Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Lunch category.
Klong, My Favorite Thai In New York City
courtesy of klongnyc.com
I’ve been going to Klong for probably almost a decade. I was in college and when they had first opened, I wandered in and wanted to see what was going on in there. The interior design of this Thai restaurant is fantastic. Gorgeous abacus walls, metal sculptures and beautiful statues decorate the room. And when you see how lovely everything looks, you are taken aback when you see how affordable the prices of their dishes are.
Klong has extremely tasty food, for a really good price. Oh gosh, looking at their menu right now, I’ve probably tasted 60% of the items on it and have never been disappointed. Though I will warn you, their cocktail are only average, but they are still a lot of fun to sip on. Like their Frost in Night Market Bangkok. Made with pandan leaf juice, vodka, Malibu, midori, coconut milk and jackfruit, it is a very darling drink. And did you know that Red Bull originated in Thailand? I didn’t. I only found out when I saw that interesting tidbit next to their Red Bull and vodka cocktail. But, if you are in a non-alcoholic mood, you can never go wrong with their Thai ice tea. Those things are addicting!
Gosh, appetizer, entrée and dessert-wise, you will be happy with what you order. They also have a great vegetarian selection that tastes great. My favorite entrée on the menu overall though, has to be the Spicy Basil Noodles with beef, hands down. Every time I go with someone new to this restaurant, they are blown away by the spices and the overall taste of it. Broad noodles and tender beef are sautéed with tons of basil and spice. Layers of heat overcome my mouth with each bite that I take, and because I can’t handle that too well, I ask them to make it with very little chili and it is still just as amazing.
And for the price, their dessert is pretty good too. That reminds me, it’s been a while since my last visit, I think that I’ll have to pop in soon.
9 out of 10
7 St Marks Pl, New York NY10003
-Juice
Isn’t She Lovely? Isn’t She Wonderful?
courtesy of thisiswhyyourfat.com
I’ve been to Shake Shack a few times. Their burgers are tasty, their custard is yummy and their fries are good. Oh and they have their own beer! I never really understood what the huge deal about it was before. I thought I was waiting 30 minutes in line to order food because their Madison Park location provided cozy outdoor seating. This all changed when I finally ordered their Double Stack burger. In the past, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to finish a Double Stack burger, also known as a Shake Stack now, but I can and very quickly apparently. So it’s a burger, right? But it’s a burger topped with a fried Portobello mushroom that was stuffed with muenster and cheddar cheeses. Heart attack waiting to happen, but so worth it. This burger can be considered life changing. It’s almost 3AM as I write this post and I want one so badly right now and my mind keeps wandering thinking about it. If you haven’t had one yet, GO NOW!
8.5 out of 10.…the Double Stack alone is a 9 out of 10…that’s a really high rating!
There’s more than one location, so check their site at shakeshack.com
-Juice
My Faith Has Been Restored In Bona Fides
courtesy of nerowolfe.org
I had one of those meals last night that really awakened my taste buds. It was at Bona Fides in the East Village. Have you been? It was always one of those places that I had thought was cute, but had always walked past because I was always on my way somewhere else. Finally, a friend of mine took me there about two years ago because it turns out that one of his friends owns it. I’ve been there for the food a total of four times since. The first time, like I said, I was with my friend and my pasta dish was good, but it was so long ago I can’t remember what it was. The second time I went was also with this friend and I ordered the filet mignon, medium-rare and it was around $20 and came with two sides, great price and great meal. The third time I got the fettucine with smoked salmon and peas. That night made me sad because that dish wasn’t very good, and even though they advertised the brut by the glass, they didn’t want to open up a new bottle to serve just a glass. Which was a very silly mistake on their part because if anyone knows me, I probably would have ordered a lot more than one glass. And anyway, retail, that bottle of brut is only around $10 at a liquor store, so I don’t know why he didn’t want to serve me a glass since he was charging $9 a glass for it. You can’t fool me, I know what cheap alcohol is! That third night I didn’t go with my friend, does his presence affect my food there? But last night, I did have my friend with me and my meal was superb! I got one of their specials, it was a pappardelle with sweet Italian sausage, onions, sundried tomatoes and garlic in a rich lemon sauce. You need to go get it right now! I hoovered that bowl. All the flavors were perfectly balanced and the lemon sauce was done very nicely and was like a gravy on the pasta. My friend gave me part of his shrimp parmesan after he saw me eyeing him. What can I say, the plump pieces of shrimp were calling my name. That was scrumptious as well. So I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and say that my third visit there was a fluke. Hopefully the good food didn’t have anything to do with me dining with my friend there. Worth a visit!
Bona Fides
60 2nd Ave # 1
New York, NY 10003-8620
(212) 777-2840
7 out of 10
UPDATE: SO IT REALLY TURNS OUT THAT THE SERVICE IS MUCH BETTER WHEN I GO WITH MY FRIEND WHO KNOWS THE OWNER. MUCH, MUCH MUCH BETTER. CHANGING MY 7 OUT OF 10 TO A 6 OUT OF 10.
-Juice
A Little Piece of Mexico (or Heaven) Right Next Door
courtesy of cafeollin.com
Café Ollin is one of the best Mexican restaurants in my neighborhood and I’m happy to say that it’s really affordable. A taco will set you back 2 or 3 bucks depending on the toppings. Everything tastes incredibly fresh and the environment is wonderfully decorated. Rich colors, cute knick-knacks and most likely futbol on the television screen. Their sandwiches are monstrous and bigger than my head…and my head is very big (size-wise, not conceit-wise). I have two favorites, the Mexican style tacos: soft shell, different types of meats topped with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cotija cheese, cilantro and avocado, and also the Tostadas: basically the same thing, but with a flat fried tortilla and beans. I don’t know what it is about this place, but I could eat there everyday. It’s like having a crack house right next door. Oh wait, I have that already. OK, a food crack house.
Cafe Ollin
339 E 108 St Btwn 1st & 2nd Ave
(212) 828-3644
8 out of 10
-Juice
The Best Fried Clam Strips I Have Ever Had
courtesy of ljfishtale.com
People say that I can be difficult to please when it comes to food, but I’m not. It’s just that I only like commenting on food if it tastes really good. And what makes me sad, is that I had something so amazingly tasty this weekend, and the only place I can get it is in Connecticut. Fried clam strips. No, I mean, I’ve had fried clam strips before, but I’ve never had fried clam strips from Lenny & Joe’s Fish Tale before. Ohmilordy lord lord. I could not stop eating those damn things. Crispy and tasty batter, and the clams tasted so fresh. I ate one and then another and then I just stopped talking for fear that somehow I imagined the taste and if I stopped, I wouldn’t get the flavor back again. A clam dinner with fries costs less than 10 bucks, you can’t go wrong.
It’s a chain, so check out the locations on their site, ljfishtale.com.
Star rating is only for the fried clam strips: 9 out of 10. Overall 6.5 out of 10. Seriously, the strips are out of this world.
-Juice
‘WichCraft Reinvents The Sandwich
-wichcraftyc.com
I may not be able to afford Tom Colicchio’s Craft restaurants all the time, but thanks to ‘WichCraft, his sandwich shop, I can grab a delicious sandwich whenever I want (sandwiches range from $6-$10). By the way, isn’t he such a cutie, and a really great dresser I might add. Tom, if you ever leave your wife, call me!
First off, the breads used to hold in all the delicious-ness of these sandwiches are nice and crusty on the outside and doughy on the inside, yummy! Never underestimate what good bread can do for a dish.
1) Grilled gruyere with caramelized onions on rye bread: Karen actually exclaimed out loud, “It tastes like French onion soup!” A grown up grilled cheese sandwich that mixes the sharp and salty cheese with the natural sweetness of the onions. My mouth is watering thinking about it.
2) Slow-roasted pork, red cabbage, jalapenos and mustard on a ciabatta roll: tasty and filling, definitely not something you can find in your local deli. Thumbs up for the bite you get from the jalapenos. The red cabbage gives it a nice crunch and a great change from using lettuce for that type of texture.
3) Meatloaf, cheddar, tomato relish and bacon on a ciabatta roll: My least favorite of the ones I have tried here. Meatloaf to me should be comforting, but the actual meatloaf tasted too healthy/grown-up. It lacked the richness of meatloaf that I am use to. The tomato relish had a strange spice in it, I wish I could pin-point what the seasoning was, but I can’t, but if you can give me $30,000 to go to the French Culinary Institute, I promise I’ll be able to tell you once I graduate. Also, because of the relish, I was actually unable to taste the cheddar and bacon, which was strange to me because these two ingredients have such strong flavors. Though, the bacon was nice and crunchy and made the sandwich nice to bite into.
I’m trying to decide if on my next trip I should get the
A) Pork loin, tonnato sauce, celery slaw and arugula on a ciabatta roll.
B) Pastrami, mustard and sauerkraut on, I am guessing, on rye bread, the menu doesn’t say.
C) Grilled mozzerella and fontina with tomato-olive preserves on country bread.
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
7.5 out of 10 stars
Visit wichcraftnyc.com for locations.
Please Feed Me 