Brunch at Gravy's

When I finally made it into the city - yes, I have to move from nasty old Queens...I was really looking forward to Gravy, which KA made sound so good...

Gravy

Gravy is tucked away on 21st Street - It's got lovely facade, high ceilings, nice bar and lounge. The chairs leave a little something to be desired and as with all restaurants - I don't mind coat check - but I have a bag and it would be nice if *someday*, someone would design the tables and booths with the mindset that *some* of us carry handbags. Just sayin'.

The hostess was a great gal - we ran late - mostly me - yes I do know I need to move out of Queens. Believe me...I really do. It took me 2 hours to get in. Damn you, MTA.

So we got our table and even got to switch to the more comfortable corner booth. :)

We got the brunch menu - with the liquid brunch menu. After perusing the drinks, we both chose the I-10, which was made of Firefly sweet tea vodka and orange juice. I actually liked this. I might want to get that vodka. :)

I-10 -yum

I decided to get the grilled ham steak and eggs - it's like a thicker slice of canadian bacon, grilled, scrambled eggs with gravy and honeyed grits. The honey grits were really good. The rest was ok - ham was tasty but the scrambled eggs didn't smell like eggs and were bland. The gravy was the worse part of the whole plate. It was sweet and didn't compliment the food at all.

Grilled Ham Steak and Eggs

Barb ordered the corn meal encrusted shrimp po'boy. There was not much shrimp and all the remoulade was on one side of the sandwich. The fries were nothing special either. I think that sometimes you do need to go for the authentic - if you can't find the chef in NYC, then Nawlins is where to go for po'boys.

Shrimp Po'boy

We decided after the food arrived that 'new' meant small portions and fake southern food so we opted to try the grits on the side for Barb and the biscuit and gravy for me.

The grits were yummy. Instead of Gravy, they should've named themselves grits. The best thing on their menu are the grits. It's so good!!

Grits

The biscuit was not flaky or raised. It came with a sausage that seemed to be made with organ meat. It was very sandy texture and I suspect it was lung or something. Maybe liver. It was alright - not so seasoned. The gravy once again - tangy mess. I don't like the gravies at Gravy. I prefer the grits.

Biscuit with sausage and gravy

I must say that Gravy was a big disappointment for brunch. If you must try it - definitely go for grits.

Gravy

32 E. 21st Street, between Park Avenue South and Broadway

New York, NY 10010
tel. 212.600.2105
Hours:

Dinner
Monday – Thursday: 5:30pm – 10:00pm
Friday – Saturday: 5:30pm – 11:00PM
Lounge Open Nightly: 5:00pm – 1:00am
Lunch
Monday – Frinday: 12:00pm – 2:30pm
Brunch
Saturday-Sunday: 11:30am – 2:30pm

Urban Lobster Shack take Two

David wanted lobster because we talked it up so much that we ordered from Urban again. My second time but the twist? The uber awesome sounding lobster scampi roll. It came with salad and slaw.

Roll with slaw and sauce

Okay, salad according to Wikipedia, is a mix of various vegetables or fruit. Key word is mix. What the shack gave us was a plastic container of lettuce.

"Salad"

But their coleslaw, and as I have said I so do not normally eat it, is so delicious. But the piece de resistance is the scampi lobster roll on its toasted garlic goodness.

Coleslaw

For not only did they toast the hot dog bun but they smothered it in garlic butter. Then they slapped the lobster on the bun and made sure there was even more garlic mix on top.

Up close and personal with the filling

It was just too yummy! I have to make a time to go try Luke's for I am sure that would rock!

Urban Lobster Shack
805 3rd Ave, (between 49th and 50th Streets)
New York, NY Tel. 212.888.0799
Fax 212.888.0799 (orders0
Hours:
Lunch Mon-Fri: 10 am - 3 pm
Dinner Mon-Fri: 5 pm - 9 pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Noon - 9 pm

Mangu - Dominican food?

I was actually trying to get tres leches cake when I tried Mangu. They only charged $3 for theirs while Havana Central wanted $7. Portion difference? Or that Havana makes it and Mangu doesn't?

I would not know because when I placed my order, I was called and told they didn't receive their desserts yet so maybe Mangu doesn't make much on on site. 

After perusing the menu, I decided to try their pigeon peas and white rice, their 1/4 rotisserie chicken - white only of course, and the cassava fritters. 

So, prior to sending out my order, they called and told me they didn't receive their desserts yet - so disappointed! But they offered to substitute equal value items. I felt I compelled to try their empanadas so I asked for one beef and one chicken empanada.

First the main lunch - an overwhelming array of at least 8 servings of rice and pigeon peas. I used to know someone who made really good arroz con gandules and this, sorry, Mangu, was not good. It was rather bland and not at all tasty. I guess I will hunt for the perfect one elsewhere.

Chicken, Fritters and Pigeon Peas

The rotisserie chicken had a tasty skin, moist meat but it was not as good as Pio Pio. I think I must say the Peruvian style was much better. And that brings us to the sauce. It was also much better at Pio Pio. This wasn't spicy and had a lot of I believe, cilantro, which is not one of my favorite herbs, though I tolerate it.

Green Sauce

And finally the accompaniment of the cassava fritter. This is by far, my most favorite part of the plate. It was a crispy fried goodness - starchy and chock full of badness. Tasted good though!

Up close with the Cassava Fritter

Now for the empanadas! I am a self professed empanada fan. Who doesn't like fried dough filled with meat and other yummy goodness?

Beef and Chicken Empanada

These were crispy. The beef was a bit more to my taste than the chicken. I think it's because the chicken was mixed with something else - maybe a veggie? but it was just not as good as others that I have had.

I think Mangu might have some good authentic dishes but thus far, I have not been impressed. I will also say that they should get dessert in early too!

I will probably give them another go for the pernil as that is also one of the dishes I like. Oh and their website sucks so I would just buy through seamless.com.

Mangu Dominican Kitchen
158 E 45 St
Manhattan, NY 10017
tel. 212.905.0490
Hours:
Mon-Fri: 7 am - 7 pm
Sat: 7 am - 4 pm

Melba's for some Southern Comfort Food

After we opted out of the dumpling crawl that our fellow crawlers went for, we went up to Melba's in Harlem. Did I say I was happy to *finally* get there? The food smelled so good from just the aroma wafting around that I was just absolutely starving for it then. Service was wonderfully attentive and there were two birthdays in there that night; we joined in clapping and singing. Melba's gets a plus for their service.

Barb decided on the turkey meatloaf. I'm not a big meatloaf fan. That said; this was really some incredible meatloaf. Did I mention I have a NYSC coupon somewhere that I need to find? Well, I do. And the reason is all this eating I've been doing like I was a bear just before I go into hibernation. 

The meatloaf was tender, well seasoned. Can someone get the recipe please? Turkey is not always done right but Melba's did! I never really ate collard greens before but their collard greens was lip-smacking good. And if I had metabolism of a 5 year old, I would be eating this stuff every single day except for when I'm eating other stuff.

The incredible edible *turkey* meatloaf

I just had to have their southern fried chicken and waffles. And boy, did they serve it up! A large crispy breast and wing combo with three...yes three fluffy waffles and maple syrup on the side.

Chicken and waffles, Melba style

The chicken was crispy but moist - not dry. It was lightly seasoned and perfectly cooked. It is definitely a hands on food. I tried to be neat and use my knife and fork though. The mini waffles were very fluffy and the powdered sugar meant you only needed a bit of the maple syrup. It was just satisfying. I could not finish the whole thing - left about 1.5 waffles behind and just a bit of chicken. I was saving room for dessert...

A good test of a bakery is the red velvet cake which seems to be standard in every NYC bakery. C'mon, folks, you can't really mess that up...unless you were me. Although, I am not a fan of the red dye so many places like to use. Be natural - use something else. Like beets - which Carousel Bakery uses in their red velvet.

Barb got their red velvet cake and like all sweets, she left it to be wrapped home - consuming about 40% of it. Did I mention, we still had the red velvet from the Little Cupcake Bakeshop which is way better than overly sweet crumbs? Yeah, that's right. I hate Crumbs.

Moist, rich red velvet cake

This was a moist and rich cake. Very delicious. 40% is a record for Barb so that's really saying something.

I was waffling between either the Coconut layer cake and the sweet potato pie. I ended up with the sweet potato pie because Barb said it was very light - just what I wanted after a day of too much indulgence.

Melba's Sweet Potato Pie

She was right. The filling was like eating lightly sweetened, sweet potato flavored air. It really was that light - I ate almost the whole thing. The crust was so soft and it was served up warm with a bit of whipped cream. Truly a masterpiece - with some cinnamon and even a hint of cardamom. Quite delicious.

If you like southern food done right, you might want to hop that train into Harlem and indulge in some terrific food at Melba's. No, they didn't pay me to say that. It's just that good.

Melba's
300 West 114th Street
New York, NY 10026
Tel.212.864.7777
Hours:
Tues - Fri: 5 pm - 11 pm
Sat & Sun: 10 am - 3 pm and 5 pm - 10 pm
Mon: Closed

Hot cocoa crawl!!

Picture this...a frigid, windy day - it feels like 10 degrees below, you are in a down parka, hands in the pocket, frozen solid, but you see a huge group of folks, standing on a NYC street corner, seemingly oblivious to the frigid temps...

And you join them! Yes, folks, this is the January Hot Chocolate crawl. And on this cold, cold day, Barb and I joined the other hot chocolate fanatics on a 'crawl' through the city; despite the wind, freezing temps to taste chocolate. Would it be worth it?

Hot Cocoa Route #3

So, we ended up in a group of 5 (soon to be 6) when we walked up. Barbara thought we were getting our own map but alas, she was too eager for she was soon told - to have the map is to be navigator. Barb is navigationally challenged when she uses a map. But take the map away and she's good. Go figure, eh?

So I take a picture of the spots because I was certain somewhere along the way, we'd lose the group or we would lose the map.

Our first stop was at Marie Belle; I've had their chocolates before but was not that impressed by their ganache. The store is quite like a tea parlor. Very Queen Anne-ish; reminded me of places I've visited in London, like Brown Hotel or something like that. They had teas on the shelves and hot chocolate mixes like spicy chocolate.

It was a surprise but we got a hot chocolate tasting - it is about 62% dark chocolate and thick like a syrup. The taste was just a bit tangy like one of the others in our groups said. It was quite hot but as I am not a big fan of dark chocolate, I did not like it as much as I would have - also the tanginess was quite off-putting. Still, it ranked better than the thick stew-like consistency of hot chocolate in Spain.

We did not follow the route - we decided unanimously to not venture out of the immediate area...Should I be writing that here? Heh. We went to Ground Support for that spot was right around the corner from Marie Belle.

So, it was not so organized here - apparently, they didn't expect anyone to come or something and asked Gil how many there would be total. From the hot cocoa crawl...what?! Anyway, it was not really like a chocolate place but like an ordinary cafe but with communal seating...kinda. Even so - they could have put the cocoa which we bought 3 to split between all eight of us into separate cups. At any rate, they were nice but the hot chocolate was so watery. Literally, it was like water - or to be honest, like swiss miss watered down infinitely. Definitely, the worse hot chocolate I've had. Ever!

And then we went to Vosges Hot Chocolate. While we were waiting - Gil who was unanimously and without a vote, made leader - since Barb decided to opt out at Marie Belle by giving up the map to Gil, ordered the hot chocolate. (This is why I am cautious about holding out my hand with Barb around.)

 The space at Vosges was more like a chocolate place. They had a large selection of goods on the shelves.The one that caught my eye was their giant caramel marshmallow. I didn't buy it of course. Even, I can resist temptation. (Well, it's only because I knew we would be going to dinner...at Melba's.)

It was a tight space and with so many folks, made it harder to go around. Barb and the other dude from the crawl group divided the hot chocolate. This one was milky chocolate - not so much tangy as it was milky chocolate. So I actually liked this chocolate more out of all the ones so far.

It was a toss between Jacques Torres and Little Cupcake Bake Shop and we went to the Little Bake Shop because it was closer and it was not that far away in the middle of nowhere like Jacques Torres. (But I love Jacques Torres - which was really good - good range of ganaches - very yummy chocolates/)

The Little Cupcake Bake shop has lots of delicious looking baked goods - cupcakes and cheesecakes. They even had a range of icebox cakes, which was unusual. Barb bought us red velvet cupcakes - I think she wanted to put me in a diabetic coma~

Definitely, we would need to come here sometime just to get their desserts. Maybe after hitting up Gitane.

Anyway, I think everyone was a little hungry by now because everyone bought cupcakes. As for their hot chocolate - they were the only ones with marshmallows in their hot chocolate. But the taste was kind of like Vosges? By now, I was really done with hot cocoa so I finished it because it was hot.

I think the best hot chocolate I've had was Charlotte Charbonnet's which you make with milk - and their hot chocolate (shavings of their chocolate - so good).  Yeah - it was shavings of chocolate that you melt into the hot milk into a syrup consistency and then you add more milk to taste. And you can at least that I know of, only get this in London. Which I am so sad about - because I liked the champagne truffles.

Anyway, if you were to choose out of all the places - Marie Belle is good - if you like dark chocolate; either the Little Bake Shop or Vosges for anyone else. Just don't go to Ground Support for hot chocolate - I bet they were named for coffee.

Jacques Torres is one stop we didn't make it to but trust me, it's worth a go - maybe not all the way at Hudson.

Marie Belle
484 Broome Street
New York, NY 10013
tel. 212.925.6999
Hours: not posted on website.

Ground Support
399 W. Broadway (between Broome & Watts)
New York, NY 10012
tel. 212.219.8722
Hours:
Mon - Sun: 7 am -8 pm

Vosges Haut Chocolat
132 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012
tel. 212.625.2929
Hours:
Daily: 11 am - 8 pm

The Little Cupcake Bake Shop
30 Spring St
New York, NY 10012
tel. 212.941.9100
Hours:
Mon - Fri: 7:30 am - 11 pm

Brunch @ Rabbithole in Williamsburg

After Barb choose Waffles and Wolf; I checked their menu and noted: Barb will have problems eating here...

I gave Yelp another try. The first time I used it for brunch and it was terrible. Traif - not to our taste. So we gave it another go - and with all the positive reviews, I chose The Rabbithole. And, it's true, I chose it because I liked the name...

I loved the way this place looked but it was very crowded and the spacing was not optimal - bar is too close to tables. There was a brick wall on one side and it is a very narrow space to have a bar along the side with tables.

I knew Barb would complain so I chose the seat by the Employees only door and there were people at the bar but in a crowd. It was too much.

Earl Grey Tea

We both got tea - Barb got Irish breakfast but it was not that hot. She asked for more hot water. I got the Earl Grey - it was not that great - rather weak, in fact. But my cup came piping hot which was great because it was but 5 degrees out today - (felt like it anyway).

After a short debate, I chose the Stuffed French toast - with strawberry and marscapone.
It was disappointingly bland. And the only strawberry came on top of the toast as a sliced decorative piece whilst the marscapone was plopped between two thick slices of brioche. Pretty but not tasty. Luckily, they had the maple syrup - nicely served in a bottle.

Stuffed French Toast

Barb decided on her French omelette. It was another tasteless masterpiece. Barb had to *add* salt and pepper. Usually, she doesn't add any salt or pepper on things. But because she was hungry, Barb finished the whole thing.

Omelette with potatoes, salad, and tomato with goat cheese

It is probably my last time trusting Yelp reviews. :)

Rabbithole
532 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY
Tel.718.782.0910
Hours:
Daily: 8am-11pm

Urban Lobster Shack

Ever crave something so much, you just had to get it no matter what?

Well, I had a craving for lobster and I gave in and ordered a lobster from the Urban Lobster Shack on Seamless.com because it was about 1 pm already and I had a lot of work.

Lobster Roll - I happen to add the coleslaw which was awesome!

This was chock full of lobster tail bits on a hot dog bun. (No, it seriously was a hot dog bun). It was only lightly seasoned and was not full of oily mayonnaise. The cole slaw is normally not something I like but this tasty lightly seasoned salad was just awesome so I put it on my lobster roll. I also devoured it in about 10 minutes.

I enjoyed it very much. It was quite filling and really good - especially the cole slaw on top.


Urban Lobster Shack
805 3rd Ave, (between 49th and 50th Streets)
New York, NY Tel. 212.888.0799
Fax 212.888.0799 (orders0
Hours:
Lunch Mon-Fri: 10 am - 3 pm
Dinner Mon-Fri: 5 pm - 9 pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: Noon - 9 pm

Post-ramen time at Agozar's!

Agozar's has long been a favorite because of their awesome Happy Hour specials - 2 for 1 appetizers and 2 for 1 drinks. So delicious...so cheap. :)

We chose the drinks - I got the pina colada - yum. Barb got the drink below. I have no idea what it was.

a drink Barb got. We forgot what it was.

Pina Colada

For the appetizers, we got the empanadas - minus mushrooms. So delicious - flaky, tender pastry with savory beef and chicken fillings. Yum!!

Empanaditas in Beef and Chicken

And as usual, we got the camarones al ajillo - shrimp in garlic sauce. It was not that garlicky tonight but still good - and a plus - they now include two toasts.

Camarones Al Ajillo - shrimp in garlic sauce

And finally, we remembered that the whole point of coming to Agozar's was for their tres leches cake - served in a martini glass and so yum, I could eat it all myself without help but I did have ramen earlier and appetizers and drinks. :)

Agozar's Tres Leches Cake

Agozar's
324 Bowery
New York, NY 10012
Tel. 212.677.6773
Hours:

Monday - Thursday

Lunch: 12 PM - 4 PM
Dinner: 5PM- 11 PM

Friday

Lunch: 12 PM - 4 PM
Dinner: 5 PM - 3 AM
Kitchen is open until 12 AM

Saturday

Brunch: 12 PM - 4 PM
Dinner: 5 PM -3 AM
Kitchen is open until 12 AM

Sunday

Brunch: 12PM - 4 PM
Dinner: 5PM - 10PM

Ramen ramen ramen!!!

So back in 2011, I purchased a groupon for Ramen Kuboya. Ramen Kuboya is in Alphabet City, right next to...Minca! It was going to expire this month, so I roped Barb into going - she actually *wanted* to go. Yeah, that's what I said.

The inside of the restaurant was not bad - the main portion was bright and clean. The part we sat in was darker, and smaller. The chairs did not look comfy but were actually comfortable and perfect for my short self. On the other hand, if you were not vertically challenged, may not be so good for your legs.

So, Barb limped her way over and being that she did not eat pork, had a hard time with the menu. For one, the waitress barely spoke English. We didn't speak Japanese - ha! Even if I did take lessons.

Chicken Shiso Age - Chicken wrapped in Japanese Basil

First, we chose an appetizer - chicken shiso age - which was served up prettily on a banana leaf and a nifty rectangular plate. It was battered and fried - it was pretty decent. Barb did not enjoy it. 

 However, after wrestling with her choices (limited options, she opted for the seafood broth without seaweed, without charsui.

Our friendly but forgetful waitress forgot to tell the chef  not to put pork or seaweed. They took it out - but Barb had them remake it because she is allergic to pork. (An actual allergy - I looked it up). Barb didn't enjoy it too much and was still hungry. :)

Seafood Broth Ramen without pork

I opted for the Shio, small. Small is more than enough. The regular size ramen bowls are usually really too much for me to finish off. The broth was decent - but it was not so good that I would drink the broth. The triple blended broth - good if you eat pork - bad if you can't - was a good combo of flavors. The charsu (pork) was just too fatty. I am not a fan of fatty meat. The egg was delicious with the broth.

The noodles were nice - soft but chewy, not tough and definitely improvement on CupofNoodle ramen. :)

Shio Ramen

Ramen Shio - you can see the seaweed

After this, we tried to find Otafuku but gave up and went to Agozar's which you can read in the next entry!

Ramen Kuboya
536 East 5th St Ste 2
( between Avenue A & Avenue B )
New York, NY 10009
Neighborhoods: East Village, Alphabet City
(212) 777-7010
Hours:
Mon – Thu,  Sun  :   Lunch 12 pm – 3 pm   Dinner  3 pm – 12 am
Fri – Sat  :   Lunch 12 pm – 3 pm   Dinner  3 pm – 1:30 am
The last order will be applied before 30 minutes of closing the restaurant.

Hane Sushi

Just tried this place for the first time even though I have been to its neighbor several times already. Staff is attentive and nice.

Tamago Sushi

I had a craving for yakitori, japanese style skewers and being in a neighborhood not conducive to great eats, I opted to try theirs.

Chicken Yakitori

Served as a special over a bed of rice, with carrots and other veggies, the skewers come in a duo with bell pepper and onions in between white chicken meat.

Now, I have been to Yakitori Taisho in the East Village and loved it. This yakitori was tough like leather and I just had doubts about eating it. I really went town on the rice and soy sauce instead.

It came with miso soup and salad but I was better off trying something else; if not for my yakitori craving...

Hane Sushi
581 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10016
Tel. 212.632.8388
Hours:
Unknown til I get their menu for the website only gives the hours for their 1st Ave location.