Dining in NYC

One of my favorite luxuries in life is eating out. Testing exotic foods and trying out new dishes I've never had before. (Now there's a sentence my 15-year-old, Pop-Tart and Twizzler-eating self would never have uttered!) As I've grown up and ditched my picky eating habits, I've learned to love so many new foods (all the foods, really). So, naturally, I was very excited to try out some New York restaurants when I visited the city back in January.

Adam had been really eager to take me to a place called The Counter, which he claimed was the best burger he'd ever had in his life. We went there on my first night, and I could see exactly what he meant. You create your own custom sandwich by choosing every ingredient, from the type of meat and bun to the sauces and toppings. They had anything you could imagine (and more) and it was all so good. Especially the parmesan fries ;) I loved it so much, I made him take me back again for another one on Sunday night!

Before that, he took me to lunch at a small restaurant near his office called Potbelly, where we had the best hot pizza sandwich. I typically stay away from pizza-themed sandwiches, as they never seem to be very good, but I was happy I took the chance on this one. And we had to cap the meal with dessert (obviously), so I indulged in a tasty salted caramel milkshake — topped with adorable mini cookies.

On Saturday we had to improvise our food plans since the blizzard had closed a lot of the restaurants nearby — major bummer. Instead, we raided the hotel's cafe and waited in line forever to get mediocre fried chicken. It wasn't great, but at least I got cheesecake! ;)

Thankfully, the weather cleared up enough on Sunday that we could get out to explore again. On our way back from the Metropolitan, we found the cutest fast-food Italian place that served the BEST mixed berry lemonade I've ever had. The Barilla Restaurant had a fun modern vibe with wooden tables and plants, and the menu was huge. The food was hot and flavorful but my favorite part was the atmosphere — I wish we had more restaurants like that here in Des Moines. (And I'm still dreaming about that lemonade, tbh.)

One place we didn't get to go because of the storm is Black Tap, which has these insanely huge and delicious-looking shakes topped with desserts. I will be back for you, monster milkshakes.

Great. Now I'm drooling over all this food again. I guess I should go eat something...

P.S. My first NYC post, and to new adventures