Better Late Than Never: Sunday In the City

One of the downsides of being able to drive is that I end up having to take my non-driver mom everywhere. I'm not complaining, but when I'm home and I get asked at 7:00am if I can take her into the city, I tend to get cranky. But there is always a silver lining- and it is almost always food related.

The bagel above is from Essa Bagel. Everything bagel with lox cream cheese. This is my bagel of choice, since I grew up on them. Crunchy on the outside, but wonderfully chewy on the inside. And pretty hot- I was lucky enough to get this one, and the other bagel I ordered right out of the oven. If you stop by, be prepared to wait on line and be quick about your order. If you get a bagel with plain cream cheese, be warned that they pile it on. It would be a good idea to get another bagel and spread the wealth.

Yes, I had french fries with my bagel. And yes, it looks a bit messy, but that's just how I eat it- globs of ketchup on top, close the container, and shake shake shake. This is from the deli next to my mom's job. I would stop by this deli after school when I was younger for fries to eat while I waited for her to get out of work. I can't stop myself, it's such a long standing habit that I refuse to break.

There was some downtime between cases, so my Mom and I headed to Chinatown to do some grocery shopping. Sadly, very few seafood places were selling snails, and the one that did have them were pretty expensive. It just wasn't a snail day. But it was a vegetable day, and we ended up bringing back to the car bags and bags of Asian vegetables.

It was a couple of hours after my bagel-fries breakfast and I was starving again. We were walking along the street trying to decide what would be quick and I immediately thought of the dumpling place off of Mott St. A passerby overheard my comment and pointed to a building across the street. "Those better," she replied and continued walking.

I wish I remembered the name of the place, but even if I did, I doubt I would remember where exactly it is. It's tucked away on a street that I always drive past, but never noticed the store. Most likely because I'm driving and more focused on the traffic than the shops. What I can tell you is that it is small. Cramped. There are a few tables leading up to the counter. The menu is plastered everywhere, complete with pictures and english translations. Everything sounded wounderful and the menu alone was grounds to try this place again some other time.

I ended up ordering dumpling soup and pork mushroom dumplings. It was amazingly cheap, and if you have company coming over, you can pick up some frozen ones for a steal. My mom and I were contemplating ordering a few boxes for my dad's birthday party.