A great night IN, in NYC

Day 2 in NYC. Let's just say that after our late night on Thursday, we had a subsequent late morning. In order to destroy the cobwebs that had taken up residence in my brain, big sis and I went for a walk/run in Riverside park. By the time we got back at around noon, it was 34 degrees, hot and humid.

In this type of weather, what else do you do but lounge and relax? Accompanied by my friend, and Angie's previous roommate, we attempted to take up residence on a grassy knoll in Central Park. The heat soon had us begging not only for the shade, but moreso for 4 pm to hit so that we could take full advantage of Happy Hour. Well, we succumbed to both of these cravings and hit HH and hour early! At 3 pm, we dragged our wilted, sweaty, sunburned bodies into Harry's Burritos on Columbus Ave, hopped on some barstools and ordered a round of Margaritas- rocks & salt.

Once our thirst had been quenched, we had a quick shop around Broadway, Columbus & Amsterdam Aves in the 70's, then headed uptown to Angie's spot. I have to say, though at first I groaned as to the 52 steps required to get to sis' 3rd floor walk-up, they certainly did help to keep me in shape- especially when we had dinner to look forward to!

We started a trend on Friday, one that continue for the rest of my vacay which consisted of a 4 pm power nap. In that kind of weather, and with that much tequila in our bellies, a quick lie-down in front of the AC was necessary!

For dinner, our pal re-joined us and we ordered in from one of their favorite spots; Charm Thai on Amsterdam. We put on some tunes, cracked a bottle of red and went to work making some decisions for dinner. Actually, to be honest, I had no choice in the matter, but was simply told what I would be having for dinner; no complaints here- I trusted the experts, and I was in good hands!

By the time dinner came, about 10 minutes later (those NY delivery guys mean business), we popped the cork on some champagne, deconstructed the vault that were our take-out containers and revelled in the scents of lemongrass, basil and coconut milk. Even the rice smelled amazing!

We got an order of Kee Maow, chicken with flat rice noodles sauteed with basil, tomatoes, onions and chili. Holy heat- this dish was spicy! The chicken was juicy, sweet, and it seared my mouth with its blanket of tomato-chili sauce.

We also got an order of Green curry w/ tofu, coconut milk, bamboo shoots, eggplant, peppers, basil and chilis. I was thrilled with this decision as the mild curry proved to be almost an antidote the red curry's fiery heat. Though the sauce was certainly sweet, it had a light consistency which prevented it from being cloying. The veg itself was crisp, and flavourful adding to the dish's delightfully fresh profile. I was also happy with Angie's choice of going all out vegetarian by adding tofu to the mix. Being a devout carnivore, I never go this route, but the tofu's meaty yet silky consistency added a nice addition of to the dish.

All praise for the curries aside, this dining experience was all about the curry puffs. These treats were foreign to me. I thought that with the amount of Thai and Indian food I 've tried, I would have come across these goodies before, yet this was my first encounter with the concept. And the concept is this; warm, deep-fried pillows of crack. Yup, that's right- from my bite I had almost a drug-like addiction to these suckers.

The flaky, buttery pastry was filled with a mixture of minced chicken, potatoes, onions and a sweet curry that tasted more dessert-like than appy. Served with a contrasting vinaigrette-based dipping sauce of cool cucumber and spicy red onion, a mere mouthful of the pastry and filling lead me to a near-euphoric state. YES, they're really THAT good.

Given my epicurean curiosity, I quickly googled Curry Puffs and found that they're a Malaysian dish. I found a recipe, directions and additional info on the Rasa Malaysia website that I intend to make as soon as is humanly possible!

And so, we finished the last few drops of champagne and sat out on the terrace to digest. It was actually fun to stay in and enjoy the benefits of delivery; no dressing up, no subway, no over-priced bottles of wine and my bed just three feet away. All-in-all, a great night IN in NYC.