Overkill at Sofrito's!!

I heard about this Puerto Rican spot from several sources and fortunately, my bff decided that it was the place to go to last evening!

Hostess was nice and the place feels more like a lounge when you enter. It seemed like a date place but other duos were also women so it is just a nice place to eat. They pull out the table when you arrive at the table for the one sitting in the booth and the chair for you if you are on the other side. They also put the napkin on your lap. The napkins are true linen although they do line the table with paper.

They have a four course special for around $45 per person but it is limited to what is on the menu. We opted for a la carte.

Sofrito Mojito - so pretty with real sugar cane!

At the recommendation of the waitress, we got the Sofrito mojito, made with passion fruit and real sugar cane. Yes folks, some places still use real cane for their mojitos. It was absolutely divine and I drank 3 over the course of the meal. I could not help myself. Not too sweet with underlying flavors of the passion fruit and mint infusing with the rum and sugar cane.

Sofrito Mojito - passionfruit makes this heavenly!! It has also been instagrammed!

They even served bread seared on both sides with garlic and oil. I nibbled a bit to taste and it was good. I just didn't gobble it down like usual!

Complimentary carbs - Jane says no!

We decided on the shrimp and beef empanadas: overstuffed and sliced in half for us.

Two types of filling...one sweet sauce.

The shrimp was very, very good. It was a lot of shrimp filling which was chopped up shrimp with a blend of herbs. In a phrase, it was yummy! Of course, we love the chimichurri sauce and asked for it on the side!

Beef in the background, shrimp in the front...just plain TASTY!

The beef was just as overstuffed - the shredded beef filling was overflowing and even so, the crispy empanada shell was still full!! It was divinely tasty with the same blend of herbs.

Ropa viella fajita

We also had the ropa viella fajita, a skirt steak that has been shredded into a fajita with a guacamole on lettuce and tomato on the side. It was absolutely one of the best fajitas I have ever tasted with a guacamole that was insanely fresh. I can not even begin to dissect the flavors which was probably lemon or lime which I never associated with guacamole. I suppose none of the other places made it this fresh?

Just as we finished our appetizers, leaving virtually no room left for the entree, out comes this ginormous, Flintstone sized pernil...I knew something was up because bff's eyes were popping out of their sockets. However, let's take a moment to look at her order of churrasco with garlic mashed potatoes.

It's been instagrammed so it looks like this. A dinosaur's rib. Lol.

BFF could not eat it all - it was super big but it was delicious and she said it was enough for 2 days of dinners. I wholeheartedly agreed. Super HUGE portions.

Pernil with 3 maduros, and arroz gandules

The picture doesn't do this monster justice. This roast pork portion could feed a family of 6 comfortably! Trust me, it was very a la Flintstone!

Another side of the pernil

So, I did not finish it. I could only eat about a 1/14th of it. They also give you a knife and you do not need it. The pork was so moist, it fell off the bone. Yes, there is bone in that there mountainous hunk of meat. It was perfectly seasoned with a sprig of rosemary for decoration. It is an big portion of pork shoulder with the fatty, crispy skin carmelized. The rather delicate meat was moist, flavorful and a piece of pig heaven. The sweet plantains were absolutely delicious and the arroz gandules was moist, flavorful and absolutely delicious.

And yes, it was doggy bagged home because, like I said before, you can't tell but this was fit for a family of six!!!

And then the moment of truth - can we have dessert? Well well, no dessert menu! It's not because Sofrito's has no dessert menu but because BFF likes to embarrass me so tada!

Tres leches cake with whipped cream and a candle

Yes, the waitress sang, staff sang, it was quite embarrassing. But it was so delicious - this cake. Lovely sponge cake drenched in three types of milk. Soft, moist and sweet!

Thank you BFF for a yummy, 3 drink dinner. :3 I hope you got your paper done - because I was out like a light by 10:30 pm.

Sofrito's is a great lounge and restaurant. It's worth a trip up 1st ave for all types of events. And the staff are all really nice!!



Sofrito's NYC
400 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022
tel. 212.754.5999
Reservations - via Opentable only or by phone for special occasions.
Hours:
Sundays: 4 pm to Midnight
Mon - Thurs: 5 pm to Midnight
Friday & Saturdays: 5 pm to 2 am (Lounge open until 4 am)

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

Totally cool day of eating and drinking and more

So last week, we bailed out of Hester Street Fair. I was stuck in inner Queens so we decided to try this Saturday.

I think we will need to wait for Grub Street to get the full effect. This was the regular fair so it was smaller. Tried and true favorites Pies and Thighs and Luke's Lobster Roll were in attendance as was Ample Hills ice cream, a New York favorite.

I tried the Salted Crack Caramel from Ample Hills Creamery which was interesting. You can taste the saltiness of the pieces of saltines and sweet of the caramel but to be honest, my heart belongs to the Salty Pimp - vanilla, dulce de leche, chocolate, and sea salt.

Afterward, we went around to Essex Street market and walked around. Some of the aisles were so small, it was rather claustrophobic to stand in. But we opted to go to Agozar's instead of staying for some sandwiches or even the dominican place across from Economy Candy because they don't have alchy!

Not-so-great Sangria

So off we went to Agozar, newly dubbed hotspot for white loud and valley sounding crowds all around! It made us resort to texting.

Vaca Frita with Eggs

Anyway, we got the brunch special which comes with a complimentary sangria or bloody mary. I got eggs benedict with Spanish ham over toast. Barb of course got the eggs over vaca frita. Normally, their service is awesome and so are their drinks. For Cinco de Mayo, it was some shaity service. Food was great, as usual. I quite enjoyed it. Then they tried to make us pay for the unlimited service brunch, which was $22 but Barb corrected them to $14.95. We just couldn't escape fat enough with all that noise.

Eggs Benedict with eggs

We walked around St. Mark's with no luck. Barb opted to drag my butt out to Brooklyn, to shop for shoes and dresses. However, I ended up buying two dresses and a short cardie. Then we walked down to Smith street and found Coco Roco. Frankly, Barb insisted upon learning that they had all sorts of Pisco drinks!

So, this is one spot where the owners care about the comfort of their patrons. There is a bar at the front on the right side as you enter and a bunch of tables on the right. There is a smaller room separated by a glassless partition, through which there is a outside patio for outside dining.

The staff is super-friendly. I didn't catch our waitress' name but she was really nice and made a really great drink. The restaurant was really nice and even charged Barb's phone which drains its battery rather quickly! (iPhone, I heart you)

Pisco Chilcano (upfront) and Pisco Sour (in the back)

We started off with a pisco sour and a pisco chilcano (oddly enough, doesn't show on the online menu). They were great - so great that I went for a pisco sour and Barb asked for a 2nd round. Just so you know, pisco sour is the traditional cocktail - made of pisco (peruvian brandy), simple syrup, lime juice, egg whites and Angostura Bitters (which seem a bit like cinnamon). My other drink - the chilcano is made of pisco, ginger ale, and lime. Both were delicious but the Pisco Sour really hit the spot at this restaurant.

Empanads and fried Yucca

As usual, we started off with one beef and one chicken empanada. They were not as seasoned as can be so we asked for the chimichurri, a lovely garlic, parsley oil sauce that goes well, with...well, everything!!

Fried Yucca, Chicken Empanada, Beef Empanada

The empanadas tasted way better filled with chimichurri sauce. Chicken was nice and tender, with a nice shell. The Beef empanada, was just as tender with crispy shell.

Chimichurri sauce - after we decimated it

After much debating, we got advice from our waitress, Barbara decided on the pescado al lo macho, a filet of red snapper with shrimp (they are willing to alter their dishes to suit your taste).  It usually comes with seafood - which is a lot of different items that Barb didn't eat so she asked for just shrimp.

Pescado al lo Macho

I decided on the Paella Coco Roco because I love paella, seafood and this dish combined both.

Paella with seafood and chorizo

This was pretty tasty on its own. I hated the green peppers but then I'm not a peppers person. This dish was just full of seafood - mussels, one clam, octopus, chorizo, 4-5 shrimp, and chopped up carrots, some corn, and string beans.

Closer view of the dish

So, of course, you know I didn't skimp on the chimichurri sauce over my paella. I know, but I will eat chimichurri sauce over toast, over empanadas, over ANYTHING non-dessert like. The chimichurri sauce kicked it up 100%. It made for just an awesome food experience. I have to say this though, because I wanted my dessert, I only ate just a bit - one-third, really. It is really quite enough food for about 2-3 people, honestly.

The restaurant loses points for not having crepes. Crepes are awesome. How can you be without dulce de leches crepes or tres leches cake?!!!!

So after being bitterly disappointed, we decided on the chocolate empanadas and flan. So, where to begin on the empanadas???

Chocolate empanadas with coconut ice cream

Be forewarned. The ice cream is coconut. They do not have vanilla or whipped cream, neither of which would have saved this dessert. The dough was too thick and a bit salty. The chocolate bled out like an cut artery. I will need to insist...do not get this dessert ever!!! It needed to be made with a sweeter dough, rolled thin, and possibly not this syrupy chocolate... I would have gone with a thicker consistency in the chocolate before frying it. I love the coconut ice cream but was not happy with the chocolate empanada. Waitress confirmed it is not one of her favorites either.

Coconut and lime flan with dulce de leche

The coconut and lime flan with dulce de leche was so good. I would have loved coconut on it but Barb is picky and doesn't eat coconut. :P But this was by far the better dessert. It was not overly sweet and the dulce de leche drizzle was delicious.

I'll still have to go to Chimu for my desserts but this place has a lot more to offer in terms of drinks, and dishes. I still say bring back the crepe!!

Ample Hills Creamery

623 Vanderbilt Ave

Brooklyn, NY 11238

tel. 347.240.3926

Hours:

Sun-Thurs: 12 pm - 10 pm

Fri-Sat: 12 pm - 11 pm

Agozar's

324 Bowery

New York, NY 10012

Tel: 212.677.6773

Hours:

Mon-Thurs:
Lunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 11 pm
Friday:
Lunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 3 am
Kitchen is open until 12 am
Sat:
Brunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 3 am
Kitchen is open until 12 am
Sun:
Brunch: 12 pm - 4 pm
Dinner: 5 pm - 10 pm


Coco Roco
139 Smith Street (Bergen & Dean St.)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
tel. 718.254.9933
Hours:
NA
Delivery hours:
Sunday to Thursday 12:00 pm - 10:30 pm
Friday and Saturday 12:00 pm - 11:30 pm
Happy Hour:
Mon-Thurs: 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Ali Baba for lunch

Turkish, anyone? 

In midtown/Murray Hill or just plain Manhattan, you can find a number of decent Turkish restaurants selling the same thing but not quite the same as being in Turkey... But it is indeed decent fare at a semi-decent price for the most part.

As I was craving some Turkish - I decided to order from Ali Baba on 34th St. Usually, I get the chicken adana, which seems to be more flavorful than their kebab. Still nothing beats Istanbul...nothing...for kebabs and bread.

Free but delicious bread

Ali Baba always serves a big - very big serving of bread with their meals. This bread typically is warm, layers of dough and goes very well with babaganoush - an eggplant spread with a garlicky base that is very very good. And I don't like eggplant but I'll eat this...every time!

Babaganoush!

My meal came warm, with salad - and my serving of adana with a big roasted pepper and half a tomato. The tomato goes well with the adana - a nicely spiced piece of white meat chicken. Their rice is most flavorful and delicious !

Chicken Adana with rice and tomato and pepper

Ali Baba
212 East 34th Street 
New York, NY 10016
tel.  (212) 683-9206.
Hours:
Sun - Sat: 11 am - 11 pm

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

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