Ibiza: Beach, Party and Seafood!

Ibiza, a beautiful island in Spain. It's known for having spectacular beaches and is a popular destination for party goers. For us it was a relaxing and fun stay! We stayed in Eivissa and came across a restaurant with a beautiful view and delicious seafood.

a very romantic place to dine especially at night having a candlelit dinner ...

The food at Marco was very good especially the mussels. So far it's the best mussels we've tried in Europe. The food portion is good, price is decent and the staff was really nice. We ate here twice and really enjoyed each time. I didn't bring my camera the first time (damn it!) but we had paellas which was very yummi!

Grilled squid and veggies, the squid was fresh and softveal (according to Andy, the meat was okay...)

I don't have pictures but the desserts was good, we had a fruit ice cream sundae. They also give a complimentary peach liquor shot for dessert. What a great way to end a meal!

Ibiza Sunset <3>
Another place we loved visiting was seeing the sunset in Sant Antonio on the strip where all the restaurants and bars are. We went to the famous Cafe Del Mar. We actually didn't get a chance to eat at these restaurants but I think this would be a great place to dine and hang out.

Some people byob on the beach to watch the sunset. Great place to chill w/ good electronic music from the restaurants and fun atmosphere.

Ibiza 2010 <3>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bar Heladeria Marco
Avda Ricardo Curtoys Gotarredona, 1
07840 Santa Eularia Des Riu (Eivissa), Spain
971 331 103

Cafe Del Mar
Carre Lepant, 4 Sant Antoni Portmany (Elivissa)
971 342 516

Summer Cocktail Party for Brother's Big 4-0

My wonderful sister in-law planned a lay back summer cocktail party for my brother's 40th birthday in their back yard. It wasn't anything big, just a simple gathering with close friends and relatives. The food and drinks were so good! And I was impressed by the little details and thought she put into the decorations and making this such a wonderful party!

Table of yummi finger foods (egg rolls, crab cakes, piggy in the blanket)and their sauces.
Other food they had but I didn't take pictures of: chicken skewers, korean style beef, korean fish cakes and some other stuff I forgot...)

delicious home made curry fish balls...
Name tags for all the food and sauces along with cute turtle chopstick holders

pretty flowers everywhere...

POG: juice with passion fruit, orange juice and guava
It was very refreshing and perfect for a summer time drink.
White sangriamore drinks...Beautiful bowl of fruit salad..

The guest "supply" table: fun activities for the kids, suntan lotion, bug spray/candle, and hydrocortisone.

mini tables and chairs set up in their yard

I got introduced to Martha's Country Bakery, OMG they make AWESOME cakes! I'm kinda glad they are so far away from me because I would seriously go there all the time, then I would gain like 100000 lbs! We had napoleon and tiramisu cake.

Happy Birthday Broo!!

Thank you, Rachael (ah so) for planning this wonderful summer cocktail party!
I love you guys!!!

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Bro's Home...

Martha's Country Bakery

41-06 Bell Ave

Bayside, NY

718-225-5200

Restaurant Week 2009: Lure

My thoughts on restaurant weeks:

Each year when restaurant week arrives, I never really cared to go. It may seem weird for a foodie not to care but from past experience some of the places I went to are a hit or miss. I think it may not be the restaurant itself but because of their menus that they offered during restaurant week. Things on the restaurant week menu doesn't seem that great compared to the regular menu. Sometimes I would rather pay the price for something I want then be restricted to order from a certain list.

Back to my Lure experience...
I met up with my cousin Angela for my first restaurant week of 2009. I let her pick the restaurant and I'm so glad she chose Lure. This is the first time I was impressed with the restaurant week menu. I loved the decor of the place because it was like I'm eating on a boat...
We made the reservations for 7pm. I got out of work a little after 6:30 and walked there, it took me around 10 mins. I got there and she was already at the bar! We took advantage of the happy hour which was about to end at 7pm. The happy hour menu looked great, raw bar for $1 per piece and $6 cocktail drinks. I must come here another time....

I've been so stressed out lately I drank one Lychee Bellini right away and took another drink with me to the table. The price would've been more expensive if we ordered them at our table so I'm happy we saved money on the drinks!

Complimentary bread:

Appetizer #1: Raw Bar Tasting:
East and West Coast oysters, shrimp cocktail, littleneck clams
I never liked raw oysters or clams. The last time I tried to eat them was a disaster. I almost threw up and had to spit it out but this time I absolutely loved them! The main reason why this time the whole experience was different is because they were fresh and had no fishy taste. The texture of the oyster and clams were creamy when you bite into it and taste was sweet with a hit of cocktail sauce and lemon. It was awesome! Recently I've been craving them alot, I guess I have to plan a happy hour outing....
Appetizer #2: Crispy shrimp tempura
This dish I was not impressed at all, it tasted like those shrimp balls from dim sum house served with mayo. The only thing I liked about this dish is the sauce which a spicy mayo.
Appetizer #3: Soft shell crab (from the regular menu)
I loved the whole dish! The presentation and taste was great! The soft shell crab was meaty and crispy outside. It is served with a mixed blend of fruit on the bottom with a light mango or some sort of fruity sauce. Soo good....

Entree #1: Grilled Salmon
with spatzel, peas, smoked onions and herb vinaigrette
The salmon was a little pink inside the way I like it. I liked the spatzel, peas and onions mixture. The sauce was very light and delicious!

Entree #2: Seared Yellowfin Tuna:
Nori Crusted, shittake, edamame, and dashi glazed
Another great dish!

Dessert #1: Warm Chocolate Cake:
Salted Caramel Ice cream and popcorn brittle
Omg, I was in heaven...it was so moist and choclate oozed out from the middle. The combination of the chocolate cake and ice cream was soo goooddddddd....

Dessert #2: Coconut Tapioca with tropical sorbet
This was yummi but tasted like the Chinese tapioca tong sui but with passion fruit sorbet.

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Lure
142 Mercer St
New York, NY 10012-3806
(212) 431-7676
Menu and other reviews can be found at menupages.com

Memorial Day Celebration-Cooper 35

I meet up with Maribeth aka my gf/bff for Memorial Day. I followed her to run an errand in the afternoon. After that we decided to find a place to pig out. I was craving some cupcakes so we decided to go to near Sugar Sweet Sunshine to find a place to have a drink, eat some snacks then have cupcakes for deserts. We went there but discovered that most places near Essex Street were closed including SSS! For some reason, we always have bad luck going to restaurants on days they are closed. We were disappointed...

We spent ~15 mins on the street brainstorming places where we want to go eat. We decided to go to near St. Marks for some drinks and snack. We ended up at Cooper 35, an Asian fusion restaurant/pub. It was such a great day so we decide to sit at the outdoor garden area. The place was nice and cozy!
Prices for mix drinks and shots are so cheap here! I would usually get these drinks at clubs for $12+ and here it's only $4!! The drinks taste good (I like my drinks fruity) and they aren't cheap on the alcohol either...

1st Round: I had the Bay Breeze and she had the lychee martini. For appetizers, we ordered the fried calamari and salsa&chips (complimentary). The calamari was really good! It was very crispy and the sauce was tangy with a kick of spicy flavor.

2nd Round: I had the Bay Breeze and she had the Sea Breeze. We're still working on our appetizers.....

After two drinks, it was time for some shots!

3rd Round: We ordered the Skittle Boom for both of us. And we also ordered more drinks, I ordered the WooWoo and she ordered the Tequila Sunrise drink. Man, they were really strong... We had to order more food to absorb the alcohol. We ordered a California rolls and a shrimp dish that came with rice. Both of these dish were so so... I don't think I would come here for a sit down dinner.

We hanged out at Cooper 35 for about 4-5 hours. The waiters and waitress didn't bother us at all for staying so long. They just left us alone and came when we needed them. Towards the end of the night the place started to get packed. The garden area was full and the inside area was already 1/2 packed. We couldn't drink anymore so we left and roamed around St. Marks where Maribeth ordered more food to take home. She ordered korean style chicken from BBQ Chicken, fries from Pomme Frits and sushi from somewhere. Yea, this girl can eat! All I ate was a corn dog from BBQ and it was a corn dog that's made from olive oil...

I had such a blast catching up with my gf. What a perfect way to spend a great afternoon with great company, good drinks and yummi snacks. But I gotta say those drink really kicked my ass... Happy Memorial Day!

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35 Cooper Sq
New York, NY 10079
(212) 375-919