A Bite With Ruby

The amount of ice cream spots are popping up all over NYC and it doesn't seem to plan to stop. Soft Swerve is a newly opened soft serve ice cream shop located between Chinatown and Lower East Side. I came on opening day when they were having a half off deal on all their ice creams. I got in before 12PM because even though they were opening at that time, they were prepared ahead of time. We were one of the people's to get in too! I went for the Ube in a black chocolate cone. Compared to other Ube ice creams I've had, Ube in soft serve form is more smooth and creamy, yet at the same time the flavor gets a bit diluted. Regular Ube ice cream is a bit stronger, with a taro like flavor, but the texture is more sand-like. The Ube is good if you like a more mild flavor and something that isn't too overpowering. After having the Ube, I was curious about the Matcha so I went for another round of ice cream, but this time, without the cone. I picked the St Mark's Place sp...

Whenever I am in the mood for seafood and I don't want to go far, Seamore's is one of the places that I would go for. I've been here a couple of times and while their seafood are very fresh, some dishes were better than others. Service wise, I had better luck going during lunch compared to dinner. More details: My Yelp Review If I had to pick the dishes I liked the most, it would mostly come from the right side of the menu which consists of tacos and sandwiches.  The Crispy Tacos ($15) are one of my favorites. It contains fried dogfish, guacamole, cabbage and chipotle mayo. I love how light and thin the batter is, so you know you aren't eating just mostly the coating. The guacamole adds creaminess while the chipotle mayo gives it extra flavor since the fish is so mild. A squeeze of lime also adds freshness to it to cut some of the greasiness. Yum! The Crispy Shrimp and Squid Tacos ($15) were also super delicious. This was a special that day, but they do ha...

Brooklyn is one of those places that I don't often visit. Maybe because I grew up in Manhattan, whenever I go to Brooklyn, I feel somewhat lost there. Although I don't visit Brooklyn often, I do know there are some really good food spots over there which I should venture off to more often in the future.   Bunsmith was one of the spots that I was curious about after seeing a picture on Instagram. It wasn't overly hyped when I saw it in my newsfeed, which is probably why I was interested. (I prefer to go to places that not everyone is trying to go to.) My friend and I decided to go to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden this weekend before the Cherry Blossom Festival started so we can get some shots of the flowers before it gets overcrowded. By around noon, we started to get hungry so Bunsmith was the perfect spot since it wasn't too far away. We had to wait til 1PM before they were opened and by the time they were, it was not too busy yet. We were seated relatively quickl...

One of the food trends these days are egg waffles. They are not new to the food world, but it has become a popular hit in the US, especially when topped with ice cream. Egg waffles first originated from Hong Kong, known as "gai daan jai"  (鷄蛋仔), or egg puff, bubble waffle, eggette, egglet and puffle. T hese days, they are making their way over to the US with a twist of flavor. Egg waffles are not unfamiliar to me. Growing up, my sisters and I would get egg waffles from the street carts in Chinatown. They would be about $1 for 20 pieces and came in only one flavor, which was classic, plain. Each egg waffles were separated for you to eat, while in Asia, they are sold as one waffle piece. Texture wise was also different because the ones here were soft and fluffy, while the ones I had in Hong Kong were crunchy on the outside but a bit chewy on the side. I don't remember how I stumbled upon Eggloo. It might have been through Facebook while scrolling through my newsfeed. (T...

I love egg tarts. What I love even more are Portuguese egg tarts! Although they may not compare to the ones from Asia, you can find a similar rendition in bakeries in NYC. I've tried a couple places in Chinatown and although the one from New Great Bakery is not my favorite, it is one that is quite good. The egg tarts and Portuguese egg tarts usually come out from the oven at around 8:00AM. If you go early, you can get them while they are hot. I say that the Portuguese egg tarts are good, but not great only because there are a few things they can work on. The pastry used for the tart is on the dry side, so although it looks flaky, it seems as if it is missing some butter to create the flaky pastry you get from other places. The custard on the other hand is creamy in taste and fluffy, but it lacks the smooth custard texture a real Portuguese egg tart. I do love that they give you a good ratio when it comes egg to pastry. Another thing I do notice is that there were a couple t...

Sometimes when I am in Tribeca and am feeling hungry, I always struggle to find a place to eat. But if I really can't find something I want, I always end up going to the Takahachi Bakery. It's a Japanese bakery that has fresh made breads, sandwiches, sweets and cakes. Whenever I feel like grabbing a light lunch or something sweet, it is always my go-to spot. (Because I get super indecisive!) On days when I want a light sandwich, I tend to go for the spicy salmon avocado, which is not the cheapest, ($7.95) but I try not to go too often. The bread used for the sandwich is their house-made black sesame bread. (They also make other types of bread daily.) The only downside of it is that you don't taste the black sesame when combined. The bread also gets a little moist, but that is because it sits in their open refrigerator after being made. As for the salmon, it was very smooth and creamy, but lacking some salt and spiciness since it was a "spicy" salmon avocado sand...