Taste of Times Square 2015

I'm alive with a post for a food festival that I could've put up last year! It's alright though, this food festival is from this year. Because I don't want to make the same mistake (wait too long and then never post about it...), I'm gonna try to make this concise. Prepare for lots of pictures.

Pictured: A board with the location of all the stands

I'd first like to note that the weather was a bit gloomy, although that did not alter the food experience.

 

Pictured: Table for Paul's on Time Square, adorned with platters of tiramisu, panna cotta, and chocolate covered strawberries

Beginning with the panna cotta - tiny, but smooth. Reminescent of melted vanilla ice cream, only thicker and richer. As I described to Kaity in an attempt to explain what panna cotta is, it was akin to a milky vanilla pudding. The bit of strawberry sauce on top was tangy and complimented sweet cream.

Pictured: A decorative cheesecake, courtesy of Junior's

Next up, shrimp and grits. The grits were more textured than I had expected - there were probably real pieces of corn. Shrimp on point. No comments on the sauce except that it reminded me of something else I've had before.

 

Rigatoni bolognese from Orso - basically what you'd expect. Pasta with beefy tomato sauce.

Dark chocolate layer cake. Overly sweet and decadent for the average human being, so sharing would be a good idea. Denser than your average cake. Giant malt ball garnish.

Chicken and sausage jambalaya from Bourbon Street Bar and Grille. Never having had jumbalaya, I was unsure of what to expect of this. The rice was very soft - you wouldn't be able to pick grain by grain. According to Kaity, the sausage was unexpectedly soft, unlike the snap of the casing you'd usually get from a sausage link.

Roast lamb slider from Hourglass Tavern. Not the most aesthetically pleasing, but one of the tastiest. Lamb was tender and went well with the light and refreshing tzatziki sauce.

Bananas Foster Cheesecake from Planet Hollywood Times Square. Cold cheesecake and warm cinnamony sauce are amazing together. Looked like a mess, but it was my favorite thing that day.

Our last sampler was the Signature Mac & Cheese and Beef Brisket combo from B.B King Blues Club & Grill. The mac and cheese was alright - it wasn't anything spectacular. The beef brisket sauce was a bit sweet from the sauce. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the two went well together.

Well, that's all from that day! It was great to be able to try food from lots of different places that I wouldn't have been able to try otherwise, due to a low budget (broke foodie struggles).

And now, a bit of a shoutout for the people I was with:

Photo Credit: Kaity's Instagram

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I did attend this food festival last year, but never got around to posting about it. We tried recreating the photo we took together in 2014, and ended up with these gems. Thanks, foodie team.

Anyway, have you been to the Taste of Times Square Food Festival? Would you want to next year (first Monday of June, I believe). What would you want to try?

Happy Eating!!!