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...

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...

Yelp was where I first stumbled across Spicebox. I was excited to see another Japanese style crepe store open up around my area. I added it to my list of bookmarks but after a while I noticed it on Groupon. I took the opportunity to try out two of the crepes with the offer they had. For my first visit, I decided on trying the Tokyo in a Bite ($9.50). Tokyo in a Bite: strawberries, red bean, green tea ice cream, Pocky sticks, whipped yogurt cream, chocolate sauce and cereal. It was what I saw on Yelp that interested me the most in terms of appearance. Taste wise, it was good, but not mind blowing. The crepe itself had a sponge-y texture and was thicker compared to other crepes I've had before. Along with being sponge-y, the crepe would soaked up the sauces easily which made it more on the mushy side. It also has a floppiness to it which makes it harder to hold up on its own towards the end of eating it. The green tea ice cream was pretty standard, not very strong in flavor...