East Village

NYC – Top 10 dishes of 2013

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Ziggy

Another year, another amazing eating year in the city of New York. Keeping up with all the new and excitement here is like keeping up with the Kardashians. But 2013 proved to be one heck of a year, probably the best ever. And if there’s ever a post on EWZ that could be helpful to visitors or locals seeking great chow in NYC, this is IT!

Ma Peche – Fried Chicken (with a side of the Brussels Sprouts). I’ll start with the last great dish. Haute Fried Chicken doesnt get any better than this. Habanero, coriander, black pepper and other spices used to create this fried pieces of awesomeness. Its a large shareable whole chicken at $48, but for lunch you can get half for $24 which can still feed an Armanian village, or 2 Americans. And the amazing Brussels Sprouts dish are worthy of their own spot here.

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop– Smoked Whitefish Donburi. With salmon roe, sweet soy dashi, cucumber, scallion over rice. Need I say more? I probably should. Tell me if you heard this story before. A Jewish man from Long Island opens a Ramen shop in Tokyo which becomes critically acclaimed, then comes back to NYC to open a Ramen shop in the New Gotham West Market in Hell’s Kitchen. Sounds familiar? The Donburi is a nice clash of the 2 cultures (Japan meets Jew)

Momofuku Ssam Bar – Spicy Sausages & Rice Cakes. Second Momofuku mention already (Ma Peche is the first) This dish is insane. Plenty of heat and plenty of joy. Its a beautiful medley of ground sausage, Chinese broccoli, Sichuan peppercorn, and the awesome rice cakes which were essentially Korean Gnocchi made from rice flour. Puts the Mssion Chinese rice cakes to shame. Photo courtesy of Never Too Sweet

Betony – Short Ribs. A revelation! Tender, full of flavor goodness. It takes 3 days to make them we were told. We told the waitress that we cant stay that long, but we quickly understood the meaning.

Maialino – Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe. Its so simple, it shouldnt be here. But along with the carbonara perhaps my favorite dish at one of my favorite Italian spots in the city. Perfectly creamy, peppery, and addictive. Having it sit there among the other pastas on the table is like visiting the bunny ranch after trying out all the bunnies, and constantly picking your favorite.

The NoMad – The Chicken. This is a no brainer, and a top dish nominee even before it reached our table. Once you get over the facts that a) is costs $78 (for 2) and b) its freakin chicken, you will enjoy this one no doubt. Perfectly crispy skin, moist juicy white meat, along with some foie gras and black truffles (all cooked) nicely tucked beneath the skin. Each bite of that combination together was a Tour de Force. But that’s not all. Add a glorious plate of the dark meat with garlic espuma (foamy light garlic goodness) in the middle to share.

Ippudo – Akamaru Modern (with egg). “Welcom”, “Goodbye”, “Aim Well”? I have no idea what they are screaming in Japanese at Ippudo every time someone arrives or goes to the bathroom. All I know is that this is my favorite dish here. Rich, complex pork broth, along with hefty pieces of pork belly. Add the egg and spicy miso paste for even richer flavors

Costata – The Costata. Perhaps the dish of the year. A mammoth 44oz $120 very shareable Tomahawk Ribeye cooked to perfection. Basted ever so beautifully with a rosemary brush, this beast was a feast for all senses. Add some Black truffle butter, fries and asparagus, but good luck remembering the sides in between bites of perhaps the best steak in town

Nish Nush – Falafel. I know Falafel. I grew up with falafel. My car runs on falafel (its the trade-in period while waiting for the new car so dont want to use the real thing). This is good falafel. Fresh pita from the oven, and free (great) hummus can only help

Kashkar Cafe – Geiro Lagman. Little Asia in little Odessa (Brighton Beach) and perhaps the only Uyghur spot in town. I’ve had this dish 3 times in the last 8 months. Nice and chewy hand pulled noodles with lamb, veggies, cumin, garlic, other spices and herbs make up this highly palatable dish.

Special mentions:

Malai Marke – Chicken Xacuti (and Bindi Sasuralwali)
Sakagura – Maguro Tartar
Pure Thai – Wok Curry Paste with Pork
Mercato – Trenette
Jungsik – The rice dish that comes for free for b-day boy 😉
Louro – Octopus Bolognese (tie with monkfish)
Mission Chinese – Kung Pao Pastrami

Categories: Brooklyn, Chelsea, Chinatown, East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, Lower East Side, Midtown East, Midtown West, New York City, SoHo, NoHo, Nolita, TriBeCa, West Village | Tags: Best restaurants in NYC, food, NYC, NYC eats, NYC food, restaurants, Top NYC dishes, Travel | Leave a comment

Momofuku Ssäm Bar – Mama Funky!

Posted on November 19, 2013 by Ziggy

When the going gets tough, the tough turns to his iPhone auto-correct to come up with the title

After surviving 5 full days of this I needed a strong meal. It was like having unexpected construction at home the past week. 5 full days of the youngest practice walking on the high heel shoes she chose for her big Bat Mitzvah day. 5 days and counting. And the day is not until February. I needed something real good, not Hearth which I had scheduled originally but something stronger. The answer came off a tip from Kathryn from Chowdown about the new Chanterelles dish at Mama Funky. So instead of the famous Hearth Gnocchi, I got Gnocchi that gave me a Ratatouille Moment like never before

Ssam Bar is located in the Momofuku quarters of the East Village. Ok, I may be getting ahead of myself a little here, but that’s the direction we are heading looks like. Next to Ssam around the corner you got Momofuku’s popular Booker and Dax bar, right across the street you got Momofuku’s Milk Bar, and a block away you have of course Ko, the 2 Michelin Star powerhouse. David Chang is to East Village what beards are to the Red Sox. Or something like that.

The place for the most part.. borrowing yet another line from Breaking Bad… Tight, tight, tight. If you are a group, 3 or more, you not only get a table but you can also take advantage of some of the family style offers like the Bo Ssäm meal (slow cooked pork shoulder, a dozen oysters, white rice, bibb lettuce, ssäm sauce, kimchi and ginger scallion sauce) and the popular whole rotisserie duck. However, if you are 1, 2 you get the long communal table where you sit across from each other. No room for camera which I didnt bring anyway. To my right, a guy who suspects his neighbor is a serial killer. To my left, a tower of napkins! Sitting with easy access to an unlimited amount of napkins is surprisingly comforting.

With that said, the food is heavenly. Between the 6 dishes we shared, 4 great ones, 1 ok, 1 eh! The breakdown…

The Great…

Striped Bass – Raw, with lychee, rye guajillo bonji, and cilantro. Just enough acidity and very tasty. Mrs Ziggy will only eat raw if its exceptional and she ate this

Roasted Chanterelles – Excellent! With scattered ‘drops’ of egg yolk and melted bone marrow. Just a nice combination of flavors all around. Coudnt get enough of this dish

Roasted Jurgielewicz duck – Expertly prepared tender duck with barley, butternut squash, and cranberry. I found myself wanting more sour from the accompanying stuff but a very nice dish overall

Spicy Pork Sausage & Rice Cakes – Insane! By far my favorite dish. And I almost didn’t order it. When I asked about the dish, the waiter assured us it was “Very Spicy” and “Exactly like the one at Mission Chinese” which I don’t care much for. But I decided to order it anyway and he couldn’t be more wrong. Plenty of heat but plenty of joy. Its a beautiful medley of ground sausage, chinese broccoli, sichuan peppercorn, and the awesome rice cakes which were essentially Korean Gnocchi made from rice flour. A top dish of the year nominee.

The Ok…

Apple Kimchi – With maple labne, jowl bacon, arugula. It like eating a well spiced apple. Its a popular dish and I still recommend ordering it but I just didnt find it as thrilling as the others

The Eh…

Cashew Hozon – Like a cashew “hummus” with some off-putting anchovies. A regular fresh hummus would have been preferred.

Dessert here is limited so we went to the Milk Bar which we found just ok. I suggest heading to Chikalicious Dessert Club on East 10th or Sundaes and Cones. Highly recommend Momofuku Ssam Bar

Momofuku Ssam Bar

207 second avenue (13th street)

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: Best restaurants in East Village, East Village eats, food, Momofuku Ssäm Bar, NYC, restaurants, Travel | Leave a comment

Its a Dumpling/MSE/French Kind of Day in NYC

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Ziggy

Another glorious day for foodies in NYC. The sun was shining, the cabbies were singing, I was excused from apple picking, with 3 food events to boot…

Dumpling Festival.. http://www.dumplingfestival.com/

Taste of France… tasteoffrancenewyork-eorg.eventbrite.com/

Madison Square Eats… www.madisonsquarepark.org/tag/mad-sq-eats

The dumpling festival wasn’t quite what I expected. A little disappointing. You buy a ticket for $20 and you have 4 booths to choose from. Mostly basic veggie and chicken dumplings or greasy empanadas. Nothing creative or expensive like the Pastrami dumplings in Smorgasberg, because you pay in advance in this format it’s not worth it for them to lure you in with creative dumplings. It was more about the dumpling eating competition. A woman from Nebraska ate 90 beating all the men

After some misadventure courtesy of a friend’s Citibike spill, and a visit to CVS, we resumed and headed to Madison Square Eats. New vendor Daleny stole the show with the brisket taco, as great as advertised and more. They put daleny all the way in the back in that quiet corner away from the tourists. Bee sting pizza by Robertas as good as ever. SD26 (another newbie) porchetta sandwich just didn’t do it for me. SD26 is the reincarnation of San Domenico in Central Park. San Domenico is the former home of Massimo “Mad Max” Olivari who owns/cooks at Caicos Café in Turks and Caicos, my favorite restaurant in the Caribbean

Then more misadventure. It occurred to me that it’s 4 pm and Im wearing my prescription sunglasses while my regular glasses are in the car in alphabet city. I get headaches if I wear sunglasses too long in the shade or dark. But instead of going to the car we continued to the French fair in Bryant Park. This was a much bigger and ambitious event than the dumplings festival. But the “Taste of France” was not so much about food (although there was plenty) but about getting a taste of France, meaning learning about the country, it’s regions, it’s corporations. There were numerous French companies representing from Aerospace engines to white flag manufacturers. Live music, hot air baloon, someone sculpting the Eiffel inside a bubble. We didn’t eat anything because we were done at this point.

We returned to East village for the car (another frend joined us). Total darkness at this point, and me blind as a bat, my friend with his back, like coming back from the battle field. After getting my glasses we went to Nicholetta, michael whites pizza place in the east village for for some nice Affogato (unique with soda) and port.

Categories: East Village, Gramercy, Flatiron, New York City | Tags: Dumpling Festival, eating competition, food, Madison Square Eats, NYC eats, taste of france, Travel | 3 Comments

Citibike Confessions 2 – Battle of the Bridges

Posted on September 5, 2013 by Ziggy

“We are going shopping”, the most beautiful words for a man to hear since “I do”. “We” – as in just us, without You”. Here’s how I took advantage. A Labor Dy trip report if you will…

Picked up Mr Hummus Whisperer and parked the car by the Brooklyn Bridge on the Brooklyn side. Picked up a Citibike and rode the Bridge over to the other side. Unlike the day before where we walked the bridge after (and before) visiting the Smorgasburg in Dumbo (will try to write a separate post) the bridge in the morning was fairly quiet.

“Cruised” Lafayette and dropped the bikes by Houston. Wanted to try La Colombe Coffee after watching the guy on the travel channel exploring the world for coffee beans but it was closed. I was surprised to learn how many places are closed on Mondays in NYC. Like being in Milan in August. Too hot for coffee anyway. We made our way to Russ and Daughters, picked our bagels and went to a nearby park where an elderly Asian couple were doing an exercise I haven’t seen before: Bouncing a basketball. Buttery Lox, cream cheese, tomato, onions, on a fresh crispy bagel never tasted this good. R&D, one of many Lower East Side institutions is touristy for good reason. We were without the wits of our women which means without napkins but we somehow managed with minimum stain action.

We proceeded to pick up the Citibikes nearby again and rode to Delancey and Williamsburg bridge. We crossed over to Brooklyn and just biked around Kent Ave without a plan whatsoever. None of this was planned BTW. Feeling hungry again we decided to park and just walk to Egg for another round of breakfast. But the line was too big so we just went to Verb Café nearby on Bedford and had ice coffee with our takeout Bialys from R&D. Ok, the R&D mention again reminds me that I need to go back to work.. Ok I’m back.. where was I… Oh ye. Verb Café – Ive been there before. If you ever need a reminder that you are in Williamsburg you head to this café and the mini mall attached to it

We picked up the bikes again and rode the Williamsburg bridge back. An unfortunate incident occurred where a bra-less woman riding a bike was accidentally flashing more than the laws allowed. Unfortunate for her. Anyway, we had a good laugh and continued riding by the East River toward midtown. Nice views of the manhattan skyline open up at some point with the river a few feet away. This is a nice section to bike on. We U-turned on 30th and turned on 20th toward the flatiron area. Just rode around aimlessly until it was time for you know..eat.

We dropped the bikes in the East Village. A trip like this is incomplete without eating something in the East Village. Opted to go to Maharlika but we got distracted by a little piggy and shared a Porchetta sandwich in Porchetta. In here they do it differently than in Italy. They get whole loins with the skin and all, season, roll it, and roast it for 7 hours. The result is one fatty, garlicky, porky goodness. Fantastic sandwich. Highly recommend Porchetta.

Time for a cleanser. Liquiteria is thee place in town according to my juice obsessed friend. I’ve been there before and ordered the same thing again, the Grasshopper – a great blend of apple, pear, pineapple, wheatgrass, mint, old cellphones, or god knows what else they put in there. All freshly squeezed, naturally sweet and very refreshing. A little pricey but you pay for quality

Too full for Maharlika we pick up the bikes yet again and head to Tribeca. Dropped the bikes by Whole Foods and spent some quality R&R time (Relieve and Read) in Barnes and Nobles. This branch has my favorite travel section. We are in Tribeca which means we have to go to Nish Nush. Shared a Masabacha which is essentially hummus with Tahini, some other sauce, chickpeas and boiled egg. Added some Falafel balls as well to this party. Since I introduced HW to this place a month ago he’s been here 6 times. He was so excited he stained himself again right next to the R&D stain. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this is the best falafel in the city.

Time to pick up the bikes again and cross the Brooklyn Bridge back to the car. Now its raining which means I finally look cool on those bikes. I tried the one hand move before and nope.. need it to rain. The bridge is much busier now even with the rain and those darn pedestrians are all over the bike lanes. Of course I was also all over the bike lanes when I was a pedestrian the day before

We dropped the bikes for the last time and started to head home. But hey, we are already here, next to a place I wanted to visit for a while now, so whats the rush. The only one who has the balls to open a pizza joint next to Grimaldi’s is.. well.. Grimaldi. The place is called Juliana’s and the Margherita pie was absolute perfection. I’m not gonna go into the details of the story and controversy here but the gist of it was that Grimaldi’s sold the Grimaldi name rights years ago and now he’s back.. right next door. So when you come to Brooklyn to stand on the hour long line to Grimaldi’s just keep in mind that the place next door with no lines has probably better pizza – I think it does. And for the sake of the neighborhood locals who finally got their pizza back this is the last time I will mention this.

And that’s how I spent my Labor Day.

Categories: Brooklyn, East Village, Lower East Side, New York City, TriBeCa | Tags: food, Juliana's Brooklyn, Nish Nush NYC, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, Porchetta NYC, restaurants, Russ and Daughters NYC, Travel | 1 Comment

Malai Marke – Shiva latest + German Draft Beer = Success!

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Ziggy

I will make this one short and sweet and spare you the usual nonsense. East Village is kicking butt lately. What else is new. Already perhaps the best foodie neighborhood in NYC which makes it one of the best in North America, things are only getting more and more exciting, and deserving of a run-on sentence. Its almost like something new pops up in the East Village on a daily basis.

The title refers to Shiva Natarajan, not what you do when your goldfish dies (sit shiva). Malai Marke is the latest from Natarajan, the king of Indian food in NYC. Shiva owns more restaurants than I own boxer shorts and briefs combined (note: I know what you thinking and its really none of your business. Its between me, my wife and my briefs. I should have more briefs but mrs Z keeps throwing out all my “air conditioned” ones whenever she packs for vacation). While Shiva virtually owns Curry Hill including Chote Nawab and about 4 eateries on one block, his presence on “Curry row” is now firmly established with Malai Marke.

I’ve already been to Malai Marke twice now, sampling all sorts of complex deliciousness…

Garlic Naan fresh from the oven as good as it gets. German draft beer, major bonus.

Kurkuri Bindi – Okra. Fried and dry which was a surprise. I was expecting a saucy okra but it was still very good. Reminded me of one of those spicy Indian nut snacks.

Bindi Sasuralwali – I much preferred this Okra – “okra you would eat at your in-laws house.” as it says on the menu just like in Chote Nawab. If anyone here can introduce me to someone who’s parents can cook like this I might need to reconsider my status. My in-laws don’t even know what Okra is.

Chicken Xacuti – Outstanding! Had it twice already. Mild but subtle, with roasted coconut, peanut, and poppy seeds

Lamb Madras – One of the better Madras dishes I’ve had. Tender lamb and the dish overall was fairly similar to the Xacuti

Tand Mix Grill – Another must for me. Great chicken tikka, Tandoor, unique lamb kebabs with just enough heat

Lamb Chettinad – So good. Thicker and heavier than the others but in a good way. Again I expected more heat but was pleasantly surprised with just the right amount.

Chicken Tikka Masala – something I eat often but never in places like these even tho I’m always sure it would be much better. This was no exception. Creamy and perfectly buttery, tho I sort of liked it more as an occasional bite vs eating it continuously if it makes sense.

Chicken Rizzala – Green nutty korma almost dessert like compared to all the other dishes. Korma is another dish we eat often at home and this was like eating it for the first time.

As with pretty much any Indian restaurant I would not bother with dessert. East Village has too many great choices like Chikalicious, Big Gay Ice Cream, Sundaes and Cones

Add another one to your East Village list people. and excuse the horrific Iphone pictures please

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: East Village Restaurants, food, Malai Marke, Malai Marke NYC, NYC, NYC eats, NYC restaurants, restaurants | 2 Comments

Le Philosophe

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Ziggy

November 1st, 2015 Update: Despite the mediocre mussels this time, still loving Le Philosophe. Over the past few years it transformed into a fine neighborhood bistro. The classics are still on the menu, but the numerous nightly specials must get some attention. The Lobster Thermidor puts all other overly rich Thermidors we’ve had in the Caribbean over the years to shame. The Tournedos Rossini is still a nice ode to the classic, and so are the frog legs with Hen of the Woods (aka Maitake) Mushrooms. The mussels this time did not have the “Balls” of the old ones. Hope they didnt change suppliers. But those Profiteroles, even if you are remotely into Profiteroles, you must get them. Earlier this year, a new half sister called L’Antagoniste was born in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. Hoping to get there one day, but considering the location its a tough sell.

May 27, 2013 Post:

I don’t wear a single piece of jewelry. For the same reason I don’t wear turtlenecks. I have this thing where if I do wear anything excessive, I would constantly feel the need to free myself of it. Every inch of my body needs to breath. Every inch! I used to wear a watch until I discovered the brilliant invention since the cell phone: Cell phone that shows time.

The last of the Mohicans was a wedding band. By law I had to wear it at all times including funerals. Just in case I would get approached by someone – “Very sorry lady but you see this, I’m a married man”, “Good to know, but I was just wondering if you can spare me some change, as I haven’t eaten in 3 days”.

So with the wedding band, I had the constant need to temporary remove it from the finger and play with it while the finger breathes. And occasionally I would drop it somewhere like in a movie theatre where I would wait until the lights came on in order to find it. But I dropped it the most inside my couch while watching sports. And every time I dropped it, it would take me 2 to 4 weeks to find the ~~will~~ time to get the flashlight and dig out the ring from the couch. Occasionally, I would also find an M&M and a grape if I’m lucky in the process. I remember we would have dinner somewhere where Mrs Ziggy would just stare at my bare finger and go “Inside the couch?” and I would just nod with embarrassment. And so as soon as I got the ring out during the 4th archeological dig, I found myself staring at Mrs Ziggy’s angry hand. She took the ring, and I haven’t seen a piece of jewelry since.

So whats your point Ziggy? My point is I don’t need jewelry to remind myself or anyone that I’m married. In 2 weeks it will be 20 years of being married to the most wonderful ~~cougar~~ woman on the planet. And on her birthday last week, this classy lady deserved nothing less than a classy meal. Hence, the longest prelude to a review on EatingWithZiggy.

The meal at Le Philosophe in Noho (near the east village) was one of the most satisfying of the year. One of those rare meals where every dish offered interesting flavors and did not disappoint. The menu consists of old school French classics that you don’t see in French bistros anymore. As usual I did some homework on what to order and we (4 of us – Hummus Whisperer and “I don’t like to share” wife joined us) couldn’t be happier with the results…

Frog Legs – Completely not the legs I expected. More like a beautiful salad with hen of the woods mushrooms, sunchoke, deboned legs, and a very nice garlicky sauce

Mussels – Fantastic Maine mussels, some of the biggest I’v had. Along with potatoes and more great sauce which became the theme of the night

Escargot – Another classic that didnt look anything like the classic. Major garbanzo presence and more amazing (black garlic, sort of curry’ish) sauce

Tournedos Rossini – Great dish. Its essentially a Filet Mignon sitting on top of a brioche slice, and a piece of Foie gras on top of that. Didnt care for the Foie much, but the filet was perfectly cooked (medium rare, more toward rare) and very flavorful for a filet, perfect with that madeira sauce. I’m more convinced now that Filet Mignon can only be enjoyed with a nice Madeira sauce. Asparagus was a bit too buttery

Duck a l’Orange – Had a few bites and thought it was perfectly cooked, nicely crisped, delicious duck. Not too orangy, more of an orange hint

Black Bass – Another winner. More incredible sauce with dill and mint, perhaps the finest of the night

Maine Lobster Thermidor – Ordered by the “no sharing policy” member of the group who enjoyed it. It did not look like the messy Thermidor I’m accustomed to.

Profiteroles – Awesome

Chocolate Mousse with Passion fruit – Awesomer! Lately I shy away from the Mousses (Mice?) but this was different and with that bitter hints of the fruit absolutely delicious. Although the women didn’t care much for the bitterness.

On one of the walls there’s a mural depicting various French philosophers. From what I understand if you guess all the philosophers you get a free flu shot. We only guessed Voltaire, so left exposed but very well fed. Happy birthday Mrs Ziggy.

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: food, Le Philosophe, Le Philosophe NYC, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, restaurants | Leave a comment

East Village Quick Bites – Zabb Elee and Arepa redemption

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Ziggy

Continuing the East Village food invasion. Had a few eating hours to kill before Ave Q (very nice) and so went back to my new favorite hang out place with a friend.

Zabb Elee – How do you know if its authentic Thai if you havent been to Thailand? Bring someone with you that was there – Check. Make sure there are no curries, pad thai and Kee Mao/drunken noodles on the menu – check. I first read about Zabb Elee on SeriousEats and couldnt wait long to try it. Now I cant wait much longer to try again.

A nice array of Som Tum dishes (Green Papaya salad) fills the menu and is kinda a house specialty. We tried the one with dried shrimp and peanuts – nothing like I’ve had before. I heard about how spicy this can get and it was extremely hot out so we opted for the mild version (thats the excuse I’m going with today). Really enjoyed this dish. But the highlight for me was the Pad Ped Moo Krob. Crispy pork, green peppercorn, ginger, Thai eggplant and spicy curry (see photo). So much flavor in this one. Pork is deep fried and then fried some more… pretty much burned texture but tasty nonetheless. Very tasty!! Some of the best and unique thai I’ve had in a while.

Liquiteria – Needed a cleanser. Super refreshing fresh juices. My friend is into juices and this is one of his faves.

Dirt Candy – couldnt get in. Needed resvs to eat the dirt, who knew? Its a tiny hole in the wall popular vegeterian btw

Caracas Arepas bar – What do you do when you dont like it the first time? You come back to try it again asap. Much much better this time around. My friend enjoyed the La Mulata and I got the Muchachos (to compensate for all my dessert talk) – grilled Chorizos with spicy cheese (grilled with jalapenos) and peppers. Even the Arepa itself tasted better this time. Like pita on crack.

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: East Village dining, East Village eats, East Village Restaurants, NYC dining, NYC Thai, Zabb Elee | Leave a comment

East Village Quick Bites – Perfection in a bun

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Ziggy

Luke’s Lobster – Maine Lobster is one of my favorite things to eat in the world and this is definitely one of the best lobster rolls I’ve had. Buttery, fresh, meaty, deliciousness. Nice rolls, a few sprinkles of seasoning instead of mayo – nice touch. Well done! Expensive ($16) but oh so worth it. Perfection in a bun!!

Caracas Arepa bar – 2 locations hugging Luke’s Lobster. Went to order my Arepa while waiting for the Lobster. Hey thats how I roll 😎 . Mildly disappointed however with the Pabellon arepa but I think it was more of an ordering mistake. Shredded beef with black beans to me dont go together with the mooshy sweet plantains. Love the plantains but on the side please, not as part of a sandwich.

South Brooklyn Pizza – last stop. It was just ok. The slice to me was missing… what do you call it…ahhm… its on the tip on my tongue… oh yes.. FLAVOR. Maybe my taste buds got all screwed up and too demanding by that point, who knows. Will try again later.

Stay hungry my friends!!

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: Caracas Arepa bar, East Village dining, East Village eats, East Village Restaurants, Luke's lobster, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, South Brooklyn Pizza | Leave a comment

East Village Quick Bites – The Smith

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Ziggy

The Smith – For the Mac and Cheese portion of the tour. This is my youngest favorite food and she declared it “As good as S’mac”. It WAS really good. Creamy and cheesy goodness and with that crispy top, must be one of the best in the city. Oprah.com even asked the creator to share the recipe which you can find there and on The Smith site.

But that was not the only creamy and cheesy thing about this place 😉 If you go down to the basement there’s a black and white photo booth and right next to it there are holes in the wall. Take a peek at the lower hole and you see… 20’s porn. No, not people in their 20’s. 1920’s!! Dont ask me how I can detect the decade 😳 Problem is it can get a little uncomfortable peeking through a hole while people walk out of the bathroom right next to you. You feel like you have to explain to EVERYONE.. “ahhm, it’s not what you think…hehe.. really.. look…Its 20’s porn”.

Chikalicious Dessert Club – You guessed it.. time for Pizza… err Dessert. This must be one of the coolest dessert spots around. Great Macaroons, Fantastic apple cinnamon crisp but best of all were the “worth the 15 minute wait” chocolate lava cakes. Best Lava cakes ever. You eat while you watch Chika do her thing across the street at another Chika-something-or-rather. Very popular sweet spot.

After that we took a walk in the vibrant tompkins square park. Got the kids busy looking for the monument remembering the General Slocum disaster, the biggest one to hit NYC in terms of human loss before 9/11. 2 days before father day in 1904 over 1000 mostly German immigrants perished when the steamboat caught fire.

Photo courtesy of Foodspotting.com

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: East Village eats, East Village Restaurants, Mac and cheese, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, The smith, The smith nyc | 2 Comments

East Village Quick Bites and Merchants House

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Ziggy

Pomme Frites – First time for me. Its all about the sauces here.. tried a variety of them. Mango chutney and garlic mayo were good, organic truffle not so much, Vietnamese pineapple tastes weird at first but was growing on me. I think I prefer well seasoned fries overall more. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here.

Mamouns Falafel – Very good falafel – nice and crispy on the outside. Beware of the hot sauce. I love hot sauce as much as the next guy but this is “lower lip burning” hot. I don’t know why it’s always the lower lip burning. Lamb Shawarma was good but we had better in Brooklyn.

Took a small food break to visit the Merchants House, the oldest free-standing family home in NYC. Well preserved furniture and interesting stories not only about the family but also about the poor Irish servants at the time. You will only give this place proper justice if you go through the rooms while reading the well informative and sometimes humorous booklet they hand to you. Check it out. After Mamouns we explored the 300 years old St Marks on the Bowery church and went back to eating

Categories: East Village, New York City | Tags: East Village dining, East Village Restaurants, Mamouns Falafel, Merchants House, NYC dining, NYC restaurants, Pomme Frites | Leave a comment

East Village

The places