Biting The Big Apple - Part Two

Day Two: The next morning, fresh from sleeping in, James, Anand (his roommate), and I headed for Agua Dulce - a Latin influenced place that immediately sold me on its brunch menu. Meeting up with Daniel and Joyce on the way, we were quickly seated without any kind of wait for a table.

Torn between the Agua Dulce Benedicto (their version of eggs benedict - soft braised pork, lightly poached egg, fresh jalapeno cornbread with a chili lime hollandaise) and the Torreja de Media Noche (their version of french toast - Latin style french toast, thin sliced ham, swiss cheese, topped with a fried egg), I opted for the latter, which looked a little something like this:


Can't really see the ham and swiss in the above photo, but trust me, it was there. Pretty rich stuff, but boy was it good. When I got a forkful of all the components (after taking it for a syrup dunk, of course), I knew I had made the right decision. Almost finished the whole thing, but was ultimately hindered by the trio of guacamoles Anand (who's vegetarian) forced us to order and eat beforehand.


I remember one tasting fairly traditional, one a little tangy, and the other with a spicy kick - all were good, though (liked it more than I thought I would). Washed it all down with some cranberry juice (the perfect drink to cut through all the richness and balance things out) before heading back out into the blazing heat. Here are a couple more pictures from the meal, specifically that spin on eggs benedict I mentioned before, which I believe James and Joyce each ordered:



Later that day, after a lengthy discussion on where to go for dinner, we settled on Niko's Mediterranean Grill and Bistro, a proven winner which we had all dined at before (with the possible exception of Joyce). Although primarily a Greek restaurant, I knew their brick oven pizza would satisfy my craving for Italian. We started things off with gorgonzola garlic bread that's served in a "vat of cheese", as my sister Julia affectionately refers to it (she has eaten there before, too). A standard whenever eating at Niko's, we gobbled it up fairly quickly, barely leaving enough time for me to snap a photo (note the nearly empty bowl on the top-left). We also ordered a grilled octopus appetizer, which was a slam dunk, as well. Don't let the notion of eating octopus throw you too much if you encounter it - trust me, you'll be glad you took the plunge in the end. It was like that for me with calamari - I was unjustly wary for the longest time, and now I'm crazy about it.



For the entrees, we had a lot of variety: I ordered a whole pizza for myself (very thin-sliced, though - doubt I would've been able to handle anything but) with sausage and shrimp on top, among other things. Never had shrimp on pizza before, but the option was there, so I figured I'd make an adventure out of it. Daniel got some pasta dish I can't quite remember, Joyce got a jumbo shrimp kabob, and James got a lobster tail special which sold out shortly after we ordered.




Don't let my glum expression of that last candid fool you - everything was delicious. The shrimp weren't super incorporated into the pizza/sauce (they served as more of a garnish for the top), but I was still happy with the addition. We all gorged ourselves silly over good conversation, including a debate on whether one should eat meat if they're truly unable to stomach the sight of how the animals are treated prior to being shipped to restaurants and served. Anand didn't join us this time around, so there were no vegetarians at the table - it was just an interesting discussion. I probably ate the most at this meal than any other on the trip, so I was pretty proud of myself - even had room to go in on some tiramisu with everyone, much to my surprise.



Shot glasses of wine (dessert wine, I believe) were brought out with the check, which was a very nice touch and the perfect capper to an already-stellar meal. All in all, it was a great day for my taste buds, leaving only one more before my return home.

Next up: The third and final day!