Motcomb Street

I already posted this on my travel blog here http://sid-sees.blogspot.com/2011/06/motcomb-street.html but here are some pictures!

Motcomb Street is a wonderful little street tucked away in Knightsbridge- it has restaurants, a chocolate shop, cafes, and eateries. And everything is wonderful.

This is just a roundup! You can find the whole post (with more pictures and writing- details!) on my travel blog here: http://sid-sees.blogspot.com/2011/06/motcomb-street.html

My Foodie New York City

I spent the past week in New York City exploring all its delights with around twenty friends from university. We were attending the National Model United Nations Conference and found the entire experience, both the conference and the city, to be exhilarating. While the conference did not allow much time for serious foodie expeditions, I did manage to come across some wonderful delights which I am sharing with you now:

1. Teuscher Chocolates, 620 5th Avenue, New York


Absolutely delicious truffles and an even more amazing window display for Easter. It's located in a wonderful spot between 5th Avenue opposite Saks Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center. 

2. Rock Center Cafe, 620 5th Avenue, New York


Looking over the ice rink, you have to take a special elevator to the basement to get to this cafe. The cafe is wonderful and the ambience is lovely. Best of all is this dessert which was two whoopie pies sandwiched with a coconut cream layer in between. And that chocolate glaze? Heaven. 

3. Tartinery, 209 Mulberry Street, Nolita, New York

Wonderful for a light lunch, Tartinery is super fab, sleek, and modern. The best part is the seating area in the basement- it's wide, bright, and airy. I had a roasted vegetable tartine which tasted fantastic.

4. Breakfast at a diner on Broadway and Times Square.


I cannot seem to remember the name of this diner, I guess because we were all super-hungry and rushed in as soon as we saw it. But the pancakes were WONDERFUL. I was caught between choosing this (old-fashioned pancakes) and their lemon and ricotta ones.. for once, I decided to go with the "safe" option. My friend had the delicious chocolate pancakes below.

5. Fluffy's Cafe, 855 7th Avenue

Good, cheap, filling, and wholesome food. Fluffy's had a wonderful variety of wraps, sandwiches, and baked items. The cafe was supercrowded and I had to improvise by sitting on the counter. One thing I noticed about NYC was that there were a lot of wraps everywhere- and being my favourite sandwich- I was in heaven! My friend had this gorgeous chocolate cake below. My sandwich was already devoured before I had the energy to dig out my camera.

6. The Halal Guys- 53rd and 6th, New York


The longest lines ever outside this place- and well worth it- or so everyone I knew told me. I was attempting to be vegetarian that week and didn't try the meat. Although now I wish I had.

7. Ray's New York Pizza, 736 7th Avenue, New York

Wonderful pizza which we first had late at night the day we arrived and once again at 11pm when my friend and I were super hungry. Yes, they sell you one slice (you can obviously have more) but that one slice is sooo filling and delicious.

8. Sarabeth's, 40 Central Park South, New York


WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL French Toast. It was soo good and crispy and sweet but not too sweet and HEAVENLY with the fresh strawberries. I want to make French Toast like that. And their jam was the icing on the cake. They had an apricot and orange flavoured one and a raspberry and rhubarb if I'm not mistaken. My friend recommended this restaurant to me before we left Dubai and I made sure I went there to try it early one morning. GREAT breakfast. GREAT jam.

9. Armani Restaurant, 717 5th Avenue, New York


On our second last day in New York, I had some last minute shopping to do.. (I always have last minute shopping to do...what gives?)... anyways, on our second last day in NY, I quickly took the bus to 5th Avenue to finish some retail therapy...and halfway through I felt very hungry.. shopping is an exhausting activity, let me tell you. I wanted a good place to eat, I wanted to sit down in a nice, quiet restaurant and relax for a while, and savour my meal.. unlike the other days when all I was doing was rushing everywhere. And so I spotted Armani Restaurant. And there I discovered the best bread I have ever had. They brought a little basket filled with around five different kinds of bread, each more amazing than the other. There were parmesan flavoured breadsticks, sage flavoured bread like pappadums, and best of all, soft bread that was baked in a cupcake tray (I could see the paper case lines) and was savoury but had the slightest hint of a raisin flavour. It was mindblowing. Yes, I do realize I'm talking about bread. The bread went amazingly with this tomato gazpacho that was courtesy of the chef, and the risotto reminded me so much of the one I make back home. All good, but nothing beat the bread.

10. Novella, 191 Grand Street, Little Italy, New York

I went here for lunch with three really good friends and although the food was good, the service was horrible. The food took more than half an hour to bring (AFTER we got our appetizers) and the staff were extremely rude. I asked one waiter for the bill and he gave me a dirty look and walked away. Before that, when I asked for chili flakes, I got the same expression. It didn't bother me much though. I just wanted to have a good time with my girls and eat. Which we did. The food was good. I had the spring vegetable pasta with pink sauce (although I couldn't reaaally see the pink sauce). The bruschetta we shared was very, very good, especially the one with avocado on it, and the artichoke starter was lovely as well.

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And this, ladies and gentlemen, is a quick roundup of my foodie picks of NYC (without prior research or true exploration).

My Foodie London

I just came back from a very quick, whirlwind three day trip to London. I went with no agenda whatsoever, no to-do list (which is quite unusual for me). After exploring the lovely town and coming back to Dubai, I looked through all the food-related pictures I had taken and realized that most of them were of something sweet. I guess that says a lot about me and what I like to indulge in.

But here are some of my selections of what I think are the most scrumptious foods I came across!

Laduree- Harrods

When most people hear Laduree- Harrod's, they think of Summer 2010 when all of Khaleeji-land somewhat descended on this little cafe. Overdressed women and loud people were the norm. Sadly, now in February- it still is. But looking beyond the clientele that frequent Laduree, one can appreciate it for what it is. Although its pastries (and especially macarons) have been overexaggeratedly exalted, it has the most amazing French toast I have ever tried. As well as the best hot chocolate. Don't get me wrong- the pastries are wonderful in their own right, but are not phenomenally unique from those at other good pastry shops around the world. Nevertheless, their raspberry macarons are melt-in-your-mouth, eat-20-pieces-and-don't-even-realize amazing.

The Hummingbird Bakery

On Saturday morning, we headed out to Portobello Road for the amazing little market that takes place there on that day. One of the best things about Portobello is that apart from the cute little finds you come across, Hummingbird Bakery is right there! On Saturdays, their Portobello branch has no seating, but we picked up two cupcakes to have on the go- one vanilla on vanilla one, and the other a chocolate malt flavor. I can't believe I forgot how particular to Hummingbird the Red Velvet cupcake is- and so I didn't buy one. I really, really regret that now. The chocolate malt cupcake was an entirely new experience for me- I hadn't tasted anything like that. First of all, it had Maltesers on the frosting- which is one of my favourite chocolates. Second, the cake itself had a very caramel-ish flavour to it- which complemented the frosting perfectly.

Mrs. Kibble's Olde Sweet Shoppe

I love this store for the simple reason that it is an amazing small business (with only two branches) that was started around 4 years ago. It's just the kind of business venture that I like to see nowadays what with huge chain restaurants & cafes, corporations, and franchises invading the whole world. You get the most delicious candy in this store- specifically the English hard-boiled sweets. The truffles are very good, too. I discovered this branch one evening last March as I was strolling- it's hidden in a little lane right behind St. Christopher's Place (which is near James Street behind Oxford Street and Selfridge's).

Wandering through the streets

One of the funnest things to do! I found some amazing shop window displays on Regent Street this year (perhaps because of Valentine's Day!) The chocolate coated strawberries are from Godiva and the multi-tiered white wedding cake is from a cafe whose name I cannot remember- and don't think I even read. And the macarons- I don't know where they're from either. It's a patisserie on Regent Street near Piccadilly Circus on the right.

Fortnum & Mason

I had first seen Fortnum and Mason last year when I went into Hatchard's (a quaint little bookshop) that's right next to it. What attracted me instantly was the interesting and creative window displays. I never went in, though, because I was in a quite a rush. This year, however, I did. And I had not expected what was in store for me (pun not intended)! The ground floor is a food hall with all sorts of finds- exotic teas, amazing candies, and the like. The rest of the departmental store houses women's and men's clothing etc... But the entire store is reminiscent of days long gone. I guess it's because I read way too many Regency era novels- where the lady goes shopping for dresses in a lovely gilt and velvet carriage. The whole place is carpeted and has low ceilings. The staff (particularly the male staff) are dressed in long tail-coats and the items that they sell are all bespoke, elegant, and unique. This place also has the best vanilla fudge ever. I wanted to bring a whole box back to Dubai!

Harrod's and Selfridge's Food Halls

Found this quite amusing.

This would go lovely with an Alfredo sauce!!! Great for kids!

Pierre Herme, best caramel macarons... No pictures allowed but I still got one! The victory!

Jelly Belly! Sadly they've stopped their jalapeno flavour :(

Mmmmmmmmmmm!

Waiting for Harrod's Food Hall to open, Monday morning.

Randoms

Afternoon tea at Harrod's Georgian Restaurant

Garganelli with aubergines at Signor Sassi

Scrumptious tangerine. Best part: seedless!

Porridge @ HIX Selfridge's. It fills you up for the entire day.

Slug and Lettuce- Amazing food!

Sunday morning breakfast at My Old Dutch Pancake House in Kensington with my lovely friend Feryal!