Just Eat It: The long walk

So, yesterday I decided to stay out of the kitchen. I just felt like kicking back and letting someone else prepare my food. My boyfriend and I left the house around lunch time with the intention of wandering. We had no plans and liked it that way, but Dim Sum Go Go beckoned. And we obeyed. After a lovely walk through the LES and the outskirts of Chinatown, buying beautiful homemade udon-style rice noodles from a woman on the street, we climbed the stairs and were seated at a communal table overlooking the convergence of E. Broadway and the Bowery. I'm not the person you necessarily want to do dim sum with, as I don't REALLY know what to order, but no matter, I like to eat, don't care much about what people think and will try anything. That said, this was not an adventurous meal because I had a hunch that it was just the beginning of a day filled with eating (and drinking). We did store up enough energy to see us through our 10 mile walk, though. Favorites: Rice noodles with vegetables, steamed pea shoot dumplings and the ubiquitous (bc it's delicious) pork bun. The ginger scallion dipping sauce was nothing to shake a stick at either.

After lunch, we decided to walk over the Manhattan Bridge. We figured it wouldn't be as crowded as the Brooklyn Bridge and it's just a few blocks North of Dim Sum Go Go. We walked through Downtown and Cobble Hill and up passed the Gowanus towards Park Slope. Once again, we experienced a powerful pull. This time it was beer. Beer Table is a great setting for afternoon drinking. It's all washed wood and exposed brick and the windows were thrown open to let the breeze in (strangely, though, the AC was on too). Canning jars abound. They hold the numerous types of pickles (including eggs) on offer and hang from the ceiling as sort of nouveau down home lights. We had a total of three beers here before moving on to cheaper swill... The least expensive beer is the Schlenkerla Helles at $10 for 500 ml. It's described as, "soft, thirst quenching, laced with smoke". We chose it to quench our 'long walk' thirst, but felt it was too smokey. The bottle is very asthetically pleasing though, so it's got that. We moved on to a Cantillion Kriek at $13 for .125ml, a lambic with a tart (not at all sweet) cherry taste. I could have put this back all day long had it not been for the price. Finally, we tried a 'T Smistje Catherine at $17 for .125ml. It was described by our charming server as a, "Belgian interpretation of a Russian stout." It's lighter than your average stout, a little bit smokey with a hint of sweetness. Very drinkable. The beer is interesting and tasty, the service comes with a smile, it's those through the roof prices that made us ask for the check.