NYC Tastes

Mr. Trekker has been wanting to try out Morimoto since it opened over a year ago so I decided to take him out for his birthday dinner there. Since it was a special occasion we went all out and ordered the chef's omakase . I enjoy omakase because it takes the struggles of ordering off of oneself and you get to try a little of everything. It was a nine course tasting of which only a few of the pictures came out well. I'll only talk about some of the dishes we really enjoyed. The place itself is all white with track lighting on the walls. It was a sleek beautiful space but not so conducive to picture taking. The first course was Toro Tarter that came with creme fraiche , wasabi , rice balls, cilantro avocado and dashi -soy for dipping. It was topped with Osetra Cavier . This dish was only okay. It was a standard dish I would expect in any sushi joint. Nothing special. Our second dish was steamed scallops and mussels with white asparagus, tomatoes and micro greens in a light ...

So in case you can't tell we've been on a big lobster roll kick lately. I know we have to stop, but Mr. T's brother and sister-in-law where visiting from Florida so it was a great excuse. We were meeting friends later in the East Village so The Mermaid Inn seemed like the most logical choice. We showed up at 6:00 and got a table right away in their back patio. The patio itself was small but nice. It did seem a little like we were sitting in the back of someone's house but in a good way. We started out with a bottle of the SOAVE 2005, La Cappuccina . This was an Italian white wine that was extremely crisp with lots of citrus. It was perfect for the humid, hot weather we were having. We were all starving so decided to skip out on appetizers and head straight for the entrees. Three of us ordered the lobster sandwich and one of us got the grilled M ahi M ahi . The lobster sandwich is exactly what it says- a sandwich. Instead of a hot dog bun it comes on a roll that...

We wanted to grab a bite to eat the other night near home so we decided to try out Borough Food & Drink. We had been here for the opening party to try out some of their stuff which was pretty good. Since then it's gotten a lot of press for having an excellent Burger so we thought we'd give it a shot. It was about 6:00 on a Tuesday night and the entire place was filled. We were able to get the last table on the patio luckily and sat down right away. They started off by bringing over a free jar of pickled vegetables for us. I thought they were alright. I'm not really a fan of pickled veggies on their own. I need some sort of fatty meat to eat with them otherwise the taste is just too overpowering. We weren't super hungry so we decided to split an appetizer and a burger. We got the Guanciale & Ricotta flatbread . The base was charred nice and crispy and the ricotta cheese was melted into the meat and then topped with rosemary. The flatbread was a little too o...

So my oldest and dearest friends came to visit this weekend for some fun time in the city and a Yankees game. We woke up on Sunday after lots of day drinking at the game and needed a good brunch. Mr. T and I have been to Dos Caminos only once for dinner so I was a little apprehensive about bringing my friends here for brunch. It started off a little rough too. We were seated immediately and then waited for almost 20 minutes as people all around us, who had come in later, ordered their meals. We were extremely dehydrated and hadn't even been given water. I was starting to sweat out the little moisture I had inside when our waiter finally came over. After that hiccup it was smooth sailing. Our waters were filled immediately , our drinks were brought within moments and our food came out quickly. The special is any entree with a free brunch cocktail. A couple of us got your standard mimosas and a couple of us got their Prickley Pear Margarita. The margarita was really good !! I don...

So we were so exhausted from cooking our tacos the night before we decided to order in from Rice. The first time we had Rice was when we went to visit Mr. Trekker's brother and sister-in-law in DUMBO and we fell in love. So we were psyched when they opened one near us. Unfortunately this one always seems to mess up our order somehow so we don't get it as much as we thought we would, but tonight we only ordered one thing so it came alright. We got an order of their Jerk Chicken Wings. As you'll notice these wings are much smaller than your regular Buffalo Wings and they're grilled not fried. They have a lot of Caribbean spices marinated on them and are topped with grated coconut. The result is really moist and tender chicken that almost falls apart as you pick it up. The grilling gives it a great smokey almost BBQ flavor. They are fantastic wings! If you get them definitely order a party pack because they are addicting. These were gone in about 5 minutes. http://ric...

So we hardly ever eat in for two simple reasons: 1. We aren't very good cooks 2. We are extremely lazy To be honest it's more of number 2. I think we could have the ability to be good cooks if we weren't so addicted to television. Anyway one of the things that has made cooking at home for us a lot easier was the opening of Trader Joes in Manhattan. I had always heard about this grocery store first for it's cheap wine but their prepared food has some great stuff. One new item we're loving is their Chipotle Lime Chicken Strips. These chicken strips just need to be heated in the microwave for 2 minutes and are ready to go. They have a great chipotle flavor that's smooth- not spicy. We've been making tacos with them for weeks now. Actually everything in the picture below for this meal we got from Trader Joe's. I honestly think the whole meal cost about $12 -$13. We used the left over tortillas to make wraps for lunch and used the left over lettuce and c...

Currently on a wizarding hiatus.

So we met up with Mr. Trekkers folks this weekend since we had been visiting mine the week before. We started out by having a drink at The House. The House is a new place that recently opened in our neighborhood. It's actually a restored carriage house that is really beautiful. We had eaten here before and the food was nothing special but the bar is lovely so if you're in the area it's a great place to grab a glass of wine. After drinks we decided to head over to Gramercy Tavern for an early dinner. We got a great spot right at the corner of the bar so we could all talk easily. Gramercy Tavern is one of my top 5 favorite places in the city. I have been here many times both in the regular dining room and the tavern room and while both are great I enjoy the Tavern room the most. The big glass windows are great for people watching and something about the long wooden bar just makes you feel right at home. Plus they have an amazing vintage beer list that is unprecedented i...

So no trip to Buffalo is complete without the two things this place is known for: wings & Beef on weck . My favorite place for wings is the Bar Bill Tavern. I have been to this place over a hundred times in my life. The wings are always made extra crispy with a lot of meat and flavor. The service here is also great. The bartenders get to know your name and you'll see anyone from an elderly woman eating alone to families to guys just getting drunk. This food knows no boundaries. Now when people think of Buffalo wings they usually think of hot wings. At the Bar Bill they have extended to a bunch of different flavors than your usual hot, medium & mild. The first order we got was the Sicilian wings. These are wings covered in Italian dressing with Parmesan cheese grated on top. Unfortunately it was really dark in the bar and I had also had a couple of beers so the pictures are not the best but here are the Sicilian wings Sicilian wings close up- see all the cheese o...

So I've been hearing people in Buffalo talk about La Nova's pizza for years but had never tried it myself. Why? First of all I live in NYC where great pizza joints are on every block.  Second of all it is in one of the worst areas of Buffalo. Honestly, it's kind of scary. Not the kind of place you want to be walking around at night. Anyway, while hanging out with friends this weekend La Nova's name came up on three different occasions followed by "It's soo good! You have to try it!" So we decided to take a drive and check it out. We got some pizza at the place itself and ordered some to go so my mom could also try it. Here's our take out box They offer your regular slice and a square slice so we decided to get a couple of each. The square slice was enormous! The thing about both of these slices we liked the most was the crust. The square slice has almost a bread stick crust with sesame seeds on top. It was really crunchy. The regular slic...

So my parents & brother have been raving about this new place that opened in East Aurora called Rick's on Main. I had heard so much about it I asked that we all meet there as soon as we got back from the airport for dinner. First of all the outdoor space is really nice. They have a huge wrap around porch that looks out onto Main street which in any other town might mean lots of noise. Luckily East Aurora is a quiet town so the view is nice and they had plenty of tables. Also the service was impeccable the entire night. Our waiter made sure our drinks were always full and accommodated all of our special requests.  Everyone told me I had to get the crab cakes as my appetizer and man- they were fabulous! Look at these cakes! Just looking at the photo again makes my mouth water! The cakes sit atop a remoulade and sweet chili thai sauce. My Father & Brother are big fans of the sauce and I was as well. The 2 flavors went really well with the crab. But honestly I had a...

So we just came back from a trip to Buffalo to visit family and see some friends. We a fantastic yet exhausting visit so I'm not sure how much I will post tonight. All flights last night were cancelled due to bad thunder storms and we had to catch a very early plane this morning that was also delayed. So our usual 1 hour plane trip ended up taking us in total about 20 hours. I really need some sort of laser transporter.

So two Lobster Rolls in two days is pretty extravagant but we're celebrating our nations independence right? So we headed to our neighborhood place Penelope tonight. This place is so close to us but we've only been there 3 times. For some reason we always forget about it, which is too bad because the food is always great. Mr. Trekker got the lobster sandwich and I got the warm chicken meatballs arugula salad. Now in contrast to Ditch Plains this one was much more of a salad. The lobster was chopped fine with more mayonnaise and celery. Even thought there was less lobster I preferred this version. The lobster flavor actually came through and wasn't over powered by spices. Also it was only $17- a cool $8 cheaper than Ditch Plains. The french fries here are also great. Nice and crispy and seasoned with rosemary. My meal was also fantastic. I've had this before and it was just as good. The salad dressing has a great zingy taste and the warm chicken meatballs are just a...

So we decided to have dinner at Ditch Plains to celebrate the 4 th of July and was it ever good! First of all the space is nice. It has an open airy feeling about it with nice big booths to chill out in. We started with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and some clam strips to start. The clams were fried nicely with just enough crunch to them. For mains we got their signature dish which you won't find on the menu- the Ditch Dogs. Behold them in all their cheesy, greasy glory: Two hot dogs topped with mac & cheese and crispy french fries! Oh yes- it was as good as it looks. I would like to re-create this at home but that could be a dangerous endeavor . Sooo good! For our other dishes we got the special sandwich of the day the Shrimp Po' Boy: Then we got the lobster roll. This was good but probably one of my least favorite in NYC. It had a lot of spices in it. We were trying to figure out what they were, maybe celery root and paprika? Not sure but the spices over took the gr...

So we went to the Yankees game last night and needed a place to meet up for a few drinks and food before the game. If you've ever been to a Yankee game you know that for some reason every bar in the area has music blaring so loud you have to shout to be heard. We were looking for some place where we could actually hear ourselves talk and decided to go to the back part of Yankee Tavern. We ordered some beers and some food. We got the Pastrami sandwich, zucchini sticks and something that I think was called the Home Run Platter. This was basically a platter with a hamburger, hot dog, mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings. Now obviously we weren't expecting much. As you can see most of these foods are artery clogging fried delights conducive to beer drinking but alas even all of the oil couldn't save the meal. The zucchini sticks were limp, the buffalo wings were super salty and the mozzarella sticks were cold. The only dish that fared well was the pastrami sandwich. It was f...

Zucchini Sticks & Pastrami Sandwich Home Run Platter- Not a Home Run :(

So I went to Highline for lunch today. We walked in around 12:30 and were the only people in the place. Maybe it was because of the holiday tomorrow or maybe all of the construction going on outside, but we were shocked it was empty. We sat down and I ordered a Thai iced tea to drink. My drink was lovely when it came but it was way too sweet! I have enjoyed better ones at Spice. For my appetizer I got the Chicken & Shrimp Fritters. These were very good. Just the right crunchiness and had a great dipping sauce on the side. For my main I got the garlic and vegetables with beef. This was very good also. Your standard Thai dish in the city. I am not a huge eater for lunch so I thought the portion size was perfect. Someone else might find the size a little on the smaller side though. For $10 in the Meatpacking district I don't think it gets any cheaper. On my way home I was craving some sweets. I stopped in Chelsea Market for a free brownie sample from Fatwich, but that didn't s...

So to start off my first ever blog I decided to begin with a salute to my hometown Buffalo. Although I moved to NYC about 6 years ago I still have a big spot in my heart for the place that fed me for so many years. Also I will probably post some pictures from when I go back of better wings but for now here are the original- Anchor Bar. The place that invented the Buffalo Wing. Not the best in Buffalo but the place is fun and it's got history. If you're in the area it's worth checking out.