NYC Tastes

We took a trip up to Mr. T’s old neighborhood last week and stopped by an old favorite The Blazer. The Blazer Pub was one of the first places Mr. T ever took me when I came to visit back in college. Right off of Route 22 the Blazer never seems to have a shortage of cars parked out front. This always bustling bar/restaurant has quite the following of loyal patrons. We showed up around 7:00 Pm on Thursday night and had to wait over 20 minutes for a table…but it was so worth the wait. Being the wing aficionado I am I have to say I was more than impressed with the Buffalo wings. They were fried just right with crispy ends, juicy meat and the sauce was spot on. Some nice heat up front but almost a slight sweetness to the end. But what sealed the deal was the house made Blue Cheese dressing. OMG this was absolutely delicious. Never have I had such a creamy, funky, side with my wings. It was awesome. Awesome would also be the way to describe the Cheeseburger. It look...

Jury Duty called for me on Monday and I'll be honest with you- my first thought was- Yippee!!!! Work has been brutal lately and Restaurant Week is just beginning. Maybe I would get a nice break and be able to enjoy a fabulous lunch?? I was on pins and needles in the court house. I made a 12:15 reservation for City Hall Restaurant but the sheet said lunch was from 1:00- 2:00. That was not enough time for a three course meal and out of my reservation time. But still...I got out early one time, maybe again? At exactly 12:00 the women gets on the mic and says "If I call your name you may leave early and return at 2:00". As she read off the names I was literally on the edge of my seat. So much so that when my name was read I almost took a dive onto the floor! I quickly regrouped myself and ran out. Two full hours and perfect timing! I felt like I had won the World Series- free at last! I walked over to City Hall Restaurant and made it right at 12:15 on the dot. ...

Blind Tiger recently launched a brand new food menu and changed around their set up a bit. We stopped by the other day and sat at one of the new tables right near the open window. Of course you need to have a beer at the Tiger so we began with a new one from Captain Lawrence the St. Vincent. This Dubbel was downright tasty. The malty sweet flavors were all very balanced making this a smooth easy to drink beer. The Captain has done it again! Then we moved over to check out their new food menus. As you can see they added quite a bit. It was nice a variety of sandwiches, salads and bar snacks. We decided to split the Beer Braised Pulled Pork Sandwich with laughing lotus kimchi, Carolina BBQ sauce on rosemary focaccia. This thing was pretty massive and I really enjoyed the taste but it was a little overwhelming. My nose would smell the rosemary then my mouth would taste the spicy Kimchi and things would get muddled. The pork and sauce was good enough on its own ...

Happy Friday! Isn’t it a day made for a margarita! I certainly think so- and why not a prickly pear one at that. This pretty thing is from Agave over on 7th Avenue South. It only costs $4.50 during their 5-7 happy hour and it is absolutely delightful on a steamy hot summer day. It's exactly what I need after a long walk home over the gorgeous Brooklyn Bridge. Cheers!

Last year Mr. T and I began our 4th of July with some lovely drinks and food at the Crow’s nest. We enjoyed ourselves so much we decided to return again this 4th for some more. We showed up right around 2:30 and got some seats at the bar. The bartenders seemed swamped even though the place was barely half full. Luckily we got our drink order in without any problems. My Pina Colada was delicious as usual. They really do make the best one in the city…unfortunately it’s also $12 which is pretty steep for a frozen drink. We enjoyed our cocktails and then waited with our food menus for a little over 20 minutes. The bartenders were nice enough it just seemed like the entire place was in chaos. Finally I asked the guy if we could order some food. My sliders that came out did not resemble the sliders we had there over Memorial Day. The beef was so overcooked it was almost like eating a hockey puck and the special sauce was no where to be found. At least I got some food. M...

I was in Buffalo this past weekend for a quick family visit and I finally got a chance to go into the city and check out Seabar- one of Buffalo’s few Japanese restaurants. Leave it to this city to come up with a sushi roll so uniquely Buffalo. The Beef on Weck is basically steak in the middle, regular sticky rice outside and then a nice slab of beef sashimi on top with caraway seeds and some horseradish mayo. The caraway seeds and coarse salt kind of blew me away. They really made the roll taste like a classic Beef on Weck. I would like to see a little less rice and a little more meat in the roll for balance but the flavors were seriously spot on. I think this would be a good roll for those people who are a little hesitant about sushi (my parents) since it looks like the real thing but tastes completely different. Not all sushi rolls in Buffalo are this crazy. We also enjoyed a wonderfully sweet Unagi and Avocado Roll. And I thought the Spicy Tuna Roll was delicious...

We had a lovely brunch with Mr. T’s parents at ABC Kitchen about a week ago and I have to tell you I absolutely love the place! If you remember I went there for lunch once and was very conflicted. I loved everything but it had been slightly off for me. Let me tell you now- none of the food was off on this trip. First up my cocktail- a Basil Lime Daiquiri. This was absolutely delicious but could have used a tad less sugar. That didn’t stop me from enjoying the entire drink however :)   Let me start with a flurry of appetizers we shared. Crab Toast with Lemon Aioli Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Parmesan Cheese Dressing and Fine Herbs Roasted Carrot and Avocado Salad with Crunchy Seeds, Sour Cream and Citrus Cured Meats and Local Cheese Plate Wow- these appetizers were spot on. The Crab Toast was unbelievably wonderful. The crab tasted so fresh and sweet I only wish there was more to go around. The combination of crunchy seeds with the roasted carrots and avocado was...