Midtown, NYC: Best Bagel & Coffee

The best bagels can be found at the appropriately named Best Bagel & Coffee shop.
This bagel shop was just across the street from our hotel, so we were quite surprised to find a long line in this frigid December morning.

The line moved fairly quickly, but once inside the warm shop, we realized, just like in Disney World, the line continued and snaked all around.

We ordered the smoked salmon on plain bagel, with scallion cream cheese, onion tomatoes and capers, and a bacon egg and cheese bagel.

The smoked salmon bagel was amazing, but so filling that we never got to the bacon egg and cheese bagel until much later in the day.

There are many great bagel shops in NYC, but we agreed that this one is one of the top ranking ones.

If you are in the area, and you see a line, jump in. You won't regret it.

Best Bagel & Coffee
225 W 35th Street
New York, NY 10001
http://www.bestbagelandcoffee.com/

Upper West Side, NYC: Levain Bakery

Levain Bakery boasted nearly 6,000 reviews on Yelp with 4.5 stars, where reviewers raved about the "best chocolate chip cookies ever"...

As if to prove a point, we found a long line outside the bakery on a cold blustery December day in NYC.

Once out of the cold, the inside of the bakery was tiny, with room for just a few stools.

They offer four kinds of chocolate chip cookies: Chocolate Chip Walnut, Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Oatmeat Raisin, and Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip cookies at $4 a piece.
The cookies looked like a muffin top, very thick and large.

Our cookie was served warm, with a crispy outside and a soft gooey center, and the chocolate chips were melting.

The cookies were delicious, although among the four of us, it was not a unanimous vote on "best chocolate chip cookies ever".

You should try if you are in the area, and decide for yourself.

Levain Bakery
167 W 74th St
New York, NY 10023
https://www.levainbakery.com/

Upper West Side, NYC: The Halal Guys

The Halal Guys started as a NYC hot dog cart, and grew to a world-renowned international restaurant chain.

They have a very simple menu, but the fresh ingredients make their dishes simply delicious.

 A platter consisted of grilled chicken and/or gyro meat over yellow rice, with lettuce tomato onion, and their special white and spicy sauce.

This was a great way to have a fast-food meal.

If you look them up, you can find them at a food truck, or a sit-down fast-food restaurant.
Either way, you will have a great meal.

We had our first Halal meal in NYC, but no worries!
The Halal Guys are coming to Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville very soon!

The Halal Guys
720 Amsterdam Ave
New York, NY 10025
https://thehalalguys.com/

Philadelphia, PA: Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House

If you ever need to be at the Philadelphia Convention Center for a volleyball tournament (or any other business), Nan Zhou Hand Drawn Noodle House is a short walk from the convention center, and serves the freshest hand pulled noodles and the best spicy pigs ears.

If you have never tried spicy pigs ears, you should ignore your instincts to be grossed out by the thought of eating pigs ears, and instead open your mind to trying something new. You might be really surprised at how much you enjoy this spicy dish.

At Nan Zhou, the pigs ears were sliced perfectly thin, and served over pickled radish and carrots julienne-style.

The next appetizer, the scallion pancakes were crispy to perfection.

Finally, their specialty is their hand drawn noodles, so any noodle dish would be amazing.

We ordered the simple but delicious noodles with pork soy sauce. This was one of the favorites on yelp.

We also tried the seafood fried noodles dish, and the mapo tofu over noodles. Both were excellent.

We did not order any dumpling on this day, but they were excellent as well.

Nan Zhou Noodle House
1022 Race Street
Philadelphia, PA
http://nanzhounoodlehouse.com/index.html

Annapolis, MD: Cantler's Riverside Inn

Maryland's blue crabs are the best crabs. When in season, their meat is heavy and sweet, wonderfully tasty when steamed in Old Bay Seasoning.

Crab season starts in the summer and runs through December.

If you don't want to buy live crabs and steam them at home, then go to the best crab house, Cantler's Riverside Inn in Annapolis, MD.

Their peel-and-eat shrimps are great too, and their fried calamari tasted super fresh.

Cantler's Riverside Inn
458 Forest Beach Road
Annapolis MD 21409

Recipe for Bacon Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

I have leftover thick cut bacon from making the Quiche Lorraine, so today I decided to try Bacon Balsamic Brussels Sprouts.

This was a very easy recipe to follow.

Ingredients:
Bag of brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
3 slices of thick cut bacon, uncooked, cut in half-inch strips
minced garlic
sea salt
ground black pepper
olive oil
balsamic glaze
honey or maple syrup

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. On a large baking sheet, season brussels sprouts, bacon, and garlic with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss until combined
3. Bake until brussels are tender and charred, about 30 minutes
4. Drizzle roasted brussels sprouts with glazed balsamic and a hint of honey (or maple syrup) and serve

This makes a delicious side dish!
If you didn't think you liked brussels sprouts, give this recipe a try and you may change your mind!