koryodang

new york, ny

website

after eating spicy korean food, i like to indulge in a cool dessert. in k-town, there's not a whole lot of choices (unless you want frozen yogurt, ew). i've actually been to koryodang quite a few times. it's interesting because i'm pretty sure that the servers neither speak nor understand english. which is fine, because other than taking your order, they don't really pay any attention to you. also, this place is really expensive ($7 for a coffee). i know, i'm really talking it up. whatever - it's a lowkey and convenient place to get some post-dinner sweets.

jinny ordered a korean shaved ice dessert with fruit, red beans, and mochi that looked quite delicious. i saw that they served crepes and decided to order a plain crepe with powdered sugar. the server appeared to understand and acquiesce. however, when my dessert arrived, it was a gigantic crepe stuffed with a slice of cake soaked in liquer, piles of bananas, and whipped cream, then topped with chocolate sauce, almonds, and a ridiculous amount of powdered sugar. and a side of ice cream. it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what i wanted. oh well, i'll be back anyway.

natural tofu

32nd (5th/bway)

link to yelp

despite the granola-sounding name, it's just a typical korean restaurant. located at 34 W. 32nd, you have to walk through an office lobby and go up the stairs toward the "seoul garden" sign to find the place. the ventilation isn't great and jinny was attacked by a giant bug. not good.

i ordered the tofu soup (mild) and jinny did the same (spicy). my tofu soup was alright, but i prefer smaller pieces of seafood and meat. the kalbi on the side was decent, but nothing special. and the ban chan was just okay. combine the just-okay food with the ventilation and infestation issues ... i think we'll try a different k-town spot next time.

sushi seki

new york, ny

link to yelp

this is my favorite sushi restaurant in the city and it is very difficult to get reservations. fortunately, i managed to snag a table for 3 at 8:30 pm on a wednesday night for myself, eric and jenny. if you're a sushi-eater, you have to get the special platter or the omakase. otherwise it's a waste of a reservation. (for non-sushi-eaters, i hear their other options are fantastic, though i have never tried them.) my first visit to sushi seki was in 2005 when the special platter was called the omakase, had huge pieces of fish, and cost around $30. a steal. it now costs $45 and has smaller pieces of fish. a separate omakase option now starts at $60. i'm sad that the price has increased so much, but i understand the economics of the decision.

derek and i once celebrated an anniversary here - we told the waiter how much we wanted to spend and chef seki sent out plate after plate of amazing sushi. it was one of the best meals i've ever had. since then, however, i've stuck to the special platter which includes most of my favorites from that meal. seki has unique sauces and preparations for each type of sushi. unlike the omakase menus at other restaurants, these special preparations generally stay the same every day. my favorites are the tuna topped with a creamy light tofu sauce, salmon served with onions and tomato, seared king salmon sauced with soy and sake, seared scallop. even the eggplant is melt-in-your-mouth good. definitely try this place if you've got some room in your budget for amazing sushi.

accademia di vino

new york, ny

website

i love the atmosphere of the downstairs portion of the restaurant. the upstairs portion is a wine bar and tends to be loud and crowded. the downstairs is spacious and quiet - it feels like we're dining inside a wine cellar. perfect for a girl's night out with jenny and vanita. note - a danger/benefit to the downstairs area is that there is no cell or blackberry service. it's quite nice to get away, but i did have a few urgent emails waiting for me when i emerged from the cellar.

vanita, as always, is our designated wine selector. she did a great job with the red she choose (recommended by the sommelier) - robust, full-bodied, and all those other words that you're supposed to use to describe wine. we started with an excellent cheese plate - a remarkable la tur, a not-very-aged aged gouda, and an unremarkable third cheese. i ordered the pasta tasting plate. it's unfair to compare accademia's pasta to del posto, but i believe that restaurant pasta should be del-posto-amazing, otherwise i might as well just make it at home with a jar of rao's. next time, i'll stick to the small plates on the menu instead.

wolfgang's steakhouse

new york, ny

website

peter luger is probably one of the most famous steak houses in new york city. it's in brooklyn, though, so derek and i decided to go to wolfgang's, which is a luger emulator started by a former luger waiter. it was valentine's day and derek thought that the porterhouse for 2 (which both luger and wolfgang's are known for) was particularly appropriate.

so we got all dressed up (despite the cold) and trekked down to the tribeca location. upon arriving, we discovered that there's also a park avenue location which is much closer to our apartment. oops. anyway, we ordered the porterhouse medium, side of steamed broccoli, and side of fries. the porterhouse is served on a hot plate which causes the steak to continue to cook while it's at the table. next time i think we should get medium rare. the porterhouse has a black charred crust on top, which derek loves and i found mildly carcinogenic. my favorite part of the meal was the gift that came with dessert (a nice cheesecake) - an adorable teddy bear in a wolfgang's apron to commemorate our special day.

wafels and dinges

location

website

the dangers of watching foodtv. last weekend, derek and i were in our comfortable and warm apartment, hiding from the cold. we ended up watching an episode of throwdown with bobby flay that featured the big yellow wafels and dinges truck. the belgian waffles looked so amazing that i immediately checked twitter to see where the truck was located. it happened to be parked in the west village, which is a short cab ride away from our apartment.

after stopping at BLT burger for some dinner (derek can't eat sweets for a meal), we walked over to the yellow truck. despite the freezing cold temps, there was a short line of eager wafel fans. derek and i each ordered the wafel that we saw on foodtv - the famous "liege" wafel with one "dinges" (topping). we chose "speculoos" - a spread that they make out of belgian cookies. it's peanut butter-like in consistency, but the taste lies somewhere between graham crackers and gingersnap cookies. the liege wafel itself was incredibly dense - it could easily be a meal in itself for me, at least - and there are bits of caramelized sugar hidden in and around the wafel. yum.

blt burger

new york, ny

website

this might be my new second-favorite burger! nothing is going to top the shake shack in madison square park, but blt burger is a real restaurant, with a full bar and dining room. the atmosphere is interesting - there are big screen TVs everywhere showing sports and food is served in baskets with paper lining like a fast food joint. but at the same time - it's a BLT restaurant, which is a chain of fancy restaurants including BLT fish, BLT steak, BLT prime and BLT market. it definitely has a split personality. i was impressed that they had fried pickles on the menu, so i had to order those. they weren't as good as fried pickles that i've had in east texas, but i guess that shouldn't be a surprise.

the classic burger, however, was quite a surprise. the sesame seed bun is buttered and toasted. the meat is flavorful and perfectly salted. the toppings include iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and pickles. in fact, it's all the same ingredients as the burger king whopper, which was my favorite burger when i was a kid. i suppose the BLT burger is the grown-up version with a grown-up price ($9). derek was less impressed - the little owl burger remains his second-favorite. for me, the combination of childhood nostalgia and quality ingredients makes the BLT burger my new second-favorite burger. definitely looking forward to going again.

nations diner

new york, ny

website

finally made it out to CR's famous diner! she's talked about the fries from this place for a few weeks now and i was looking forward to joining her for some classic diner food. nations diner, near the united nations, is a cozy diner on the edge of the city. we sat down in a comfy booth, ordered a coffee and a latte (the diner makes lattes!), and perused the very large menu. typical diner cuisine - sandwiches, omelettes, blue plate specials, etc.

i ordered the sicilian omelette - with mozzarella, kielbasa sausage, and marinara sauce. don't ask me why the sicilian omelette has kielbasa in it, but it was tasty. CR got her california omelette and fries and i ordered waffle fries for the table. excellent food and excellent company.

bombay palace

new york, ny

website

it is difficult to find good places to eat in midtown, if you couldn't tell from my many complaints on this blog. jinny, however, is an excellent source for restaurant recs. and this was another one. this indian buffet is an excellent lunch spot - no wait for a table, you can immediately grab food from the buffet, pleasant atmosphere, and attentive service.

i enjoyed everything on the buffet - from the rice, deep fried veggies, creamy spicy entrees, to the deep fried ball of something sweet that i had for dessert. unfortunately, i don't remember what anything was called. but it was all good.