Today, Chris planned yet another surprise food crawl for us, and this time it was to explore the area that is Spanish Harlem. And we had a surprise guest come with us, too: my friend who has been staying with us. She thought about spending the day preparing to move into her new place, but she realized she really wanted to take advantage of the weekend and “just have fun,” so she came with us. We went to a number of delicious spots, but for me, the biggest highlights were the Tres Leches Cafe and Lupita’s Restaurant. Tres Leches Cafe literally has just two items of various flavors on their menu: tres leches (or “three milk”) cakes or flan. And the flavors could not have been more mouth watering: cuatro leches (“four milk”), guava, passion fruit — HEAVEN! We had the guava since Chris was craving guava, and it was just lick your plate good — super milky, creamy, and indulgent. Chris noted how much I liked it because I went quiet while eating it. Some food needs no words. Lupita’s Restaurant nearby was also notable for both the dishes we shared: the birria tacos (beef) and also the sopa verde res (green beef soup). Ever since I had this incredible meat and vegetable soup in Puebla back in 2010, I realized how under-appreciated and unknown Mexican cuisine is for their soups. This soup was reminiscent of that richly flavored soup at that food stall back in Puebla — layered with flavors of many vegetables, meat, and with a nice kick that lingers.

This was definitely a good eating day. But it was also nice to have my friend come join us because I know that outings like this are not normal or even remotely typical for her, as her former partner would never be interested in a neighborhood exploration or a food crawl at all. We gave her a new experience today of a neighborhood she never goes to.