Out for lunch with the boys

Hane is atypical of pseudo Japanese joints that dot the midtown landscape.I believe previously I had reviewed their tough grilled meat.

This time, I went and had lunch with Suanstein and Dave at the restaurant. Suanstein actually was willing to eat outside his cubicle!!! Amazing.

Service was fast and friendly. As usual, the tables were pretty much squashed together so be forewarned. However, they were big enough to have room to eat...which most places do not bother with.

The bento lunch specials come with miso soup and shumai If you got the regular bento special - it comes with soup and salad.

The miso was very very bland - like water...and not clean water at that. I didn't bother with a picture because it was just watery, with bits of seaweed and tofu floating in its murkiness.

The salad was typical green lettuce...with ginger dressing over it. Nothing special.

Now...the shumai. Suanstein was right. It tasted just like some pre-frozen stuff from the supermarket aisle, reheated to a tepid warmness and prettily arranged for your visual pleasure. It came with six, generous serving size, but rather tasteless.

Shumai

Suanstein ordered a teriyaki box so I didn't take photos but Dave ordered this beautiful row of lobster tartar, cooked lobster with wasabi aioli sauce. It tasted decent to me but I do prefer a good lobster - whole or chopped as opposed to this.

Lobster Tartar

I went with fried chicken. Basic, and yet, it was very tasty. And I lied - there is the teriyaki bento special in the back with rice. Salmon teriyaki - a basic dish in these restaurants but I hear that this place makes a decent salmon - not crazy fishy tasting.

Teriyaki in the background! My bad! I did get a shot!

Here is the fried chicken, with shredded seaweed. Pretty presentation, I must say but the chicken was very tasty. There was no rice but you do not need it with all the shumai!

Fried Chicken, Yum!

Hane is decently priced for the area but nothing special. As always, I prefer sushi/sashimi in an authentic Japanese joint and that means going further away from work, which is why we always end up at these type of places!



Hane Sushi
581 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10016
tel: 212.682.8388
Hours: Still I haven't remembered to find it.

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)

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

El Parador

El Parador is a Mexican restaurant on 34th street, near the NYU Medical Center.

I went to lunch with Ravi, David, and Jane.

We had toyed with getting the prix fixe lunch special but decided to not get it. Good decision all around.

They served nachos with very fresh hot salsa, with the right amount of tang, spice, and herbs.

Just these chips with the salsa was worth the visit!

Jane got the tostada salad, of course. Ravi got the chicken enchiladas and David got chicken burrito. All were really good. Their plates were practically licked clean. (＾ｰ^)ノ

Jane's Chicken Tostada Salad

David's Chicken Burrito

Ravi's Chicken Enchiladas

I got the camarones al ajillo. The six shrimp were very clean. But the sauce was not as garlicky as I would like. I kept the pot to grab the sauce because I needed more to flavor the rice.

Camarones al Ajillo

It was good but not as good as Agozar's. And what appeared to be just a smidgen of food turned out to be a lot. I was stuffed.

El Parador
325 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel.212.679.6812
Hours: Monday - Saturday, 12 noon-Midnight

Closed Sundays in August and major holidays.

Afternoon Tasting Hour Special

$5 beer, sangria & house margaritas; 1/2 price select appetizers. At the bar only.
Monday-Saturday, 3-6 PM

Arriba Arriba

After a grueling week at work, I needed a break. Barb cancelled Gravy because she was working late. Since I owed her toys for her toy drive, I decided to buy them and go uptown.

Dark but interesting

Arriba Arriba is a Mexican restaurant in the upper 80s on the East Side. As you can see, they have decor that reminds me of the desert at night - skull included. O_o

Mango Marguerita

We quickly got our mango margueritas in. - Yum. Great drink after a long week.

 After furiously debating over which dish to choose, I went with the mole poblano, in the end. Barb got the camarones al aljillo or shrimp in garlic sauce.

Shrimp in Garlic Sauce

Yellow rice and salad

My Mole was ok. Truth be told, the mole dishes at Mole on 2nd Ave was better. It was somewhat indescribable tasting although it was chicken breast meat but rather uninspired and rather limp tasting. All in all, I did notice it was more non-ethnic crowd. The lone female waitress was inattentive to us but super attentive to all the other tables. We had the nice male staffers taking very good care of us. But the food was just not inspired.

Pollo Mole Poblano

Rice with Black beans

Arriba Arriba
1463 3rd Ave, between 82nd & 83rd Streets
New York, NY 10028
tel. 212.249.1423
Hours: No idea - not on website.

Quickie Japanese Lunch @ Aki's

Friday, we went to lunch with Ravi. At first we were going to Hiroshi but ended up at Aki aka Tony's for their bento box.

Aki is typical pseudo Japanese fare made by Chinese chefs. The place is clean, according to their rating.

Salmon Teriyaki Bento Box for $8.95

Service is so-so. Our waitress did not pay attention to David as he asked for tea for the table. But she got both our drinks and orders right.

Ravi and I got curry shrimp bento boxes and David stuck to the salmon teriyaki box. 

I can't comment on his bento but it looked good. I don't generally eat teriyaki as good as it may be.Nor do I eat salmon.

Curry Shrimp Bento Box for $9.95

I can say that the California roll was fresh and the shrimp shumai has always been my favorite from here. Just the right amount of seasoning and soy on it. I did not need any more seasoning or soy.

I got shrimp curry which was over white rice. The shrimp was clean - about six were included. There were sliced onions, green peas, and diced carrots. I ate all but the onions, as usual. There was also some green veggie too.

They were in a medium spicy curry - I am not sure it was true Japanese curry but it was good. The rice soaked in the curry so it was quite tasty.

The bento came with a bland miso soup and a few pieces of lettuce drenched in their ginger salad dressing which I never eat. At $9.95, it was a quick and filling lunch.

Aki Sushi
720 2nd Ave
(between 38th St & 39th St)
New York, NY 10016
tel. (212) 922-1168
Hours: Your guess is as good as mine. They do not list this on their site. But you can order through Delivery.com, Seamless.com and their own site.