Every time when i am in a different neighborhood, i always wonder "where is a good place to get a quick bit", "where can i find a good cafe/wine bar" -- that sort of questions. There are a few neighborhoods that i am very familiar with ie: chinatown, st marks and parts of UES. I wish i know more about other places....
While we have this blog now, I am hopping maybe we can also create a 'thread' where people can add to a list of places to eat BY NEIGHBORHOOD.
Maybe antelmo can create some sort of 'header', sort by neighborhood. Not sure how this work....
Monday, April 26, 2010
Baoguette Cafe in St. Marks
The French ruled parts of Vietnam from the late 19th century to mid 20th century hence a lot of Vietnamese cuisines are heavily influenced by the French such as the French bread - baguette.
Make sure you order the classic baoguette or the sloppy bao (sloppy joe in a baguette). The meat comes in mild, medium, hot and very hot. Trust me, you don't want it to be very hot. Or else you will look like Eyjafjallajokul spilling ashes. I will stick with the medium if i were you.
Also ask for a sample of the pandan flavor ice cream. Pandan is a kind of fragrant leafy plant found everywhere in Malaysia, it is often used to infuse flavor into drinks, and dessert (kueh, daniel). I have made a point in my mind that if i am in this neighborhood and needed a snack/dessert, i will have the pandan ice cream.
BTW, there is this Baoguette Cafe in St Marks, and a few restaurants simply called "Baoguette". They are not related. Not sure which one comes first and which are better.
Make sure you order the classic baoguette or the sloppy bao (sloppy joe in a baguette). The meat comes in mild, medium, hot and very hot. Trust me, you don't want it to be very hot. Or else you will look like Eyjafjallajokul spilling ashes. I will stick with the medium if i were you.
Also ask for a sample of the pandan flavor ice cream. Pandan is a kind of fragrant leafy plant found everywhere in Malaysia, it is often used to infuse flavor into drinks, and dessert (kueh, daniel). I have made a point in my mind that if i am in this neighborhood and needed a snack/dessert, i will have the pandan ice cream.
The Freeman Restaurant!!!!
First of all Daniel found this place and showed it to me while we were roaming the city, but I went and used it for Mon and I's 6 month anniversary.The place is hidden in an alley in the middle of the block which makes going to it feel like a scavenger hunt, and if you are going there for the first time, literally like discovering a new restaurant where no one has eaten.
It is decorated very rustic with stuffed animals and deer heads on the wall.
They describe themselves as rugged clandestine American Tavern with a simple and rustic inspired by old American traditions menu.
The place requires no reservation for parties less than 6 and can have a 30 min to 2 hour wait according to online reviewers.
We got there close 7:30 on a Sunday and they told us we would have to wait for 30 mins so we sat at the bar and in no less than 15 mins we had a seat.
The waiter was nice. The food was okay I would even say good but honestly nothing excellent like Katz is with pastrami or Shanghai cafe is with soup dumplings or shake Shack is with burgers.
Nevertheless, the homey experience and the feeling that you are somewhere else, is worth at least a visit. It is very Americana. I did not have appetizers or drinks but Allison says and I quote
" yeahthey have really good artichoke dip
like AMAZING
HEAVENLY "
Have fun, now go find it.
http://freemansrestaurant.com/
Photos where form the internet.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Lenny's Wonderful Sandwich
Lenny's is a wonderful sandwich restaurant that has mushroomed all over the city in recent years. It is a great place for a quick sandwich to go. There is one right across from my lab. There is only one sandwich that you should order at Lenny's and everyone who is a frequent patron of Lenny's will tell you -- Lenny's Combo #1. (Hot pastrami, corned beef, Finlandia swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing).
IN N OUT
This is heaven!!!
If you are looking for a good Hamburger and you are in California, take out your smart phone and look for your nearest IN n Out. It is a simple menu with only 3 main things hambuger, cheese burger or double cheeseburger.
Now for those of you who don't know here is the secret menu
http://www.badmouth.net/in-n-outs-secret-menu/
extract from the site
Tester: Various
Description: Not everything that we found on the Internet actually existed. So here are a few imaginary items that we ordered so you don’t have to.
Wish Burger – I assume this is a reference to a song from 1957 by The Chips, where you have two slices of bread, and you wish you had some meat. It’s supposed to be a veggie burger. Our lovely cashier had no ide what we were talking about. But she did recognize the words “Veggie Burger.” So we ordered that instead.
“On the Sal”: “On the Sal” was supposed to give us all the vegetables that normally go on the burger, with secret sauce on top, and nothing else — basically a tiny side salad. Once again, the lovely cashier had no idea what I was talking about.
If you are looking for a good Hamburger and you are in California, take out your smart phone and look for your nearest IN n Out. It is a simple menu with only 3 main things hambuger, cheese burger or double cheeseburger.
Now for those of you who don't know here is the secret menu
http://www.badmouth.net/in-n-outs-secret-menu/
extract from the site
2×4 Burger
Tester: Josef
Description: A “2×4″ is a burger with two beef patties and four slices of cheese. You can also order a “3×3,” a “4×2″ or any other meat/cheese combo your little heart desires. Rumors of a “100×100″ are widespread and thus far unproven. (Yeah, yeah. It’s been proven now. We know. —The Mgmt.) We’d love to see a photo, though.
Comment: The 2×4 was humongous, but great.
3-by-Meat Burger
Tester: John
Description: Three beef patties, no cheese. You can pretty much order “any number”-by-Meat.
Comment: Triple the meat, triple the pleasure. Do you want your colon blocked but don’t want to wait for years and years for it to happen? Well, In-N-Out has the burger for you. I miss my cheese.
“Animal Style” Burger
Tester: Patti
Description: Mustard-cooked beef patty, additional pickles, extra secret sauce with grilled onions.
Comment: I love this burger. Best if ordered without tomato. It has lots of oniony, cheesy, goodness with “special sauce” to boot. (No one ever says that the sauce is just Thousand Island dressing.)
“Double-Meat” Burger
Tester: Maureen
Description: A Double-Double without the cheese.
Comment: The Double-Meat burger was huge — very filling. I would have liked some sauce, however. It seemed a little dry.
The Flying Dutchman
Tester: Steve
Description: 2 beef patties, 2 slices of cheese. That’s it. No lettuce. No onions. No bun. No nuthin’.
Comment: Two all-beef patties with cheese. What more can you say?
Grilled Cheese
Tester: Rachel
Description: Cheeseburger without the “burger.”
Comment: I always order the grilled cheese because I don’t eat beef and veggie burgers are boring. It isn’t as boring as a regular grilled cheese. The sauce makes it better.
“Protein Style” Burger
Tester: Aaron
Description: Any burger you want wrapped in lettuce instead of that carbohydrate-laden bun.
Comment: It felt like it was missing something…oh yeah, the bun! The lettuce wrapping actually made it less messy, but I was still hungry afterward. Next time, I’ll try “Animal Style.”
Veggie Burger
Tester: Chandra
Description: Hamburger with no burger and double tomatos.
Comment: Expected a “veggie burger.” Got a bun with whole grilled onions*, sauce, lettuce and double tomato. Not bad, but rather overly simple for eating out. Won’t order it again. I’ll stick with my usual Grilled Cheese with grilled onions.
“Extra Toast”
Tester: Shireen
Description: Leaves your bread on the grill a tad longer resulting in “crispy buns,” which is not as dirty as it sounds. Can be ordered with any burger.
Comment: About the same. Maybe slightly crispier than normal — but not much.
Fries: “Animal Style”
Tester: Ian
Description: French fries with secret sauce, onions and cheese on top.
Comment: Excellent! I will definitely order these again. Mmmmm…cheesey, oniony goodness!
Fries: “Light”
Tester: Desiree
Description: French fries cooked a little less than normal.
Comment: My light fries were very good.
Fries: “Well-Done”
Tester: Patti
Description: French fries cooked a little longer than normal.
Comment: I couldn’t really tell the difference from these vs. the normal fries. Not very impressive. I don’t think I’d bother asking for well-done again.
Choco-Vanilla Swirl Shake
Tester: Rachel
Description: Chocolate and vanilla shakes in the same cup. Swirled, not blended.
Comment: It tastes like a regular chocolate shake to me.
Lemon-Up
Tester: Tevin
Description: 1/2 Lemonade, 1/2 7-Up. Since they started letting you get your own drinks, you can make this yourself.
Comment: I thought it was OK. And it tasted like a tangerine.
Neopolitan Shake
Tester: Maureen
Description: Strawberry, vanilla and chocolcate all swirled together — not blended.
Comment: I loved the Neopolitan Shake. I expected all the flavors mixed together, but they were separate.
Tea-Ade
Tester: Miles
Description: 1/2 Iced Tea, 1/2 Lemonade. Since they started letting you get your own drinks, you can make this yourself.
Comment: It wasn’t good.
Failures
Tester: VariousDescription: Not everything that we found on the Internet actually existed. So here are a few imaginary items that we ordered so you don’t have to.
Wish Burger – I assume this is a reference to a song from 1957 by The Chips, where you have two slices of bread, and you wish you had some meat. It’s supposed to be a veggie burger. Our lovely cashier had no ide what we were talking about. But she did recognize the words “Veggie Burger.” So we ordered that instead.
“On the Sal”: “On the Sal” was supposed to give us all the vegetables that normally go on the burger, with secret sauce on top, and nothing else — basically a tiny side salad. Once again, the lovely cashier had no idea what I was talking about.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tiramisu
well.. since Sarah cited a place out of the NY metro area.. so will I.. if you are ever in Rome.. head off the beaten path to the San Giovanni neighborhood to try some of the best tiramisu in the world at Pompey
Uighur food
Food
We always talk about food, I think it was Daniel who started this quest for finding great eatings and then we followed suit. I am proposing a silly experiment inspired by Deming.
Your quest is to upload a picture of a place you have eaten in that you love (if you want to review it do so). Because we are all New Yorkers is hard to get together and eat at the same time, so the rest of us can go at any given time.
I know what you are think this is kinda uninteresting, nevertheless this can serve as a record of all the cool places we can eat and others city.
The only rules are you cannot give out the secret spots, like where we get out tea :).... you guys know what I mean.
I will start with
Taco Taco (Amazing Mexican Food)
I love this place it is like eating at home. Try the Sopes!!!!
Your turn!!!!!!
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