Met up with Virginia around 6:30pm at the truck. Boo sadly Doug wasn’t in the truck, he was off at Trader Joe’s stocking on supplies. Oh well. I recommended Virginia to get the Salty Pimp while I got the banana cocoa. I was offered that I had a choice between vanilla, chocolate or both! I went with both. I quickly devoured mine which was served in a plastic cup. Hmmm chocolaty and banana-y. Doug! Have more banana toppings please? My friend was in love with her Salty Pimp though she found it to be a bit too much ice cream. Is that even possible? So I had to help her.

After our desserts we walked over to The Redhead. I keep hearing good things about this place and what better time to go try it. I thought it was closer to Union Square but it wasn’t. I was pretty sweatin by the time we got there. Oh and the entrance didn’t really look like an entrance but more like a side door. It was pretty crowded when we walked in but lucky for us there was 1 table left for 2. The whole place was small and narrow which made the all the tables quite close to each other. We sat between a table of 2 and a table of 4 and felt like we sat down at a communal table.

I was ready to eat and here’s what we ordered.

Anson Mills Antebellum Grits

I love grits and tend to order them whenever I see it on the menu. Sadly to say but this was sort of bland. My all time favorite grits is still from Dirt Candy.

Broccoli, Cheddar & Crispy Shallots

BOOM! This was super awesome! I was in my broccoli craving phase and this really frakkin hit the spot. It was delicious and cheesy and the extra crunch from the shallots. Perfect! I would eat this as an entree maaayybe plus a side of rice!

Buttermilk Fried Chicken cornbread, spinach & strawberry, almonds

I came here specifically for this. Yes fried chicken. I have a list of fried chicken places to try. This was pretty good. The batter was light and the chicken wasn’t greasy at all but it didn’t really do anything for me. I think I’m still in love with Pies ‘N’ Thighs. Though it was freshing to get strawberries in my salad. The table next to us all got 4 plates of fried chicken. Wow.

Flatbread wild mushrooms, mascarpone

This looked delicious but sadly it was waaaaaaay too salty. WTH?

- The Redhead 349 E. 13th Street NYC
- Big Gay Ice Cream truck on Twitter

After getting some pie, Donny and I went to check out the relatively new bar Mission Dolores. We had the same problems with it that many others do: it was way too crowded and WAY too loud. After our friends Matt and Phaedra joined us for a drink, we moved next door to the beautiful and quiet Rock Shop, where we could actually relax. After a while we got hungry, so a couple of us ran across the street to Oaxaca Taqueria to get some takeout.

I got one of the specials, three tacos with rice and beans for $9.95. I chose two of the special veggie tacos, and one of the regular bean & cheese tacos. The special turned out to be potato, which I don’t think I’ve ever had on a taco before. It was fine, the potato itself wasn’t really seasoned at all but it was nicely paired with some cooked onions and peppers, kind of like hash browns (but not crispy). The sauce was surprisingly spicy, which I like. The bean & cheese version was pretty good, also nicely spicy but under-seasoned. It was just the right food in just the right place; I wouldn’t make a trip to go out there again, but if I was relaxing at the Rock Shop it’s exactly what I’d want to eat.

Donny: I got the Korean bbq taco and found it surprisingly good! Just the right amount of heat and can’t beat that it’s right across the Rock Shop and Mission Dolores.

Oaxaca Taqueria — 250 4th Ave

Pickled banana cucumber peanut butter sandwich

Yes pickled banana. Thats what the menu said. I love bananas but not very sure about pickled bananas. Thank goodness there weren’t any funky taste well nor did it had any other tastes/flavors besides the banana. The mushy bananas totally over powered the whole sandwich. The cucumbers offered a good contrast but guess what this is no one on the menu. Guess they thought it didn’t work also.

Broccoli, egg, and cheese with smoked gouda and Thai basil pesto

I love egg and cheese sandwiches and broccoli so I had high hopes for this. I think the broccoli was just lightly boiled so I had a nice crunch to it. I couldn’t taste the egg and the Thai basil pesto tasted pretty good but didn’t recognize it as Thai basil. The sauce was a bit overwhelming and the smoked gouda didn’t do much for me.

*Edit. Just got this same sandwich today and have to say it tasted better this time. The sauce wasn’t as overwhelming and I was able to taste all the ingredients.

Roasted pork loin with scrambled eggs, fontina and blueberry sriracha

Blueberry sriracha! Crazy talk I know. The blueberry sriracha, for some reason, tasted like a Chinese vegetable that I eat, gailan? There was a funky smell I think it came from the fontina but it wasn’t too bad. This was a pretty good sandwich, had a nice kick to it from the blueberry sriracha.

Corned beef hash with scallion cream cheese and poppyseeds

Not quite sure how this was a breakfast sandwich but it was deeelicious. Though got poppy seeds stuck in my teeth. I googled for images of this sandwich and found couple. There used to be green/yellow cucumbers but I didn’t get any in my sandwich. The cream cheese was good and tangy but didn’t really notice the scaillions. I don’t eat a whole lot of corned beef hash so I wasn’t sure, for $5, if this was a good amount of corned beef hash.

General Tso’s soft boiled fried egg with pickles, mayo, and arugula

Finally a sandwich where the egg is the star! It was a little salty, a little spicy, and a little bit messy with the yolk dripping down. I never had anything General Tso before so I can’t comment if it tasted like anything General Tso. This was a pretty good sandwich with the egg cooked perfectly. How does one deep fried a soft boiled egg and keep the yolk runny?!

Check out my first review of No. 7 Sub. Sadly they don’t serve the turkey cubano sandwich anymore.

- No. 7 Sub 1188 Broadway New York

After eating at Sheep Station, my friends Jess and Garrett recommended that we get a slice of pie at Four and Twenty Blackbirds. They both raved about it, particularly about the salted caramel apple pie. To our dismay we found the shop closed, and we continued on our way. I mentioned it to Donny, and we decided to go there one day. A few days later I was at Prospect Park when I got a text message from Donny: “Pie at black birds?” By the time I got there, though, one of the servers was crossing out the flavors of pie that were no longer available. In fact she was crossing out ALL of the pies, including “and more’ except one: buttermilk chess pie.

What is “chess pie”? I had to look it up afterward. Apparently when you add cornmeal to a pie filling, that makes it a chess pie. It has absolutely nothing to do with the game of chess. In any case, I wouldn’t have been able to tell that there was cornmeal in the filling. It was rich and custard-y, and slightly tangy from the buttermilk. It kind of reminded me of the filling in a cheese danish, and I love cheese danish. There was also a dollop of whipped cream, which was super light and airy, and not very sweet. I though the crust was a little on the chewy side, but that’s just nit-picking.

Donny: I really liked the place. It was airy and had a high ceiling. The chess pie was deeellicious! I love any sort of custard-y things and I agree with Howard about the crust. It was quite difficult to cut through the crust but of course we did go toward the end of the day.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds — 439 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn