Saturday morning in NYC (and most of the Northeast) looked like this! Well HELLO winter! Holy moly. I hope no one had any races planned!
As much as I would have loved to stay snuggled all day, I had tickets to Manhattan Theatre Club's We Live Here- myself and fellow Brooklyn College MFA students got a great deal on tickets through our professor Mark Blum, who was in the show! The writing, acting, set, light and sound design were all beautiful and after the show Mark took us on stage and backstage to explore! Thanks, Mark!
After the show I swung by the Drama Book Shop to pick up a few plays for school and then I met up with Joe for dinner at Food Gallery 32 in K-Town (32nd St. between 5th and Broadway). Food Gallery 32 feels like a really exciting food-court with stands offering bibimbab, hot noodle dishes and tteoguk.
All of the menus looked delicious, but Joe and I opted to order at Korea House (all the way in the back to the left on the first floor).
While we waited for our food, Joe sipped on this Extra Dry Ginger Ale from Grown-Up Soda. It was mild and clean-tasting without being overly sweet- we really enjoyed it!
As is the tradition when dining at new places, Joe and I mutually agree upon two dishes, eat 1/2 of one and then trade. We decided upon the tteokguk to start- a hot brothy soup with sliced beef, spring onions, seaweed, rice dumplings and sliced rice cakes.
Hot, satisfying goodness. Savory, steamy and a texture-lover's paradise!
EVERYTHING is served with pickled veggies and house-kimchi, natch. Ever the adventurer, Joe took a nice-sized bite of kimchi out of curiosity. He won't make that mistake again. I really liked it, but in very, very small doses- the ingredients vary by region, but this fermented veggie condiment is pretty much always hellishly spicy.
For our second dish, Joe and I split bibimbap, which was served cold and consisted of sprouts, cabbage, carrots and other delicious veggies topped with ground beef and a fried egg- served with white rice, broth and condiments.
I really enjoyed the crazy textural variety in this dish, too, and though I wasn't expecting it to be cold, I really dug it.
Ready to dig in!
After dinner we headed east- Joe's in a show called Vampure (he's the vampire all the way to the right on the header- check him out!) running Saturdays until December 17th, and I was planning on attending but we got a last minute phone call- one of the cast members had been injured and the show was cancelled! Bummer! I hope she feels better!
So we promptly turned around and prepared to head home once we fulfilled our dessert craving. Paris Baguette beckoned and we heeded it's call.
I've mentioned my thing for Asian bakeries before... though this one does have some more traditional French, Italian and American baked goods, they also offer glutinous rice cakes, cream buns, etc.
Literally every. single. thing looked perfectly delicious- deciding on a few to try was tough! We ended up with:
A mini creme brulee. Caramely and custardy with a soft moist center and caramelized-chewy exterior.
Deep-fried, cinnamony crunchy heaven- basically, a churro.
The Choux Cream Pastry. Be still, my heart. A perfectly crisp glazed croissant filled with custard cream. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Hiding in the back, we also enjoyed a pumpkin sesame bun and washed it all down with a hot chocolate. Mmmm.... cozy.
In addition to individual serving pastries, they also offer an impressive selection of cakes and other desserts, all decorated with meticulous attention to detail.
If you find yourself in K-Town anytime soon (a VERY short walk from Penn Station...), feel free to copy this date-night, and let me know what you think! :)
