Haha, I’m such a nerd. Perhaps this post should be on my tmblg or one of those posty things, but I don’t maintain any of those hip reblogging services.
I just picked this up at Trader Joe’s at 72nd.
Roasted Garlic Hummus
I was buying spicy hummus anyways, so this 1337 hummus fit the bill.
Here’s a catch up post for some food in the city.
Free drinks at Façonnable
There’s the usual overpriced bar drink in NY. Then there’s the free, all you can drink cheap stuff at luxury retailers on 5th Ave.
Fashion’s Night Out 2010 was the latter. Getting free drinks in Zegna, Versace, etc. while in said stores is simply amazing.
Nine West appetizers
I’m pretty sure this was Nine West. They had drinks and snacks such as the ones pictured above. What a great concept – these were bland tasting toaster pastries, but the presentation was excellent.
Carrot cake at Serendipity 3
Now, we hop over to a long running restaurant called Serendipity 3. They have a little bit of everything on the menu, and they can serve as a dessert place after your dinner if you so choose. The carrot cake above really hit the spot (as well as my wallet).
Serendipity 3 Menu
This $1,000 sundae is a bargain compared to their $25,000 haute chocolate.
Strawberry Sundae
This sundae was as delicious as you would imagine, but this thing is enough dessert for 2 or 3 people by itself.
Pecan Pie Sundae
While the strawberry would be enough for all of us at the table, we had to go ahead and get this pecan pie sundae as well.
Torrisi Italian Specialties booth
OK, the last part of this post. This is Torrisi’s booth at San Gennaro. San Gennaro is a *meh* festival that has been going on forever, but I had to check out Torrisi’s booth since this is their first showing at the festival.
For more background, check out the Times article. I like that they went for an Asian theme at the Italian festival, just as a tongue in cheek way to poke fun at how Chinatown is taking over Little Italy and everything else in the vicinity.
wok-fried mozzarella sticks
These were hearty and had great texture. I felt they were over salted, but hand made mozz is delicious.
roast pork sandwich
The roast pork sandwich. The one I received was cold, bitter, and mildly spicy. I wouldn’t fault it for being cold, but there was no delicious flavor profile for me. It was simply cold and bitter, which was a disappointment since I’m a huge fan of their lunch sandwiches (specifically the Turkey Panama).
cream puff
While oddly shaped, I actually tried their cream puff on two different occasions. This was the star of the booth for me as the cream puff managed to be light, smooth, and not too sweet in a package that really came together.
Went to Governor’s Island this past Sunday. While I had heard there was a food truck festival, Parked, this weekend, I didn’t make the connection that it was *this* Sunday when I went to check out the island.
The crowd
There were long lines to get onto the island, and then there were the long lines for each foodtruck
Bao Bing
Hey look, someone made a TW shaved ice foodtruck
Kelvin Natural Slush Co truck
The lines were long, but with such a hot, nice NY day, I decided to go for a slushee
Size of the cups
I’m sure there’s a joke somewhere in this photo of the “Slush Fund”
Large slushes
One was a ginger base with Pink Guava. The other was a half tea, half citrus base with White Peach and Vanilla ice cream. Both were good, but I think their choose your own base (from Ginger, Citrus, and Tea) is really confusing. Do I want Ginger, Citrus, or Tea? They all sound good in some ways.
Standard NY Hot Dog Cart line
The fact that there was an extremely long line for your average NY Hotdog cart amuses me. This shows that location is everything as this hotdog cart was merely outside (and nearby) the Parked Foodtruck event and drew a long line. Other foodcarts around the island (that I assume are there everyday) had some lines, but they were pretty short.
More restaurant week goodness in NYC.
The lobby decor
The lobby had a bar area and two live musicians, including a pianist.
Paul Revere's Ride
The menu comes with details of the restaurant’s namesake
Merguez Sausage white pearl onion, sweet yellow corn, snow peas, dates
While this photo may appear to have large portions, it really was a small amount. This dish was flavor packed and the lamb sausage helped balance out the sweet corn.
Haricot Vert Salad grape heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese, slithered almonds basil, sherry vinaigrette
While not really, you would be forgiven if you mistook this for Asian stir-fry. I liked it, but it was a bit much on the 1 vegetable taking up 98% of the dish.
Watermelon Gazpacho
There wasn’t much to this gazpacho as it’s strength lies in its simplicity. It was refreshing and too easy to mistake for water.
“Famous” Pretzel Bread with Gruyere Cheese – home made whole grain mustard
I would recommend this appetizer. Simply amazing take on pretzel + bread. The bread has an amazing texture where it’s very solid and thick, yet it splits like butter. Normally bread is either thick and hard to chew or comes apart and has no heft. This bread strikes the balance perfectly and has melted Gruyere cheese! What more could you want?!
The starters
Here’s an overview shot, the homemade mustard is in the center flanked by butter triangles. Homemade mustard is an amazing indulgence.
Grilled Bavette Steak roasted radishes, fingerling potatoes, braised red cabbage, beef jus
Unfortunately, the steak was tough and took a while to chew. I guess I’m not surprised it was hard to chew since it was actually tough to cut up. Still, the flavor was enjoyable
Mascarpone Cheesecake huckleberry foam, huckleberry streusel, mixed berry compote, berry sauce
This loosely defined, modern cheesecake didn’t do it for me. The flavors were very heavy as is expected with American desserts. If it were just that, that wouldn’t have ruled this dish out. This dish felt very savory and burned (thanks to the crème brulé top). There were lots of hints of savory notes with sweet and it didn’t work out for me.
Almond Milk Panna Cotta with Sable Breton fresh strawberries, strawberry sorbet
Amazing panna cotta that was very refreshing in a manner that feels mellowing.
This restaurant was hands down amazing in presentation and quality of food. This was worth taking advantage of for restaurant week. The good news (bad news for your wallet) is that their Summer Restaurant Week has been extended through September 5th.
Restaurant week is a great chance to go to places that you wouldn’t go to normally. Case in point: The Russian Tea Room. This is a famous NY destination known for their decor.
The Russian Tea Room
I’m not quite sure what the name of this guy riding a rooster (?) is called. I do find it very amusing though.
The check-in
Sure in 2010 we may have to manually check-in to locations. Just wait until 2050 where every second of your life is livestreamed and you get points for walking down the street and other inane things.
Ground floor seating
There are 4 dining floors in this restaurant. On this day, only the 1st and 2nd floors were open for seating. The bathroom was located downstairs past the coat check and gift shop. (Yes, RTR has a gift shop, for all your gift shopping needs.)
Braised beef pirozhki
The pirozhki was good, but I had no idea what to expect to be honest. Pirozhki + sour cream was a good combo. Imagine a Chinese dumpling with sour cream, no wait, don’t..
Red short ribs broth with pickled red beets
This broth tasted very light, so I have to assume that it is healthy and good for you. Especially with all the beets and veggies.
Roasted Beet and Arugula Salad
A healthy salad, I don’t think it was a lot, but hey, it’s NYC. That is a $18 salad in front of you.
The ceiling lighting fixtures
These red ornaments reminded me of Christmas
Filet of Beef
The filet was good. Even though the cut didn’t come out Medium Rare as requested, I still enjoyed the tenderness and flavor of it. Not as filling as the RTR Cobb though.
RTR Cobb Salad
The grilled chicken cobb salad. This didn’t feel like a traditional cobb salad, but it had a lot of chicken and salad portions. I would just call it a chicken salad.
Traditional cheesecake
This cheesecake was nice and rich. Just like the starters (appetizers), there is no way that it is worth $18 by itself.
Giant Fabergé egg tree
This is the 2nd floor of the RTR. Pretty baller decor. In the background you’ll see a glass bear, which contains..
Glass bear fish tank
Inside it’s belly, you will see fish swimming around. This is an incredible sight, the whole 2nd floor is overdone in an eye-widening manner
Bear fish tank belly
The Russian Tea Room is an amazingly decorated place, but the food (and accordingly priced said food) is not it’s strongest point
What a hot, hot time to be in NY. With a record breaking heat wave over this 4th of July weekend, it was a good time to seek out some quality BBQ. Below are photos from the northern tip of Manhattan to the southern coast of Brooklyn.
Big Bob Gibson's Pulled Pork
This first shot is actually from the Big Apple BBQ, but it’s so delicious that I had to post it. Big Bob Gibson came all the way from Decatur, Alabama to make their signature pulled pork. After waiting in line, this was definitely worth it.
Nathan's Hotdogs
Next up is Nathan’s of Coney Island which needs no introduction. Pictured here is one Chili Dog & one Chili Cheese Dog with Onions. Both were messy and what you would expect from loaded up hot dogs. If I had gotten it with cheese & bacon, I’m sure the deliciousness would have been off the charts.
Bacon Cheese Fries
While hot dogs are supposed to be the main draw, I found the Bacon Cheese Fries to be the undeniably best tasting thing there. Perhaps if I had put bacon on the hot dogs, the match up between the hot dogs and fries would have been fair. Is it possible to have too much bacon? To give the fries some more credit, they were a thick, hearty cut that remained crispy even after being soaked in cheese for a while.
Dinosaur BBQ Swag Sampler
The very amazing Swag Sampler plate from Dinosaur BBQ is up next. The sample consisted of deviled eggs, spicy shrimp, wings, and fried green tomatoes. How amazing was this? After eating the simply decadent deviled eggs, fried green tomatoes, and wings, I tried the shrimp – and I never eat seafood (due to mild food allergies). I was so impressed by the first three that I had to see how well they could prepare the shrimp, but the shrimp let me down as there wasn’t much flavor to it.
Dinosaur BBQ Sauces
Does every BBQ joint get into selling sauce nowadays?
Ribs with sides
Pictured here are the fall-off-the-bone ribs with their Mac & Cheese and BBQ Fried Rice. Their ribs were simply amazing, and they didn’t need any sauce as they were already wonderfully flavored. After consuming the appetizers and nearly 3/4 rack of ribs, I wasn’t very impressed with their sides. I had ordered the BBQ Fried Rice, Mac & Cheese, Cole Slaw, and Pork & Beans. The sides were all as to be expected, but only the Mac & Cheese stood out to me. Perhaps I didn’t enjoy the sides since I was stuffed from the ribs? I ordered the BBQ Fried Rice since I admit, I was curious as to what it actually was.
Peter Luger opened in 1887 Williamsburg. They are known for their Porterhouse steak cooked expertly. The menu is no frills and they are cash only (unless you are ballin’ with the official Peter Luger credit card that is totally unnecessary).
This post is going to be mostly pictures and will provide the goods.
Very simple, pick how many people the steak will feed
Hearty cut of bacon appetizer
The porterhouse tilted so that the juice flows to one end. This was very well cooked as you would expect
The plated meal: porterhouse, creamed spinach, German style potatoes
The ice cream sundae. The chocolate cow is a very nice touch
This is a NY institution that is worth the reservation.
Some more low-res iPhone photos. I find myself carrying around my DSLR less and less to food places the longer I’ve been here. I hope to reverse that trend by shooting more photos in general.
First up is Crif Dogs, recommended by Lag.
Crif Dogs Counter
This place has an interesting menu. See the next photo below. Crif dogs is a great late night food binge place. Overpriced hotdogs are common throughout the city, I mean you can get a dozen hotdogs at the supermarket for the price of one hotdog at an establishment.
I won’t deny that hotdogs are delicious, but they are also nutritionally void. Without editorializing much more here, Crif Dogs were delicious and come with exotic toppings.
Crif Dogs Menu
I tried The Crif Dog and the Philly Tubesteak. Not a surprise, but adding cheese and onions to a hotdog made it VERY delicious.
Not shown in detail on the menu are The Crif Paks. It was explained to me that at each price point $10 and up, you get served whatever the kitchen wants to give you. And it will be a lot of food. This sounds like it would be good for the stoner demographic which I assume wants to eat a lot during odd hours. Note that The Crif Paks previously were called Stoner Paks.
The Crif Dog & Philly Tubesteak
Very delicious. There is a lemonade on the top left of the photo. The damage for this was $11 with tip.
Cheep's Falafel Pita
Continuing to walk around the St Marks Place, I found Cheep’s. Cheep’s has a $2 falafel pita which is worth it. Period.
It’s 4 freshly fried falafels with lettuce and white sauce. The pita is a good, large sized, and you can continue to add all sorts of veggies from their free salad bar into your pita. According to Yelp reviews, this place opened within the past week. In NY, being able to find something edible for $2 is amazing, let alone something this fresh, delicious, and large.
A place that can take on In-N-Out? Impossible you say?
While In-N-Out will always have their incredible Double Double (with onions), Five Guys has great burgers and better plain fries. In-N-Out’s animal style fries are another story.
Five Guys in Brooklyn Heights
There are various locations throughout the east coast.
Brooklyn Heights
Here is a view out of the front of the restaurant.
Five Guys Decor
The decor inside is somewhat similar to In-N-Out with a retro, red & white tile fast food theme.
Cheeseburger
This cheeseburger had a good heft to it, and the ingredients were noticeably fresh. Between this and In-N-Out, I would say both are good choices. I do cherish the thousand island sauce from In-N-Out as that’s what I’m accustomed to.
French Fries
Portion-wise, you get a lot of fries. One regular order of fries is enough for 2 or more people. Plus, they have free peanuts before you get your food.
Brunch at Alice's Tea Cup
Moving onto Manhattan, this was a nice brunch from a small tea house. The food was prepared well and I think it shows.
Poached eggs on ham & cheese scones with Potato-chicken hash
Martin, how does this compare to your eggs benedict? I’m sure both meals can stand up to a food challenge. What struck me as amazing is that the potato-chicken hash is so homogeneous. The chicken pieces and potato bits looked nearly identical.
Mixed fresh fruit crepes
The crepe had an excellent texture to it, but I would consider this plate more of a snack or light meal. Not exactly your hearty American breakfast.
Went to Park Slope for a sandwich (Thanks Yelp)
City Sub Interior
Pretty simple joint: a bunch of guys make you a large sandwich with great ingredients for a good price. They would shave the ingredients like cheese right before it went on the sandwich.
Meatball Sub with everything
I think the meatball sub is usually just bread + meat w/ sauce + cheese. I opted for everything, just to get more veggies in my diet. This monster sandwich plus a soda was $8.
Roast Beef & Turkey with everything
This was a bit pricier with two meats, but still great. The location is kind of out of the way (Park Slope), but it’s right outside the subway exit and has lots of customers. I would go again, but the distance negates a lot of the great sandwich advantage.