iPhone 3Gs Photo Experimentation

I don't know how many times my blackberry fell out of my hands and I had to search in all the remote places to find my trackball! Needless to say, the blackberry fell one too many times and I found myself at a loss without a phone. Fortunate for me, a friend bought the new iPhone 4 and had an extra iPhone 3Gs. And, yup, you guessed it. I now have an iPhone and have been playing around with the 3 mega pixel camera. I took photos of, you guessed it, food , and though its not the best camera to use for food photography ... it still captures the essence of it. The iPhone camera is probably best suited for everyday events, landscapes, or just whimsical photos that you want to remind you of a place ... So, over the last month, I decided to walk around NYC and take photos with this camera instead of with my Canon DSLR ... The photos came out okay, but in order to get a decent photo, you would need to make a few adjustments in Lightroom or Photoshop. I would still recommend a higher resolution camera! But, at the end of the day, I don't want to carry my large dslr camera with me everywhere I go, so I follow Chase Jarvis' trademarked phrase "the best camera is the camera that is with you!" ... and the photos below are of my experiment with the iPhone 3Gs camera...

(note, the following images were not adjusted with Jarvis' bestcamera app, but after experimenting without it, it may be something to try in the future for $2.99.; additionally, the new iPhone 4 - has a flash, which may improve the quality of photos)

These were the first pictures I took with the iPhone... B&H Photo and Video -- free pretzels and water for patrons on a hot day ... Pearl Paint Store on Canal Street -- a bit run down, but you surely will find what you need on one of the five floors...

Thai Son Vietnamese Restaurant in Chinatown -- cleaning the utensils in hot water and then enjoying a bowl of stewed curry chicken ... oh so good!

Sapporo Japanese Restaurant in the East Village

Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich Deli in Chinatown -- House Special #1 and Pork and Shrimp Summer Rolls -- oh, delicious!

Luke's Lobster Bar in the East Village - Loved the decor and enjoyed the crab roll! Will review at a later time.

La Esquina (aka The Corner Deli) in Soho ... I heart these photos, especially the one of the lady staring right into the camera. Such a beautifully captured moment, if I say so myself. I had the corn on the cob and a taco - I enjoy eating here, but it is a bit pricey for a taco.

Pinche Taquiera - NoHo - Taco Al Pastor

Club H Fitness - I noticed a photo shoot going on ... and though its not food, here is some eye candy... ! Expect to see these photos up for their upcoming advertisements.

DBGB - Daniel Boulud's restaurant in the East Village / LES. A bit pricey, but loved this place. so many beers to choose from, and a large number of dishes that are mind blowing. i thoroughly enjoyed all the dishes here, with the tuna tartar being the least exotic or tasty item that we had... however, i will review this place at a later time. btw, we saw Daniel boulud walking into this restaurant in the afternoon! sooo kewl!

Xi'an Famous Foods - East Village - Good Spicy Lamb Burger -- noodles were bland; owner on 8th street -- was rude. I previously posted about their location in Flushing, so check out the post here.

Gena's Grill - No frills and inexpensive Latin Country Cuisine & BBQ / Cuban Restaurant in the East Village. The food is a bit heavy, so beware!

New Golden Fung Bakery in Chinatown - Famous for their melon cakes... but also had some Chinese Tamales and Taro Baked goods. The taro cake and the Chinese tamale brought back some good Chinese memories of my parents making it at their noodle shop! but of course, it didn't stand up to my parents recipes.

Mandoo Bar in Ktown - sorry, no pictures of dumplings - had a meeting here so couldn't really just whip out my iPhone for every dish - but we did order the fried and steamed pork dumplings and tofu... i've also had beef fried rice here (yum!)

Wonjo -- one of my favorite Korean restaurants in K-Town... Pon chon (a variety of dishes, including the butternut squash (?) that we had -- oh so good... and our main dish was the butterflied mackerel fish and sundubu jigae.

The Meatball Shop - LES - tried the spicy pork meatballs with classic tomato sauce and the meatball mash with the special bolognese meatballs with spicy pork sauce and provolone cheese... didn't get a chance to try the ice cream cookie sandwich, but will be back on an empty stomach! will review more later.

Bia Beer Garden - LES - Met owner Michael Bao Huynh (very cool guy) and enjoyed the small, but quaint beer garden in the back. Loved how you walked through a meat locker aka refrigerator to get to the backyard... but will review more later.

Bauhaus - LES - Pork Belly Bau, Signature Steak Bau and the Bau fries (essentially fried baus) with taro topping.

Last two photos ... Green Leaf Bug -- if you notice (click on the picture) -- you'll see the details of a leaf and had this bug landed on a tree branch, it would have been better camouflaged. but luckily for me, the leaf bug decided to land right in front of me while looking at a glass window.

My last photo -- looking up into the sky at Central Park -- it was such a beautiful day yesterday!

Well, that's all folks... my photo adventure with the iPhone 3Gs 3 mega pixel camera...

Remember, it is better to have a picture than not -- so start shooting with whatever you have!

and shoot often!

Dos Toros Taqueira, Welcoming FANTASTIC California-like Burritos!

Helllllooooooo California Burrito! Dos Toros Taquiera has one of the best burritos I've had in a very long time. This place will certainly give Calexico (one of my favorites in the city) and Chipotle a run for their money. It was started by two brothers, Leo and Oliver Kremer, who came to New York from San Francisco and discovered the city lacked some of their favorite Mexican food... so, wha-la, Dos Toros came to be!

Dos Toro's menu is simple: burritos, tacos, quesadilla, and plato (burrito sans tortilla) served with your choice of filling: carnitas (pork), carne asada (steak), pollo asado (grilled chicken) and basic rice and beans. The cool thing about the tacos is you can either have the shell "hard" or "soft" (get your mind out of the gutter! ha ha). Prices are in-line w/ Chipotle around the corner and Calexico food cart in Soho -- with a protein filling, burritos are $7.35, tacos are $3.67, quesadillas are $5.97, platos are $7.35 and less w/o meat.

Everything on the menu looked great, but I decided to start out with the Carnitas burrito. it was delicious. The pork was succulent and mouth watering. The beans and rice were plentiful and the pico de gallo was perfect - not tangy, not too hot, juuuuust right. :D The burrito is quite big (um, that's what she said) ... so you won't leave this place feeling hungry afterwards. I sadly did not add the guacamole (poor decision), but I would suggest adding it as my friends said it was very fresh and tasty!

Even though I was more than happy with my burrito, I certainly had food envy as I saw my friends with their meat filled to the top tacos and strangers with their cheese-oozing quesadillas. Needless to say, you can't go wrong with anything you order and I will certainly be back to taste the other items! And, seeing how long the lines are at this place, I'm not alone in my thoughts. However, its worth the wait.

Happy eating!

137 4th Ave
(between 13th St & 14th St)
New York, NY 10003

Neighborhoods: Union Square,

(212) 677-7300

www.dostorosnyc.com

photo taken with a "bad" samsung phone camera

Hole-y Mole-y

Hole-y Mole-y is what I'd like to call this restaurant. Why? First of all, the name of the Restaurant is Mole, not pronounced "Mol", but pronounced "Mo-Leah", hence the Mole-y. Secondly, or lastly, as you walk into the restaurant, its almost cavernous, burrow-like, small, quaint, or what I'd like to say appears like a hole-in-the wall. Not hole-in-the-wall in terms of prices, but purely because of its small size. I think the restaurant fits a maximum of 25 people (and that includes the seats at the mini-bar) and you are close enough to participate in your neighbor's conversations (like we eventually did). Um, yeah, if you're looking for a private place to have a conversation - this is not it -- its not a big place! And now, put the words together - "Hole-y Mole-y" is my reaction to a lot of things I tried here.

So welcome to Mole Mexican Bar & Grill on 205 Allen Street (between Houston and Stanton). Apparently the owners of this restaurant also own Taco Taco on the Upper East Side. So what did we try here? We wanted to try everything, but unfortunately our stomachs and wallets would not allow us to! However, the first thing I noticed on the menu was the extensive number of entrees/dishes on the menu. I mean, WOW, for a place that only seats 25, the menu certainly packed a punch! There is a wide selection of appetizers, burritos, fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, tortas, and house specials. I was even surprised to see Chimichanga on the menu (ahh, mouth watering).

A friend and I ordered the Baja Fish Tacos, the Chile Relleno and Guacamole & Chips. We also started off with a few beverages -- a regular margarita (they also offer flavored ones with fruit purees) and Negra Modelo. The salt on the margarita was somewhat flavored - it wasn't just straight salt -- it reminded me of that seasoning on the Mexican dried candy - whatever the name, it was tasty! The Negra Modelo was on tap! I haven't seen that, well, EVER. So that was a nice pleasant surprise to get that on tap -- and it was GoOd, sooo GoOd!

ignore the photo quality of these photos - very low light and only had my point & shoot camera.

First, the table-side fresh guac-a-moley. They asked us how spicy we wanted it and we decided with medium. WOW, medium was not mild, it was a FIRE-Y HOT HOT HOT. My friend loved it since he secretly wanted it HOT, but I on the other hand, had to wash my mouth out with water. HOWEVER, water doesn't help - in fact it just swishes the hotness all-around. So, I filled my mouth with the pink radishes and the chips. After a few tears and a few coughs, I was ready to try again thinking it was just that one dip. Stupid. Stupid. The second time around was just as hot! HOLEY MOLEY! So buyer beware -- medium is HOT! So, though I can't rank this food item - my friend said it was delicious (go figure!). If I would rank it (trying to ignore the spice), I would say it was average guacamole. The chips were great though - on the thicker side and very crispy! The guacamole was not made at our table (how could they since there was no room at our table) NOTE: they will serve you a large if you don't specify the size you want -- Large is $14; Small is $9.

The Baja Fish Tacos were LARGE (holey moley!). Mole does not kid around with their portion sizes. All three of the blue corn tortillas were overflowing with deep-fried fish, lettuce and avocado slices. I had to take some fish out of the taco in order to eat it -- but it was oh so good! If you're wondering what fish they use, its flounder. In addition, the tacos come with its own special dipping sauces -- chipotle and jalapeno! And just when I thought I was out of the spicy-phase of the meal, I was hit again with a jolt of spice. But, good thing I tasted the sauce before I added it to the taco (see, I learned!). The taco itself doesn't need the sauce, but I preferred it with a little something to offset the batter from the fish -- so I applied some of the tomato sauce from our Chile Relleno dish -- and it made the dish incredible! You can ask the waiter for a non-spicy sauce and you will end up with the salsa. Perhaps, they should offer this dish with the Chile Relleno sauce - that would be a great pairing! My friend, who is also from California, and who loves Fish Tacos recommends this dish highly because its a good representation of California Fish Tacos. Dish was $17 - a bit pricey, but after getting the dish, you will understand why its $17 -- you get a whole lot of fish!

Chiles Relleno. I loved this dish. I loved the sauce, I loved the peppers, and I loved the queso fresco (aka fresh cheese). What more, I loved how the sauce was not spicy, but sweet. I have to admit, its my first time eating this type of chile relleno, and I'm a big fan (hope its not because I was turned off with all the spicy foods earlier -- but it really did put a smile on my face!).

The dish comes with two chiles rellenos and cost $16.

Note: Our "neighbors" -- the table next to us, had also ordered the Fish Tacos and loved it. They also ordered Shrimp Tacos and found it extremely spicy (even after they had previously requested it to be not spicy). They sent the dish back and without much hassle, they received another order of Shrimp Tacos, without the "heat". Our neighbor enjoyed the dish thoroughly.

Though there is more to try at this restaurant (we only had a chance to taste two dishes), of the two dishes we tried, it gave us a good idea of what would be expected out of the other dishes -- a lot of flavor and spice! If you don't mind the spice, this is a great place for you; if you like the authentic Mexican flavors, this is a good place to try out as well.

The negatives - limited space, not much ambiance, very spicy foods, comparable to moderately pricier dishes than other Mexican restaurants in the city (Rosa Mexicana, Dos Caminos and to a certain extent Mexicana Mama (or its sister, Mexicana Mama).

The positives -- good portions (but perhaps this is factored in the price), great flavors, comparable foods to California, extensive list of dishes and tequila to try.

Happy Eating!

Mole Mexican Bar & Grill
205 Allen Street )Between Houston and Stanton)
(212) 777-3200