Steak'n Shake Signature in NYC, New York - Another Burger Place?

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I am wondering how many burger joints New York City will need!!! Between the restaurants who try to surf on the wave of this popular dish and the chains that try to multiply like pickles, there will soon be a burger place in every corner of the City!

Well, I am not going to complain! What is funny is that in France, people associate burgers with McDonald's! Normal: burgers are not popular there, steak frites are!

The last chain I went to is Steak'n Shake Midtown. Smart people: they opened, back in January, next to the David Letterman Show!

This is not a new chain: it was founded in 1934 in Normal, Illinois. When it opened, it got some additional buzz when Danny Meyers told The New York Times in an email that Steak'n Shake inspired him to open Shake Shack. He wrote: “Spent a lot of my weekend nights as a teenager at Steak ‘n Shake (curbside service was awesome — especially after getting driver’s license at 16) and those parking lot experiences hanging out with friends were inspirational in desire to create a burger joint that would bring people together (unlike fast food which was designed to feed people pre-cooked food and get them out). I also loved how they smashed little disks of beef into delicious griddled burgers.”

So I decided to try it. First, the place is small and there are very few tables. It is also jam-packed! If you are in a hurry, this is not the place to go! I think for sunny days, it is fine because you can just grab and go, but in the Winter, it is going to be a problem.

The restaurant is pretty cool: modern decor (makes me think about a modern dinner) with very bright colors (red, yellow and blue). They even have soda machines with touch screens!

So, first you order and then they give you a buzzer so you know when your order is ready.

I decided to try The Signature burger: a 6 Oz patty made of 100% organic beef (USDA), specifically rib eye and NY strip. It is supposed to be cooked medium well (mine was medium) and topped with American cheese, onions and pickles. I also got some ketchup and mayo.

The burger was pretty good: juicy and tasty with a lot of cheese. There was also a nice ratio bun / meat.

With the burger, I got some fries. I like shoestring fries. They were crispy and slightly salted.

Last, was a vanilla milk shake.

The shake was very thick and I had to wait before being able to drink it. It had a good vanilla taste, but was a bit too sugary. They mention on the cup that the milk shakes are hand-dipped. I will be honest with you: I had no idea what they meant! Whose hand was it! In fact hand-dipped means that they do it the old fashion way, with scoops of ice cream, milk and syrup, instead of using milk shake mix.

I got all of this for close to $10. I would probably get the same price at Mc Donald's but for a much lesser quality. I though it was pretty good for the price. But still not as good as Five Guys...

If you tried it, let me know!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

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The Hester Street Fair in New York City begins!

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The Hester Street Fair jus started and will take place every Saturdays from April 28th to October 27th. The fair features handcrafted accessories, art, clothing and most importantly Food! 


Among the vendors, you will find:
- Pies ‘n’ Thighs (confort food)
- The macaroon parlour
- Luke’s Lobster
- Brooklyn Taco
- La Sonrisa (for empanadas)
and many more!


When: Saturdays from April 28th to October 27th - 10 am to 6pm
Where: corner of Essex and Hester street in New York City
Info: www.hesterstreetfair.com

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Gobuki Korean BBQ Food Cart in NYC, New York

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In the past few years, New York has seen Food Trucks and carts popping up all around. The beauty of it is that it is not just the hot dogs cooked in dirty water, but different types of cuisine, from all around the world. Some used it as a way to start a business and opened later a brick and mortar restaurant, like the Taco Truck in Hoboken. Others just opened food carts / trucks in different locations like The Hallal Guys or Yogo (Frozen yoghurt).

Of course, some people might still be worried of the sanitary conditions and when the restaurants grades were introduced in New York, some people advocated to have a similar concept for food carts and trucks. I am not really scared of trying food cart and so decided to try Gobuki.


It is a Korean BBQ Food Cart, that popped up approximately 6 months ago on the corner of 52nd and 6 avenue in New York. Their food is a typical Korean food, so do not expect any twist like Korean Tacos! Their traditional menu offers:

• Kalbi plate or sandwich: marinated beef short ribs.
• Bulgogi plate or sandwich: marinated beef rib eye.
• Spicy chicken: marinated chicken with spicy sauce.
• Stir fried noodles and vegetables.
• Udon soup: Japanese noodle soup.
• Vegetable fried dumplings.

Prices are pretty reasonable, going as low as $4 for the dumplings and as high as $8 for the Kalbi plate.

I decided to go with the bulgogi sandwich.

When I ordered it, they first steamed the bread that was kind of an amoroso bread, similar to a cheesesteak. At the same time, they heat the meat, the onion and some sauce for few minutes. Then place all of it on the bread and added a delicious sauce. When ordering, they ask if you want to have it spicy or not. I decided not. 

I really liked it: the bread was very good, although at some point the sandwich broke down because of the juiciness of the meat and onions mix. The meat was delicious, tender and there was no fat. 

My friend Bill chose to go with the bulgogi plate.

It is equivalent to the sandwich but without the bread and with some slaw and rice. He liked the meat, but said that there was not enough sauce for the rice. I guess you can ask for more sauce!

Overall, I like Gobuki Korean BBQ: the sandwich was tasty and delicious! Definitely a food cart to go back to or to try!

Enjoy (I did)!

 

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Qi Bangkok Eatery - Great Thai in Times Square, NYC, New York

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If you are in or near Times Square, this could be a good place to go! It is always driving me crazy to see that people are missing great restaurants in this area! There are great places on 9th Avenue and on 8th, I discovered Qi Bangkok Eatery (pronounce Chee).  The restaurant has been opened since mid 2011 by Chef Pitchet Ong (P*ONG).

At first, I did not know it was a restaurant! From the outside, it looks like a club and when you hear the loud electronic music, you would surely think you are in a club. 

The decor is beautiful: mainly white (white marble, white leather...), modern furnitures and amazing chandeliers, with a Buddha in the back of the room.

They also display holograms from the menu to the check to...the bathroom!

We started with Triple Mushroom Spring Roll: crispy spring rolls stuffed with glass noodles, wood ear mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms and minced vegetables, served with pomegranate Asian plum sauce. It had a nice presentation and was really good: tasty, not doughy and not greasy. The plum sauce was delicious.

Then we had the Chicken Curry Massaman. I simply loved it. Very flavorful. I just would have liked less potatoes.

The Tofu Pad See Euw (Flat rice noodles stir-fried in sweet soy sauce with Chinese broccoli, broccoli and eggs) was superb! The Tofu was flavorful thanks to the spices! 

To help cool me down, I had a Thai Iced Tea that was delicious!

Qi BangKok Eatery is definitely a great Thai restaurant and with reasonable prices. I missed on the dessert as I was full, but will probably try again as Chef Pong is a Pastry Chef!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just Want To Eat!

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Mexicana Mama in NYC, New York

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We were walking in the West Village in New York when we saw this small colorful Mexican restaurant called Mexicana Mama. My wife already went there, but for me it was a first.

I liked the nice blue color of the walls and the tables with their tablecloth impressions full of colors. This is a small restaurant and you have a view on the also small kitchen.

The menu for lunch was made of a short list of dishes. I do not mind because sometimes, the more is on the menu the less the food is good: I prefer when the Chef or cook focusses on few items.


We started of course with some guacamole, served with fresh tortilla chips.

This was a great start! The guacamole was made fresh and was perfect. I noticed that a lot of restaurant have a tendency to over salt it. The tortilla chips were crispy and not greasy at all.

We then tried the goat cheese and avocado salad. The dressing was made with peppers: it was a nice touch. I only regret that there was not that much cheese in the salad.

The Quesadilla was delicious: it was two small corn tortillas filled with chile roasted pork. I really liked the flavors.

Last was the Tostada De Ave: chicken, fresh corn, grilled onions, and black beans tossed with a roasted red salsa. served on a fried corn tortilla and garnished with grilled panella cheese, avocado, fruit, and mexican cream. I really liked it. Mixing all the ingredients together gave this layering of distinctive delicious flavors. When reading all the ingredients, you would think that it is too much, but it works.

I liked eating at Mexicana Mama: the service was good and the food delicious. Definitely a good address in the West Village, with reasonable prices.

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

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Brasserie 8 1/2 French Restaurant in NYC, New York

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Brasserie 8 1/2 is one of my favorite upscale French restaurant in New York. The location is weird: the restaurant is located underground! If you do not know it is there, you cannot guess! To go to the main room, you will walk down an impressive staircase that will bring you to the mezzanine area where the bar is located. The decor is amazing and is featuring some artwork from Matisse and a glass sculpture from Fernand Leger. 

So we went back one Saturday night with our friends Jen and Gary. The restaurant was not that crowded that night. The service was efficient and courteous, and the atmosphere was not too stuffy.

The food served at Brasserie 8 1/2 is pretty diverse and they have great seafood. These days, they are still offering a three courses menu for $35.

So, here is what we ate!

First, after ordering, they offered is an amuse bouche. It was a salmon tartare with a refined taste.

Then, I decided to go with several appetizers instead of an entree, to try different dishes. I started with the Jumbo Lump Crab Cakes served with artichoke, sea beans, pommery mustard sauce. It was good but definitely not the best crab cakes I ever tried (Ruth's Chris or Del Fresco!). 

I think that when you read Jumbo Lump, you will imagine a strong crab flavor. It was not the case!

After that, I had the Clam Chowder. It was delicious! Very creamy!

The third appetizer was a risotto made with crab and bone marrow. This was great! First, the presentation on a stone board was very nice. The risotto was perfectly cooked and creamy and the crab and bone marrow added nice flavors.

I also had a taste of the Filet Mignon served with a sauce au poivre (we always ask for the sauce to be separated in case it is not good)! Although we were not in a steakhouse, the steak was very good!

For dessert, we had a white chocolate mousse with meringue. This was delicious! Light and not too sweet. Perfect to end this great dinner!

We had a good time at Brasserie 8 1/2 and the food was amazing as usual! Brasserie 8 1/2 is definitely a great restaurant Midtown New York!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

 

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Baked by Melissa Cupcakes in NYC, New York

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Baked by Melissa has been a cupcake sensation for the past few years. The particularity of these cupcakes is that they are bite size and paperless.  Each of them costs $1 (time of this post). They also offer the possibility of creating your own, but for this, you will need to order 300 of them!

The place was opened by Melissa Bushell and her partners, after she lost her job in advertising. Since it opened in 2009, several stores were added and Baked by Melissa has become a reference for cupcakes.

So we decided to try some of them. We picked 12 cupcakes (6 different varieties) for $10. Smartly, they put them in a box with holes to hold the cupcakes. That way, they do not dance in the box while you are walking!

We picked:

 The cinnamon cupcake: this is my favorite. Great cinnamon taste! It is made with yellow cake, cinnamon stuffing, vanilla icing and cinnamon sugar topping.

 The cookies and cream: pretty good too with a nice chocolate cookie on top. The rest of the cupcake is chocolate cake, chocolate cookie stuffing and vanilla icing.

 The chocolate chip pancake was one of my least favorites. It is made with yellow pancake, maple syrup icing and chocolate chips on top. The cake was quite dry!

 The red velvet cupcake (red velvet cake, cream cheese icing and red sugar crystal on top). It was an ok cupcake. At least the cake was moist, but there was not enough icing on top.

 The S'mores: made with chocolate cake, and stuffed with Graham cracker and fluff. The top was made of the same Graham cracker and fluff with also chocolate icing. It was pretty good.

The Tie dye, made of vanilla Tie Dye cake, vanilla icing and topped with rainbow sugar crystals. It was just ok.

So, at the end of the day, it was an ok experience: out of 6 cupcakes, I like 3 (the cookies & cream, the cinnamon and the S'mores). The cake was pretty inconsistent, sometimes moist, sometimes dry and there was clearly not enough icing. They were also quite sugary. These cupcakes are nice to try and cute to look at, but they are definitely not the best (Sweet in Hoboken is definitely the best!).

Enjoy (I half did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

 

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The Drive-In Dinner at Brooklyn Brewery on April 18th!

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Do not miss the Drive-In Dinner at the Brooklyn Brewery on April 18th!

This 5 courses Food Truck dinner paired with beer is organized by the Brooklyn Brewery and Edible Brooklyn (ediblemanhattan.com). For $40, you have one course at a Food Truck (Bongo Brothers Cuban Food Truck, Coolhaus, Red Hook Lobster Pound, Feed Your Hole, The Morris Truck), paired with a beer. 

Do not miss it!

The Brooklyn Brewery

79 N11 Street,Brooklyn, NY, 11249,United States

April 18, 2012 from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm


More information here.

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Wu Liang Ye - Authentic Chinese cuisine in NYC, New York

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Wu Liang Ye in Midtown Manhattan is a family style Chinese restaurant; each plate can serve 2 people, hence, don't be surprised by the price. This place is always crowded and if you are a large party, you'd better reserve! I went there for lunch time and it was like a beehive: customers going in and out, waiters running around to satisfy the crowd.
The restaurant itself is located on the second floor of a brownstone. The weather was nice outside and it was freezing inside!

Food wise, I really liked it! But be careful: they serve authentic Szechuan cuisine that is spicy!

We had couple of dishes. The first one was Shredded chicken with spicy garlic sauce. The chicken was moist and the sauce not too spicy. Fortunately, it was not too garlic-y either!

We also tried the tangerine chicken.

It was a first for me. I really liked it. I think it is a perfect alternative to the General Tso Chicken: a bit crunchy with less fried taste. The sauce was not overpowering at all.

Then was one of my favorite dishes: the kung pao chicken.

This dish is mainly made with chili pepper and peanuts. No way to have it mild! I can tell you that it was spicy. Delicious but spicy! I love the thick sauce coming with it that baths the chicken and the veggies (onions, peppers...). Great dish!

Wu Liang Ye is a great Chinese restaurant outside of Chinatown! Definitely for you to try!

Enjoy (I did)!

And remember: I Just Want To Eat!

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Pastis restaurant in NYC, New York - Overrated!

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Pastis is an anise flavored spirit that is served mixed with water. It originates in South of France. Instead of Pastis, you may also hear the names Pernod or Ricard that are derived from the name of the company Pernod Ricard who use to produce pastis.

The Pastis I am talking about is different though: it is a popular restaurant in the Meat Packing district of NYC, New York. Pastis is a French bistro opened by Keith McNally with Executive Chefs Riad Nasr and Lee Hanson. These names do not ring a bell? They are the same cast as Balthazar in NYC. In fact, the bread served at Pastis comes from Balthazar. 

Having heard about it so many times, I decided to go few years back, but did not become a fan of Pastis. As the restaurant is still there and always crowded, I decided to give it another try. 

I went on a Friday, for lunch. Let me tell you: it was packed! At the entrance, they tell us that they cannot sit us right away and that we have to wait at the bar for approximately 30 minutes, until lunch is served (there were several empty tables). Interestingly enough, five minutes after we order a drink at the bar, they sit us and we wait for 20 minutes before ordering. I am kind of suspicious that they sat us at the bar so we would consume a drink. I hate this type of practices!

We decide to go for the croque monsieur and the cheese burger. The waiter warns us that the croque monsieur does not come with any side. I am a bit surprised. Ok, no side needed. The food takes a bit of time to come.

When the croque monsieur comes, several parts look burnt. That's fine, we love burnt cheese. We taste it and it is disappointing: there is not enough béchamel sauce and it is salty. Not worth the $15 it costs! I really prefer the croque monsieur at Brasserie Cognac!

When the burger came, it was promising: lots of cheese, good ratio meat / bun and a nice bun (not sure if homemade by Balthazar). Unfortunately, the meat was a bit dry. The fries are a bit overcooked. Disappointing too!

On top of this, the noise level was pretty high with loud psychedelic music playing! Only the service was good.

So my re-visit to Pastis did not meet my expectations. The food was disappointing and overpriced. I think this place gets its reputation not because of the food, but because of the sceney atmosphere. Not a recommended restaurant for me!

Enjoy (I did not)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

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Magnolia Bakery in NYC, New York - Average cupcakes...

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I heard about Magnolia Bakery in New York City for many years but never went there. In fact, a long time ago, I went to a restaurant on top of the Bakery Midtown, restaurant that is now closed.

Cupcakes are really big here and I do not know if one day they will be as big in France. Why? Because there are so many different pastries with some many different flavors that I am not sure people would be attracted to it. However, what makes the difference is that cupcakes offer, for the same concept, a wide range of possibilities: you can make different types of cake, have some cream or fruits in it and then have an infinite choice of frosting and decoration. A Millefeuille (close to a Napoleon) is a millefeuille!

So we went to Magnolia Bakery Midtown. The place was a mad house! You can have cakes like banana cream pie or order coffee or tea besides cupcakes. Of course, most of the people will go for the cupcakes. And the scene is always the same: pick, pay and inhale!

So we went for the vanilla cupcake and the red velvet cupcake. Red velvet has to be good! If a bakery does not know how to make it, there is a big chance they do not have good cupcakes! I was wrong: the red velvet frosting was pretty good but the cake was very dry (very red too: they must have put a lot of food coloring in it). 

I preferred the vanilla one: great frosting, not too sweet and the cake was moist.

I am not sure I would go back to Magnolia Bakery but have to note two things that I liked: 

• The ratio cake / frosting was perfect. I hate when there is too much cake! The best is the frosting!
• The box to carry the cupcakes is perfect as lots of bakery just offer regular boxes and the cupcakes will roll in it.

I was not wowed by Magnolia bakery to be honest. I may have to try another time...

Enjoy (...)!

And remember: I just want to eat!

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