Sweet Revenge in the West Village, NYC, New York

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Sweet Revenge: what an interesting name! It kind of make you think that what they serve is decadent and sinful. We went to that place many years ago, thanks to the recommendation of one of Jodi's friends and, roaming around West Village, we decided to go back, but not only for their cupcakes, also for brunch as we were curious to see what kind of food they propose on their menu.

This place is tiny, so if you are a large group, good luck! Otherwise, it has this type of atmosphere that makes you think it is an old place that is a hole in the wall, kind of secret and reserved to the cupcakes lovers. 

We ordered from the menu that proposes some traditional dishes, but with a twist, such as the Croque Monsieur Savory Cake!

I think it is a great idea to mix the two concepts: croque monsieur that is a pretty standard brunch dish and a cake, and I admit that the presentation was beautiful. The Croque Monsieur part was made of ham and jarlsberg cheese cake and was served with a delicious warm honey Dijon mustard. With it, there was mesclun greens, cranberries and chipotle pumpkin seeds. I wish I ordered it instead of Jodi! So good! But a bit small though! You definitely got the texture and taste of the cake that complemented well the saltiness of the ham and cheese. Great dish!

On my side, I ordered the Scotch Eggs:

This dish was composed of two hard boiled eggs, wrapped in chicken sausage with a cracked black pepper panko crust. They served it with roasted thyme potatoes and some fruit.

It was the first time I tried such dish and I did not like it: it was dry and bland, especially the chicken sausage! Now you understand why I wish I had ordered Jodi's dish!!! 

Well, we could not leave without trying cupcakes! So we went for the Pure:

Made with Mexican vanilla cake with Mexican vanilla buttercream. And the Crimson & Cream, made with a raspberry red velvet cake and a cream cheese frosting:

Both cupcakes were delicious: the cakes were moist and the frosting tasty and not too sweet. For the Pure, you could really taste the vanilla. The red velvet was good, but not the best I had (I am a big fan of Sweet in Hoboken, NJ that has the best cupcakes so far!).

Despite the Scotch eggs, I had some good food at Sweet Revenge and will certainly go back there to try some of the other cupcakes they serve, as well as the Croque Monsieur Cake that makes me salivate as I write that post...

Enjoy (I did)!

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Candies!!! At Dylan's Candy Bar, Sockerbit and Economy Candy

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Warning: if you are a dentist, you will either hate this post or love it as it will bring you more customers!

There are few places in New York City that I love to visit for candies. For sure the choice is endless, whether you go to places specialized in candies or to delis, supermarkets...But here, a candy store is definitely different: when you go to a grocery store, you have food all over and you probably did not come just for candies. However, if you go to a candy store, then you cannot ignore the excitement that it triggers, making you feel like a kid again! 

So, the three places I will take about in this blog post are: Dylan's Candy Bar, Sockerbit and Economy Candy!

Dylan Candy Bar: 

This is definitely one of the most renowned candy places in New York City!  It is owned by Dylan Lauren, daughter of Ralph Lauren who is said to have been inspired to open this store by Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
The store is on two floors and you go from one to another via the "Stairwell to candy heaven", where each step is encrusted with candies!

There, you have a wide variety of candies, such as the classic jelly beans that I tried for the first time in this country!

My favorite flavors being banana, pear and root beer!

They also have an impressive wall of gum balls!

What I like about it is also the range of old fashioned candies I have never seen before:

such as the Abba-Zaba that I doubt was named after a pop music band...

Of course, if you prefer chocolate, they have also something for you!

Like the chocolate fountain or these big blocs of fudge:

Of course, you can also buy some candies by the pound and you cannot miss the display at the entrance of the store!

There, you will find the classic candies sold by the weight: coca cola sour bottles, licorice, sour peach candies, raspberry candies or these gummy chicken feet:

Dylan's Candy Bar is definitely an institution in NYC and they know how to market it! If you go there, do not miss they display of famous people who went there, so you can see what candies they like!

We sure love their candies...

Sockerbit:

Sockerbit mean "Sugar Cube" in Swedish and it is a store that proposes Scandinavian little candies aka "smågodis". We found that place walking on Christopher street and surely, because of the white setting of the place, we could not miss the vibrant colors of the candies!

The white walls and furniture made it as if we were in a hospital where the only medication was candies! Definitely my kind of hospital!

Besides some products that I will talk about later, Sockerbit sells candies by the pound, for a price similar to most of the candy places. Some of the candies are very familiar like the sour coca cola bottles or the banana.

But they also have some interesting ones that might be different by shape, but not taste, like the Sura Persikor or sour peach:

My favorite being the Sur Apelsinskalle or sour skulls!

If you prefer chocolate, they have plenty of different ones for you!

They also sell chocolate bars:

But, what is also interesting with Sockerbit, is that they also sell Scandinavian products such as pickles:

Jam:

Or those little Swedish bread we call "Petits Pains Suedois" in France!

They are so good with butter and Jam!

So, definitely, Sockerbit is a unique place to discover! People there are friendly and their candies delicious, even if you do not know how to pronounce their name!

Sockerbit
89 Christopher St.
New York, NY 10014
www.sockerbit.com


Economy Candy:

Economy Candy might not be as known as Dylan's Candy Bar, but this place, that has been around for more than 80 years is also an institution. When going there, do not expect a well organized spacey store: the alleys are tight and you kind of feel overwhelmed by the choice of candies they propose!

They either sell candies by the unit or by bulk. You can find there old fashioned candies you may not have heard about (for sure there are some candies that did not cross the Atlantic!) and some more known!

In the well known, there are of course:

Big lollipops with fantastic colors:

Jelly beans (remember: my favorite flavors are pear, banana and root beer)!

Or Pez:

They also have chocolate:

The Milka chocolate is very popular in France, especially milk chocolate (Milk-a), although it lost some ground to brands like Lindt. They also have the Cote d'Or brand that I cannot find anywhere else.

And then I saw a box of Mon Chéri! They are made of a cherry soaked in Kirsch liquor, surrounded by dark chocolate. Love it!

In fact, Economy Candy has lots of candies and chocolate bars that I use to eat in France and that are difficult to find in stores (some delis have them, but not always), such as the Lion bar:

A Lion bar is made of a filled wafer, caramel and crisp cereal (in the original recipe this was Kellogg's Special K) covered in milk chocolate.

Or Bounty that makes me think about my sister Corinne who loves it!

Bounty is like the Mounts bar without the almond!

The last cool thing about Economy Candy is that they have lots of candies with fun packages!

So, definitely, Economy Candy will overwhelm you so much, that you will not realize that you put a little too much candy in your bag...But, is there such a thing as too much candy???

Economy Candy
108 Rivington St
New York, NY 10002
www.economycandy.com

To conclude this post, if I had to root for one place, I would go for Sockerbit because of its originality!

Enjoy (I did)!

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Lunch at Ajisen Ramen in Chelsea, NYC, New York

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We went to Ajisen Ramen on a Saturday with Jodi, Jessica and Alex. We never went to that place and were excited to try it as we love ramen and there are so many places in NYC where to eat this delicious noodle dish.

The logo is funny and cartoony and, contrary to most of the ramen places we have been to, there is no sitting at the counter, watching the cook do its magic. I discovered, while writing this post, that Ajisen ramen is a chain, created in Japan.

The waiter gave us the menu and I was pleased to see photos as I always find that, if well taken, they can  speak better than words. Although words are still necessary to describe each dish and, believe it or not, there was none! I tried to get some answers from the waiter but he was unable to explain what the dishes had. 

So, Jodi and Jessica went for the corn ramen 

and I went for the Ajisen ramen as it was the name of the restaurant.

Both dishes were similar: it was based on a broth made with pork that has a milky color. I thought in fact that it was because of a small amount of curry paste and possibly coconut milk...Both ramen had some slices of pork that were pretty descent, some green onions, cabbage and carrots. The corn ramen had...corn!

I finished my ramen that was good. Not to the level of the ones I tried before, but good. The advantage of this one is that it was not crowded at all, probably because of the location. I think they should either describe their dishes or have their staff have a better knowledge of the dishes, because, sometimes, if people like a restaurant, they like to come back to try other dishes they saw on the menu! 

Enjoy (I did)!

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