Category Archives: Manhattan

Feb20

Hunan Delight: 1469 York Ave, NY NY

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It is really ridiculous that it’s taken me this long to write up a review for Hunan Delight. I’ve been coming here for 5 years since it’s at the top of the block that I live on and it’s WAY better than average chinese food. The Japanese food is pretty darn good too- but I usually stick with Chinese.

If you live on the UES and haven’t ordered in or dined here, you are truly missing out. My boyfriend and I are regulars for both delivery and dining in- we go almost weekly. It’s best to eat there because you get FREE WINE with dinner. The wine is actually pretty good too! When you get delivery, it’s super fast and hot- but the crunchy noodles and duck sauce are not as good as the ones you get when you eat there. The food is plentiful, inexpensive and reliably good.

Today we shared the moo shi vegetables with pancakes as well as the healthy steamed shrimp option with 6 vegetables (mushrooms, black mushrooms, jicama, carrots, baby corn, and bok choy) and sauce of our choice (garlic). As always, the food was great quality, served quickly and with friendly banter.

We often get the healthy steamed choices with either chicken or shrimp and for the price it’s a great deal.  The lunch specials are also an amazing bang for the buck. I recommend the BBQ spareribs, crab rangoon, cashew chicken and juicy dumplings. Everything they make is really surprisingly good. No need to trek down to chinatown!

I will DEEPLY miss Hunan Delight when we move away from NYC next month. I hope you will continue going there on my behalf. BRAVO Hunan, I wish more restaurants up here were as fairly priced and awesome as you.

Feb19

Centolire: 1167 Madison ave. NY NY

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My aunt chose Centolire as the restaurant to celebrate my beloved Grandmother’s 96th birthday in, and what a perfect choice it was. There was an elevator to get to the upstairs dining area, and we were seated at a comfortable table near the windows. The decor is tasteful and cheery with fresh flowers, lots of sunlight streaming in, and orange and gold banquets. The service which was slightly on the formal side, was incredible knowledgable and attentive, save for some empty water glasses towards the end of our meal.

A $25 3 course prix fix was a very reasonable cost for a fine quality meal and the menu was full of so many appealing dishes that we all had a tough time choosing. Luckily for me, my boyfriend and I have very similar taste in food and were happy to share everything, so we were each able to try 6 dishes instead of just 3.

The fresh Italian bread that arrived in a basket alongside delicious olive oil was a good indication of the food to follow. Wonderfully fresh and high quality, the excellent olive oil was clearly carefully selected.

We began with our appetizers: a risotto topped with a bacon wrapped scallop and a baby artichoke, arugula salad with parmesan. Both were fantastic, and even though the one lonely scallop looked like not quite enough to share, it really was. Cooked to perfection and wrapped with a thick slice of bacon, this was amazing on top of the creamy, cheesy risotto and had we opted for the entree sized portion of it, it would have been too much. The salad was simple but fresh and delicious, and the thick slices of parmesan on top were again clearly of high quality.

For one of our entrees we chose the grilled salmon with broccoli rabe, which turned out to be good- but pretty boring. The fish was very fresh and cooked perfectly with a crisp crust. The broccoli rabe had large sliced of roasted garlic and was not at all bitter as it sometimes is. That said, the dish lacked anything exciting or original about it and we were a little disappointed with it’s simplicity.

The ‘strangled priest’ pasta with chicken ragout was a total hit. I’d never had this oddly named pasta before- they were almost like little twisted dumplings and had a great sort of springy consistency to them. The creamy, tomato-y chicken ragout had a similar texture to pulled pork and was something quite different than I’ve had before. I throughly enjoyed this dish and pretty much licked the bowl clean.

Alongside of a delicious cappuccino we shared our 2 desserts. The 2 scoops of gelato were incredible, on one side was pistacho and the other was amaretto flavor. I LOVED the amaretto one and really would have like a giant container of that one to take home. It had little ribbons of the almond cookies going through it and I was pretty much in heaven except that it was gone too quickly. The blueberry and vanilla creme tart turned out to be much more cake-y than tart-y but very good no matter what it was called. It was not too sweet but had a lovely crumbly texture and large fresh blueberries inside.

Overall, I was very pleased with Centolire, especially since the reviews online are kind of mixed and I didn’t go in with terribly high expectations. I would absolutely recommend a visit and think it’s a great choice for a date, a group or even dining alone. When we went, it was a fairly mixed clientele, centering around what seemed to be families and I got the feeling that it’s generally a local Upper East Side crowd. Bravo Centolire!

 

 

Feb19

Popbar: 5 Carmine st. NY NY

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Gabriel and I *almost* ruined our appetites here before going for dinner the other night, but decided to hold off until afterwards. It was the cute storefront that drew us in, and the clever hot chocolate presentation that got us to purchase a cup each. Displayed in the glass case as little chocolate bars on popsicle sticks, the hot chocolate includes one block of milk, dark or white chocolate on a stick and a cup of steamed milk. I had the milk chocolate choice and enjoyed stirring it and letting it melt into the milk. A lick of the chocolate bar gave me a nice, creamy, indulgent treat and my first sip of the drink was warm and cozy. It was a great flavor, not overly sweet, just rich and chocolatey. Yum. The price is on the high side at $3.75 each, but you are kind of paying for the novelty of it. I’m not sure I’d go back, but I really liked the idea of it and plan to make some at home myself with a chocolate bar and milk steamed in my little at-home-frother. Yum. Thanks for the idea!

Feb19

Ido Sushi: 29 7th ave south. NY NY

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It sounded like a great deal. $39 for up to $98 dollars worth of sushi and drinks. The specific details said: 2 glasses of wine or beer, 1 hot or cold appetizer and a sushi/sashimi/maki roll dinner for 2. When we arrived and we seated, the deal seemed to change a bit. First of all, the total was up to $91 worth. The wine or beer was only the ‘house’ type, not what we actually wanted. (and pretty bad, probably from a box) and the appetizers couldn’t exceed $15. When we totaled our meal up it actually came to around $85. Although it was still a nice deal, I did not appreciate that it mysteriously changed from the description and the waitress, quite frankly, was pretty rude and dismissive about it. When I showed her the original offer on my Iphone, she simply said ‘That’s not how we do it, it was a typo”. Oooookay, thanks.

As far as the food goes, we started with the scallops and mushroom appetizer which was tasty, but tiny. If we’d actually paid the full $15 price for it, I would have been very disappointed. The sushi/sashimi/maki roll platter was very good quality, presented quickly and attractively, but really wasn’t as much food as we had expected. We finished everything in about 10 minutes and left with bellies that needed more. We actually ended up hitting another sushi place (Miyabi on West 3rd which is quite excellent, though I did not blog it this time…) a couple of hours later because we were still feeling hungry. Kind of hilarious, but also a ridiculous waste of money that we didn’t really want to spend.

Had this meal been at it’s full price, I would have been appalled. We could have gone to Yuka (one of our favorites uptown that offers a $25 all you can eat deal) and been MUCH happier. As it were, after leaving the 18% tip and tax, this meal cost us about $60 and we were not impressed. Although the atmosphere was cute and cozy, and there was a pretty good live jazz trio playing, the seats were uncomfortable, the food was overpriced and the service was nasty. I would not return.

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.

Jan23

Dumont Burger: 314 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY

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Every eight weeks, my boyfriend I have what we call ‘blood donation and burgers day’. We try to eat pretty healthfully most of the time, so we REALLY look forward to our iron-replenishing meal and often decide well ahead of time where our next burger will take place. This time, we were VERY excited to try the famous burger at Peter Luger’s Steakhouse in Brooklyn. I’ve had the steak there and was dying to try the burger. Well, silly me, I totally didn’t think we’d need a reservation for a Sunday mid-day burger and I was very wrong. When we arrived and were told in a fairly snotty way that it would be at least 45 minutes, we decided to leave to go to Dumont Burger instead. I’ve had this burger before- but it had been a few years, and I remembered it being one of the best I’ve ever had. I also remembered the staff being super friendly and laid back, not at all like the hoity-toity Luger’s people.

When we got to Dumont and were warmly welcomed by the waitress, we had our choice of seats in the nearly empty restaurant. I should mention that by the time we left, the place was totally full, so I suppose it’s just hit or miss regarding wait times. We each ordered a burger (mine with a side of onion rings, and topped with gruyere and mushrooms and Gabriel’s with a side of fries, and topped with caramelized onions, bacon and gruyere) and a half and half (vanilla and chocolate) milkshake to share. The burgers came out quickly, with some of their housemade pickles on the side. I’d ordered my burger medium rare and it was more like medium well, or even well done. There was no red or pink anywhere in sight and I was a little annoyed but didn’t want to send it back because I was starving. Other than that, I have no complaints at all. The burger is on a delicious brioche bun, with melty cheese and meaty mushrooms and was totally delicious. The onion rings were perfect, not too greasy, but hot and crisp. The fries that came with G’s burger were also awesome. Our milkshake, though not quite as out-of-this-world as I’d remembered, was quite good and creamy- but not very sweet. I did LOVE that it was so thick that the straw could stand straight up in it. As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t get light-headed trying to suck up a milkshake with a straw, it’s simply too thin.

As good as the food was, with a bill over $40, I felt this was really overpriced. I’d be happy to pay that much in a nicer, more comfortable setting, but to sit atop bar stools in a dark, drafty, small restaurant seemed a little ridiculous. I think their prices should be much lower than they are…or the seating should be much more comfortable.

After lunch, we stopped by Dumont-to-go next door intending only to get a hot cup of coffee. When we realized that they make homemade donuts to order, we felt it was really quite important that we fill in any remaining empty spots in our stomachs with fried dough and sugar. On the suggestion of the cashier, we ordered the cinnamon donuts with dulche de leche sauce and the plain donuts with chocolate sauce. They are tiny and polishing off 2 each took about 30 seconds. We both preferred the cinnamon/dulche combo over the others. The chocolate ones would have been about a million times better if the sauce had been warm- but a piping hot donut with cold chocolate sauce seems somehow wrong to me and left a bit to be desired. I’d recommend stopping by for these anyway, especially on a chilly day when a little extra fat and carbs will feel like a big hug. Enjoy!

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!