Tag Archives: diner

Dec15

Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon: Inn at Irving Place 56 Irving Pl New York, NY

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My dear friend and I have birthdays a day apart and every year we pick a place to celebrate together. This year, we decided to go for a fancy tea instead of lunch or dinner and it proved to be a great decision.

Lady Mendl’s is hidden away at the Inn at Irving Place behind doors that make you think you’re walking into someone’s private brownstone. A small teacup plaque near the front door is the only clue that you are indeed in the right place, and it gives the feeling of walking into a little treasure.

Inside, the small rooms are decorated in warm, cozy light, antique furniture and plenty of candles and fresh flowers. After the host took our coats in the greeting room, we were led to a wonderful pair of leather sofas in front of a roaring fireplace. As girly as going out to tea may sound, this had such a romantic feel that It would make for a lovely date as well, assuming that your date loves delicious snacks, tea and excellent service.

We began with a wonderful butternut squash amuse bouche which was hot from the oven, perfectly smooth in it’s crispy shell, and so full of squashy flavor. My bouche was indeed amused.

Next, my chamomile tea was served with sugar cubes, including one particularly pretty decorated one that sat next to my cup. Delicious and poured beautifully by our server.

The waiter then came around with a tray full of tea sandwiches which we could choose from- with no limits I might add! Knowing that we had a lot more coming, we chose to share a few different ones including: smoked salmon with dill cream cheese on pumpernickel, cucumber with crème fraiche on brioche, turkey on seven grain and classic egg salad on rye. They were all delightful and petite- as they should be.

Next were the scones, one buttermilk and one cranberry. They were served with jam and clotted cream- although I must admit that I prefer the cream at Alice’s Tea Cup- another favorite tea spot of mine, which is a bit fluffier and thicker. The cream here was a bit running and loose. The scones however, were wonderful. It was a good thing that just two small ones were served because I think I could have polished off a whole basket full of them.

The dessert was my favorite course. It’s not hard to see why this cake is the one that Lady M is famous for. Wow. About a million layers as thin as crepes were piled high with a spread of whipped cream in between each. Underneath the cake was fresh raspberry coulis, the perfect accompaniment. It was SO indulgent, SO light, beautiful, simple and really incredible tasting.

Just in case we weren’t totally stuffed by then, our last and final course was served. I will call this one dessert, the sequel. A plate of handmade cookies and chocolate covered strawberries. I’m not sure how I managed to find room but I can assure you that I did. No cookie went unfinished. My favorite was the heart shaped butter cookie half-dipped in dark chocolate, and of course, the strawberries.

Overall, I was totally delighted by this experience. I would go back in a heartbeat- and would love to take a group of ladies and/or family there sometime. I think it is best on a chilly winter day to go and make sure to get that fireside spot. Enjoy this special place!

 

 

Dec14

Yum Yum: 662 9th Ave (between 46th St & 45th St) New York, NY

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I’ve been to Yum Yum (and the other 3 with the same name on the same block) a bunch of times and thought I’d actually review it this time. My photos are a bit lacking because of the dim lighting in the restaurant, but I assure you that the dishes looked much better in person. When in the theater district, a ton of the restaurants are hit or miss, but Yum Yum is pretty consistent. It’s not like it’s the BEST Thai food I’ve ever had, but the price is fair, the service is quick, and the food is pretty tasty.

The prix fixe deal is excellent. $15.95 for “5” courses. Why is the “5” in quotes? Well, 2 of the appetizers are really combined onto one plate and I think it’s a real stretch to call it 2 separate dishes. Even still, and with the fact considered that the portions are fairly tiny, it’s a good deal.

I started with a Tom Yum soup which I really love and get almost every time. Fresh veggies, large shrimp and a mildly spicy broth always warms my belly and takes the hunger edge off. Next I had the dumplings and salad- which are the 2 that come together. When an order of dumplings = 2 pieces, it’s hard not to feel a little ripped off. We also asked for peanut sauce with the salad, but they served us the regular ginger vinegarette instead even though they said they’d bring the peanut one too. Womp Womp. The side of steamed veggies that we got complimented the Pad Thai well and we were glad we added it on. I think the Pad Thai here is the perfect flavor, but missing the raw bean sprouts and lime that usually come alongside the popular dish. Not pictured are the lychees that we had for dessert- one of my favorite fruits.

I’ll continue to go to Yum Yum, despite the small portions and the poor health dept. rating in the window. Given the fact that all of their restaurants are just about always packed, I guess I’m not the only one who thinks it’s pretty darn good.

 

Dec14

Dark Horse: 17 Murray St (between Broadway & Church St) New York, NY

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Gabriel and I went to get tickets to see the World Trade Center Memorial and had about an hour to kill before we could go in. We searched for a deal in the area for lunch and stumbled onto Dark Horse, which had very good ratings online. It was a dimly lit pub atmosphere with a friendly, though sort of rushy waitress, who sat us right  away.

I ordered a bowl of French onion soup and a mixed salad and thought both were pretty good, but nothing special. The soup didn’t have much flavor, and was a little on the oily side. The salad was fresh but came with a vinegarette when I’d specifically asked for bleu cheese- but oh well. I am sure I could have sent it back if our waitress had been easier to flag down.

With the deal, this lunch was totally worth it- but otherwise, I thought it was pretty run-of-the-mill as far as pub food and service goes.

I doubt I’d go back- but if you’re in the area and can find the same 50% off deal that we found, I guess it’s worth a shot.

 

 

Dec1

Maison Laduree: 864 Madison Ave. New York, NY

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The first 2 attempts I made to try the macarons at Laduree were foiled by 45 minute lines that went out the door. Today, I got lucky and happened to walk by when there were only a few people inside. As I waited, I noticed the VERY Upper East Side looking crowd. The clientele was basically made up of UES ladies with bleach blond hair, Prada over-the-knee boots and nose jobs-a-plenty or their nannies with the children they were caring for- coming in for their overpriced after school snack. I felt slightly out of place in my Old Navy yoga pants and sneakers, but that wasn’t enough to stop me from experiencing this very well-reviewed French treat. Ten minutes later I was at the front counter, looking at an array of beautiful choices just waiting to be eaten. Hooray, it was my turn to order.

I looked over the macaron map on the counter and chose 3 pieces: chocolate, salted caramel and pistachio. The other flavors all sounded wonderful but I wanted to limit myself, both calorically and monetarily, to a reasonable number. I got up to the cash register and paid my $8.10 for the 3 cookies. WOAH. I could have a 2 maki sushi roll lunch special, complete with miso soup and shumai for $.40 more than that. Amazingly expensive treats indeed.

The cashier gave me back the change from my ten spot, saying ‘You don’t mind the nickels’ with a smile and a chuckle. a $1 bill and $.90 in nickels. He explained that he was out of other change. Um, THAT was annoying. 30 seconds later as I was leaving, I heard and saw him crack open a new roll of quarters. Heh? Gee thanks. Perhaps the big coins are reserved for the customers wearing designer clothes.

I stepped outside and took a quick photo of my macarons before eating them. I started with the pistachio which was unfreakingbelieveable. The meringue shell practically melted in my mouth and the pistachio cream inside was almost like marzipan. The chocolate one was not too sweet, and though the filling’s consistency reminded me of fudge, the flavor was more like fine cocoa powder. The salted caramel wasn’t particularly salty- actually, I didn’t taste the salt at all, and the caramel was a slightly more firm than the other flavors but again, the shell was total perfection. These are truly exquisite, decadent, and worth every over priced penny. I’m not entirely sure I’ll go back give the fact that they cost more than double what they cost everywhere else, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend at least one visit to you. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Nov28

First Avenue Coffee Shop: 1433 1st Ave, New York NY

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Oh Yelp. You really let us down this time. I was so excited to see the 4 star reviews for First Avenue Coffee Shop. I LOVE finding little hole-in-the-wall places that turn out to be awesome and from reading the reviews, I thought that’s what we were in for. It certainly doesn’t LOOK like anything more than a typical coffee shop, but people were raving about the service and the food here so we gave it a shot.

We sat down in the back and looked over the incredibly reasonably priced menu before placing our orders. I was feeling very positive, already thinking that we’d be back for breakfast soon- and to try some of the other appealing sandwiches on the menu.

I ordered a cheeseburger with grilled mushrooms and the baked potato skins appetizer and Gabriel got a burger with fries and a milkshake. (We planned to split the potato skins)

First, they brought Gabriel a burger that was totally different than the one he’d ordered and he had to send it back. When he explained again which one he wanted, the waiter had to refer to the menu to see what was supposed to be on it. Then, my burger arrived, which was fine- although it was served with 2 tiny little excuses for pickle spears that were probably the tail end of a jar…but still no appetizer had arrived. Ooookay. I guess we’ll eat our entrees first and then have the app later. The burgers were okay- but nothing special. Neither was Gabriel’s fries or his shake. Just nothing exciting typical diner food. The service was really slow and sort of incompetent. Sorry, but just because you say ‘my friend’ before and after everything else, that does not equal good service.

Ten minutes later, 2 little pathetic potato halves arrived. They looked nothing like the photo in the menu, and were covered in little pieces of green pepper instead of the scallions that were described. We also realized that a baked potato with bacon and cheddar was actually 2 bucks LESS than the app- which was essentially one sort of hollowed-out baked potato- not a plate of the crispy skins we were expecting. We also had to ask for sour cream- which was in the description but not brought out with the dish. Although they tasted pretty good, we were pretty pissed about the pricing and complained to the waiter about it who agreed to charge us at the baked potato price instead. The whole thing was kind of weird.

Overall, we were totally disappointed with this meal- and neither one of us felt very well for the rest of the day. Hmmm. I will not going back after all. Womp Womp.

Nov28

Chez Carey! Thai shrimp lemongrass soba soup

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                                                                                                                                                                                                           After a chilly evening run, I decided to experiment with a belly-warming soup for dinner. One of my favorites is the Tom Yum soup that most Thai restaurants serve. Not being someone who likes to follow recipes, I attempted to recreate something similar that could satisfy my craving. I also wanted to feel full, so I decided that adding buckwheat soba noodles to it would make it a more complete meal than the soup which is normally just broth and shrimp and a few veggies. As always, this recipe is really just a concept and can be played with as you see fit. I’ll give you a list of ingredients I used and a basic idea- and you can run with it from there. This turned out wonderful but (note to self) next time I will only add the noodles to the portion I plan to eat because the following day, the remaining noodles had pretty much sucked all of the soup up and I had to add some water to reconstitute it.

Add to 8 cups of chicken stock the following:

grated fresh ginger

sliced garlic

slivered scallions

chopped chiles or jalapenos.

a couple of teaspoons of oyster sauce

long pieces of lemongrass (so that you can easily remove them later)

a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce

a couple of tablespoons of almond butter (whisk this in once the soup has simmered for 10 minutes or so)

Let that all simmer for 20 minutes or so and them drop in a pound of cleaned shrimp. Continue to simmer until the shrimp turn pink and curl up.

Cook your soba (or vermicelli, or udon etc) noodles in a separate pot of boiling water. (this is the part I didn’t do…I made the mistake of adding the noodles to the soup along with the raw shrimp. I won’t do that next time)

Put a cup of raw baby spinach in a big bowl. Add a scoop of noodles on top of that. Fill the rest of the bowl with the soup and finish with a little hot sauce. Voila. Yum. Well, Tom Yum. Sort of.

P.S. I think next time I will also add some baby corn and straw mushrooms to this.

Nov22

Wonjo: 23 West 32nd st. New York, NY

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Last night was Gabriel’s birthday and I wanted to take him out for dinner at his favorite restaurant, Woo Lae Oak. What a bummer to try to make a reservation there to find out they’d closed last spring! Oh no! Now what?

We decided that going for Korean BBQ in Koreatown would be a fun alternative. Although it doesn’t have the fancy atmosphere that Woo Lae Oak had, the BBQ food and charcoal grills on the table made for a similar experience. After asking a bunch of my foodie friends for their suggestions, we settled on Wonjo because it’s one of the few left that still uses real charcoal instead of gas.

We were seated within just a few minutes of our arrival (without a reservation) which was great- especially since it was very crowded and pretty much every table was full. We’d been warned that service could be a bit gruff, but we disagreed. Our waitress was friendly and smiley, and between her, another waiter and a bus boy, we were very well attended to. I ordered a glass of white wine and Gabriel asked for a bottle of sake and then the fun began.

We got our food all almost all once and it totally covered our cozy, corner table; the seafood platter, the vegetable and mushroom platter, an AMAZING seafood scallion pancake that was oooohhhh so good, edamame, and tons of little appetizer-y salad-y things that traditionally accompany Korean food. I’d try to describe all of them, but since I really didn’t know what most of them were, your guess is as good as mine. I can say that the kim chee was delicious as was the vinegar daikon, the steamed egg, and a bunch of other misc dishes that were interesting and totally enjoyable. I think this is a case where the pics can tell you a lot more than I can.

The production of hot coals being poured into our charcoal grill was dramatic and we quickly felt the warmth it provided. The waiter and waitress did our cooking for us, carefully placing salmon, octopus, shrimp, clams, mussels, mushrooms and vegetables on the grill and occasionally coming back to flip or remove them for us. Everything was so fresh and tasty, and a really healthy meal overall. (except for the scallion pancake which was worth every greasy calorie) It wasn’t until the end that we got a tip from our neighbors that if you winked twice and asked for it, you could have a bowl of wonderful sticky rice with your meal. Oh well, now we know for next time.

This is not a cheap dinner, but a very worthwhile one and I’m quite sure we will be back. It’s not just the great food, but the total dining experience that people come here for. It’s a meal and an activity all in one! What could possibly be better than that?!?!

Nov22

Celeste Diner. 63 Tillary st. Brooklyn, NY

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After walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, I realized that I was kind of in a rush to have a bite to eat and head back home to teach my evening voice lessons. Celeste Diner was the first restaurant that we came across so Gabriel and I popped in for a quick lunch.

We quickly looked over the typical diner menu they brought us and each decided on a wrap with fries for $8.50. When the waitress informed us that sweet potato fries were an option, I got pretty excited. I looooooove sweet potato fries, and these were really good ones. Coleslaw (better than average) and a yummy pickle came with our wraps. The wraps themselves were huge and kind of sloppy, but very good. Mine was grilled chicken, swiss, lettuce and tomato and Gabriel’s was grilled chicken, salsa and avocado (with regular fries)

For a cheap, quick lunch, this was a great stumble-upon choice. Clean, great service, good food. Thanks Celeste!

Nov21

Talia’s Steakhouse: 668 Amsterdam Ave. New York, NY

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Gabriel bought a coupon for a $75-for-a-3-course prix-fixe dinner and a bottle of wine (A $150 value) from Livingsocial.com a while back. The expiration date on the coupon was getting close and after running 8 miles today and coming home starving, we decided it was the perfect opportunity to use it. The truth is, we were going into this with a sense of humor. I’d read a ton of REALLY awful reviews on Yelp.com about Talia’s and wasn’t expecting much. I was actually sort of looking forward to the fun that comes in writing really bad reviews and I’m laughing as I tell you that the only disappointment in this meal is that it was not at all disappointing.

Maybe it was simply because we went into it with such low expectations, but I have to say- this was actually a very nice experience. As soon as we were seated, the waitress brought out water, warm pita bread, an herb margarine and olive oil with basil. A few minutes later the owner himself brought us some hummus and tahini on the house- what a lovely surprise. Our bottle of red came soon after that, and we commented to each other, so far so good. What was everyone on Yelp complaining about?

We placed our order from the Prix Fix menu- with options that weren’t terribly exciting, but appealing nonetheless. We started with a mixed salad- it was better than ‘basic’ with hearts of palm, spinach and tons of other fresh veggies. The dressing was creamy and flavorful and the crunchy toasted pita bread on top was a great little bonus. The other appetizer was a middle eastern sampling of chicken fingers and other fried goodies. They were all tasty and different with flavors that were out of the ordinary for me. A little ‘too’ deep fried for my liking, but crunchy, hot and with a great green tahini sauce it made for a nice dish. We each ordered steaks for our main course, mine with a side of delicious sauteed mushrooms and his with steamed spinach. The sides were fine- though not particularly creative or interesting. The meat itself was ok, not fantastic; flavorful but a little overcooked and tough. For dessert we shared the chocolate souffle with vanilla ‘ice cream’ (non-dairy) and the tiramisu. Being that this is a Kosher restaurant, we found the non-dairy attempts to be pretty satisfying. The souflee was the standout here, rich and chocolate-y and right out of the oven…what’s not to like about that?!?!

After we finished eating I asked our waitress to have the owner come chat with us but was told that he was either outside or downstairs smoking. Ah. That’s where the cigarette smell was coming from. We had actually been chatting with the people at the next table over from us about the smell wafting in- and when we found out it was coming from the owner himself, we realized there would be no one to complain to about it. Well, that’s not really very cool at all. It was the only thing I wasn’t okay with at this restaurant and I hope that he reads this and takes it into consideration the next time he wants to satisfy his nicotine craving. We are eating in your establishment sir, and you are taking away from the experience by contaminating our noses.

Other than that, there was a great guitarist/vocalist performing while we ate and I personally really enjoyed that. He had a lovely voice and picked music that I really enjoyed. It seemed that the other patrons were really impressed as well and I thought it was a nice touch. The one other thing that wasn’t such a nice touch were the 2 flat screen TVs playing football games. This is a fairly classy restaurant, not a bar, and the TVs really cheapened the atmosphere.

All in all, I felt that for the $75, this was a great value. I’m not sure I would have felt okay about paying the full $150 price that it’s usually worth- but given the circumstances we were very pleased. Although I do not keep Kosher, I would recommend a visit to Talia’s for those of you that do.

Nov13

Sapori D’ischia: 5515 37th Ave Woodside, NY

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About 6 months ago I saw an article in NY Magazine about eating out in Queens and I noticed that S’apori D’ischia was right near Gabriel’s place. It was described as the original Eataly- a market by day that transforms into an intimate restaurant at night. It sounded appealing, but expensive and I wondered if we’d ever go. A few months later, when we saw a $29 deal online that was good for an appetizer, 2 entrees and a dessert, we grabbed it.

We made a reservation and headed over last night. Walking through an industrial section of Queens, we wondered where exactly we were going, and what it would be like. Just when we thought there was no way there was a restaurant nearby, we turned a corner and found an adorable entrance leading into a candlelit, romantic establishment. With just a few tables taken, we were told we could choose any of the tables for 2 that were available. We picked one near the keyboard- which was soon brought to life by a man softly singing standards and accompanying himself.

We each ordered a glass of wine and started noshing on the delicious bread, olives and olive oil that was brought over for us. When asked if we wanted flat or sparkling water, we chose flat- having no idea that we’d be charged $4 for it. I recently read a bunch of reviews on Yelp and found that a lot of other people had the same unwelcome surprise on their check and think it would behoove the waiter to actually mention this when you order it. Apparently, tap water is not an option here. Huh? Anyway, when we complained about it, they did remove the charge for our bill and also brought out a plaque with the restaurant’s ’10 commandments’ on it. One of the ‘commandments’ was no tap water. Well, that’s all fine and good if you actually INFORM your customers of that, but to show this after the fact is not so cool. Anyway, as I said, once they removed the charge from our bill we were appeased.

We ordered the grilled baby octopus to start with and it was brought out in a cute, little flower-pot-looking-vessel. Delicious. The octopus was crisp on the edges, slightly smokey, with beans and herbs in a savory sauce that was excellent on the bread we hadn’t already finished. For my entree, I ordered the spinach ricotta lasagna which, albeit a tiny portion, was superb. Incredibly fresh, homemade noodles with a light, cheesy filling all served in a delicious tomato sauce. Gabriel got the short ribs over whipped potatoes which was incredible- tender, not at all fatty, and SO full of rich flavor. Both entrees were definitely on the small side- but I would always prefer small, high-quality meals as opposed to huge plates of decent food. This way, you finish your meal feeling satisfied but not like you are about to pop.

Our dessert choices were rather limited. All we were offered was sorbet, gelato or the nutella banana- which we chose. It was just a sliced banana on top of some nutella, some caramelized crunchies on top and a scoop of vanilla gelato. Boring, but tasty nonetheless.

Overall, this meal was a lovely experience. I enjoyed the feeling of being somewhere that only insiders know about, off the beaten path. By the time we left, the place was totally full of people who seemed to be regulars. I thought the food was some of the best authentic Italian I’ve had in a really sweet, romantic setting. We don’t go out to Queens that often, but when we do I’d be happy to make a return visit, and I’d be curious to see what the daytime market is like.