Cafe Bench Experience Review

Ever since last year, my Facebook news feed has had photos of delicately made crepes, mugs of warm latte all from the same cafe popping out ever so often from different friends. The cute plate decor, scrumptious looking crepes (my favorite dessert, can you tell?) had enticed me. I quickly messaged one of the friend, asking her to tell me where this hidden gem was - Cafe Bench. I bookmarked it as my must visit place, even though I had no clue where it was.

Having finally found the location and time to drive a bit further down Northern Boulevard, the cafe has really met my expectations. Stepping in was like stepping into a picnic ground. To represent their name, they had a bench with Cafe Bench painted on the top along their wide windows, allowing the warm sunlight to fill their space. By it, was lots of thoughtfully placed decor - plants, birdhouses, antique car and plane models on a cozy fireplace.

I would like one in my house please!

My favorite was the tree sprouting at the center of store up into the ceiling, with little light bulbs strung amongst the faux cherry blossoms, creating an enchanted setting. It almost felt like I fell into a KPOP MV (hence the way I decided to film this video). To complete this whimsical feeling, the staff had bowler hats paired with plaid shirts.

Even late in the afternoon, the cafe was packed with groups of friends, chatting away as they enjoyed crepes together, there were only about 3 free tables. Once seated, we took a look at the very extensive menu. There were two - one with only photos of crepes, the names and ingredients, which was very helpful on deciding which crepe to get. The other, had the product names and prices. Price ranged from $7.50 to $11.00 on crepes, drinks $2.45 to $4.75 (depending on type and size), salads $8.00, and cold desserts $4.50 to $4.75. Although they were in Flushing, their prices were closer to city prices however the portions was really filling.

After ordering, we were given with a buzzer that tells us when to go back to the counter to claim our food.

I picked the Pomodoro (the name for the sauce used), a savory crepe that tasted like an Italian pizza with an Asian twist, made up of tomato, onion, garlic sauce, spinach, white mushroom, provolone and marinated grilled chicken. It was the perfect blend of flavors, and the crepe's skin itself was just like the French ones I've had, soft and thin.

The oolong latte had just a hint of sweetness, but didn't take away from the oolong leaves' aroma. The frothy milk skimmed the top, but was light and not nauseating like some lattes I've had.

In need of some caffeine, I got the Mocha latte, an esspresso with a hint of sweet chocolate. They drew a beautiful daisy flower latte art, which slowly transformed into a face as we sipped on it.

Beef skillet is the marrying of Korean marinated beef with French pastry, accompanied by peppers, mushrooms and cheese. The light soy sauce was slightly sweetened, really catering to my taste.

Mamas savory crepe appeared to be drizzled with chocolate, but surprisingly it was balsamic vinaigrette over a classic ham and Swiss cheese crepe.

Elvis dessert crepe is a blend of peanut butter, almond and fresh banana slices making it perfect for nut lovers.

Cafe Bench is definitely a cafe to go to! The atmosphere is really relaxing, and the food was as delicious as the photos I've seen. To me, it's better than the French ones I've had since they did cater the taste to Asians. All the ingredients tasted fresh and worked together like perfection. I'm really craving it again now... Visit them at 19407 Northern Blvd, Flushing, NY 11358. Yelp them here.

Big Bear Bubble Tea & Crepe Elmhurst Review

A new cafe popped up in Elmhurst. I walked past it frequently on errands, and wanted to try it out as it seemed really cute (bears <3!!). So finally, I dragged my bestie Katherine with me one day to try it out. Since we both loved Panda Cafe, we were sure we would enjoy this cafe as well. Since it's a cute bear cafe, I decided to wear this cat headband I bought but never wore. Don't judge me :P

Big Bear Bubble Tea's environment is nice and cozy, making it a great spot for hanging out with friends. However, there is only four tables so it's quite small, but the cute atmosphere and interior decorations make up for it. The yellow and cream color scheme works well with the grassy wall decor. This is their second shop, their main shop is in Woodside, which is bigger. 

How their table look and size comparison. It's a bit small, but the color and style went well with the rest of the interior.

On previous days, I didn't see any customers but since the weather was nice today they had quite few in waves. We waited a bit until it cleared out and had only one customer left, the staff's friend. There was only one staff making the wait time was a bit longer. That's why but the time we got our drinks, it was not hot anymore since she had to make that and the crepes herself.  She says usually there's two of them when the weather gets warmer. She was very nice and helpful with our questions, and handled the customer traffic well. It was pretty clean since customers trash their own paper utensils and cups.

Drink Menu

The price is average for the neighborhood. You can also order to go as we saw a few customers did. They had a lot of different flavors and toppings for the drink menu. They also had hot and cold drinks, depending on your preference. The cold drinks came in two sizes, whereas the hot only had one. Their cup holder is super cute (see image below!)

So many choices, what to choose!?

There were many choices for the sweet crepes, and a few special savory crepes. I went with the Almond choco banana and opted out of the whip cream. I didn't taste the almond much since it was crushed, however there was a good amount of chocolate. The few banana pieces were thinly sliced so I wished they could've put a bit more in. Beware however, towards the end the chocolate started dripping out of the paper holder.

To see the insides better, watch the video!

The crepes were placed in a triangular paper holder to hold it's cone shape, and were more of the crunchy type on top, like a fortune cookie or French cookie. As we got to the center, it became softer and chewier. I actually really liked the texture of mine when it got to that point, maybe because I am more used to softer crepes.

Katherine ordered the Strawberry custard without whip cream, but they were out of custard so she replaced it with Nutella. However, there was only a thin layer of Nutella so she thought they could've put a bit more to balance out the strawberries. There was a lot of strawberries and tasted fresh with a mixture of sweet and a bit of tartness. They were cut in good sizes with no big pieces. However, towards the center, Katherine had to take it out of the holder. It was probably because we let the crepe sit in the holder for too long and got soft and stuck to the paper. It would've been easier to eat if it was on a plate instead.

Katherine ordered the honey milk tea and it tasted exactly as it sounded. The milk was frothy and had just the right amount of sweetness. Although it was nothing special, it tasted good and went well with the crepe.

I just wanted to do Tao's aegyo pose...

I ordered Matcha green tea and asked for no sugar. She said it would be bitter but was only bitter at the end because it was either not mixed well or the powder settled by the time I got it. It was sweet with only a small hint of matcha taste, more towards the bottom. The sweetness, really reminds me of the green tea mochi I had at Haru Sushi. So it kind of tasted like green tea fragrance, I won't be getting this again but really want to try their Thai Iced tea next time. Also, there was no froth in my tea.

Overall its a cute cafe that I would bring my friends to try different drinks since they had so many flavors and toppings to choose from. If you're hungry, you can pair your drinks with one of their many crepes, or their hot buns with dipping sauce that I really want to try next! You can visit them on Yelp and their website. Their address for this 8115 Broadway, Queens, NY 11373.

Ok here is a normal picture of me... sorry for the puke inducing photos before XD

(Disclaimer: This review is our honest opinions, we bought the food & drinks ourselves.)

Bradelis New York Lingerie Fashion Week 2014 Show

Bradelis returns with their new fashion show to kick start Lingerie Fashion Week 2014! Held at a different venue this year, we get to enjoy the city lights on the 14th floor as we await the fashion show. They also had a lot more booths by the reception where you can check out products from Shibue Couture, Soak (hand wash detergent), boudoir photography, Monster Always,and a photobooth provided by Always. I'll talk about all of these in a separate post. Photos are by Judy C Yang & AXL Photography.

I own this bra, and love it! Once at a photoshoot I used it for, the make up artist was gushing at how sexy it was!

Although it was supposed to start at 7:30, they delayed the fashion show to ensure all the guests were checked in and in the show hall. Everyone chatted about excitedly and didn't sit down until the show actually began. I was kind of suprised it began out of no where, there was no signal like in other shows where they would dim the lights and relight to have everyone's attention. However, as soon as the model strutted down, everyone's eyes were peeled to the center.

The opening piece was a ivory bra with black embroidery, making it pop against the model's fair skin. Florals of all kinds, flirty pinks, minty blues, sexy black lace, elegant whites came down the runway in bra and panty sets, babydolls, camis and shapewear. I was very happy to see that they've added in shapewear as it shows the variety Bradelis offers in their stores, though I wish they could've included a bit more and maybe some robes. Compared to last year's, I think this year's color story was much more cohesive and looked really nice together. Last year had orange, purple, reds, hot pinks, browns, it was a bit all over the place. This year also had me lusting for the minty blue bra set! The color is really gorgeous! It's also great that they kept all the makeup, heels and hair the same for all models, though I wish they would've put the model's hair to the back so it's not blocking parts of the bra.

Going on my wishlist! :)

Besides having a variety of garments, they also had a variety of models - tall, short, skinny, toned, brunettes, blondes, and different bust sizes. Although some were smaller than others, each model's bust shape was perfect thanks to Bradelis' bra's shaping function. I know since I own some as well ;) What's great is that they all had different personalities as well, so it wasn't clones marching down the runway. Some girls wore a sweet smile, some were flirty as they winked at us, and some were just so sultry! I was just a bit disappointed that they didn't include any Asian models since they are a Japanese company, a lot of their customers are Asians looking to adjust their bust. It would be nice to show how their bras work just as well on Asians, as it did for the Caucasian models.

I overheard a girl point out how the back of the panties was very low compared to other brands. This was because of Bradelis' shaping purposes! It helps lift the bottom, and also panties that have much lower leg line like their's are almost seamless when you wear tight dresses as compared to bikini cuts. So although the back might look for more older customer, the front's design is very beautiful with their intricate lace and details matching their bras.

When the show was over, we were all waiting for the presentation but none of the models came out, so we all just crowded around the runway entrance taking pictures with the Bradelis sign.

I thought my dress was fitting for this runway show :P

It wasn't until everyone went back to the reception hall that I realized all the photographers were gathered around in another room. That's where the models raised up on pedestals in a V formation for us to photograph and have a closer look of the pieces. This is something I really enjoy about lingerie fashion show as opposed to those sportswear - we get a closer look at the pieces because when it comes down the runway it happens so fast we can't take in all the details.

My favorite model out of all of them, she's so elegant yet sexy!

Overall it was a great success just like last time, everyone talked about it excitedly afterwards. It was also great how the staff that helped me out on my last few visits at the shop remember me and chatted with me. Talk about great customer service! Looking forward to see them again in summer's Lingerie Fashion week!

You can visit their Facebook page here for more info!

NYC Restaurant Week - Haru Sushi Lunch

Restaurant week in NYC is back! Or should I say Restaurant 3 weeks? This time around, they extended the week so it begins on February 17 and ends March 7. We get to dine at popular NYC restaurants for $25 three course lunch, or $38 for dinner.

My friend Michelle and I decided to try a Japanese one first, and chose Haru Sushi located in Union Square, perfect for us to walk off our meal by shopping afterwards ;)

We both wanted to try the Tuna Tataki and King Crab Dumplings for their appetizer, so we decided to get one of each to share. The sauce was good, the tataki itself was pretty good too though I wish it can be a bit less dry/hard. The avocado was fresh, and the presentation was very nice overall. The dumplings' skin texture was more chewy, which was a nice surprise as it worked very well! However, the filling itself tasted more like shrimp than king crabs, but was very good nonetheless. I liked the presentation as well, it came in a steamed basket rather than just on a plate.

Again when choosing we were both stuck on what to pick, so we picked two to share. I heard their spicy tuna was good, so we had to choose Samarui, which came with 3 rolls - spicy tuna, crunchy salmon and yellowtail jalapeno. (If you wanted it with brown rice, it would be $3 extra) I was a bit terrified to bite into the yellowtail jalapeno, thankfully they removed any traces of seeds so it was not burning, but rather a nice hint of spice. The spicy tuna was the better out of the three as it had more flavor, but all three wasn't as flavorful as other sushi restaurants, nor as fresh tasting. They also could've worked on the presentation for this dish.

As for our second choice, we were about to go for the garlic shrimp but when we saw another table order the lunch box, we were sold. For the lunch box, we chose salmon teriyaki and it came with shrimp tempura and California roll. The waitress didn't ask which side I wanted, and I forgot so I didn't get the tuna roll instead. I guess it was better off, as the tuna roll from the other entree wans't the best, at least I like the freshness of the avocado in the California roll. The teriyaki sauce was good, but again I prefer my fish more tender, this was more dry/hard. However, the shrimp tempura was really good!! I love that they put carrot, onion and peas (? we're not too sure) into the batter, it's a unique type of tempura and the sweetness of carrot and onion really worked well! Loved it.

Then came dessert! I love mochi ice cream, however for some reason these didn't work very well for me. Upon biting into the green tea, it was more like fragrance than fragrant green tea. The red bean tasted very artificial as well, so I believe both were loaded with artificial flavors. The skin was also a bit too chewy and took too long to chew so towards the end I just started scooping the ice cream out instead.

Although the food was a hit and miss, the waitress was very nice and the food came out quite promptly, with minimum wait time. We asked for green tea, but didn't know it was an additional charge as most Japanese restaurants serve it free, so just a tip for anyone who is going to go.

They do offer $20 birthday certificate here when you join their rewards program, so I think it would be more worth it to go then. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't be returning to Haru Sushi, BUT might try their Broadway location since the interior looks really pretty. Unfortunately I'm a sucker for beautiful interiors, hehe...

From my restaurant week experience last year, I prefer the taste of Morimoto. Even though it was a much smaller portion, the cod was really tender and delicious!

Since everyone loved my earrings, I thought I should share my look of the day here~ I love sweaters with embellishments as well recently.

Then afterwards, we raided Whole Foods :P She found some cute cocktail tomatoes, which she pointed out came in a more environmental friendly packaging. Not only was it green, it was a very cute packaging that stood out amongst its competitors. So good job! If I wanted tomatoes, I would've purchased that one. But at the end, I went home with a aged white cheddar puffs because I'm a fattie and need my fix of snacks!