new york city restaurants – Page 4

We’ve been traveling a lot this summer, but during the times we’ve been home we’ve made it a point to scope out some cool restaurants around New York. Today we’re featuring two of the places we visited recently, which were both new to us. These spots are in Midtown Manhattan, which can sometimes feel like a wasteland for good food – there’s a lot of mediocre places there that caters to tourists, but if you do your research you can find some gems. We think these restaurants fit that bill, so read on (but just be warned that some non-vegetarian food is featured here).

First up, The Parlour Room on West 36th Street. This place focuses on whiskey, and we got some whiskey flights to accompany our meal, but they’ve also crafted a menu of elevated American food that pairs well with the spirits on offer. We started our meal there with some homemade French onion dip, paired with chips …

… plus a mushroom tart, with a side of spicy aioli.

Then Miriam got a slice of the vegetable lasagna, which comes with a tomato and cabbage slaw on the side.

And Cyril had the house cheeseburger, topped with raclette and served with hand-cut fries.

If you head a little bit north to West 44th Street you’ll find Peachy Keen, which has the ambience of a 50s diner crossed with a disco. They’ve got all kinds of cool drinks – like a rum punch served in a glass that glows at the bottom – but there’s also a menu of comfort food, like this fried burrata served with a pomodoro sauce.

Here’s what that burrata looks like on the inside:

And here’s their tater tots, made with gravy and cheese curds (sadly, they’re not vegetarian):

We also shared the truffle mac and cheese, topped with fried mushrooms …

… and the peachy greens salad, with almonds, red onions, goat cheese, and peaches in a champagne vinaigrette dressing.

These were both really good finds for us: at The Parlour Room, we got to sample some whiskeys paired with upscale dishes, and at Peachy Keen we had some cool drinks and tasty classics while bopping along to the music. The Parlour Room is tucked away among a bunch of office buildings, while Peachy Keen is right near a bunch of Broadway theaters, so it might be easy to overlook them both – but don’t, because they offer some good experiences in a place where restaurants can be kind of bland. If you happen to be out and about in Midtown and want something unique and tasty, these are two spots that go beyond your typical restaurant menu and offer pretty interesting dining.

Where We Ate: Some Good Pizzas in Manhattan

Cyril has been on a pizza craze lately – a quest, perhaps, to find some of the best pizzas around. In our recent travels we’ve gotten to try some good pizzas in Illinois, Milwaukee and Buffalo, but we’ve also focused on some good pies right in our own backyard. So today we want to show you what we’ve found to be excellent pizza right here in Manhattan, and we’ll feature everything we tried at a variety of places. Most of these pizzas are vegetarian, but there are some images of meat here, so be warned.

We’ll start at the bottom of Manhattan: almost near the tip of the island is Kesté, which serves up Neapolitan pizzas. Each pie is on the small side, so you can order several and get yourself a sampling of what they have on offer. We got one from the pizza rosse (red pizza) menu: this simple marinara, topped with tomato sauce, basil, oregano and garlic.

Then one of their special Montanara pizzas, with tomato sauce and pieces of buffalo mozzarella on top of a lightly fried piece of dough.

And Cyril also had one pie from their pizze bianche (white pizza) menu – this prosciutto and arugula, which also has mozzarella and grana padano cheese on it.

If you head a little bit north to Nolita, you’ll find Rubirosa, which is so popular that it’s almost always packed (so you have to plan ahead if you want to go there). They serve a lot of different Italian-American dishes, but their pizzas are especially popular, and in particular their tie dye pie. It features a combination of vodka and tomato sauces, topped with mozzarella, then finished with a swirl of pesto – so of course we had to try that.

Now if you swing over to Alphabet City you’ll find Gruppo, which is best known for their thin crust pizzas. We were told that the Shroomtown pizza was particularly good, so that’s what we got. It’s made with three different types of mushrooms plus truffle oil, all piled on top of marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.

And in the West Village you can find Brunetti, which also serves up Neapolitan-style pizzas. Here’s the margherita piu, with tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella …

… and the meatball pizza, featuring sliced meatballs, tomato sauce, and mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmesan cheese.

Next, if you venture up to East Harlem you can find Patsy’s, which has been around since 1933 and is considered to be one of New York City’s original pizzerias. Patsy’s doesn’t have different types of pizza on their menu – instead, it’s just their original coal oven pizza, with cheese and tomato sauce, and then you can add on other toppings. We went with fresh basil and roasted peppers.

And finally, we did tell a little lie: not every one of these pizzerias is in Manhattan. We also want to include Louie and Ernie’s, in the Pelham Bay neighborhood of the Bronx. It’s a bit of a hike to get there, but it was a fun trip to visit this very unassuming storefront that’s been serving up pizza for 75 years. We decided on an eggplant pie there, with chopped garlic also added on.

We enjoyed going all around Manhattan (and the Bronx) in search of these pizzas. It was a great variety – we got some classic New York pies, some Neopolitan pizzas, and some inventive new styles. We hope to get out to Brooklyn and Queens to try some other well-rated pizzas, and we’ll update you on what we find!

Where We Ate: Nonna Dora’s & All’antico Vinaio

It’s been a great spring for us so far because (among other things) we’ve gotten to try some new and interesting food spots around New York City, and so we’d like to share with you again the places we’ve been to lately that we’d recommend. Today we’re featuring two Italian places in Midtown Manhattan, but they come from opposite ends of the restaurant spectrum: one is a traditional table service spot, while the other serves up much more casual fare. We enjoyed the unique and delicious food we got at both places, so read on to see what we had the chance to try – but just be warned that there are some images of meat here.

First, if you’re looking for a classic Italian restaurant experience, you can head over to Nonna Dora’s in Kips Bay. This place has been getting a lot of press since it opened earlier this year – including a glowing review from the New York Times last week – because the food comes from a real life Italian-born nonna. When we went to visit, we decided to start our meal there by sharing the melanzana, which is Nonna Dora’s version of eggplant parm.

The restaurant also has a very extensive pasta menu, including a number of vegetarian choices, so Miriam got one of the specials of the day: this pansotti, filled with ricotta and buffalo mozzarella, in a butter, ramp, and morel sauce.

Cyril, meanwhile, decided to try the pasta flight, which starts with this cavatelli in a broccoli rabe and toasted almond pesto …

… then moves to the orecchiette, in a tomato sauce studded with rabbit meat …

… and ends with malloreddus in a sausage and tomato sauce.

Now if you’re looking for something more quick and casual, but also authentically Italian, you can head across the island of Manhattan to 8th Avenue, where you’ll find an outpost of All’antico Vinaio. This sandwich spot started in Florence, moved on to open a branch in Milan, and more recently debuted an outpost here in New York. They serve up nothing but sandwiches, except they’re not just any sandwiches – these are made on schiacciata bread, which is a kind of flattened focaccia. There’s a couple of vegetarian options you can get, and Miriam went with the L.A. Fadeaway, made with arugula, sundried tomato, spicy eggplant and zucchini, and a gorgonzola cream sauce.

And Cyril had the L’inferno, stacked with porchetta, arugula, veggies, and a nduja cream sauce.

We’re really glad we got the chance to try these two spots: one that comes to New York directly from Italy, and one that comes from the culinary creativity of an Italian immigrant. And we also liked that we got to try not only a bunch of Italian pasta in a nice sit-down setting, but also some quick and easy sandwiches. Both were great experiences, and both are spots that we’d recommend if you’re looking for some interesting and authentic Italian food in the city.

Where We Ate: BòCàPhê & Ramen Danbo

Today we wanted to take the time to highlight two New York restaurants that we got a chance to try recently, which we both really enjoyed! There’s two commonalities between these places: first, you can find them both in the West Village, less than a mile from each other; and second, they both serve up some excellent noodle soups from two different Asian cuisines. We were especially delighted to find that these two spots offer up vegetarian and vegan options, which is nice because often these particular dishes are made with meat-based stocks and broths. So read on to see where you can get some excellent, hearty noodle soups – but just be warned that we will show some images of meat here.

The first place we decided to check out was BòCàPhê, a Vietnamese spot with one location in the West Village (which is where we went) and another in Chelsea. We started our meal there with these veggie summer rolls, made from scallions, radish, cilantro, basil and sweet potatoes wrapped in a rice paper roll, with peanut sauce on the side.

Miriam was the one who got some noodle soup – a classic Vietnamese phò, which BòCàPhê makes in a vegan version with lots of veggies, herbs, and noodles. You have the option to add in dumplings to your phò, so there’s also some vegetable dumplings floating in there.

Meanwhile, Cyril had one of the specials that day: cà ri gà, a yellow curry made with chicken, potatoes, and vegetables, with some tumeric tandoori rice on the side.

Now if you’d like to try a different type of noodle soup, you can head 3/4 of a mile west to Ramen Danbo, a chain the originated in Japan and now has 30 restaurants across Asia, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. (including a second New York location in Park Slope). The menu is very simple: there’s ramen that you can customize with a bunch of different ingredients, plus a few sides. Here’s what Miriam got: the negi-goma atsuage ramen, made with noodles, scallions, sesame seeds, and slices of fried tofu in a vegan broth dotted with sesame oil.

Cyril had their classic rekka ramen, with noodles, scallions, and slices of pork belly in a tonkatsu pork broth, plus he added in some soft boiled eggs.

And we also split an order of pan-fried vegetable gyoza.

It was great for both of us to be able to get some ramen and some phò, in both vegan and traditional, meat-based forms. Since it’s been a pretty chilly April, we thoroughly enjoyed these warm noodle soups, as well as all the other food we got to try at BòCàPhê and Ramen Danbo. These two places have pretty simple menus, but they make their specialties well so can leave feeling completely satisfied with your phò and ramen. We hope you try these places out, and check back later to see some other recommendations we have for eating out in New York (and elsewhere)!

Where We Ate: Jaz & Javelina

We’re always down to try some great spots here in New York, so today we’re going to shift away from recipes and instead feature two restaurants that we got to try recently. Both places are in midtown Manhattan and serve up food from two different cultures on two different continents. We enjoyed each one not just for the eats, but also for how convenient it is to get to both these spots, since they’re in prime locations right in the middle of the bustle of Manhattan. So if you happen to be wandering around Midtown and you’re wondering what’s good to eat, here’s two of our recommendations.

First up, on 54th Street, is a small space housing Jaz Indian Cuisine. Their menu is full of classic Indian dishes, ones you might have seen on take-out menus, but here they’re served in a nice sit-down atmosphere. We started our meal here by splitting an order of onion kulcha: an herbed flatbread stuffed with spiced onions.

Then, because Indian cuisine is known for its plentiful vegetarian options, Miriam had a lot to choose from for an entree and ended up going with the aloo gobi matar, made with potatoes, cauliflower, and peas in a slightly spicy ginger and tomato sauce.

Meanwhile, Cyril had the Jaz mixed grill, which has chicken, lamb, salmon, and shrimp rubbed in a spice mix and then cooked in a tandoor.

If you’re not up for Indian food, you can also swing down to 18th Street and check out the Union Square location of Javelina (they also have a restaurant on the Upper East Side). Javelina specializes in Tex-Mex, and one of the things they’re especially known for is having an extensive section of their menu devoted to quesos. We decided to try the fried jalapeño queso, which is swirled with salsa verde and topped with a few slices of crispy jalapeños.

Then Miriam had the avocado tacos, which come filled with beer-battered fried avocados, cotija cheese, and pico de gallo, with a side of poblano sauce.

Cyril tried the brisket enchiladas, which are topped with cheese, poblano sauce, and a jalapeño relish.

And for dessert we had an order of churros, served with chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Both these restaurants served up some pretty good food, and it’s pretty amazing to see that you can get such a wide variety of different foods all in the same neighborhood. And both of these places are also pretty quick, so if you want a restaurant experience that’s not really drawn out, you can eat in these spots in an hour or less and be on your way to checking out all the other things Midtown Manhattan has to offer. We know there are tons of options for where to eat in Manhattan, but consider these two spots if you happen to be in the mood for some great Indian food or Tex-Mex.