Saturday 10 August 2013

Eating My Way Around North America

In the lead up to my trip around America and Canada, I tried as hard as possible to loose as much weight as I could to ensure I could then eat as much food as I wanted whilst travelling, and not feel so guilty. The latter part was achieved, the weight loss, not so much, but nevertheless even I was shocked when I came home with only a 3kg gain!

The following are a few snaps of delicious meals I, or others around me, consumed. I think its really important to research places to eat whilst on holidays because for people like me, every meal is special. I also hate wasting money on food. I like to know what I am in for and to know which meal is the specialty. But, at the same time and in contradiction of what I just said, some of the best meals were ones we just stumbled across.

Hope you enjoy the pics :)

Lets start with the one city that I have promised myself to go back to with lots of money, just to eat.. NYC

 1. Burger at Shake Shack.. just do it.



 2. Buckwheat crepe with eggs, ham and gruyere tucked inside for breakfast at Balthazaar in Soho. This place is pretty pricey for lunch/dinner but breakfast was fairly reasonable. Plus the service is totally worth it.

3. Chargrilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestring Fries at the Spotted Pig - this place is open super late so convenient for after a show/sports game/meal when your drunk and on your way home. This burger was was just meat & cheese. But that was all it needed as this was probably one of, if not the best burger on my trip. And yes, not one fry was left. 


4. Pancakes at IHOP - because a trip to America would not be complete without it.

5. Burger special at Marlow and Sons, Brooklyn. Not sure if it was cause we were feeling a tad rough after exploring the Brooklyn night life, but these were tremendous.
Katzs Deli. Just don't eat anything the day you plan to go here, and order one, but share it with a mate.

 Soul food at Sylvia's in Harlem. Go on a Sunday, be prepared to wait, but take in the atmosphere and then indulge in this - Ribs, Chicken, rice, corn bread and sweet potato mash.

When I showed my parents this photo, and when I suggested this meals to my friends on the trip everyone thought I was crazy. But Chicken and Waffles goes as well as egg and Vegemite, peanut butter and celery and anything else that when combined sounds gross, tastes great. This is at Pies and Thighs in Brooklyn. This was also followed by donuts, many donuts.

Berry scone at Bakeri, Brooklyn. Super cute, small place, freshly baked goods. Kinda in the back streets but worth a visit.


The following are meals that I had whilst traveling with my parents through Louisiana, Georgia, Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.  Most of these places happened to be unplanned because this holiday was thrown together about 3 weeks before I left for NY so I didnt have much time to prepare. But its okay. we survived.

Char-grilled oysters

This is a mixture of typical New Orleans food - Jambayala, crawfish, red beans, sausage and rice.

Beignets at Cafe du Monde - New Orleans

There was something special about this omelet but i cant remember.. oh wait yeah. All that was like <$10. God Bless America.

Bread and butter pudding. and sweet potato pie.

Selection of seafood in Savannah. Note to self, shrimp is overrated.

Dad's ribs and onion rings at the Pirates House in Savannah. I had the Salmon which was delightful.

Dad's sundae at Leopold's ice cream in Savannah. I love traveling with Dad.

High tea with Mum at the Gryphon Room in Savannah. Right near where Forest Gump was filmed.

Fish for breakfast, anyone? was tasty and i think probably less than $10.

BEST MEAL OF MY ENTIRE TRIP! I bought the cook book from this place and have re-created it. Not as good but my this was tasty. Coconut encrusted Halibut with a mango salsa.

This was on fire when it was put down in front of me. The description is to fancy but basically - an orange, scraped out and lined with belgian chocolate, then orange ice cream is put inside, marshmallow on top and then fire. drool...

I loved this meal because it inspired me to add more fruits to my salad. Sometimes salads just taste plain and a bit dry.. add a strawberry. Naturally sweetens it up :)


Now onto Canada..
Visited Meat and Bread in Gastown within the first week of arriving. Wish I had gone back a second time cause it was so delicious and I love when they put it all together in front of you. I love watching people make food with such care.

Chicken Pot Pie - Granville Island. I love markets and these were some of my favorite. Mid week is better as the crowds are overwhelming on the weekend. The produce here is as fresh as it gets but this is reflected in the price of course.



Lucky's Donuts at 49th Parallel.

Donuts fried in duck fat at Edible Canada on Granville Island. Donuts. Duck fat. enough said.

Feast platter at East is East - $22 all you can eat - I literally ate until I felt sick. The food is all organic, mostly vegetarian, but with a few flavorsome meat dishes thrown in. We also finished off with a vegan chocolate mousse which was to die for!

Sushi platter at the Eatery - i had read many blogs that said this was the best, and possibly the most expensive sushi in Vancouver. Have to agree with both but totally worth it!! I forget what was on this plate, as the service was a little slow, and by the time it came out I was at the bottom of a mason jar full of mojito. But they have such interesting combinations and from memory, mango appeared in one. As well as a few different cheeses. And i love the fact that they put yam in sushi.

So these were some of the highlight meals from my trip. Obviously, due to money, time, etc I was unable to get to every restaurant I wanted to. However, I have promised myself to return to NY, just to eat :). America (and Canada I guess) may be considered the nation of fast food and soda, but in between the Applebee's and Wendy's there are so so many nice places and I can't wait to explore them further.

x