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.
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..
Founded in Fukuoka, Japan by Tetsushi Mizokami, Uncle Testsu’s cheesecake opened in New York a couple of months ago. I noticed it after seeing a line in front of a small bakery with an open kitchen where somebody was making what I learn later was madeleines. I admit that I never had or even knew that there was such thing as a Japanese cheesecake, a treat totally different from the heavier version we know (and yes, Junior’s is still the best for me). No, Japanese cheesecakes are fluffier and eggy: a…
It’s been a while since we wanted to go to Socarrat Paella Bar but I admit that I was a bit put off by the fact that they only serve paella for a minimum of two people. Between Jodi being vegetarian and me not wanting to try a non-vegetarian paella, it did not work. So we finally decided to go for their tapas, me, salivating each time I was seeing a large paella pan passing by, imagining I could dip my fork in it without people knowing.
Last Saturday, I was invited to try Rabbit Rabbit Tea, a place that serves bubble tea, a kind of tea that became popular in Taiwan in the 1980s and whose creator is unknown. It has since conquered the US and Rabbit Rabbit Tea has made its way from California to New York, housed in the location of a Chinese restaurant (Xiang Xiang Noodle). The rabbit is often associated with luck and there is this superstition in Britain and North America wherein a person says or repeats the words "rabbit", "rabbits" and/or "white rabbits" aloud upon waking on the first day of a month to get good luck for the whole month. So, I wonder if it is from that that the name of this place came from…For sure the logo is fun.
I heard of Belcampo thanks to fellow blogger Johnny Prime who is a reference when it comes to meat and attended a camp there, before discovering that they have an outpost in Hudson Yards. At the time when more and more people become vegetarian, many because of the way cattle are raised, Belcampo shows how raising animals for consumption can be less hazardous, controlling the food chain from A to Z, without any middlemen and under strict rules. Raised in their farm at the base of Mt Shasta in Northern California (25,000 acres), the animals are fed without any hormones and additives and it shows.
It is not that often that you see a Georgian Bakery and restaurant opening and when Chama Mama opened last Spring, it got people talk (I am talking about the Eastern European country). Replacing a Cuban restaurant in Chelsea (El Paraiso), Chama Mama is a casual place with in the kitchen in the middle, visible from the dining room and exhibiting their « tone », a very large clay oven that apparently every Georgian home has (in a smaller version) and where they cook bread most of the day (this one uses gas).
Last Saturday, I was invited at Lokal in Jersey City, for the restaurant opening. I know: when people think about New Jersey, they wonder if they need their passport, but, in fact, between the ferry from the World Trade Center to the path train to Exchange Place or Newport, it is very easy to go there and you can enjoy delicious food while admiring a breathtaking view of Manhattan.
We were in Jersey City recently, trying to go to the DMV where the line was as long as a CVS receipt. So, although we decided to go back another time, we chose to eat around and found a Filipino place called Max’s Restaurant. Why not? Jodi was ok to go there as long as I was not getting a balut. Deal. I did not know going at Max’s Restaurant that they have more than 200 locations internationally, mostly in the Philippines and quite a few in North America (17 at this time). Opened in 1945 in the Philippines by Maximo Gimenez and now a family run restaurant empire, it is known for its fried chicken that I skipped as I was going to eat chicken that evening too and was curious to try the pusit sisig, a dish made of …
I have never been a fan of Gallaghers, the famous close to a century old steakhouse with its meat locker where they dry age their cuts visible from the outside, like a tourist attraction. But my last visit might have changed my mind. It is true that I went there years ago, before the change of ownership and complete revamping, making it more upscale but keeping a certain charm and authentic feel. Impossible to miss if the open kitchen in the back where the magic happens and I was surprised to see their grill where they cook the meat over hickory logs.
When I received an invite to dine at Alley 41, a Sichuanese restaurant in Flushing, I realized that it has been years that we have been saying we should go in that area to try some authentic Chinese cuisine, but we never went. So I gladly accepted the offer and we went on a Friday evening. Its owner, Mr Yao Hua comes from the Sichuan province and immigrated in the US in 1999. Here, he worked in various restaurants before opening Alley 41 in 2017, doing its best to keep the flavors authentic and shipping 80% of its ingredients from the Sichuan Province in China.
It’s been a while since we wanted to go to The Dutch, one of the many restaurants of successful restauranteur Andrew Carmellini (Lafayette, Locanda Verde and Bar Primi to name a few). So, as we had a cooking class at Atelier Sucré (éclairs and cream puffs) in the West Village, we decided to book a table for brunch.
This big place that proposes an American fare was packed for sure, not just the dining rooms but also the bar. Food wise, there are few interesting dishes they offer like the donut tree that seems decadent, but the flavors proposed not that great for me, so we passed. And I was …
