my birthday… because i’m fat edition!

celebrated my 28th birthday with the bf and suzette (it was hers earlier this month and it was a great time to celebrate being march babies).

she told us about this new, hip jamaican joint down on w. houston and sullivan called miss lily’s. owned by the same people who run some of my personal fav’s: la esquina’s downstair lounge (and taqueria upstairs), cafe select, and the box. in time i’m sure this place will become one of those “must be hot” or “must be someone” to get in. but who knows, maybe not! i’m just happy to have  been able to try it before the “it” crowd rushed in lol.

you walk into a very retro, caribbean inspired cafe. the colors are charming, the layout is reminescent of janet jacket’s “someone to call my lover” music video, but with less vibrancy and more cutesy pales. the servers and hostesses were all adorable in their retro get-ups.

now, living in brooklyn around flatbush, i KNOW my caribbean foods (esp the bf who thinks he IS jamaican), so i was excited to try miss lily’s take on the taste.

my observation?

• the cocktails were WONDERFUL (i can’t remember which we ordered, but we had a few shots and suzette had 2 very tasty cocktails).
• the ceviche we ordered was interesting. i don’t think they marinated the red snapper long enough with the rest of the ingredients, but i still inhaled it lol. the coconut milk was a nice touch.
• the ackee dip with plaintain chips were pretty good. reminded me of hummus but the chips didn’t taste too plaintany to me =(
• the shrimp – GAH! yes, that hit it on the spot! not too spicy, just right and still juicy!
• jerk chicken – i loved the chutney that was served with it (was it chutney? lol). the chicken itself was grilled and jerked to perfection. a little on the spicy side however… beware!
• steamed red snapper and the fried red snapper – both of these were fine, however, bones bones bones bones…. way too many to pick through to thoroughly enjoy the dish.
• then we ordered 3 desserts: cake of the day was carrot – YES YES YES! banana pudding, the banana was very faint unfortunately. and a guinness ice cream float – WTH?! lol i don’t like guinness but the bf and suz ate it all and loved it =)

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all in all, i had a wonderful experience and time at miss lily’s. the vibe was great, the food was good, and the drinks were AMAZING. i just hope it doesn’t become one of those “too cool for school” spots like the jane hotel… i’d still highly recommend it to everyone to try and see for yourselves, but then i’ll tell you to go to negril in the west village for a more authentic, yet classy jamaican experience =)

a half eaten ackee dip w/ plaintain chips

middle quarters peppered shrimp

jerk chicken

whole snapper

hellshire style fried whole fish

banana pudding

carrot cake - yummmmm

guinness ice cream float

happy birthday to us! (i'm red)

yea.... we're wearing the same blazer #friends

after chowing down at miss lily’s, we decided to go to suz’s other job at macao for more drinks and desserts! love love LOVE macao – i’ll definitely be going back for a date night. the ambience and decor reminds me of a classy asian brothel from the early 1900’s… you just have to go and you’ll see why. they specialize in portuguese-chinese cuisine and their bar is stocked with delicious liquors… mmmmmm….

suz ordered the mata-hari, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

i got the bashful maiden - yummers!

and we blew out our other candle when presented with our malasadas – portuguese doughnuts – YESSSSS!

THANK YOU SUZ!!!!! RUV YOU!

oh! and this is what miss lily’s kinda reminds me of =)