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Archive for August, 2009

Yankee Stadium – Lobel’s and Garlic Fries

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 by virginia

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I finally got a chance to check out the new Yankee Stadium and lucky for me, the food choices there and at Citi Field have already been blogged about to death. Since everyone else has already done the dirty investigative work, I read up on a few places and weighed our options. Eventually we decided to check out Lobel’s of New York and their famed $15 steak sandwich.

We got to the stadium around 6:30 and took a quick walk around to see everything. I liked the open air structure – you can still see the field while waiting in line at the concession stands. I also thought the food court was a clever addition and helped with crowd control in the walkways. After picking up some decent but pricey beers at the Beers of the World stand, we got in line at Lobel’s. It was probably the longest line I saw out of all the concession stands, and it moved very slowly for some reason. Fortunately we had our beers to keep us company, and we watched the butchers behind the glass window trimming some beautiful pieces of beef.

Beautiful pieces of raw beef behind the glass at Lobel's

We eventually wound our way to the front of the line and watched as they piled the meat onto our sandwiches. We also picked up containers of olive spread, though they told us they were out of horseradish.

Steak sandwich assembly line

By the time we got our sandwiches, we had already missed the first inning. Not a big deal; we picked up some more beer and headed up to our seats.

The cup holders at the new stadium are a brilliant addition

Luckily we didn’t miss much in the first inning, and the game picked up in the second. We dug into our sandwiches right away so they wouldn’t get cold. Josh and I both spread the olive tapenade onto the top bun.

We added olive tapenade to our sandwiches

The juice/gravy from the meat had already completely soaked through the bottom bun. Josh picked up his sandwich to eat it, which was a messy choice. A ton of liquid dripped out all over him and down his arm so he had to eat very quickly.

Close up on the beef and all the gravy soaking into the bottom bun

I didn’t want to mess up my clothes so I ended up holding the container under my sandwich the entire time. It was a clumsy way to eat but I managed to keep myself stain-free. The verdict? Meh. It was just ok. The meat was tender but all I could taste was whatever they seasoned it with. The gravy basically overpowered the taste of the beef. I also thought it was too sweet so I was glad to have the olive spread to counteract that a bit. They do give you a lot of meat, so extra points for that, but I’m not sure I would pay $15 for that sandwich outside of the stadium. Ballpark food is overpriced, and this is no exception. Still, this is probably the best deal out of all the other stadium offerings.

A decent, but not great, sandwich

After an exciting start the game, the Yankee offense really slowed down and the Blue Jays took the lead. It got a bit boring after a while so we headed back down for some more beers and to grab a snack. We head straight for the Garlic Fries stand and picked up a large order to share. We also picked up a small order for our friend, but there wasn’t a huge difference in the size. We were probably better off sticking with a small order, as it was a fairly substantial portion to begin with, and these fries are rich and filling.

DSCN1664 The fries are topped with tons of freshly chopped garlic and parsley so they’re really flavorful, but they were also a bit oily. I enjoyed them a lot but you really can’t eat too many without feeling overwhelmed. And you’ll definitely want a mint or gum afterward. They were really tasty though, and I’d definitely get them again the next time I’m at the stadium.

Garlicky garlic fries

Overall I wasn’t super impressed with Lobel’s or the other options at Yankee Stadium. To be fair, I didn’t try any of the other options but nothing else really appealed to me. Places like Brother Jimmy’s and Johnny Rockets I can get outside of the stadium. I would like to try Mike’s Deli the next time though. I did enjoy the Garlic Fries a lot, and I thought they were a great twist on traditional stadium food. We’ll be heading to Citi Field in a week for my first visit there and I can’t wait to see what it has to offer.

Tags: Baseball, Fries, Sandwiches, Yankees
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Bello

Sunday, August 9th, 2009 by virginia

We go through the same routine almost every single Sunday night when we get together with Josh’s family for dinner. We can never decide on a place, and more often than not, we crave Italian food. After exhausting most of the options downtown and in Little Italy, we still hadn’t found a go-to place that everyone agrees on. Now that Josh and I have moved uptown, this opens up a whole new neighborhood with countless Italian restaurant options.

On this particular Sunday, after going through the “where should we eat” routine, I suggested Bello, a restaurant on 9^th Ave. that I’ve passed many times and looked nice from the outside. The menu was classic northern Italian and reasonably priced. Reviews on menupages and in the Zagat guide were also pretty favorable. We called for a reservation but due to unforeseen circumstances, we wound up being half an hour late. Not a problem though, as the restaurant was mostly empty. That’s not usually a good sign, but it was pretty late for dinner on a Sunday night so it was understandable.

The dining room is a little lower than ground floor level but it’s pretty spacious. The décor is not overly fussy, and they had a nice big round table waiting for us when we arrived. Josh and his dad dropped us off while they went around the corner to park (the restaurant offers free garage parking after 5 pm). As we were waiting for them, they brought us baskets of white and wheat Italian bread. They were standard loaves but were warmed up in the oven so they were chewy on the inside and had nice crispy crusts. The restaurant definitely earned bonus points for heating up the bread. It’s such an easy thing to do yet it astonishes me how many restaurants don’t.

Crispy Italian bread

Next, we were brought a gift from the kitchen, which were plates of their “specialty”, potato chips. I thought that was an odd offering from an Italian restaurant, but one chip convinced me that it really was a specialty. These homemade chips were sliced super thin and perfectly fried. They were delicately crispy, and without a trace of grease. All they needed was a sprinkling of salt from the shaker on the table, and we devoured them. Seriously, they were the best chips I’ve ever had at a restaurant.

Freshly fried thin and crispy potato chips

I was really happy after eating those chips and hoped that the rest of the meal wouldn’t let me down. Luckily, it didn’t. For appetizers, I went “halfsies” with Josh on beef carpaccio and Caesar salad, two items that we use to judge an Italian restaurant. I started with the Caesar salad and we swapped plates halfway through. The salad was a pretty large portion and covered in grated parmesan cheese, which I liked. The dressing could have packed a bit more punch, but it wasn’t overly mayo-y or fishy. The croutons really looked like gross stale pieces of plain white bread, untoasted, but when I finally popped a piece into my mouth I was shocked by the delicious garlic flavor and its light crispiness. I don’t know how they prepared those croutons but I was a huge fan. It just goes to show that looks can be deceiving! While this wasn’t the best Caesar salad I’ve ever had, it was pretty good.

Caesar salad

The beef carpaccio was served over a pile of arugula, topped with grated parmesan cheese and could have been a meal on its own. The thinly sliced raw beef tasted fresh and was just the right temperature – not warm but not ice cold. The dish arrives unadorned and unseasoned, but all it needs is a squeeze of lemon, a splash of olive, and a bit of salt and pepper to brighten it up. That really lets the fresh flavor of the ingredients to shine through.

Beef carpaccio served over arugula

For my main course, I chose my other test of an Italian restaurant – chicken parmesan. When my plate arrived, I almost laughed at the size of the chicken. It was huge! It was a neat presentation, with most of it boneless and pounded down except for a tiny little wing protruding from the end. It came with spaghetti that was cooked al dente. And the dish was hot, which earned the restaurant even more bonus points. Too often we get food that’s just lukewarm and cheese that is unmelted. This chicken parmesan was the best that I’ve had recently and absolutely satisfying. The portion that I ended up taking home made two filling lunches at work the next week.

Chicken parmesan with spaghetti

Josh ordered his Italian restaurant standby, linguini with white clam sauce. We both raved about his dish, which was garlicky and briney and served with perfectly cooked linguini. You definitely have to be a garlic lover to enjoy this dish, and we absolutely adore garlic – the more the better. Josh ate the entire bowl of pasta, and then I used the bread to sop up the remaining juices. It really was an outstanding version of white clam sauce.

Linguini with white clam sauce

We almost passed on dessert until the waiter mentioned homemade tiramisu. I like tiramisu, but usually it’s just a big pile of mush. Tasty mush, but still mush. Everything ends up getting mixed together and the ladyfingers end up being too soggy to make any sort of impact. I was curious to see if something specifically touted as “homemade” would be any different. I’m so glad that we got it, because it was really freakin’ delicious. I might even say it was the best tiramisu I’ve ever had. The slice itself was a work of art, with each individual ladyfinger visible and intact. The textures were perfect, and it wasn’t just a pile of mush. I really, really enjoyed this dessert, and I’m not usually a dessert kind of person.

Homemade tiramisu

I thought that both the food and the service at Bello were excellent. Our waiter was attentive, and our food was brought out at appropriate intervals and served at the right temperatures. The house special potato chips in the beginning were seriously awesome. The food was classic red sauce Italian – tangy tomato sauce and lots of garlic. It has all the usual standards, and everything we had was really tasty. I can only hope that it’s consistently good the next time we go, so that it will become a permanent part of our Sunday night dinner rotation. And the free parking is just another bonus!

Bello
863 9^th Ave. at 56^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Italian, Midtown West
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Baumgart’s

Friday, August 7th, 2009 by virginia

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Josh and I were back in NJ for the weekend and had dinner at one of our old favorites, Baumgart’s. It’s a kitschy retro-looking diner that serves Chinese food and ice cream. A weird combination but somehow it works. The Chinese food isn’t totally Americanized, which I like about the place, and service is always fast and efficient. Plus the ice cream is outstanding.

We ended up ordering a ton of food for some reason, and we still managed to finish most of it. For appetizers, we started off with steamed house dumplings that are filled with a shrimp paste and served with pickled vegetables. These are probably pre-made frozen dumplings but they’re delicious. The skins are super thin and the filling is ample but light. I could eat dozens of these, easily.

Steamed house special dumplings

I think Baumgart’s has the best bbq spare ribs I’ve ever had at a Chinese restaurant. They’re always hot, covered in sauce, super meaty, and tender. The meat comes right off the bone and they’re not covered in fat like at other places. They give you plenty of wet naps to get the sticky sauce off your fingers afterward.

BBQ spare ribs

Our absolute favorite appetizer is the chicken with pine nuts. Tiny pieces of coarsely ground chicken are cooked with pine nuts in a light brown sauce and you spoon the mixture onto lettuce leaves. Then you eat it like a wrap. It’s sweet and salty and crunchy – the flavors and textures of this dish are just outstanding.

Chicken and pine nuts in a lettuce wrap

For our main courses, we got an order of crispy shrimp with honey walnuts. The shrimp is kind of cooked like general tso’s chicken, with coated shrimp that’s fried until crispy and tender and served with a sweet reddish tomato based sauce with peppers, onions, and water chestnuts. The walnuts are coated with honey and roasted until they’re also crispy and taste like candy. This is always a solid dish for us.

Crispy shrimp with honey walnuts

The sesame chicken is pretty standard, with chunks of chicken that are coated and fried with a sweet and tangy sauce that clings to the chicken. This dish can get a little dry sometimes, as they use white meat that doesn’t have a lot of moisture to begin with.

Sesame chicken

The brandied black bean filet is thin slices of filet mignon served over steamed spinach with and topped with the black bean sauce. Fortunately the sauce isn’t too powerful, since I’m not a huge fan of black beans (the fermented Chinese kind). But if you’re looking for that black bean flavor, you won’t find it in this dish. The beef is also hit-or-miss. On this trip, it was tender and still pink in the middle. Other times it has been tough and chewy and flavorless. The pieces of beef are pretty thin so they’re easy to overcook. Overall I’m not a huge fan of this dish but Josh and his dad like it a lot.

Brandied black bean filet

We got two noodle dishes – chicken pad thai and house special flat wide noodles. The chicken pad thai has all the usual ingredients – rice noodles, chicken, egg, bean curd, bean sprouts, etc., but it’s slightly pink which makes me think they put ketchup in it. It’s a bit sweeter than normal pad thai, but not bad. I like that they sprinkle a lot of crushed peanuts on top for extra crunch and flavor.

Chicken pad thai

The house special flat wide noodles come with shrimp, chicken, and beef, as well as lots of veggies. It’s cooked with a “sha cha” sauce, which is like Chinese bbq sauce. This is also a hit-or-miss dish, as sometimes they overcook the noodles and they all stick together in one mushy pile. This time it was cooked well, and the sauce isn’t liquidy like American bbq sauce. Sha cha is more of a paste, so it keeps the noodles dry but you can just taste a hint of it in the background.

House special flat wide noodles

The only major disappointment this time was the whole sea bass that was deep fried. We ordered the crispy ginger version, but we should have gone with the steamed instead. The fish was large but it didn’t seem like it had any meat on it. I don’t know what it was coated in before it was fried, but the entire fish was like one giant crust. It was so hard to get to what little meat there was, and everything was super super dry. It seemed like such a shame to ruin such a big piece of fish that way. I don’t know if it was a bad fish to begin with or if it was just over fried, but I definitely won’t be ordering this dish again.

Deep fried sea bass with ginger

Even after all that food we just consumed, we all saved room for dessert. You can’t go to Baumgart’s without getting ice cream! The ice cream is homemade, though I’m not sure where “home” is. It’s rich and creamy and never icy. I got a black raspberry “mini sundae” which is a large scoop with hot fudge and whipped cream. The fudge was so hot that it started melting my ice cream immediately. They really do put on a thick layer, and I love getting a bit of fudge, a bite of ice cream, and a dab of whipped cream all on one spoon. The black raspberry is not too sweet and has a strong berry flavor. This is definitely one of my favorites.

Black raspberry ice cream with hot fudge and real whipped cream

Josh had the mint chocolate chip mini sundae, also with hot fudge. The mint ice cream is appropriately minty and refreshing. It just tastes “clean”, if you know what I mean. Nothing artificial and it’s not the neon green color. Watch out for the chocolate chips, as they are more chunks than chips. There are huge blocks of frozen chocolate dispersed throughout the ice cream, and finding one is like finding gold. These are not your ordinary chocolate chips. We pretty much inhaled all of our ice cream.

Mint chocolate chip ice cream mini sundae

Even though I don’t generally crave Chinese food, I’m always happy to go to Baumgart’s. Aside from the standard sesame chicken, nothing else is like typical Chinese take out. I think a lot of the dishes are more authentic, even though the atmosphere is more of a 50’s ice cream soda shop than a Chinese restaurant. Even my dad has enjoyed their crispy shrimp, and he’s super picky about Chinese food outside our home. If you go to Baumgart’s during lunch or brunch, they also have really good chicken salad sandwiches and other more diner-ish fare. The restaurant also serves sushi, with a lot of tasty special rolls. This really is a place where anyone can find something to eat. Even the pickiest kids would be satisfied with their grilled cheese or burger with fries, and the adults can enjoy an eclectic asian feast. I definitely recommend Baumgart’s for anyone. And as a bonus, the Englewood location is BYO so bring along your favorite beer or wine!

Baumgart’s (multiple locations)
45 East Palisade Ave.
Englewood, NJ

Tags: BYO, Chinese, Englewood, Ice Cream, NJ
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Empire Szechuan Kyoto

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 by virginia

Josh had a hankering for peking duck and we hadn’t ordered in any Chinese food yet from our new place, so I did a find-a-food search on menupages. There weren’t very many options that came up in the search, which I was kind of surprised about. Not knowing too much about each of the restaurants, we ended up picking the place with the best overall rating that was reasonably priced.

The delivery came pretty quickly the hot food was still warm in their containers, so bonus points for that. When I popped open the lid on the container that held our half order of peking duck, however, my face fell immediately. The duck was deep fried, not roasted. And deep fried to a dry, chewy texture. There was no seasoning or flavoring on the skin, meaning it wasn’t basted in whatever sauce that normally shellacs the skin of a peking duck. The skin was also totally tough and fried to a point that it was not crispy and was actually soggy with oil. This poor over-fried dried out bird bore absolutely no resemblance to peking duck.

Deep fried and dried out peking duck

I had placed the delivery on seamlessweb and asked in the special instructions section for them to bring six pancakes for the peking duck, since the normal order contains five pancakes. I guess they didn’t take note of my special request, because only five pancakes arrived. At least they didn’t charge me extra for the missing pancake. They did bring a ton of shredded scallions and julienned cucumbers for the duck though, which was nice. After smearing a pancake with a ton of hoisin sauce and adding a large handful of scallions/cucumbers, I could almost pretend that the duck was moist and had some flavor.

The extra scallions and cucumbers also came in handy for our order of cold noodles with sesame sauce. The sesame sauce was really thick, much thicker than I’m used to, but the noodles were also a thicker variety so they pared well. Adding the fresh vegetables provided a crispy textural contrast to an otherwise soft dish. I enjoyed the noodles, but they weren’t spectacular. It’s hard to mess up this dish.

Cold sesame noodles

We also ordered two egg rolls, but they called us and told us they only had one left. Umm, ok? I guess they pre-make these and only have a certain number on hand. On the bill they brought with the delivery order, they only charged one egg roll, but since we paid through seamlessweb, and that order had two egg rolls, I don’t know if it was fixed before it was charged to our credit card. I’ll have to check our statement later and see. The egg roll itself was pretty good, as it had chunks of pork and shrimp in it, and it was still hot and crispy. I was disappointed they didn’t have two because I didn’t want to share with Josh!

Pretty decent egg roll

We also got an order of sesame chicken, which was a bit dry. The chicken pieces seemed really bready and not very meaty. The sauce was pretty standard, more sweet than tangy, but they did sprinkle a lot of sesame seeds on top, which I liked. They also brought fried rice noodles on the side to put on top, and while in theory that was smart, so it wouldn’t get soggy if it were pre-mixed with the chicken, but the steam in the container made them soggy anyway. It was kind of like putting pieces of chewy styrofoam on top. Not very appetizing.

Sesame chicken

We don’t crave Chinese food often (Josh does more than I do, since I grew up eating Chinese food basically every day) but it would be nice to have a standby place to order in from. I miss our place downtown, Empire Szechuan Village (it doesn’t seem to be related to Empire Szechuan Kyoto), as their peking duck was fabulous and cooked right, not deep fried. We’ll have to keep looking for a new place to try out, or else Josh will have to start making is own peking duck whenever he craves it. His version is pretty spectacular but it’s very time consuming.

Unfortunately, we don’t have too many Chinese food options in our delivery area, and even less that serve peking duck. The food we got from Empire Szechuan Kyoto was pretty disappointing though. The only thing I really enjoyed was the egg roll, but I can get egg rolls anywhere. Our main dishes, the peking duck and the sesame chicken, both failed on many levels. I don’t think we’ll be ordering in from here again.

Empire Szechuan Kyoto
193 Columbus Ave. between 68^th and 69^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Chinese, Delivery, Peking Duck, Upper West Side
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Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009 by virginia

Since Amadeus Pizza was such a bust the last time, Josh and I continued on our quest for finding the best go-to pizza place. This time I perused delivery.com and found a 20% coupon for Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint. We got our standard order of a large cheese pie, a chicken parm hero, and garlic knots.

Everything arrived hot, which was a huge plus. The pizza looked a little disheveled as a result of being transported, but it was appropriately browned, not like the pale pie Amadeus sent us.

A slight disheveled pizza

Josh and I had differing opinions about Big Nick’s pizza. He thought the crust was too thick, a big no-no for him. I thought the crust was a bit thicker than most but it was far from a pan pizza, and it had a nice crunch to it. I also really liked the sauce, which had a lot of herbs mixed into it that gave it more flavor. While not amazing, I thought this was a pretty decent pie.

Underside shot

The chicken parm on the other hand was pretty gross. I don’t know if they served it on a whole wheat roll (which was an option, but I didn’t select that option) but the bread just tasted weird. It definitely had a wheat flavor and was way too sweet. The flavor of the roll clashed with the flavors of the chicken parmesan. They also wrapped the sandwich in a way that all the cheese stuck to the foil and pulled off when I tried to open it. It was just a bad version overall.

A pretty bad chicken parm sandwich

The garlic knots were also just eh. They were a bit cold and stale and didn’t pack much of a garlic punch.

Just ok garlic knots

The overall verdict for Big Nick’s Pizza? Thumbs down. While I enjoyed the pizza, it was not so spectacular that it overcame the faults of its chicken parm hero and garlic knots. Josh didn’t like the pizza because he hated the thicker crust, so basically this was a no-brainer. However, we didn’t try the “Burger Joint” part of Big Nick’s, so maybe we’ll stop by there one day to check out their massive list of burger offerings. But as for the pizza, our quest continues and we’ll be ordering in from a new place next time.

Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint
70 West 71^st St. at Columbus Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: Delivery, Pizza, Sandwiches, Upper West Side
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1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer

Saturday, August 1st, 2009 by virginia

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Josh and I met up with a few friends on Saturday night for some food, drinks, and catching up. We were looking for some place casual in our neighborhood so we settled on 1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer. The allure of this bar is that a burger costs $1, shots are $2, and beers are $3. On the surface it seems like a great deal, but if you really think about what you get, it’s not really that cheap. Not that it’s expensive, but the draw is really just a gimmick.

The $1 burgers are really mini sliders and can be consumed in three or four bites. Two if you’re a big eater. You have to order a minimum of three burgers, and that’s about right for a nice snack. Josh and I got three burgers each, and he was still a little hungry afterward but I was somewhat satisfied.

Six "burgers"

The patties are pretty tiny but they’re covered in carmelized onions and topped with orange American cheese. They also give you slices of pickles on the side. The bun is soft and chewy and the perfect complement. These burgers aren’t the greatest but they’re good to nosh on while you have a few drinks.

The burgers are topped with american cheese and carmelized onions

They also have lots of different French fries available, which is of course a big draw for me. Waffle fries are my favorite, although this batch wasn’t as seasoned as others that I’ve had here previously. Still, they’re always served hot and crispy in a cute Chinese takeout container.

Seasoned waffle fries

I opted for potato wedges this time as my second order of fries. They were crispy on the outside and nicely soft and potato-y on the inside. I thought they were pretty good, and better than the regular fries that I had here on a previous visit.

Potato wedges

I haven’t had the shots here but they’re the standard shots that we ordered in college, like kamikazes and lemon drops. They do have a nice variety of beer on tap; I’m partial to the Goose Island IPA. However, the glasses are probably about 10 ounces rather than a pint. That means a pint would cost a little less than $5, which makes it about average for NYC.

Overall I do like 1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer even though I don’t think it’s really a bargain. But I do like the atmosphere, as it’s large and spacious with lots of seating (always important for me), and there are tons of TVs all over the place so it’s great for watching games. Since it’s relatively new, it’s also pretty clean, which is a nice draw. I’ll definitely be back again for some mini burgers, fries, and a nice cold beer.

1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer
738 10^th Ave. between 50^th and 51^st St.
New York, NY

Tags: Bars, Burgers, Fries, Midtown West
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Archive for August, 2009

Yankee Stadium – Lobel’s and Garlic Fries

Bello

Baumgart’s

Empire Szechuan Kyoto

Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint

1-2-3 Burger Shot Beer

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