Getting Cosi with Republic

Hey Food Fanatics!
The days are slowly winding down to the official days of fall, so I thought what better than to drag my friend down to Union Square to indulge ourselves into some good hot broth noodles. Republic is an amazing Asian restaurant with a cool twist: They make their noodles fresh daily. The dishes are inexpensive and leave you with the warm, satisfied feeling without that food coma of other foods. First, we started off with the tequila mojitos, a twist of a mango mojito because of the different juices such as orange and lime with a kick of tequila. There was no specific reason to cheers or celebrate, except that we got to drink these, delicious (and very strong) drinks which were $10 a glass. Glancing over the menu, I always rush to the broth noodles section because I love the texture of the fresh rice noodles smothered in a hot broth. My favorite is the seafood broth noodles, which comes with noodles, shrimp, scallops, watercress, carrots and bean sprouts for a mere $9 and it never fails to fill me up! The watercress definitely gave the broth a bit of a kick which makes it my favorite dish on the menu. Republic also serves pad thai and many rice dishes so people who are wary of the broth noodles definitely have other options. Besides the great food, the atmosphere is great. The dim indoor lighting and clean structured wooden tables along with the low yet adrenaline pumping music keeps the crowd satisfied. Republic is located at 37 Union Square West (by 16th Street) so hurry up before fall begins so you can sit outside, slurp on some noodles and enjoy the beautiful view of Union Square which is directly across the street!

The dinner might have been over but I knew there was one place I needed to head over to before the night was over. To make a day out of a Union Square trip to Republic, you can run over to Trader Joe's and stock up on $2 Buck Chuck, their delicious cheap bottles of wine (well $3 in NYC because the city is so damn expensive) or go shopping at the various retail stores in the area. However, I opted for dessert. Most of you have probably passed a Cosi (on 13th and Broadway)or two in your lifetime while wandering aimlessly through the city. They are seen merely as something to overtake the corporate lunch crowd with soups and sandwiches. What a lot of people don't realize is they have the best dessert ever: S'MORES! There's nothing like a fun way to celebrate the start of fall than sitting down to two cups of hot chocolate (with whipped cream, of course) and some s'mores for two.
The s'mores come complete with their own fire pit, Hershey bar, graham crackers enough for two s'mores each, and lots of mellows! The only thing you have to do is the roasting.
With the s'mores package for two at $7.50 and each cup of hot chocolate ranging at around $3, dinner and dessert altogether leaves me more than enough money for lunch tomorrow. What better way to stay warm and have fun with friends or even a date and say cheers to fall?

Until next time, Happy Eating!

Bianca.