It has been three years that I discovered Thai Select, a Thai restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. As we were looking recently for a place to eat, walking towards Port Authority on 9th, we stumbled upon it and decided to have dinner there. The place did not change besides the Halloween decor that was all over and the room in the back with its backlit photo still looks beautiful.
I was craving Indian food and coincidentally, I saw a photo on Instagram of a dish at Roasted Masala, an Indian restaurant in the Upper West Side. The photo was posted by my friend Malini, The Restaurant Fairy, who seemed excited about the food there and knowing her, if she was positive, it meant that it was good. So we decided to check the restaurant website and our excitement went up: lots of classic dishes, but not only. They have lots of vegetarian dishes, so it was perfect for Jodi, street food dishes as well as ones that I never …
Going to La Bouche Café is like trying to go to a Rolling Stone’s concert: difficult to get a ticket but once you are there, you enjoy it (just so you know, I have never been to their concert). This place that used to be on Garden Street, off the beaten path, has now a prime location on Washington street with a little outdoor space. Their, Chef and owner Esra Yuzer who is from Turkey, serves a European menu with few Mediterranean dishes. We tried to go few times but it was always busy and we were not willing to wait.
We passed many times in front of Motel Morris in Chelsea, a place that only has such name because of the nostalgia of the 1960s from the owners. Yes, it is just a restaurant and not attached at all to a hotel. But an interesting restaurant for the atmosphere it carries: retro from its decor and popular from its crowd.
Menu wise, for brunch, it proposes an elevated all American menu with classics like burgers and eggs. And, reminiscent of diners, floats but spiked with alcohol, like the bourbon cherry coke float that is an interesting …
As we were in Long Island City, we decided to find a brunch place and ended up at Café Henri few steps from the subway station. We went for an 11:30am brunch and I could not believe how crowded this place was! Luckily, we got a table fairly quickly. I love the decor there, with his big chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the core color of the walls that gave an old feel to a place that definitely feels like your neighborhood joint, like stepping in a restaurant in Paris without the price of the flight.
As we had to be on the Upper West Side, we checked out a brunch place and stumbled upon The Ribbon, a pretty big restaurant on 72nd and Amsterdam. Yes big place with the bar room when you enter that I bet is crowded and noisy in the evening, and a large dining room in the back, with a view of the kitchen.
After going to The Plazza Food Court and trying No 7 Sub, we decided to go back and get a taste of Chi Dumplings and Noodles, a casual Chinese restaurant located in the back. But we did not go for ramen or noodles: no, we decided to share a bunch of dishes. As the name has dumplings in it, we ordered their vegetable dumplings and their shrimp dumplings. I do not know why but when I see green dumplings I always have an apprehension that it will have too much spinach in it. And it did. At least the shrimp dumplings were decent.
The Plaza is a beautiful hotel and lots of people are missing out on the food court that is in the basement and features various places like Lady M, Billy’s Bakery, Luke’s Lobster or No 7 Sub that we tried recently. Their menu offers only few vegetarian options like the broccoli classic that Jodi tried: made with…roasted broccoli…as well as lychee muchim (that I think is pickled lychee), feta, fried shallots and mayonnaise. I admit that when she proposed me to try, I hesitated, not being a huge fan of broccoli, but was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it tasted good when all mixed together, the feta giving a nice saltiness to the sandwich. On my side, I hesitated between the Dr Melfi made with salami, mozzarella and …
On a recent trip to The Gansevoort Market, we decided to try some pizza sold by the slice from Enzo Bruni, replacing Luzzo’s that used to be there for years. The pizza definitely looked good and they propose a nice selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian pies. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be the burrata one that had lots of this creamy cheese: the crust was good, puffed up and charred on the sides and thin in the center, like a Neapolitan pizza should be. The one with…
We like sometimes to go to The Gansevoort Market to see what they have to offer and there are often new choices there, the proximity of Chelsea Market close by probably making business more difficult. So, as we were there with Jodi’s cousin Rebecca, I could not resist trying Burger Inc as I saw few months before that they propose a burger with bone marrow, The Don. So I went for it and did not regret it: the bone marrow gave a nice fattiness to the sandwich that had a tasty charred beef patty that was juicy.
I sometimes crave Thai food: comforting, flavorful and not always spicy, Thai cuisine offers a nice selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. So, as we were in Long Island City, we decided to try Tuk Tuk, a local restaurant that takes its name from the three wheeled taxi that you see in many Asian countries.
Italians have Eataly and the French have Le District, a market that opened in 2015, located near The World Trade Center that offers classic French delicacies such as bread or cheese. I admit that, I heard about it in the past but waited until we went to L’Appart few months ago before deciding to explore this place, regretting that I did not go earlier. Depending from where you enter, you can end up in the supermarket that had lots of French products, most of them overpriced unfortunately, or on the food court side, starting with crepes that are not good, Bar Suzette in Chelsea Market being a better option.
Some may say that I am a bit stubborn, continuing to dine in Times Square hoping to find the Holy Grail of food. There are some nice places I enjoy there like Junior’s or Tony di Napoli, so who knows? Well, for sure, for Italian food, Pasta Lovers is not at the same level as Tony di Napoli I mentioned before. The food is decent but you are not going to drool just thinking about it. We went there on a Friday evening and the restaurant was surprisingly not that full. I started with a Spritz the was definitely not the best I ever had and wondered how you can screw up that drink!
I was really excited when we got to go to Saar Indian Bistro Midtown Manhattan: this place is one of the many restaurants of Chef Hemant Mathur who I met few times in the various places he opened in the city, some of them unfortunately closing such as Haldi. This Michelin starred Chef knows how to give a modern twist to Indian cuisine and eating his food is always a festival of flavors. We started our meal with some snacks and a mango lassi that is my go to drink when eating Indian food: nicely sweet, it is a good way to cool your mouth when on fire…
When I think that Craft, one of the restaurants of celebrity Chef Tom Colicchio, has been opened since 2001 and I only tried it in 2019! I was sad to see Colicchio and Sons and Craftbar closing in fact, two restaurants that showed the difference between hospitality and good service and it is only after talking to one of my friends who loves Craft that we ended up there for dinner on a Friday. For once, we ended up in a place where we could enjoy a nice conversation without screaming to the top of our lungs.
I love BBQ and had House of Que in Weehawken on my radar for a while. It is a bit far but a nice walk on the river front or, if you live in New York, the ferry ride from Manhattan to Port Imperial can be a convenient and nice way of discovering this area. House of Que is big, with lots of light and two bars to serve a horde of thirsty patrons, the second bar being in a it, surrounded by oversized TVs. You certainly don’t go to House of Que for a romantic dinner and lunch might be better if like me you like to eat without noise canceling headphones.
This is my second time at Pizzeria Sirenetta, a busy pizza place with an outdoor area on the Upper West Side. We went last year but I never blogged about it although I took photos of the delicious food we had for brunch. So, one Saturday, as we were in the area, we decided to have dinner and sat on their terrace. As it was before 7pm that we ordered, we benefited from their happy hour (5pm to 7pm Saturday and Sunday) and started by ordering some drinks. Of course, a …
I love tacos and recently discovered Oxido, near Times Square: this place opened last January and in an outpost of their first location that opened in Chelsea in 2015 where Chef Jesse Perez gives a modern twist on Mexican classics. Tacos, burritos and bowls are proposed there and you would think that you are at Chipotle the way your order is made, at the counter, from left to right, picking whatever ingredients you would like to create your dish, some free and other with a surcharge, often modest. But the comparison stops there.
I often talk about Morandi, one of my favorite Italian restaurant in the city. Although not truly Italian like Pastis or Balthazar are not truly French but still a good rendition by Keith McNally. Scene-y, crowded and loud. We recently where in Chelsea and decided to go there for an early dinner. I started the meal with a house cocktail: the Lo Scosseze, made with Adberg whisky, Drambouie liquor and black walnut. Apparently not that many people order it because they do not like peaty whisky. Well, on my side I loved it.
We were walking on 14th street when we passed by in front of Hao Noodle, an outpost of Hao Noodle and Tea by Madam Zhu’s Kitchen that we discovered previously. We decided to go there for lunch on a Saturday, craving Chinese food and were so delighted by the food there that we came back the following week for dinner..
