SYR - Rise N Shine Diner

SYR - Rise N Shine Diner

It’s a new year and we’re starting it off trying new places and eating all the good food!

Today’s adventure was to the Rise N Shine Diner Wescott for a little post holiday, holiday team breakfast. I’m not one to complain about a little bonding meal, that’s for sure.

LOCATION: 500 WESCOTT STREET, SYRACUSE, NY 13210

We’ve gotten Rise N Shine for breakfast before as a team but I’ve actually never been to this location. For some reason, we’ve ordered delivery to the office before but we can’t quite remember what the occasion was but I do remember eating an eggs benedict from this spot before because it’s a big thing they’re known for and I love a little eggs benny.

Today, I decided to mix it up a little and get myself a Homefries Poutine which is technically one of their ‘Divvies’ to start off/share but I’m not one to deny myself a menu item just because it was labeled as a sharable plate. It was also priced the same as an typical ‘entree’ plate ($16) so logically, this seemed like a reasonable choice to me.

I, of course, love a poutine. Being a huge lover of potatoes, I didn’t want to pass up on this option. This one came with homefries with garlic-breaded cheese curds, chopped black forest bacon, and topped with a sausage gravy. Now, I won’t say that this is TOTALLY giving poutine just because we added some cheese curds to a potato base but I’m not mad. It was definitely leaning more into a breakfast hash vibe with the giant potato chunks and the white sausage gravy but I was here for it.

If I was out an about craving a poutine, this wouldn’t be my first choice, but as far as breakfasts go, I really did enjoy it. Of course, it was super filling and I have leftovers for days but I really enjoy a messy plate that gives you a different bite each time. The homefries are really just giant potato chunks (not crispy deep fried cubes if that’s what you’re hoping for) and there are hidden pieces of breakfast sausage so you’re really digging into this big plate but it’s a good time for sure. Nothing special, but this order won’t let you down.

SYR - Haraz Coffee House

SYR - Haraz Coffee House

It’s a day of eating! Welcome back from holiday break! There’s a new spot that opened up about a month or so near campus so of course a few of us had to try it out before the students return on Monday and flood the joint!

LOCATION: 125 MARSHALL STREET, SYRACUSE, NY 13210

Word is Haraz is a chain of authentic Yemeni coffee and while I’m not a big coffee drinker, I do like a nice tea and a new place to try out.

After a big breakfast this morning, I was totally happy to have a light tea for lunch with a little sweet treat and Haraz delivered. I ended up ordering a Saffron Adeni, which was a black tea with haraz spices, saffron, and cream along with a Strawberry Mousse because it was too beautiful to pass up and I’m a big strawberry fan as well.

The tea was in fact pretty strong and was giving coffee vibes. I drank half and felt super amped (I’m sure the cream didn’t help) but it was really nice to have something warm a rich to drink to help digest more of my breakfast. The strawberry mousse was a great little sweet treat. It tasted just like a light strawberry ice cream and had a really nice thin shell. There was a little cookie base that was pretty hard to cut through and got stuck to my plate so that wasn’t a win but that base also didn’t have much flavor so I didn’t feel I was missing out too much. The mousse was a little runny once I broke the shell but that’s to be expected from a ‘dessert’ that sits in a glass case all morning at a coffee shop so no points off there. I will say, this little guy was almost $12 alone, so we really are treating it as a special occasion dessert and not a weekly purchase.

All in all, I enjoyed the vibes and the menu items. I don’t think my wallet will appreciate too much frequency here but once a quarter is probably doable. Hopefully, the coffee drinkers of the world support this place so it stays open long enough for me to make my sporadic trips.

THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. I just wanted to do a little appreciation post for my Thanksgiving meal this year. Honestly, this is one of my favorite plates of the year and I am so appreciative of Caleb’s family for inviting me into their family and feeding me every year.

I didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving dinner being from an immigrant family. We were not baking a turkey and I’m pretty sure my first full roasted turkey wasn’t until I started college. My cousins and I tried to establish a Thanksgiving when we were in high school but our parents were not interested and the four of use made a little boxed Thanksgiving meal with oven roasted turkey breast. You do what you can and instant mashed potatoes and boxed stuffing isn’t too bad when you don’t have a benchmark.

All this to say, I love a home cooked Thanksgiving with all the sides and rolls and Caleb’s mom fighting with his cousin for the turkey skin while all of us graze on cheese and deviled eggs.

Happy Thanksgiving ya’ll!

MAINE - Melt

MAINE - Melt

Yesterday was our chaos day. Three hour drive from Old Orchard Beach to Bar Harbor to get in around noon, do a quick look around Acadia, then ended up on Main Street with a couple hours to spare to shop and get lunch before the wedding!

We did try another sit down restaurant but with our time crunch, we were just looking for a quick bite and we knew we were in trouble when a waiter never stopped by our table to even give us water, and there was a server who came to our table twice trying to hand us food that was most definitely not ours in a 10minute window. We were a little stressed and even though there were a lot of lobster roll options around, we ended up at Melt so Caleb would have some non-seafood options.

LOCATION: 27B MAIN ST. BAR HARBOR, ME 04609

Melt is a small little sandwich shop that we KNEW would be speedy and get the job done. I saw the Lobster Roll and so did Caleb and even though we knew it was going to be $$$ he said it was his treat. He was willing to to give me a second chance since my lobster roll at Old Orchard Beach wasn’t great. Now this lobster roll was upwards of $30 and didn’t come with fries the way my first one did. This roll DID have some quality lettuce on it and it was REALLY nice to eat it on a park bench across the street. The restuarant was a little loud and cramped with bar style seating along the wall so we opted to go outside instead. It felt like peak Maine and for a few minutes, it was really peaceful and I INHALED this sandwich after a long morning without any real food.

I don’t know that this was the best lobster roll and under more relaxing circumstances I would’ve liked to take some time and walk around to to look up other reviews and see what options were available but we didn’t have that luxury this trip so this was the best option for the day we had. And I will say, this second sandwich was better than my first so we did manage an upgrade on that park bench.

MAINE - Bull and Brew Wing House

MAINE - Bull and Brew Wing House

It’s our last full day in Maine to ourselves before our whirlwind day tomorrow for my friend’s wedding in Bar Harbor. Started off the trip a little rocky but we’ve settled in and are making the best of my first time here! Caleb’s been great and has been driving us around to hit all the spots we’ve been wanting to see and back to our home base in Old Orchard Beach. We decided to drive back to main street and scope out a spot for dinner and ended up at Bull and Brew Wing House.

LOCATION: 6 E. GRAND AVE., OLD ORCHARD BEACH, ME 04064

Caleb isn’t a seafood person so ending up at a wing bar was a good option for us but I still had to seize the moment and order myself a Maine Lobster Roll. I love all lobster roll types and I’m not picky at all about the butter vs. mayo battle. I will say I do love a warm sandwich and butter itself is my preference because I’m generally not a mayo person but when it comes to lobster rolls, I’ll eat them all.

Now we are in Maine in August so I’m not sure that this is peak lobster season but this roll was around the $30 mark and was average. It got the job done but the bread ratio wasn’t great and there wasn’t much nuance to the lobster. Not disappointing but I wouldn’t recommend this one to anyone, unsurprising for a wing bar.

Not going to let this bring me down though, lobster rolls will still hold a summery place in my heart and there are no regrets with getting to eat lobster.