Restaurant week continues: La Fonda del Sol

Lunch during Restaurant Week is also a great deal, as you can get 3 courses for $25. You can also get away with not having reservations, which is what a friend and I did one day for lunch. La Fonda del Sol is a Spanish restaurant, serving tapas, but we came for the Restaurant Week menu. What I loved about this place though is the light. Located right outside of Grand Central Station, it had floor to ceiling windows that flooded the place with lots of light. Paired with bright decor of reds and yellows, the place just makes you feel so happy and light-hearted.

Calamari Salad

Scallop appetizer

We started off with two appetizers: a calamari salad with beans and arugula and then a scallop dish on top of cherry tomatoes. Both were outstanding and looked beautiful too.

Roasted chicken breast

Skirt Steak

Next course brought us a roasted chicken breast topped with olives and paired with a veggie medley. The chicken itself was a little dry, but the olives and vegetables were so good that it made you forget all about the dryness. Unfortunately, we weren’t so thrilled with the grilled skirt steak. The mango and peach party sitting on top were fine, but the meat was bland and dry.

Torta di Santiago

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Dessert then comes around with a Torta de Santiago, which I think was a lemony almondy Spanish cake with fromage blanc ice cream. The star of the night, though, was the panna cotta. Buttermilk panna cotta with strawberries. Absolutely amazing. We scraped that plate clean.

La Fonda del So
Metlife Building
200 Park Ave
New York, NY 10166l

 

Kellari Taverna

Whew! The past 2 weeks have been crazy busy! I just moved back into my apartment at school, and classes have just started. Add on top of that loads of things to do for organizations and clubs and fellowships. I’ve literally not have much time to breathe at all. I’m so behind on these NYC posts. There are still several in the works, so forgive my inadequacy and slowness.

Restaurant Week is one of my favorite events ever, and I was lucky enough to be in town when New York’s Restaurant Week took place. The special prix-fixe menus were $25 for lunch and $35 for dinner, which is a pretty awesome deal! I went 3 times, which definitely added up, but I very much enjoyed the meals regardless.

Kellari Taverna is a Greek restaurant, with a beautiful interior. They were also very accommodating since we had a party of 8, and each of us drifted in at a different time.

Snacks from the bar

The bar had a bunch of free snacks: cheese and crackers and various cookies. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive, they served bread with hummus, olives, and radishes. The hummus was the best!

Bread and more

Cocktails

Some ordered cocktails. The lychee one was gorgeous, which is hard to tell from the picture. I forget what this red one was, but I remember trying it and really liking it.

Scallops

Here is a sampling of some of the dishes around the table. For the appetizers, the scallop dish was BEAUTIFUL! Look at that! It was hands down my favorite dish of the night. The scallop sat on top of a truffle risotto and slices of beets. Absolutely delicious.

Spanakopita

Others got the Spanakopita, stuffed with spinach, leeks, and feta. Not as pretty as the scallops, but tasty.

Seafood Yiouvetsi

Next enter the entrees. The seafood yiouvetsi had shrimps, clams, and mussels along with a mountain of pasta. The portion sizes were huge, and this is when I started regretting eating so much of the bread earlier because I was so stuffed at this point.

Moussaka

I tried some of the moussaka as well, and it was great. A casserole of lamb and yogurt in once again, huge portions.

Lavraki

Several people got the lavraki, which I learned is grilled bass. It came as a whole fish, as you can tell, with head and tail and everything.

Galaktoboureko

After loving every course so far, I was expecting dessert to be a home run too, but I didn’t like the galaktoboureko, which was a vanilla custard cake. I thought it would be more creamy, and the flavor didn’t sit well with me. The others got the a dark chocolate torte, paired with some gelato on the side. Those were much better than mine, so I just ended up eating other people’s dessert.

Sokolatina

But the winner of the night was…SCALLOPS AND TRUFFLE RISOTTO! I could’ve eaten a pot of that stuff.

Kellari Taverna
19 W 44th St
(between 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas)
New York, NY 10036

 

Summery Sunday Snacks

After a whole week of dealing with people and running around being busy, it’s so nice to take a day and just relax by yourself. Over the summer, Sundays have become that day for me. Go to church in the morning, and then find a peaceful little corner to nibble on some food and read a book. Surprisingly, I’ve been able to find a lot of these quiet places in New York: a bench by the pier or a table in a park. And here are some of what I snacked on during those Sunday afternoons.

Near the hustle and bustle of the South Street Seaport is a lovely little cafe called Made Fresh Daily. When you step inside, you’ll see a brightly lit space with white tables and clean decor. Sit down for a meal and all the noise of the city falls away.

Chicken BBQ salad

I had the chicken BBQ salad which comes on a bed of arugula and romaine and topped with avocado, cole slaw, tomatoes and a light vinaigrette. Paired with strawberry lemonade for the perfect summer lunch.

At the midway point between church and my apartment is Grandaisy Bakery, and after passing by it several times, I finally decided to go in one afternoon. The place was empty, but the service was peppy and friendly.

Tortino di Frangipane with an Iced Latte

They had a display case of many pastries plus a sandwich menu. I sat down with the tortino di frangipane, which is an almond tart with fresh berries and a chocolatey crust, along with an iced coffee.

As the weather got hotter, I was craving icy cold drinks whenever I stepped outside. Just 3 blocks from my apartment is Sun’s Organic Tea Shop, which serves the best milk tea ever. They use real tea, not powder, and it makes a world of difference.

Mango smoothie

What I really like from Sun’s though is their Mango Smoothie! Oh so yummy and made with real mangoes so there are chunks of mango mixed in. The best summer drink!

Another great place to spend a Sunday is the MoMA. The firm that I was interning at gets me free tickets to the MoMA, which was pretty sweet. On the 5th floor of the museum is Terrace 5, a beautiful dining place where you can get a meal, dessert, or even just a drink.

Pineapple Juice

Coffee

Enjoy a glass of cold pineapple juice or a coffee after wandering around the MoMA. Plus, if you can get a seat on the balcony, the view is fantastic!

The beautiful view

Made Fresh Daily
226 Front St
(between Beekman St & Peck Slip)
New York, NY 10038

Grandaisy Bakery
250 W Broadway
(between Moore St & Beach St)
New York, NY 10013

Sun’s Organic Tea Shop
79 Bayard St
(between Mott St & Mulberry St)
New York, NY 10013

Terrace 5 at the MoMA
Museum of Modern Art
11 W 53rd St, 5th Fl
New York, NY 10019

 

Madison Square Park

I went to Madison Square Park two times this summer. Both were for food events. Of course. Why else would I ever go outside?

Madison Square Eats

Madison Square Eats, which was just a month of outdoor food vendors setting up shop in Worth Square, was ending just as I arrived in New York. The weather was pretty mild at the time, so this was a great place to hang out with friends and enjoy some great food and drinks. There was a big variety of vendors from tacos to pizza to jewelry and artwork. One of the stands had this array of spices in a rainbow of colors. I have no idea what any of this stuff is or how to cook with them, but it looked so pretty.

all these spices!

Time for crepes!

Hoisin Chicken

Bar Suzette had menu of both sweet and savory crepes, but since it was dinnertime, I decided on the hoisin chicken. Diced chicken, crunchy veggies, cucumbers slices, basil, and lots of hoisin sauce. The crepe was nice and thin, and the flavor was strong. A little too much basil for my liking, but overall really really good.

Barbecue!!!

Not long after Madison Square Eats was the BBQ Block Party, where 15 or so pitmasters from all over the US come together to show off their barbecue. It was glorious! I got out of the subway and could smell the smoke two blocks away. Everyone was barbecueing different things. There was pulled pork, beef brisket, and even sausages and turkey. But there was only one thing that I wanted: RIBS!

Pappy's

I got in line for Pappy’s Smokehouse and for $8 you get baby back ribs with a side of baked beans. Lines are usually not very fun, but you can watch them preparing the ribs, so it wasn’t that bad.

Baby back ribs and baked beans

The meat fell right off the bone and had just the right amount of smokiness. The barbecue sauce was perfect, and while the beans looked ordinary, those were amazing as well. Ah, that was a good meal!

Blue Smoke

Blue Smoke was one of the few vendors that also had dessert, and when I saw people walking around with a bowl of their blueberry crisp, I just had to get it. The line for this was ridiculously long! They had to have these people holding up colored flags to show people where the end of the line was for each vendor.

Blueberry Crisp a la mode

Blueberry insides with a crispy crust and topped with a large dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream. I love warm desserts coupled with cold ice cream. Plus, the portion size was huge. Perfect ending to the afternoon!

Bar Suzette
Yelp
Chelsea Market
425 W 15th St
Manhattan, NY 10014

Big Apple Barbecue Block Party
Yelp

 

A Cup of Tea

When I was little, I was never interested in having tea parties with my stuffed animals. Instead, I played restaurant, where I was the chef and waitress, and I made my little brother sit there and order food and then pay me money. I suppose that says a lot about me.

But recently, I’ve really gotten into this idea of having tea parties. So when I found out about Alice’s Tea Cup, I promptly dragged a friend there with me. This place is adorable! As in cutesy, girly, chubby-baby-cheeks adorable!

Alice's Blend

The tea menu was extensive, but being the noobs that we were, we got Alice’s blend, figuring that the house blend should be pretty good. And it was! Plus, it came in a super cute teapot.

Cute teapot

The Mad Hatter for Two

We then ordered the Mad Hatter for two, which comes with so much food! You get your choice of 3 scones, 2 sandwiches, and a dessert. We couldn’t finish it and had to take some of the scones and all of the cookies home. Of course, it probably didn’t help that we’d already gone to another bakery in Chinatown and stuffed our faces before heading over here. Such piggies…

Pumpkin, ham and cheese, and fresh berry scones with clotted cream and jam

For the scones, we picked the pumpkin, berry, and a ham and cheese. I was about to type that the pumpkin was my favorite, but I actually really liked the other two as well. I can’t pick a favorite. They were all yummy! And they came with clotted cream!!!! AHHH!!!! I LOVE CLOTTED CREAM! I haven’t had any since being in England last summer, and it’s the best thing ever. If you’ve never had clotted cream, oh man, you’ve got to try it!

Curried chicken salad and smoked chicken breast sandwiches

Both of the sandwiches we got were delicious, although the curried chicken was messy to eat because the diced chicken kept falling all over the place. Maybe I’m just a bad sandwich-eater.

Cookies and chocolate mousse

After these amazing scones and sandwiches, the dessert platter was a let-down for me. The chocolate mousse was great, but the cookies were dry and nothing to be excited about. 4 different cookies, and I didn’t like any of them. Sadness. Nevertheless, Alice’s Tea House was great. I’m curious to try some of the other stuff on their menu. The table next to ours had these french toast bites that looked amazing. That’s what I’m getting next time.

The next weekend, I went to visit a friend in Flushing, and she took me to this lovely teahouse called The Rose House.

The Rose House

I love this place! It would be the perfect teahouse to meet up with a girlfriend and just chit chat over afternoon tea. The atmosphere was classy and elegant, although the prices also reflected that. But it was worth it, and I would come back in a heartbeat.

English rose tea

Pretty teapot kept warm by a candle

Iced milk tea

We chose the English rose tea (I think that’s what it was.) and an iced milk tea. Both were great! And to go along with that are desserts!

Cappucino ice cream, rose cookies, cheesecake

I wasn’t a fan of the ice cream. It was more icy and not creamy enough. I don’t remember much about the cheesecake, but the rose cookies were to die for. I could’ve eaten 10 more of those. You can taste the rose in it. Absolutely amazing.

our table

Hmmm, anyone know of any place in Charlottesville where I can get rose cookies?

Alice’s Tea Cup
156 East 64th St
btw Lex & 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10021

The Rose House
Yelp
38-10 138th St, 1st Fl
Flushing, NY 11354

 

Slurp slurp: Ramen!!

I am a college student. Therefore, I eat a lot of instant ramen. And don’t get me wrong, I love that stuff! You should see my kitchen cupboard. I have instant ramen of all different flavors and brands from a variety of countries. But real Japanese ramen is on a whole other level of delicious-ness.

Ramen has taken New York by storm in the past couple of years with all kinds of ramen joints opening up all over the city. I got pretty addicted to it this summer and was fortunate enough to satisfy my cravings at many different restaurants.

Menchanko Tei has two locations in Midtown, one of which is right next to my office, so I ended visiting this place several times during the summer. And every time, I ordered the same thing: Kurobuta Hakata Ramen. A classic.

Kurobuta Hakata ramen

It’s a Tonkotsu ramen, so the broth is made from pork bone, which is THE BEST THING EVER! The soup is rich and flavorful and my favorite part of the dish. The noodles are topped with pieces of berkshire pork, pickled ginger, black mushrooms, and a soft-boiled egg. Make sure to order the Kurobuta rather than the regular Hakata ramen, as the Kurobuta comes with berkshire pork which is more tender and fatty than regular pork. Mmmmm. I love fat!

Fatty pork!

Menchanko Tei - Hiyashi Chuka

Also, they have a great cold ramen dish, which is great for the summer when you aren’t in the mood to have piping hot soup. My friend ordered this, and she loved it.

Another well-known ramen place is the extremely popular Ippudo. There is always always a crazy long line here at any hour of the day. I came at 3 pm once and there was still a half hour wait. This time, a friend and I came at 8 pm and waited for about an hour to get seated, which really wasn’t that bad. They had a bar, so we just ordered some drinks and edamame and chit chatted for an hour. Once you got seated, the service was pretty fast.

Akamaru Modern with soft boiled egg

Here, I ordered the Akamaru Modern, which is still a Tonkotsu ramen but with this dark garlic umami oil. Absolutely delicious! I added a soft-boiled egg to it as well because I can’t imagine ramen without some type of egg with the noodles.

Miso ramen with soft boiled egg

My friend got the Miso Ramen, also with a soft-boiled egg, and she loved it so much that she will not stop talking about this meal. She swears that she can’t go back to instant ramen anymore, but I think I will always have a soft spot for instant ramen no matter what.

Lastly, I also paid a visit to Ise, another Japanese restaurant with several locations across Manhattan. I went to the one on 49th St. and had their Shoyu ramen, which has a soy sauce based broth. It was fine. I’m just not a fan of shoyu ramen as much because the broth is too flat and bland compared to a tonkotsu style ramen. But that’s just personal preference.

Shoyu ramen

I wish there were ramen places in Charlottesville or in Virginia Beach but sadly there is none. Why oh why?? Will someone come down here to open up one? Pretty please??

Ramen!

Menchanko Tei
131 East 45th St.
btw Lex and 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10017

43-45 West 55th St.
btw 5th and 6th Ave.
New York, NY 10019

Ippudo
65 4th Ave.
btw 9th and 10th St.
New York, NY 10003

Ise
151 East 49th St.
btw Lex and 3rd Ave.
New York, NY 10017

 

Sweets for my sweeties

I have so many so many pictures that I want to show you! There are so many so many wonderful yummy food that I want to share! But, I am camera-cord less still. Arg! The minute I get home, and I get my pictures onto my laptop, I will go on a blogging rampage. You can hold me to it.

So in the meantime, let’s talk about dessert! I’m actually not a very big dessert person. I prefer hearty, savory foods (like ribs!) but occasionally, I’ll have cravings for a huge bowl of slightly melty ice cream. Or if the dessert is cute and pretty, then I cannot resist. I do the same thing with sushi. I don’t like sushi. I don’t like how it smells. I don’t like how it tastes. I have not met any type of sushi that I’ve liked. But the problem is: they are SO cute! Absolutely adorable! So I get tricked every single time, because I’ll see it and marvel at how cute it is and then buy it thinking that cuteness equals deliciousness. Then of course, I regret it later because I have once again proved to myself that I do not like sushi.

Anyways, back to desserts. Here are some recent sweets that I’ve eaten:

Baked by Melissa, conveniently, has a location right below my office, so I have been there many many times this summer. I love the concept of this place because it solves all of my problems with cupcakes. Cupcake shops have so many different flavors and combinations, and I want to try all of them but I never can because one cupcake is more than enough for me. Plus the cupcakes always get cloyingly sweet by the time I’m halfway done, so it’s really only the first 2 bites that are the yummiest. Enter Baked by Melissa, the land of bite-sized cupcakes!

Yummy bites!

I think the order of flavors in this particular box is (starting at the top left and clockwise) cinnamon, cookie dough, smores, smores, peanut butter cup, and mint chocolate chip. I shared this with a friend, and it was the perfect dessert to end your lunch hour on. Some people might be wary on spending $1 on just one bite, but I think it’s worth it. You get to try all these flavors, and you won’t feel sick and bloated afterwards because you just downed an entire cupcake the size of a plate. Plus these are sooooo cute!

Baked by Melissa

My goal is to try all of their flavors by the end of the summer, and I’ve almost accomplished that goal. I think there are 2 or 3 more that I need to try. So far, I highly recommend the smores, peanut butter cup, chocolate chip pancake, and their July flavor of the month: the Firecracker. Only 5 more days before the Firecracker is gone! I am super psyched for their August flavor too.

Cupcakes from Crumbs

Since we’re on the topic of cupcakes, I got to try Crumbs as well, but this was not nearly as successful. I didn’t like it at all. The cupcakes were humongous and way too sweet. The cake itself was a little dry, and the icing was all sugar. I suppose if you’re a sugar fiend, you’ll like it. My friend, who got the cookie dough (I can’t remember if that was the flavor?) cupcake on the left seemed to like hers, but she’s a dessert freak. haha

Now, onto chocolate chip cookies! Cookies are the best things ever, but it is really difficult to find a perfect one. The best chocolate chip cookies that I have ever eaten were from Ben’s Cookies in Oxford, England. They were warm and soft with a crispy edge but a gooey center and just absolutely heavenly. I will never forget those. Just writing about them makes me want to jump on a plane and fly over there right now.

Chocolate Chip Cookie from Pret

Although there are no Ben’s Cookies in New York, I did taste a pretty good chocolate chip cookie from Pret a Manger. Funny how Pret is also a British chain. Anyways, the cookie wasn’t memorable but certainly above average. This food blog called Serious Eats, which I am an avid follower of, actually went out and tried to find the best chocolate chip cookies in NYC. The winner is the Roasted Plant in the Lower East Side, which is about a 15 min. walk from my apartment, so that will be my destination tomorrow.

Happy eating everyone!

Baked by Melissa

Crumbs

Ben’s Cookies

Pret a Manger

Serious Eats: New York

 

Of New York and tofu

Spending my summer in NYC equals what? FOOD!

I’m here for 10 weeks for my internship, and I didn’t bother to bring any cooking-ware because I’m only here for 2.5 months and my luggage was already heavy enough. Therefore, I’ve been eating out. A lot! As in every single day, several times a day.

Additionally, I’m living in NYU dorms, and the building that I got randomly assigned to serendipitously ended being right next to Manhattan’s Chinatown. Oh boy. A blessing for my stomach but most certainly a curse for my waistline. Oh well. What can you do? Food comes first!

As for pictures, I left my camera cord at school, so I’m going to borrow one from a friend to get those pictures onto my computer. Right now, I only have some pictures taken from my phone. Definitely not the best quality, so I’m sorry. But this is all I have right now until I can borrow a camera cord.

My first meal in NYC was right after I found my dorm, dumped my stuff down, and ventured out to explore the surrounding neighborhood. I wandered into this restaurant called Shanghai Gourment (上海人家) and ordered the two things that I’ve been craving for since forever ago: soup dumplings and noodles with minced pork sauce (炸酱面). They did not disappoint. It was so satisfying, and especially so because I was tired and hungry.

Soup Dumplings

I got the soup dumplings with crab meat, but I think I like the ones without crab meat better because the crab really didn’t add much to it. It was still delicious though! Nice thin skin and lots of soup inside.

Zha Jiang Mian

The sauce for the noodles was out-of-this-world amazing because not only did it have pork, but it also had tofu chunks! Yes! I love dried tofu! And you know what the best part was? This huge bowl of noodles that lasted me three meals was only $4.50.

Yes, I was one happy camper.

Shanghai Gourmet
23 Pell St
New York, NY 10038

 

Taste of China vs. Peter Chang’s China Grill

Epic showdown between these two Sichuan powerhouses in Charlottesville.

Water boiled fish 水煮鱼 - Taste of China

As many of you know, the ever elusive Chef Peter Chang first came to Charlottesville back in 2009, opening up Taste of China. But that brief stint brought reporters and media and way too many customers than the restaurant can handle, so after around several months, this nomad chef was once again out of here. There were rumors of why he left: didn’t get along with management, didn’t like to stay anywhere for too long, hating the media’s attention, but who knows? Now, in 2011, Peter Chang came back to open up Peter Chang’s China Grill, once again serving Sichuan cuisine. So which is the better restaurant?

Shredded and spicy tofu skin - China Grill

Before I start, as a disclaimer, this is only my opinion and certainly not the end-all-be-all of reviews.

The Food

I have been to Taste of China many many times over these last two years, and their food has always been top-notch. After Chang left, everyone was worried about how the quality of food was not going to be as good or as authentic. Honestly, I thought the food was great. The portions are nice and big. I especially have to point out their soups. They have several kinds of those broths that are cooked in a big clay pot for hours and hours, and this is the real stuff. This is the type of nutritious and delicious pork bone or rib soups that Chinese grandmas will make in the kitchen all day. I definitely recommend getting one of those soups if you are going in a large group because the portion size is humongous.

Seaweed, tofu, and pork rib soup - Taste of China

Mouth watering chicken 口水鸡 - Taste of China

Chicken with green peppers in hot pot - Taste of China

While the food at China Grill was good, it didn’t live up to all the hype. Perhaps I expected too much? The “Water boiled fish” is supposed to be extremely spicy to the point where your tongue is falling out, but it barely had any spice to it. The soup dumplings were good, but nothing to rave about. Their “Yu Xiang pork,” however, was amazing. I have to give them credit for that.  I’m really picky about this dish because it’s my favorite, and chefs usually screw it up. But not here. This particular dish was a standout for me.

Water boiled fish - China Grill

Yu Xiang pork 鱼香肉丝 - China Grill

White hot fish and rice vermicelli casserole - China Grill

Overall, concerning the food, the two places are equals.

Soup Dumplings - Taste of China

Soup Dumplings - China Grill

The Service

But the real difference is in the service. I have eaten at China Grill two times, and both times, I left nearly fuming due to the service. The front of the house was perfectly cordial (although I was a little perturbed when I tried to order in Chinese to the waiters who understood no Chinese). It was the kitchen and its mind-numbing, appetite-destroying slowness. On my first visit, we ordered and then waiter nearly one full hour before our food came. On my second visit, we waited 45 minutes, and then there was always a huge delay between each dish so that everyone was nearly finished with one dish before the next one came. In a Chinese restaurant, we eat family-style, which means all the main dishes should come out together. And as if that wasn’t enough, they got our appetizers mixed up so half the appetizers came out after all the main dishes. It was so bizarre.

China Grill recommends reservations for dinner, so you’d think that they are able to control the speed of the kitchen to suit the number of customers. If you can’t handle that many customers at once, then don’t take so many reservations. But actually, the dining room was not full. Several tables were empty, so I guess the kitchen is even slower than slow.

Honestly, I’m not one to gripe about service. I love eating at holes-in-the-wall and grimy Chinatown joints whose idea of service is yelling at you to hurry up and order. But when you’re touring yourself as a higher-end, top notch restaurant that recommends reservations, I’m expecting stellar service.

However, China Grill may have gotten better recently, as I had visited within their 1^st month of opening. Maybe my now, they finally got their act together and figured out the kinks. But I’m done here. If I dine there again and end up experiencing the same thing again, I’ll just be even angrier.

So now, if I have a craving for authentic Sichuan food, I’ll be driving an extra 10 minutes up to Taste of China, where I know I can dine in peace.

If you couldn’t tell already, the winner of this showdown is Taste of China!

Taste of China!

And more pictures! Because I couldn’t fit them all in the post!

Compressed tofu with bamboo shoots - China Grill

yummy! more yu xiang pork - China Grill

Pumpkin cakes - Taste of China

Water boiled beef - Taste of China

Mapo tofu - Taste of China

Twice cooked pork 回锅肉 - Taste of China

Beef Noodle Soup - Taste of China

Pork and tofu pearls rolled in sticky rice - Taste of China

China Grill
2162 Barracks Rd
Charlottesville, VA 22903

Taste of China
612 Albemarle Sq
Charlottesville, VA 22901

 

Twistedly Twisty

A while ago, my friend KN and I spent a wonderful Saturday wandering around Charlottesville downtown and ate lunch at the Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar. It’s a very strange and bizarre kind of place that serves over 50 different kinds of tea, mostly vegetarian options, and it turns into a hookah bar at night. Yep. Very interesting.

And I discovered that the restaurant certainly lived up to all that I imagined it to be. They have this giant fake tree growing in the middle of the place with lots of carved nooks for old books. There’re also lots of pillows so you can choose to take off your shoes and sit on the ground or to be less fun and sit at regular tables. Although I chose to sit at a table because the pillows looked icky.

Tea

KN and I shared a pot of tea, which might have been the jasmine pearls, but my memory fails me. Then she ordered the PMT sandwich with pesto, mozzarella, and tomatoes, while I ordered the Tunisian tuna with a spicy harrissa sauce.

The PMT

Tunisian Tuna

Both sandwiches came with a side salad too. My sandwich, sadly, was a disappointment, as the tuna was dry and the sauce too spicy. I love spice, but for some reason, that combination in the sandwich was way overpowering, and I couldn’t finish it. I tried a bite of the PMT, which was a lot better.  Hahah Maybe I’ll get that one next time. The tea, however, was the best part. There were so many different kinds to choose from, but ask for their recommendations and they’ll point you to the right direction.

Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
414 E Main St.
Charlottesville, VA 22902