Le Bon Choix - Traditional French meets American South

So what do you get when you cross Traditional French rotisserie cuisine with American Southern recipes? I was not sure since until now I hadnt found a Halal restaurant that catered that kind of food. But thanks to Le Bon Choix, now we know what the cross roads of these two cultures, some thousands of miles apart, taste like.

DISCLAIMER: I was informed after this post went up that the beef is not Halal even though a friend had called ahead to ask about the menu and what was halal (He was told everything is halal which isnt the case).

My Hajj Packing list 2011

In the last few years quite a few of my friends have gotten the opportunity to visit the Islamic holy sites of Makkah and Madinah for the pilgrimage we call Hajj.

Makkah, Saudi Arabia is the location of the grand mosque called Kaba. This is the black cube building towards which Muslims face when they perform their daily prayer and millions upon millions of people visit every year to perform the mini pilgrimage, the Umrah, and the major pilgrimage, the Hajj.

Madinah, Saudi Arabia is the city where Masjid An-Nabawi, Prophet Mohammad (saw)'s mosque, is located. It is also the location of his grave site as well as the graves of many of his family members and companions. This was also the first city that was ruled according to Islamic laws.

Cocoa Grinder - A Halal Healthy Cafe

Cafes are a dime a dozen in Brooklyn, the hipster capital of America. What makes one cafe different from another? I think that depends on who you ask. Some might think that it's the ambiance of the place, while others might put importance on where the food and ingredients are sourced from, and yet others might place the importance on the overall experience of the restaurant.

Cocoa Grinder is a cafe in Bay Ridge that captures a little bit of each attribute that sets this spot apart from others.

BK Jani - Love of Pakistan, Brooklyn, and Food

"Brooklyn is for lovers" that's the motto of Brooklynites. So it is only right that the new halal spot that I discovered is called BK Jani. Opened by a Pakistani, Sibte Hassan, straight out of the beautiful city of Lahore, this new restaurant combines the best of the Pakistani Love of food with the Brooklyn Love of all cultures. If you havent guessed it yet, Jani is a word for lover in the native language of Pakistan. 

Trip to the City of Brotherly Love

City Hall

Every year the company I work for organizes a conference trip where employees are invited to attend workshops, mingle with our vendors and get to know the rest of the company a little better. This year, our conference trip took us to Philadelphia, PA.

I have been to this city a few times before but never actually stayed for more than a day. Most of my trips had been day trips at best, sometimes even just a few hours long at most when I needed to make a drive down for some work stuff at Philadelphia Airport.

I got in via Amtrak at 30th St Station in the evening on Tuesday and the company had arranged for us to stay at a hotel in downtown. The Amtrak train station is really nice in Philly, definitely something I noticed as I got off the train.

Another Thai Halal Foodventure: Khao Thai Kitchen

Thai Authentic Duck Noodle Soup

You would think that I have an obsession with Thai food at this rate but can you blame me if many of the new spots that my friends are talking about are Thai?

NYU campus area is known for its small quick bite restaurants and hole in the wall kind of places for students to stop by and grab a bite to eat. However, there are many other restaurants in the area that are proper sit down places where one can expect good service and good food. This also means higher prices. But not all places have to be like that.

Checking out a new spot: Nur Thai

Chocolate Lava Cake
w/Green Tea Ice Cream

As evident from some of my posts, I have a passion for food, especially unique cuisines. However, a lot of times it is hard to explore when many cuisines are not available with Halal options. That is why whenever I get a chance to eat at a new halal restaurant, I jump at it.

Today my family and I were in Queens and we decided to check out this spot that recently opened up called Nur Thai. It is location on woodhaven blvd in Queens, NY. As we drove to it, I have to say that memories of when we used to live in Queens came flooding back while we drove through Jamaica and the our old stomping grounds.

Bistro Truck Grows Up

As most of NY'ers know, the food scene is all about the street carts. There are the Halal Guys on 53rd st and 6th ave, there is the Samy's Halal carts all over NYC, and then there are various other Halal cart vendors all over the boroughs. Recently, a halal cart vendor opened shop in Staten Island near my parent's house, how crazy is that?

Since the success of the halal cart vendors, there has been a surge of a different kind of food venue, Food Trucks. The surge in these food trucks has been remarkable and the variety in the food they offer is deliciously incredible. There are trucks that server Korean BBQ, Moroccan, Indian, Chinese, and all types of other lunch options. Then there are the trucks that server dessert, from cupcakes to ice cream.

Grubbing at Madison Square Eats

Beautiful day for a food festival

It is that time of the year again, when food festivals are abound and streets are filled with food trucks that were on hiatus during the chilly days of winter. I am still waiting for my favorite food trucks to hit the streets but until then I will have to settle for the lesser liked but equally tasty food from Madison Square Eats.

Hiking in Breakneck Ridge

This past Saturday, I was invited to go hiking with a few friends of mine. Having done some hiking before, I agreed to go thinking that it would be a lot of fun. Well, the hike turned out to be as much fun as I thought I would have and then some.

Rainy Quepos, Costa Rica (Nov 23, 2010)

After a good night's rest, we got up early in the morning and left the hotel from Monteverde to drive to Quepos. Our drive took us through some beautiful mountains and clouds. We arrived in Quepos around evening time and settled into our hotel to get some rest.

Red Tails

Last night I went to watch the movie Red Tails in theater. I was forced into it by a friend who insisted that I would like the movie. I was actually more inclined to go see The Grey or Safe House, but I gave in and went to see this movie.

Restaurant Week NYC: David Burke's Kitchen

Red Velvet Sundae

As restaurant week continues in NYC, so did my exploration of new restaurants. This week, a few friends joined me at the David Burke's Kitchen in SoHo.

NYC Subway Mobile Apps

I am always on the lookout for a good app for my android. I think NYers are obsessed with various aspects of taking the public transportation system. From running down the stairs right when the train arrives, to being at the right door to exit closest to the stairs, to being at the exit staircase to come out closest to our ultimate destination, we go out of our way to figure out all these aspects of our daily commute.

Soaring through Monteverde skies (Nov 22, 2010)

We woke up early in the morning since we knew that we had a long day ahead of us. Today we would visit the cloud forest of Monteverde. I was hearing a lot from my friends about how amazing cloud forests are and we would enjoy the hike.

Once we got to the entrance, we bought our tickets and waited for our tour guide. In the meantime, four other Americans joined us as well. It seemed that the guide would be taking the seven of us for the guided tour of the forest.

Restaurant Week NYC: EN Japanese Brasserie

Home Made Tofu was served in this

As some of you may know, the restaurant week is well under way in NYC right now. It will run until Feb 10th. Last night, a few friends joined me at EN Japanese Brasserie in SoHo area. The restaurant week menu was limited in its options but it didn't lack in taste.

Shameless Plug: SpotlessCity

All of us have wished at some point or another that someone else would do our laundry and it would magically appear folded in our closets every time. Well, it wont appear in your closet but SpotlessCity can definitely get it close.

The company reminds me of Seamless, which I'm sure every lazy bone is familiar with. For the proud cooks out there, Seamless lets you order food online from thousands of restaurants and it is delivered to your door. SpotlessCity does a very similar job, but for your dirty laundry; sorry no amount of actual laundry will make your "dirty laundry" disappear.

The new Islamic Center at NYU

Today I had the chance to visit the new space that will house the Islamic Center at NYU.
This project has been a decade in the making and provides a much needed space for the Muslims and people of other faith in and around NYU.
I can go on and on about how much this place was needed but the reality is that we have it now. It is what we do with it that will prove its worth to everyone.
You can find out more about the Islamic Center through their site or by following them on twitter @icnyu and facebook at https://www.facebook.com/icnyu
For now I will let you enjoy some pictures that I took on my short visit, after the link.....

Reptiles in Monteverde (Nov 21st, 2010)

Today we left La Fortuna for Monteverde but before our departure, we realized how amazing the view of the Arenal Volcano was from our hotel. Being photography geeks and all, we pulled out the tripod I had brought along with me and Omar took some great shots with his DSLR and I snapped a few pictures from my cannon as well.

After packing up and checking out, we started the drive from La Fortuna towards Monteverde. It was interesting to realize that the line-of-sight distance from La Fortuna to Monteverde is very small, however, there is no direct route to Monteverde. One possibility was to take a taxi to a boat to a taxi to get from La Fortuna to Monteverde. Since we had a rental car, we could not take this route and hence we had to resort to the only other option, to drive all the way around Lake Arenal to get to Monteverde.

Arenal Volcano (Nov 20th, 2010)

Arenal Volcano

November 21st, 2010

We woke up early in the morning knowing that we had lots to do during the day. After eating the tasty breakfast at the hotel, we headed out towards the volcano hike that we had explored the night before. We arrived at the same entrance to the hike and the previous night's tickets were valid for today so we were able to enter quickly. It had been raining on and off all morning so the trails were all muddy.


After crossing the hanging bridge, we made our way towards the lookout point closest to the volcano. As we climbed up, I realized how my time at the gym was going to come handy during this trip. I think if I hadn't been frequenting the gym, I would be unable to finish this hike.