New York Botanical Garden--Garden Café

(pic credit: Cooper Robertson)

New York Botanical Garden Café


Half sandwich and cup of soup $6.95 special


Sweet onion bread with roast beef and swiss cheese half sandwich and I got the Asian Vegetable Soup with Ginger was good. It was very light and flavorful with the ginger flavor with lots of celery, potato, carrot and ginger. I had the little glazed lemon poppy seed bundt cake $3.95 which was good but a bit on the dry side. The sandwich was helped by having some mustard.
For a café, the selections were not bad with salads, some California maki, and hot food choices with cakes, pies for dessert as well as fruit-apples, bananas and oranges.

Food is alright 8 forks out of 10 forks



Pics of the Sandwich/soup and glazed lemon poppyseed bundt cake in this album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20404&l=3c8ad&id=575810425

Extra Virgin Restaurant-West Village (NYC)

Extra Virgin
259 West 4th Street, New York, NY 10014 (212) 691-9359
Extravirgin.com

Located in the West Village, my friends and I went to Extra Virgin. They were telling me the food is excellent and consistent and their fish dishes are excellent. We are greeted and seated quickly for 6:30 on a Saturday night. It is a cute place with the typical tightly packed tables (maximizing all the space) you first enter at the bar area. We are seated in the dining area on the right side. We do not get our bread by our server is very nice. When I order my drink, she is fearful there is not available so I have a back up drink. I get the blood orange margarita $10 (blood orange juice, tequila and triple sec) came in a salt rimmed tall glass with a lime wedge. It was nice and strong but not in the typical margarita glass. We were all a bit ravenous and requested some bread. We never got it. We ordered our meal and I got the Pan Roasted Monkfish (Rock shrimp, lobster chowder, and sautéed spinach) $21. I was told by Ian that this dish was “meaty.”

I got two beautifully pan roasted pieces of monkfish with the skin on, and the lobster chowder was flavorful and lovely with the bits of great rock shrimp. I really wanted some bread to sop up the sauce, but alas I never came. The sautéed spinach was great and cooked with garlic. Everything tasted fresh and delicious! I could taste the flavors distinctly and thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

With the dessert menu, I was the only one to get a dessert and the rose water crème brulee with almond biscotti caught my eye for $7. I got a healthy portion of crème brulee with a lovely sugar burnt crust and the creamy crème brulee was lovely. The almond biscotti was not that remarkable.

Service 8 (points taken off for lack of bread and asking for it to not even get it)
Food 9
Atmosphere 8

Total 8.5 forks out of 10 forks

Extra Virgin pics are here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=20404&l=3c8ad&id=575810425

Kum Gang San-Korean BBQ

I always seem to head to Kum Gang San when in NYC for Korean BBQ! (On 45 32nd Street between Broadway and 5th Avenue in Heralds Square). Brought a group of people to have some Korean BBQ and snacks. We got seafood pancake, chapchae ( clear noodles with meat and veggies), bulgoki (marinated beef) and galbi (marinated rib meat) (all my faves)! They were all hits and the there were plentiful side dishes to be had as well!

The waitstaff cooked the kalbi and bulgoki for us but we ended up serving ourselves and finishing up the bbq meat. Everyone was happy and enjoying the food. The conversation and food were flowing and good times were had by all.

We left with tax, tip $28 lighter! But for this quality of Korean bbq you cannot get in Boston, it is worth it! Then we wandered into the night to take the guests to Times Square to check it out!

9 forks out of 10 forks

KAI Restaurant (Upper East Side) NYC

Doing some research, I wanted to have some Japanese for lunch whilst in NYC. After some research, I found "KAI" in upper east side owned by Itoen, a brand that makes teas. There is a nice tea store on the lower level.

Lunch is only served from 12-3 on Saturdays. I got off my transport to take the "6" train to 69th Street stop. It is a short walk to the restaurant on Park between 68th and 69th streets.

I was seated at the last seat at the sushi bar. It was nice to relax and settle in for a nice lunch. Great service as they offered to take my bag. My water glass and tea cup were constantly refilled. I enjoyed the Hoji Cha (Roasted Green Tea) I was served. Yum! I settled on the $40 KAI bento. I figured it was the best way to try alot of great food.

I enjoyed watching the sushi chefs cooking and making the food. Watching a master at work, using economical movements (no waste) and everyone spoke Japanese save the runners. One of the waitresses noticed the hiragana I wrote and asked if I know Japanese.

I first got served dark miso soup and a fresh made tofu served with bonito shavings. The dark miso was nice and intense. The fresh tofu was delectable with an ultra smooth and creamy texture, very much a silken feel to the tongue. Next I got my bento box, I got some fresh daily sashimi (flown from Japan), tempura (veggies and a shrimp piece), grilled sake (Salmon) and red snapper, with one unagi piece rolled to envelope a burdick root piece, mixed rice, and a bowl of seasonal fresh veggies. Everything was simple, delicious and very fresh.

The dessert consisted of chocolate mousse cake sliver, some fresh fruit pieces and a piece of yuza cheesecake.

Overall with the food, atmosphere, and excellent service I give Kai a 9 forks out of 10 forks.

Momofuku---NYC

wings


Momofuku Ramen


Pork Bun

Tsukemen

I wanted to try Momofuku (Lucky Peach) opened by Korean American chef David Chang (I saw an article on him in the New York Magazine last year.) It is nestled between 10th and 11th streets on 1st Avenue. There is no big sign hailing it but in this tight small space with a long communal table and seats along the wall you are greeted by a mainly young student and young profossional crowd. (My mom was one of two people over the age of 40 there easily). My pal came along (Leewa) a little later and we tried the Pork Bun (with Berkshire pork) $9 (Chang's take on Char Siu Bao). Then we had the chili ginger wings. My mom had the tsukemen (cold noodles with peas, pork and served with broth. Leewa and I got the Momofuku ramen $14 with a poached egg, Berkshire Pork, Peas, Nori sheet, noodles in a nice simple broth.

My mom wanted more leafy veggies. I told her there were not a lot of them in Japanese noodles/ramen. She thought the peas were a novel idea and she took my nori strips though. The broth was light and the cold noodles were favored by her. She dislikes scallions and there was alot them on her ramen.

The wings were good and just panfried but good marinade. The pork buns were simple flavors but good.

Cafe Lalo-brunch in upper west side

Then I went to Upper West side to Cafe Lalo known for their european style desserts and brunch got off at 86th on the 1 (local) as the 2 and 3 are express. I got there before Leewa as he miscaclculated and could not get a cab crosstown at all. (Turned out there was a parade which was the reason why the cabbies refused). So, he ended up hoofing it over. We were seated pretty quickly. (I had already put my name in a half hour prior.)


It is a cute spot with many Cafe Lalo prints on the walls, a dizzying cake display to tempt any sweet tooth, but like any New York establishment, space is at a premium. We ended up sitting along the windows at the "side bar". The waitstaff was very friendly and helpful.
We both got the same thing save the Lalo Paradise smoothie one had yogurt $6 (mixture of tropical fruit-mango, papaya, strawberries, bananas, kiwi, cantaloupe, and pineapple) the other not and the moroccan breakfast served with pita bread $11(consisted of eggs, fresh tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, spices, jalapeno peppers, tricolored bell peppers with fresh herbs). Then we had for dessert the chocolate raspberry cake (very decadent rich and definitely a great choice for chocolate lovers!).