Upper West Side « Two Fat Bellies

Posts Tagged ‘Upper West Side’

Patsy’s Pizzeria

Sunday, January 9th, 2011 by virginia

Patsy’s Pizzeria is one of those NYC institutions that I’ve read about but have never gone to, much like Gray’s Papaya or Katz’s Deli. Maybe this will be the year that I finally get around to trying all of these places. At least I can finally check Patsy’s off the list, as Josh and I enjoyed a good meal there with Alice earlier this week.

There are many Patsy’s Pizzeria locations around the city but we went to the one closest to our apartment, on the Upper West Side. It’s sort of tucked in on the corner of a residential street so I had never noticed it before, but it has a nice cozy dining room and an old school pizzeria feel to it. It’s not a huge location but because it was a random weeknight there were plenty of tables available, and we were seated right away.

We decided to split a salad, pasta dish, and a pizza. The salads and pastas can be ordered either individually or in a family style portion. We asked our waitress if the individual portions could be split between the three of us, and she recommended that we get a family sized salad and an individual pasta, since we were also getting a large pizza to share. After we placed our order, we were brought a basket of rolls to munch on. The bread had a nice crispy crust and a soft, chewy interior. Pretty tasty, and a nice surprise since you don’t always expect pizza joints to bring you bread.

Tasty carbs

The family sized salad we ordered was much bigger than we anticipated and could have easily fed twice as many people, but I didn’t mind because I was craving fresh vegetables. We picked the Insalata Siciliana, which was lettuce with roasted peppers, black olives, capers, anchovies, carrots, tomatoes, and artichokes, topped with shredded mozzarella. It was tossed with a light Italian dressing, and while I liked that the salad wasn’t overdressed, I thought the dressing was slightly bland. The salad itself, however, was a nice mix of ingredients, flavors, and textures. The capers and anchovies added a nice saltiness, the olives and artichokes provided a slight sourness, and the roasted peppers and tomatoes balanced it out with a bit of sweetness.

Family sized Insalata Siciliana

The pasta we chose was the rigatoni bolognese. The individual portion size was plenty of food, and we each had a large scoop of pasta with enough leftover for my lunch the next day. The bolognese was meaty but not super rich. It had a sort of red wine flavor to it though there wasn’t a lot of tomato sauce to bind the meat together. It was decent, though definitely a pizzeria style of bolognese. The rigatoni was a good match and cooked to a nice al dente.

Rigatoni bolognese

The main attraction at Patsy’s, however, is obviously the pizza. Alice and I are both pizza purists, generally opting for the plain cheese or margarita pizza, especially when we’re trying out a new place for the first time. As such, a plain pie was exactly what we ordered.

Plain margherita pizza

My first impression was that there was a decent amount of cheese on the pie, something that I always find lacking on most of these kinds of margherita pizzas (ie., Grimaldi’s and Lombardi’s). There was a lot of sauce though, which was slightly sweet and a bit tangy. Sometimes I wish I could get more cheese and less sauce, but overall it wasn’t too unbalanced. I did like the big leaves of fresh basil scattered on top.

Saucy slice

The crust was my favorite part of the pizza. It was thin and crispy on the bottom, but not tough or brittle. The edge of the crust had a nice chewiness to it, and I liked that it wasn’t overly charred. I know charring is a big thing for a lot of NY style pizzas but I’m not a fan. This was browned enough that it had a nice toasty flavor, but not burnt.

Underside shot

Overall I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the food at Patsy’s Pizzeria. It doesn’t get the greatest reviews online, and while I still prefer the pizza from Lombardi’s and Grimaldi’s, the pizza was very well made, plus Patsy’s has better variety in terms of other foods. The salad and rigatoni bolognese were both very tasty, and there are lots of different options to choose from. It’s pretty reasonably priced, and the family sized portions make it a good place for large groups. It’ll definitely be on our rotation for our Sunday night family dinners. I’m glad that our new year of good eats and exploring new places is getting off to a good start!

Patsy’s Pizzeria (multiple locations)
61 West 74th St. between Central Park West and Columbus Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: Pasta, Pizza, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Patsy’s Pizzeria

Fantastic Greek Feast at Kefi

Saturday, January 8th, 2011 by virginia

I’m going to start out 2011 by writing about Kefi, the first restaurant I ever posted about on TFB. The meal we had was actually in late August but the menu hasn’t changed much since the restaurant opened. We were with a large group of people, which meant that we could order tons of food and try out different things. We got a bunch of different appetizers to share, some that Josh and I had eaten before, and some that were new to us.

We started with the selection of spreads, which includes tzatziki (yogurt), taramosalata (caviar), melintzanosalata (eggplant), and revithia (chickpea). These are always pretty tasty, especially the smokey eggplant dip and the refreshing yogurt dip. We gobbled it up using the slices of warm pita bread they gave us.

From top to bottom: eggplant, caviar, yogurt, and chickpea spreads

Warm pita bread

Another appetizer that came with pita bread was the warm feta with tomatoes, capers, anchovy, peppers, and olives. While it sounded like an interesting mix of ingredients, I found the dish to be overwhelmingly salty. There was no balance whatsoever to the flavors, and what wasn’t salty was just sour. Not even the pita bread could help cut through the saltiness, and I felt my mouth puckering after just a few bites. I was definitely surprised by how much I disliked this dish.

Feta with tomatoes, capers, anchovy, peppers, and olives

We also got an order of the Kefi salad, which was shredded lettuce and fennel with tomato, cucumber, olives, peppers, onions, and feta. This salad had similar ingredients to the feta dish but it was way more balanced. The lettuce and fennel were crisp and refreshing, and none of the other ingredients were overpowering.

Kefi salad

The crispy calamari appetizer was nicely fried, with pieces of tender calamari that was lightly breaded. It was perfectly seasoned and just needed a squeeze of lemon to brighten it up a bit. The dish came with some tzatziki sauce for dipping, a nice change from the standard marinara.

Fried calamari

My favorite appetizer of the night was crispy sweetbreads with tomato, scallion, garlic, olive, and lemon yogurt. I love sweetbreads in general, but these were exceptionally well prepared with a light and crisp exterior and a creamy interior. The accompanying components didn’t overwhelm the dish, and I could still taste the slightly sweet funkiness of the sweetbreads. Most people at the table were turned off by the thought of eating offal so I got to eat most of the dish by myself, which made me one very happy girl.

Crispy sweetbreads

Our last appetizer was the grilled octopus with bean salad. The octopus was nicely charred and super tender but the highlight of the dish for me was the tangy and refreshing bean salad underneath. It worked well with the subtle flavor of the octopus, but even by itself I could have eaten a whole bowlful of that stuff.

Grilled octopus and bean salad

For our entrees, Josh and I went halfsies on the pork souvlaki and the Kefi burger. The souvlaki was wrapped in pita bread and topped with tzatziki sauce, lettuce, and tomato. It was presented street style – wrapped in wax paper – which made it easier to eat because the sandwich would have been too messy otherwise. It came with a small salad and thick cut potato chips on the side. The pork was tender and flavorful, standing up to the other ingredients in the wrap. It was one of the best souvlaki sandwiches that I had and reminded me of the gyros we had during our honeymoon in Greece. The potato chips were quite good as well, especially if you’re a fan of darker chips. They were crunchy and had just enough salt sprinkled on top.

Pork souvlaki sandwich in pita

The Kefi burger that we had I think was made from lamb, though the menu says it’s bifteki. Either way, it didn’t taste like a regular burger. There was a definite gaminess to the meat, a slight funkiness to it that I absolutely loved. The patty was thick and nicely cooked so that the crust on the outside was slightly charred and crispy, but the inside was rare and tender. There was some sort of tangy and salty spread on the bun that paired well with the meat. The bun itself looked like it would be too big and dense but it was actually very light and fluffy in the middle, while the outer crust was sturdy enough to support the thick patty and not disintegrate when soaked with all the burger juices. It was a very good burger in my opinion, and uniquely delicious. The burger also came with a side salad and potato chips.

Kefi burger

Autopsy shot

Josh and I passed on dessert, though I did taste some of the rice pudding, which had a nice cinnamon flavor and was topped with an apple mixture that reminded me of apple pie filling. Sounds like a weird combination, but it was actually pretty tasty. Instead we had some caffeine – a frappe for me and a regular coffee for him. The frappe was thick and frothy, not too bitter. The regular coffee was pretty standard but I loved the mug it was served in, which was modeled after the classic Greek takeout coffee cups.

Frappe

Fun coffee mug

We don’t go to Kefi often enough, in my opinion. The food is always well prepared, tasty, and reasonably priced. The restaurant serves classic Greek dishes with an upscale twist, but not at upscale prices. It’s a great place for large groups because the food is easily shareable, and the atmosphere is casual but upbeat. Service was fast and efficient, though we were chatting a lot during the meal and we never felt rushed. It’s definitely a place that I will come back to again and again.

Kefi
505 Columbus Ave. between 84th and 85th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Greek, Pork, Seafood, Sweetbreads, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Fantastic Greek Feast at Kefi

Return to Kefi, Finally

Monday, February 1st, 2010 by virginia

Kefi is the Greek restaurant that Josh and I went to on our first anniversary, the day that we started Two Fat Bellies. I had said in that post that we would definitely go back, and I can’t believe that it took us over eight months to do so. Too many other places we wanted to try first, I guess. Nevertheless, we had suggested Kefi for a Sunday night dinner that we had with Josh’s parents and his friends from college who just recently got married. Even though we called late Sunday afternoon, we were able to get a prime time reservation.

The restaurant was surprisingly packed when we arrived, especially for a Sunday evening. It amazes me how big the restaurant is and yet it still manages to put out such well prepared food in such a short amount of time. We were seated downstairs in the back room, which was nice as it’s a bit more secluded and the tables are more spaced out than in the front room. We snacked on crusty rustic bread with fruity olive oil while we looked through the menu.

Crusty rustic bread

I opted to start with the grilled sardines appetizer, which was served with a chopped “Greek salad” and garlic sauce. The sardines were butterflied and perfectly cooked, with crispy skin and a good amount of seasoning. There were a lot of bones, however, and I never know if you’re supposed to eat them. I tried to scrape the meat from the tiny skeleton but still ended up with mouthfuls of bones, as they’re pretty much impossible to avoid. It wasn’t hard to chew them up and swallow, but it was still kind of unpleasant. Regardless, it was a pretty delicious dish, especially if you enjoy the oily flavor of sardines like I do. I didn’t even think that the dish needed the tiny chopped salad or garlic sauce, as the fish really shined on its own.

Grilled sardines with chopped Greek salad and garlic sauce

Josh went with a special appetizer of the night, fishcakes made from cod and branzino, served with a yogurt sauce. I took a bite of his dish and blurted out, “this tastes like falafel!” And it really did. In fact, if I hadn’t heard our waiter describe the dish, I never would have known the patties were made from fish. The cumin flavor and other spices were exactly what you would expect from a falafel ball, and the cakes even had the same crumbly texture. While flavor-wise it wasn’t bad, especially since we both love falafel, but it just wasn’t what we were expecting.

Fishcakes that tasted like falafel patties

Josh’s dad had the grilled octopus appetizer that we tried the last time, and it was cooked perfectly. Every bite was tender, and the garlicky beans underneath were still tasty. All the other people in our party had the Greek salad, which featured tomato, cucumber, olives, peppers, onions, lettuce, fennel, and feta cheese. I liked that everything was chopped into small pieces so that you could get a forkful with all the ingredients together. I especially like the sweet/tangy/salty mix of flavors in the salad.

We also decided to share an order of the Kefi mac and cheese. It was an unusual version of mac and cheese, with spinach leaves mixed throughout and a hint of nutmeg (I think), which gave it an almost cinnamon-sweet sort of flavor, though it was still savory. The bechamel sauce was nice and rich, but it wasn’t very cheesy or gooey, which I prefer in a mac and cheese. The result was almost custardy, and reminded me a bit of noodle kugel.

Kefi mac and cheese

For our main courses, most people stuck with the pasta section of the menu. Alice had the shrimp with orzo, which had a nice tomato flavor and big tender pieces of shrimp. Josh had the sheep’s milk dumplings in a tangy tomato sauce with pine nuts and spicy lamb sausage. The dumplings were very delicate and melt-in-your-mouth tender. The sauce and the sausage really packed a punch flavor-wise, and it was a very hearty, rich dish that Josh really enjoyed.

Sheep's milk dumplings with tomato, pine nuts, and lamb sausage

Lloyd had the same grilled lamb chop special that I ordered the last time, while I went with the braised lamb shank with orzo. Sadly, I wish that I had stuck with the grilled lamb chops, as the braised shank was quite a disappointment. Though I could pull bits of meat off easily with my fork, the meat itself was really tough and stringy, and hard to chew. The orzo was pretty bland, not nearly as tasty as the orzo that came with Alice’s shrimp, and the dish totally lacked seasoning. I’ve read so many rave reviews about this lamb shank that I was really surprised by how much I disliked it. To be honest, the shank isn’t my favorite part of lamb to begin with, but I’ve definitely had much better versions elsewhere. I don’t know if it was just an off night for the shank but I wouldn’t order it again.

Braised lamb shank with orzo

Luckily our meal ended on a high note with scoops of rich, creamy Greek yogurt topped with honey, almond slivers, and quince paste. The yogurt was sour, as expected and so thick that it would stick to a spoon turned upside down. The honey offset the sourness, as did the fruity quince paste, and the almonds added a nice crunch. It was a delicious dessert, and one that you didn’t feel too bad about indulging on.

Yogurt with honey, almonds, and quince paste

We also ordered a few coffee drinks, but for some reason they didn’t arrive until well after we finished our dessert. I think service fell a bit apart towards the end of our meal, probably due to the fact that it was getting late on a Sunday night and they were starting to clean up for the night. I got a frappe again, which was very rich and strong with lots of foam on top.

Refreshing frappe

Overall I think we were all pretty satisfied and happy with our meal at Kefi. While I wasn’t a fan of the lamb shank, I did enjoy the rest of my dishes and all the bites that I had of everyone else’s dishes. Despite the coffee snafu at the end of our meal, service was really much improved from the last time that Josh and I dined there. Our waiter was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable about the menu and about Greek wines, offering up his recommendations and suggestions. We weren’t rushed through our courses like last time, and I could safely put down my fork for a breather without fear of my plate getting removed prematurely. I’m still shocked by how reasonable prices are, especially considering the quality of the food. I’m already looking forward to our next visit to the restaurant.

Kefi
505 Columbus Ave. between 84th and 85th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Greek, Lamb, Macaroni and Cheese, Seafood, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Return to Kefi, Finally

Francesco Pizzeria

Friday, January 15th, 2010 by virginia

Yes, Josh and I are STILL on our quest to find our go-to pizza place. The latest delivery on our quest came from Francesco Pizzeria in the West 60s. I placed our standard test order through seamlessweb and the pizza came in a decently short amount of time.

Extra large cheese pizza

At first glance, the pizza looked pretty good. It wasn’t disheveled, and the crust wasn’t too thick or too thin. There was a nice amount of cheese that was nicely browned on top, and there didn’t seem to be too much sauce.

Good cheese to sauce ratio

So how did it taste? Bland, unfortunately. The crust basically had no flavor and was actually weirdly plastic-like in texture. It was browned evenly all the way around, top and bottom, which I had never seen before and I’m actually kind of curious as to how it was cooked. There were no dark spots or blisters of any kind.

Underside shot

We also got an order of garlic knots, which were the largest ones that I’ve seen. They were big and puffy and unfortunately also very bland. There was hardly any garlic sprinkled on top, and the only saving grace was the tomato sauce that came on the side. They were also more airy on the inside than I prefer, and didn’t have the chewiness that I was looking for.

Huge and puffy but bland garlic knots

Lastly we got a chicken parm hero, which came with a side of fries. The hero and fries were served in a round metal takeout container, which I thought was a bit odd, especially since they had to cut the hero in non-equal pieces to fit it inside the container. Nonetheless, it was quite a large sandwich and chock full of pretty tasty chicken, sauce, and cheese. The bread was nicely toasted and didn’t get too soggy in the container. The fries, however, were another story. They were thick cut steak fries and looked to be made from real potatoes, but they were really soggy and greasy, like they had been fried in oil that was too low in temperature. I would say to just get the hero without fries, but that’s not an option, and the fries are definitely built into the price.

Decent chicken parm hero but terrible soggy and greasy fries

Overall I wasn’t a fan of the pizza from Francesco Pizzeria, and it was slightly pricey compared to all the other pizza delivery joints nearby. The red sauce was pretty good, not too sweet and had a nice tanginess, but I had major issues with the blandness of the crust and the weird texture. The garlic knots and fries were also pretty awful, though the chicken parm hero was good. I’m sad to say, however, that the quest continues.

Francesco Pizzeria (multiple locations)
186 Columbus Ave. between 68th and 69th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Delivery, Pizza, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Francesco Pizzeria

Akai Lounge

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 by virginia

DSCN2689

The Akai Lounge is a Japanese restaurant in Englewood, NJ that has become one of our favorite places for sushi so we were really excited when they opened up a branch on the Upper West Side. The menu is pretty much identical to the one in NJ so when a sushi craving hits, we know exactly where we can go to get fresh fish and our favorite specialty rolls. While the restaurant is out of our delivery range, it makes a perfect destination for Sunday night dinners.

The restaurant does have a lounge-like feel to it, with vibrant red décor and lots of specialty martinis available. The lychee martinis are always deliciously dangerous because you can barely taste the alcohol but you’ll definitely feel the effects. The food menu is also extensive, with lots of appetizers and hot entrees to choose from, in addition to the sushi, sashimi, and maki rolls.

We always start our meals off with garden salads, which are just simple bowls of iceberg lettuce, shredded red cabbage and a few tomato slices. But what makes these salads so great are that the ingredients are always fresh and crispy, and they refrigerate the bowls until they’re ice cold, which keeps everything cool and refreshing until the very last bite. The ginger dressing is also really fresh and light, with a nice mellow ginger flavor and a slight tanginess that doesn’t overpower.

Crisp, fresh garden salad with ginger dressing served in a chilled bowl

We decided to share a bunch of different appetizers, starting with the ebi shumai, which are steamed shrimp dumplings. These are pretty standard and can be found at many Japanese restaurants but they’re always tasty.

Steamed shrimp shumai

The agedashi tofu is deep fried tofu in a fish broth. This version isn’t drowning in the broth so that the skin still stays crispy, breaking open to reveal the silky tofu innards.

Agedashi tofu

The rock shrimp tempura features plump, firm pieces of shrimp with a super crispy outer shell. The pieces of shrimp are coated with a spicy sauce that I think is made from sriracha and mayo. There are pieces of shredded cucumber at the bottom of the bowl to help cool your mouth down, as it is a pretty spicy dish. We sometimes ask for the spicy sauce on the side so that we can control the amount on each piece of shrimp.

Spicy rock shrimp tempura

We also decided to share some hot entree platters. The first was chicken katsu, which has a coating of bread crumbs fried to a nice golden brown color. The chicken is served on top of a bed of shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and cucumber slices. The vegetables are drizzled with a light vinaigrette and are a nice accompaniment. The chicken is never greasy or oily and the coating stays crispy. In addition, all entrees come with a choice of miso soup or salad, and white rice.

Chicken katsu

Our other entree was grilled skirt steak topped with a miso-teriyaki sauce. Though skirt steak is a cheap cut of meat, Akai prepares it perfectly so that it’s a nice medium rare and surprisingly tender. The sauce is absolutely addictive, as it’s sweet and tangy and a little bit smoky. The steak comes with assorted vegetables and wasabi mashed potatoes. This is my favorite entree here and I often crave it when we haven’t been to the restaurant in a while.

Grilled skirt steak with miso-teriyaki sauce, vegetables, and wasabi mashed potatoes

We finished up our meal with some fresh sushi and specialty maki rolls. The King Crab 2 Roll features Alaskan king crab and avocado topped with spicy tuna. The crab meat is sweet and helps to temper the spiciness of the tuna. The Super Tuna Roll is spicy white tuna and avocado topped with red tuna and black tobiko. It’s a must-order for any tuna lover, and the tobiko on top gives it a nice little crunch with bursts of saltiness. The Mets Roll has spicy tuna, tempura flakes, and avocado topped with salmon and white tuna. Although all the spicy tuna started to blend together after a while, all of these rolls were really tasty. Next time I would order just one roll with spicy tuna and mix it up with other kinds of rolls. There certainly are many options to choose from on the menu.

King Crab 2 Roll on top, Super Tuna Roll in the middle, Mets Roll on the bottom

Finally, we had pieces of mackerel, tuna, yellowtail, and salmon sushi, and a few pieces of tamago. Yellowtail is always my favorite fish, but I love the mackerel as well. It tastes like it’s been smoked a little so it’s nice and salty and has a brinier flavor.

Mackerel on top, followed by tuna, yellowtail, and salmon sushi

The tamago is a a piece of sweet egg omelet on top of sushi rice. Those who aren’t familiar are usually put off by the sweetness of the egg, but I like to dip it into soy sauce to make a nice sweet/salty combo.

Tamago (sweet egg omelet)

Overall I love the food and the atmosphere at Akai Lounge. Both the Englewood, NJ and Upper West Side branches feature basically the same menu and a friendly waitstaff. The owner of the restaurants, James, is very personable and treats his customers very well. Although he is usually at the NJ restaurant, his brother manages the UWS location and is also very cordial, stopping by at the table during meals to check that everything is ok. The menu is extensive and even non-sushi eaters will find something they like. I definitely recommend this restaurant if you’re looking for a more upscale Japanese restaurant that serves quality food at a reasonable price.

Akai Lounge (multiple locations)
507 Columbus Ave. between 84th and 85th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Japanese, Steak, Sushi, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Akai Lounge

Pio Pio

Monday, November 16th, 2009 by virginia

DSCN2080

As I mentioned earlier in my post about our trip to the Galapagos, Peru is still at the top of our “must visit before kids” list. Seeing Macchu Picchu will have to wait until next year at least, but in the meantime, we were happy to be able to try some Peruvian cuisine when Josh’s parents suggested we go to Pio Pio for Sunday night dinner.

We headed to the Upper West Side branch of the restaurant, and it was a good thing we called for a reservation because the place was packed, and there were nine of us altogether. The music they were playing was loud and upbeat, which made the atmosphere seem very festive. Our table wasn’t quite ready yet when we arrived so we squeezed ourselves by the small bar area and ordered a pitcher of sangria to start. The sangria is pretty decent, not awesome, but also a bit dangerous because it’s sweet and goes down like juice.

Sweet and fruity pitcher of sangria

I don’t think I’ve eaten Peruvian cuisine before, but I knew we had to get some ceviche since that’s a notoriously Peruvian dish. We chose the Cebiche Mixto, which was chunks of fish, shrimp, octopus, calamari, and scallops marinated in lime juice and mixed with red onion, cilantro, and hot peppers. It was a very refreshing dish, as the seafood was tangy with a nice little kick from the hot pepper. The scallops were my favorite part – fresh, tender, and tasty.

Cebiche mixto

We ordered two Matador combos, which came with avocado salads to start. The avocado was properly ripe and fresh but I thought the salad was a bit boring overall. The ceviche was a much better starter.

Avocado salad

The Matador combos also included chicken pio, which is a whole marinated chicken in a Peruvian sauce. One order of the chicken is pretty large and can feed about four people. It was tender and juicy on the inside and a little crispy on the outside. The meat was well seasoned and I enjoyed it a lot.

Crispy and juicy pieces of chicken

The combos also came with rice and beans, tostones, and salchipapas. The rice and beans were just eh. The beans didn’t have enough seasoning and they just tasted bland.

Rice and beans

The tostones were superb. Big pieces of plantain were pressed flat and fried to a nice crisp. They came with a container of garlic sauce on the side to dip with, and you know how much I love garlic sauce with tostones.

Tostones with garlic sauce

I didn’t know what salchipapas were but when they arrived, I was so excited because I’ve seen pictures of them on other blogs. Salchipapas are basically French fries topped with slices of hot dogs. I love French fries, and I love hot dogs. Put them together – wow! My new favorite side dish! The hot dogs were cooked after they had been sliced so they were a little crispy on the edges and just worked so well with the thick cut French fries. Even without ketchup, I ate almost an entire plate of this by myself.

Salchipapas

In addition to the Matador combos, we got a large order of the Jalea, which is a fried seafood platter. The large order really is large but the seafood is really heavily breaded. I identified pieces of calamari and fish, but after a while everything just sort of got clumped together and it was hard to tell exactly what you were eating. There was a little bit of onion and tomato salsa sprinkled on top of the platter, but otherwise, the seafood was under seasoned and lacked pizzazz. It definitely needed some sort of dipping sauce, or extra lime to squirt on top. I was pretty disappointed with this dish and wouldn’t order it again.

Another disappointment was the Arroz Chaufa, which was Peruvian style Chinese fried rice. We opted for the beef, and it was mixed with eggs, onions, and soy sauce. However, this dish also lacked seasoning and just tasted heavy and oily. I can make better fried rice at home.

Beef fried rice

The Camarones Cuzco were sautéed garlic shrimp on top of yellow rice. This was also an unmemorable dish. The shrimp were fine, if a bit lacking in flavor, and the rice was nothing special.

Camarones Cuzco

I did like our side order of maduros though. The sweet plantains were thick cut and fried so that they had a nice texture but weren’t too greasy or starchy.

Maduros

We were pretty stuffed after all that food so we decided to split one dessert, a slice of tres leches cake. Some people also ordered coffee or espresso, which really confused the waitstaff for some reason. Josh wanted an espresso, and they kept bringing a regular coffee. Someone else wanted decaf, and they also kept bringing a regular coffee. It was really kind of laughable, they just kept bringing out the same cups of coffee over and over, until we got fed up and just took whatever they were offering. Josh thinks he wound up with a cup of decaf coffee, or else it was the worst regular coffee he has ever drank. It definitely was not worth the aggravation.

Tres leches cake

The tres leches cake was ok. I’ve only had it once before so I don’t really have a basis of comparison. The cake itself is a bit dry, but the milk that they soak it in makes it wet. So it tastes kind of like a sweet gritty wet cake to me. I think I’ll pass on it next time.

Overall I thought the food at Pio Pio hit some pretty high highs and some pretty low lows. Service, however, was not so great. In addition to the coffee issues, we had placed two orders of the Matador Combo but they only brought out one order, so some of us had to wait an extra half hour to get a piece of chicken. It also threw of the timing of the meal a bit. I ended up eating more of the Jalea than I wanted to, only because I was hungry while waiting for the rest of the chicken and the sides to arrive. And by the time they arrived, I was pretty full yet unsatisfied. I kind of felt like the only time they really paid attention to us was to constantly refill our sangria glasses so that we would have to keep ordering more pitchers.

Negatives aside, I really did enjoy the chicken, and the ceviche. I’d go back there just for these items. The side dishes were also really good, except for the rice and beans. The combos are pretty decent deals if you’re splitting with a lot of people. Otherwise, I might just order a pio chicken a la carte and then cherry pick my favorite sides, like the salchipapas and the tostones. Just make sure that if you do go with a big group to make a reservation. It was late on a Sunday night and the restaurant was still hopping when we left.

Pio Pio (multiple locations)
702 Amsterdam Ave. at 94^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Chicken, Fries, Peruvian, Seafood, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Pio Pio

Bar Boulud

Sunday, August 16th, 2009 by virginia

DSCN1761

Josh has been itching to try Bar Boulud ever since we moved into the neighborhood. We pass it all the time and the tables outside on the sidewalk are always full. Plus it’s a Daniel Boulud restaurant, so how bad can it be? I reminded Josh that this restaurant’s main focus is on charcuterie, however, and not necessarily on standard french main courses and appetizers. Nevertheless, we have both been intrigued by the art of charcuterie ever since we read The Soul of a Chef by Michael Ruhlman, which chronicles the Certified Master Chef exam, of which charcuterie plays a major part.

Josh was able to get us a reservation for Sunday night dinner so off we went. We arrived early for our reservation (surprising!) but they seated us right away, even though our party was incomplete. We had a table next to the window at the front of the restaurant, so we had a nice view of the “wine cave” tunnel that makes up most of the dining area.

The main room is a tunnel built like a wine cave

However, it was unbearably hot where we were. I don’t know if the heat was an issue in the whole restaurant, but we were seated underneath a vent and nothing was coming out of it. This continued for our entire dinner, making most of us feel extremely uncomfortable. We asked our waitress about it and she said the air was on, but we definitely couldn’t feel it.

Nevertheless, we fanned ourselves with our menus as we looked at the long list of offerings. We were pleasantly surprised to see that they were offering a $35 “Endless Weekends” prix fixe dinner menu that had several tempting options. While we were perusing the menus, a runner dropped off a basket of big puffy gougeres. These were deliciously light and cheesy, and we finished them off immediately.

Puffy, crispy, and chewy gougeres

Sadly, they replaced our basket of gougeres with regular bread. I would have liked more of the cheese puffs! The bread wasn’t bad; it just didn’t have a crispy crust and was very chewy. I did enjoy the accompanying butter, which had a nice sprinkling of coarse salt on top.

Ok bread with good butter and salt

Most of us chose to order from the $35 prix fixe, except that they ran out of one of the entrees, a braised heritage berkshire pork shank. Josh was the only one who decided to order a la carte instead, since the rest of us covered all the other prix fixe options.

We decided to share some charcuterie to start before getting into our appetizers. We got an order of Pate Grand-Mere, which is made from chicken liver, pork and cognac. It was a huge piece of pate and was not too overwhelming in chicken liver flavor, which is good or bad depending on your preference. It had a nice subtle liver-ness to it but was still very rich. Josh is not a liver fan and he still enjoyed this dish.

Pate grand-mere

We also had a terrine of lamb, eggplant, and sweet potato. This had a softer, smoother texture than the Pate Grand-Mere but the flavors were more muddled. The lamb was not gamey at all, and had I not seen the menu I wouldn’t have known we were having lamb. It didn’t taste bad but there was nothing about it that stood out.

Lamb, eggplant, and sweet potato terrine

Finally, we shared a plate of prosciutto san daniele, which was sliced very thinly and deliciously fatty. The prosciutto had a nice soft texture and basically melted in your mouth.

Prosciutto san daniele

They gave us pieces of toasted brown bread to spread the pate and terrines on. The crunchiness of the toast worked well with the smoothness of the charcuterie.

A piece of crunchy brown toast and a little taste of everything

Moving on to the appetizers, we had a choice of gazpacho, gnocchi with chorizo, or rabbit and beef cheek terrines. Josh’s cousin selected the gazpacho, which was an impressive bright red color and had watermelon in it in addition to the usual gazpacho ingredients. It was pureed smooth and was perfectly seasoned. The bright flavors really popped and it had a nice tang to it. It really was a refreshing course after the heavy pate and terrine.

Bright and tasty gazpacho

Josh’s parents both selected the gnocchi with chorizo, which was an absolutely delicious dish and the winner out of all the appetizers. The gnocchi were melt-in-your-mouth tender, and the chorizo added a nice smoky background to the sauce. I ended up stealing half of Josh’s mom’s portion, as I was not so happy with my own appetizer selection.

Gnocchi with chorizo

I had originally ordered the gnocchi dish myself, but after everyone ordered I switched last minute to the terrines, since no one else had ordered that as an appetizer. I didn’t have the foresight to think that we were already getting a pate and another terrine to start. By the time we finished those pre-appetizers, I was pretty much terrined out. The beef cheek terrine was very similar to the lamb terrine, though it was a bit meatier in flavor. It was also very rich and heavy, and I didn’t feel the need to finish it. The rabbit terrine was much lighter, and had nice chunks of rabbit meat in it. I enjoyed this terrine a lot more but I still preferred the gnocchi. I must say that they did give a generous portion of each terrine, which is nice considering it was part of the prix fixe special.

Beef cheek terrine on the left and rabbit terrine on the right

Josh was the only one who didn’t order off the prix fixe menu, and he opted for steak tartare as his appetizer. The tartare tasted wonderfully fresh and was nicely seasoned. It was served with crunchy potato gaufrettes, though there weren’t enough chips to last through all the tartare. Nevertheless, it was my second favorite appetizer of the evening.

Steak tartare

For his main course, Josh selected the coq au vin. It fell cleanly off the bone but I thought the meat was still very dry. I also didn’t think it had enough seasoning or a deep enough wine flavor, but Josh seemed to enjoy the dish a lot. The hand rolled pasta that was mixed with the dish was an interesting twist though, and a nice addition I thought.

Coq au vin

Josh’s mom ordered the moules a la provencale, which were steamed mussels in a white wine broth with tomatoes and herbs. It was a pretty decently sized bowl of mussels but a bit lacking in flavor. It wasn’t that they were bad, they just didn’t have a nice garlic punch that you tend expect from mussels steamed in white wine.

Moules a la provencale

The rest of us opted for the grilled angus steak with market beans and smoked onion mashed potatoes. My steak was cooked rare to order and nicely seasoned. The market beans were sauteed but a bit boring. The mashed potatoes, however, had a nice smokiness to them, and the caper steak sauce that was drizzled on top of the meat and potatoes really added a lot to the flavor of the dish. This was my favorite entree of the group.

Steak with beans and smoked onion mashed potatoes

We also ordered some sides to share. First up was a cauliflower gratin, which was kind of like mac and cheese but made with big pieces of cauliflower. It was creamy and cheesy and totally addictive.

Cauliflower gratin

Our order of spinach didn’t come out as expected, but it was still tasty. We thought it would be sauteed spinach; instead, what we got was more like creamed spinach without cream. The spinach was chopped very finely and had a smooth texture.

Some kind of spinach

Lastly, we couldn’t go to a French restaurant and not get pommes frites. The french fries were cut very thin and were nicely seasoned but unfortunately, they were really soggy. That was kind of disappointing, even though they still tasted really good.

Pommes frites

For dessert, the prix fixe menu came with a choice of apricot clafoutis or coupe framboise, which was white chocolate mousse with fresh raspberries, pistachio crumble, and strawberry sorbet. The presentation of the coupe framboise was really nice, with everything layered in a clear glass. The white chocolate mousse was creamy and delicious, and all the ingredients just worked really well together.

Coupe framboise

The apricot clafoutis was and almond cake topped with apricots and a layer of crumble on top. While I didn’t think almond cake and apricot worked well together at Morimoto, this dessert was really scrumptious and comforting. The cake part was a bit eggy, the apricots soft and sweet, and the crumble added a nice textural contrast.

Apricot clafoutis

Josh ordered his dessert a la carte, and then traded with his cousin for the coupe framboise. She is a self-proclaimed total chocoholic and couldn’t turn down the tarte au chocolat classique, a chocolate tart with hazelnut spread and chocolate-vanilla ice cream. It was super rich and super chocolately, perfect for any chocolate-lover.

Tarte au chocolat

Overall I enjoyed certain aspects of Bar Boulud, but not everything. Apparently I’m not a huge fan of terrines and pates, but I appreciate the skill that it takes to make them. The $35 prix fixe menu was a pretty good deal, especially since the a la carte options here are pretty pricey. Though the place is always full and bustling, the atmosphere is still pretty laid back and relaxed. Our waitress was attentive but not overbearing. While I’m not sure that I would come back here for another full meal, I might stop by for a nice glass wine and some cured meats and cheeses.

Bar Boulud
1900 Broadway between 63^rd and 64^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: French, Prix Fixe, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Bar Boulud

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
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Empire Szechuan Kyoto

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
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Papa John’s

Saturday, July 18th, 2009 by virginia

DSCN1311

Since I tend to divulge a lot of “secrets” on this blog, I’m going to share with you our shameful secret food indulgence: Josh and I absolutely love Papa John’s. Not because we think it’s great pizza, but because it’s just delicious and addictive in a junk food kind of way. Whenever one of us gets a craving, all we have to say is “Papa John’s!” and the other person will immediately crave it as well. It doesn’t matter if I’ve just gone to the supermarket to pick up ingredients for dinner, or if we’ve already planned to order in something else, as soon as Papa John’s is mentioned, everything else is forgotten.

We usually get the same order every time – cheesesticks and a large pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives. The cheesesticks are really just a pizza without tomato sauce that they slice into strips, but it’s a bit thinner and crispier, and the cheese gets more browned and bubbly. We love the garlic dipping sauce, which is really just some sort of butter product mixed with garlic powder and is extremely bad for you but oh so tasty. They also provide pizza sauce so you can dip just the right amount of tomato sauce and garlic sauce together.

Cheesesticks with pizza sauce and garlic sauce

The pizza itself is thicker than standard NYC pizza, but thinner than pan pizzas (although they do have a pan pizza option).

Large pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms, and black olives

The crust is a bit sweet, as is the pizza sauce, which is why we get pepperoni to counteract the sweetness. The mushrooms go really well with the pepperoni, and the olives provide a bit of a sour tang. This is my favorite combination of toppings. The crust isn’t really crispy but it has a nice dense chew to it.

Underside shot

Papa John’s in the city is more expensive than in the suburbs, but a quick search on the internet will usually turn up coupon codes that drastically reduce their prices. We always order online and delivery is quick. Anytime a craving hits, we know we can get a piping hot pizza and chewy cheesesticks in less than an hour. Now please don’t make fun of us for our shameful secret indulgence. We don’t usually eat fast food unless we don’t have many options available, but this is our one exception. C’mon, everyone has a shameful secret food indulgence – what’s yours?

Papa John’s (multiple locations)
594 Amsterdam Ave. between 88^th and 89^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Delivery, Pizza, Upper West Side
Posted in Restaurants | Comments Off on Papa John’s

Posts Tagged ‘Upper West Side’

Patsy’s Pizzeria

Fantastic Greek Feast at Kefi

Return to Kefi, Finally

Francesco Pizzeria

Akai Lounge

Pio Pio

Bar Boulud

Empire Szechuan Kyoto

Big Nick’s Pizza & Burger Joint

Papa John’s

Pages

Archives

Categories

Tags