Tag: flatiron

Categories
lunch

BXL Zoute’s Lunch Prix Fixe

Went to BXL Zoute for their $17 lunch pre fixe. Seems like a pretty good deal.

Choice of:
Soup of the Day, House Salad or Terrine Maison

And Choice Of:
1Lb Moules, Sandwich of the Day or Omelette

And
1 Stella Artois, House Wine or Soft Drink

I got the Terrine Maison. Here’s a tip. Get that if you are on the fence with that or a salad. Because it comes with salad! I saw a guy next to me order the house salad and it looked like mine minus the Terrine Maison.

The Mussels were good, but the broth wasn’t as drinkable on its own like I expected.

The fries were great!

They have All You Can Eat Mussels on Sundays and Mondays by the way.

BXL Zoute – 50 W 22nd St (btwn 5th & 6th Ave) New York, NY 10010

Categories
asian

Barn Joo Korean Restaurant

I was invited to dinner at Barn Joo, because chef Chef David Lee just competed in the Culinary Battles cooking competition. I feel like I usually don’t come to things like this, but if Bill Murray taught me anything –it’s to say yes and just be there. And I’m glad I did. It was a lot of fun.

There were a couple of people at the table that looked familiar. I thought one guy was like my brother-in-law or some guy I met last week when I was wasted. Turned out he was on Hell’s Kitchen (the show on FOX with Gordon Ramsey) …and so was the other girl. I like that show. They were cool and funny. And I kept hearing the guy say “I’m not a bitch!” I think he did that on the show too. Anyway, that was cool.

There was a lot of good Korean food and alcohol. I’m can’t even remember what I liked best. But if I can pick out a few things off the top of my head… the sushi thing, baby octopus and the tacos.

Somehow, things turned into multiple bottles of soju, which I think I’m partly to be blamed …and soju bombs and oysters shooters. Drinky time.

They look like they have some good lunch specials that’s a little above $10 …which ain’t bad, considering I just paid $40 for lunch today in Williamsburg. When did a burger and two beers cost forty dollars? Anyway, I work close by Barn Joo, so looks like a new option.

Oh, I knew of Barn Joo before, because I do a lot of searching for “chicken wings” at work. And they have BJ wings (Korean soy/garlic). Pretty dang good and good name too.

Barn Joo – 893 Broadway (btwn 19th & 20th St) New York, NY 10003

Categories
restauranting

Blue Smoke BBQ

Diana and Abel took me out to dinner so we can talk about plans for their wedding next month. I’m going officiate. Apparently, Diana asked me a long time ago, but I had too many sushi boats that night and forgot. Cool, but I thought it was weird they asked me unless they wanted me to do magic tricks in front of a fog machine …which I guess that’s what I will do.

We got the sampler ribs and I like how there are different sauces to try. I remember liking the sides too, but that photo I took of the coleslaw looks really sad.

It’s interesting that I post this now. Because I just read about Abel all over the Internet getting abruptly fired by AOL’s CEO over a conference call to over 1,000 employees. It’s viral. On the upside, the FOX News segment about it is kind of funny.

Blue Smoke – 116 E 27th St (between Park Ave & Lexington) New York, NY 10016

Categories
restauranting

The John Dory Oyster Bar

I was planning on staying home all week after work and getting real work done. No drinking. No carbs. No camera. But Shonali texted me to meet at Eataly with Jasper and Jeff, which is right next door to my office. I guess I should say hi. It would be rude of me not to.

Then it turned into a beer at the beer garden, pizza and beer at Tappo, beer at UCB Theatre to see Michael Che and Nimesh Patel, whiskys at Molly Wee’s Pub, then another dinner and beer at the John Dory Oyster Bar. It was so good.

We had a lot of different stuff. A tray of oysters which we all touch, but it turned out it belonged to another table. We had to put the oysters back on the tray. Then we got a even better tray that had a lobster on it.

Looking at this photo, I see we had octopus, lobster roll and a few other dishes.

01 John Dory Oyster Bar

I thought the most amazing thing were the Parker House Rolls. They looked like like 2 regular dinner rolls that had some kind of glaze on it. I think it was sweet and buttery if I remember correctly. And I loved dipping it in the green butter sauce they had. I’m not sure if it was meant to go with that or the lobster, but it was on the same plate as the bread. I would be happy if you could get a basket of those rolls and that green butter sauce as an entree. I would be really fat too.

And then we had this dessert. Shonali was kind of enough to send me photos from her phone.

02 Dessert - John Dory Oyster Bar

The John Dory Oyster Bar – 1196 Broadway (@ 29th St) New York, NY 10001

Categories
asian restauranting

Ootoya Japanese Restaurant

We went to lunch at the Japanese restaurant, Ootoya. It seems to be popular. We waited over twenty minutes to be seated. They gave us hot towels when we sat down to wash our hands.

The carafe of sake came out pretty fancy in a bowl of ice. And we got to choose our own sake cup. I can’t stop drinking sake.

Looking at the menu, it looked pretty expensive. But when I saw the food we got, it actually seemed like a good deal. My grilled fatty Mackerel was $16, but came with Homemade Pickles, Steamed Egg Custard, Miso Soup and Rice (topped with Grated Japanese Yam for an extra $2). The Grated Japanese Yam was interesting. I don’t think it really had much of a flavor, but it sure made the rice all gooey.

I liked Ootoya. Next time, I feel like I should dress up like a Japanese businessman though.

Ootoya – 8 W 18th St (btwn 5th & 6th Ave) New York, NY 10011

Categories
asian

Laut

I was really craving Roti Canai so I went to Laut near Union Square for lunch. Started off with the Roti Canai and a King Fisher beer ($7 each). The beer was kind of nasty. I guess that’s not the restaurants fault. But the Roti Canai wasn’t that good either. It looked cool because it was so big, but it wasn’t flaky or buttery and the curry sauce was just alright. No chunk of chicken in there.

I switched to a Singha beer and bowl of Curry Laska ($12). Big bowl and filling. I always like coconut milk based curry broths. Delicious.

The bill was interesting. I appreciate when they tell me how much I should tip, because I don’t want to do the math. But the numbers were different on the bill and when I got my credit card receipt to sign and add the tip to. I’m assuming one is including tip on the tax and the other not. Anyway, it feels sneaky even if you normally do tip on tax.

10 Laut bill and receipt

I overheard a lot customers having Groupon deals for this place. Which makes more sense. I spent $45 on lunch. I should have had a Groupon.

They gave me some ginger candy at the end. And then I was off to my dentist appointment –a little drunk and just had eaten candy. They told me I needed a root canal. I don’t think it was related to the Roti Canai.

Laut – 15 E 17th St (btwn 5th Ave & Union Square/Broadway) New York, NY 10003

Categories
breakfast

Johny’s Big Man Breakfast

Man, I haven’t haven’t had a breakfast-y type breakfast in a long time. Well I guess this was lunch, so I still haven’t. But I haven’t had breakfast-y food in a long time that’s not brunch-y. Sam and I went to Johny’s neaby work to get something breakfast-y for lunch. It’s the lunch counter where I got that tasty Melissa Munchie Sandwich (Hot Roast Beef, Sautéed Mushrooms, Onion Rings, and Melted Mozzarella on Garlic Bread).

We both went for the Big Man Breakfast (2 Eggs, 2 Pancakes or French Toast, Home fries, Bacon & Sausage, Toast, and Coffee or Tea $8.75). Sam went for the Pancakes and I went for the French Toast and we split it. Man, Pancakes looked great and was just what I was hungering for, but the French Toast was better. It had cinnamon or nutmeg on it to make it taste good. Overall, a great greasy breakfast-y meal.

Johny’s Luncheonette – 124 W. 25th Street (btw 6th & 7th Ave) New York City, NY 10001

Categories
lunch sandwich

Num Pang Nomad Sandwich Shop

They just opened up a Num Pang Sandwich shop in my work-hood (Flatiron area). They make Cambodian style sandwiches, which seem to be very similar to Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches for point of reference. The first time I walked by it was packed and the line was long. The guy handing out menus outside told me the line goes quick. I didn’t believe him and stood there staring at him.

So this time I came back with Sam and Chris and there were people, but not so packed. We walked in, turned around and instantly 15 people were behind us. It did go quick though. Even so much that right after I ordered, my food was ready. I couldn’t believe it. Sam was like “#230, that’s your number!” I didn’t believe him, but it was true. They must’ve had that sandwich ready already.

I ordered the Five-Spice Glazed Pork Belly sandwich (w/ Pickled Asian Pear $8.50). I took a little container of Sriracha hot sauce and waited for my friends to get their sandwiches and a corn on the cob. Dang, this sandwich was fantastic. I knew that they made pretty good sandwiches, but I was stunned how much I liked it. Definitely one of the best Banh Mi’s I’ve ever had. I don’t know, it was so good. Sam thought his pulled pork one was okay.

Sam had a good joke about about my waiting number. “What time do you go to the dentist? …Tooth-hurty!” Little did I know that that joke would manifest into real life. My tooth hurts like a mother fucker right now. Unrelated to the sandwich. Although baguettes always scratch up the roof of my mouth.

Num Pang Nomad – 1129 Broadway (btwn 26th & 25th St) New York, NY 10010