The first time I ever went to Babycakes NYC I was disappointed by the cupcakes, finding them dry and just not as exciting as I had hoped they would be. Since then I haven’t had much of an interest in visiting Babycakes until I heard about their donuts. Since you don’t come across vegan donuts everyday the Hubz and I decided since we were already in the neighbourhood that we would stop in and try a few.
After much debate and a little help from the girl behind the counter we decided on the french toast and the salted caramel along with one their heart shaped chocolate covered coconut mound. Immediately after we walked out the door we decided to dive right in and started with the french toast donut. The donut was out of this world! It tasted just like french toast! It was warm and mapley and caramely and oh so good. Next we tried the salted caramel which was also super sticky and delicious. We both agreed though that the french toast was the better of the two.
We held out on the chocolate coconut mound until the next day after a three hour trip to Ikea. It was the perfect treat after a crazy shopping trip. It honestly tasted just like a Mounds Bar but better. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo, oh well.
All in all Babycakes redeemed themselves and we will be back!
On Saturday morning after a rocky start at the hotel we finally got to the train in Stamford and headed into the city for the day. We debated over just getting bagels for breakfast but then decided that we wanted to find a nice place to sit down and enjoy the morning together. We headed to the Lower East Side and decided to give Teany a try since they have a weekend brunch. We arrived and headed into the restaurant which was surprisingly “teany” but luckily there was only one other group there so it wasn’t so crowded. We took a look over the brunch menu and I was disappointed that the vegan options were really limited; I guess I assumed that since Moby is vegan and one of the owners that there would be a number of vegan options- but there weren’t compared to the vegetarian. I also was surprised that there was no real kitchen but rather just a small counter and a microwave and toaster.
Although apprehensive we decided to just enjoy ourselves and the nice window seat that we had acquired. We started with morning cocktails, hey it’s brunch! as well as a small pot of tea each (both included in the brunch). For our meals I ordered the Vegan BLT and Neil got the Tofu Scramble and “steak” both with greens.
Overall I thought that the meal was meh, just okay. I mean it was Fakin’ Bacon on really good bread with tomato and vegan mayo and Neil’s was warm tofu with heated up packaged seitan steak. I thought that although a nice spot I couldn’t imagine trying to go there when it was busy, you would basically be sitting on top of other people. As for the cost you are basically paying for nice tea and a drink with the brunch, the meal was pretty lame but at least it tasted fine. Needless to say we won’t return except for maybe a quick tea to go.
The Hubz and I loved our meal at Cafe Green so we were excited to try Java Green for breakfast the next morning before heading out to The Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Hubz and I split the So-Che and the Eggcentricity as well as a bottled iced tea. They both were really delicious and I would go with the Eggcentricity again next time for breakfast as it was delicious. Java Green also also has as tasty lunch menu that I would love to try. The only down falls with this place is that it is only open Monday through Friday and that there is limited seating.
After breakfast we were off to be tourist around the city and ended up spending 4 hours at the Holocaust Memorial Museum. I don’t have any photos to show you as you are not permitted to take photos in the museum. We had planned on doing lunch at Rasika but our time at the museum went longer than intended and we missed our 12:30pm reservation by an hour and half. We also had intended on visiting another museum after lunch but we were drained from the Holocaust Memorial Museum and decided that we would just walk back to the hotel and find something to eat along the way. To our delight we passed right by Maoz where I had another Groupon for $5 for $10 worth of food and we decided to use it on 2 junior meals which came with fries and a drink (I had iced tea and Neil an Arnold Palmer.)
We really enjoyed the food at Maoz and loved how things were marked vegan. The salad bar area was the best and really bulked up the falafel sandwich. The hubz and I even debated going back again during our trip but decided we should branch out and try new places, oh well there is always next time!
Ratings:
Value: 4/5
Food: 4/5
Vegan Friendly: 4/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
We headed back to the hotel for a little down time before our big walking tour of the monuments later in the evening and later decided to partake in the complimentary wine and olive feast while we waited for our friend Aaron to meet us for our tour. When he arrived we decided to have another glass with him, why not it was free and we were on vacation. Then it was time to make the loop around the monuments starting at the Jefferson Memorial and ending at the World War II memorial.
After walking around for hours we finally made it back to Dupont Circle and just a block from the hotel was a great pizza and beer place that I had read about Pizzeria Paradiso. We decided to stop in and have pizza and beer. We started with complimentary olives; I swear I ate more olives this vacation than I have this entire year. We then decided on our pizzas which Neil and I had with vegan mozza on a white crust withTomato, Mushrooms, Spinach, Red Onion (note the whole wheat crust has honey in it). Aaron had the same thing but a smaller one for him and with regular mozza. We also shared a salad which we had with oil and vinegar because the dressing has parm in it but it was still yummy.
Overall we loved this place- the food was great, the beer selection was good and the service was top notch!
I generally don’t buy food at airports because it’s generally over priced. For our trip this past week I packed up bagels with tofutii, dried fruits, nuts, trail mixes and bananas for the flight and for our trip in generally. The only items that we purchased was this mediocre coffee and the smart fries which the Hubz and I had a few of and then decided they were just awful and we through them out; yes they were that bad.
I did not purchase any of these items but I did find these great vegan options at the JFK airport:
Sensible Foods- so good! Love the corn ones!
These aren't bad- more like a chocolate bar than a protein bar
Yesterday hubby and I spent most of our day hanging out at the hockey arena for a fundraiser for my work. It was FREEZING and so sad to be inside because it was 80F outside! Oh well it was for a good cause. After the game we decided we go do some more car shopping and ended up at a Hyundai dealer where we test drove a few cars and feel in love with the Hyundai Santa Fe so we made a decision that this would be a good time to purchase it and so we are the proud new owners of a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe:
So that we are driving this hot new vehicle we will be spending the next few months on a strict budget and remember that whole pantry challenge thing that I have done for a week at a time….well this time I am forcing myself to stick with it and buy as few things as I have to and doing crazy menu planning. I have actually taken most of my ingredients out of the pantry and they are currently sitting on my kitchen table waiting for me to evaluate and create healthy, yummy, INEXPENSIVE meals for as long as I can. However, before I could start any menu planning I had to sit down with a bowl of oats, almond butter and banana.
So now I am off to plan our menu for as many days as I can while trying to pick up the least amount of money possible. Have you participated in a pantry challenge and/or do you plan your menus every week? How well do at sticking to it?
Neil and I are off for a weekend filled with lots of fun in CT, NYC & MA. Will blog when we return. P.S. Any NYC bloggers that want to meet up for wine and chocolate meet Saturday at 3pm at Cocoa V. Let me know if you want to meet up by leaving a comment DM me @cookveganlover or send me an e-mail.
Quinoa Cakes with Edamame Salsa at Whispering Canyon- sorry for the blurry picture
The Quinoa Cakes were good but the meal was missing something so we were still hungry after we left.
Neil's Big Drink at Whispering Canyon
Part of the fun of Whispering Canyon is that it is loud, rambunctious, and they waitstaff pics on you to know end. So when Neil ordered his cola they brought it out in the largest mason jar they could find.
samosas at sanaa
Parathas at Sanaa
Mango Chutney, Grilled Red Pepper Hummus and Garlic Pickle
Sipping on a Mojito at Sanaa
We wished we had gone to dinner at Sanaa but we were only able to stop in for drinks and appetizers but the food was amazing. We talked to the chef and he explained what was vegan on the menu and the other options that he could do up for us if we desired. We got bread sampler (only the paratha is vegan) and the samosas.
