Delivery Doesn’t Do Hanci Turkish Cuisine Justice

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

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Great Service and Great Food at Nook

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

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Pre-Theater Dining at Carmine’s

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

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Tandoori Naan

March 9th, 2010 by virginia

Like Jessica, we always have tons of leftovers whenever we order Indian food. Usually I’ll take it for lunch over the next few days but after we ordered in from Aaheli, I didn’t have enough rice left over to eat with the remaining curries. To supplement, I picked up a package of Tandoori Naan that I’ve seen in most supermarkets in NYC. I’ve always been curious about this naan as it looks relatively authentic when it’s in the package, with an irregular oval shape, large air bubbles, and browned spots all over.

Tandoori Naan from the supermarket

When I opened the package, it became quite clear that the naan was too dense and bread-like, and it kind of had a chemically processed smell to it. That put me off a bit but I surged ahead, hoping that it would be better once it was baked. I followed the directions on the package, which was to wet the bread slightly first and then bake it in the oven. It came out more pliable, slightly darker, but still pretty dense. I served up a piece with some leftover rice topped with both the keema mutton and chicken korma curries.

Tandoori Naan after baking, with leftover Indian curries and rice

Flavor wise, it was pretty bad, tasting more like a processed pita bread than naan. It didn’t have the nice fluffy interior and flaky exterior that I like about freshly baked naans from restaurants. I ate about half of it, and then gave up, as I couldn’t deal with the processed taste. There are actually two pieces of naan in one package, so the second night, I baked it for much longer, until it was more toasted and completely brown. That’s what I do with supermarket bagels because once you’ve had fresh, authentic NYC or NJ bagels, the processed stuff is just gross. I guess it works the same way with naan. Toasting it completely helped a bit, but it still wasn’t great or even good, it was just more edible.

Overall, I definitely don’t recommend buying the Tandoori Naan. I got it on sale for $1.99 but usually it’s priced at $2.99 for the two-piece package. That’s not too pricey but I still definitely don’t think it’s worth getting. If you have an Indian restaurant nearby, you’re better off picking up some fresh pieces to go, even if it costs a bit more.

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Aaheli

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

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Tomaso’s

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

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Fat Tuesday Feasting at Becco

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

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P.J. Clarke’s

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

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Luigi’s

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

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In Search of the Elusive Shamrock Shake

February 28th, 2010 by virginia

After filling our bellies with burgers and fries at White Manna, Josh and I continued on our Jersey food adventure and went in search of the famous Shamrock Shakes from McDonald’s. I’ve heard about Shamrock Shakes in passing but admittedly never thought too much about them. After reading about them on Serious Eats and on various other blogs, I started to get curious about how hard or easy it would be to find the shake in northern NJ, since they don’t seem to be available anywhere in Manhattan.

There is a McDonald’s almost directly across the street from White Manna but we didn’t see any signs for the Shamrock Shake, and it’s hard to make the left turn onto River Street from White Manna. Instead, Josh decided to search on his iphone for Shamrock Shake sightings on Shamrockshake.com, the website where people post confirmations about which McDonald’s offer the shake and which do not.

The closest confirmed sighting was in Paramus on Route 17 North. We headed for the highway but the mall traffic on Route 4 diverted us from going the more direct way. We decided to take back roads, and in doing so I knew that we would be passing by a McDonald’s in River Edge that was much closer. We pulled into the lot but didn’t see any Shamrock Shake posters there either. Bad sign.

Undeterred, Josh hopped out of the car and went inside to ask. He was gone for 10 minutes, and I figured that he must have been successful. Indeed, he came out carrying two shakes in medium sized soda cups. He said that when he first walked in and asked about the Shamrock Shakes, he was promptly rejected. As he turned to walk out, the counterperson called him back and said that he was wrong, they had just gotten the shakes in that day. Perfect!!

I quickly removed the lid from one of the cups and took a peek at my very first Shamrock Shake. At first glance, the shakes were a very light green in color, with darker green swirls. A quick sip yielded mostly vanilla flavor, with a few hints of mint.

Darker green swirls in an unmixed Shamrock Shake

Using the straw, I mixed up the shake as best as I could so that it was a pale green color overall, without the darker green swirls. My second sip yielded more minty flavor, but it was still pretty subtle.

After mixing, the shake is a pale green color with subtle mint flavor

The verdict? Not bad, but also not mind blowing. It did have a refreshing minty-ness to it without tasting like toothpaste, which was a good thing, but if you really didn’t know what you were drinking you’d probably think it was just vanilla flavored.

Some people on other sites complained about getting whipped cream and a cherry on top, but ours didn’t come with those. Our shakes also weren’t served in the smaller clear McCafe cups, but in regular medium sized soda cups. They definitely didn’t mix the syrup into the shake very well but that was easily remedied using the straw. I can’t comment on the mint factor though, or lack thereof, since I’ve never had a Shamrock Shake before.

I do think that the main appeal of these shakes are that they’re only offered for a limited time, and finding a McDonald’s that serves one is half the fun. Josh and I were more thrilled with our success than with the actual shake itself. Would I drink another one? Sure, but I won’t go out of my way to find one the next time.

McDonald’s (multiple locations)
1118 Main Street
River Edge, NJ

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