Downtown Happenings

I rarely make a trip to FiDi and still don't know my way around down there, despite having lived on Water St. for two semesters during the good ol' college days, but now that I'm there every work day, I'll have to admit there are some pretty cool things happening at Brookfield Place and the Oculus.  And there are so many pretty shops that make me want to drool, except none are open on my way to work, and most seem closed by around 7pm...and who has time to shop during the middle of the day?  *sigh...at least I'm enjoying Hudson Eats so far, but I'm sure I'll just default to the same three lunch places over and over in another week.

Anyway, for those of you who don't live or work downtown, here are a few fun things that you might be interested in checking out.

 1. Ice Skating (sign up for free lessons Sat-Sun 9-9:45am) 
Pay a visit to the rink soon before it goes away, you know, because now it's officially spring (in case you can't tell from the snow...ha).  If you're an early riser, live downtown, and/or really want to cash in on free benefits, sign up for a free skating class too!  Extra perk: the rink seems pretty empty, although I don't know if it gets more crowded on weekends.


 2. Hot Shots Basketball Competition (until Friday, March 24, 11am - 7pm)
Okay, maybe it's not really a competition, but you get to shoot hoops and enter a lottery to win a $250 gift certificate to Brookfield Place.

 3. Dancers Among Us Gallery (until Sunday, May 14, 12-6pm daily)
13 awesome photographs by Jordan  Matter of dancers doing extraordinary things in ordinary, everyday settings.  The best part is there's a story behind each of the photographs -- the inspiration for the shot, the difficult process it took to capture the moment -- as well as a "behind the scenes" video in the gallery to make you really appreciate the art.

He's not levitating...he's just mid-backflip

Rainbow!

That was a random dog...what a naturally talented actor

Mind blown.  They're all "lining up" to donate to Salvation Army.  The lady in the background could not care less though.

 4. "The Water Clouds" by Stella Artois
I've been wondering what people were doing with all those balloons in the Oculus the past couple of days, but now I know -- today is (UN) World Water Day.  As part of this year's campaign, Stella Artois is selling limited edition chalices for $6.50, and each purchase will fund 5 years of clean water for one person in the developing world.


P.S. In case anyone's wondering, I still don't know my way around downtown, but I do know how to get from the subway station to my office via the underground transport hub.  Shops I look at everyday but have not gone in: Grom, Bottega Venetta, Ferragamo, Hermes.  It's probably better this way.

Mah Ze Dahr Bakery

I love bakeries, and Mah Ze Dahr is a gem.  Very unassuming and quaint spot nestled in the West Village, with a clean, organized, beautiful display of all the pastries.

I meant to try their famous brioche doughnut and some cookies, but instead walked away with the hazelnut nutella brioche and the Mah Ze Dahr bar, both of which were still a bit warm when handed to me, so I ate both immediately.  I planned to save some for later (or for breakfast the next day), but all I had left was trash by the time I got on the subway.  Note this was after I just had brunch.

  

Not to be dramatic, but I'm still smiling when I think about the delicious carbs, so I guess that means I'll be back to try more things.

Win Son

This place has been on my list for a long time, and I'm glad I finally trekked to BK to try it.  I enjoyed the food but do think it's a bit over-hyped.  That said, I'm a huge fan of more regional Chinese food in general, even though this is Taiwanese-American fusion.  Not nearly enough Taiwanese places in NYC!

Of the appetizers, we tried the oyster omelette and the fried eggplant, both of which were quite different from what I was expecting, but I would say both were fairly good, inventive takes.  All the flavors in the eggplant dish came together really well, and the oyster omelette was crispier / less gooey than the original, which I quite liked actually.

  

Of the entrees, we tried the flies head, their famous big chicken bun, the beef roll, and two specials of the night -- beef noodle soup and pork porterhouse.  I really liked the flies head -- a little bit sweet + spicy, and especially good with some extra chili on the table.  The big chicken bun was also a highlight, with a sweet bun and plenty of juicy, crispy chicken.  Beef roll was good but not that memorable, sadly, as beef rolls are one of my favorite dishes.  The beef noodle soup was rather salty and also a pretty big departure from the original (e.g., thick slices of braised beef instead of more traditional cuts of marinated beef), but I liked the chewiness of the noodles.  I wasn't sure what to expect for the pork porterhouse, but it was essentially nicely fried pork chop.

        

The mantou with ice cream was only okay; as much as I like ice cream, the very plain vanilla ice cream detracted from the dessert.  The fried mantou with condensed milk was good though, so maybe they could just use better quality / different flavor ice cream.



I also tried the Breakfast of Champions cocktail, which was stronger than I expected but very delicious.  The creaminess made it a very good complement to the salt and spice of some of the dishes.

The Sweet Shop

I was ordering dinner on Seamless last night when this place popped up as recommended; except I've never ordered dessert on Seamless before...how did they know about my sweet tooth??

So of course I had to go check it out in person today, and it was wonderful. Impressive how much variety and goodies they can pack into such a small space. The biggest value prop, in my opinion, is the availability of "name brand," popular desserts offered all in one place, and in the UES where there's really not much competition. Specifically, they have Underwest Donuts (specialty cake doughnut place) and a great selection of ice cream/gelato from Oddfellows, Il Laboratorio del Gelato, and Van Leeuwen. The rest of the store is shelved with all the chocolate and candies you could want, ranging from specialty, artisanal brands like Raaka to old school childhood favorites like Sour Patch Kids.

I meant to only buy one doughnut but instead walked away with three...and two scoops of ice cream.

Underwest Donuts -- I tried the jasmine (surprisingly strong and very delicious tea flavor), dark chocolate (can't go wrong with abundance of dark chocolate), and maple (this one I could've done without...I was tempted by the cute little piece of stroopwafel on top, but the maple flavor was light and just tasted sugary). Texture of the donuts was crumbly and relatively light/not too dense, although it was a bit on the dry side (perhaps because I went at the end of the day?). I sort of liked the cakey crumble though.

Ice Cream -- I had the Oddfellows coconut milk chocolate and some off the menu chocolate malt flavor. The chocolate malt gelato was super creamy and perfect. The coconut milk chocolate was probably the first Oddfellows flavor I've really enjoyed -- lots of shredded coconut + chocolate bits.


They're also famous for their Butter Crunch, but I'll have to go back another time to try that.

Finally, super friendly staff made it an even happier experience.