New York: Schnitzel & Things

Before I went to NYC, I have heard so much about amazing food trucks in New York. I wanted to try them but problem with food truck is that they usually park their trucks somewhere and not at the same place all the time. You just have to check their schedule and such which is kinda troublesome for me. Thankfully for Schnitzel & Things, they have static branch in Manhattan Midtown area which is just a few blocks from where I stayed.

Schnitzel & Things is famous for, of course, Schnitzel! They have veal and chicken schnitzels for you to choose from and have so many side dishes to choose from.  I have seen them featured on TV programme some time ago and found out that they were featured on Time and NY Times as well. That's kind something for food truck food, isn't it?!

I went for the platter so I chose chicken Schnitzel with roast beet salad and Austrian potato as my side. I can also chose one condiment to go with it. I was very reluctant so their kind staff offered me 2 kinds of condiments to go with (Spicy Mayo and Pesto Mayo). The Schnitzel is very crispy yet tender. The roast beet salad was really good. I love it so much! The potato was a bit acidic for me. I guess it could be that both beet salad and potato were seasoned with vinaigrette so that was a bit too much. Anyhow, this is pleasant food for me. If you happen to be in Midtown or bump into Schnitzel & Things truck, please stop by and get their food. You wouldn't be disappointed!

Schnitzel & Things

723 3rd Avenue

New York

Website: http://schnitzelandthings.com/

View Larger Map

New York: Magnolia Bakery

If you are a tourist, travelling in New York, I'm quite positive that someone would definitely tell you to visit "Magnolia Bakery" for their cupcakes and banana pudding. I think Magnolia was also on the list that Tee gave me but I was kinda ignore it since I told you I'm into cupcake much.

Anyhow, it's like a fate - I did make a stop at Magnolia two times during this trip! First was when I had dinner at Grand Central Station and I was thinking I should get some food as my breakfast. Then I turned around and found Magnolia there! Since it was already 6pm, all the good stuff have been sold out. I decided to try their mini cheesecake since it looked too good to be true. 

So I had Key Lime Cheesecake as my breakfast the next day. Oh boy, it was actually good! I was thinking it may not be that awesome since I had tweets conversation with J whom I would meet later in NY and she told me cheesecake isn't Magnolia's specialties. Anyway, the taste was very lovely; not too sweet and with a taste of lime. I think the "cheese" bit of this cheesecake is the non-bake one. Truth to be told, I didn't finish this but I had all the biscuit bit at the bottom. It was yummy!

The day later, I met up with J and after dinner, we strolled down from upper West side to Rockefeller Center to get dessert from Magnolia Bakery there. Unfortunately, it was already 8pm and all the stuffs J want have been sold out - apart from banana pudding. So she got us a small tub of banana pudding and we headed off to find places to sit down and eat that.

Honest speaking, again, I'm not a fan of pudding. But if you asked me how was it, I would say it was good. When you think of dessert & banana, you tend to think about the overpower of taste and smell of banana in that. Clearly, Magnolia's banana pudding is far away from it. There are slices of bananas in the tube along with some sponge cake (if I wasn't wrong) but there weren't too much. It was quite pleasant.

Magnolia Bakery is kinda like tourist spot but I wouldn't say you should ignore it. It is definitely worth a visit for all sweet tooth people.

Magnolia Bakery

1240 6th Avenue,

New York, NY 10020
Website: http://www.magnoliabakery.com/home.php



View Larger Map

New York: Lady M Confections

American style cake isn't really my kinda of thing (such as cupcakes) 'coz I found them a bit too heavy for my liking. I'd always prefer Japanese style bakery since it's much more lighter and not too sweet. So when I came across "Lady M Confections" which people said it's a Japanese style bakery shop. I decided that this place cannot be missed while I was in NY!

Me and M went to Lady M after strolling in Central Park to digest all our lunch (which happened to be Totto ramen which I have reviewed here). We were lucky that the place wasn't busy at all when we were there so we had our table and ordered something for our sweet teeth.

Definitely, their Mille Crêpes was on our agenda. We also ordered Strawberry Mille Feuille along with tea for our afternoon break. To say their Mille Crêpes was not sweet isn't exaggerating at all. You get the hint of sweetness in your bite and it was very pleasant. It's very light also. I can see why people loving this so much.

Anyhow, to me, the real winner from Lady M is their Strawberry Mille Feuille. That must have been the best Strawberry Mille Feuille I have ever tasted in my entire life! The cream was sweet but with the tangy taste of strawberry, it made this perfect. To be honest, just the thought of this already makes me craving it!


This place is the "highly recommended" place for New York. If you are heading that direction, do stop by at Lady M Confections for their cakes & stuffs. So good!


Lady M Cake Boutique
41 East 78th Street
New York, NY 10075
Website: http://www.ladym.com/





View Larger Map

New York: Totto Ramen

I have to be honest with you. I ate a lot of Japanese food during my time in New York, both as planned and unplanned. Somehow my hotel is located near famous Japanese restaurants and I have done some research to find good Japanese places. Totto Ramen was one of the place people talk about a lot.

Now now, you may ask why ramen in New York, actually I have no idea too. But since Ippudo NY was on the plan, why not for another great ramen shop! Totto ramen is quite small for place, hence the long queue would wait for you if you go there during the peak lunch/dinner hours. We got there like half an hour earlier for lunch and still we were the last group to call in for the first batch!

We were seated at counter bar so we got to see the cookers in actions. They all are Japanese according to their plucked eyebrows - haha. Totto ramen's soup is chicken broth based so it's very light. If you don't like heavy tonkotsu soup then Totto is for you!

I ordered Spicy Totto Ramen which seemed to be signature dish here. Their spiciness level is okay, well for me as general Thai person, not too spicy or anything. Their char siu pork were tender but not exactly the melt in your mouth type. I also ordered spicy menma which is spicy bamboo shoots and boy, that's really spicy! They covered the menma with chilli powder. I should watch out what I have asked for!


In conclusion, I think this is good ramen place esp. for those who don't like salty stuff like Ippudo but if you look for heavy and hearty soup broth, you can skip Totto Ramen.


Totto Ramen
366 W 52nd Street (Bet. 8th & 9th Ave)
New York, NY 10019
Website: http://tottoramen.com/

View Larger Map

New York: Shake Shack

Hello everyone from New York!


I am now on my work mission in New York, the city I never thought I would get a chance to return (let's be honest, I am Europe&Japan biggest fan so the thought of returning to US never cross my mind). Anyway, with help from Tee, I received a list of places I must check out (food wise) and top of the list is Shake Shack.


Tee told me that Shake Shack has a branch in Kuwait as well so I was thinking that must mean something. After shopping and sightseeing at Times Square, I went to Shake Shack at Theatre district for food. There was a queue but it moved fast. We ordered "to go" since there was practically no seats available though it was already 9 something pm when we got there. 

We ordered their cheeseburgers which was in medium cooked and cheesie fries which was AMAZING. It was melted cheese dip and like proper cheese unlike those we get at McDonald's in Thailand. It was even good the morning after! (I know I'm being unhealthy, eating leftover fries and cheese but it was REALLY GOOD!) My friend M ordered vanilla shake and she said it was good also. She loves their burger since she didn't expect it to be good. So if you come to New York, do come and try Shake Shack. I think it really lives up to it name!


Shake Shack
691 8th Avenue & 44th Street
New York
(Many branches)
website:  http://shakeshack.com/



View Larger Map