International Delight Cafe

Seeing as I was out on Long Island again on Thursday, I used my visit as an opportunity to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the area; International Delight Cafe.  I went there all the time growing up, and it was always my go to place for birthday lunches/dinners.  They have a very extensive menu, like you would expect at a diner/cafe, that has a wide range of breakfast items, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, hot dishes, quesadillas and much more.

When you walk in, you are immediately greeted with a huge clear display case filled with over 30 flavors of their homemade ice cream and sorbet.  The decor is very simple no frills, but you don't go there for the ambiance.  In the past I have tried the salads and pasta dishes, but my go-to dish that I pretty much get every time is the Grilled Chicken on a bun with lettuce and tomato, and it comes with their thick-cut fries.  I also get honey mustard on the side to put on my sandwich and to dip my fries in. While that may sound kind of weird, you should just try it and you will understand. I don't know what they put in their honey mustard, but it is so much better than any other honey mustard I have had.   My sister always gets the grilled shrimp on a bun, and gets it with sweet potato fries.  I know that you are probably wondering what could be so great about such simple sandwiches, but it just tastes better than other grilled chicken sandwiches.  It comes with 3 huge pieces of chicken on the sandwich, so I always take the other two pieces to go.

While they may not have the highest quality food per se, it is just one of those classic neighborhood places that you have many childhood memories at. The service is also super quick, as we were in and out in probably under a half hour!  

The true star of coming here, however, is the desserts.  As I mentioned earlier, they have over 30 flavors of homemade ice cream, and it is so hard to choose because each flavor looks more delicious than the next!  When I was younger, I would always get the bubble gum flavor, which was pink ice cream with actual pieces of chicklets in the gum.  My ritual would then be to pick out all of the gum and save it until I was done with the Ice Cream.  But, seeing as I am a chocolate lover, I shifted my tastes and now my go to flavor is the chocolate chocolate chip.

The ice cream is so rich and creamy, and there are huge chocolate chunks generously spread throughout it (they are more like thick cubes!).  It comes in a cute little glass bowl with a chocolate stick cookie on the side, and you get a very generous scoop.  They have the classic flavors that would expect and the more unique ones like sunset, chocolate marshmallow chunk, mudd and confetti.  If I have had a really good day sometimes I will even get a waffle with a scoop of Ice Cream which I HIGHLY recommend.  I love waffles and ice cream, but it is one of those things that I don't really allow myself to order a lot. 

 Even though I do love the food here, the true reason I come here is for the ice cream.  It is my all time favorite, and it makes the perfect treat!  So, even if you are skeptical about the food here and choose to go to one of the nicer restaurant establishments in Rockville Centre, make sure to come here for dessert.  There is a movie theatre near by and tons of restaurants, so there have been many occasions where I came here with friends late at night to sit down, unwind, and have some dessert!  

Macaron Cafe

Growing up, when I heard the word "macaroon" I thought of the delicious chocolate dipped coconut cookies that were served at a passover seder.  It wasn't until my sister started her first internship in the city across the street from Macaron Cafe that I was introduced to the other macaroon, or more appropriately, the French Macaron.  When I first saw pictures of what it was, it honestly didnt look that good to me.  It looked like a chewy/sugary meringue, not something cakey and fudgy which is what I usually like in a dessert.  After a few times of rejecting them and refusing to try one, I finally caved in and tried a dark chocolate Macaron.  My doubts about Macarons were set aside and I instantly became a fan.  My sister would then occassionally bring me one, and I got to try a wide array of flavors ranging from dark chocolate and peanut butter to nutella and chocolate coconut.  While I thought they were delicious, I still never really ate them too often unless my sister brought me one.

So, as I have mentioned in previous posts, my sister and I both started weight watchers in January and her visits to Macaron Cafe became nonexistent.  As one of her milestone weight goals, she decided that we would go to Macaron Cafe and share her favorite sandwich and then each get some macarons.  After months of waiting, today was finally the day we got to celebrate ate Macaron Cafe.

I have never had lunch there, but she was always a fan of their sandwiches.  Her favorite one that we ended up sharing was the Normandy.  The sandwich comes with brie, apple, raisins, lettuce, and french mustard on a baguette, but we changed it a little and got grilled chicken and no brie.

Overall, the sandwich is just as good as it sounds.  There is equal ratios of each ingredient so that none of them are overpowering.  The apples add a nice tang and crunch to the sandwich, and the raisins add a touch of sweetness.  My favorite part was the french mustard, which reminds me a bit of honey mustard  but more sharp.  The bread was also good, but I must warn you that it is very crunchy/chewy so you have to dig your teeth in and put a lot of effort into taking a bite.  I always like when the bread is a little tough, though, because then it takes longer to eat and it feels more filling.  

After the sandwich, I of course had to have a macaron.  I was a little disappointed that today they weren't carrying either of my favorite flavors, dark chocolate or nutella.  I quickly got over it, and settled on mocha which is another great flavor.  Since it was my sister's reward, she ended up getting an assortment of 6 that consisted of passion fruit (2), lemon, caramel, pistachio, and espresso (clearly we have very different tastes in macarons!).  

The mocha flavor was delicious!  The outer shell of the macaron was nice and hard, and right when you bite into it you immediately taste the soft cakey layers and the fudgy filling.  The coffee flavor came through nicely, but the chocolate flavor was definitely dominant, which is how I prefer it.  My favorite part is the filling because it is nice and rich.

I don't eat macarons very often because, while they are delicious, there are many deserts that I prefer, like cupcakes or ice cream.  That being said, the macarons from Macaron Cafe are really delicious, and I highly recommend them.  Even if you are a skeptic at first like I was, just give it a try and I'm sure you will change your mind.