I’m referring to my “diet.” It seems that I fall into the trap of eating bad every Tuesday or Thursday, just because I have time before classes that I just wander around and end up finding something to eat that isn’t good for me. Oh…whatever. I’m not going to try that hard for the sake of beauty or vanity. It’s just not worth it. As long as I’m not gaining anything, that’s fine with me.
For mid-morning snack, I went down to TriBeca to Tribeca Treats for their cupcakes since I heard about them recently from the press and I remembered their booth back in the Chocolate Show the past November. I don’t know what really drove me to go down there but I did it.
I just bought their S’more cupcake just because the flavor I wanted, “The Sweet and Salty” wasn’t available yet, and the regular flavors (e.g. yellow cupcake/chocolate frosting, etc.) wasn’t appealing to me. (I apologize in advance for the blurry photos that follow…) 
The cupcake is adorable but tiny for $2.17 (yes, they charged tax). The cake itself is moist, chocolatey and a touch of sweetness since the marshmallow buttercream frosting is quite sweet and it does taste like a marshmallow. The graham cracker crumbs really didn’t contribute much to the cupcake. It’s almost undetectable in flavor or texture. The cupcake is good but it’s a bit expensive for what you get.
For lunch, I went to the East Village to Chickpea.
For some reason, I just wanted some falafel or shawarma. The good thing about this place is that you get the best of both worlds: the shawafel. I had the lamb shawafel, instead of the chicken; my beverage of choice is the lemonata.
Rotating meats!
Interior shot
Lemonata
The shawarfel unwrapped
Innards of lamb shawafel
The shawafel is delicious! Crispy balls of mashed fava beans (not chickpeas, since they’re obviously green), lamb shawarma, a miscellany of vegetables, and few slices of pickles and red onion, smothered into a pita bread. Yummy and quite filling, too. The lemonata was refreshing and sweetened to the right amount. The problem is that I still wanted dessert. I know, I know. I had a cupcake earlier in the morning but I still wanted something sweet. I just got out of Chickpea, when the lunch crowd started to pack in (and that’s around 1 PM) and walked around the East Village.
When I saw a large sign from Sundaes & Cones, my brain lit up and said, “Ice cream!”
I don’t know if this whole obsession or cravings of frozen, sweet and creamy desserts is due to Robyn‘s influence. When I went there, I was the only customer. No surprise since it’s 27 degrees with a windchill of 13 degrees Fahrenheit. I think I’m the only nutjob to eat ice cream in this weather. Anyways, I went in and perused the options of flavors available. Here’s the choices:
The ice cream counter…
Pricing…
It was interesting to see they had some unusual flavors like lychee, sesame, corn, and wasabi. I tried their green tea ice cream and it really didn’t taste like green tea. I end up ordering a 2 scoop cup of sesame and chocolate fudge swirl…after pondering for nearly 5 minutes (or maybe it seems like an hour for the guy who’s helping me out) what flavors I want to eat.
The ice cream!
Texture shot
It’s a pretty generous portion for under $5. It looks small from these photos but it’s probably 8 ounces of ice cream. The sesame is made of black sesame seeds but the flavor is a bit muted. There’s not much nutty flavor in that black sesame ice cream. I guess they should’ve toasted the sesame beforehand. The texture reminds me of the tong sui version of a black sesame soup but just frozen and a bit creamier. The chocolate fudge swirl is the better out of the two flavors. The vanilla ice cream is creamy and it has enough vanilla flavor that it can cut through the chocolate fudge. I guess I like gelato a lot more since it’s more creamier on the tongue (even though ice cream has more butterfat content than gelato, technically). I need to find more gelato shops in New York besides Otto and Il Laboratorio del Gelato! After eating that cup of ice cream, I went into food coma for a few moments and eventually dragged my shawarfel-ice cream stuffed self back to the streets, going uptown to get ready for class.
Addresses:
Tribeca Treats
94 Reade Street
New York, NY
Chickpea
Visited: 23 3rd Avenue
New York, NY
Sundaes & Cones
95 East 10th Street
New York, NY
Ooh! I almost forgot. Those of you who likes to read the food reviews from eateries and restaurants around NYC, go to Blog Soop. All of the reviews are written by food bloggers, some of them features stuff from meself and Robyn. So go there now!
OH MY GAWD TAKE ME WITH YOUUUUU!
I’ve never been to chickpea. :P I just pass it. A lot.
And ice cream! I likey! Too bad the black sesame isn’t super awesome; that’s one of my favorite flavors.
We’ll go fooding soon! So I’ll take you there…if the mood strikes to eat shawarfels and ice cream.
The ice cream was good. I was really hoping for a really toasty, nutty black sesame seed flavor. Oh well…
You’re so lucky with all that NYfood. Forget about negative thinking, just enjoy it :) Love that ice cream!
The negative thinking is over for me. I’m just taking everything in moderation.
I liked the ice cream more than love. I guess because I was disappointed with the sesame ice cream’s lack of flavor.
I’ve had corn ice cream before, it was yummy…maybe worth a try next time. :)
Ooooooooooo, corn ice cream is yummy!
Sera: I probably should try corn ice cream next time.
I just can’t make up my mind what the heck I want to eat except that I want a BIG bowl of ice cream and something chocolatey.