey (for college students and poor working people like me :) so it's not probably somewhere I'd go all the time..but still worth it once in awhile! I mean, basically, what you're seeing in front of me was about $19.00 (and that includes all 3 rolls, a crab, lobster and shrimp one, 2 claws, 1 drink and a bag of chips!)

Here are some pics: (taken with my blackberry because I forgot my camera tonight :P)