Date Night: Coney Island, NY - Friday 7/25/2014

His Take:  Coney Island, a landmark in Brooklyn, and somewhere, I a native Brooklynite had never been?!?!  That HAD to change.  Along with my cousin Frankie, I had put together a little trip to Coney Island.  Frankie had told me how last summer he had gone with his girlfriend Jennifer and some friends to see the fireworks display Coney Island does every Friday night. We were talking about this during a car ride home, and voila, plans were born!  We decided all of us guys would take our girlfriends to Coney Island for a nice night watching fireworks on the beach, eating Nathan’s, and riding rides. 

Back to me being a Brooklynite for a second, how could I not go see the Wonder Wheel, eat a Nathan’s hot dog at Coney Island, and most importantly ride the Cyclone!  This was my opportunity to get this off my bucket list!  So off we went to Coney Island on a Friday night.  We parked in the Aquarium parking lot, which is right next to the Cyclone.  I was as excited as a kid in a candy store.  I wanted to go on the Cyclone right away!  I was told to wait by my buddy Chris, who promised me we would go on later, on the way out since it’s right next to the car (wow I sound like a little kid, but hey, I wanted to ride the Cyclone!).  First stop for us, you guessed it, Nathan’s.  I was not to hungry and neither was Ariana, so I got a hot dog, we split cheese fries (of course she ate most of them) and then we walked to get a quick ice cream.  A lot of places to eat and drink on the boardwalk, all serving different boardwalk food, you know pretzels, hot dogs, ice creams, funnel cakes, the works!  I am actually glad we ate first because the line at Nathan’s was huge all night. 

After we all finally met up at Nathan’s and ate a little something, we realized it was time to hit the beach for the fireworks.  Coney Island’s firework “show” starts at 9:30 PM between 10^th and 12^th streets.  The beach between 10^th and 12^th streets is closed because the fireworks are literally on the beach.  We all sat in the sand, there was about 14 of us hanging out laughing and joking waiting for the display to start.  Do not make the same mistake we did, come prepared to sit in the sand, unless you want to stand on the boardwalk and watch the show.  I was shocked to see how packed the beach and the boardwalk was, filled with people waiting around to watch the firework show.  Sitting in the sand was a bit uncomfortable, I really should have gotten the chairs I had in my friend’s car.  Finally the show started at around 9:50, and it was really nice.  It was romantic to sit in the sand with my girlfriend and watch the display of fireworks.  The weather was perfect for a night near the ocean.  We asked Jennifer to take a picture of us under the fireworks because we know our loyal readers would want to see!  Plus I wanted one for ourselves!  Thanks Jenn!

After the fireworks we hit the rides!  I enjoy doing rides, but you all know the one ride I was waiting to do, THE CYCLONE!  The rides I did/watched my friends do all seemed cool.  First ride we hit was the Wonder Wheel.  Ferris Wheels, my most HATED ride.  Little tidbit about me, I am afraid of heights.  How do I do rides you ask? Roller coasters, on the way up I hold on for dear life and my eyes are closed shut, the way up is over so fast it does not even matter!  After much debate, Ariana, friend Sal, and my cousin Frankie convinced me to get on the Wonder Wheel.  Fun fact about the Wonder Wheel, it has something called sliding carts, which I had never seen before.  The freaking cars slide back and forth on a track at different heights of the wheel.  Great so not only do I have to sit in a box sky high, but I have to watch it swing back and forth!  As you’ll see in the picture, I was not to thrilled with this, but after going around the first time and not plummeting to my doom, I relaxed a bit and enjoyed myself, and maybe just maybe I’ll get on again.  My brother is fearless, got on the sling shot, so did a few of my other friends, and no thanks, that’s not for me.  We walked around a bit and by 12:45 everyone started getting tired and wanting to head home, plus the park closes at one.  Wait I know what you’re thinking, the Cyclone right? My Cyclone story is this, WE NEVER WENT ON! My sole purpose for going, the one thing I really wanted to do, right there in front of me, and IT DID NOT HAPPEN! 

I won’t say I left disappointed because I had a great time with my girlfriend and friends, but I left unsatisfied, I have an unfinished date with Coney Island, and me and the Cyclone will meet!  Coney Island is a great date spot, especially if you are going to see the fireworks.  Grab a chair or a towel and sit on the beach, a better view then standing on the boardwalk.  Grab your girl, grab some friends, and go watch the show.  A fun filled date at Coney Island.  Lastly, I will make you guys a deal, if you see me at Coney Island and recognize me from this blog, stop me and I’ll get on the damned Wonder Wheel with ya!  Till we meet again Coney Island! See ya soon.

Her Take: We have been wanting to go to Coney Island for some time now. Frankie, Nicky's cousin, told us that every Friday night, there's Fireworks. Finally we went. It was a bunch of us: Nicky and I, Chris and Martyna, Frankie and Jen, AJ and Bianca, and Sal and Rangel. (best couple) We headed over at around 7, made it there by 7:30-8 and basically stood on the Nathan's line for an hour! Nicky wanted a hot dog and so did the Chris, Martyna and her friends. I didn't want anything, so obviously I got cheese fries and a cafe mocha ice cream! :) I wasn't hungry...
By the time everyone ordered, ate and drank, it was around 9 o'clock so we said lets head down to the beach to get a good spot.
Coney Island was PACKED, with so many kids too, BABIES why aren't they sleeping?! But I understand it's nice to see the fireworks. Back to the beach, Nicky had bought two chairs for us, and those chairs were left in the car, a good place to have them when you're sitting on the sand! But it's ok, I sucked it up and sat down. We had our personal photographer, Jen, take pictures of us because shes the best! Plus she likes to so yay :) She took some great shots of us I must say!
The fireworks started like 20 minutes late! But they lasted about 15 mins and they were really pretty! We were so close, that many of us got hit with pieces of them. Cool life.
After watching the fireworks and being romantic taking photos under them, we decided to walk the boardwalk and go on some rides!
First things first: The Wonder Wheel! Built in 1918 and still goin' round!
Nicky is SUPER scared of heights and did not want to go on this at all, especially after he found out that the cars swing! BUTTTT we got him on :))) it wasn't that hard muahah! But he sat in the cart with his eyes closed grasping to the sides. What a baby!
It was a lot of fun and also REALLY cold up there, I was literally shivering. If you go, bring a light sweater!
Nicky even said he liked it so it went well!

After that we walked around some more and the rest of them went on a few more rides, I wasn't in the mood for rides that day, I might have been super tired. But it's all good because I had a great time!
We stayed until the park closed, 1 am. Longer than I expected!! Nicky didn't get to ride the cyclone, which is what he realllllyyyy wanted to do!

Coney Island is just a spot that everyone needs to visit at least once! This was Nicky's first time and he loved it. I'm glad he did! It's always a great time, and me, I love games and rides and ice cream and feeling like a kid again! Who doesn't? Get to Coney Island and ride the Cyclone before they take that old piece of history down!

I definitely want to go back, maybe in the daytime this time, so I can catch a tan while we walk ;) AND go on some rides!

 On the Wonder Wheel

 Nicky crying on the Wonder Wheel

 Jen and Frankie in the Front

Date Night: Tacu Tacu - Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Saturday 6/21/2014

His Take: Ahh Tacu Tacu/LuLu’s Lounge, bringing back the glory days!  I used to come to this place when I was a lot younger to drink and eat literally every weekend, and sometimes during the week.  With that being said, one of our old bartender friends was making a return to behind the bar, Eric.  E contacted all of us via Facebook/text messaging (funny how social media works!) And here we were, Me, Ariana and some friends and their girlfriends as well.  One big happy reunion!  When Ariana and I walked in, E came around the bar gave me a hug, greeted Ariana told us we better be staying for a drink!

Any who, back to this evening,  Ariana and I wanted to walk around and just grab some food somewhere that caught our eye.  We had walked past Tacu Tacu and kept looking, but I mentioned to Ariana I could go for the dish I used to get at Tacu Tacu when I used to go there.  Ariana had never had the place before and she agreed.  Plus I told her that the menu was a mix of Thai and Vietnamese.  Well firstly, I was wrong, the menu has changed since I last was there, now Tacu Tacu is a mix of Asian Cuisines plus Peruvian!  The menu has a wide variety of dishes and things to enjoy.  I was happy to see my favorite dish, the Cube Steak Saigon was still on the menu!!!

Ariana and I sat down after a few minutes of waiting and looked over the menu as well as the drink menu. I wish we had gotten to sit in the booth! It was  Ariana started with a frozen banana margarita, which she said was boring, and I got a frozen lemonade which was absolutely amazing.  Tacu Tacu never used to make frozen drinks, so way to step their game up!  We were given a little bin of fried plantain chips with two different dipping sauces, signature Tacu Tacu, and once you pop one chip in your mouth, you eat the whole bin and some, trust me, use Ariana as an example, she literally ate the WHOLE bin!  We ordered a chicken tamale to share for appetizers.  Ariana insisted I try a tamale and I am glad I did, she said Tacu Tacu’s was a different variation on a tamale, but it was good none the less!  Finally on to the entrees, I ordered, you guessed it, the Cube Steak Saigon!  It is diced up steak cut into cubes cooked with soy sauce, onions, and broccoli and served in a steaming hot skillet with a little bowl of white rice. MMMMMMMMMM just as good as I remember (and maybe a little more expensive)!  Ariana ordered the Pineapple fried rice, which is good, I have had it before as well! She enjoyed some of the food as well.  We skipped dessert and continued to drink! The food presentation was excellent and the restaurant is nice too! It has a loungy feeling.

Off to the bar we went were E served us drink after drink and shots as well.  We all had a great time catching up and reminiscing about old times.  Also Tacu Tacu has a downstairs section called LuLu’s lounge which is a more formal karaoke bar.  You walk down and there’s a huge karaoke screen as well as other screens.  We used to hang out down there and drink and sing which is great!  This time we did not head down, but our next time at Tacu Tacu I am sure we will!  Yes there will be a next time back at Tacu Tacu! Go and please enjoy the Saigon Cube Steak!!!!!!

Her Take: This Saturday night started out as "we're just going for drinks" but it ended up turning into and unplanned dinner date.
We had decided to meet up at around 8 pm and just walk around until we found something that caught our eye. We originally wanted to go to Gorbal's Rooftop, a new rooftop bar on the Northside, but Nicky had told his friends about it and they decided to go there but we wanted some alone time first. So we walked, ended up on North 6th and decided to go to Tacu Tacu. Nicky's friends planned to go to tacu tacu that night too, but much later, so we said let's eat first and then meet with them! Tacu Tacu is Thai/Peruvian Restaurant; yes they have both cuisines; i have never been here but Nicky has and he said that they had changed the menu completely. But the menu was appetizing nonetheless. The restaurant has a square bar in the middle and tables all around, downstairs, "Lulu's Lounge" they have karaoke!
We walked in and Nicky knew the bartender from when he used to go there all the time in his "cool youth days" so he said hi and Eric, the bartender, hit him about 482 times (out of love.)
The hostess sat us and we looked through the menu and the first thing Nicky said was "THEY HAVE TAMALES" because he knows I love tamales and he also knows that he's going to be forced to try them... >:-)

So we ordered one chicken tamale, a frozen vodka lemonade for Nicky and a banana margarita for me to start off. I decided for entree I was going to have the Phucket Pineapple Fried Rice and Nicky got the Saigon Cube Steak (his favorite dish from here)
They immediately brought over plantain chips with a red and green dip which I completely forgot to ask the waiter what it was, but it was so good so I gavoned it anyway. My banana margarita was just alright, it could have used some more banana flavor in it, but Nicky loved his frozen lemonade (and proceeded to order those all night.)
The tamale came and it wasn't your traditional tamale. Usually tamales come wrapped in a banana leaf and when you open it up its just the dough and INSIDE the dough is the meat. Their tamale had the chicken and sauce and everything on the outside of in, just laid out on top instead of inside. I assume it is easier for them so they can have a variety of different tamales with different meats so all they have to do is make the dough and then throw the meat of your choice on top.
It was pretty good! the dough needed a little more salt but the chicken and the flavor was pretty good and Nicky liked it! :))) His only complaint was that it was too doughy -_- (he just doesn't like cornmeal)
Then came our entrees and I have to say my Pineapple fried Rice was A+ on the presentation; it was so nice!! The rice was served in a pineapple half with those little drink umbrellas on the pineapple. The dish was decorated very nicely, but unfortunately, the taste was not comparable to the presentation. I wish I would have liked it but the rice lacked taste, it was very very bland and there was TOO much chicken; normally I wouldn't complain about too much chicken, but when it's bland and flimsy and blah, you don't want it! That was disappointing but I ate a bit and I was full. My drinks satisfied me!
Nicky loved his cube steak, he says he gets that every time he goes there! I tried it and it was pretty good.
We ended up spending all night at Tacu Tacu by the bar, drinking and hanging with friends. Tacu Tacu recently changed their menu, so maybe the just need to work on perfecting it a little bit more!
I would go back firstly for their huge selection of frozen drinks, secondly for karaoke and thirdly to snack on the apps and try something new!

 Plantain chips

 Frozen Vodka Lemonade

 Banana Margarita

 Tamale

 Cube Steak

 Pineapple Fried Rice

Us :)

Date Night: Nitehawk Cinemas - Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY - Thursday 6/12/2014

Her Take: I had been wanting to check out Nitehawk for a while now, maybe about a year? Nicky had been there with his friend, Carter, to watch "Killing Me Softly" and he told me that it was a cool experience.
I was seeing the advertisements for James Franco's movie Palo Alto all over, which made me want to go see it! I saw that it was playing at Nitehawk so I quickly told Nicky that we had to go! So we did :) Thursday night, the 7:30 screening.
We walked to Nitehawk, it isn't too bad of a walk unless its SUPER humid out, which it was, so we immediately said "walking was a bad idea." We arrived at Nitehawk sweaty and sticky, but we arrived nonetheless. It was 7 o'clock and Nicky had purchased tickets in advance so the bartender printed them out for us. Yes, I meant bartender. Let me tell you a bit about Nitehawk. It is a movie theater that plays not-your-usual-movies. They play foreign films, indie movies, oldies and a selected few movies that play in regular theaters; but in Nitehawk, you get DINNER AND A MOVIE! DINNER!! The theaters all have a small table per couple with a small menu sticking out in the front of the table and small pieces of paper and a pencil on each side of the triangular table so if you decide you want to order more food during the movie, you just write it down and stand it up on a metal coil attached to the table. A waitress comes around pre-film to take your order. They have a full bar and a delicious selection of food such as sandwiches, salads and appetizers!
We walked to our theater, theater 3, and took our seats in the front row. This theater only had 3 rows with about 5 tables in each row. The screen isn't your typical movie theater screen size, its more like a big screen tv someone has in a home size, so sitting in the front row wasn't as bad as you were thinking. We quickly picked up the menu and of course I wanted everything. We ordered our drinks first because I couldn't decide what to eat yet. I got their version of a Dark & Stormy and Nicky got a Miller High Life. Finally we decided to just order a couple of apps: the cheese fritters which were small cheese balls that were filled with cheese (obviously) and chorizo with chipotle aioli drizzled on top. (That was my choice) and Nicky ordered the steak skewers that came with chimichurri sauce and homefries. They were both really really good! I loved my fritters! Surprisingly we filled up on that.

Now onto the movie. It wasn't really what I expected. I was expecting better due to all the "hype" it got all over social media and Nicky and I read the description of it, and it didn't really sum up the story line. I mean it SORT OF did, but the movie didn't have a well-drawn out, strongly stated plot. It was just alright. I guess the movie's point was to show the generation of today and how it really is to live as a teenager? It wasn't the worst movie, but it was a little depressing in my opinion. I watched the entire thing with a look  of confusion on my face. But hey if you like "teenage-angst-it's-so-hard-being-a-virgin-everyone-does-drugs" movies, go watch it!

Anyway, after we left Nitehawk a little frazzled, we decided to walk yet again, and we stopped by the Roebling Tea Room; another place I've been wanting to go to. We sat at the bar and got a drink Nicky asked the bartender for a beer suggestion and the bartender served him a Kronenbourg and I got some cocktail with tequila, raspberries and spicy salt; my kinda drink. It is a cute place with nice Victorian looking wall paper and woodsy decor. It was cute. Its a bar/restaurant and the food others were eating smelled so good. We walked around the place and discovered that it was bigger than we thought! They have a back room which also has cute little wooden tables and candles and they also have a patio! I would like to go back to sit out in the patio, it was precious. We only had one drink here and we sipped slowly and chatted and enjoyed the end of the night.

Nitehawk was AWESOME I would definitely go back and I most definitely recommend it to all of you. But be sure to go in even numbers since its one table per two chairs and also go early (it fills fast!) you don't want to end up sitting alone on the other side of the theater while your two friends enjoy the movie together! As for Palo Alto, I am gonna let you decide on that movie, and let us know what you thought.
and the Roebling Tea Room, we will be seeing you soon!!

His Take:  Movie dates, a fairly common and popular thing among those who date!  Here I’ll spare you the movie review and talk more about Nitehawk Theater.  Firstly Ariana wanted to see Palo Alto, a James Franco movie (she finds him so “hot” in her words, but hey he’s no ME!) based off a book he wrote “Palo Alto stories” or something like that.  I had never heard of either the book or the movie, but when it comes to movies ill watch anything that is not a sappy love story, because frankly those are incredibly boring!  Movie was a solid movie, nothing special, although I think now I’d give the book a try.

Any who, back to Nitehawk.  So if you’re not familiar with Nitehawk, it is a movie theater with a full bar, and food service, that you can order before and during your movie! I know what you’re thinking, “how uncomfortable to sit with plates of or drinks throughout a movie”, well no, each of the seats are separated in pairs and each pair conveniently has a small table shaped like a pool table rack for you to sit comfortably and eat and drink!  The ordering is pretty cool too, you write your order on a piece of paper, provided to you at the table along with a pencil, and whenever you’re ready to order, you stand the paper up in its “holder” or whatever it’s called!  It stands up letting the waiter/waitress know “hey I am ready to order!”  The waiter/waitress does an excellent job of sneaking and ducking back and forth to not get in the way of the movie.  Pretty cool huh! The waiter/waitress also lets you know they will be closing out your tab 30 minutes before the movie.

As for our Nitehawk experience, Ariana ordered a mix drink and I a Miller High Life.  We looked over the menu, and frankly we wanted everything!  To name a few, we wanted the nachos, the tator tots, the popcorn, the quesadilla, etc. etc. etc.  We ended up settling on the Chorizo and Cheese balls (Ariana’s choice, which she loved) and the Skirt Steak Skewers that had chimi churi sauce and came with some diced potatoes.  The Skirt Steak Skewers were delicious!  We struggled hard not to order the nachos, but we should have!

Not your standard movie theater, and the ticket prices are the same as a regular movie!  Nitehawk is awesome, also their schedule is different.  They play old school movies, new movies, and indie films!  Check out their calendar and head over and there.  I suggest getting the tickets in advance as they do not have many show times.  Also get to your seats in advance, depending on the theater your movie is playing in, some of the seats are limited!  I know I will head back, it’s a great way to see a movie!

Date Night & Dessert: Juliana's Pizza & Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory - DUMBO, NY - Wednesday 5/14/2014

Her Take: So as I have said before, I love pizza, but also I love ice cream. We had the PERFECT date! We had talked about taking the ferry to DUMBO so I suggested we do it to grab some pizza from Juliana's and get amazing ice cream from Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory! We were to take the 7:00 pm ferry at Kent avenue on the north side so Nicky and I met up at 6:30 and took a nice walk there. We made it just in time for the 6:45 ferry; we saw it docking and we ran to get tickets and literally ran inside. (We did a lot of running for ferries as you'll see) we got lucky! The ferry was very nice, spacious and fun! We went outside and took pictures like tourists and enjoyed the scenery. It was a bit cloudy that day but it was still really nice! The wind felt so good!
We arrived at DUMBO in 10 minutes, super fast. We walked off and straight to Juliana's. I don't know if you guys have heard of Grimaldi's? Well the originally owner Patsy Grimaldi sold his restaurant and name and since that restaurant moved to the corner, Patsy came back and opened up a new pizzeria again! Voila Juliana's! Patsy was standing right in the doorway and he seated us at a little bar overlooking the pizzaioli and the coal burning oven. We already knew what we wanted to we ordered right away: two Stella Artois on tap and a large margherita pizza with half pepperoni! We could see the pizzaiolo (pizza man) making our pizza and I was literally drooling. Our pizza was done quickly! Thank God cause I was starving, and the girl brought it right to us. We dug right it.. DELICIOUS!!! Just how I remembered it from when I was younger. So so so yummy I didn't even take a break I gobbled my whole half of the pie up. I was super satisfied and so happy that I had the deliciousness in my mouth and tummy. Nicky loved it too!! We weren't too full so we had enough room for ice cream. We turned around and saw that the place had FILLED UP! It was packed and a line was forming outside! We felt kind of bad so we asked our waiter for the check and he said no no no take your time! He didn't want us to leave, so we enjoyed our beer.
We finally got up and squirmed through the people and started walking toward the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Oh my god yes I was so excited because I had been craving their ice cream forever!!!! Luckily it's only down the block :)
We walked in and I already knew what I wanted: CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHUNK two scoops in a waffle cone please!!! Nicky got one scoop of vanilla chocolate chunk in a waffle cone and we tasted it and our tummies smiled because its just THAT AMAZING!!! So creamy and the flavor is just right. They chocolate isn't too overwhelming it's milky chocolate goodness with big chunks of chocolate mixed in; OMG YUM I want some rightttt now!!! We ate as we took a walk through the DUMBO park, it was so pretty and by the water. It started getting a little chilly and misty so we went back into the ice cream shop and Nicky used the bathroom as I sat at a little table. We weren't sure what time the last ferry was so we peeked outside and saw the ferry docking! Once again, we ran for our lives for it!! We almost didn't make it! I ran with my ice cream cone in my hand and my studded loafers on my feet... Not a good combo. If I dropped my cone I would I have picked it up thrown it at Nicky and left him there for making me run!!!! But, it didn't come down to that :)))
We made the ferry just in time and relaxed until we had to get off and walked to a candy store since Nicky wanted something. He only got a pack of the gum that looks like cigarettes because he's a big kid. We walked home holding hands as he "smoked his cigarette" and digested all the yummy food all the way home to my house :)
We had a great night! The ferry was a cute and fun idea, I think everyone should ride it at least once, especially when the weather is nice to stand outside and enjoy the scenery! Pizza was amazing and the ice cream was to die for; definitely, definitely recommend both!! CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU LOVE PIZZA AND ICE CREAM! (but then again who doesn't?)
Links are in my post :)

His Take: Ariana and I love pizza, especially Ariana! We decided to do something a little different rather than the old "hey let's just go get pizza!" One of Ariana's favorite pizza places had reopened, Juliana's (the old Grimaldi's) in Dumbo, Brooklyn. They're pizza used to be great and it's coal oven pizza, which is absolutely delicious! Rather than just head over to Juliana's and give it a try, we took the East River Ferry. It as a decent day weather wise, I mean was supposed to rain but luckily it didn't! The Ferry was beautiful, we had caught it at the perfect time. From our neighborhood to Dumbo it is two stops on the ferry, a quick ride, perfect because we were hungry! We bought our tickets ($4 each person per way), and boarded our ferry. I really loved the ferry, on the way there we stood outside and watched as we passed both the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges. I did the real touristy thing and took pictures and it was cool. I plan on taking the ferry again to it's other stops or even back to Dumbo.

Next stop, Juliana's. Off our enjoyable ferry ride we walked right to Juliana's and were lucky enough to walk right in. By the time we were done with our food, there was line of people waiting outside for their turn! We got to the door and the original owner greeted and seated us (Ariana had remembered him!). We sat at the counter top right next to where they make the pizzas. While normally I prefer tables, this time it was pretty sweet to sit and watch them make pizzas! Ariana and I ordered a large margherita pie, with half pepperoni. A large pie may sound like much, but for us two, it was perfect. We also order two Stella Artois and watched our pizza be made. Shortly after our pizza came and we feasted! This pizza was PERFECT. It really was absolutely delicious.  Mmmmm thinking about it now I could go for a slice or two! We ate the entire pie and almost forgot to take a picture! We finished most of beers and departed for dessert!

On to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory! If Ariana doesn't tell you this I will, she was the happiest I've ever seen when we decided to go here to! She absolutely loves this place, loves it more than she loves me! And I can see why, the ice cream was delicious! I got a vanilla chocolate chunk, one scoop that was more like three and Ariana ordered two scoops of chocolate chocolate chunk, which looked like four! We enjoyed our cones and walked the park on the pier. When we walked back we had to run to our ferry home because we were unsure of what time the last ferry was! We ran back and laughed as we got on the ferry just as it was leaving!

This was one of my favorite dates. The ferry, the food, the ice cream, and my date were all beautiful. I enjoyed everything about this date! The ferry is cool, and beats the more common means of transportation. The pizza was amazing! It really was so good. The ice cream was a nice finish. But most of all, my date was the best part! Enjoy guys!

Date Night & Dessert: Cubana Social - Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Wednesday 4/23/2014

His Take: Ok so I am going to take full responsibility for this one.  I did NOT like Cubana Social.  I would not go back.  I was craving some Spanish/Latin American food and decided to look some places up not too far from where we live.  I suggested Cubana Social to Ariana and she was all for it, as we were both craving a dish called Ropa Vieja, which is a shredded beef stew.  Off we went to Cubana Social, which is actually a nice looking place where they play old movies via a projector on the wall.  We sat down right away because the place was empty.  Even if it was empty, it took our waitress a little while to bring over our menus.  Finally our waitress came again to order our drinks, I ordered their version of a Cuba Libre, figured I would try something different.  Their Cuba Libre is a drink with rum and coke with lime, Fernet Branca and other bitters, and the more I drank of it (I did not drink very much) the worse it tasted.  This is not the fault of the place, this is more on me because it was a drink I did not like.  This Cuba Libre had a weird after taste that I could not continue to drink.  I was deceived when I looked this place up on Yelp, and looked at the pictures of the food.  I love empanadas and saw that Cubana Social had them, and I thought “great, a nice appetizer as well.”  Yelp led me to believe they were a lot bigger than the really are.   We ended up ordering 3 (started with 2), 2 beef empanadas and a pork empanada.  The beef ones were just alright, and I have definitely had better empanadas elsewhere, they were not bad, but they were not anything “to write home about.”  I tried a little bite of the pork one as well, and it was more or less the same as the beef.  Obviously when it came to the main course, Ariana and I both ordered Ropa Vieja, the sole reason for us coming to Cubana Social.  I have to say I was incredibly disappointed.  Any time I have had Ropa Vieja I have tested plenty of flavors as it is a stew that should cook for a significant amount of time.  Cubana Social’s Ropa Vieja tasted like NOTHING.  It literally did not taste like anything, not like the beef, the onions, the tomatoes, or the peppers!  The dish came with white rice, black beans, and plantains.  The serving size was a pretty good portion, but how much of bland food could you really enjoy.  Ariana's dish tasted different than mine.  Ropa Vieja is a dish where the flavors all come together and mesh while it cooks, and Cubana Social’s really lacked that.  Our waitress did come over again and noticed that I was not enjoying my drink and that a barely touched it.  She was kind enough to take it off our bill without us asking, because again I ordered it, so I did not mind if I had to pay for it.  We skipped dessert as we had planned to grab ice cream somewhere else not too far from Cubana Social.  Again, it is really hard to enjoy food that lacks taste, especially when it is a dish I know and enjoy!  Cubana Social, nice looking place, but the food killed it for me here!

After our disappointing meal, we headed over to an ice cream shoppe that Ariana had heard of called Oddfellows.  I knew once we were inside why this was the perfect name, their flavors were well, ODD!  There were flavors such as Lychee, Thai Ice Cream, Burnt Marshmallow, just to name a few.  I went with a small Burnt Marshamllow, and it was delicious!  There were little pieces of marshmallows in it and it was really really good.  Ariana got Thai Ice Cream and Chocolate Chunk in a cone.  She seemed to really enjoy her ice cream as well.  The ice cream shoppe was really nice they had little tables and bar stools near the window.  They made different ice cream treats and even cater to parties.  Oddfellows was cool, and I would head back to see what other flavors they come up with!

If you take anything from this post, its simple, head to Oddfellows for ice cream, and you can skip Cubana Social, especially if you are looking for tasty Ropia Vieja!

  

Her Take: I really wanted to like this place, I really did. We were both craving some Ropa Vieja, and we found this Cuban place on the north side and said lets give it a shot! We told my dad we were going there and he said he had heard that it wasn't too good, that we would be wasting our time and that he's always right. So I got annoyed and said nope were gonna like it, you never like anything and you are too quick to judge!
We got there and the place was a nice one; good space and they had black and white movies playing on the wall from a projector. We got the menu and saw that they didn't have too many options but we decided that we would get two empanadas. Nicky originally wanted to get one and split it because he said that they looked big online. I said lets get two just incase, or even three because they had a 3 for $10 deal. He settled on two. One pork with beans and garlic and one ground beef with sautéed onions tomatoes and raisins. Our waitress came and asked if we wanted a drink and we looked over the drink list and I ordered the "Oooh I wanna take you to coco-mojito" ( a coconut mojito) and Nicky got a Cuba Libre that had fernet branca in it. We also ordered our empanadas and one ropa vieja each.
the two empanadas came before our drinks, which surprised me; I thought the food was going to take a while. Turns out the empanadas were small (what did I say?) and Nicky ordered one more beef. They weren't bad. Then our drinks came and mine was pretty good but Nicky did not like his so the waitress took it off the bill.
Our ropa vieja came and it looked decent! It came with black beans, rice and platanos. We were excited to eat it and once we tried it we kinda made the same "eh" face. It didn't taste of salt but it tasted of the acidity of uncooked tomatoes from a can. I didn't like the taste of it so I picked at the rice and beans and ate all the platanos. I ate about half of the ropa vieja because I was really hungry, but couldn't finish the rest because it was giving me a stomach ache. It was no good.
We were disappointed and lost our appetite. Turns out my dad was right....
After our disappointing meal, we were craving ice cream so I suggested Odd Fellows ice cream shop which was a few blocks away. We walked down and I saw they had extra virgin olive oil ice cream and HAD to try it!! it was weird I don't think I would get whole scoop of oil.. but anyway I got a cone with chocolate chunk and thai iced tea; it was ok, I have tasted better. But I was satisfied! Nicky got burnt marshmallow which was veryyy good!! (Nicky is a marshmallow :))

All in all our dinner was disappointing and we were hungry two hours later.. Cubana Social, we will not be going back. Food was pretty bad 2/10, service was nothing special (poor girl was nice)
But we bought a bottle of wine on the way home, drank and ate some chocolate  :)

Cuba Libre and Coco-mojito

 Ropa Vieja

 Burnt Marshmallow Ice Cream

Thai Iced Tea and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream