Whoever said “little things come in small packages,” is a genius. NewYork City is home to hundreds of fine dining restaurants, but even more food trucks and venders.
The Halal Guys opened their first branch to success in 1990. The founding partners opened a hot dog stand, but began to see a demand of Halal Meals from Muslim cab drivers. They interchanged their hot dog stand, and began to serve Halal food.
FOOD:
If I had an option of eating only one meal in New York City, hands down I would pick the Chicken Gyro Combo from The Halal Guys. This dish, (which costs around $6) provides the perfect combination of flavors. The half-diced-half shredded chicken lays atop a bed of rice, lettuce and pita. You should drench the dish with their famous white sauce (of course, try the sauce first, to see if you like it), and add a dab of their red hot sauce. It will sear your tongue but please your taste buds.
There is always a huge line (at least a block), but it moves pretty quickly. The venders are very kind and work efficiently. They have a few locations around New York City, but the best one is on 53rd and 6th.
Publicized restaurants always fail to please me. The cliche, “landmark” restaurants in major cities (such as New York or Miami) rarely live up to a standard of quality food (well, food that would be served at any other restaurant). Whether it’s the service, the food or even the ambiance, it seems that these types of restaurants live up for the “name” or reputation, rather than the quality of food and comfort of diners.
The Todd English Food Hall, at the infamous Plaza Hotel, really describes the concept of “landmark” restaurants. For one, a restaurant at the Plaza must carry some weight, but it contradicts the idea of “not-caring-about-the-label.”
FOOD: To be honest, the food was not great. I ordered the Steak Tacos (do not order)…One, it was served cold. Two, the portions were so tiny, and there was lettuce messily thrown on the side. For the amount of money being paid, the dish was not substantial. The steak was bitter, and completely overpowered the flavor “fresh” vegetables.
AMBIANCE: The restaurants can accommodate a large amount of people, with seatings at the bar or regular tables. In the food hall, there are multiple stations that suit everyones needs; from desert, to caviar to sushi. However, reservations are recommended because (for some obscure reason) people want to dine here.
Unlike many other Chinese restaurants, Peking Duck house has linen table cloths for lunch. Located in Midtown and Chinatown, the Peking Duck House continues to satisfy their customers with welcoming service and delectable food.
I’ve been to the Peking Duck House about three times, and I’ve found that their Midtown location is “better” than their Chinatown restaurant. For one, it’s better situated (Obviously: midtown, easy to find, cleaner) and I found the service in Midtown amiable, rather than the indifferent dispositions of the servers in Chinatown. Before we could stand up, our server snatched the check up from the table, snarled in a disgruntled manner an insincere “thank you” and stormed off into the kitchen. At the Midtown location, we were given plenty of space, the servers were attentive and polite and frankly we felt more comfortable. Now, let’s get down to business: FOOD!
FOOD: Hence the name “Peking Duck house,” you can tell what we ordered. The Peking Duck House prepares their duck by using the most complex “formula.” I’ve ever heard of: First, air is pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin. They then repeatedly pour boiling water over the skin, which later is dried. The skin is rubbed all over with maltose syrup and is roasted in an oven for a long period of time until the meat is tender and the skin is crispy. The chef will then come and cut the whole duck in front of you. It’s served with homemade thin, pancakes, scallions, cucumbers and a special hoisin sauce. Your server would open the pancakes, swirl a little hoisin sauce on it, add cucumbers, the scallions and the duck, fold it and voiule! Totally worth it. I had SIX “pockets.” The hoisin sauce was sweet, but a bit bitter, complimenting the whole concept of the salty pancake. The scallions were fresh but the cucumbers tasted a bit rancid…however, the Chef was spot on with the duck! Tender and crispy, and the skin peeled right off. As a side, we ordered fried rice. peas, spare ribs, egg you name it! All heaped up on a giant platter. It did go well with the duck I must say, a whole lot better than a soup would’ve
So again, another must try for a Manhattan lunch. Even if you’re not a duck fan (which I can guarantee that you will be after dining here) there a tons of other options to please your palette.
I cannot believe I made a horrible choice of coming to All’onda. Of all the great Italian restaurants in NYC, I pick All’onda! First of all, it’s a small restaurant with bad service and small portioned food for over the top prices. In other words, this place sucks.
FOOD: Appetizers: So I really like to try different foods, and I like raw fish, so I ordered the himachi. It was good, but more of like a pre appetizer. It. was. so. tiny. Little cubes of raw fish and a tiny bit of red kuri squash, in a soy blend. Over powering on the soy and the Himachi didn’t taste fresh. Honestly, I very easy going with fish…but I have to say, this was really disappointing. And guess what: they charged me $20 for it! I mean, who do they think they are? Per se? Any way. To get my mind off the Himachi, I ordered classic razor clams. Coming from a New Englander, I expect them to be at least decent. They were served with sopressata and miso, along with herbs. I mean, it was pretty good! I had a little “party of flavor” in my mouth, but only for a second; there was a very fish aftertaste.
Main Courses: So for a main course here, we ordered the “Lumache” which is a duck ragu with chocolate. Yeah, I know right? Chocolate? Who puts chocolate in pasta? Well, we thought it would be interesting to try…Crap on a plate. It was horrible. The ragu tasted like cardboard and the chocolate added unneeded sweetness to the dish, completely ruining it. So after that, we were kind of edgy on what else to order, but after hearing such great things about the rest of menu we gave it another shot. Apparently, the “house specialty” is the Bucatini, which is a smoked uni pasta with spicy breadcrumbs. All right. First things first when naming the food. If an Indian doesn’t think the pasta’s spicy, then it’s spicy. But when an American Indian doesn’t think the food is spicy, we have a problem. “Spicy” is like “rotten” here. The dish lacked flavor and the uni was bits and pieces of chopped up uni, flash fried. It was way too creamy (I felt like I was eating a bowl of oatmeal) and there was no protein whatsoever. So much for a “house specialty”…Anyway! After that, we were sick of their so-called pasta, so we ordered the Monkfish. The monkfish was served with sea urchin polenta, arugula and squid ink. We couldn’t even taste the monkfish because of the unappealing squid ink and basically a soup of polenta. The only average dish here was the risotto astice. It was served with lobster, saffron and fennel. The saffron gave it a nice color, but the lobster was a bit chewy. Again, the portion was really small.
So at the end, we left the restaurant hungry. We then ended up going to Eataly, Joe Bastianich and Mario Bitalis food hall. Now that was real Italian food. Do. Not. Come. To. All’onda.
Okay. Manhattan is home to thousands of culinary experiences, ranging from Classy to Hole in Wall. Annisa takes classy to a whole new level, treating us with a culinary we will never forget. A quaint, but formal ambiance suits the food and the location (West Village) in a perfect manner, along with a dressy attire.
FOOD: On a rainy day, a nice, hardy piece of meat will suit us just fine. The seared Buffalo shell steak with marrow, vegetables and horseradish is a must have at Annisa. The steak is served rare, but upon request may be cooked to a different level; you can never go wrong with medium well. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium well; so juicy, and the vegetables complimented it just fine. For our fish fans out there, the sautéed filet of rainbow Trout, is another smart choice. The fish is served with artichokes, chamomile and enoki mushrooms. Just the right portion with just the right components, set out the perfect dish for me. The mushrooms went perfect with the chamomile and the fish was a light delicacy. Also, try the seared scallops with Foie Gras, Asparagus and hazelnuts. This dish blew me away, with it’s unique turn out of such delicate, yet simple ingredients, that transformed into a unique, one of a kind dish. As well as that, try the pork loin. The pork loin is served with radishes and smoked avocado. It’s a grilled Koji-Marrinated Berkshire Pork Loin. It was very tender and the radishes balanced out the meal with a nice vegetable touch of avocado.
So Annisa is very formal, but they only seat 13 tables, so book your reservations quick!
New York City is filled with thousands of cuisines, ranging from French to Asian, but why have one, when you can have both? Le Colonial brings the elegance to 57th Street, giving the tourists and New Yorkers a taste of unique fusion to wow our minds. Beautiful plants line classy tables, with outstanding service and a sheik ambiance, making us feel like we’re in France and Vietnam at the same time.
APPETIZERS: For appetizers, we ordered the Ca Bam, which is minced monkfish with turmeric, basil, roasted peanuts and sesame crackers. First of all, I could tell that the monkfish was fresh, and second…WOW. All the spices, herbs and flavors blended so well together, converting simple household ingredients into a five star dish. As well as the monkfish, we needed to try a classic Asian delicacy: spring rolls. Spring Rolls are found all over Eastern Asia, and have a huge variety of different kinds. Coming back to classic, of course we’ll have fried. “Cha Gio”, the spring rolls at Le Colonial, are filled with pork, shrimp and crab, and are served with lettuce greens, fresh herbs and Nuoc Cham sauce. We each had one spring roll, wrapped it in lettuce and mint, then dipped it in the sauce and ate away. This dish blew my mind. Hands down to the best spring rolls I’ve ever had! They were light, flavorful and very refreshing.
MAIN COURSES: At Le Colonial, there are two options: One, is a classic entrée menu, and Two is a pre fix called the “Express Lunch” ($20). If you order the express lunch, you have a choice 2/3 of a soup, salad or sandwich. The soup is a Pho, a Vietnamese classic soup, served with rice noodles, scallions, beef, all cooked in a hardy ox tail broth. The soup was quite nice actually, but not too light. A perfect sized portion was served along with a burst of flavor, but remember to pace the soup, it’s a bit filling. The sandwich, is a twist on the typical American Slider, turned into a beautiful Vietnamese sandwich. I was very surprised when I tried the slider, mostly because it had Kim Chi, a pickled Korean vegetable. It gave the sandwich a nice “tangy” taste, also complimenting the beef and vegetables served under the toasted french roll. For our meat lovers out here (Oh and yes, I know there are PLENTY of you) the pork shoulder is your way to go. Tender pork served with bean sprouts, lily buds and a Vietnamese Jus, is honestly one of the best meat dishes I’ve ever had. It’s SO flavorful, but simple. Also, you need to order some rice to go with it; you can’t have an Asian meal without rice. It’s basically the number one Asian cuisine rule. Anyway, turning to another side of the world, a French lemon grass chicken is a nice, hardy but light delicacy. Served with roasted corn, Shitaki mushrooms and cilantro, with a coconut basil sauce. The chicken was very tender, but the sauce made it seem like I was dining in Paris; well, that and the ambiance. The mushrooms balanced out the dish, leaving me full but not too full, and the corn complimented the chicken; balancing the textures with the dish, as well.
So when you’re in the New York area, you must come to Le Colonial. Even if you’re in New Jersey, this is worth the trip, because you’ll never find anything else that’s as unique as Le Colonial.
If you are looking for a casual oriental restaurant, with good prices, minutes away from Times Square, then Danji Korean cuisine is what you should try next time you come into Manhattan. The prices are reasonable, and the service is good. The address is 52nd street and 8th avenue. Better yet Danji has a Michelin star! RECOMMENDATIONS Most of the food is Korean comfort food. CHEF: The chef at Danji Hooni Kim, was born in Souel Korea, but spent some of his childhood in London and settled in New York when he reached the age of ten. For eight years he had been living in New York, but when his college years came, he decied to attend University of California Berkley. He was strated to pursue a medical carrer, but then his passion for food, made him change gears. He left California and came back to the east coast and attened the French Culinary Institute. From then he has opened two michelin star restaurants. APPETIZERS: For a starter their signature dish, crispy tofu, is impeccable. It was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. It feels like your mouth is on vacation. They use organic tofu, and to top it off, they glaze it with soy ginger sauce and scallion, all cooked in sesame oil. MAIN COURSE: For the main course, we tried the Bi Bim Bop. In the bi Bim Bop bowl there is rice and a fried egg. On the side there are carrots, mushrooms, scallions and bongoli beef (beef with sesame seeds), to mix in with the rice and egg. The Bi Bim Bop was acceptable but not the best Bi Bim Bop I’ve had. Also there is a pre-fix option. There is a choice of pork belly and rice, or bongoli beef with rice, it came with beef soup, and two kinds of kimchi. Both the pork and beef were great, and so was the kimchi’s, But the Highlight of the dish was the soup. In it was potatoes and large pieces of beef, with scallions and the broth was very soothing to the throat, and tastebuds. This place is very good for a light lunch, so I recommend coming here at lunch time, after a hearty breakfast. SERVICE: **** AMBIANCE:*** FOOD:****
SERVICE: ***
AMBIANCE:***
If you want a funky, modern, brunch place for the whole family, then Rosemarrys Greenwich Village NYC, is the right place for you. It has moderate service and awesome food, which come in the form of tapas and bigger dishes.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
You have to try their mozzarella, tomato and basil stuffed bread. There is so much cheese that you don’t know when the bread starts and stops. The tomatoes make it juicy so it balances with the cheese. The appetizers, which are mainly a selection of tapas all exude scents and tastes from all over the world. In case you don’t know what tapas are, they are: Small Spanish savory plates, typically served as a snack or appetizer. Tapas (Appetizers) If you are a fish, seafood type of person then try their calamari. It is grilled calamari with almond, celery, raisins and chili oil. Also try the eggplant which is cold and marinated in spices, in an “american curry,”. Also they have olives, but they aren’t just regular olives. They are heated up with herbs so that they are nice and warm and taste like nothing you’ve tasted before. MAIN COURSE: For the main course, you should try the skirt steak. It comes with a mixed salad, arugla and olive oil with a side of fingerling potatoes. They prepared the steak just the way we asked for it which was medium well, better than a lot of steak houses you will go to. For brunch, you should also try the poached egg with oyster mushrooms, and a salad. It is just amazing! Poached just right, and the yolk tasted quite unique with the mushrooms. Rosemarry’s is definitely a stand out in New York City.
New York City is filled with thousands of restaurants, but a must try is “The NoMad.”
Located at the NoMad hotel is one of the best continental restaurants in Manhattan. The NoMad Hotel is located on 1170 Broadway and 28th street, right in the heart of the historic NoMad Neighborhood (North of Madison Square Park.) The interior makes you feel like your back in time, to old Europe.
RECOMMENDATIONS
APPETIZERS: If you’re in the mood for fish, try the fluke. The fluke is marinated with sorrel, amaranth and comes with a side of mushrooms. It lays on a bed of tomatoes and greens. If your not a big fluke fan, then try the tuna. The Tuna is a tuna tartare with lemon, black olives and tomatoes. One interesting thing about the tuna, is that it’s served on its own bone! The tartare is gently punctured through the bone, and will slide in a smooth motion into your mouth. Another appetizer I recommend is the King Crab Tagliatelle. I’m not that big of a pasta fan, but this dish blew me away! It was savory lemon mixed with Buttery Alaskan King Crab with a hint of black pepper. You should also try the lamb. Its glazed with romaine lettuce, cumin and yogurt. It was cooked amazingly and was very juicy.
MAIN COURSES:
If you want something on the lighter side, go with the lobster. The lobster is poached and served with zucchini, summer beans and vegetable bisque. The lobster is out of the shell and comes in three pieces. The lobster bursts with flavor, and the vegetables balance with amount of meat. If you want something more to the heavy side, but not too heavy, I strongly recommend the suckling pig. The pig is served with a confit, with cherries, arugula and bacon marmalade. The skin on the pig is nice and crispy, and its so moist inside. The cherries give the pig a nice sweet taste, but not too sweet so that the flavors of the cherries aren’t overpowering. At NoMad, there is an option for a meal for two, which is a roasted chicken. The Chicken comes with Foie Gras, Black Truffel and Brioche. It’s a huge entree, even for two people, so bring your appetite!
CHEF: Chef Daniel, originally from Switzerland, began his culinary journey at the age of 14. He went on to cook at the finest Swiss hotels and restaurants before earning his first Michelin Star at the age of 24.
If you want a fancy Japanese sushi restaurant, with very good service and a nice ambiance, then Nobu is what you should try. There are 3 Nobu’s in Manhattan but the one on Hudson street is the original, and most laid back.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
At Nobu the sushi specialty roll is salmon, crab and tuna, wrapped in rice and radish. It was good but not the best sushi ever. Also with the eel maki, it was good but not outstanding as I expected it to be. The tuna and eel hand rolls were amazing! They were actually succulent, and a little moist. If you go to Nobu you can’t just get sushi, you have to try their wide variety of hot Japanese food. Their specialty is blackened cod with miso sauce. In my opinion that is the best cod I have ever had. It was a huge full piece of cod, coated in a sweet sauce. It was so tender and it melted in your mouth. Also you try the lobster. It is stir fried with a mixture of vegetables, such as carrots, mushrooms, scallions and basil. It was just impeccable, and delicious. Also, we had the rock shrimp tempura. It was crunchy with a hot and spicy sauce. The tempura was not overly coating the shrimp, thus giving it a delicate tempura flavor. Also try the tempura style fish and chips. It was a tempura fried white fish, with seasoned, delicious sweet potato fries. It had the best tempura fry. Crunchy and crunchy ;). We also had a spicy seafood soup. The soup was spicy and clean, with lots of lobster, shrimp, scallops and squid. Also if you have all of those dishes, you need rice. Nobu’s rice is a special rice from Japan. It is sticky rice, but not to sticky. DESSERTS: Nobu has a great variety of deserts. We tasted caramelized banana with vanilla ice cream, mochis, espresso moose and chocolate cake block.The banana was sweet and decident, and a hot and cold fusion. The mochis were in three different flavors: Blueberry, Green Tea and Tiramisu.The moose was velvety chifanne like, with a smoothe texture. The cake block was servered with raspberry sauce and fresh raspberrys. It sure was special.
