McBurney YMCA Street Festival

After we left Coney Island, we went to check out the Street Festival on 6th Avenue, between 14th and 23rd Street. We saw them setting up earlier that morning (on our way to Coney Island) and since it was pretty near to our PATH station, we decided to go take a quick look around.

It was a pretty big street fair, about 10 blocks down 6th Avenue. There were all kinds of stalls, from food stalls to music, clothes, knick knacks and on site massages/spas. It somewhat reminded me of the Malaysian pasar malam, only a whole lot cleaner :P

There were all kinds of ethnic food on sale at the festival. From Thai (we bought a big yummy cup of Iced Thai Milk Tea for $2) to Greek ( those Baklavas look really yummy) and Japanese (regret not trying the Takoyaki ). There were just so many stalls, I stopped taking photos after a while. African, Spanish, Indian, Turkish, Chinese food, just to name a few. Of course they also had regular American carnival food and drinks like lemonade, funnel cakes, hot dogs...the usual.

There were also nice little stalls selling cheap knick knacks and handicraft. There were a whole bunch of stalls selling stuff like bowls, bags, mirrors, carvings...exactly like what you can find in Bali or Chatuchak Market in Bangkok. The prices are of course wayy wayy wayyy more expensive.

The more popular stalls were the clothes stalls. They had all kinds of sundresses, hippie looking cheese cloth skirts and pashminas for sale. They were pretty affordable too. You could get 5 pashminas for $20. Not too bad at all.

Apart from clothes, music and food, there were also all kinds of other random stalls. Check this one out. A mobile garden center :D

There were also mobile spas and massage stalls. Surprisingly, this psychic reading stall had lots of business too! I guess New Yorkers like weird and quirky stuff. Overall, we had an interesting afternoon walking around the street festival. We spent about an hour or so walking around and we finally left the city by early evening. Look out for my next post when I blog about watching the 4th of July Macy's Fireworks Spectacular from our apartment! :D

Max Brenner - Union Square, NYC

Like I mentioned earlier in my post about Jaya Restaurant, we were in the city last weekend to meet up with an old friend from Uni. After our lunch in Chinatown, we headed to Max Brenner in Union Square. There are two Max Brenner's in NYC, the other is located in the East Village. I've always thought that Max Brenner was an Australian chocolate chain that specializes in chocolate drinks and desserts but I just found out that it's actually Israeli! Can't really blame me, there are 13 outlets in Australia and only 6 in Israel. They also have branches in the Philippines, Singapore and two outlets here in the States (both in Manhattan).

The place looked pretty packed when we walked in. The wonderful smell of chocolate just hits you the moment you walk in. The Chocolate Shop (gift shop) was on our right and Chocolate Bar was in front of us. In the Chocolate Shop you can find the very chocolaty Max Brenner Truffle Cream, Pralines, Pastries, Cookies as well as their famous "Hug Mug" and other glasses/mugs/cups. We could also see some of their famous Chocolate Pizza and other chocolate goodies on display at the Chocolate Bar.

The waitress led us to the second level of the two level cafe. We were handed tow menus each, one for food and the other for drinks and desserts. Everything on the menu looked so good! I think this was the longest time I ever took to look through the menu to decide on what to order!

Kevin ordered the Chocolate Chai ($4.50), a chai spice blend infused with hot white chocolate truffle. It comes with a piece of biscotti by the side. I just love the presentation of the drink. You are supposed to put the pot on top of the glass and press down. It will then dispense the Chocolate Chai into the glass. Cool huh?

I felt like having a Choctail, so I ended up ordering the Dark Chocolate Granita ($6.75). It's pure dark chocolate truffle blended with ice. It was served in their famous Alice Cup. The Chocolate Granita also comes in Milk and White chocolate. For a dollar extra, you could add in a shot of either Raspberry, Coconut, Cinnamon, Mint, Hazelnut or Banana flavoring. I didn't want to do that, the original flavor was yummy enough. So chocolicious!!

Our friend Harayz ordered their signature Hot Chocolate ($4.95), served in a Hug Mug. It is also known as the Cappuccino of Chocolate. I believe he chose the Milk Chocolate, with hints of vanilla.

We wanted to share something for dessert but there we just so many things to choose from! From Waffles to Crepes to Chocolate Pizzas! At last, we also ordered a portion of Vanilla Profiterole Fondue Skewers ($11.25). The profiteroles (served on skewers) were filled with vanilla cream. They were accompanied by a bowl of crunchy wafer balls as well as a portion of milk chocolate fondue and vanilla sauce for dipping. Mmmmmm mmm mmmmm, they were really really good.

We had a great time catching up with Harayz and the drinks as well dessert in Max Brenner totally rocks! I would definitely go back to try their Chocolate Pizza and maybe some other items from their food menu. The chocolate in Max Brenner is just so so so delicious and yummy. I think I have fallen in love with the "Chocolate by the Bald Man" :P

Max Brenner - Union Square Branch
841 Broadway (between 13th and 14th St),
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 388-0030
Web: http://maxbrenner.com/