OK…I’m running a little behind on my New York posts.  I’m still not finished sifting through all the photos either.  Anyway, here is my final installment of our 5-day New York trip.

On Tuesday, I went back into Manhattan for a little extra shopping while the boys slept in.  For lunch, I headed back to Astoria and we went to Il Bambino.  It’s a small cafe that serves some of the best paninis I’ve ever had.  Mine had fresh mozzerella, tomato, and basil pesto.

For dessert, I picked out one of their many Crumbs cupcakes and saved half for Jia.  Actually, I saved half of my panini for her too and had them both packed up.  Jason was saying “suuure…I’ll take care of it for you…” with a mischieveous grin on his face.

He was certainly not trustworthy so I wrote all over the bag and emailed Jia (who was at work) that she had some treats waiting for her at home.

Our flight home was smooth and I managed to catch a short nap.  I was exhausted but had a wonderful time.  I can’t wait to go back again!

On Monday, we spent lunchtime in Flushing and had the spiciest noodle soup ever.  Jason and Jia took us into a swap meet-looking basement that was stuffy and hot.  Luckily, the Chinese lady was nice enough to send us to the back dining area where it was air-conditioned and cleaner-looking.  The noodles were really tasty and I got some crazy chili coughs and sniffs that cleared up the stuffy nose that I had all morning.

Immediately afterward, we went to a dumpling house that we found two years ago on our last trip.  It was like a savory dessert to our noodle lunch.  We then took the subway back to Astoria for a quick hour and a half break before heading out to Manhattan for dinner.

This is a fatty pose in front of the restaurant.  It had only been 3.5 hours since our last meal.

The only reservation that I could get at Babbo was at 5:30 so we were in store for a continuation of our feasting marathon.  This is one of Mario Batali’s restaurants and was highly recommended by numerous people I talked to prior to our trip.  The space was beautiful on the second floor with a vaulted ceiling and natural light pouring into the room.  I want my next house to look like this.  🙂

We got the Pasta Tasting Menu that included 5 pasta courses, 1 cheese course, and 2 dessert courses.  On top of that, for our last dessert course, instead of bring 4 of the same, we got 4 different desserts!!

Here are the photos of the dishes and my lame translation of the menu items:

squid ink pasta with fresh peas – so flavorful and the peas had a nice snap to them

ravioli stuffed with beets – sounds weird but it was really good

pasta with wild mushrooms – savory and complex

pasta purses stuffed with braised beef – insides seasoned perfectly

pappardelle bolognese – mmmm…I love homemade pasta

fried sheep’s milk cheese with warm honey

It was like a cheesy donut!

toasted sesame panna cotta – rich and creamy with a mouth-watering sesame flavor

chocolate cake with vanilla cream – probably not the most creative dessert on the menu

This was a crazy yummy dinner that left us full and very fat.  Fantastic!

On Sunday night, we had dinner at Peter Luger in Brooklyn.  Reservations are usually hard to get but Jason managed to get them just a week in advance.

The steak comes sliced and cooked to perfection with a yummy crust and tender inside.  The decor was really old and rustic.  I mean, take a look at our table…unfinished wood that looks like it’s been out in the backyard for years.  The servers are gruff but efficient and the restaurant doesn’t take credit cards!!

After dinner we hopped on the subway and hung out at a rooftop bar with a view of the Empire State Building.

It was a warm but pleasant night and I got a neato shot of the Chrysler Building and the city lights.

The subway ride back to Queens felt pretty long considering that over 12 hours earlier I had run 13.1 miles.  This is a photo I took from down below as I was kimchee squatting and waiting for the train.