Vermont: Stowe, Ben & Jerry's, Cabot Cheese

Locations:

Ben & Jerry's 1281 Waterbury Stowe Rd, Waterbury, VT 05676

Cabot Cheese 2878 Main St, Cabot, VT 05647

Who knew that the Ben & Jerry's factory was in quaint and picturesque Stowe?

Not to mention Cabot Cheese? I literally ran out of Lactaid, but that may have been TMI. And while the lactose-free MILD cheddar I got is incredibly sharp, I'm always just happy to find lactose-free cheese.

And hey, I didn't really spill my ice cream!

Don't forget, TODAY is Ben & Jerry's FREE CONE DAY!

Love this fake ice cream spill!

Greece: Santorini, Zoto's

We visited Zoto's Family Pastry TWICE in three days, first, for this.

New York City: Magnolia Bakery

Location:

1240 6 Avenue, New York, NY

magnoliabakery.com

You knew it was coming (if you follow me on Instagram, that is). There are several locations of Magnolia in NYC, and although I never made it to the original location in West Village, this one at Bloomingdale's wasn't too shabby.

Have you been? The cupcakes are divine - the red velvet cupcake was mighty tasty. 

New York City: Dos Caminos

Location:

825 3rd Avenue

New York, NY 10022

www.doscaminos.com

Came highly recommended. Didn't know it was a chain. And for someone who spent more than 8 hours at the Met without eating anything, I was, to say the least, starving. The service was top knotch, and because we said we were incredibly hungry they brought out everything in literally 10 minutes. 

The rice and beans were unlimited, and we (mostly me) had about 5-6 refills. 

The fish dish was spicy just as I ordered, just wonderful. Ah, to have it once more. 

Frugal Fare #7: Boston: Costco: Best Hand Dipped Chocolate Ice Cream Bar

Sssssh, I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

Costco, yes, mega wholesaler COSTCO, has THE BEST hand dipped chocolate vanilla ice cream covered in almonds, bar.

Plus it's only $1.50 and it's the size of a baby elephant. (photos via iphone) 

TRAVEL: Honolulu, Hawaii: Roys

Location:

226 Lewers St
Honolulu, HI

www.roysrestaurant.com

After visiting Mama's Fish House in Maui three years ago, we didn't think anything could come close.  Let me tell you, Roy's comes pretty close!

I've never been to a restaurant where there has been such incredible attention to my dietary concerns!  Our server was worried that I would be in need of medical aid if I ate something I couldn't (dairy).

With that, the butter sauces came on the side and there was nary a smidgen of cheese on anything.

They started us off with edamame - nom nom nom- which disappeared in a matter of seconds.

Then, it was champagne paired with the ahi tuna, baby back rib and chicken spring roll appetizer, which was delicious (and this was pre-Kauai roosters, so I was still eating chicken).



Thank goodness I'm not allergic to nuts!!

Hello, macadamia encrusted opah! Get in my belly!



Served with simple but oh-so delicious potatoes and asparagus.  Paired with a white and red.



Salmon ginger sauce with cucumber and radish salad.  The fish was amazing, but the salad a bit too tangy for me.

For dessert, we had the chocolate souffle and ice cream and the macadamia nut tart.



Paired with ports, the chocolate souffle was divine!

The tart was overbearingly nutty but amazing for a couple of bites. If I hadn't already had the macadamia encrusted fish, this would have been heaven.



Service and presentation could not have been better; we had such an incredible time and were thoroughly stuffed and satisfied.

The washroom signage was super cute, too.





If you're on Oahu, check out Roy's, there are three locations on the island, and several more throughout the States.

Thai Senses

Location:

www.thaisenses.ca

How apt, we came to our senses and left Compass's Grand Opening to grab some real grub and found Thai Senses.

A wonderful hospitality and creative dishes made for a memorable meal.



The coconut ice-cream was complimentary!

Besides the creepy fish head, the meal was quite tasty and a welcome change in hospitality from Compass Lakeside Grill.

Hollywood Gelato

You scream, I scream, we all scream for gelato!?

Hooray for gelato!

I've never been one to jump at the chance for ice-cream. Sure, I'll admit I've stood in line with everyone else half my height at the ice-cream truck, shelling out $2 for my scoop of vanilla dipped in chocolate or whatever that stuff is.  And I do like the occasional McDonald's sundae!   And sure, Cold-Stone in San Francisco was amazing, although I've not given it a second thought or chance here.

Gelato, too, I have tried on various occasions,  and although it may have held my interest longer than ice-cream, I never got to the point where I'd be scouting locations to get the frozen stuff.

Until now.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

OMG you guys!!

The Rocky Rocher is to DIE for.

The Sicillian Pistachio is----sorry i just drooled all over my keyboard.....----amazing!!

And the banana/chocolate is, well, it's very banana-y (if you like that sort of thing) but it's no Rockey Rocher.

And never mind the creepy-We-Believe-in-Sick-Kids (a slogan all of us agreed wasn't very well thought out) duck-like-creature riding a bicycle outside, the gelato is heavenly.

We Believe in Creepy Duck-Like Creatures

They had sooo many amazing flavours!  So if you're one who likes TANGY gelato, this place is for you (Dean). :)

Flavours

Galore!

If I hadn't been so stuffed with Amaya Express goodness, I would have cleaned up that cup! I still ate way more than my digestive system could manage, but it was totally worth it and I'd do it again in a second!

TRAVEL: India: Delhi: Haldirams

Location:

somewhere in Delhi

www.haldiram.com

Anyone who has ever visited an Indian family's home or is Indian is familiar with the Haldiram's symbol.  See below (image from Google)


No Indian tea-time is complete  without Haldiram's.

A bag of bhel puri or chiwda will always be kicking around the cupboard of an Indian home.

So think of the impact of going to a Haldiram's RESTAURANT.  I was amazed, astounded, in awe of the industry that is Haldiram's.

Look at the number of servers behind this counter as you walk in:

now that's service !

There were three people asking me what I'd like.

And then there's the sweets.  My God, the sweets!  Imagine the biggest Indian Mithai (sweet) shop you've been to in Toronto, then triple that!  Row after row of delectable goodness...all so fresh, too!

sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeets

Then there's the "restaurant" part of it, more like fast food, where you pre-order then wait in line and bring back your goods to round tables that you stand at to eat.  It was lunch time when we went and incredibly packed so at least they've figured out that putting chairs into the equation would be a waste of time.

The chinese food was delish!!!  Made specifically for taste buds that can appreciate spice.  I don't know why fries are a chinese dish in India, but we saw it a lot.  Spicy fries.  Can't complain though, I'd never be able to get spicy fries in the Western world unless I made it myself.

the chinese food (with fries)

The channa batura was....well, see for yourself.

channa batura!

HUGE!

You even have to go through a security check/terminal to enter Haldirams.

Now, that's hard-core!

Sloan's, Florida

Location:
112 Clematis St West Palm Beach FL

www.sloansonline.com
One of the prettiest candy stores I've ever been to has got to be Sloan's in West Palm Beach, Florida.

It's PINK!   And has fancy lamps and a painted ceiling and they have chocolates and delicious ice-creams!!







We had a caramel-and-nut-filled chocolate which got wrapped up all prettily!


I'm sad to say I missed out on the bathroom which is apparently incredible!! Check out the review on Crappers Quarterly (yep, I'm just as surprised as you that this site exists!)

Fascinating!

Worth going there for that, alone!

Cows, Banff

Location:

134 Banff Avenue
Banff, AB

www.cows.ca

There's no better place to pick up an ice-cream cone than from one named Cows, don't you think?

Cows, Banff, Alberta

Chocolate Fudge

They have a giant cow in the entrance and lots of souvenirs/t-shirts to buy (fairly pricey, though!)

COW!  There was no line-up when we were there!

Although the ice-cream didn't blow me away, I have to say even being someone lactose-intolerant, I would go again, 'cause in scenic Banff, it's totally worth it.

They're also open all year round.  Moooooooooo!

TRAVEL: Montreal : Les Glaceurs

Location:

453 Rue Saint-Sulpice
Montreal, QC

www.lesglaceurs.ca/

We just happened upon this cute pink cafe on our walk through Old Montreal and boy were we happy we did! Our friends C&K hadn't been to this ice-cream/cupcake place before either, so it was a real treat for all of us.



There were many gorgeous cupcakes; it was so hard to decide!

So, much like the Seinfeldian black and white cookie, we went with the vanilla cupcake and the brownie cupcake.





Iz..how you say...pretty, non?

And damn, that frosting was kickass!