Chomp - East Village

Chomp is kind of weird. I mean, look at this logo--what is that thing? It's like Pac Man's retarded cousin that got shock therapy. Brown, bucktoothed, pudgy, and slightly amorphous, it stares off the page more so in horror than in hunger.

It's also kind of weird that there's this Chomp place that has some basic on-your-break menus that have paninis, soup, wraps, bagels, burgers and salads; and then there is a Caribbean stand inside the same storefront that serves authentic Carribean breakfast and lunch foods such as jerk chicken and brown stew. It's kind of cool, I like the weird juxtaposition--as if this Caribbean cart vendor sort of just rolled his station right through the front door and decided: "yes, this suits me."

The menu is pretty cheap for Village prices and most items are $6-7 or less. I opted for a filling post-New Year's celebration brunch and ordered a turkey, bacon, colby jack, and cranberry sauce sandwich with a large bowl of vegetarian chili. Together, with a Vitamin Water, it came to $15--it was a lot of food. The price to portion-size ratio is good here.

The sandwich was decent, the elements were all distinct: cranberry sauce, cheddar, generous amount of turkey--although the amount of bacon was minimal. The chili was good: large pieces of tender tomatoes, zucchini and peppers floating among a throng of black beans; not very spicy, more of a mild chili flavor, but more hearty than most chilis.

250 E. 14th St. and 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003, 212 353 3211, www.chompny.com

Urban Chicken - Hoboken

I'll admit, the composition of my plate is a bit off--I think I was going for a bullhorns type of thing--I'm not sure. I'm always partial to ordering out for things other than Chinese and pizza so when we ordered buffalo wing dinners from Urban Chicken I relished in the instant-satisfaction that indulging in delivery services provide.

Urban Chicken, formerly McRib's Chicken, went through a recent redesign in name and marketing, as well as menu. Our order arrived in around 40 minutes and consisted of corn bread, boneless buffalo tenders, and mashed potatoes and gravy. The mashed potatoes and gravy were nothing special, your average fast food style potatoes--comparable to the kind you get at KFC, maybe slightly above that standard. The corn bread, which is always good was also floating somewhere around par, a bit too fluffy without full-bodied, grainy and corny texture that one associates with good corn bread.

The focal point, the chicken tenders, were the logical highlight and rightfully so; very tender, moist white meat, with a proportionate amount of buffalo flavoring. I would definitely suggest this place's buffalo chicken, minus the forgettable sides. A substantial amount of food for two cost us each around $15--give or take a little considering how well you tip. Urban Chicken remains a viable choice for ordering out at night or if you're ever in the midtown Hoboken area.

630 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201 420 7173, menu via AllMenus.com

Cake bugs

Back story: Sylve moves to Brooklyn. Brooklyn has bedbugs. Sylve has bedbugs. Sylve moves. Sylve has a birthday. Birthday has a cake. Cake is bugs.

Credit to Dena and Betty Paige for the masterful sculpting of this cake. Sorry I don't have a better, close up, picture--but you can see more pictures and find more information on getting your own custom pastries at www.bakedideas.com.

Bring the cake back, in my opinion, give me a thick cheesecake any day over the new trendy cupcakes that are taking over. Every day it seems there's some new cupcake service trying to make it big with red velvet, half-shell, cupcakes in the shape of moonflowers blossoming or some hippie shit like that. What up with that?

'wichcraft - Midtown

A simple lunch: soup and sandwich. Nothing fancy, no frills, everyone's got to eat. It's break time and you don't want to squander your out-of-office, out-of-store, sitting time, standing time--whatever it is you have on your break. But grabbing something fast and good is a very difficult task, simple request, yes, but very difficult to accomplish.

What you see above is the result: minimal wrapping and design; ergonomics in the forefront. It's hard to mess up a sandwich (that's a disclaimer), but it is something to be lauded when done well. 'wichcraft is a somewhat trendy sandwich vendor that dabbles in soups, hot drinks of sorts, and pastries. Taking the suggestion of a friend, I stopped by their Bryant Park hut and watched the ice skaters while they prepared my pastrami sandwich and tomato soup. That was pleasant.

The food was no let-down as well. The sandwich was thick with pastrami and Swiss cheese and held a strong layer of Russian dressing and a consistent tinge of spicy mustard--I'm not a huge fan of mustard, but this was the kind that is grainy and thick with multicolored seeds, which is more than acceptable in place of the usual off-yellow condiment. Pressed hotly on rye, it was substantial. The tomato soup also has nuances, with a strong Parmesan flavor that switch hits with the the tomato flavor--you don't get too much or too little of either flavor.

This was an above-average lunch. Unfortunately, it also had an above-average price that totaled around $14. Worth the walk in the park? You decide.

11 West 40th St. at 6th Ave., New York, NY 10110, 212 780 0577, www.wichcraftnyc.com

Myers and Chang - South End

I had always thought Myers + Chang was some upscale restaurant with ludicrously expensive entrees and a formal dress-code. I was wrong. It's one of those restaurants trying to do that hip, cutting-edge, Asian fusion sort of thing.

Prices are still a bit much, but affordable--I just wouldn't go here very often or you'd burn a hole in your pocket for sure. Dishes range from $10-$20 and are pretty small--slightly larger than tapas style portions. In regards to portion-size-to-price ratio there's a large discrepancy. I think the main draw here is the indie-factor. What I am saying is that if you don't eat gigantic portions of food like the abomination that I am, and you don't mind paying extra for large Chinese dragons on the walls that look like they came off one of those tacky shirts the nerdy kids wore in middle school--then you'll like this place.

It sounds like I don't like this place, but that's not true--I am somewhat indifferent to it. I like the idea and the food is up to par for Asian fusion, but it just isn't my "thang." I don't like paying more for hipness. Give me a wooden box to sit on and a ton of authentic food made by a guy with an eye-patch who doesn't like me for an unknown reason--that's a good meal.

They do have a good "cheap date" special--I would suggest that to any guys looking to bring someone on a boring dinner date. For around $40 you can get a three course dinner for two, which is nice.

1145 Washington St., Boston, MA 02118, 617 542 5200, www.myersandchang.com

Christmas gustation

I took a few photos of some food from my family's Christmas gathering--I think Christmas has gotten better since I've begun to value the food more than the gift-giving.

Cappelletti soup, a very fond Christmas day lunch memory that my Aunt makes in a pot the size of an oil drum.

Roast ham, porketta, lasagna, squash, mashed potatoes, carrots--there's more not pictured: mandu (Korean dumplings), stuffed mushrooms, cranberry and goat cheese salad and much more.

Pakistani Tea House - Tribeca

No frills in Tribeca? Hard to believe, I know--even more than I thought, apparently Tribeca is the 12th most expensive neighborhood in the entire country. Damn.

Pakistani Tea House offers affordable prices for authentic Punjabi dishes in a buffet style and, ironically, does not carry much tea if any at all. For around $8 you can get a decent amount of food as seen with my styrofoam plate of chicken makhani, chic peas, potatoes, and rice--more carbs please. The taste is savory and doesn't feel like a watered-down American version, although it probably is. Large chunks of curried chicken with a slightl spiciness was the highlight. The rice was standard if anything and the potatoes were slightly undercooked making them a bit tougher than I'd like them to be. The chic peas were great and tender--I would have liked to try more of a mixed vegetables side--next time.

I was the only one eating-in on a saturday afternoon, it was interesting seeing all of the characters that come into a place like this to pick up orders that early: blue collar guys, elderly 1st generation immigrant types, and well-dressed business women.

176 Church St., New York, NY 10023, 212 240 9800

New neighbors

I've found myself moving again. I recently stumbled into a room in the Lower East Side--I will be a resident of Manhattan now--farewell Weehawken; I'll miss the Mexican food. This should prove to be interesting though with Chinatown and Tribeca to my west and the Fincancial District to the South, not to mention many well-known bars and restaurants in LES. Katz's Deli is a short walk away along with a number of great fallafel places and open markets.

Thanks for the cake Katie.