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Delivery Doesn’t Do Hanci Turkish Cuisine Justice

Sunday, March 14th, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I really enjoyed the meal that we had at Hanci Turkish Cuisine and decided to get a delivery order from there one rainy night when we were too lazy to venture out of our apartment. We decided to get a few appetizers and split an entree of the mixed grill, since last time we had ordered too much food. We both remembered how much we loved their freshly baked, crispy and chewy Turkish bread, so when we placed the order on Seamlessweb, we wrote in the special instructions section, “Please bring us extra bread, we love it!”

Our order arrived quickly but sadly, they failed to bring us the extra bread we requested. Instead, we got three measly little pieces, not even a basket’s worth if we had eaten at the restaurant. I guess that’s what we get for being lazy? The bread was delicious as always but the three pieces weren’t nearly enough to use on the portion of cacik we ordered, a yogurt based dip.

Delicious Turkish bread but a meager portion

Cacik is yogurt mixed with chopped cucumbers and seasoned with garlic and dill. It’s similar to tzatziki sauce from Greek restaurants, but Hanci’s version was much milder in flavor. There were lots of small cubes of cucumber but I wish they were more heavy handed with the garlic and dill, as it was kind of bland. It did go well with the mixed grill we ordered, but we ended up putting in a lot of salt to coax out some more of the flavor.

Cacik - yogurt with cucumber, garlic, and dill

We also got an order of sigara boregi, which is fried phyllo dough cigars filled with feta cheese and topped with parsley and dill. The fried phyllo dough suffered a bit from delivery, as it steamed in the container and got a bit soggy, but flavor wise it was quite delicious. The salty feta paired well with the fresh herbs, and though the phyllo was soft, it wasn’t too greasy and was still somewhat flaky.

Sigara boregi - phyllo dough cigars filled with feta cheese

Our last appetizer was piyaz, which is a salad made with white beans, onions, parsley, tomato, and olives. It was dressed with a tangy vinaigrette, and I loved the bite that I got from the slices of fresh red onion. It was a refreshing and flavorful dish but it also needed some salt to boost up the flavor a bit.

Piyaz - white bean salad with onion, parsley, tomato, and olives

For our entree, we split an order of the mixed grill, which was a dish that we had ordered when we went to the restaurant the first time. The mixed grill features lamb sis kebab, chicken tavuk sis, lamb kofte, and chicken adana. All the meats are served over rice pilaf and a side of mixed vegetables. It’s a generous portion of food, though I favored the lamb sis kebab and the chicken tavuk sis, which are just grilled cubes of lamb and chicken. Both the kofte and the adana lacked seasoning and flavor, although all the meats were nicely cooked and very tender.

Mixed grill over rice pilaf with mixed vegetables

I have to admit that we were a bit disappointed with our delivery order from Hanci. We enjoyed our meal at the restaurant much more, and perhaps the food just suffered a bit from being taken out. I did think that a lot of our food lacked basic seasoning though, such as salt, and was much blander than I had remembered. We were also disappointed that they didn’t bring us extra bread, or even a normal sized portion of the bread, as we had ordered several appetizers that needed the bread to pair with. I don’t know if they just didn’t see our special instruction or if they chose to ignore it, but after the hospitality we received while we were there, we were a bit surprised that they weren’t more accommodating. I understand that the bread they offer free at the restaurant costs them money to produce, and I would have paid for extra bread if that was an option, but it wasn’t. In general, I think their food is best enjoyed at the restaurant, when it can come out hot and fresh, and you can have all the delicious Turkish bread that you want.

Hanci Turkish Cuisine
854 10th Ave. between 56th and 57th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Chicken, Delivery, Lamb, Midtown West, Turkish
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Great Service and Great Food at Nook

Saturday, March 13th, 2010 by virginia

In my first post about Nook, I mentioned that we hadn’t been there in years because the service was bad, but after a long hiatus, Josh and I went to brunch and thought both the service and the food were fantastic. We decided to go back there for dinner to see if the service was consistently much improved, or if our brunch experience was merely a fluke. Even though it was quite late for dinner when we arrived, the tiny restaurant was completely full, probably because it was Saturday night. The hostess/waitress told us the wait would be about half an hour and suggested we go across the street to a bar, saying she would call us when a table was available. Since neither of us were starving, and there really is nowhere to wait in the restaurant, it seemed like a good solution so that’s exactly what we did.

We headed across the street to The Snug, which, like Nook, is aptly named. It’s a long narrow bar with limited seating but we managed to snag a small table all the way in the back. Josh got a beer and we chatted for a while. After half an hour, no call. We had left Josh’s phone on the table so that we would see it ring, in case we couldn’t hear it in the noisy bar. Forty-five minutes later, still nothing. At this point we were getting a little peeved, and after almost an hour we decided cross back over to the restaurant and see what the situation was. As soon as we walked in, we saw an empty two top right by the door, and were a bit miffed that we hadn’t received a call.

The waitress came over to us and said she was wondering what happened to us because she called us twice and left a message when we didn’t answer. She then offered us the empty two top and said we could sit right away if we wanted. Josh and I looked at each other, perplexed, because we definitely didn’t see or hear the phone ringing, but we shrugged it off, gave her the benefit of the doubt, and sat down for dinner. Indeed, halfway through the meal, Josh got the beep that he had two missed calls and a voicemail from the waitress telling us that our table was ready. So she really was telling the truth, and we blame AT&T for our frustrations.

We were glad we stayed because not only was the waitress very gracious about the whole mix up, the food was great as well. She opened up our bottle of wine right away (the restaurant is a BYO) and brought us glasses as well as a basket of the same kind of bread that we received at brunch, a rustic and crusty sourdough.

Basket of rustic bread

We ordered two appetizers that we had remembered enjoying the very first time we ate at the restaurant in 2006. First was a tuna tartare served with avocado and flavored with soy and ginger. The tuna was very fresh and nicely cut into small cubes, which I like better than the mashed up tuna that we sometimes receive from other restaurants. The tuna paired perfectly with the creamy avocado, and the whole dish was well seasoned and very flavorful.

Tuna tartare

The second appetizer was mushroom cigars, which was filo dough wrapped around a filling of ground mushrooms, goat cheese, sage, and truffle oil. The pastry was lightly browned and perfectly flaky while the filling was really delicious. I love mushrooms, I love goat cheese, and I love truffle oil. The three together were simply divine. We only wished that the portion was larger, as it’s really only one small cigar cut in half. Josh and I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Mushroom cigars

For our main courses we also opted to order dishes that we’ve tried previously, and both were just as good as we had remembered. The first was tuscan chicken, which features a large boneless chicken breast stuffed with spinach and ricotta, topped with a light parmesan sauce. The chicken was tender and juicy, not at all dried out, and the filling was nicely seasoned and garlicky. The parmesan sauce bound everything together, and it was a very homey and comforting dish. The chicken came with a side salad that was tossed with a tasty vinaigrette, and it was supposed to come with chive mash potatoes but I requested the rosemary fries instead, which they gladly accommodated. The fries were slightly limp but well seasoned, and we could really taste the pleasant rosemary flavor.

Tuscan chicken

Our other entree was the Thai marinated grilled rack of lamb. The serving came with four perfectly grilled chops that were tender, juicy, and flavorful. The Thai marinade was slightly sweet, which worked well with the slightly bitter braised cabbage that came on the side. There were also chive mashed potatoes that came with the dish, which was why I had requested the fries with the chicken dish instead. Despite the casual presentation, the food was well prepared and the flavors were very refined.

Thai marinated grilled rack of lamb

Josh and I weren’t in a rush and were lingering over our meal, finishing up our wine and debating dessert when we got a call from his parents who happened to be in the city that night for a party. It turned out that they were just around the corner from where we were, so they met us at the restaurant for dessert. Our waitress had no problem letting us move over to an empty four top, and we ordered a round of coffee drinks. Unfortunately, the coffee was terrible. The espresso was weak, as was the cappuccino. Both Josh and his mom ordered extra shots of espresso to try and bolster their drinks, but even those were super weak.

Fortunately dessert was much better. Lloyd ordered the cheese and fruit plate, which turned out to be quite a large serving of assorted cheeses (I’m not a cheese person so I only recognized brie but there were others) and various fruits, including grapes, blackberries, and slices of apples, pears, and strawberries. There was plenty to share, and the waitress brought extra bread to pair with the cheeses.

Cheese and fruit plate

We also got a slice of the apple pie, which was served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The pie was more like a cobbler, with tasty, buttery, crumbly bits on top, but it was no less delicious. It wasn’t overly sweet or too cinnamony, and we all enjoyed it immensely.

Apple pie with vanilla ice cream

I have to say, I’m thrilled that the service at Nook truly has improved, as we now have a neighborhood spot that serves up good food at reasonable prices, and is a BYO to boot. Nook really is teeny tiny though so it does get a bit cramped inside, but I find the atmosphere to be homey and welcoming. If you want to dine during pre-theater or prime hours, however, it’s probably best to make a reservation. While the menu hasn’t changed all that much since the first time we were there in 2006, it’s nice to know that we have a place that we can rely on, where the dishes are familiar, tasty, and always well prepared. We’ll be back, and often, I hope.

Nook
746 9th Ave. between 50th and 51st St.
New York, NY

Tags: BYO, Chicken, Lamb, Midtown West
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Pre-Theater Dining at Carmine’s

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 by virginia

One of my favorite pre-theater destinations is Carmine’s in midtown. I’ve written about the uptown location before, and the midtown location seems even busier but still serves up the same great food. One night before going to see Hair the Musical, we managed to get an early dinner reservation for a large group of people. As usual, I stuffed myself silly with delicious wedges of tomato focaccia, which I’ve dubbed “pizza bread.” I even requested a basket of just focaccia (both the tomato and the onion), since there are never enough pieces of them in the regular mixed bread basket.

Basket of focaccia bread

We started off our dinner with two salads that were simply ginormous. The first was the Carmine’s salad, which is kind of like an antipasto salad. There are cubes of ham, salami, and provolone mixed throughout a huge pile of lettuce. There are also sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, red onion, and olives on top, and the entire thing is tossed with a tangy Italian dressing.

Carmine's salad

We also ordered the special salad of the day, which was mesclun greens tossed with a tasty balsamic vinagrette and topped with cranberries, walnuts, and goat cheese. Both of the salads were very different but equally delicious.

Special salad with mesclun greens in a balsamic vinaigrette

We also ordered some hot appetizers to start. First was fried calamari that was lightly breaded and fried to a beautiful golden brown. The calamari was crispy on the outside, tender and not too chewy in the middle, and great for dunking into the tangy and sweet marinara sauce.

Fried calamari with marinara sauce

Last but definitely not least was my favorite appetizer, the stuffed artichoke. This is the artichoke that I keep trying to replicate at home, and although I’ve come close, it’s not quite there yet. This artichoke is garlicky, lemony, and very addictive. Part of the appeal is that I love the process of eating artichokes – dipping the leaves in the yummy sauce, scooping up some bread crumbs, and eating it all together. After peeling off layers and layers of leaves, getting rid of the spiny choke, you finally get down to the creamy heart. It’s a lot of work but also a lot of good eating along the way.

Amazing stuffed artichoke

For our entrees, we got an order of spaghetti with white clam sauce. As you can see in the picture, there are tons of clams on the spaghetti, as well as many cloves of garlic. This is definitely a dish for garlic lovers, as the flavor permeates throughout. The spaghetti was perfectly al dente, and this is always one of my favorite dishes.

Garlicky spaghetti with white clam sauce

The lasagna, like everything else, is a huge portion, and is basically a brick of pasta layered with lots of meat, cheese, and sauce. While it still tastes good, I miss the browned bubbly cheese layer on top, and it does get a bit messy to eat. It tends to fall apart when you try to cut pieces from it, and the proportion of pasta to sauce and cheese kind of gets thrown off. Personally, I prefer the other pasta dishes offered at Carmine’s.

Brick of lasagna

We also got veal parmesan, which was pounded thin and breaded. There’s a good layer of cheese on top but I wish that they had browned it more. It’s still quite tasty though, and the meat is always tender and perfectly cooked.

Veal parmesan

Our last entree was chicken scarpariello, which is one of our favorites so we always get two orders, as everyone wants multiple pieces of chicken. I think they deep fry the pieces, as it’s always crispy on the outside and moist and juicy in the middle. The chicken is covered in a lemony, garlicky sauce that is flavored with rosemary. It’s different from other versions of scarpariello, which usually feature sausage and peppers, but I vastly prefer this version.

Chicken scarpariello

We also got a side dish of escarole, which is sauteed with garlic in oil. Squeeze some lemon over the top and it’s refreshing, a good complement to all the rich, saucy food that we eat.

Sauteed escarole

Even after all the food and several magnums of Carmine’s house wine, we still saved some room for dessert. We got the massive Titanic, which is basically a chocolate brownie covered in scoops of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, paired with bananas, and covered in whipped cream, strawberries, nuts, and chocolate sauce. Like all the food at Carmine’s, it’s over the top but delicious.

The Titanic

Despite all the signs that point to a cheesy tourist destination, Carmine’s is, in my opinion, one of the best Italian restaurants in the city. It never ceases to amaze me how much food the restaurant churns out every day, and all the dishes we get are consistently well prepared. It’s hearty, homey, comforting red sauce Italian food, and lots of it. The value is good, and it’s a great place for accommodating large groups. The midtown location really gets hopping during pre-theater hours but service was great. Our water glasses always stayed filled and a server was always nearby to comply with any of our requests. When the waiter brought one of our magnums of wine, he accidentally spilled a bit from the full bottle and immediately went to fetch us a new one, even though the amount spilled was negligible compared to the size of the bottle. It’s little things like that which make you realize that they do care about service, despite the fact that they would probably still be packed every night even with lousy service. That’s what makes the experience so great every time, and I’m always happy to go back again and again.

Carmine’s (multiple locations)
200 West 44th St. between 7th and 8th Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: Artichokes, Chicken, Italian, Midtown
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Aaheli

Monday, March 8th, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I usually order Indian food from Baluchi’s but we’re always on the lookout for other good delivery places. One night we decided to try out the delivery from Aaheli, an Indian restaurant that we’ve walked past many times and always seems to have a lot of patrons, which is usually a good sign. We started out with some vegetable samosas filled with potatoes and peas in flaky crust.

Vegetable samosas

The samosas were fried well so that the crust was crispy and not too greasy, but we found the filling to be a tad bland. Usually there’s a distinct flavor of curry powder and other spices but this version was rather plain. Fortunately they brought us an assortment of sauces to dip the samosas in, including a coriander sauce, a tamarind sauce, and some mango chutney, which helped boost up the flavor a bit.

Samosa innards and accompanying sauces

For our main courses, we got an order of spinach keema mutton and chicken korma. Keema mutton is a dish made with ground lamb mixed with peas and various spices. Aaheli’s version had good flavor and lots of fresh ginger running through out that gave it a nice fresh touch, but I found the dish to be too oily overall. There was a significant amount of oil that had pooled at the top, which was a bit unappetizing. Too bad, because it was otherwise a pretty tasty version. The spinach was a nice addition that set it apart from the usual keemas that we get from other restaurants.

Spinach keema mutton

The chicken korma fared better, with tender pieces of chicken in a rich almond and cashew curry sauce. This version wasn’t overly creamy or too sweet, with an intriguing mix of spices, and it was one of the better versions that I’ve had. There were thin slivers of almonds mixed throughout, which added a nice crunch.

Chicken korma

Both of our curry dishes came with rice that was scented with spices, and we also added an order of naan for each of us. The naan was thick and fluffy, with a flaky exterior – perfect for dipping into the curry sauces.

Curry on rice with a piece of fluffy naan

Overall we thought the food at Aaheli was pretty good. The flavors seemed fresher and they added some ingredients to some of our favorite dishes that gave them interesting twists, such as the fresh ginger and spinach to the keema. While I did think some of the dishes were a bit greasier than usual, they were still really tasty. Price-wise, the delivery was more expensive than Baluchi’s, but mostly because Baluchi’s offers that great prix fixe deal that includes an appetizer, entree, rice, and bread for only about $15. Curries from Aaheli are about $10 for chicken and $12 for lamb, appetizers range from $4-$6, and breads are $2-$3 each. That’s cheaper than most other Indian restaurants in the neighborhood though, so I think it’s still a good value. It looks like Aaheli does offer a lunch buffet on weekdays that costs $9.95, and a weekend prix fixe deal that looks to be a very reasonable $10.95. Hopefully we’ll check those out one of these days and see if the food is even better when it’s eaten fresh at the restaurant.

Aaheli
826 9th Ave. between 54th and 55th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Delivery, Indian, Midtown West
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Tomaso’s

Thursday, March 4th, 2010 by virginia

Josh left for one of his business trips on a Sunday morning, which was a bit unusual as he typically has weekends free even with all the traveling he does. Luckily for me, Josh’s parents kept up the Sunday night dinner tradition even though both Jess and Lisa were out of commission that particular Sunday as well. Instead of eating in the city, however, they picked me up earlier in the evening and we decided to try out an Italian restaurant in NJ called Tomaso’s, in Edgewater.

The restaurant is kind of in an awkward location, as its parking lot entrance is on River Road but the restaurant itself is set further back, away from the main road. The building is a bit nondescript from the outside but the décor on the inside had an understated elegance to it. We were given a basket of bread to munch on while we looked over the menu, and it was really good, crispy bread that bode well for things to come.

The bread was served warm and had a crust that shattered nicely. The inside was chewy, and when spread with a little bit of butter, it was totally addictive to eat. I think we went through three baskets before our meal was over, which is impressive considering there were only three of us.

Crispy and chewy bread

There was kind of a mix-up with our appetizer order, as we all wanted to try the antipasto caldo that featured clams oreganata, shrimp, eggplant rollatini, mozzarella en carrozza, and stuffed mushrooms. Lloyd ordered “the hot antipasto for three”, and our waiter said that there was only one of each item in one order, and we said it was fine, but we wanted it for three people. I guess he misunderstood what was said and thought that we wanted to share one antipasto order with three people, instead of three antipasto orders, so they only brought one dish. Sure enough there was only one of each item except for the clams oreganata, which came with two, but the eggplant rollatini and mozzarella en carrozza were big enough to share. Realizing the mistake, we quickly placed an order for another antipasto dish, seeing that two orders would be enough for the three of us, and divvied up what was already brought.

Antipasto caldo

The mozzarella en carrozza was my favorite, with a light, crispy outside and gooey cheese in the middle. It was better than any frozen mozzarella stick, for sure. The eggplant rollatini was really tasty as well, tender and cheesy, and the restaurant definitely makes a really good red sauce that is tangy and not too sweet. While the clams tasted predominately of bacon, the stuffed mushroom was flavorful and earthy, and the shrimp was perfectly cooked.

We also ordered a Caesar salad to share between the three of us, which might have added to the confusion regarding the hot antipasto order. The salad was lightly dressed but packed a good garlic punch, and we all enjoyed it a lot.

Caesar salad

Since it was our first visit to this restaurant, I had to get my chicken parmigiana tester. And fortunately, it passed with flying colors. The chicken was pounded thin, had a nice crust, and was covered in a good amount of sauce and cheese. The red sauce here is really exemplary, one of the best that I’ve had. The chicken came with a side of spaghetti that was cooked al dente, and the portion was quite generous.

Chicken parmigiana with spaghetti

Alice went with the meat lasagna, which was also a large portion. The meat sauce was flavorful and there was lots of cheese throughout, making the dish very rich overall. I ended up taking home both my leftovers and hers, which I ate for lunch the next two days.

Meat lasagna

Lloyd had the veal saltimbocca, which was thin pieces of veal topped with prosciutto and sautéed in white wine. The veal was served with spinach and mashed potatoes that were ok but we all thought that the meat was a bit tough, and there was too much prosciutto on top. It wasn’t terrible, but definitely not as good as the dishes that featured red sauce.

Overall we thought our meal at Tomaso’s hit some pretty high highs and not too many lows. We loved the red sauce they served, and the wonderfully crispy bread. I think your best bet would be to stick with classic Italian dishes, like parmigiana and pasta. The portions are large and the food is comforting and hearty. Aside from the early mix-up regarding our appetizers, service was attentive and efficient. Prices are pretty reasonable, and its proximity to the city is always a bonus for us. I’m sure we’ll be back here, especially since most of the Sunday dinner crew missed out on this enjoyable meal.

Tomaso’s
163 River Road
Edgewater, NJ

Tags: Italian, NJ
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Fat Tuesday Feasting at Becco

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I typically don’t pay attention to Mardi Gras festivities but we wound up going to Bourbon Street Bar & Grille on 46th St. the day before Ash Wednesday, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday. It was quite crowded there, as expected, but Josh and his coworkers managed to stake out a good spot right right in the center of the bar. After a few Hurricanes and some Abita beers, we were feeling pretty festive ourselves but we were also starving so we headed across the street to my favorite restaurant, Becco.

At this point it was well past pre-theater time and we were able to get a table right away. We ordered a bottle of our favorite wine from the $25 list, the Ramitello, and snacked on the bread box items. The box always features some soft focaccia, slices of rustic Italian bread, and crunchy grissini. My favorite is the focaccia, which is lightly salted and has a nice olive oil flavor to it. The grissini are nice to munch on as well.

Bread box goodies

The breads are great for dipping into a creamy bean spread doused in olive oil. If you run out, don’t be afraid to ask for more, as the dip is really addictive. Also good for snacking is the small bowl of assorted olives.

Creamy bean spread and assorted olives

All of us opted for the “Sifonia di pasta”, which is the unlimited tasting of the three pastas of the day that includes an antipasto misto or a caesar salad to start. Both Josh and I went with the caesar, which was delicious as always. The dressing is creamy and garlicky but not too overpowering, and the leaves are never overdressed.

Deliciously garlicky caesar salad

The pastas of the day were fettucini bolognese, mushroom raviolis, and rigatoni with tomato-basil-olive sauce. The fettucini looked and tasted handmade, with thick chewy noodles covered in a rich bolognese sauce. The sauce is thick and meaty with peas mixed throughout, and a hint of cinnamon in the background. The cinnamon really adds an unusual twist to a classic dish, and really makes it stand out.

Fettucini bolognese

The mushroom raviolis were absolutely fantastic, and are probably my favorite pasta out of all the pastas that I’ve had at Becco. The chewy packets are bursting with mushrooms, plus a bonus of truffle flavor. I’m guessing they probably use truffle oil in the mushroom filling, but whatever the case, these raviolis are delicious – tender, flavorful, and earthy. I drool just thinking about them, and if they were a dish I could order all the time, I absolutely would.

Amazingly delicious mushroom raviolis

The last pasta was the typical tomato-basil, but with a twist as well. Usually it’s just a plain tomato sauce with big basil leaves running through out, but this time they added some briny olives to the mix. The olives really popped, adding a nice bright and salty flavor to the sauce. The rigatoni were perfectly cooked al dente, and the basil was fresh as always.

Rigatoni with tomato-basil-olive sauce

No dessert this time, as we were all completely stuffed by the time we got through two rounds of pasta. We definitely put away enough food in honor of Fat Tuesday, though if I could have eaten more mushroom raviolis, I totally would have! One of Josh’s coworkers even commented that he wished he hadn’t eaten the antipasti, as he would have saved more room for the pastas. If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is!

I just can’t say enough about how much I love Becco, and I still think the pasta tasting is one of the very best deals in the city. Add in the quality $25 wine list and it’s just a bargain that can’t be beat. If you haven’t tried Becco yet I strongly recommend making a reservation right away!

Becco
355 West 46th St. between 8th and 9th Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: Italian, Midtown West
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P.J. Clarke’s

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I both love burgers and have hit up most of the famous spots in the city – Corner Bistro, Shake Shack, Burger Joint, and JG Melon, to name a few – but we had never been to P.J. Clarke’s. When we lived downtown, they opened up a branch in the World Financial Center, just a few blocks from where we lived. When we moved uptown we saw that there was a branch close by near Lincoln Center. But I purposely avoided both locations because I was adamant that we eat at the original location on the east side first. And for whatever reason, we never got around to going.

Finally, one Saturday afternoon, Josh was tired of my excuses and dragged me across town to the original P.J. Clarke’s for lunch. Even though it was late in the afternoon, the place was packed. There were tons of people lined up at the bar having beers and watching sports, and there was a line for the dining room as well. Fortunately the wait wasn’t too bad, and soon we were seated in the back room, which was larger than I had expected. The decor was rustic, with lots of dark wood, red banquets, dim lighting, and brick walls. It had an old-time saloon feel to it, refined, yet casual.

The menu is actually pretty extensive, featuring raw bar items, soups, salads, and a variety of steaks, entrees, and sandwiches. We were here for the burgers though, so that made our decision pretty easy. The only thing we had to debate was which side items we wanted to try. We ended up with an order of french fries and an order of onion strings. The french fries were fantastic, served piping hot and crispy. They were the thin kind that I like and were nicely salted on the outside, soft and potato-y on the inside. It was a generous portion served in a metal container but I wish that I had gotten my own serving!

Thin and crispy french fries

If the portion of fries was generous, then the portion of onion strings was ginormous. A huge tangle of thinly cut, breaded, and deep fried onions slices was piled on a large plate. When the strings first came out they were warm, flavorful, and crispy, but as they had time to sit they got really greasy and soggy. We barely got through half the pile before we had to give up. Too bad, because they started out great.

Huge tangle of onion strings

The main attraction, however, was of course the burgers. Josh opted for “The Cadillac”, a burger topped with bacon and cheese. The burger was cooked medium rare upon request and very juicy. I took a bite and thought the bacon overpowered the burger patty, but Josh really enjoyed it and inhaled it quickly.

The Cadillac burger (bacon and cheese)

I stuck with a plain hamburger, garnished only with some raw onion and ketchup. My patty was equally juicy, and you can see in the picture the bottom bun turning red from soaking up the juices.

Juicy plain burger

My burger was also perfectly cooked to medium rare, though I thought the meat was a bit mushy. The patty didn’t have a nicely charred outer crust so the texture was uniformly soft throughout. I also wish the patty had been seasoned a bit more but flavor-wise, it had sort of a nice dry-aged steak quality to it that really set it apart from other burgers that we’ve had.

Autopsy shot

Overall Josh and I both enjoyed the burgers we had at P.J. Clarke’s, though neither of us thought it was our favorite burger in the city (currently we prefer Corner Bistro). The burgers have good flavor to them and while the patties aren’t huge, they’re a decent size. The prices, however, are on the higher end, though that seems to be the trend lately. A plain burger runs about $9, and The Cadillac was around $11.50. Sides cost extra, generally about $5-$6 each. So while $15 isn’t outrageous for a burger and fries, it’s not exactly cheap either. But you can take heart in knowing that you’re paying for a quality burger, and if you go to the original location, you’re experiencing a NYC landmark. I’m glad that I held out in making my first P.J. Clarke’s burger one from the original, and now we can enjoy the closer Lincoln Center location in the future.

P.J. Clarke’s (multiple locations)
915 Third Ave. at 55th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Burgers, Fries, Midtown East
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Luigi’s

Monday, March 1st, 2010 by virginia

I realize that I’ve been slacking on my pizza quest posts, but the sad thing is that there’s just not much to post about. Our last few pizza deliveries have been very disappointing, and I think we really are going to run out of delivery options before we find a good go-to place. I scoured our remaining options on MenuPages and came up with Luigi’s, which was nearby on 8th Ave. I placed our standard order and it definitely arrived quickly, so bonus points for that. The pizza, however, left much to be desired.

Extra large cheese pizza

The cheese to sauce ratio was off, with way too much overly sweet tomato sauce overpowering the flavor of everything. The crust was pretty pedestrian and reminded me of chain restaurant pizza. It was also overly sweet and uniformly brown on the bottom, not crispy or soggy, but just kind of chewy. This pie definitely lacked any pizzazz that would set it apart.

Underside shot

The chicken parm hero was decent though. The bread was toasty enough and the cheese was mostly melted but there was also too much sauce, which made everything soggy very quickly.

Chicken parm hero

My favorite part was the French fries, which were the thinner variety that I prefer, and decently crispy. But it’s a pretty sad day when the best thing from a pizza joint is the French fries.

French fries

I was extremely disappointed with our pizza from Luigi’s. The food gets pretty decent reviews online but it was probably the worst pizza of the bunch since we started our quest. I probably would have been better off ordering from Domino’s, just to give you an idea of how bad it was (although admittedly, the new garlic crust from Domino’s does intrigue me). Too much sauce, weirdly clumpy cheese, and a subpar crust simply doesn’t merit a repeat order from us. And so, the quest continues.

Luigi’s
936 8th Ave. between 55th and 56th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Delivery, Fries, Midtown, Pizza, Sandwiches
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White Manna

Sunday, February 28th, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I grew up less than five minutes away from the White Manna hamburger stand in Hackensack, NJ but we never ate there until after we had moved into the city. It’s kind of sad when we think about how many burgers we missed out on over the years so whenever we’re home visiting our parents, we always try to make a trip to White Manna either for lunch or a quick snack. In recent years, however, the stand’s popularity has really increased due to more exposure on food blogs and on TV shows, such as Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. As a result, every time we try to go, the line is usually out the door.

The restaurant is tiny and has approximately 20 stools altogether. The prime spots are at the main counter where you can watch the burgers cooking on the large griddle. Surprisingly, it’s not too difficult to get a seat even when the restaurant is busy, as most people take their orders to go.

The menu

The menu is posted up on the wall behind the main counter. In addition to burgers, they also offer cheesesteaks and breakfast items such as omelets, though I’ve never seen anyone order breakfast. I wonder if they really do even make those? While it can get a bit hectic, especially when it’s crowded and people are packed into the small space, there’s still some semblance of order. People line up and call out their burger requests to the cook manning the grill, and it’s amazing that nothing is written down, yet the cook always remembers each order exactly. To prevent from sounding like a newbie, there are a few simple rules to remember:

1. Know where you are in line. Though people try to line up single file down the middle of the restaurant, the line tends to mash up when more people try to smush their way into the restaurant. The people working behind the counter don’t know who’s next so everyone is on the honor system to order only when it’s their turn. If you call out when it’s not your turn, the people ahead of you will make it quite known that you’re out of order.

2. When it’s your turn to order, call out to the cook what kind of burgers you want and how many of each. When ordering your burgers, you can either get it with cheese or without, with onions or without, and single or double patties. It’s important to note that the cook only takes burger orders. If you want a drink or french fries, someone else behind the counter will take that order.

3. When your burgers are almost ready, the cook will ask if you’re staying or going. If you’re staying, they’ll pile your burgers onto a paper plate with a large handful of pickle slices. There are ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce bottles on the counters so you can use whichever condiments you prefer. If you’re taking your order to go, you’ll have to tell them if you want pickles, and which condiments to put on the burgers. Each burger is then wrapped individually in wax paper and given to you in a paper bag.

4. When you’re paying, it’s up to you to remember exactly what you ordered as there is no bill or check. Usually when you eat in, you can pay when you’re finished. Just remember that there are no free refills on soda, so count each drink individually.

5. While service is informal, it’s still nice to leave a tip for the cook and the counter workers as they’re really busy standing on their feet all day getting orders out as quickly as possible to keep up with the demand. There’s a tip bucket on the counter in front of the cook so you can just drop in a few bucks before you leave. Prices are super cheap so it’s easy to leave a decent tip, percentage-wise.

On this particular visit, Josh and I had been craving White Manna burgers for months so we decided that we would stay no matter what the line looked like. As usual, when we pulled up, the line was snaking its way out the door. We waited outside for a few minutes until more space opened up inside, and then we squeezed our way into the tiny restaurant. I snagged some empty counter seats for us while Josh stood in line to place our order.

Even though the line was relatively long, it only took about 10 minutes for our turn to order, and another 20 minutes to get the food. It wasn’t super fast, but it wasn’t too long either, and we entertained ourselves by observing how the burgers are made.

Watching the burgers cooking up on the griddle

We also got two sodas and an order of fries, which came almost immediately so we munched on the fries while we waited for our burgers. The fries are the crinkle cut frozen variety, a la the Shake Shack, but they’re always just-fried, piping hot, crispy on the outside, and have nice potato flavor on the inside.

Crispy crinkle cut french fries

We got five hamburgers and five cheeseburgers, all singles and with onions. They’re not huge burgers, maybe a little over an ounce each, so they’re closer to sliders than regular burgers.

A pile of burgers with pickle slices on the side

The cheeseburgers are each covered with a slice of American cheese that are the perfect size for these small patties. The onions are sliced super thin so they get nice and caramelized during their time on the griddle, and they add an extra boost of flavor.

Cheeseburger with onions, up close

The hamburgers seemed just a bit drier in texture, mostly because they didn’t have the coating of melted cheese. The burger patties are so small that they’re not really cooked to order, so some may get a bit more well done than others. The meat is somewhat coarsely ground and the patties are broken up a bit when they’re smashed on the griddle, resulting in a looser texture. The Martin’s potato rolls that they use are just perfect for soaking up all the juices that come off the burgers and the onions, and I love the squishiness of the buns.

Hamburger with pickles and onions, up close

We ended up getting way more food than we could actually eat, as the burgers are bigger and more filling than you think. Not a problem, we just got some wax paper from one of the counter workers and wrapped up the extra burgers to go. And the cost of our burger feast that included five hamburgers, five cheeseburgers, an order of fries, and three medium sodas? Just $20.06 after tax. We tossed a couple of bucks into the tip bucket and walked out with full bellies and a sack of leftover burgers, perfect for snacking on later. And when we left, the line was still out the door.

White Manna
358 River Street
Hackensack, NJ

Tags: Burgers, Fries, NJ
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NC – Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits

Thursday, February 25th, 2010 by virginia

I don’t usually write about fast food places unless it’s something that I don’t usually have access to, like In N Out. I was craving fried chicken so my brother took me to Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits, a southern fried chicken chain similar to Popeyes.

We picked up a 20 piece box that came with 10 biscuits. The chicken was lightly floured and fried, and the seasoning on the outside really packed a good kick. It wasn’t super spicy but there were some bites that made my mouth tingle. The skin was slightly greasy but not worse than most fast food fried chicken joints. I really liked the flavor though, and it was still piping hot when we brought it home.

Nicely seasoned fried chicken

For people who want an extra spicy kick, they provided us with plenty of Cajun spicy sauce packets. The sauce was more vinegary than spicy, and reminded me a bit of an acidic buffalo sauce.

Vinegary hot sauce

The biscuits were fantastic – crispy out the outside and soft and crumbly in the middle. For even better results, pop a few in a toaster oven for a couple of minutes to really crisp up the outside. The flavor was sweet, salty, and buttery all at the same time. Yum!

Buttery biscuits

We also got a picnic sized order of fries. The fries were in between regular fries and steak fries, meaning they were wider than most but not too thick. They were lightly seasoned on the outside with a mix of Cajun spices but were slightly soggy.

Seasoned fries

Overall I thought the fried chicken from Bojangles’ was pretty good, though I’m not a fried chicken connoisseur. I liked it better than Roy Rogers and found it to be better seasoned than KFC, though I think I prefer the thicker breading on KFC chicken. The fries were a pass but the biscuits were delicious, some of the best that I’ve had from a fast food joint. If you’re passing by on the highway, it’s not a bad place to stop for some Cajun style fried chicken. It looks like they have locations all over the South, and also in Pennsylvania.

Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits (multiple locations)
5425 South Miami Boulevard
Durham, NC

Tags: Biscuits, Fried Chicken, Fries
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