The Girl Who Ate Everything

[pokes self in belly]

...I dunno, man. I just don't know. This weekend was probably the least responsible I've ever been if measured in fun-to-work ratio. All fun. No work. If you're in college, you know that this period is crunch time for writing essays, filling your head with information you should've studied earlier, getting an inadequate amount of sleep while possibly drinking dangerously huge volumes of coffee, etc. When combined in a giant sloshy bucket, all of the above result in hallucinations, insanity, nightmares, head explodee, and other undesirable things. (If you are in such a state right now, I think you should watch Shuggie on Wonder Shozen. It breaks the rules of the universe by being among the best and worst things I have ever seen. You'll see what I mean.)

I have three days of intense fooding to catch up on, but if I attempt to sum it all up in one entry, I will cry. And my head will explode. I'll start with yesterday and eventually work backwards, unless I actually decide to do schoolwork...or something. Yeah. Wait, that's why I live in NYC, right? Someone has to remind me that every now and then.

Yesterday after roaming around Chinatown with Tristan and checking out Pearl River Mart where I got him the most horrifying 21st birthday gift ever, we went to Union Square to look for pet supplies for his rats.

mm, fluoro

.....Wow. As a person who has never had a pet, thus haven't had much reason to browse pet stores, some of this pet food (or "food") is creepy and kind of atrocious. WOULD YOU LIKE SOME HAMSTEROIDS? HUUUUH? CHOOSY HAMSTERS CHOOSE HAMSTEROIDS!

for pets?...OR HUMANS?

These are just a few of the many fun creatively colored and shaped snacks you can buy for your beloved pets. Weeee!!! Do you hear that? [cups hand to ear] That is the sound of a hundred bunnies stampeding towards the CARROT SLIMS!

Yeah, I'm weird. Moving on.

who wants a baaath?...OF INTENSE, SEARING PAIN?!

After visiting a Mexican deli, we went to Pommes Frites. For lunch. Yes. I do not recommend that anyone eats fries for lunch (actually, you probably shouldn't eat fries, period), but we're just a bunch of wild and craaaazy college students who irresponsibly ignore the dangers that deep fried oils will unleash upon our digestive systems.

death by poutine

I went for the poutine ($4), which is a Quebecois invention of french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. Hoo-boy. I can't say the combination sounded especially appealing, but something about it intrigued me. Like the immense unhealthy-ness of it all. Tristan initially said he wanted a poutine cup, but he totally chickened out and went with regular fries not covered in cheese and gravy.

I ATE IT

I ate it all. The cheese wasn't squeaky like JJ told me they should be, hence this was not the real deal. It wasn't bad, but something I like about fries is the crispiness factor. Dousing fries in gravy leads to lack of crispiness and increased mushiness. (I have the same problem with cereal; I eat it un-milkified.) Some of the cheese blocks more deeply embedded in the fries-and-gravy mix melted, resulting in gooey gravy-soaked fries and cheese blobs. Mmm, cheese blob...

Overall, the poutine was worth trying once, but I wouldn't feel compelled to eat it again. Next time I try it will be in Canada, fo' realz!

(Don't ask me why I said that. I do not know. Some things are best left unexplained.)

Tristan and I returned to my dorm for a short period before he had to leave for the airport to go back to school. [sniffle] Then I went into a deep pit of...deep, dark, depression and other bad things due to the lack of Tristan and...actually, I was just really freakin' tired (not depressed) and decided I needed a nappie.

[snooze]

At 7 PM I woke up, although I was still tired. I don't know about you, but when I wake up from naps the first thing I think is, "Hunggrrryyy." It's weird because when I regularly wake up in the morning I'm not hungry at all, hence why I never eat breakfast (and don't get into the "breakfast is the most important meal, doodeedoo!" argument; I've already heard it). After I quickly scarfed down an apple, I got a...(gasp), PHONE CALL. Jen, my oldest friend (not in age, but in the time we've known each other) called to inform me that she too had just taken a nap and was hungry. And that we should eat. Togetherrrr. Sadly, every time that Jen asks me last minute to eat, I've already eaten or I don't have the time to go out. This was a rare occasion where I hadn't eaten yet and even though I had to do homework...hell, whatever. Despite that Jen lives about two miles away from me, we rarely see each other. It is sad.

Pala

Jen suggested eating at Pala since she had been there before and it was about a 1 second walk from her apartment. I had heard mixed things about Pala over the past few months and while I wasn't dying to go, I was slightly interested. Also, Jen has tastebuds; if she likes it, I probably would too.

counter

I liked the large, open space. It felt clean and rustic at the same time, if that makes any sense.

bread!

Ohh, glorious bread. We were given a small bowl of thin, soft, chewy flabread pieces. SO GOOD. This was the same as the pizza crust, so you can probably tell where the deliciousness rating is going. Slightly oblong shaped pizza is offered by the foot (and a foot is plenty for any normal human being), although you can also order a combination of different pizza slices from what's already pre-made. Otherwise, your pizza is baked to order, which takes 20-30 minutes.

classica

Jen and I shared our pizzas because if you eat out with me, you pretty much have to share. Jen ordered the classica, which was topped with tomato sauce, for di latte (cow's milk) mozzarella, and basil. As usual, my ability to describe food sucks and I'm not sure what else to say besides that I liked it. I guess that means the toppings didn't blow my mind away, but I didn't find anything wrong with them either. I LIKED THE PIZZA, OKAY? That's all you need to know. Anyhoo, what I really liked was the crust, which I'll get to...

monlasla

I went with the monlasla, which was topped with homemade walnut spread, montasio cheese, and fior di latte mozzarella. We both liked this one more than the classica. I loved that in addition to the layer of soft mozzerella there was a layer of uber-thinly sliced hard montasio cheese. I couldn't taste a great deal of the walnut spread, but it was there. Among the cheeses.

My favorite thing about the pizza was the crust, which probably isn't surprising considering my love of bread. The crust wasn't like any other crust I had eaten before; non-greasy, non-floppy, chewy, substantial, and not too thick or thin. Some people may prefer a thinner crust, but I wouldn't have wanted a cracker-like crust that you may find at Sullivan Street Bakery, nor a floppy crust that couldn't support the toppings like...at other pizzerias.

mmmm

I WANT CRUST.

dessert

Even though we were totally stuffed from eating all the pizza, we decided we could shove in a dessert if we moved around our stomach contents a bit. The crepe cake ($5) of about 10 crepes layered with light cream was a nice way to end the meal as it wasn't heavy. The flavor was milder than I would've liked (because I would've liked...more sugar), but the texture was great. Each layer was soft and easily gave way to my spoon, but the cake held its structure until the last few bites. It was rather impressive; I expected the layers to moosh apart and look like a mess.

The final bill was about $20 per person with tip (we also got a large bottle of water). I was happy with the meal and would put this on my list of places to go back to. On top of the yummy food, the waiters are really nice. A couple of them joked about my photo taking, which means they probably thought I was a freak, but didn't mind too much that I was taking excessive photos. Hoorah!

Damn, I have to go to class now. Now I just look at school as food blogging interference.