Pinang

This Malaysian restaurant is located at 111-10 Queens Blvd. in the NYC borough of Queens.

I ordered a coconut drink (coconut water with a pc of fresh coconut) - $3, roti canai (crispy indian pancake served with curry chicken dipping sauce) - $3.50 and 1/2 Hainese chicken (steamed chicken with chef's soy sauce) - $9.50.

These are some of my favorite dishes. I love the roti and can eat it every day.

Le Train Bleu

...is a hidden gem of a restaurant located on the 6th floor of NYC's Bloomingdale's at 1000 Third Avenue.

It actually looks like a train car - both the interior and exterior.

They have a great 3 course prix-fixe menu for $29. I started with caviar and fried egg on smoked salmon with green asparagus and blini pancakes. There were just a few caviar eggs, but the essential flavor was there.

Then I had the sirloin burger with bleu cheese served on an organic brioche roll with pomme frites and beer battered onion rings. It was cooked to perfection!

And I had the blueberry sorbet for dessert. It was served with a sliced strawberry. And the waitress gave me two chocolate mint sticks along with the check.

Bouchon Bakery

...is located in the Shops at Columbus Circle in NYC' Midtown.

I had a Chocolate Chunk cookie ($2.50) which was good, but a bit pedestrian for Bouchon.

The Original Soup Man

was made famous on "Seinfeld" many years ago. He is now making a comeback. His latest outpost is near NYC's Garment District at 1021 Avenue of the Americas.

I had a cup of Lobster Bisque ($5.99) which was very good and creamy with chunks of actual lobster.

All soups are served with your choice of bread (I chose whole wheat) and a Lindt chocolate! What a nice little treat.

And the employees are nice - they will not threaten customers with "No Soup For You!"

Jamaica - Post 4

...inside every hotel room at the Riu Ocho Rios is a mini bar stocked with beverages including bottled "Wata", "Bigga" orange soda and Red Stripe Beer.

Jamaica - Post 3

At the Riu Ocho Rios - curried goat and white rice...pretty good!

Jamaica - Post 2

At the Riu Ocho Rios hotel...their beachside Jerk Hut...jerk chicken with rice and peas. The chicken was not "jerk", but barbecue with spicy sauce on the side.

Jamaica - Post 1

...my shuttle bus from the Montego Bay airport to Ocho Rios stopped by a roadside restaurant on Queens Highway for a pit stop. I had a D&G Kola Champagne and beef patty (total US$4.50)

Ferrara

...is located in NYC's Little Italy at 195 Grand Street.

I took "E" there to try one of my favorite desserts - pignoli cookies ($16/lb). I bought half a pound which is about 16 cookies. Delicious!

Cupcake Crew

I stopped in my tracks when I spotted the Cupcake Crew truck parked on 40th Street near Sixth Avenue in NYC (near Bryant Park).

They had an extensive cupcake menu and two sizes: regular ($2.75 each) and min ($1.25 each), but a 4 pack of regular size was $10. So I bought 4 different flavors:

Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting

Somoa - chocolate cake with caramel cream cheese frosting, and toasted coconut with chocolate drizzle

Lumberjack Louie - vanilla cake with hickory smoked bacon and vanilla maple buttercream frosting

Cousin Vinnie - vanilla chocolate chip cake filled with cannoli cream, rolled in a fried cannoli shell

The cakes were all a little dry. This could have been because they were cold and when they came back to room temperature they lost some moisture. All of the frostings were good, and not too sweet. My favorite was the Cousin Vinnie although it was not filled with cream. The cream was perched on top of the cupcake.

Tagine

This Moroccan restaurant is located in NYC's Hell's Kitchen at 537 Ninth Avenue.

My table had semolina bred with red lentil puree with saffron, potato croquettes, vegetable and lamb phyllo turnovers, chicken tagine, vegetable couscous and chocolate covered dates.