Il Colosseo in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York

Last week end, Jodi and I were invited to Il Colosseo (The Coliseum), and Italian restaurant located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, that opened in 1991, at a time where the area was an all Italian neighborhood. There, we met with Giulio Mannino, the son of the owner, Lorenzo.  He gave us a bit of history about his family who comes from Sicily and explained to us that he worked in the restaurant business since age 14. He also told me that the dishes at the restaurant are straight or derived from family recipes.

When you enter the restaurant, there is first the bar area.

Then, you pass an arch to go tot the dining room with its open kitchen in the back.

There is definitely a feel that it is an old Italian restaurant where you would eat traditional dishes.

Also visible from the dining room is the wood fire brick oven where they make pizza.

Apparently, when they opened, they were the first to have such oven in Brooklyn. 

Giulio decided to make us try different dishes that are on the menu. We first started with the Misto Mare, an appetizer plate composed of octopus, shrimp and baked clams:

The octopus and shrimp (that were of a nice size) were deliciously grilled, giving them a nice char; simply grilled I should say, letting them be the star. The octopus, purchased from one of their friends in Bensonhurst, was perfectly tender that is not a given, and they served the full animal...

Mexican brunch at Sabores in Hoboken, NJ

I am not sure how to start this post, the experience at Sabores being so disappointing, food and service wise. And it is not as if we went there right after they opened! 

Before I start with the details, let me give you some information on the restaurant. It is located in the middle of Washington street, and area that has always been tough for restaurants because there is more foot traffic downtown. Several restaurants tried but failed; the last one was Piri Piri, a Portuguese BBQ, unique in Hoboken. Of course, food or service are not the only reason: rent increase is a big factor that led, for instance, to the closure of my favorite Indian restaurant in town: India on the Hudson. 

So, Sabores serves Mexican cuisine. In fact, we were greeted by: "Here we serve real Mexican cuisine", probably a dig to East LA, a popular Mexican restaurant located few steps from it. 

The place is big (high ceilings) and very colorful with dark pink walls.

So, Sabores means "savors" in English: let see how the food measured up! Similar to most of the mexican restaurant we went to, they brought us some tortilla chips and salsa, a little after we ordered.

I guess it is the equivalent of bread and butter, Mexican style! I appreciated to have chips that were not stale as it happened some other times in other restaurants.

Then, we decided to order our favorite appetizer: guacamole!

Nice presentation, however, the avocado was not ripe, making it inedible. Interestingly, the table next to us had the same problem!

Jodi ordered the ensalada verde, made with red onions, tomatoes, avocados, arugula, corn and radish.

L'allegria in Hell's Kitchen, NYC, New York

There are times when, as soon as you enter in a restaurant, you get this feeling that you probably should have passed on it. It was what I felt at L'Allegria. The manager was outside and asked us to follow us inside, so far, nothing unusual. But then, he did not even hold the door, called somebody and left. As soon as we got seated, we heard a big noise and it was one of their customers pounding his fist at the table because something was wrong. We were too far to hear what the problem was, but there were four staff members surrounding him. It calmed down quickly, but Jodi and I were wondering what we were doing there! After a while, a waitress came to us, bringing us the menus. At least she was courteous, not like most if the staff that was not making us feel welcome. 

We ordered our food and had enough time to look at the 1970 decor of the restaurant. Yes, it clearly did not look modern! 

They also brought some bread that was most likely made with the same dough as the pizza and cooked in the same oven:

It came with some tasteless olive oil and some balsamic vinegar that had a consistency that made me think that it probably sat in that oil for a while...

We decided to order their Margherita pizza with fresh mozzarella. 

It was a six slice pie that had some cherry tomatoes and fresh basil as well.

Cheap eats: Stromboli Pizza in NYC, New York

One of the safe bets for cheap eats is pizza, as lots of pizza parlors serve by the slice, except if you have a gargantuan appetite and need a whole pie! This time, we went to Stromboli pizza on University Place. In fact we went twice. It is a small place with couple of stools, perfect if people watching is your favorite activity or for students as they propose a great deal:

There, we tried the following pizzas:

Sicilian (we always ask for a corner):

White pie (fortunately it was not packed with garlic):

Chocolate Tour in NYC, New York

How can one resist a chocolate tour? Cho-co-late tour! I never understood people who do not like chocolate. I love it in all the possible ways: drink or food! So, we were thrilled when we found a coupon for $19 for a chocolate tour in the city. 

The meeting point was Chelsea market at 11:45am for a 2 hour walking tour that started at 12pm. 

Our first destination was Li Lac, one of the oldest chocolate stores in NYC, founded in 1923 and celebrating 90 years of existence. Our tour guide, Brandon, told us that, despite several changes in ownership, the recipe did not change, each owner passing to the next the method used. 

Being few weeks away from Thanksgiving, they had some incredible displays of turkeys made of chocolate. And for the ladies, shoes (if Jodi would buy these, I would not mind...):

At Lilac, we got to try two samples:

Butter crunch chocolate 

72% dark chocolate

Both were pretty good, but the butter crunch one was a nice discovery: crunchy, buttery with still the taste of chocolate. Too bad Jodi dropped some of hers on the floor...

We then went to the Chocolate Bar.