Category Archives: New York City Manhattan

Feb14

Saffron Garden: 304 E. 78th st. NY NY

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I crave Indian food just a few times per year. It’s not really my favorite, but once in a while I get an intense hankering that just won’t go away until I satiate it. Today was one of those days. It just so happened that I was walking past Saffron Garden, hungry and with a craving, and I noticed a Groupon Now deal for pay $6 for $10. As luck would have it, they have a $9.99 lunch special advertised in their window. It was fate indeed.

It was an empty restaurant, which wasn’t off-putting given that it was 3pm,  kind of a weird time for a meal. I sat down and was given a vague idea of what the lunch special included. Frankly, I didn’t really care. I asked if spinach paneer was an option, which it was, and looked forward to whatever else the lunch included as a surprise to come.

It began with a delicious hot and crispy potato/pea samosa with a side of chick peas and the 3 classic sauces that I love. One is a chopped onion mix in a red sauce, one is mainly cilantro and herbs (yum) and one is a sweet brown sauce. I wish I knew more about these and what is in them, I just know they are the common trio at most Indian restaurants and I’m definitely a fan of putting them on everything I’m served.

Next came a basket of naan, a dish of basmati rice, and a dish of spinach paneer. Everything was surprisingly delicious, especially the chunks of cheese in the creamed spinach- YUM. The naan was a bit over-cooked and crispy instead of soft and chewy, but it was great anyway and made a great vessel for my spinach and sauces.

The service was a bit lacking, very slow and he hardly spoke any english. It was also a problem that the waiter TOTALLY didn’t understand how Groupon works- he actually kept saying no no no, it wasn’t good except for dinner- but I showed him that it said clearly that it was valid from noon until 9pm. He persistently asked for my phone number so that his boss could call me later. I insisted that they’d need to speak with Groupon instead and wrote down my coupon number on my check for him. It was a bit annoying, but not a big deal, and certainly not a reason to not return.

If I do end up craving great Indian food at an extremely reasonable price, I will most definitely go back and I’ll probably try ordering delivery in the near future. The rest of the menu looks quite appealing and tempts me to branch out from my normal choices. Mango shrimp? Perhaps next time.

Feb14

Veatery: 1700 2nd ave. NY NY

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It was not an easy day, to say the least. My beloved dog passed away after 12+ years of being my best friend, my buddy, my source of love, affection, laughter and entertainment.

It was 6pm and I’d not eaten all day and my sweet boyfriend insisted that we find some comforting nourishment.

Walking home from the animal hospital, we were near Veatery, which I’d recently read a post about and wanted to try. I thought that a nice, hot bowl of Pho would comfort my empty belly and be a nice distraction from returning home to my eerily quiet apartment.

We were seated immediately and ordered drinks. I am not a big drinker at all, but this day called for a cocktail. A lychee martini was a good, strong choice and helped to dull my sadness just a little bit.

We ordered Pho Bo, sticky rice, BBQ spareribs and mixed dumplings. Nice and carb-y, warm and filling, these all proved to be great choices. The soup was delicious with thin pieces of meat, noodles and a side of mint/basil, sprouts and hoisin. The ribs were full of flavor and crisp edges and were cut into small pieces at our request to make for easier sharing. The sticky rice, one of my favorite foods, helped to add some more substance to the soup which didn’t have quite as many noodles as I would have liked. The dumplings were exceptional. SO fresh and filled with high quality ingredients.

The meal was served  quickly, politely, efficiently and professionally. I was very impressed with this experience overall, especially since good Vietnamese food on the UES is nearly impossible to find. Well, impossible no more. If It was this good on a day when I was this sad, I can only imagine how much I’ll love it when I’m happy. I will definitely be back.

Feb13

Farinella: 1132 Lexington Ave. NY NY

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I was excited to try Farinella for lunch today since I’d just bought a ‘Groupon Now’ deal for it.
I placed my order for pizza that looked lovely and a beet and goat cheese salad and showed them my Groupon when I went to pay for it.
The cashier gave me serious attitude and first said the groupon had expired. Ummm, no it hadn’t. It was a Groupon NOW deal, just bought, and good for today only.
She told me they never signed up for Groupon Now deals and wouldn’t honor it.
Oooookay.
I turned and left.
Too bad too, because I was looking forward to reviewing this place. Oh well. Not going back to pay full price for their overpriced food.

p.s. Yes, I called Groupon and explained what happened. They happily refunded my money and said they’d definitely be looking into it.
I’m guessing Farinella is staffed by a bunch of idiots and/or liars.

Feb5

Ichi Umi: 6 East 32nd st. New York, NY

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If you’re ‘friends’ with me on yelp.com, you’ll know that my username is “Miss. I can eat my weight in sushi”. Ichi Umi is the perfect place for me to prove that fact, and reaffirm that I truly deserve the nickname. Gabriel and I had overheard some people talking about all-you-can-eat crab legs last weekend at brunch, and we craned over to ask them the where/when and how. When they told us about the $31.95 AYCE spread at Ichi Umi, we were totally sold and VERY psyched to check it out. We invited 3 other couples to join us and made reservations for the following weekend.

When we arrived to a crowded little waiting area, we were told that we’d have to wait until our whole party arrived to be seated. We weren’t thrilled about that, but it turned out that once 5 of us were there they ended up leading us to our table. It’s pretty darn noisy in there, and we quickly learned that a table of 8 was not going to have the easiest time conversing. Just a few moments later, when we began our feast, we realized that having perpetually full mouths also didn’t lend themselves to much chatting, so it was all okay.

My first step was to simply survey the block-long buffet to see what I definitely wanted to try, and what I should probably skip. Three different rice choices? Nah. Not worth the stomach space. Beer or sake? Also not worth the precious space as far as I was concerned. Plates and plates of oysters, sushi, sashimi, and crab legs? BINGO. I headed down into sushi/sashimi land to start…as you will see from the one plate pictured. That was my first plate of 5 or so, and the only one that I actually remembered to photograph.

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of fish. It was really quite good, beautifully prepared and very fresh. Especially the salmon and the scallops which were the big standouts to me. Some of the best scallops I’ve had actually- which is saying a lot since they are one of my  favorites.

The restaurant is VERY crowded and so the chefs are constantly turning platters out with newly sliced delicacies on them. The chefs are a real treat to watch, there must be about 30 of them behind the buffet, efficient and precise, and ready to tsk tsk at you if you (shudder) don’t put the tongs back where they belong. (Yes, that happened to me. For shame!) The display of the whole buffet  is impressively clean and organized, with neat labels telling you exactly what everything is.

Knowing that I had an 8 mile run ahead of me the following day (I’m currently in training for the NYC half marathon) I was treating this dinner as a total free-for-all. I indulged every culinary curiosity on that buffet, having small tastes of just about everything, and going back for 2nds of my favorites. Aside from the raw salmon and scallops, those 2nds included the crab legs, the blue point oysters, the various seaweed salads, the Japanese fried chicken, the bok choy and mushrooms dish, and the green tea ice cream. The various gyoza choices were also really tasty and fresh, but since I missed their presence my first time around, I only ended up with enough belly room to have one of each type.

The desserts are only so-so, aside from the mango, green tea and red bean ice creams, so I would recommend skipping them and filling up on seafood instead. Not a hard thing to do. And hey, there’s always room for one more oyster.

Enjoy!

Feb1

Centro Vinoteca: 74 7th ave south. NY NY

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I LOVE when my dear friend Betsy realizes that groupons and other various deals are about to expire and turns to me as her trusty last minute lunch companion. This was a great one, and I was really psyched to be invited.

When I first walked in to Centro Vinoteca, the atmosphere was striking. Lots of clean, white lines, quirky cool chandeliers and huge windows looking out onto 7th ave. Water and bread were brought out immediately and the waiter told us our wine choices. (The deal included 2 apps, 2 entrees and 2 glasses of wine) We both ordered the Sauvignon Blanc and perused the menu while we enjoyed the delicious bread and olive oil.

As always, we decided to share everything. We started with the arugula salad, which in the menu was described as accompanied by pecans, gorgonzola and mission figs, but in reality came with pecans, apples and tomatoes. Hmm. Very tasty, but a bit disappointing that the description was clearly incorrect. I love figs and there were none in sight. If, perhaps, the dressing was where the figs were hidden, I could not detect them at all. The lack of gorgonzola was fine since the other dishes we chose were plenty heavy, but I think they should definitely clarify this salad’s ingredients in the menu. Next we shared the eggplant parmigiana appetizer at the waiter’s suggestion. He was correct, it was indeed wonderful. The eggplant were sliced thinly and not breaded at all which I strongly prefer over heavily breaded and fried eggplant where you can’t even tell what it is. Inside was creamy mozzarella and a light tomato sauce. This was a great dish.

For our entrees we had the gnocchi with bolognese which was awesome. Surprisingly light tasting for such a heavy dish. It was warm, hearty and full of flavor. With a dusting of parmesan on top it left nothing to be desired. We also shared the mushroom and fontina panini which was just slightly too oily, but crisp, melty and full of meaty roasted mushrooms. It was also served with a side of pickles and arugula which we hardly touched since we’d already had plenty of arugula at the start.

Feeling the carb coma setting in, we decided to each order a cappuccino which was a really special treat. I usually only drink coffee drinks with skim or low fat milk, but since they only had whole milk I decided I may as well indulge. After all, this was in lieu of dessert. It was foamy, cinnamony, rich and creamy, exactly as it should be, and was the perfect ending to this Italian meal.

I would absolutely recommend this restaurant to others if you are in the area. The service was excellent, and the lunch crowd was quiet. We were in and out in about an hour, with plenty of time to chat. The only negative was that the menu wasn’t accurate, not only with the salad mess up, but also because something else we initially ordered was no longer available. As far as I’m concerned, those are fairly minor flaws and the fantastic food more than made up for it. Check it out!

Jan21

Cafe Boulud: 20 E. 76th st. New York, NY

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Having been to a wonderful meal at Cafe Boulud in the past, I was really excited to see them on the  list for NYC Restaurant week . For $25, you get a 3 course prix fix meal at a restaurant that is normally rather astronomically priced. My grandmother lives right around the corner which makes it an ideal spot for a family get together. I’d made a reservation for 6 people a week prior, and called the morning of our lunch to change it to 7 people. I was given a rather odd response of, “We don’t take parties larger than 6 people. Did you already invite the 7th?” When I explained that it was a family gathering and we’d all be coming, she still said it wasn’t something they do. I went on further to say that we are a very petite family and didn’t mind squishing a bit, she went to ask the manager and finally came back with an ‘ok’.

When we arrived and were seated, the bread tray with 3 choices was brought around. The butter roll, the plain roll and sourdough bread. I decided to try all 3 of them and it’s a good thing because It’s basically what ended up making me feel full by the end of our meal. The breads were very good, but nothing to write home about. Next, an amuse-bouche of fried truffle/risotto balls were given to us. Though they were crispy, warm and melty, I couldn’t taste the truffle at all, and they were pretty unremarkable.

I shared all 3 courses with my boyfriend so that we could taste more of what they were offering. We started with the arugula salad with quince and bacon, as well as the fluke carpaccio with jalapeno. The salad was a bit over-dressed for my liking, and it was pretty boring. Just because it’s unique to use quince on top, does not make this interesting enough to win any prizes. The fluke, however, was marvelous. The flavoring of fennel and hot peppers brightened the dish and awakened the mild fish. This was the most noteworthy dish of the day.

For our first entrée we shared the winter squash ravioli with pecans, brown butter and sage. It was sweet and rich, but honestly, I didn’t think it was any more gourmet than the frozen ravioli you can buy from Fresh Direct. Our other entrée, the grouper, was a complete disaster. When I order fish at a high-end restaurant, I expect it to be exquisitely cooked and seasoned. This piece was so over-salted that it was a disaster. Did the chef accidentally spill the salt on top? The collard greens that came with it were also over-seasoned, not to mention cooked into to a soggy pile of mush. It was really kind of awful. I could not eat it and informed the waitress as such. What a disappointment.

The dessert course, as is often the case, redeemed the meal’s shortcomings. We were given a molten chocolate cake for the middle of the table (presumably because of my fish-complaint) and it was delicious. Crusty outer layer and hot, melty, rich interior. A perfect scoop of vanilla bean ice cream sat alongside it making for a lovely presentation. I will never tire of molten chocolate for dessert, passe as it may be. We also shared the chocolate mousse with pear compote and hazelnut ice cream. It came enrobed in a dark chocolate ganache layer and the inside was creamy and decadent, with the pears as a lovely unexpected touch. Finally, I moved on to the butterscotch gateaux with marscapone and devil’s food. YUM. It had little crispy bits on the cake and it was impossible to not finish it in 30 seconds flat. By then, even though we were totally stuffed but the waiter came by with little buckets of mini Madeleines and we managed to make a little bit more tummy space for them. Worth every confectioner’s sugar topped bite.

Overall, this meal was a let down. My expectations were high, true, but that’s because I’ve had such great experiences there in the past. I feel that the patrons who order from the restaurant week menu  do not really get a fair representation of what Boulud can do. Not only was the food only so-so, the portions were so itsy bitsy tiny that if I hadn’t indulged in all 3 types of bread and all of the extra desserts, I would have left still feeling very hungry. That’s not the way it should be at all! At their regular prices, this may be my last visit to Cafe Boulud.

Jan16

Seahorse Tavern: 303 E 85th st. New York, NY

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A couple of months ago, my wonderful boyfriend gave me the most awesome shock of my life with a surprise 35th birthday party at Seahorse Tavern. I was so overwhelmed that day that I totally forgot to write about this awesome restaurant and figured that we’d just have to return another time to do so. When we found a 50% off deal on Scoutmob, we jumped at the chance to go for brunch this weekend.

I’d called for a reservation the previous day, but no one returned the call. When I called again in the morning, I was told that the messages were never listened to but that we could come in whenever. Ok. I guess reservations aren’t necessary. When we arrived, there were only a couple of tables full and we had our pick of spots. We chose a 2 top next to the window in the corner and the waitress brought over our menus and water right away.

Brunch includes a choice of entree and a drink  (bloody mary, wine, beer, or mimosa) for $14.95- it’s a fantastic deal. We remember loving the fried oysters appetizer from the party and even though they weren’t on the brunch menu, they were happy to serve them to us as our starter. YUM. SO good. Little toasted sesame seeds in the batter make for an interesting flavor and crunch on these perfectly cooked oysters. They each sit in their own shells atop a lovely tartar sauce and it’s all presented on tiny mounds of crushed sea salt. Great presentation, even better taste.

Next I had the goat cheese, arugula, mushroom omelette with home fries. This is a gorgeous, fluffy, omelette, cooked to perfection with a creamy, cheesy, mushroomy interior. My only complaint about it is that I only saw one tiny piece of arugula in there- it was mostly cheese and mushrooms. Still delicious, just not as green as I’d hoped. The home fries were wonderful- not greasy, cooked just right, and a bit spicy with various peppers mixed in. The bloody Mary is one of the best ones I’ve ever had- and was even better once I asked for a few extra olives. Gabriel ordered the Eggs Benedict over fresh crab meat and it was amazing. The crab was so fresh, flaked and chilled and piled underneath the most beautifully poached eggs. We both pretty much licked our plates clean.

The service at Seahorse is casual, low-key and friendly and the food is fabulous. I love the mix of a casual, laid back atmosphere with somewhat fancy food. This is definitely one of my favorite neighborhood spots and we’ll be going back again soon. Try it out!

Jan13

Saigon Market: 91 University Place. NY NY

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I’ve walked past Saigon Market a bunch of times and never realized how enormous it is inside. My friend and I were seated right away and given menus and water. Even though the space is cavernous, it has a strangely cozy, warm feel to it anyway. It must be the lighting- which I really liked. The fixtures look sort of like little, golden, hot air balloons. Very cute.

The menu had a lot of great options with just about all of the lunch deals under $10. I scanned the menu and chose the basil chicken with brown rice.  My friend ordered dumplings and vegetarian spring rolls for herself. I had one of her spring rolls and thought it was pretty good, though kind of boring. I did really like the light, peanut-y sauce she ordered instead of the plum sauce that usually comes with it. My entree was great. Nice, large slices of white meat chicken, an assortment of veggies, and tons of basil. The portion size was perfect for me, as I didn’t really want to be taking leftovers with me since I wasn’t going straight home.

Overall, I think this is a convenient and thrifty place to meet someone for lunch and if I’m in the area I might go back. I’d like to try the Pho next time I’m there. Someone next to me was slurping down on some and It looked and smelled delicious. I’m slightly hesitant about ordering Pho from anywhere since my standards are crazy high and nothing really compares to: http://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-501-east-hartford#hrid:cT65iBDIPa7vY2LEC7gAEA/src:self

Hmmm. Great. Now I want to rent a car to drive up to East Hartford for a bowl.

Jan9

Rocco’s Italian Sausages & Philly Cheese Steaks: 5010 Northern Blvd (in front of Home Depot) Long Island City, NY

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This is a perfect example of why I run. I had started the day off on the right track. I had my typical breakfast which consists of a banana with a little peanut butter and a coffee with skim milk and honey. Lunch was Chobani greek yogurt, topped with blueberries, strawberries and Vanilla Almond Special K cereal. So far, so good.

Gabriel and I had to stop by his place in Queens that afternoon, and then had some errands to run at the Home Depot near there. When we finished up and we heading out, we noticed a tiny, little building attached to Home Depot that smelled marvelous. Rocco’s. He had noticed it a million times but never tried it. I, however, was very intrigued and had to look it up.  A quick Iphone search on Yelp made it clear that this 4 star Philly cheesesteak and sausage place couldn’t rightfully be skipped over.

We went in and scanned the menu.

It was aaaammmmmmaaaazing. Worth every ridiculous carb, calorie and fat gram. Hot and melty, the cheese was the perfect creamy compliment to the thin slices of steak and veggies. The hot sauce was a little too close to eating fire for my taste, but Gabriel slathered it on his half. This sandwich is no joke and it kind of makes me wish I had to go to that Home Depot more frequently. My waistline, however, thinks once in a very blue moon is plenty.On the recommendation of the very full-of-pride people working there, we ordered a large classic cheesesteak with onions, peppers and a side of hot sauce for us to share. This sandwich and a bottle of water cost about $11, so not dirt cheap. As we were about to find out, it turned out to be ohhhhh so worth it.

So, yes. I will be running extra miles this week to make up for it. I will also be loving every minute of it with the delicious memory still lingering. Check this place out and then thank me 🙂

Jan3

Club A Steakhouse: 240 E. 58th St. New York NY

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My friend and I had a prix fix dinner deal for 2 from Living Social that we finally got to use tonight. It was $69 and included 2 apps, 2 sides, 2 entrees and 2 desserts. What a great deal! I walked in and was greeted by B, sitting at the bar, sipping a glass of red wine. It was a beautiful atmosphere to walk into with an abundance of warm red fabrics, candlelit tables and red roses. The host asked if we’d like to be seated downstairs or upstairs, and told us that upstairs had banquets instead of tables. Wanting the cozy warmth of a booth, we opted to go up. What a great decision. As soon as we got up there we noticed the red quilted ceiling and the huge window looking out on twinkling, white, Christmas lights in the trees outside. We settled into our seats and I ordered myself a glass of Malbec, my favorite red wine.

A basket of lovely rosemary bread, onion bread, and breadsticks were brought out along with butter and ice water. The waiter brought us our menus a few minutes later. We had about 6 choices in each section- better than most prix fixes I’ve seen, and just about everything sounded appealing. B and I are EXCELLENT at sharing and we always seem to agree on the same dishes which, along with a easy, lively conversation, makes us perfect dining partners. We opted to share everything.

We started with the caesar salad and the fried calamari. The salad was covered in delicious shavings of parmesan. The homemade dressing that came with it was perfect with just enough anchovies to give it great flavor- but not totally too many which can be overpowering. The calamari was ok- a little too breaded for my taste, but nice and crunchy and accompanied by an awesome spicy marinara.

Next we shared the hanger steak and the filet mignon and both were cooked to absolute perfection. The filet was SO buttery and tender and actually had a lot of flavor. We expected that of the hanger but not the filet which I often find is sort of flavorless but a great consistency, so that was a pleasant surprise. The hanger was our favorite though. It was still very tender but also extremely juicy and flavorful. It was cooked to the exact specification that we requested, medium rare. For our sides we asked for the mashed potatoes and the truffle infused creamed spinach and were delighted when they surprised us with the mac and cheese as an additional side. Yes, surely a nice, light dinner. Haha. The dishes were all so generous that I was able to bring home some of everything to enjoy the following day. All of the sides arrived in their own little crocks, an adorable presentation of delicious and hearty food. What a great meal for a cold, winter night with a dear friend.

Our desserts were pretty good but not outstanding. Then again, that might have just been because we were already stuffed to the brim. The tiramisu was fine, but not terribly exciting. The cream puffs were tasty, but boring, simply filled with cream and covered in more cream. It definitely could have used some berries to brighten it up a bit. Those were the only 2 choices for dessert and I was pretty unimpressed with them considering the quality of everything else. No chocolate option? No ice cream, sorbet, pie or fruit option? That was the only part of the meal that wasn’t awesome.

The only other thing that I think is worth a mention is the service. Although they were very professional, polite and friendly, they were slow as mud. We didn’t really mind since we wanted to chat and they didn’t seem to care if we lingered for hours, but it would have been nice if they checked in on us a few times during our meal and in between courses. We literally sat for an hour sipping the end of our glasses of wine waiting for the check and eventually flagged someone down to bring it over. Again, I’m not sure that this is a negative…just something worth mentioning.

Overall, I really liked Club A. I thought the atmosphere was incredibly romantic and sexy and would be a great place for a date on Valentines’ Day or another romantic occasion. I will certainly consider a repeat visit…especially if they run another fantastic deal like this one!

ADDENDUM!!

Gabriel and I returned to Club A to celebrate Valentine’s Day and WOW, what a special evening it was. 

There was SO much food we practically rolled out of there at the end of the night, but the overindulgence was worth every single calorie and  I can’t possibly say enough good things about the way we were treated and the food we consumed.

We were treated like absolute royalty by the staff and Bruno, the owner. First, a bottle of champagne and a basket of bread was brought over. Next a complimentary bottle of wonderful red wine was elaborately decanted for us.

Two of the largest shrimp cocktail were our next surprise, YUM!

We shared a caeser salad and a garden salad and I must rave for a moment about the outstanding caeser dressing. It was thick and creamy, with a lovely anchovy flavor and a hint of parmesan. One of the best caesers I’ve ever had.

We were then surprised yet again with a treat of lobster ravoili. The chunks of lobster inside were so decadent and fresh, this might have been my favorite part of the meal. At this point, we already felt SO full, but there was still a ton of food coming so we prepared ourselves. I began thinking that my skintight pencil dress might not have been the best choice for my outfit.

Out came our hanger steak and NY strip, cooked to perfection with the perfect amount of pink in the center. The outside was crisp and had so much flavor and juice inside…we were in meaty heaven. We also shared 2 wonderful sides of truffle oil creamed spinach and amazing mashed potatoes. We took some of the steak home and began thinking that perhaps we’d opt to take our desserts home too… Just then, out they arrived before we even ordered them! A PLATTER of sweets for us to squeeze into our bellies. It’s funny how there always seems to be just a little more room when you absolutely need it. We shared a gorgeous array of chocolate heart-sharped cake, cream puffs AND tiramisu and were blown away by the beautiful presentation of fruit that arrived  shortly after. WOW.

This was seriously the most food I’ve put away in one sitting. I was still full the next morning! Thank you SO much to Arben, Bruno and the whole staff at Club A. This was a night we will cherish in our memories forever.