Wafels & Dinges Restaurant

A group of us gathered one EARLY Sunday morning, hoping to have some of my favorite pancakes at Clinton Street Baking Company. When our expected wait of an hour turned into TWO hours, and then we heard it would be THREE HOURS, we collectively said Oh HELL NO, and walked north to find a better option, ANY option. Three hours for pancakes? You must think I've lost my mind and then some. No. NO NO NO NO NO. I'm mad we even waited that long, but sometimes optimism can be a real kick in the head.

We walked two blocks up and saw the brick and mortar version of the Wafels & Dinges, an amazing Belgian wafel truck that was really at the forefront of the food truck movement. In fact, back in 2008, I organized a Wafels & Dinges Day at the talk show where I worked. Everyone chipped in about 10 bucks and the Wafels truck came just for us outside work. Sigh..that was a great day. But back to the future...

He's putting BACON in the wafels--thank you, Sir. THANK YOU.

We walked in, immediately ordered at the counter (where they serve sweet AND savory), and were seated in under five minutes. Hello, THIS is how I like to do brunch. Screw that waiting in line nonsense. And I had an icy cold, bracingly strong iced coffee-- FINALLY!

I like to start with savory first thing in the morning, so I ordered the chicken and mushroom wafel. It sounded so good, and tasted even better. It was like a wonderfully comforting stew. Impossible to eat with your hands, but I'm not complaining. I was not expecting the savory wafels to be so incredibly flavorful. Bright, green herbs and BACON cooked into the wafel!! It came with a side of lightly-dressed arugula and pickled, tickle-your-tongue onions. Killer combo.

ABF ordered the Wake Up Grumpy: an egg, bacon and cheese with two savory wafels replacing the biscuit. Drizzled with a generous portion of honey, it looked gorgeous, and ABF gave it two forks up, happily.

For dessert, ABF & I shared the sweet raspberry wafel, lightly dusted with confectioner's sugar and a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with honey. This was great- ABF is coming around to really liking raspberries (one of my favorite foods), and I'm happy to share with him. As tasty as this was, I actually rate the chicken & mushroom wafel as even more fantastic.

See that stunning chocolate concoction? I think that was my friend Travis's pick-- I was so full at this point I couldn't even fathom trying it, but it smelled glorrrrrrrious.

The prices are reasonable, coffee is strong, flavors are fab, and the servers were all cheerful and welcoming. Skip waiting ANYWHERE for brunch and try out this spot!

Wafels and Dinges

209 East 2nd Street

NY, NY 10009

(866) 429-7329

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Food Truck Friday: Neapolitan Express

I'd seen the Neapolitan Express pizza truck many a time outside my workplace – but as someone who tries to keep simple carbs to a minimum, I managed to resist it for a while.

My coworker, CJ, had raved about how delicious it was. I finally decided to take her at her word and joined her for a quick lunch one day.

If you know me even a little bit, you know I love spicy. So the A Diavolo, with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, hot cherry peppers, and spicy sausage was an easy pick for me. 

CJ's Di Parma (which I tried later--delish!)

I love everything about this pizza – the perfect amount of red sauce, the spiciness of the peppers and the sausage, but above all, the amazing crust.

I'm on of those people who often leaves the crust for others. I'm more interested in the toppings and the sauce, frankly. However, this was one of the most amazing crusts I've ever eaten: light, fluffy kind, chewy, flavorful. It was perfection.

This went above and beyond my expectations. In fact, I went back a few weeks later and ordered the same pizza CJ ordered (di Parma, with chewy strips of prosciutto and fresh basil leaves). Once again, I was not disappointed. If you want fresh, chewy, delicious, flavorful pizza, find the Neapolitan truck, and treat yourself!

Follow them on Twitter @NeaExpress! 

Food Truck Friday: Langos

I do my best to pack fresh, healthy lunches, but sometimes even the best of intentions get sidetracked.

I spotted the Langos truck and immediately shelved my fresh salad that I'd brought for one more day, and chowed down on a Hungarian specialty: Langos.

Langos (pronounced Lang-osh) are a type of yeasty bread covered in garlic, sour cream, and cheese. What's not to love? The crust reminds me a bit of a danish, chewy and flaky and not at all heavy.

I opted for the pepper lovers, which came with red and yellow peppers, aged Gouda cheese, and a sprinkling of freshly chopped chives.

This entire bit of deliciousness was 7 dollars-- a steal to me!

The staff are friendly, the toppings are fresh, and it doesn't take much time at all. I waited maybe 5 minutes, and chatted with the friendly workers in the truck who are eager to talk about their homeland of Hungary. I admitted I didn't know much about their country, but they were quite enthusiastic that I should visit sometime!

You can follow them on Twitter to find out where they're serving for the day-- @langostruck. Enjoy!

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Food Truck Friday: Red Hook Lobster Pound

The last few times I've made it to the Red Hook Lobster Pound's truck, they've been out of lobstah! It makes sense-- due to my work schedule, my 'lunch' hour doesn't start until about 2:30. I don't EXPECT them to still have food at that time, but I can't help but try.

This week, I got lucky! At 2:30 I spotted the truck right outside our Midtown office (normally it's a short walk down 6th Avenue), and they still had rolls!

I wanted the "Connecticut style" (warm with butter-- is that a CT thing??), but they were out of those. They only had the "Maine style" (with homemade lemon mayo). Normally I like my lobster rolls cold, tossed with melted butter, but I was willing to try something new.

Since I was one of their final customers of the day, and they didn't have the roll I wanted, the guy running the truck kindly threw in a free Maine root beer (and I threw some ones into the tip jar)! If you've never tried one of the Maine brand of sodas, you are denying your taste buds a delicious privilege. Every flavor, from blueberry to sarsaparilla to root beer, is perfectly balanced, not too sweet, and not too bubbly, either!

Don't be shellfish-- leave some clams in the tip jar!

The roll was ready in no time-- the bun was toasted on the outside, buttery on the inside, and the filling was phenomenal-- fresh, tender, delicious lobster with a scattering of crunchy scallions. I wasn't sure I'd like the onions in it, but they really made that roll sing. The lemon mayo was applied sparingly, which I appreciated, and the lemony kick was pretty good (I don't really like mayo, so this is high praise from me).
I would definitely go back to this truck again-- even if it meant walking a bit. The roll was $16, which is about double what I normally pay for lunch, but it was worth it! You can read the truck's menu here, or follow them on Twitter @lobstertruckny

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Food Truck Friday: Moshe's Falafel

The warmer weather has led me to thaw out the Friday Food Truck segment! I realized the other day that the lunch 'hour' had ended a while ago for most people. It was much closer to 3pm and I found that the first few trucks I wanted were all out of food. Denied!

The workers at Moshe still had a good crowd going, their workers were keeping up a friendly banter, and holy moly were their prices low!

I got the 5 falafel with 2 pickles, tahini dipping sauce, and hot sauce for three dollars. THREE. DOLLARS.

These are hands down THE lightest falafel I've ever eaten. They're fluffy, crunchy on the outside, and pretty tasty, too. The tahini and hot sauce go together quite well, but that hot sauce does creep up on you!

I enjoyed the friendly and fast service and would definitely swing by that cart again!

Moshe's Falafel
Corner of 6th Avenue and 46th Street
Manhattan

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Food Truck Friday: More Crêpes!

A different crêpe truck was outside my office the other day. Normally The Crêpes Truck is my go-to, but I'm always up for trying something new. The Craffles (crêpes + waffles, I assume) truck makes Belgian style waffles AND sweet or savoury crêpes.

I went for savory this time, ordering the chicken-pesto crêpe. I enjoyed watching the effortless work by the man running the truck, and the smells were making me even more hungry.

The inside of the truck is sparkling clean, and my server used gloves while making my food, and removed them to handle money. (Drives me crazy when people touch my food with the same gloves they just used to accept money-- which is normally filthy!)

The crepe itself was flawless-- crispy on the edges, spongy but not too thick in the middle. The fresh basil was a bit overpowering, so I took about half of it out, but I appreciated the generosity with the fillings.

I saw they also offer hot chocolate, sweet crêpes and Belgian-style waffles, but I was out of cash that day. I'll be back soon to try something sweet from them.

As with most food trucks, the Craffles NYC cart is always on the move! If you want to try their deliciousness, track them on Twitter @crafflesnyc or on their FB page. Follow @Lkpnyc

Food Truck Friday: The Crêpes Truck

I do love a good crêpe-- sweet or savory!

I've been going to the Crêpe Truck for a while, but this is the first time it's appeared on the blog.

For the savory sample, I've ordered the Ham, Swiss & Herbs. The crêpe doesn't photograph that well, but trust me, it was tres delicieux.

Mmmm..hammy....

As good as the ham crepe was (though I could do without the rosemary-- merci beaucoup), I'm definitely a sucker for a sweet crepe.

I have repeatedly ordered Le Triompe, which you can have with strawberries or bananas (or, like me, BOTH!)-- this is warm, delicious, and full of lush, ripe fruit.

Look at that beautiful crêpe! Perfectly browned, crispy on the edges, and full of deliciousness-- these keep me full for hours!

I've had both savory and sweet at this spot, but I always come back for the sweet crêpes!
To track the Crêpes truck, follow them on Twitter: @TheCrepesTruck!

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