Refuge from the rain at Sushi Time

Picture this. A gray sky. No hint of rain. You go next door and wait for Victoria to come downstairs. She does. You're outside. A few drops of water hit you. It's still bright gray, not dark. You both decide to trek onwards - undeterred so you could go to the Fresh Market on 46th.

Quite suddenly, the sky's a dark, threatening gray and you feel the rain start dripping down. You flip your umbrella out and up - still determined to carry forth.

That's when the wind starts whipping about and the drops become plops and you're now completely soaked.

And that's how Victoria and I ended up at Sushi Time - a Japanese restaurant on 2nd Ave - our port in the storm.

Like most "sushi" places in the city, this was also a Chinese owned place. I could tell because the wait staff were speaking Chinese, not Japanese.

The place is typical Asian restaurant decor of wooden tables and chairs. The coolest thing is the tiling at the entry way. They also had bags for your wet brollies there.

It was decently packed - not totally packed but it was still early.

We both asked for hot tea and later ordered the beef negimaki and chicken curry bento boxes.

They came with soup and salad - Victoria had to eat my salad because I hate the dressing - she loves it. Miso soup was typical of fake Japanese restaurants.

Our bentos came just after they remembered that we had ordered tea. Very slow and forgetful service.

Beef Negimaki

So the box is: Top Left to right: California roll, shumai, rice
                      Bottom left to right: beef negimaki, wasabi paste and ginger slices, and mystery mochi packet



Victoria got the beef negimaki bento box which was just delicious she claimed. They were hefty rolls and the serving of six was more than enough.

I got the chicken curry bento box which, you can see is the same as the other bento box - only with chicken curry.

Curry Chicken

I can attest to the tastiness of the chicken curry which was a rich curry flavor, with fresh veggies and chicken, perfectly seasoned and cooked.

The shumai was ok but it was not as good as I've had before. The california roll was typical fare.

The mystery mochi which is rice cake for anyone who doesn't know the term was actually green tea ice cream encased in a mochi casing. However, it was brought out at the same time as the bento box and suffered meltiness by the time we were able to eat it. The casing was a bit tough to eat but the ice cream was delicious.

Overall, the service was inefficient and slow - not really standard for busy Midtown. The curry was delicious but they should hold off and giving you the dessert until you are ready.

Tasty fare but would I make a special trek to this restaurant? Not really.

Sushi Time
821 2nd Ave (between 43rd & 44th streets)
New York, NY 100
Tel. 212.883.8983
Hours:
Same as Delivery hours.
Delivery Hours:

Sun

12:00 PM - 10:45 PM

Mon

11:00 AM - 10:45 PM

Tue

11:00 AM - 10:45 PM

Wed

11:00 AM - 10:45 PM

Thu

11:00 AM - 10:45 PM

Fri

11:00 AM - 10:45 PM

Sat
12:00 PM - 10:45 PM

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

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

Baba...what?

Baba-burger! Babaganoush is a eggplant spread that is popular in the Mediterranean. It is also the only form of eggplant I will eat. However, this vegetarian burger is made out of a nicely seasoned flattened falafel - a patty - topped with arugula, 'goat cheese', and two slices of tomato in a whole wheat bun.

Baba-burger

However, I tasted no goat cheese - only the babaganoush and the arugula. I tossed out the overly ripe tomato slices. But even without the goat cheese, the babaganoush was delicious over the equally delicious flattened falafel burger.

I was not disappointed in either the size or the taste. Both were satisfying but I was looking forward to goat cheese. ;P

Crisp
684 3rd Ave (@ 43rd St
New York, NY 10017
Hours: Mon-Fri 10:00am-9:00pm, Sat-Sun 12:00am-8:00pm

Public House

Yesterday, we went out to Public House for lunch. The Public House is a sports bar/restaurant - at the bar and some tables, you have a view of the large screens filled with sports images.

It is a rather large and open space. Beware though - get a reservation because they fill up and if you like sitting in booths, then a reservation is a must.

After debating over the many dishes on the menu, we finally ordered:

Pulled Pork on Poppy seeded Bread

David got the luscious looking pulled pork on a poppy roll with shoestring fried onions, pickle and he substituted the coleslaw for the well seasoned fries (salted and herbed). I was offered and tried some of the pulled pork. This pulled pork was moist, well seasoned and beyond easy to eat. And eat. And eat. But I only took a small forkful. It was not drowning in a well of sauce and was absolutely delicious.

Mediterranean Salad with chicken

Rania made the calorie conscious choice of the hummus with pita bread salad - aka Mediterranean salad with chicken. It's got that brown dipping sauce. Very delicious, she said.

And I broke my usual beef-free diet by having the Public House Burger. As always, I like my burger really well done. So my well-done burger came really well done like I requested. Love it! It was not as moist because it was really well-done. In this case, I would have blended the meat with chopped onion before grilling it because that adds moisture and flavor.

However, it was still a very tasty burger - served on - get this - English Muffin!! You had your choice of toppings, from mushrooms to bacon to onions, etc. I chose mozzarella cheese and bacon. And they did what most places do not... Well done bacon!! It was lovely, super crispy and just awesome.

Public House Burger, with mozzarella and bacon

I always cut my burgers - this time in just halves and then demolished it all. I did remove the sliced of onion and the tomato first before I added ketchup. It was a decent burger - should have more taste in the meat itself but with the saltiness of the bacon and the mozzarella, it turned out fine.

Now the one that you must taste here is definitely the french fries. This time it was a bit saltier than usual but it was well peppered with herbs and salt. Dipped in ketchup, it was nice toasty crunch! Much better than many places. They should give mayo so you can have ketchup mixed with mayo for an even tastier combo. :)

All in all, Public House is a great lunch or happy hour spot. I've had their appetizers and they're delicious.

Public House

140 East 41st Street

New York, NY 10017

tel. 212.682.3710

Hours:  

Lunch Daily: 11:30am - 5:00pm
Dinner Nightly 5:00pm - 11:00pm