NYC Tastes

I was having a serious sushi craving the other day at work. I was in Brooklyn Heights and my options there are quite limited. I decided to do a quick google search to see if anything new opened in the neighborhood when voila! A website for Ozu Japanese popped up! It had just opened and was only four blocks away. I grabbed the phone, placed an order and was back at my desk 15 minutes later with the lunch special. They started me out with the traditional miso soup. Although this almost always accompanies a lunch special I have to say this soup was better than most. The broth had a ton of flavor without that greasy film on top you sometimes get. For my rolls I ordered the spicy tuna and the yellowtail with scallion. These were both pretty good. The spicy tuna didn’t really have much spice, but there were some big pieces of tuna inside and I enjoyed the rice. The yellowtail was decent as well. I think I enjoyed this slightly better than Migita sushi but both are almost even. Al...

After a lovely meal at the Modern the night before I woke up to a beautiful day of warm weather and bright sun. The humidity had finally dropped and it was actually bearable outside. I did a bunch of errands and then decided to walk through Central Park to my final destination the Boathouse. I got into the park about 2:00 by the Plaza and my reservation wasn’t until 3:30. I thought I would walk up and see if I could get in early. Well that didn’t happen. A half hour later and I’m lost. Somehow I ended up going west when I thought I was going east. Then when I figured that out I ran into the bramble and got lost again. By the time I finally found the boathouse my feet were covered in dirt, my hair was drenched in sweat and I was right on time for my 3:30 reservation. I had to wait a moment to be seated so I grabbed a glass of wine from the bar. Luckily I did because my server was pretty non-existent at first. I waited for a good 10- 15 minutes to place my order and I was starting to...

This review is actually from a couple weeks back but somehow I forgot to report on these crazy drinks and I just feel the need to because they look so strange. We met up with friends for the World Cup finale only to find Stout completely packed hours before the game. We were in desperate need of a back up bar so we ended up inside Brother Jimmy’s right near MSG. We actually had a friend working at MSG that day so the location worked. We were starving when we arrived so we ordered up some apps to share. Here’s a look at the Nacho’s. These were actually pretty good as far as the appetizers went. There was a good amount of cheese and toppings but the chips seemed to stay surprisingly crispy for the most part. The chicken finger appetizer was very weak. The breading was too peppery and the chicken itself just had a funky flavor. The craziest part of our meal however came later when we decided to change from beers to mixed drinks. I ordered a Myrtle Beach raspberry margarit...

Finally! The past 3 years I’ve been trying to get a RW reservation at the Modern and with no luck. I always waited until the restaurant list was revealed and reservations “officially” were available. Somehow they were already booked by then! This year I got smart and made the reservation 30 days in advance in hopes that the Bar Room would again participate. My advanced booking paid off and Wednesday night we met some friends and sat down for dinner. Looking over the wine list I was surprised and happy to see so many affordable bottles. We opted for a very inexpensive Chardonnay and us ladies were happy with the choice.  The men were not into wine that night so both of them ordered a special Sixpoint beer the Dr. Klankenstein. I won’t go into the whole process but this beer is basically brewed by heating large rocks until red hot and then throwing them into a cauldron with the beer and continue heating over a log fire. You can read more about it here . I have to say I thought ...

I was walking around Cobble Hill the other day, looking for something new and exciting for lunch when I passed by Court Street Bakery. I can’t imagine how many times I must have walked right by this place and never stopped in. I peered through the front window and saw an array of Italian delights. Knowing that Mr. T loves pignoli cookies I stopped in to see if they had any available. It took a few minutes for the woman to retrieve my cookies from the fridge so I munched on a piece of free almond biscotti while I waited and enjoyed the ambiance of an old school Brooklyn bakery. Everyone coming in around me were obviously regulars and chatted each other up while ordering fresh filled cannoli’s and decadent looking éclairs. When my cookies arrived the first thing I noticed was the amount of pine nuts on top. Almost every inch of this cookie was covered. Then I noticed the size of the cookie. From the top it looked normal but the sides were clearly much thicker than your norm...

We had quite a jam packed and scalding hot weekend in NYC. Friday night we went to the Yankee game which began with an emotional tribute to Steinbrenner and Bob and ended with a thrilling walk off home run by Swisher. Saturday we took the train up to Westchester and spent the day where Mr. T grew up. His parents put on a fantastic spread of burgers, dogs, porterhouse steaks, and a ton of really good beer. Unfortunately I haven’t had a lot of really good beer in a while and all of those high octane drinks really caught up with me. I woke up Sunday feeling a little like a truck ran over me. I contemplated cancelling our lunch date but after a nap and lots of water I decided I could make the trek. We got to Lure at 2:30 and the place was packed. Our friends showed up right on time and we got a table near the sushi station. Luckily I wasn’t the only one feeling under the weather. My friend had also had a few too many beers the night before and we were determined to find a way t...

For some ridiculous reason I decided Friday to walk all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge Park and try out the new Calexico Cart. It’s only about a 15-20 minute walk, but in the 95 degree heat with 80% humidity I was a hot sweaty mess by the time I arrived. I think the heat kept a lot of people away so I was the only one in line. I think it’s always best to try the original first so I ordered the Carne Asada Taco. The taco was done in less than two minutes and despite the small size of the cardboard carrier, this taco had a ton of stuff inside. Two flour tortillas held big chunks of marinated steak, some fresh pico de galo and a luscious avocado cream sauce. The steak was very well cooked. I was a little worried I would get some stringy, chewy meat like from some carts, but this retained a moist soft quality. I wish there was a little bit more greens and tomatoes, but I can't be too picky with the slim lunch options in this neighborhood. A little spritz of lime and my l...