Almond Biscuits

On our way from Mykonos to Naxos, we snacked on some almond biscuits that we purchased in Mykonos.


The place we got them from in Mykonos was a family owned establishment, and the interior was filled with pictures of each master baker throughout the years as well as their families.


Their shop had lots of almond products including their special almond bisctuits, Amigthalota.



Amigthalota

Cross section of Amigthalota
Amigthalota is a dessert made with almond meal in place of flour. They are baked and then covered in powdered sugar. The baking process crisps the exterior to offer a nice bite to the dessert while leaving the middle soft and chewy. The powdered sugar exterior adds a bit of extra sweetness that complements the crushed almonds and almond essence.

A recalls having eaten these or something similar earlier in life, but he can't remember where or when this might have been. It could also have been some sort of wild food dream/hallucination, but he's so certain of having had them before. Regardless, it was a treat that he certainly loved having (for the first time?) again while on the boat. M also liked the amigthalota. She particularly liked the soft, chewy interior and found that the biscuits had a hint of lemon flavor. Great snack.

Wondee Siam II

Wondee Siam is one of the most talked-about Thai restaurants in Hell's Kitchen. There's often a crowd outside (not a Totto Ramen sized crowd but a crowd nonetheless) so we still haven't been there yet. But in the area you can order from Wondee Siam II (a little further north on 9th Avenue) or Wondee Siam III (on 10th Avenue). We order from Wondee III semi-regularly at home, but I haven't ordered from Wondee II at work in some time. Ever since that time a few years ago when they took over 2 hours to deliver a dinner that was supposed to take 30 minutes, I have been hesitant. I tried again today and I'm happy to say that they came right within the delivery estimate so I was quite satisfied. On to the food...

I started with the basil roll ($5.50 for 6 pieces).


The basil roll is basically a skinny summer roll, cut up into 6 pieces and filled with fresh Thai basil, mint, lettuce, steamed shrimp, and rice noodles, served with a tamarind sauce. I was surprised by the size since it cost $5.50. I was expecting something larger/wider like the summer rolls other places offer, which have a diameter the size of the dipping sauce cup. I did appreciate that the skinnier size meant that less of the fillings fell out into the sauce or onto my hand, but it seemed to be a bit of a small portion for the price. The roll was fresh and clean, and the sauce that it came with, the tamarind sauce, was delicious. The menu also said there would be ground peanuts but I didn't see any. I didn't miss them.

Next was the tofu salad ($4.50).

This looked better when it arrived but I forgot to take the photo and ate some of the tofu
This was a salad of lettuce with 3 tomato half-slices, 2 cucumber slices and some skinny carrot pieces, topped with 3 fluffy pieces of soft tofu. Similar to the basil roll, this was fresh and clean. I poured the dressing, their special house dressing, over the salad but it didn't add much flavor. This was odd to me as I had tried the dressing before pouring it and thought it was really good. The salad ingredients must have been so watery that the dressing (which wasn't that thick) got diluted once it hit the tin. Dipping the ingredients turned out to be a much better idea. I didn't finish the salad when it was just lettuce left as it was boring, but the tofu was perfect.

Last, the larb gai salad ($9.95).


The larb gai was described on the menu as "chopped chicken tossed with ground toasted rice, scallions, red onions and hot chili in Thai-style lime vinaigrette." It came with a small container of white rice on the side, just like how it's served in delivery orders from Wondee III. I liked the larb from Wondee III but didn't connect in my head that it would probably be a similar recipe. This was labeled as mildly spicy on the menu, but I think my taste buds are out of practice with spicy food (sadly), so it hit me harder than it should have. The dish was really tasty and I liked it.

I think I generally liked the food at Wondee II but had been shy about ordering after the last wait time debacle. Happy that I took the chance tonight. Very full after dinner, but very satisfied.

Madoupas

Our last meal in Mykonos was at a place called Madoupas, located along the waterfront. We thought the waterfront would be the perfect pit spot to find a place to eat before continuing on to the old port for our ferry to Naxos.


Madoupas had both indoor and outdoor seating. It was a gorgeous day (unlike the day before), so we decided to sit outside under the screens. We had a table in the "first row" and a truly spectacular view.

View from my seat
Like most other meals, the first thing to arrive was the bread. I don't remember if, at this point, we knew you could decline bread, but we didn't. The bread ended up being the perfect pairing for one of our dishes.


We got the cold appetizer sampler plate, consisting of tzatziki, spicy cheese salad (a spread), fish roe salad (aka taramosalata), stuffed vine leaves and black eyed beans. The bread was great with the different salads/spreads. This was a really good sampler and we liked it better than the other dish we ordered. The vine leaves and black eyed beans salad were good. Of the spreads, we think we liked the spicy cheese one the best but we don't really recall that clearly.


The table next to us had a plate of meatballs covered in tomato sauce that looked and smelled delicious. (They also told us that they were delicious!) We thought we had ordered the same thing but apparently we had gotten plain meatballs with fries. This wasn't bad but we were really looking forward to and expecting the meatballs in tomato sauce. The meatballs had a nice spice and flavoring, but they were fried and a little dry. The other dish was much better.


We weren't expecting a lot from Madoupas, since restaurants in popular locations with amazing views don't always have great food. This wasn't a bad meal but it wasn't the best we had in Mykonos (that award probably goes to Kounelas). After a leisurely meal, it was time to head to the port to go to Naxos!

Christmas Cupcake

Last week brought another opportunity for free sweets from the Sweetery truck, thanks again to Lord & Taylor. Similar to the last Lord & Taylor promotion for the holiday windows, they were offering free cupcakes, smores or whoopie pies (this time to promote the friends & family event).


I went for a cupcake like last time, except I got a vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing (instead of a chocolate cupcake):


The cupcake was really good, just like the last one. Moist cake, sweet but not too-sweet icing, crunchy sprinkles. I was so hungry on my way to lunch and this was the perfect snack. Thanks L&T and Sweetery!

Last Rochari Breakfast

The next morning we had our last breakfast at the Rochari. Most of the breakfast was the same as the other breakfasts we had there.

A got some coffee.


A got the same hot food as the previous days (they didn't really have a lot of variety) - ham, scrambled eggs and eggs over easy - and this time, a slice of chocolate bread.


Also the usual bowl of yogurt with honey.


Like the other days, I didn't find that much to eat for breakfast again. I got a piece of wheat toast and a few bites of scrambled eggs, and picked up a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie, which was OK.


Either A or I got a bowl of chocolate cereal. We can't remember whether it was one of us or both of us.


I was looking forward to yogurt with fruit, usually my favorite part of breakfast, but we were eating late and they were out of fruit salad. So I got my yogurt with the chocolate cereal. It was OK but better with fruit.


In general, breakfast at the Rochari wasn't bad. There wasn't a lot of variety in the hot, savory options, but it is a free breakfast (well, included in the room rate) so I can't complain too much about it. It did its job. After our last breakfast at the Rochari, we got ready to check out and leave for our next destination, Naxos. We couldn't wait to see what breakfast at our Naxos hotel would be!

Kounelas

On our first night in Mykonos, we had passed by a fish tavern called Kounelas which had an amusing sign with a rabbit fishing. We really wanted to get some fish before leaving Mykonos so we decided on Kounelas for our last dinner. As we mentioned before, fish seemed really expensive at a lot of places in Mykonos, but Kounelas didn't seem as overpriced and they were busy (always a good sign).


Our meal started out with a bread basket which came with an olive dip. We don't remember much about it right now, but think we liked it.


We also got a bottle of retsina to split. This was like a good white wine and we enjoyed it. It had a bit more bite than most whites we've had before, and that was most likely due to the resin. Neither of us are really wine experts sadly.


We also got a few appetizers. One was the grilled feta cheese stuffed with tomatoes and peppers.


I was expecting blocks of grilled cheese (like saganaki) with tomatoes and peppers inside it (not sure how that would work). What arrived instead was warm grilled cheese with a layer of tomatoes and peppers over it like a salsa. It was delicious. The cheese was nice and gooey, and the tomatoes and peppers added a nice spice and complemented it well.

We also got a salad of rocket, tomato and ksinotyro (a local Mykonian cheese) which was light, healthy and refreshing. I loved salads in Greece because all the ingredients were so fresh and the salads kept us from feeling too weighed down by our meals.


The last appetizer we got was the taramosalata. While this was pretty good, the taramosalata at our hotel snack bar was less fishy and better.


The starring dish of our meal was the fish (not shocking since it is a fish tavern). Most of the fish and seafood at Kounelas was not listed on the menu by price and what you could get depended on the catch of the day. In order to get our main course, A went downstairs to the kitchen where they had him choose an estimated weight/size and then look at the fish in various drawers to choose the one we wanted. We ended up getting a sea bass (about 1/2 kilo), which turned out to be much less expensive than we thought it would be. We really liked how our choice was dictated by the fresh catch. The whole fish was simply grilled in their coal oven and then brought to our table.


Putting into practice the techniques we've learned from watching the waiters at NYC Chinese restaurants, A prepared the fish for our consumption:


The fish was meaty and proved to be more than enough food for dinner along with our 3 appetizers. It was delicious, very clean, flaky and full of flavor even though it was prepared simply with just olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper. We were really happy with our choice.


To close the meal, they dropped off a complimentary bottle of alcohol in an "interesting" shape. We declined since we had just had a whole bottle of retsina. We were, however, amused to watch another couple drinking theirs to the point where they were completely drunk since they felt obligated to drink it. If we had taken part, I'm not sure we would have been awake enough to pack that night.


I think if we had gone to Kounelas earlier in our trip we might have returned there for another dinner. The fish was that good, the prices were reasonable, the atmosphere was casual and relaxed, and the people were nice. This was the type of dinner we had been looking forward to before going to Greece - whole grilled fish and tasty appetizers. We would recommend a visit to Kounelas without hesitation. Excellent fish!

Chicken Stick Pitas

We took the bus back from Paradise Beach and it was a stressful, motion sickness inducing ride. We were so happy to have our feet back on the ground at the bus station and that the bus hadn't gone up in flames before we got there. Our stomachs felt so upset that we needed to settle them with a snack. We could have gone anywhere but we decided to go back to το πηγαδάκι (To Pigadaki) where we had the souvlaki the day before.

Love the delivery bike
Instead of getting the souvlaki snack, we each got the pita with chicken stick:


Each pita came stuffed with the chicken stick, tomato, onion, tzatziki and french fries. It was so good. The grilled chicken stick was just as flavorful and tasty as the day before. Add to that the refreshing tomato, onion and tzatziki, and the starchy (and stomach-calming) fries, and you've got a good sandwich. Adding all of this to the chicken stick only cost 1 additional euro! What a bargain!

We didn't try the other souvlaki places in the Fabrika Square area of Mykonos (by the bus station) so we can't compare, but we would definitely recommend a visit to To Pigadaki/The Little Wishing Well!

Green Beans and Spaetzle

For dinner a couple of weeks ago, we raided the freezer. We had bought a lot of frozen food over Thanksgiving weekend and the freezer was stuffed. Since we were both home for dinner, we decided to eat some of the "older" items. One of these was a microwavable dish of green beans and spaetzle in a Bavarian style sauce (with bacon, green onions and garlic) from Birds Eye.


It was easy to make - microwave, stir, microwave again. It didn't look very much like the photo on the packaging, so how did it taste?

M's take: I was pleasantly surprised. When I took it out in the middle of the microwaving, it didn't look very appetizing and was still very frozen. When it was finished, it was better, but very watery and smelled to us like baked/mashed potatoes. The green beans tasted fine, the sauce was better than I thought it would be and the herbs were good. The spaetzle was odd and like a skinny piece of half noodle (not like other spaetzle I've had). I'm not sure I would get this again but it was decent as a side dish.

A's take: M picked and cooked this without telling me what it was. At first I thought she had cooked some twice baked potatoes or something because it certainly smelled like it. The green beans came out watery, and that was probably because we had left them frozen in there for so long so additional ice crystals developed. The green beans themselves were nothing overly special. The spaetzle was sort of like a dry, half broken noodle. The sauce might have been the best part. It was full of herbs and tasted a little buttery. The bacon also added a little saltiness and texture to the dish.

Tropicana Club

We decided to visit Paradise Beach on our last full day in Mykonos. Unfortunately that was the one day in Mykonos that the weather decided not to cooperate. Dark clouds, cool temperatures, strong winds - not the ideal day at the beach. Since there isn't much else to do at the beach when the weather isn't great, we stopped in at the Tropicana Club, usually the site of late night beach parties, for lunch.

We each started out with a Mythos (of course) as we relaxed, tried to stay warm and looked at the beach landscape, thinking how beautiful it would be on a nice, sunny, warm day.


We decided to split two dishes for lunch. The first was moussaka.


Moussaka usually consists of eggplant, ground meat, some potatoes and a topping of bechamel sauce and, in this case, grated cheese. It is exactly the type of warm, hearty dish that you want on a cold day. We hadn't gotten it before in Greece, opting instead for lighter salads, but sitting on the beach in the cold wind was the perfect time to get it. This moussaka was really tasty, full of flavor and perfectly cooked. It was creamy but not heavy, and it was very hearty. We were quite happy with it.

We also got the saganaki, which we've mentioned in other posts.


This version of saganaki was more reminiscent of the saganaki we get at home, but not lit on fire. The cheese, of course, is better in Greece, but, like the ones we get here, the saganaki had that nice crusty outer edge and the chewy griddled inside that we love. This was good saganaki.

Generally our trip to Paradise Beach wasn't very fulfilling. We didn't get to walk along the beach or go in the water. We didn't get any sun. We left on the first bus out after lunch with a lot of other visitors who had come to the beach looking for fun and instead found cold. But lunch was good and the scenery was pretty. If only the weather had been better!

Second Rochari Breakfast

Our second breakfast at the Rochari was very similar to the first. There were a few hot options, yogurt and a bunch of cold options.

A's breakfast:

My breakfast was basically the same as my breakfast from the first day. I didn't get a croissant, and I got less scrambled egg, but I think that was because they were running out of it by the time we got there. I got another egg over easy, bacon, ham, and another giant bowl of yogurt with honey.





M's breakfast:

Similar to the first breakfast, I didn't find a ton of things to eat at breakfast. I longed for the hot dog pieces, grape leaves and Greek salad from our breakfast in Athens. But, considering breakfast comes complimentary with the hotel stay, I can't complain too much about it! I got another bowl of Greek yogurt with fruit (more apples and bananas), which was good.


I also picked up a piece of wheat toast (nothing special), marbled bread (fine) and about 2 bites of scrambled eggs, as there wasn't much left. I also got 2 of the fruit jams - I think raspberry and apricot - which were really sweet. Once again, the yogurt and fruit was my favorite part of breakfast.


We had one more breakfast at the Rochari before it was on to our next stop. Would tomorrow's breakfast have different options?

Christmas Cookie

The Shake Shack custard we were most looking forward to this month was Christmas Cookie, the Wednesday custard. Since the new month started on a Thursday, we were counting the days until we could finally get this.


In our earlier preview of the custard calendar, M was wondering (and hoping) this would taste like a Potbelly sugar cookie. It didn't taste exactly like that, but it was really, really good. Somehow they managed to make the custard taste exactly like Christmas cookies like these:

One of our desserts from Christmas 2008
The custard was amazing. At first it just looked like a simple vanilla custard topped with an astounding amount of red and green crunchy sugar. However, when A took his first couple of bites, he discovered that there were actual butter cookies broken up into the custard. In essence, they created an actual Christmas cookie. It was fantastic.

Christmas Cookie:
A's rating: 9/10
M's rating: 9/10

(These are real 9's unlike our inflated pumpkin pie scores from the beginning of our custard project.)

Roma for Free

Today brought another free lunch opportunity thanks to LevelUp. Just like last month's free lunch from Bian Dang, there was a $10 credit for lunch and all you had to do was pay with the app at any one of the Guy & Gallard outlets. I have passed Guy & Gallard many times, but never tried it since I had always thought they were expensive.


I got a panini ($6.50) and a cranberry lemonade ($2.75), so after tax, I ended up paying 7 cents for lunch. That works for me! $6.50 for a panini actually isn't that bad either. Much more reasonable than I thought their prices were. The branch of G&G that I went to for lunch didn't have the pasta stations or other options like the one A went to, so I think I would go to that one next time.


I got the Roma panini, which was a panini stuffed with grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella, red onions and fresh cilantro chipotle sauce. Unlike Europa, which sticks their paninis (sorry, pressatas) into a quick-baking oven, G&G put the panini on an actual panini grill for awhile before giving it to me.


The panini was really good. There were a lot of onions and they were a little sharp, so if you don't like onions, you might want to avoid the Roma. I, however, love onions, cilantro and chipotle sauces, so I really liked the flavor of the panini. I would get this again. I would not get a drink though. $2.75 for drinks is too much!

Very thankful for the LevelUp app as I have now gotten 2 lunches for free (7 cents, but basically free). Awesome deal!

Tzatziki

After our taramosalata snack on the first day, we knew we wanted to try the Rochari snack bar's tzatziki snack as well. Before hitting the pool, we stopped by the snack bar for some tzatziki (which came with a bread basket again) and a Mythos.


The tzatziki, yogurt with cucumber mixed in, was smooth, creamy and refreshing. You could definitely taste the yogurt. Unlike some other spreads, tzatziki is so light and the perfect snack for a hot day.


Later that night, we learned that the snack bar could also do a half-and-half of taramosalata and tzatziki. Even better!


We loved the taramosalata and tzatziki at the Rochari. Unfortunately we didn't have the opportunity to return for more. They were the perfect snacks for our Greek vacation!

το πηγαδάκι

Souvlaki (grilled skewered meat) was one thing we definitely wanted to eat on our Greek vacation. There were a bunch of places in the square near our hotel that had souvlaki so we stopped by after our day trip to Delos. We decided on this place - To Pigadaki (aka The Little Wishing Well) - because it looked (relatively) busy and friendly.


We settled in at one of the tables (with neon green chairs) with an iced tea to wait for our souvlaki.


Souvlaki is a really inexpensive popular fast food in Greece. These were only €1.50 each.


They grilled our chicken souvlaki snack quickly and soon we had this plate of awesome meat:


This chicken souvlaki was so juicy and flavorful. It wasn't dry or chewy at all. It was a great snack for the price. We definitely wanted to return for more!