Saturday, June 18, 2011

NYC Day 7: Tribecca Taco Truck, Babycakes and Candle 79

We have been spenting a fair amount of money here, more than we anticipated, so it was time to start looking at cheaper options, particuarly since we had a fancy dinner booked last night. We have started eating cereal at home and yesterday we decided to try tacos from the Tribecca Taco truck. The truck moves around a little but we found it on broadway near prince st. You can always check their twitter page for info. Matt and Jess had already tried the meat tacos and said that they were good. We weren't sure if they could be made vegan or gluten free but lined up and asked. The guy was really nice and explained that the beans, tofu, catcus options, avocado crema were all vegan but they they use the same grill to cook the meat as they do the tofu and he agreed to quickly clean it for us. So honest and generous given the large line. Toby got a wheaty burrito with tofu and avocady crema and I got two tacos, one with catcus filling and one with chipotle marinated tofu. I chose two sauces: the avocado crema and salsa verde. The filling was wrapped around two soft corn taco shells, which seems to be a common thing here. I think it helped prevent breaking to have 2 instead of 1. The fillings and sauces were great and for $3 per taco so Toby and I have decided we will try to go back.


We also visited babycakes again and this time I got some inside shots for Jo and anyone else who is interested, the white writing means gluten free:





 This time I got the chocolate crumb cake and maple glazed donut. I've never had a maple glazed donut before so have nothing to compare it to, but maple glaze and donuts are made for each other. I loved the donut but found that once again I could barely finish the chocolate cake. It was too sweet particularly after eating a donut. The texture was a bit like a brownie. I've been surprised by babycakes, i've heard mixed reviews but have really enjoyed everything I have tasted, it's just been a case of not being able to finish too many sugary things. I also got an agave lemonade which was refreshing



For dinner, we had booked to go to pure food and wine but arrived at the time of our booking and discovered that they had been closed down by the health department 40 minutes prior to our booking:


So we booked to go to candle 79. I discovered when we arrived that they have a gluten free menu, i've noticed a few places here that do that instead of marking what is gluten free they have a separate menu:


We were served some complimentary sushi:

 We got to sit in booths which was pretty cool and comforting after another day of walking around:

For entree: I ordered the smoked hummus with gluten free crackers, olives and roasted garlic. I have to admit that I chose this because I felt myself getting sick and thought the garlic might help but it was actually really really delicious. I've tried to make smoked dips before they have never come close to tasting as good as this. The garlic, dip and roasted pepper paired so well together too.


Toby ordered the tempeh tamale which comes with watermelon salsa and rice. Toby thought this was a bit underwhelming and was disappointed that it was a rice dish instead of corn based.

I ordered the bail pinenut tofu which was served with lentils, and quinoa-vegetables. The basil pineut pesto was amazing and I really loved my dish.

Toby was a bit disappointed that we paid so much money and there was a few issues with the service, he ordered chai and they didn't bring out any sweetener or soymilk, and so he had to try to grab the waiters attention and then he did bring it out but they forgot to bring a teaspoon. Toby gave up and ended up using the back of the fork to stir it. It was a shame because the rest of the service was excellent.

3 comments:

  1. I'm so far behind on reading peoples blogs! I'm loving all of your NYC posts, the only time I've ever managed to blog whilst on holiday was in Edinburgh last year & that was only because I'd set myself the target of blogging every day during MoFo! That maple glazed donut looks seriously good, I really liked the brownie bites I tried when I was there...I can't wait to get back there on day.

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  2. Oh, how sad about the PFW closure! Will you be able to go back during your time in New York?

    Also, if there's anywhere to break the budget, NY is it. I remember thinking "I should spend less; I'll buy food and snacks from Trader Joe's and Whole Foods instead", then realising I'd spent about $30 each meal because I kept getting seduced by things like vegan pumpkin pie donuts and fancy chocolates :P

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  3. *sigh* I wish I could visit Babycakes and I'm glad you liked it because I've heard so many negative comments about their baked goods.

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