Mcdonald's Baked Apple Pie

This is just something for the guys back home. The apple pies from McD's here are baked; not deep-fried.

What a bummer. Funny as it sounds, I actually miss deep-fried apple pies, at least I'll be home soon.

D

Amy Ruth's, Manhattan, NYC

The peace, the serenity...

A lazy Sunday arvo, even the pond turtles were basking in the sun...

the tranquility of... Manhattan? That's right, it's no secret that the man-made Central Park is a little nature getaway for most people living in Manhattan. What's fun about CP is that she spans a rather vast area and walking through it all the way will lead you out to Harlem. Now, since we're in Harlem, why not grab some soul food?

Amy Ruth's has been around for 10 years now and I've been told it's the place to grab some classic Southern style soul food. Soul food is basically an American style of food developed by African-Americans in the Southern region during the 50s and 60s. There's more history to it but I'm just keeping it brief for simplicity.

Cornbread was served at the start. Buttery and fragrant, these little pieces of bread were even still a bit warm from the oven which made very convenient for the spreading butter to melt and seep into every bit of it.

Chicken and waffles. Now isn't this a neat combo? Can't decide what to have for your main and dessert? Just order them both on one plate. Some of the folks around ate the waffle akin to like fries or some sort of side with their fried chicken. Of course there's the option of keeping it to end and eating it more conventionally with syrup. Which one did I choose?

Another interesting sweet and savory mix. Fried chicken with honey. A crispy juicy fried chicken leg doused over with spiced honey. I know it sounds weird but this mixed flavor sort of grew on me. Now even when I head to Popeye's for some fried chicken, I may eat it with some honey (the Popeyes' here provide little sachets at no extra charge).

More sweet stuff, a side-dish of candied sweet potatoes. Now this was pushing it a little, the sweet potatos were pretty sweet naturally and now being soaked in syrup, it was a bit overbearing.

When I saw deep-fried okra on the menu, I thought it'll be like those okra chips you get at Indian restaurants, instead these were battered prior to deep-frying which sort of left the okra still soft. Not too bad really, at least it wasn't soaked in syrup haha.

So how did I do that waffle in the end? Despite all the sweet stuff during the meal, I stuck to conventions and ate it as a dessert with lots of butter and syrup.

Now this definitely made that walk through Central Park worth it. After all, why waste all that exercise?

D

Daisy May's BBQ, Manhattan, NYC

Even though BBQ is pretty much a Southern thing, luckily there's still some decent BBQ to be found in Manhattan. Daisy May's is apparently one of the better ones around, so I decided to make that huge crosstown walk all across to the West side to sample some of the fare.

The order process is simple, you go up front, tell them what you want, the sides are all there for you to look at and behind in the kitchen, someone's chopping away at your meat. These are the Memphis Dry Rub Pork Ribs. Despite its name, the dry rub actually helped preserve the juicy interior of the meat. The spices used weren't too strong either and made a good balance. This was a pretty good start.

Next up was the Oklahoma Jumbo Beef Rib. Now, I've always been partial to beef ribs and this was indeed one tasty meat on the bone. Charred fatty edges and tender succulent beef rib basted in a BBQ sauce. The was easily my favorite of the night, even though it was more challenging to eat by holding that huge bone.

Kansas City Sweet and Sticky Pork ribs was up next. Cooked till fall off the bone tender, these were tasty although the sauce did feel abit overwhelming after awhile.

If all that meat isn't enough or there's a vegetarian(!) dining amongst you, the sides here are pretty darn tasty too. The creamed spinach, cheddar cheese corn and mash potatoes has enough calories (and taste) in them to justify eating and the mashed sweet potato with brown sugar was a sweet counterpart to all the savory meats.

All of this and a big jar of cold sweet mint tea served in a 32oz mason ball jar made a pretty good BBQ meal.

So who's to say we can't find decent BBQ in Manhattan? Come down to Midtown West and enjoy some good meat.

D

Forty Carrots, Bloomingdale's, Manhattan, NYC

The frozen yogurt (or more affectionately known as "froyo") craze in New York has certainly passed its peak but there's still enough critical fanbase for a decent number of Pinkberries and Red Mangoes to be found. Apparently, even before Pinkberry exploded onto the scene in about 2005, Forty Carrots at Bloomie's was already churning out some pretty decent froyo.

Here's a double swirl with original and butter pecan. Even though the original tasted a little tart (I thought it would taste as sweet as "I can't believe it's yogurt!"), the flavor soon grows on you. The butter pecan was surprisingly rich for yogurt and overall the quality was sufficiently creamy to make a nice ice-cream substitute or just a preferential dessert of choice. Tuck away on the 7th floor of Bloomie's is Forty Carrots, a little froyo getaway in the middle of midtown mayhem.

D