The Accidental Burger

Ok so small tidbit about me: i am forever on the epic quest to find the most perfect burger. It is surprising how many people get the humble burger so very wrong.

My Breakdown of the perfect burger:

• Mince: has got to be simple..nothing super extravagant just simple, salty, beefy goodness
• Cheese: HIGH IMPORTANCE - must be real cheddar that oozes as it melts and quite sharp to taste
• Bun: toasted lightly on the grill, shiny top half and an almost chewy texture. none of that flaky stuff - will NOT tolerate cheap/old buns
• Lettuce, tomatoes etc: fresh, duh
• Pickle?: nothing too big please
• Sauce: ahhh the all important sauce question - classic tomato? garlic aioli? special sauce? (almost always tomato and some form of mayo) anything that complements the mince is always good and i am open for sauce interpretations in any burger
• AND complimentary points: fries - i've tasted many a fry in my time and i have a favourite...crispy on the outside, mashed potato on the inside. mmm

So one day in New York, we were booked in to have lunch at the Oak Room in the Plaza and once presented with the menu, i quickly realised that the choices were incredibly limited. Joel Robuchon offered more than the Oak Room did for lunch...odd

anyway, the only thing that appealed to my hungry belly was the burger. But then again, i was always skeptical about burgers on the expensive side. They usually don't live up to expectations. Anyway...the burger arrives and i am pleasantly surprised....VERY pleasantly surprised

First, the burger:

you can see from the photo that the bun has a nice shiny sheen which is guaranteeing a nice chewy outer layer but super soft but toasted inner. I'm getting excited. Then i see a beef patty, so simple and delightful i simply must taste it to see how it really measures up. first bite, PERFECTLY SEASONED. In addition, probably the most perfect, sharp ozzing melted cheddar. Sauce - a mix between tomato and garlic aioli. bliss. fresh lettuce and tomatoes - check! And to top it all of, the smallest most darling pickle providing the most perfect amount of saltiness. This is a perfect burger!

Now the fries:

As you can see, the burger was surrounded by A MOUND of fries! Thank you Oak Room for being so truly generous with your fries. Always a GOOD thing. The shoestring fries was crisped to perfection but sadly after demolishing my burger, it was a struggle to clean up the fries...

So the result: demolish - FAIL

And how does the burger rate?? 9/10

Speaking of which, i just recently visited Jus Burgers in Perth. Not only is it a rising burger chain in the Perth food scene, but it also happens to be backed up by substance!! They have good burgers!! But lets save that for another post...

The best yoghurt of my life

So when i was referred to 'Forty Carrots' on the 7th floor in Bloomingdales i was a little skeptical. Sure my friend who highly recommended is a serious foodie and has an amazingly educated palate, but 'best yoghurt ever'??? Its a pretty big call....i thus embarked on my quest for yoghurt.

my coffee and original flavour yoghurt twisted to utter perfection. With strawberries on the side

My mum and sister had no clue why i was so adamant on trying this frozen yoghurt but after one bite my entire world as i knew it had completely and utterly changed - she was right - it IS the BEST YOGHURT IN THE WORLD.

my crazy eyes as i am on cloud nine eating this delicious confection

and after eating frozen yoghurt in Jakarta almost everyday, all of them were a waste of stomach space compared to my frozen creamy delight in front of me.

I can't recommend just one flavour or topping - TRY THEM ALL, in every concievable and imaginable combination! its divine!

Only problem about Forty Carrots as an instution - if you decide to sit down and be served instead of taking the take-away aisle, you are required to spend at least $12 i believe. And trust me, yoghurt does not total that much unless you're willing to order the large size...

Large size = bigger than your face serving sizes...delicious but crazy

But its ok, their yoghurt more than makes up for it! Oh how i miss Forty Carrots! Damn Perth and their complete inexistence of frozen yoghurt

Bergdorf's

Quite easily the best department store in NYC, it oozes upper east side cool in a way no other department store had achieved. Well apart from Barney's but thats for another post.

Every floor was reminded me a little of Harrod's in London with its l

ow ceilings and golden accent lighting and delicately intricate paneling on the walls. Its basically 7 floors of bliss beginning on the high ceilinged 1st floor of opulent jewellery and acessories. 

However, the favourite was the 2nd floor which showcased what i believe to be the best shoe collection in any department store in the city. I'm a terrible shoe fetishist so i get pretty particular about what i want to see  and trust me, Bergdorf's most definitely delivered

We arrived in January which meant we came at the tail end of the sale period but i was pleasantly surprised to still see a vast array of Pierre Hardy, Balmain, Tabitha Simmons, Alaia and not to mention an insane amount of Christian Louboutins on sale at 60% off

Next couple of floors were the pretty basic high end labels eg Prada, Gucci, D&G. Beautiful to look at but hard to justify the price. For this area, i do believe Barney's had a much more exciting selection. 

But then we arrived on the 5th floor or otherwise known as 5F. Its a mecca for the younger designer crowd complete with a vintage rack from 'What comes around, Goes around', a carefully edited jewellery cabinet, a good selection of cheaper but equally as awesome shoes, and not to mention a yoghurt bar

The place was littered with 3.1 Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang but it also boasted Alice + Olivia, Theory, Adam, Elizabeth and James, Vince, Herve Leger and M by Missoni.

Being an Australian and being completely deprived of the likes of Phillip Lim and Alexander Wang in Perth, I got slightly excited at the huge selection available for me to finger whilst sighing in delight.

In the words of my sister 'I've died so many times in this place today'

PS the yoghurt bar is nothing compared to Forty Carrots in Bloomingdales. I may not be Bloomies' biggest fan, but i do LOVE THEIR YOGHURT. more on that later

The next part of our Bergdorf's adventure landed us in BG, the luxurious little tea spot on the top floor overlooking Central Park. This tiny little shop however lacks in space in a way that ensures that there is very little space between tables and you can easily eavesdrop on your neighbours. The high tea is priced at $36 per person and provides you a sampler of exotic finger sandwiches, chocolate, small tarts and of course a scone with jam and cream. Yes... just one scone per person. Tad stingy i think....

 

The highlight for me was what followed the bill. After we paid, the waiter came around and gave us each a miniature vanilla macaroon...

I knew when i first looked at it that i might even rival the likes of Laduree and Fauchon in Paris. One bite confirmed my beliefs! You can see from its shiny sheen that it was going to be a PERFECT meringue crisp with enough room in the middle of each round for air to ensure that perfect crunch. the filling was perfectly sweet without being too sweet and i was really quite sad to see it disappear. I will stop now.

Happy Shopping,

Nila xx

Le Petit Puppy

Probably the cutest little gem on Christopher St we stumbled across on our way to NYU from Bleecker

The place is dedicated to small breeds of puppies alone and was a serious highlight in our trip.

 

AHHHH cuteness! How could we resist??

We literally had to restrain ourselves severely to resist the 20% off puppies promo.

PS 20% off puppies?? Oh dear what has the world come to?

Bleecker St

Ohhh Bleecker St. The cute little escape from the concrete jungle...there's something very quaint about Bleecker that i love. Maybe its Magnolia cupcakes on the corner or the the relaxed way people walk their dogs down the street whilst visiting James Perse.

The better part of Bleecker can be marked on one end by the first of the two Marc Jacobs acessories stores. The first one is based more on cheap bags and shoes whereas the other is solely dedicated to miscellaneous accessories. When looking down Bleecker street you will face eponymous cupcake store Magnolia's catapulted to fame by Sex and the City - but you've literally got to be living under a rock not to know that

MMMMM Magnolia cupcakes. Yes they do taste as good as they look.

We tried the Red Velvet and the Vanilla Buttercream. Mum liked the soft and supple red velvet whist i liked the classic buttercream

A 5 second walk will land you at the Marc Jacobs hidden accessories outlet. A gem for little knick knacks and useful for gifts! I got myself a keychain and a gorgeous skull necklace for a total of $15. My sister got herself a beachbag for about the same price. GEM.

I've been to the one in Paris as well and surprisingly enough, i think the Paris store had more stock?

A walk further down will reveal the Intermix chain's own little cutesy store and opposite that, the Juicy Store which look deceptively small from the outside only to find out they have a massive basement on the bottom floor.

But the appeal factor = the houses. Super cute

I would like to live here one day. My obsession goes that far.

The Four Seasons NYC

Now i would like to believe in my mind that i am a valid individual to critique hotels given how my experience with an equal amount of crappy and insanely awesome hotels. But i am only 20 (turning 21 in April thank you very much) and i may well be biased. But i do know a thing or two about service, cleanliness and overall hotel awesomeness. 

In fact, one of my pet peeves = shitty service,  e.g. unfriendly service staff

i mean, really, yeah we may not be your 'STAR' customers (who do you want us to be? Rihanna? Beyonce? I'm sorry i'm not that hot) but don't look at us like we're a pile of poop or treat us like we're hobos. We're paying for good service and i damn well want to be treated like a queen! Ok not really, but i hate those guys on the concierge who have their noses up in the air...but anywhoo

My defense mechanism was up as i entered the Four Seasons because sometimes when you enter one of the nicer hotels in town, you can get hit in the face with rudeness. However, all inhibitions disappeared as we were greeted with such kindness and friendliness from the doorman to the concierge.

Then the next test - the room 

We were upgraded to a corner suite - not entirely sure what they're called, its a suite something -  and my first impression was that it was a nice modern room with a pretty good view. Nothing spectacular compared to the other Four Seasons' i've been to. But then the closet was impressive. 2 racks of hanging space, about 10 drawers for shoes and other miscellaneous items, several shelves to place bags. Oh and then the bathroom - very nice. I'm a sucker for marble bathrooms so i was already into it. And then i spot a small TV next to the sink. TICK. i love TVs in bathrooms, they always make showering so much more fun! Great Bvlgari bathroom amenities and very generous with bath towels.

Oh and internet is $15 a day. Hefty. But for my jetlagged mum and sister this was a godsend because the $15 is for 24 hours and so they could really get our money's worth while they surfed the pages at 2 am.

Back to the service. We found out on the second day of our stay, that the housekeeping staff replenish the fruit bowl every single day even if we haven't touched the fruit. Best pears ever. And additionally, they give us a fresh litre bottle of VOSS* water each day. Bliss! I even asked the housekeeping staff one day if we could get 2 extra bottles of VOSS one day and they gave it to me with no problems whatsoever. Thank you Four Seasons

So another great thing about the service was that they were happy to book or do anything for you at a whim! We asked about broadway tickets, about booking restaurants, and even what restaurants were worth eating at and the staff had a friendly answer for each query. In fact, they would usually go beyond to help ease your trip in anyway possible. For example, if they book a restaurant for you, they will call you back to confirm obviously, but when you arrive in the lobby they will call you by name and give you a print-out of the address of your destination to provide to your taxidriver. 

In summary:

The hotel itself may be nothing to look at, but the service more than compensates for the uninspired decor. I felt very comfortable staying there and was a little sad to say goodbye. However, their way to say goodbye is a WHOLE other post completely! 

Until then,

Nila xx

* for those of you who don't know what VOSS water is, its literally one of the more expensive bottled waters i've ever seen. In my gourmet supermarket in Perth, a 750ml glass bottle costs about $9.95. So getting a litre bottle for free everyday was GREAT 

NEW YORK NEW YORK

New York City = a dream shared by my sister and i. 

Although we have been to London, Paris, Rome (you name it we probably have ventured somewhere at least close by - honestly it baffles me how many places we've been over the years), we could never kick the idea of NYC out of our heads. Actually, it made the urge stronger and finally the parents caved and took us there. Dad opted out coz he hated New York...YES HE HATES NEW YORK. 

And thus begins probably the best trip of my life. which is a big thing to say because i've been to some awesome places but its true - there's nothing quite like NYC....

I LOVE YOU NEW YORK  

yes the caps lock was completely necessary 

now let me show you my little amateurs guide to NYC in a week

PS just a heads up, there's so much to say about my trips that these next few posts may seem a little disjointed. however, i'm only posting disjointedness because of pure excitement!