Food: ☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆½
Cost: $$
Must try: Avocado Cilantro Margaritas, Sardinas a la Plancha, Jarrete de Cordero
(This meal was complimentary which did not affect my review.)
Oficina Latina, Nolita, NYC
Category Archives: NEW YORK
Almondine Bakery, Park Slope, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$
The Almondine Bakery now has a second location in Park Slope!
The former pastry chef from Le Bernardin and Windows on the World Hervé Poussot has been serving up delectable treats at this French patisserie in Brooklyn for quite some time now.
Using ultra fresh ingredients, Almondine offers a host of fresh-baked French goods such as croissants, fruit tarts, muffins, macarons, baguettes, pastries and more. They serve delicious coffee using La Colombe beans from Philadelphia and a decadent hot chocolate made with Valrhona chocolate.
The Park Slope Almondine is housed in a small cozy space with a working fireplace, which seats about 25. Located right by the train station, it is really hard not to make a small detour to start your day just right!
Here is some of what we ate:
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Almondine Bakery | |
| * Overall | |
| ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| DUMBO / American Traditional | |
| * Street Address | |
| 85 Water St ((between Main St & Washington St) ), Brooklyn, NY 11201 | |
| * Phone | |
| (718) 797-5026 |
Pacificana, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Food: ☆☆☆½
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆½
Cost: $$$
Must try: Shrimp and Chive Dim Sum
Pera Soho, SoHo, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆ ½
Cost: $$$
Must try: Adana Cut Roll, Bouillabaisse, Smoked Eggplant w/ garlic yoghurt and Whole Roasted Leg of Lamb .
Gramercy Tavern, Gramercy/Flatiron, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$$
Must try: Prix – Fixe, Mushroom Lasagna
Biang! Flushing, NYC
Miss Lily’s Restaurant, Greenwich Village/ West Village, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $$$
Must try: Ackee Dip And Plantain Chips , Jerk Chicken
Jerk chicken does not get better this!
Miss Lily’s is my new Mecca for Caribbean food in New York City.
The menu offers modern Jamaican food, which maintains its authentic roots. Chef Bradford Thompson is French trained and has racked up accolades from Food and Wine and James Beard for best chef. All his skills are evident in just one dish – the Jerk chicken! I have never had a bird more tender yet spiced and grilled to perfect crispness.
I really enjoyed everything I tried there. The plantain chips with Akki dip was fabulous and the curried goat with roti was yummy too, albeit a bit watery for my taste. The hot sauces were really spicy and added all the more to the fun and flavor of this wonderful Caribbean oasis!
Multifaceted in its structure – Miss Lily’s weaves in and out of avatars in its Houston Street location. There are three facets to this spot that you can enjoy.
One is the Miss Lily’s bar/ restaurant part. Then there Miss Lily’s Variety & Bake Shop and Melvin’s Juice Box. This is a West Indian Boutique, record store, casual café, bakery and juice bar all rolled into one. The variety store is home to Radio Lily which is Miss Lily’s Internet radio station where a DJ is live streaming Reggae beats. This creates what they refer to as a “cultural social club”.
Basically what is – is a really cool space to hang out at with great eats at arms reach!
Here is some of what we ate:
Ginger Beer
Jaquitos
Ackee Dip And Plantain Chips
Jerk Chicken
Curried Goat
Roti and Rice and Beans
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Miss Lily’s | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★★☆ ☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| West Village / Jamaican | |
| * Street Address | |
| 132 West Houston St., New York, NY 10012 | |
| * Phone | |
| (646) 588-5375 |
Cannelle Patisserie, Jackson Heights, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆½
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $
Must try: Croissants,
Cannelle Patisserie is perhaps one of the most unusual finds in its location at a strip mall in East Elmhurst.
This venture was brought to fruition by Jean Claude Perennou and Gnanasampanthan Sabaratratnam – both Ex- Waldorf Astoria pastry chefs.
Cannelle Patisserie offers Manhattan quality baked goods at super affordable prices. The display cases are a riot of colors, textures and artful creations such as, napoleons, éclairs, profiteroles, all kinds of baked pastries and cookies. They also offer a range of fresh baked breads, quiches, tarts and so on. Their crowning glory is their super flaky croissants, gâteau Breton, Saint Honoré and Paris-Brest
The most wonderful thing about this Cannelle – other than its ethereal offerings is how it reflects the diversity of its surrounding in both its clientele and its staff. At Cannelle, people from all ethnicities, across all ages have found a great homey neighborhood spot to stop by and linger at over fabulous eats.
Here is some of what we ate:
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Cannelle Patisserie | |
| * Overall | |
| ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| Jackson Heights / American New | |
| * Street Address | |
| 75-59 31st Ave, East Elmhurst, NY 11370 | |
| * Phone | |
| (718) 565-6200 |
Marea, Midtown West, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆½
Service: ☆☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆½
Cost: $$$$
Must try: Crudo, Granchio peekytoe crab, Astice nova scotia lobster
Maialino, Gramercy , NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Must try: Mortadella , Tonnarelli
Economy Candy, Lower East Side, NYC
Economy Candy located on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan is a New York institution that has been around since 1937. Owned by Jerry Cohen, this sweet stop is stacked with floor to ceiling racks filled with every imaginable kind of candy.
Zabb Elee, Woodside, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆
Cost: $$
Must try: Kai Yang, Crab Fried Rice, Larb, Spicy Shrimp with Basil, Pad Thai
Gotham Bar and Grill, West Village/ Union Square, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆ ½
Service: ☆☆☆☆ ½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆ ½
Cost: $$$$
Must try: Butternut Squash Ravioli, Fresh Tagliatelle, Gotham Chocolate Cake, Strawberry Parfait with Black Sesame Cake.
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Bahari Estiatorio, Astoria, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$
Must try: pita bread, assorted spreads, grilled fish
Macaron Café, Midtown East, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆ ½
Service: ☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$$
Must try: White Chocolate Ganache, Strawberry Rhubarb, Dark Chocolate
M. Wells Dinette at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆½
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆½
Cost: $$
Must try: Ham and Cheese Croissant, Squash Soup
Queens Comfort: Brunch, Astoria, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆☆ ½
Cost: $$
Must try: Disco Tots, Waffle Special
Al di La, Park Slope, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆½
Cost: $$$
Must try: Tagliatelle Al Ragu
Park Slope can truly boast about this neighborhood gem, which serves up simple, seasonally inspired, delicious food.
Al di La Trattoria is a charming little Italian restaurant where meals are artfully prepared in a rustic environment.
The story behind Al di La is simple…
“Anna Klinger and Emiliano Coppa
met while she was travelling through Italy
they fell in love, moved to Brooklyn,
and opened a restaurant
the rest, as they say, is history
– al di la trattoria –
serving Venetian inspired food since 1998
It is just as straightforward as that!”
At Al di La, they are not trying to re-invent the wheel or bring out super inventive, stellar dishes that blow your mind each night. They serve simple food, made from really great ingredients, that tastes marvelous!
And in that very simplicity they manage to Al di La (to go beyond)!
Here is some of what we ate:
Heritage Pork Belly Sandwich
Tagliatelle Al Ragu
Funghi E Polenta
Tagliatelle with Olive Oil
Eggplant Torte
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| al di La | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★★☆ ☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| Park Slope / Italian | |
| * Street Address | |
| 248 5th Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11215 | |
| * Phone | |
| (718) 783-4565 |
Blue Water Grill, Union Square, NYC
Momofuku Noodle Bar, East Village, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆½
Cost: $$
Must try: Pork Bun, Shrimp Bun
Momofuku Noodle Bar was David Chang’s very first eatery that launched his enormously successful Momofuku brand of restaurants.
The concise menu here primarily focuses on ramen, seasonal eats, buns and daily specials. They also offer a fried chicken dinner (priced at $100) for parties of 4-8, which must be reserved in advance. Dessert offers soft serve and cake truffles.
Chang’s eats are inventive and extremely gratifying. The Ramen was good enough though I still think Ippudo rules. However, what I just could not stop eating were the buns! These soft steamed beauties filled with melt in your mouth pork belly or fried shrimp with just the right crunch are seriously addictive.
The Noodle Bar is priced just right, that is of course if you can stop with just eating one order of them buns! I know that I certainly couldn’t.
Here is some of what we ate:
Heirloom Tomato – watermelon, crab, avocado
Pork Bun – hoisin, scallion, cucumber
Shrimp Bun – spicy mayo, pickled shallot, iceberg
Momofuku Ramen – pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg
Ginger Scallion Noodles – pickled shiitakes, cucumber, cabbage
Spicy Miso Ramen – smoked chicken, swiss chard, sesame
|
|
* Restaurant Name |
|---|---|
| Momofuku Noodle Bar | |
| * Overall | |
| ★★★☆ ☆ | |
| * Neighborhood / Cuisine | |
| East Village / Asian Fusion | |
| * Street Address | |
| 171 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003 | |
| * Phone | |
| N/A |
Felice 15 Gold Street, Financial District, NYC
DE Santos, West Village, NYC
Mint, Midtown East, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆½
Service: ☆☆☆
Ambiance: ☆☆ ½
Cost: $$$
Must try: Chicken Malai Kabab , Chilly Fish, Lamb Shahi Pasanda, Garlic Naan
Pearl Oyster Bar, West Village, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆½
Cost: $$$
Must try: Oysters, Lobster Roll, Scallops
Jeanne & Gaston, Chelsea, NYC
Food: ☆☆☆
Service: ☆☆☆½
Ambiance: ☆☆☆
Cost: $$
Must try: Pike Mousseline, Chocolate Napoleon with Rasberry Soufflé