You have no idea how much good stuff I have heard about Saltie. From the internets to the people I know. I’ve been wanting to go to Saltie for a while but it wasn’t till one of my friend, super picky eater, told me that he likes Saltie that really made me want to go that instant. One random Sunday I had to run to Williamsburg for errands and decided to check out Saltie.

I walked in to find a near empty place except for 2 girls sitting by the window and a couple that seem to know the owners. The place was chilled, roomy and bright. I wasn’t sure what I wanted but I randomly got the Spanish Armada sandwich. I noticed they raised the prices of their sandwiches by a dollar compared to what it is on the website. Maybe they need help updating their website? If so I can help! Gimme a call! Within a minute after I placed my order I got my sandwich.

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Donny: So you know couple weekends ago Howard and I took a day trip up to Tarrytown to visit Stone Barns. It was quite hot that day but definitely good to leave the city. Tarrytown is just a quick 45min train ride on the Metro-North from Grand Central. Hello small town USA!

I did extensive research on places to eat in Tarrytown and luckily most things are on Main St and Broadway, which is close to the Metro-North station. I figured we be eating something at the Blue Hill Cafe so I did a search for snacky things in Tarrytown and Lubins-N-Links kept coming up on my searches.

So what’s a lubin you ask? Here’s what they say on their site “A Lubin is our own creation made of seasoned, slow roasted, tender and delicious beef, sliced and served on a hot dog bun (it actually falls apart because it’s so tender!). Top it off with one or more of our specialty toppings (I recommend Cheese Sauce and Sweet Onions…that’s my fave!).”

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Recently I blogged about finding treasures at Woorijip well I found another one! This wasn’t as good as the spare ribs but it suuuuuuuuuuuureee made me feel guilty. A whole box of sliced pork belly stir fried with Chinese chives. Afterwards I quickly drank 2 cups of hot oolong tea.

- Woorijip 12 West 32nd Street New York

Woorijip has been my to-go place for years when I want some Korean food. The food is affordable and good but not great. Their kimbaps are good and great if you add a miso soup for $1 but my friend was right when she said their kimbaps tasted old. Once in a while you’ll find a random gem. My most recent trip to Woorijip I had no idea what I wanted to eat so I walked up and down the hot food section. Nothing really stood out for me and so I ended up getting the pork spare ribs since it was the only thing I haven’t tried before. For $5.50, not including tax, you get a container of spare ribs and a small steamed rice.
I took it back to work, sat down at my desk and opened the container not having too much hope for it. I was thinking it’s going to be just okay with the spare ribs a little tough to chew. I took a bite of the pork and was BLEW AWAY by how freakin’ awesome it was! It was super tender and delicious. The sauce was equally good but couldn’t figure out what went into the sauce besides the very obvious ginger flavor. I poured all the sauce into my container of rice, mixed it and it was heeeaaavveeeeennn.

Thanks Woorijip for totally surprising me.

- Woorijip 12 West 32nd Street New York

For my birthday my friends Jeff and Eva gave me a gift certificate to the kitchen supply store Broadway Panhandler. I decided to grab lunch near the store, since I was going to be in the city anyway. I did a quick Google Maps search and noticed a place with the simple name 8 St. Kitchen just a few blocks away. I did a little research and found that 8 St. Kitchen is a relatively new Korean restaurant (open just seven months, according to my server), and that they have a reasonably priced lunch menu.

The restaurant has windows open on to W 8th St, letting in a ton of natural light onto the wooden benches and tables. I got the “Sizzling Hot Stone Bibimbap” with “crispy tofu” for $8. First they brought out two small plates of banchan, little Korean appetizers: kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage) and a sweet pickled radish. They also brought me a bowl of miso soup, but it was a little too fishy for my taste. My bibimbap came out not long after my second round of banchan; bibimbap is a large, heated stone bowl filled with rice, mushrooms, vegetables, and (in my case) tofu, all topped with an egg yolk. “Do you know how to eat it?” asked my server. It’s not complicated, basically you mix everything up together with the Korean barbecue sauce they provide, and the heat of the bowl cooks everything together. This was superb — fresh, well seasoned, simple food; the barely cooked yolk giving richness to everything and the rice getting crispy at the bottom for a nice crunchy treat. It was refreshing to get good Korean food without having to travel to K-Town, and not having to put up with a modern fusion take on Korean.

8 St. Kitchen — 22 W 8th St.

When my friend Jess, from We Heart NY suggested we meet for lunch, one of her suggestions was Devi. I was excited about it, because I had been craving Indian food for a few weeks. I saw that Frank Bruni gave it two stars, which made the anticipation only greater. After eating there, however, both Jess and I had one thought: we were confused.

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