So previously I wrote about my trip to north Brooklyn for brunch at Five Leaves with my friend Shaina. Well after having that wonderful brunch we wanted to walk it off so we went around Greenpoint and later crossed over to Williamsburg. First we walked up on Manhattan Ave. You can pretty much say that that is the main street of Greenpoint. The whole time during brunch Shaina couldn’t stop talking about the donuts from Peter Pan. So obviously our first stop on Manhattan Ave was to Peter Pan followed by an impromptu trip into a laundromat for empanadas then to end the trip with a trip to the Meat Hook inside The Brooklyn Kitchen.

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I would like to start off by saying that it gives me no pleasure to talk about bad food at restaurants. I do feel, however, that it’s important so speak truthfully about the experiences I had in Egypt, both good and bad. Unfortunately, the restaurant food I had in Luxor was, for the most part, pretty lousy.

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Five Leaves, a cafe in Greenpoint sits comfortably next to the G stop on Nassau Ave and McCarren Park. I first heard of this place when it was reported that Heath Ledger was starting a restaurant in Brooklyn. But sadly he passed away before Five Leaves opened. I have to admit that I was interested in this place because of him. Though not anymore. After having brunch or lunch since they don’t do brunches, I’m glad to say that I would go back any time.

I was suppose to meet my friend, Shaina, at Five Leaves around 11:30am but somehow I ended up being 30mins early. I walked into the cafe and took a quick look it was already 80% filled. Then I took a stroll around the neighborhood and around 11:20am I walked back to the cafe to find people spilling out onto the streets. I thought…greeeaaaaattt, may need a back-up brunch spot. I walked in right behind a couple, damn! The owner was talking to the couple and told them they could wait a bit. Next to us, by the door, was a tiny tiny table with 2 chairs, I was hoping they wouldn’t get desperate and took that table. Don’t think they even bother thinking about that tiny table, helped that they were kinda too tall for that tight squeeze, so I quickly asked the owner and he gave me that table. As the minutes went by the crowd kept growing and finally the owner started to turn people away, “Ah sorry mate you missed the bus.”

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I didn’t spend as much time in Luxor as I did in Cairo, but I enjoyed it a lot more. There are just as many people trying to make a living off of tourists, but they have a much better sense of humor about it. One thing Luxor did have in common with Cairo was that the street food was much better than the restaurant food.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, I enjoyed the street food of Cairo (and of Egypt in general) much more than the restaurant food. I want to point out that this was my personal experience; I’m sure Cairo has some very good restaurants, I just didn’t eat at any of them. My guidebooks said that there are some very good high end restaurants, but that’s not the kind of place I usually eat at when I travel. The restaurant I was most looking forward to was Koshary Abou Tarek, the most famous koshary in all of Cairo, and by extension, the world. Even Anthony Bourdain ate there when he went to Egypt.

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After the whole Egg Tart King debacle I was still craving for some sort of Chinese dessert. The next best thing on my list was a cake log or cake roll whatever you want to call those things. I randomly walked into Lucky King Bakery, it was diagonally across from what used to be Egg Tart King on Grand St. At first I was looking for egg tarts but I didn’t see any. Then I scanned through their cake log choices. They have the usuals coffee flavor and vanilla(?) flavor. They also have chocolate flavor (have I seen chocolate before?) and green tea. Never had or heard or seen a green tea cake log before I decided to get that and it was only $4.25 or around there. WIN! These usually go for $8! Thats crazy talk. Oh and the ones from Lucky King Bakery were all pre-sliced. Can’t get any better than that.

Besides it being green tea and that its green, its just a typical cake log and nothing else. There was just a slight hint of green tea and as always there’s never enough cream in these logs.

- Lucky King Bakery 280 Grand St. New York