NYC Tastes

We found ourselves once again in the West Village last weekend starving for some good food but without a reservation. We tried a couple places but all of them had long waits until we stumbled across Agave. There was quite a long line at the front but we were still able to get a nice two person table in the back. I was surprised to see how nice the back dining room was. The low lighting gave it an elegant feel while the music and paintings lended themselves to a party atmosphere. To start we both ordered some Margaritas. They were out of the Prickly Pear so I went for the classic Strawberry. The margarita was great with huge chunks of fresh strawberry puree and just the right amount of tequila. Mr. T got a regular margarita which was a little less sweet but just as tasty. To start we ordered the Blue Crab Spinach Dip and Tortilla Bowl. I didn’t really care for this dip. To me it tasted more like a cheesy clam chowder than anything else. But Mr. T liked the option o...

If you live in New York you know that fried chicken is all the rage right now. I've had my fair share from the classic style at The Redhead, the Asian style at Blue Ribbon Grill to the wonderful platter of greasiness that is Forte Baden Baden. But where to go take out some fast food style fried chicken that isn't KFC or Popeye's? BBQ on St. Mark's Place. Obviously the first thing you notice looking at this chicken is that it's not BBQ. That actually stand for "Best of the Best Quality Chicken". It totally threw me off at first too! However there is nothing to joke about when it comes down to the delicious taste of this chicken. This chicken is fried in olive oil which gives it a completely different flavor than any I have ever tried before. The skin has tons of awesome crispy edges but without the greasy fingertip feel at the end. It's incredibly moist inside and comes filled with huge chunks of white meat chicken. It's actually a Koren pl...

For this weeks installment of Happy Saturday I am once again turning away from the beer to focus on another new cocktail I enjoyed recently the This comes from the newly opened Scottish bar and restaurant the Highland, which is located in Greenwich Village right on a quiet corner between Waverly and West 10th Street. The restaurant has huge windows in the front great for people watching and a sleek yet rustic décor. We got two seats at the bar Saturday night and the bartender immediately gave us a warm greeting like we were long lost friends. For my drink I ordered the Pear Martini. Okay it was pretty dark in here so sorry if it’s a little shadowy. My cocktail was a little bit more tart than most Pear Martini’s I’ve had but I enjoyed the flavor and appreciated the bartender checking to make sure it was too my liking. Mr. T ordered a BrewDog IPA which came out looking more like a Hefeweisen with a cloudy yellow glow. It actually tasted like a Hefeweisen at first too with only a bri...

The third annual Cook.Eat.Drink.Live festival was held last weekend at the Tunnel/ La Venue space. This was my first time attending this food and wine event but my expectations going in were pretty high. I’ve been to so many food and wine events lately that have been fabulous and I guess I was expecting the same for this event. I got there about 1:55 and saw that there was already quite a large line snaking around the outside of the building. I had to wait a good 15 minutes before I got inside the building for the 2:00 event and it was pretty chaotic to say the least. I fought through the crowds in front and found my way to the back room which was completely empty. Why does everyone freak out at the beginning of these events? If people just spread out and stopped worrying about being the first at everything it would be much easier to get around. Enough of my complaining- onto the food. I was excited to see Xie Xie had a stand. I’ve been meaning to try this place out sinc...

I listed these in my top favorite new dishes of 2008 but I never had a picture to show before now. These are the insanely delicious beer sausages from Jimmy’s No. 43. They always make these sausage bites super crispy and come with a tangy mustard sauce that’s great for dipping. I enjoyed these meat nuggets with a crisp Helles Lager from Germany. Jimmy’s continues to be one of my favorite bars in the city. They always have a nice selection of beers, good food and a cozy atmosphere. This is just the prescription I need on a cold and rainy day.

It’s the weekend again and that means it’s time for a drink! This one comes from the bar at the new Cooper Union Hotel on Bowery. It’s called the Honey Bloke. They use Plymouth Gin, honey, lime juice and peach bitters to make this cocktail and I have to say it was pretty fantastic. It was slightly sweet from the honey but had a tart bite to the end from the peach bitters. Mr. T’s sister got the best cocktail of the night- the Basil 8. They combined vodka, white grapes, basil lime juice and ginger ale together to make quite the complex cocktail. There were so many different flavor layers to this drink it turned out to taste almost savory, like a full Italian meal. These drinks don’t come cheap but it was a nice place to stop into and rest for a bit. Happy Saturday!

The weekend is almost here so it's time for beers and delivery. Since I usually talk about beer, I decided to switch it up for this weekend and talk about one of our favorite delivery places Grand Sichuan. Grand Sichuan is mostly known for it's spicy traditional Sichuan dishes, but tonight we were feeling a good old Americanized dish General Tso's Chicken. We've had almost everything on Grand Sichuan's menu over the years (we order in a LOT) and I have to say that I have rarely been disappointed in the quality of anything. This was no different. There were nice big chunks of white meat chicken in a tangy sauce that had a little kick in the end. It wasn't the best Chinese food I've ever had but it was really tasty for delivery. I truly think one of the best things about living in NYC is the unlimited options of food that can be delivered right to your door. When Mr. T and I are feeling extremely lazy we can go for a week without cooking a thing. Tha...