pastrami!

pastrami sandwich from mendy's deli. it was an intense experience.

-Lola

my favorite falafel restaurants

happy thanksgiving! hope everyone has a fantastic day and meal tomorrow! while plans for thanksgiving are not completely finalized, i will be making a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows tonight. not for thanksgiving, but for dinner tonight. rita's never had one and she wants to try it just in case her thanksgiving meal doesn't include it.

on a completely unrelated note, lets talk about falafel.

falafel is one of my favorite foods, and i'm lucky to live in a city where you can get it on almost any block at any time of day. so what are my favorite falafel spots? glad you asked!

maoz vegetarian is a chain with locations in the us and europe. in downtown new york, there's one at union square and one on west eighth street. at $5 a sandwich, maoz is a little pricier than i usually like to pay for my falafel, but you also get free access to whatever salad bar fixings you can stuff in your sandwich. or you can get a salad box to fill for about $9. the salad bar is always fresh, and the falafel is nice and crispy. plus, they have awesome sweet potato fries.

mamoun's is one of my favorite restaurants in new york. there are two locations, one in the west village on macdougal, and one in the east village on st. mark's. the falafel sandwich is $2.50 and is fantastic. they have a ton of other stuff on their menu too, none of which i've ever had because i always get falafel. be sure to use their spicy sauce, but not too much (i've made that mistake. it was painful).

the hummus place another chain, with three locations in downtown new york: 2 in the west village, and one on st. mark's. i highly recommend the falafel (which comes as an appetizer, not in a sandwich), the stuffed grape leaves, the mushroom hummus, and the Mediterranean mojito. the macdougal street location is tiny, but all three have a great atmosphere, nice enough that you feel you're having a good meal out (not just grabbing lunch between classes), but still causal and cozy.

new yorkers, any great places i have to try? and non-new yorkers, what is one food you could eat everyday? also, for everyone, any thanksgiving plans?

-Lola

momofuku milk bar!

last weekend, my mom was in town. we took long walks around the city, went to the museum of natural history, had a celebrity sighting (tracy morgan!), went to a concert (the dandy warhols. they were fantastic) and explored thrift stores in brooklyn. she took lots of pictures of said events. the only two pictures i have from the weekend?

grasshopper pie

candy bar pie

both from momofuku milk bar.
clearly, i have the right priorities.
-Lola

fashion's night out

happy fall everybody! well, i don't know if its officially fall on the calendar, but i wore boots yesterday (admittedly, it was about 10 degrees too hot for boots. i just couldn't wait to wear them) and have been eating sweet potatoes, so its officially fall for me.

the lovely emily was nice enough to respond to a post and tell us she'd like to hear some stories of new york life. so, here goes my attempt at that:

most new york events involve either standing around in large crowds of people or waiting in long lines of people. as a 5 foot 3 girl, i have failed to see anything except the backs of random new yorkers at many exciting events, such as the VMAs red carpet, the rockefeller center christmas tree lighting, and the macy's thanksgiving day parade. last friday was no exception, as i headed to fashion's night out with my friend A., A.'s roommate, and Rita.

i worked until 4, then chilled at home a bit before walking over to A.'s dorm. I only mention this because i had a celebrity siting on the way home from work: Ice-T and his wife CoCo. and their dog. because i am a cool, jaded new yorker, and also because i have no idea what i could say to Ice-T, i walked by casually (sidenote: my first celebrity siting since moving to nyc was Chris Noth. I was walking with my mom, who failed to see him, so I wanted to point him out to her. however, in my excitement, i forgot his name and shouted "mom! look! celebrity!" Chris Noth then gave me a funny look and kept walking).

Anyhoo, we started in an italian restaurant in little italy. it was one of those generic, slightly overpriced, but tasty restaurants that are everywhere there. We split 3 dishes between the four of us: Penne alla vodka, chicken with eggplant and prosciutto, and pizza margherita. yum!

we then hopped on the subway to midtown, where we wandered around in large crowds and looked in store windows. A. wanted to see Gwen Stefani, but we managed to miss her twice. We did see an almost naked male model showering in a store window, and we were offered cheetos approximately 27 times by a random guy yelling at us from a truck. those were pretty much the highlights. after walking around in circles until we got to times square, we were exhausted and decided to head home, so we dragged ourselves back to the subway and were back in our dorm rooms by 10.

so there you have it, a taste of glamorous new york life =) hope you enjoyed!
-Lola

sweet corn soup

we've finally made it to nyc, and are all unpacked and ready to start the school year. get ready for some exciting dorm meals! but first, we have some more food from home to show you......like delicious sweet corn soup.
while we were in seattle, we had the most amazing corn soup at poppy, our splurge restaurant for the trip (well that and pok pok in portland, which is amazing. go there and get the chicken wings. right now!). it was like the freshest, sweetest ear of corn you've ever had, in soup form. when we cooked our final home meal of the summer, i knew we had to include corn soup. we found a good recipe in alice waters' the art of simple food. it was quite tasty, although it looked a little grayish. the recipe was also super simple and fast.
-Lola

thanksgiving break

its been a while, hasn't it? no new recipes today, but i just wanted to do a quick post. we had a great time over thanksgiving break. my fabulous friend A. was visiting for the weekend, and we spent most of our time in chinatown, with some detours to upstate (thanksgiving dinner with our aunt, yay!), columbus circle (black friday shopping. we went in the afternoon, we're not crazy enough to go at 5 am. but still, it was insane), little italy, and soho.
food highlights (sorry no photos! hopefull A. will upload hers soon and i can steal some):
-Szechuan food in Chinatown. Famous Sichuan. we met up with A.'s friends, who are all from China. super spicy and delicious. from now on, i need to go with people who speak Chinese whenever i eat Chinese food...more authentic dishes and we got a discount! fave dish was the dan dan noodles. we got a huge feast, even though this was our lunch before heading upstate for thanksgiving dinner.
-Cannoli in little italy! amazing, but overpriced. i don't remember what restaurant we went to, but cannoli seems to be the same at most places in little italy.
-vietnamese sandwiches at paris sandwich. delicious, but if you're going to get banh mi, san francisco is better and cheaper. i reccommend saigon sandwich for true amazingness.
-grilled corn at cafe habana. with cheese and chili powder. yum!

-Lola

Super Taste Restaurant

On a cold day, there are few things better than a giant bowl of warm noodle soup. Especially when those noodles come from a tiny, crowded restaurant in Chinatown. And when they are only $3.45. Rita and I both got the hand pulled noodles with vegetables and a fried egg. A few minutes later, we were presented with ridiculously ginormous bowls of deliciousness. You can also get many other toppings, such as beef, or fish balls (my favorite at most places...but it was slightly more expensive and was being cheap that day so i didn't try it at Super Taste), with the most expensive bowl coming to $6. And, like any good restaurant, they have big bottles of sriracha at every table. They also had dried mustard greens to add to your soup. At the restaurant, we each ate half our noodles, plus the fried egg and the vegetables (leafy greens) that came in the soup. At home, we added spinach, shiitakes, and more sriracha (this is what's pictured above).
Super Taste Restaurant
26N Eldridge St., New York, NY 10002
nr. Canal St

new taco express

this is an addendum to my last entry, about mexican food, because i have found a good mexican restaurant, although it is not at all "real mexican". apologies if my last entry was a little complain-y (is there a word for that? there probably is a really obvious one that i'm just completely unable to think of right now)-i did worry about it because i didn't want to be too mean.
anyhoo, i do remain loyal to my california mexican, but that doesn't stop me from trying new places in new york, which is a good thing because it led me to discover my new favorite restaurant. it is tiny, run entirely by asians, and not at all authentic, and i am in love with it. like all my favorite restaurants, ambiance is completely lacking, and the food is cheap--95% of the menu is under $5. the decor consists of those weird backlit photos that make the food in them look as unappetizing as possible and 1 sombrero hung on the wall. and for $3.99, you can get a delicious (albeit small) quesadilla with broccoli slaw, yummy cheese, and mild hot sauce.
New Taco Express
130 East 28th street (between Lexington and Park), New York

vamanos a la mission!

(i hope i said that right. i haven't taken spanish since 7th grade)

like any good san franciscan, i am absolutely in love with my city. if you ever come to sf and need a tour guide, i'm your girl. one place i would most definitely take you to is the mission, our mexican neighborhood.

mr. burbujas can't wait to see you!


if you are in the mission on a weekend and you see this delightful, yet disturbing, art work outside of la gallinita, go in immediately and get yourself some tacos and quesadillas!. during the week, la gallinita is a butcher shop, but on weekends they serve food.

a satisfying lunch. you've got a taco (pictured here: cabeza, which means "face" and is cheek meat. just try it, it melts in your mouth) and the completely genius creation of chorizo and potatoes wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried.

OMG!

you can also go with carne asada (grilled steak) for your taco. or a number of other fillings, including chorizo (my favorite) or sesos (brains. yum!)
after lunch, stroll around a bit, checking out mexican markets, a multitude of murals, and some great dollar stores, before returning to 24th and harrison for the amazingness that is humphry slocombe ice cream.

pictured: 1 scoop of peanut butter curry + 1 scoop of oolong tea.

chocolate, date, and almond milk smoothies

"I'm taking you to cafe gratitude," my mom recently announced.
Tempted as i was to try amazing raw vegan food, i had always avoided the place because of the, for lack of a better word, hippy-ness, of it.
"Fine," I said, "but I'm not ordering my dish out loud. I'll just point to the menu."
"Stop being so judgmental," she replied, "they're very nice people."
So we went and when it came time to order, I found myself telling the rather perky waitress, "I am graceful". The thing about cafe gratitude is that all of their dishes are positive affirmations. So you order an "I am graceful" (bowl with quinoa, veggies, and cashews, and delicious enough to put up with the ridiculous atmosphere) then the waitress comes to your table, sets down your plate and says, "You are graceful" (which i'm not at all, btw. but apparently cafe gratitude is too positive to name a dish "I am exceedingly awkward and clumsy").
The most delicious thing of the lunch was dessert, a chocolate and date smoothie ("I am luscious").

Rita and I loved it so much, we decided to try and replicate it at home.
chocolate, date, and almond milk smoothie
serves 1
adapted from recipes included in the ultimate liquor-free drink guide and the complete book of raw food.
*3/4 cup almond milk (we made our own from this recipe. if you buy sweetened almond milk, you might not need as many dates and as much vanilla in your smoothie.)
*1 banana, frozen
*2 dates, soaked for 1/2 hour to an hour and pitted
*1 tablespoon hot chocolate powder (or carob if you want it vegan)
*1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1. blend all ingredients until smooth.
variation: I don't like bananas that much, and this shake had a definite banana flavor. I made another the next day with 1/2 a frozen banana and 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt. I liked the flavor of that better, but it wasn't as thick. But for those of you who like bananas (which is most people. i'm weird, i guess), the first recipe is perfect.
Also, our recipe is more breakfast food than dessert.
edit: cafe gratitude's original recipe, which i have not seen, is available in their cookbook, "I Am Grateful".

chicken souvlaki +greek salad

a few years ago, we went to Athens, and even though we were only there a few days, it was one of my favorite places i've ever been. i tried to think of a good way to describe it, but all i can come up with is that it felt very alive.

in Athens, we would frequent a restaurant that we called "the Souvlaki King". I don't know if it was actually called that or if we just made it up because the real name was in Greek. anyway, the tables were all crammed together on the sidewalk and the waiters would try and get you in and out as fast as possible. you'd sit down and within 2 seconds, someone would bring a menu and take your order, than 2 seconds later, someone else would fling a plate of delicious souvlaki onto your table.

souvlaki is greek kabobs, made with meat, lemon juice, olive oil, and oregano.
this recipe is from prevention magazine. we have a lot of old issues of prevention because my mom's strategy for fitness and health is to buy a magazine or book, read it, think about the advice, and never do it. we also have a lot of unused fitness dvds and one of those big inflatable balls. (btw, she reads this blog. hi mom! love you!)
anyhoo, the recipe turned out delicious and is healthy too. we used chicken instead of pork because that's what we had.
souvlaki
served with a salad of tomato, onions, cucumber, and feta, plus whole wheat pitas and spicy hummus.

falafel sandwiches

one of the great things about new york city is that no matter where you are, no matter what time it is, you can pretty much always get falafel. i've walked by street vendors and seen people buying falafel at 9 in the morning. i've accompanied people to midnight mamoun's runs. now that i'm back in san fran, i can find good falafel, but not without venturing at least half an hour away from home (i recommend truly mediterranean and yumma's). luckily, i do have a kitchen and can make my own falafel!


this is the first time i've ever made falafel, and it turned out quite tasty. falafel is usually deep fried, but several recipes call for you to bake it. we usedthis one, from cooking light which instructed us to fry the falafel in 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
recipe was followed as is, except for the fact that i accidentally bought vanilla yogurt (non-fat, btw) instead of plain. there was a slight vanilla flavor to the sauce, but i don't think anyone would have noticed if i hadn't pointed it out.
not as good as mamoun's, but definitely worth making!

why cheap food: a history of my employment + dim sum!

We here at "hungry like the wolf" are dedicated to cheap food. Why? Because, like most college students, we're broke. I, Lola, am the twin with the more impressive resume, and to show you just how pathetic that is, and how necessary cheap food is, i'd like to offer a brief history of my employment. bear with me, i promise it'll be entertaining.

We'll start with my high school days, when became a poll worker. this was a one day job, allowing students to take election day off from school to wake up insanely early and sit in someone's garage all day for aboug $100 pay. If you are a poll worker, you should know that every single person--i am not exaggerating at all here, seriously EVERY PERSON--with a dog will make a joke about how the dog is going to vote too. you should also know that you will get a lot of papercuts from the ballots, and old ladies may try to stick their ballots into the lamps instead of the voting machines.

Next, my most lucrative position yet, which also happened to last one day. So I went to my mom's office to help out. They were hiring me for deliveries for the day. I'm having a good time, walking around in the sun, dropping off packages, when all of the sudden, a car comes out of nowhere and hits me. Don't worry, I was fine, just some stitches in my head. We settled with the driver and I made $4000. Most of which is now going to pay for my ridiculously expensive education.

Now, my current position. Intern at an office. I file. Sometimes I put address stickers on envelopes. Its not even an office for an industry I'm remotely interested in. I make $30 a week. Although, my boss is nice, so I do like it.

I applied for a job to be a costumed character at Chuck E. Cheese's a while back. I applied to work at Hot Dog on a Stick, known for it's hideous (their website calls them "iconic") hats. Neither called me back.

So that is why I need cheap food. Like Good Luck Dim Sum on Clement Street between 8th and 9th ave in San Francisco. There may be a line, and no open tables to eat at, but it is worth it. A delicious dim sum feast for about $2.50 a person. We had potstickers, pork buns (i've been eating "pescetarian" and honestly i never crave meat but dim sum is the exception), fried taro, and a lotus bun. i also highly recommend the shrimp and chive dumplings and the peanut coconut buns.