Quick Mention: Steak 'n Shake

If you've got a hankering for a burger like I have been lately, you might want to check this place out if you happen to be in the area.

Read my review on Yelp by clicking here!

Happy eating!

Quick Mention: Umami Burger

Umami Burger

432 6th Ave

New York, NY 10011

Greenwich Village

This visit was from so long ago that I can hardly remember anything about this place. So essentially, this post will be a photo-dump, not like it matters because 95% of my two readers don't bother reading the text anyway.

I do remember feeling out of place, being a tiny 16 year old (at that time) in a restaurant with a bar.

Sadly, I can't even remember what burger I got :( According to the menu, I got The Original, which has a parmesan crisp, shiitake mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and house ketchup.  

I do remember there being a parmesan crisp, which you can clearly see chilling on top of the beef patty. I, easily amused by many things, was excited to see a cheese crisp.

Here were the tempura onion rings. They were super oily but hot and fresh, not to mention huge (thus it only came with four rings). It came with 3 different sauces too - a spicy one (that I couldn't handle), a garlicky one (my fave) and a green colored one - probably pesto. This photo doesn't do the pesto one any justice - the lighting must have been weird that day (it was rainy and cloudy).

Cross section views of any food item will always be my favorite.

Overall thoughts: I'd go back when I have money, because I can't justify spending $12 on a burger (since I'm broke as heck.) It's a nice way of treating yourself to nice fancy food.

February in New York

It's time for another "let's see what kitty did recently" post! 

I thoroughly enjoyed my mid-winter vacation break a few weeks back, but if you're not a teacher or a student, you most likely didn't have a vacation that week. I, however, relished every second of it, and accomplished the task of going to new food places.

On Thursday before break, this monstrosity happened.

And I went to school. Yippee. Not relevant to food, but I thought I would share. We can talk about how terrible that terrible experience if you had to go out that day too.

Also a little irrelevant, but on Friday I went to the Samsung Galaxy Studio with my friends, and the employees were so nice ;v; I made myself a Benedict Cumberbatch compact, and got some food items. Above is a spinach and feta pastry, and a juice (that I can't remember the name of, but it had ginger and it was interesting. Sweet greens, a green juice, was good too.).

Later that day, my group and I stopped by The Tea Shoppe so my friend (hi Kaity) could pick up some tea leaves for her friend. 

So many tea options!

After we got the goods, we went to:

Woah fancy crêpes.

Here are all the crêpes my posse and I got. Not going to go too into details because I might make a separate post about it. They were delish.

Some other day, I went to Umami Burger. Again, not going to go too into detail because this also might be an upcoming post.

And after that, I wanted to knock another place off my list, so we went to Mille-Feuille bakery. Their almond chocolate croissants are popular, so I wanted in on the goodness.

Quick aside, but not really because it's what I did over the break. So I've been replaying the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series, and I can't even. Do any of you play it? If you don't, you should.

Back to that day. Afterwards, we headed to the Samsung Galaxy Studio again. This was the cosmetic bag that I customized, and this also shows how that (gay) lawyer game has taken over my life.

Another cool thing this studio has is it its 3D printer.

Right by the studio is the Chobani Store! Once again, I might have a separate review on this. This blueberry walnut yogurt was very good (even if you can't see it).

They handed out this bracelet too! I always forgot to wear it though :(

And now for some random food bits.

Have you tried these new Chips Ahoy cookies? They're pretty good, although I had low expectations for them. If you want an actual review on this, I recommend this blog. Great for junk food reviews.

From my favorite muffin cart, which I've yet to review, a cranberry muffin.

And lastly, I finally found these chips... From months ago. Good thing these have an eternal shelf life. They weren't amazing, and kind of tasted like spicy ketchup chips. I don't think you're missing anything if you didn't find these.

Welp, that wraps it up! Are you looking forward to March? Saint Patrick's Day? Pi Day? Just spring in general? Tell me in the comments what you yearn for! Happy March!!

Van Dam Diner

Van Dam Diner

• 45-55 Van Dam St
• Long Island City, NY 11101
• Sunnyside
• 
  

Although this was my first visit at Van Dam Diner, this was not my first taste of it. My mom works nearby at a jewelry company and would bring back cheesecake for my (and my sisters') birthday. I don't have a picture of it now, but it is quite good (but then again, what cheesecake isn't good?)

Okay, back to the diner. It has that 70s diner feel, with the booth and bar seats and nice waitresses/waiters. If it had been dark and stormy, the scene would have been perfect. 

There were plenty of food options; all of us (Maggie, Saul and I) decided on burgers. 

I decided on the veggie burger. It tasted fine, but there was a lack of lettuce and tomato in the burger. Just bun and patty made it really dry. 

Note about the buns: the sesame seeds are humoungous. And perfectly placed. 

Next burger is Maggie's. I believe it was a Turkey Burger with Swiss Cheese. The burger was fat and juicy and the swiss added a nice flavor.

Saul's burger was just a regular beef burger but with cheese and bacon *gasp*. I am not a fanatic of bacon, so I wasn't overly excited about it. However, I think he liked his burger. 

Finally, we all shared a platter of sweet potato fries which weren't super crispy, not that they usually are or should be. These were one of the better ones that I've had. 

Anyway, that's it for food. If you're stuffed after eating here, you could be like us and walk across 3 neighborhoods after having eaten here.

Also, like I said before, my mom works nearby here. She also has been working on her techy-side, so luckily she's been able to snap a pic of the diner. 

Each season, they paint the outside with the cutest decors :>

Okay, I'm done. Do any of these burgers entice you?