I stopped by City Kitchen’s opening party last week. It’s Times Square’s new foodie food court. They’ve got Dough Doughnuts, Sigmund’s Pretzels, Luke’s Lobster, ilili Box, Gabriela’s Tacos, Azuki Sushi, Wooly’s Shaved Ice and Ippudo’s Kuro Obi. Pretty cozy place to try a taste of some well-known NYC foodie spots.
The party was a lot of fun. The food was good. I really liked ilili Box’s Duck Schwarma.
I ate so much food that I wanted to barf. I had a date the next night and told her that. She thought it was TMI. I don’t think it was too TMI. Maybe if I said I was about to explode out the other end. That might be TMI.
City Kitchen – 700 8th Avenue @ 44th Street, and from within the Row NYC lobby. New York, NY 10036
I never heard of Buca di Beppo until we went there for breakfast at Harrah’s Atlantic City. It’s a chain that serves Italian food family style (large dishes to share). I love saying the name “Buca di Beppo” over and over. I don’t know how to pronounce it!
Anyway, I don’t think most Buca di Beppos serve breakfast. But the one at Harrah’s did. Kind of a generic breakfast bar. I’d say if you are eating there for breakfast, get the Breakfast Pizza, because that is really good. Taste even better than it looks here.
I wanted to try their famous Half Pound Meatballs, but they weren’t available during breakfast. I knew I had to come back for them. Good thing they have one in Manhattan. It’s above above Planet Hollywood in Times Square.
If you go online and subscribe to their emails, they give you coupon for a free small pasta (which is actually huge –feeds two). I’ve also been getting a lot of other coupons from them too. Todd and I had to strategize what would be the best deal.
We ended up getting the free small Spaghetti Marinara (feeds two) and an order of the Half Pound Meatballs (3 for $16.99 NYC prices). Man, there was so much food! I don’t know if you can tell by the pictures below. It was pretty good. Kind of a smoky taste to it, which I couldn’t tell if it was fake or not, but still good. Nice meatballs!
I still get coupons from them in my email. Really good deals, like 20% off during this Labor Day weekend. Plus they have a good happy hour from 3-6pm of apps, beer and wine between $3-6 at the bar. With all these great deals, it’s a wonder why the place was so empty for dinner. Maybe everyone is at Planet Hollywood below.
Buca di Beppo – 1540 Broadway (b/t 7th Ave & 46th St) New York, NY 10036
I was invited to a Hard Rock Cafe party where they were showing off two new memorabilia collections that are going to be on tour on a bus across the country. It was pretty cool staring at Kurt Cobain’s yearbook and Keith Moon’s leather outfit. It’s also interesting how some of the outfits looks so fat for such skinny guys like John Lennon or Michael Jackson …which coincidentally, I was just recently thinking about getting a Thriller or Beat It replica jacket and I was worried about the fit. So now I just don’t know.
The party was catered which I assume by the Hard Rock Cafe. One interesting thing was the Mashed Potato Bar —something I feel I would’ve invented. There was sweet potato and regular potato with a bunch of different toppings (brown gravy, walnuts, marshmallows, scallions, cheese, sour cream, butter, bacon, brown sugar).
I got both potatoes in my cocktail glass and when I put half of the toppings in I asked for sour cream. Then the guy was like “Whoa… not sour cream. You have marshmallows.” I thought that was weird since I already had bacon, scallions and cheese. Well I think I got everything except butter, gravy and sour cream. Then I asked him to torch it on fire. I don’t know why that’s an option. Anyway, it was pretty disgusting. Now that I’m sober, I get it. Those were two separate things –Sweet Potato bar and Mashed Potato bar. I’m surprised the guy let me go that far.
It was nice running into an old acquaintance there, who played in a pretty interesting band back in Orlando when I was in college. He now works for the Hard Rock.
Before I left, I headed to the Men’s room. It was kinda funny seeing the rock memorabilia they put up back there by the restrooms –Sugar Ray, Three Doors Down, Maroon 5. Courtney Love’s guitar is hidden behind the coat rack.
When I washed my hands, I saw all these different colognes I’ve recently wanted to try. I sprayed about five of them on only because the attendant let me. He actually sprayed it on me. I forget which ones were the best. But I realized how strong it was when I was on the subway. I’m not sure if it was all that bad. I noticed two different older European ladies standing closer to me when they got on the train.
Hard Rock Cafe – 1501 Broadway (btwn 43rd & 44th St) New York, NY 10036
Oh yeah, this is the song that was playing in the restroom at the Hard Rock Cafe. I came right home and sang it.
The NY Times review of Guy Fieri’s Times Square restaurant is trending. The review is over the top. It reminds me of those snarky Pitchfork reviews from a few years back. I don’t know if they still write that way. I got turned off.
Anyway, Sam, Chris and I really wanted to try the restaurant after reading the review. Can it really be that bad? There were a lot of people there for lunch today. I imagine the review sparked some interest. A lot of young hipsters and business folk in suits.
The place is huge. The front of the building has a big loud television screen and fits right in with Times Square. They sat us in the back. It kinda looked like a nicer Applebee’s or Outback with some Tin Can Alley Disney feel.
I gotta say, after reading the Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews, I was a little scared of the service. But they were really attentive today. I felt like our waitress was smiling at me a little too much maybe. But I did look pretty cute today. Also I’m sure Guy came in and whipped everyone into shape after the NY Times review. So I wonder if that also carried over to the food.
We started off with the Fried Calamari. Right after I ordered it, I saw the party next to us leave with a pretty full plate of the Fried Calamari still left on the table. I thought, “Oh shit, it must suck.” But it was actually pretty good. We enjoyed them. I like the Garlic & Pepperoncini Chili Sauce that came with it …which I think is just mayo, mustard and shredded cabbage/coleslaw. It was really good for dipping. I saved the rest for my burger and fries that were to come.
Chris ordered the Cajun Chicken Alfredo Pasta ($21.50). The plate in the photo makes it look really small. I guess it was kinda small for the price, but this photo makes the food look ridiculously tiny or the plate looks ridiculously huge.
Sam ordered the Rotisserie Roasted Garlic-Rosemary Chicken plate ($17.50). It came with mashed potatoes. I think this looked the best and probably the best value out of all our meals.
I ordered the Guy’s Big Bite Burger with Rojo Ring, where the Rojo (onion) ring is on the burger ($17.50 …although it said $19.50 on the bill. Maybe it costs more with the Garlic Fries? I’m not sure. I thought it was coming with the fries, because I had a choice of Seasoned Fries, Garlic Fries or Onion Rings. Maybe their computers are messed up. Anyway, the menu says it’s cheaper). The burger has the Donkey Sauce on it that the NY Times review makes fun of. It was a little squirt on it. I think it was kind of like a sweet BBQ sauce, but less BBQ and more Hoisin. Burger was decent, but maybe seems like a waste to use Pat LeFrieda meat and cook it well done. Burger was better with that Fried Calamari Dipping Sauce. They should just put that sauce on everything. I love mayonnaise.
Overall, the food was pretty decent for the type of restaurant it is and where it is. Much better than other touristy restaurants I’ve been to in the area like Bubba Gump, Jekyll & Hyde and Red Lobster Times Square. The food at Guy’s is overpriced, but in line with those other touristy restaurants.
We had a decent meal and finished everything. The experience was nothing like the review. But maybe they turned everything around after Guy came back to crack the whip.
Here’s Guy’s response to the NY Times review on MSNBC this morning. What’s with the tourist that calls us pompous New Yorkers? Why the hell are you visiting New York if we are so pompous? He really loved the Pretzel Chicken Tenders.
Was the NY Times article unfair? Maybe. But I haven’t eaten here four times yet. I would have liked to see this guy’s review of Mars 2112. I thought the critic Pete Wells was a comedian at first, but I’m thinking of Pete Holmes.
I was to meet Ben Sargent, host of Cooking Channel’s Hook, Line & Dinner at Red Lobster in Times Square. Instead his longtime friend & business partner (or possibly Ben’s alter-ego), Dr. Klaw showed up with a live two-foot pet lobster with spike bracelets. Dr. Klaw sure had beef with Ben …and lobster nachos with me.
There’s a 90min director’s cut of this video that will premiere at Cannes. I can’t believe we racked up a $200 bill at Red Lobster.
Yes. In the video, Dr. Klaw really does pull out a huge ass live lobster onto the table while we were eating. Red Lobster thought he took it out of their tank.
Ben’s new show premieres this Tuesday June 7th on the Cooking Channel.
Yes. In the video, Dr. Klaw really does pull out a huge ass live lobster onto the table while we were eating. Red Lobster thought he took it out of their tank.