Benares, Indian Restaurant in NYC, New York

I am a big fan of Baluchi's, an Indian restaurant that serves fantastic and delightfully tasty Indian cuisine. So I was a bit disappointed when I saw that their Midtown location was replaced by Benares, although another Indian restaurant! Baluchi's had this great lunch deal (50% off) and an amazing crab curry that I could have eaten all day (ok, I exaggerate a bit). I heard from a former Baluchi's employee that they simply sold the place, maybe because it was not profitable enough. So, I decided to go to Benares, with an open mind...I went twice in fact!

The decor is totally different: although Balucci's has a more traditional decor, Benares looks more modern. 

There is no more lunch deal, but a buffet instead for close to $13. 

Brunch at Telepan in NYC, New York

Our friend booked a table at Telepan for a Sunday Brunch. This restaurant gets its name from its Chef and Owner Bill Telepan. It has been opened many years ago and seem to remain the place to go for a delicious meal. The space itself is interesting as it is made of 2 conjoint townhouses and one would think that it is setup like a labyrinth. The atmosphere is more stuffy than cool and I can imagine that at dinner it is worse than at lunch...

The restaurant proposes a brunch prix-fixe for $32 that includes a bread basket, an appetizer and an entree. 

From the bread basket, I especially appreciated the focaccia bread that was delicious!

For the appetizers, Jodi ordered the baby romaine salad.

Quails at Market Cafe in Hell's Kitchen NYC, New York

On a Saturday night, we were walking in Hells Kitchen and noticed Market Cafe, a modern look restaurant that has an interesting menu. The place was pretty bright with its white tiles and great photos, mainly related to food, on the wall. It definitely had a modern vibe, although the white tiles reminded me of a bathroom or a slaughterhouse.

The location is clearly not ideal for a restaurant as there is not much people passing by, and at the same time, it is one of the rare restaurants in the middle of delis and takeouts. The place was empty for a Saturday night...Was it a sign?

Ribeye steak at Gallagher's Steakhouse in NYC, New York

It has been so long since I ate at Gallagher's. I used to go for their lamb chops and never tried their steaks. But it was many, many years ago...This place has been around since 1927, so you would think that they probably are making great steaks. So, let's see!

Going to Gallagher's you immediately notice their dry-aged room at the entrance. It surely makes you salivate to see all these pieces of meat!

Gallagher's serves meat dry-aged for 21 days. The dry aging process consists in keeping the meat for some days at a near freezing temperature to enhance the flavor and make the meat tender.

The Houndstooth Pub in NYC, New York

We went to see the play Tarragona from our friend Gary Giovannetti (yes, yes! I am advertising for it as this was a great moment and Gary is very talented! Although this post comes a bit late as it is not playing anymore: we went on the last day). After the play and some Cava (champagne) & cheese, we decided to all go to The Houndstooth Pub nearby. If I go to a pub, I will either order a sandwich or fish & chips.

So, I ordered the cheeseburger (cheddar cheese).

It was a big juicy black angus patty made with a nice char. You could definitely see that they press on the patty when they cook it. It was served on a toasted bun. 

The fries were steak fries (not my favorite: I prefer a regular cut) that were good also.

Jodi ordered the fish & chips.

Press Dinner at Mint, an Indian restaurant in NYC, New York

Recently, I have been invited to a press dinner at Mint, an Indian restaurant from Chef Gary Sikka, located Midtown East. 

So, before you read this post, remember that it was a press dinner, meaning that the restaurant knew I was a blogger. 

I was really excited to go there as I love Indian food! I started to discover it while traveling to...Hong Kong. But, later, I was lucky to be able to go few times in India, in Mumbai and then later across Rajasthan. I know that a lot of people cannot stand the spices, but not me: it is so tasty and there are so many different dishes to discover with a wide range of flavors.

The restaurant is definitely modern with a nice decor from the bar to the dining room. It has a private room that can accommodate approximately 10 people.

Courtesy of Mint

The dining room is very colorful with its drum lamps and Indian paintings, that definitely confirm this place proposes fine dining and is not just casual food.

Courtesy of Mint

The service was very nice and we got taken care of by the "Wine Director" as they called him! He proposed to either choose some dishes from the menu or to let the restaurant pick for us. We chose the latter. I looked at the menu anyway and noticed that they offer a large selection of regional Indian food, with lots of options if you are vegetarian. In fact, if you are, Indian restaurants are great spots to get delicious and flavorful vegetarian dishes!

I started of course with my usual Sweet Lassi.

Delicious dinner at Matt & Meera in Hoboken, NJ

I guess that if you follow this blog, you realized how much I like Matt & Meera in Hoboken! That place is fantastic and serves an amazing food! So we went back for dinner...again...Yes, I would like to try everything on their menu!

We started off with the spiced meatballs:

They are lamb meatballs with a flavor profile similar to the meat samosa, lamb burger or lamb dosa. Don't get me wrong: the fact that there is the same flavor profile in many different dishes is not a problem: it shows the diversity in ways of serving this delicious spiced meat! The sauce, although a bit spicy was the star of the dish: thick, tasty with a hint of spice that builds up little by little in your mouth. They serve it with some naan bread (maybe not enough as I wanted to just get some sauce on the bread and it it, meatless). This was a nice twist on Italian meatballs. 

The next dish was Vietnamese Spring Rolls.

Kentucky Hot Brown at Bar Americain in New York, NY

In my prior post about Bar Americain, I mentioned this amazing dish called the Kentucky Hot Brown that I discovered on Throwdown with Bobby Flay on the Food Network. So imagine that when I went back to his restaurant, I could not miss the opportunity to eat that dish!

Before I tried it, I ordered an appetizer...to open my appetite...I went for the raw sea scallops.

They were served with a nice sour orange sauce and plantains. The dish looked amazing! And the combination of the raw scallops and sour orange sauce fantastic! I loved the fact that they put plantains as it gave some delightful crunchiness that elevated the dish a bit.

Brunch at 44&X in NYC, New York

Few weeks ago, when my brother visited us for few days, we went to 44 1/2, a restaurant located on 44th street and 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen. On our way, we noticed this joint just one restaurant away called 44&X that was packed. So, we decided to go back to the area and try it.

In fact 44 1/2 and 44&X have the same owner, Bruce. The common element of the restaurant was both the modern decor, the impeccable service, and the little muffins they put on the table, muffins that are a bit addictive...

The menu offers classic brunch dishes, so we went straight for eggs!

Jodi ordered the scrambled eggs served with wild mushrooms, smokehouse bacon and herb toast.

Hummus Bowl at the Hummus Bar in Hoboken, NJ

How many hummus joints will open in Hoboken??? Well, after I guess a tough competition, two of them already closed: Ibby's falafel and Maoz. I have been a big fan of Mamoun's falafel and was eager to try his competitor, The Hummus Bar, located not far from it! I was more eager when one of my colleagues, Sonnali, mentioned that she went there and had some Indian flavored dish that was apparently delicious. So I was wondering what the menu would be as I imagined before, that a Hummus Bar would simply serve the traditional Middle Eatsern dishes: hummus, falafel, shawarma...Looking at the menu, I realized that it was not the case and that they showcased some interesting combination: Italian, Indian, Greek...

So we decided to try it. We picked two different Hummus bowls. A Hummus bowl is a the equivalent of a plate rather than a sandwich where the bottom of the plate is spread with hummus (classic, black olive and herbs...). You can even decide to replace the hummus by guacamole (not sure I would try that there) or babaganouj. 

Jodi ordered the Hoboken Hummus Bowl with classic hummus.

Blue Sky Bakery in Brooklyn, New York

Blue Sky Bakery is a bakery located in Park Slope, Brooklyn. I did not go there, but one of my colleagues brought some muffins from there! Considering the smell that invaded our workspace, they were just made and in fact they were still warm. 

He brought us few different kinds:

• Raspberry and peach,
• Pumpkin, apple and walnuts,
• Blueberry and mango,
• zucchini, cranberry and cream cheese.

I have to say that just reading the labels on the box, you could see that they were made with quite a lot of creativity: they were not your regular chocolate chip or corn muffins! It reminded me of Cupcake wars on the Food Network where 4 bakeries compete to win $10,000; most of the time, the ingredients they have to compose with are unusual and the competitors come up, most of the time, with great ideas!

Help The Victims of Hurricane Sandy!

Hurricane Sandy brought devastation to families, homes and business across 15 states. People need our help, but beware of scams that started to flourish! It is sad to see that some people without any heart or conscience are trying to make a profit of this terrible situation. If you are not sure if a charity is legit, make sure it is a registered public charity with 501 (c) (3) status. You can also check the Charity Navigator.

Below are couple of websites to make donations or volunteer:

Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund

The American Red Cross

Occupy Sandy Relief

NYC Service

Red Hook NYC recover

Staten Island Recover

Thank you for helping the victims!

Jean-Philippe / I Just Want To Eat

Steak Sandwich at Black Bear Bar in Hoboken, New Jersey

I went to Black Bear for their burger a long time ago and while discussing about it with a friend, he mentioned the steak sandwich that they serve. I did not need more information to be convinced that I had to try it!

So we went there for lunch. The place is a popular bar, located on Washington Street in Hoboken, with two stories and several rooms. What was interesting is the part of the wall that has all these hot sauces:

I did not know there are so many different one!

Anyway, I was there for the sandwich, not the decor or ambiance...I ordered the steak sandwich medium.

People's Pops at Chelsea Market in NYC, New York

I LOVE Chelsea Market! It is a little jewel in New York City that offers so many delicious choices of food! The last one I discovered was People's Pop. The place is located in the back, where Bar Suzette is located. It is very small but intriguing because of the big ice cube sitting on the counter and the weird flavors they offer, such as watermelon & mint or Apricot & Lavender. People's Pops only make popsicles with fruits naturally grown. 

I decided to go for the apple and ginger popsicle:

Although I am not really a popsicle guy (I prefer some creamy ice cream), I found it good and tasty for a popsicle. You could definitely taste it was made with fresh apples and it has a nice hint of ginger.

Jodi went for a grape flavored shaved ice cup.