This is here why I’m giving a little promotion to Taco Bandito, it’s quaint, clean and you pay for just the right amount of food.

Taco Bandito
Where: 325 Eighth Ave
(Btwn 26th & 27th St)
Genre: Tex-Mex
Price Range: $

What was in it?:It comes with 2 flour tortillas, Mexican rice, black/pinto beans, sour cream, and salsa/salsa verde. Not bad right?

My usual is the Grilled chicken with guacamole.

How much did you spend?: I usually order from the lunch menu which everything from that menu is $5.45 and tax is somewhere $6-7, depending whatever you’re buying to drink too.

Within my budget?: Yes, I still think it’s a little pricey because most of the time I am broke, so I can’t really complain on being broke, well I can, just not here.

Thoughts: I like this place a lot. They’re quick, the owners make good conversation. The food is not that bad. Whatever you’re paying for, you get a good amount of food that is not going to give you problems at the end of the day. I only eat chicken, and it’s not bad; it could use a little more spices but how are you going to complain if they give you everything and under $8?

The only complain is that when you eat from the lunch special, it can be pretty messy, where you physically have to put the rice, beans and everything else into the tortilla.

Rating:

This place wasn’t even worth taking pictures.

Bombay Garden
Where: 234 7th Ave, New York NY10011
(Btwn 23rd & 24th St)
Genre: Indian – Buffet
Price Range: $-$$

What was in it?: This was a buffet so everything pretty much “fast food” was there such as chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, dal, chana chat, naan, vegetables etc.

How much did you spend?: Their buffet was $10.95
Within my budget?: No, but what Indian buffet is $10 and under anymore, at least in New York City… pretty much none.

Thoughts: No one was in there when I went, and I wondered why, oh right, the food sucked. The curry was so watered down with no flavor; the pieces of meat were small and the only thing had flavor to it was the spicy dishes and the steamed vegetables. Even their spicy curry wasn’t even spicy and I don’t take spicy food that well.

As for decor, it looked clean but it was so scabby it looked dirty. Their signs for the buffet was not labeled correctly, and the covers were greasy.

The restaurant was supposedly moving some other place but it never did after 5 months of me walking past it every day.

I really don’t know how this place is still up when the food is just that terrible. Do not go there. Even though in the Chelsea area has little Indian food, it is one place that is not worth the walk .

Rating:

I’m trying to eat less, but we’ll see how that goes.

I think some chain owners should really reconsider their stock orders, especially then something this good comes up.

Quarter White or 3-Piece Dark Chicken served with Mashed Potatoes and Cornbread!

FOR A DOLLAR.

But you need the coupon.

Enjoy it while it lasts!!!

Mango burrito or even a Jerk burrito. What restaurant ever carried such burritos? I don’t know one, do you?! It was a bit expensive, but that burrito was HUGE and was worth the money.

After my course was over, I went back to that area to eat at Burritoville since the staff knew me. But to my surprise it was closed. My foodie dreams shattered.

I learned 2 days ago around my new university that Burrioville was opened. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ran to the restaurant almost being ran over by a bus and a car. I was just that thrilled.

At least in this location it was amazingly clean, however, after the checking the menu, I was less thrilled. The menu was so plain and they jacked up the price too. And c’mon, you’re going to effin use COMIC SANS MS font as the menu? Seriously WTF. What the hell happened to this place?

Apparently one of the former owners of Blimpie cleaned it up and you know what, it sucks. I want my old Burritoville back!! D:<

WTF man, I want my old tasty Burritoville back.

My expression on the whole thing: => =>

Last Day:

As usual before I go on my flight, I bring a dozen of cupcakes home from Cupcake Royale. Since my sister and I are in love with their lavender cupcakes. However, I discovered another bakery called Bakery Nouveau.

I was in love when I first walked into the bakery. The desserts… oh my god. Not only that, they had their own bakery made pizza.

The display and the rest of the bakery:

What was in it?: My pizza: Sausage and mushroom.
His: the Margareta.

How much did you spend?: Around $20 I believe. It was his treat! The desserts, almost $40 >_<
Thoughts: For the pizza alone, it was okay. The crust was hard, kind of how Chicago pizza crust. We needed a knife and fork. The sauce and the toppings were good, however, it was a bit too greasy and that made the pizza bland. It was satisfactory for a place not specializing in pizza.

However, for the desserts… I bought some sweets back home, unfortunately some of their signature mousse pastries melted by the time I landed. My heart literally broke in two since their Phoenix cake melted apart. I bought their strawberry cheesecake along with a pistachio and apricot tart as.

Their Phoenix cake was a winner in the French pastry competition and I can taste why it won. Yes, it was very rich and sweet, you had to savor it to really appreciate the goodness.

The strawberry cheesecake was really rich and fluffy, but it’s one of the better cheesecakes I\ve had.

The pistachio and apricot tart, very sweet and buttery in flavor. I don’t usually like a buttery taste unless it’s a savory type of food, so I wasn’t too ecstatic about it.

Rating:

Pizza:

Desserts:

Day 3:

Since my boyfriend lacks the awesomeness that is New York City pizza, he suggested for me to try out Pagliacci Pizza, which is supposedly Seattle’s favorite pizza.

As a New Yorker, it’s hard for me to have pizza that’s outside of New York since the dough isn’t the same. I had Chicago pizza before and I do admit, it was pretty good. However, having Chicago style pizza is completely different experience altogether. Anyways… we ordered Chicken Primo, which had Chicken marinated in a balsamic vinaigrette, artichoke hearts, red onion, imported peppers, mozzarella, ricotta, and parsley on an olive oil sauce.

It wasn’t bad compared to other pizzas I had outside of New York, but this one was lacking “the taste”. I can’t exactly describe what “the taste” is, but it was also the texture of the crust, usually like that hard texture and the middle would be soft, but this pizza… it was “bouncy”.

I give the pizza a rating of:

Day 4:
I’m a huge Anthony Bourdain fan. I’d go anywhere he would say to go. Following the recommendation from No Reservations Pacific Northwest show, I went to Mario Batali’s father’s salumeria, Armandino’s Salumi, which is in downtown Seattle.

Even before Mr. Bourdain stepped foot into the salumeria, it was hugely popular place at most people would come in for a lunch break.

When we arrived, the line was literally out the door. As we waited every ten minutes or so, someone would come out and erase something off the menu. I said to myself, “Goddamn, I should have arrived here at 10:30 to get the good stuff.” I was bit anxious that all the good stuff would be gone.

The good thing was, my boyfriend and I still got something good to eat. We even sat the back to get our grub on.

What was in it?: My sandwich: Salumi with peppers, onions and Gorgonzola cheese.
His: The Margareta with prosciutto on ciabatta bread; Pesto-basil sauce with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes.

How much did you spend?: Oh god, this has been a while but I’m thinking $20 altogether.

Thoughts: My sandwich was too salty for my taste, but I ate it anyways. Personally, I liked my boyfriend’s sandwich more. Mine was typical Italian sandwich, but my boyfriend’s was fresh. The sandwich was pretty big so you wouldn’t have problems going hungry. It does make you full for a good hours too.

If we arrived there early, lets say around 10:30AM, then I would have enjoyed my experience more by trying out one of their signature sandwiches, but of course we were lazy and arrived there at 1.

So if you decide to go to Armandino’s Salumi, go there early. And yes, you will have to wait. But I’m sure you’ll have a really good experience.

Rating: