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I had a delightful dinner with my father this evening at the Oyster Bar. We sat in the casual area at the bar where we could watch the shucking. I immediately felt the sense of a well-preserved spot that had probably been exactly the same for 50 years or more. The service was polite and available, but not overly present, which I liked. The food was suberb. I had the lentil crab soup which was hearty and wholesome. That’s a recipe I’d love to have. Dad and I each polished off a dozen assorted clams and oysters which were all fantastic and exactly the way they should be- cold, fresh, sweet and slippery. MMmmmmMmm. I am glad I got a chance to eat here and will most likely go back the next time I’m having an oyster craving. By the way, the whispering wall is right outside of the restaurant so make sure to try it out- it’s pretty cool.

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I’d been meaning to try Pure for a while..mostly for the novelty of the whole raw food movement…something that I understand and respect, but could never really stick to. I met a friend for dinner at 6:30 on a Wednesday night and we were one of 3 tables with people in the whole restaurant, which made me feel a little guilty that we were just sharing one app and one entree. Anyway, while the menu was quite appealing sounding, none of the dishes that we were leaning toward were recommended by our waiter so we tried others…Overall, it was interesting. Great presentation, and very unique flavors…but the flavors were all VERY strong and really competed with each other more than they complimented each other. For what it was, it remained kind of a novelty of a meal, but the prices made it less than fun. We skipped dessert after we nearly passed out at the $17 price tag for one. I mean, c’mon. You don’t even have to pay for gas or electric ovens!! Shouldn’t that keep costs down?? Our one entree and one appetizer (which left me feeling hungry enough to go get a cupcake for $5 at whole foods) came to $56 including tip. Seems rather ridic, no? I will not be going back. I should mention the one saving grace (aside from my awesome company) the service was impeccable. Friendly, attentive, not too-in-your-face, quick to refill low water glasses, and very helpful with advice and suggestions.

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Hype Hype Hype. I am really getting sick of sub-par vegetarian places that get slammin’ reviews. I can cook better than this with a blind fold, nose plug and a hand tied behind my back…AND I would never charge you 200 times the cost of the indredients for the meal!
The atmosphere is nice- and if there wasn’t a group of 3 obnoxiously loud girls sitting next to us, it would have been even better. The waitress, though polite when she came around, didn’t even check on us after we were served our bland meals…and we had to flag her down to order dessert. Actually, the bus boys were the best part of the staff- refilled water frequently and cleared plates in a very timely manner.
Overpriced, under-talented, Completely and totally overrated.

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Lovely outdoor/indoor garden atmosphere. It really is a little oasis in the east village, and it was the perfect spot to meet 9 others for a pre-show dinner. The food was fine- nothing to write home about. I had fish and chips, minus the chips, plus a little salad. We had some guac and chips on the table- which were quite good, but it’s pretty rare that guac and chips are not good. Avocado all mushed up. Deep fried crispy things. What could really be bad about that….but I digress. The one thing that I was highly UNimpressed with was the fact that my mojito was only 2 bucks less than my entree. A little ridic, don’t ya think? I’d go back anyway, to re-enjoy the lovely ambiance.

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eh. Not a big fan of the cornmeal crust…other than that, pretty decent pizza. Stay away from the salads unless you like brown iceberg lettuce, yum yum.

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This is one of my favorite spots for lunch. You can grab a salad/sandwich/soup/burger etc and a homemade lemonade for less than $10. Walk inside towards the fancy restaurant and through to the other side and you’ll find a quiet little atrium that is still outdoors, but has the view through the fancy restaurant out to the lake. Leave the front outdoor seating for the tourists (suckers 😉
I especially love the veggie chili- and ask them for a baguette with some butter for a buck- it’s worth it. Since I’m in Central Park M,W,F for boot camp anyway, it makes for the perfect lunch stop afterward. See ya there!

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I took my G’ma here for lunch today and it was just delightful. We both had great omelettes which were as thin as crepes, cooked perfectly and filled with great fresh veggies. It came with the most ridiculously decedent little mound of mashed potatoes with cheese and a grilled corn muffin. I also had a fresh OJ that was ‘eh’, but I blame that on the oranges. It was fairly quiet and comfortable, and one step nicer than a diner in terms of atmosphere. The strainer light fixtures overhead are very cute. I would go back for sure. The only strange thing was the service. Our waiter would stop by every 3 minutes for 20 minutes, and then would disappear for 20 minutes. He did this for the whole hour and a half that we were there. weird weird weird.

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I *think* our waiter was just trying to be funny, but he was really just an ass. He made mistakes with 3 orders and when we asked him a question he would just walk away to go get the menu to explain the answer. Not good. The food was very eh. It’s supposed to be a greek restuarant, but more than half of the menu was filled with parmegianas and francais’s. heh? Our waiter pretty strongly advised us not to bother with anything aside from the fish. The fish was fresh but flavorless. The sides were kind of like airplane food. The menus in this place are also really weird. You get a regular menu, a prix fix menu and a specials of the day menu. You have to keep cross referencing all three of them to make any sense of it. What the crap is up with that? The best part by far, and really the only part worth mentioning, were the profiteroles. They were excellent. There are about 50 other places within a 10 block radius of this one that I’d have much rather gone to. Ya win some ya lose some.

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YAY! Now we’re talking. I ordered delivery a few nights ago and was thrilled to receive my delicious roasted vegetable pizza. This is kind of like nicks or totonnos style…thin crust, real mozzerella, thinly sliced and roasted eggplant, zucchini and a couple of other veggies. So So SO tasty. really tasted like there was care put into the whole process. I don’t know how I managed to wait this long (3 years!) living in this neighborhood before trying it. Fantastic…will definitely go on my ‘hot’ list for delivery.

Follow up:
sadly, I’ve ordered twice more hoping for the same experience but wasn’t nearly as impressed. The second time was way too salty but giving them the benefit of the doubt, I decided to give them one more try…The 3rd time, the roasted vegetables were cut into too thick, small pieces instead of the long, paper thin pieces that made that first pie so awesome. What do you think? Should I give them one more try?

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Really not too shabby for a bagel chain. They are reliable and the food is always fresh. The bonus is that they carry Munchee cheese. Not muenster, munchee, the sweeter creamier cousin of muenster. I adore it, and it can be kind of tough to find.
The one thing I hate is that they tend to get a little creative with the pricing. It seems like I could go in on 10 different occasions, order the same thing every time, and get charged something completely different each time. Pretty annoying. Oh, and their rainbow cakes (something which I consider myself a connoiseur of) are pretty bad.

Follow up:
I have grown fonder and fonder of pick a bagel. I LOVE the whole wheat flat bagel toasted with baked salmon salad and go back almost weekly for it. The one on lex by the subway is TOTALLY not as good as this one