Thoughts & Reflections

Tag: Manhattan

Lunch at Egg Shop

One nice thing about being free on a weekday is the ability to visit popular restaurants when they are not as busy (especially during weekend brunch). After discovering our original meeting place would not open until later in the day, my friend Q and I ended up walking over to Egg Shop. The last time we tried to visit Egg Shop was at the height of brunch time and meant a one-hour wait.

Not so this time. We arrived shortly before noon and found a restaurant partially full, with plenty of empty tables to choose from. Instead of sitting near the door and open windows, we opted for a seat in the back, away from the noise of active construction across the street.

Egg Shop is aptly named since it specializes in egg-based dishes. The menu comprises mostly of sandwiches or bowls. I ended up ordering the El Camino: a bowl of pulled pork, tomato, avocado, poached egg and fried tortilla strips. Q ended up with a custom sandwich: a sunny side up egg, homemade sausage, tomato jam, Gruyère on a biscuit. Her sandwich looked so good when it arrived, with egg yolk spilling out across the plate. My bowl was delicious too, though it was better when drizzled with some (possibly homemade) hot sauce available.

So that’s another restaurant I can finally cross off my list. And no long waiting queues this time, which was a definitely plus.

July 27, 2015
Touring the Hermione

In 1780, the Marquis de Lafayette crossed the Atlantic again to aid the Americans in the Revolutionary War. On his second voyage, he arrived on the French frigate Hermione and arrived in Boston at the end of April. Two hundred and thirty five years later, a group of people decided to reconstruct the entire ship and bring it to life once more and retraced Lafayette’s crossing.

The Hermione has been sailing along the East Coast for the past month and it stopped in New York during the Fourth of July weekend. While it was docked at the South Street Seaport, the frigate was open to public tours so I headed down to see it for myself.

It was a very hot day when I went and the line was pretty long; I checked my watch and noted that it took two hours for me to get to the front of the queue and that was earlier in the day. Fortunately, a hat, a bottle of water and sunscreen kept me hydrated and protected from the glaring sun.

Touring the boat itself did not take very long; it’s actually a pretty small space once a person arrives on deck. We were only allowed to tour the forecastle and quarterdeck; the main deck was off-limits unless one was a VIP of some sort.

One thing I love about tall ships is the intricate rigging above one’s head. All those long, thick ropes and cables swinging out from the masthead all along the sides of the ships. Modern boats are so much more streamlined and not as fussy to deal with, so it’s nice to see a bit of rigging and imagine pirates swinging off them. And speaking of pirates, I saw one aboard the ship that day:

Overall, it was pretty fun to tour. There were so many people aboard at any given moment it made it hard to really appreciate being on the boat but at least I did get a chance to visit. Climbing up and down the gangplank was a little tricky, particularly for elderly visitors, but there were people of all ages who wanted to come check it out. After that, I went back to the pier and looked at the little village stands that were set up to educate people at the ship and what life was like back in the 1700s.

There were also people dressed up in period clothes, portraying (French and American) soldiers and peasants.

There was one other tall ship docked at the seaport, a Spanish galleon aptly named El Galeón. It wasn’t open for tours the day I went but unlike the Hermione, one had to pay admission to board as well. From the view I had of El Galeón from the pier, it was no less spectacular. It’s going to be in town through mid-August, so I may check it out at some point this summer.

July 14, 2015
A Walk on the High Bridge

Many years ago, during one of the earliest Open House NY weekends, I traveled uptown to tour the High Bridge Water Tower. The views from the top of the Tower were wonderful and one thing I saw that caught my eye was the old High Bridge. The bridge had been closed for several decades and I had hoped the city would reopen it one day—and that day finally arrived last week.

High Bridge is the oldest in the city, dating back to 1848. It used to carry water from the Croton Aqueduct into the city; the design of the bridge was to mimic old Roman aqueducts and it must have looked grand in its heyday. About a third of the original stone arches were demolished (sigh) back in the 1920s so boats could navigate the Harlem River more easily so we’re left with clashing architectural features; I suppose it could have been worse and at least some of the stonework remain intact.

I traveled to Highbridge Park on Saturday and then made my way to the stairs that lead down to the bridge. The descent is pretty steep with lots of steps and I was already dreading the climb back up when I was ready to leave. There is a slightly easier access via another road in the park but it went further south than I needed to be.

Currently, a thank you sign greets visitors at the base of the stairs, and people have added their names and their thanks to all the organizations that have helped to reopen the bridge. From there, make a left and soon the bridge comes in sight. To be honest, the Manhattan side of the bridge itself isn’t much fun to look at; most of the original stone arches are located on Bronx side.

The day was really nice and the views up and down the Harlem River weren’t shabby. On the north side were views of more bridges while the south side offered glimpses of downtown and midtown skyscrapers depending on where one stood.

The bricks on the walkway have been replaced but the original layout was kept; I noticed that the design changed where I presumed was the midpoint of the bridge.

All along the walkway were metal plaques embedded into the brickwork. Each one showed a different facts about the bridge, such as when it opened and how it was constructed. Some of the illustrations on the plaques were really nice; I liked the scene depicting visitors who came to see the bridge on a day trip.

I walked all the way to the Bronx side and admired the view from there, with the Water Tower dominating the landscape. It would have made sense to just take a subway from there downtown but the train I needed to take was back on the Manhattan side and I didn’t mind crossing the river again. And once I finally caught my breath after ascending those dreaded stairs, I snapped a parting shot of the Water Tower.

June 15, 2015
Dominique Ansel Kitchen

Have Cronuts become passé yet? I’ve given up trying to snag one without having to get up at a godforsaken hour and standing in line and decided it’s really not worth it. There are always lines at Dominique Ansel’s Soho bakery for either Cronuts in the morning or the Cookie Shots in the afternoon. And after a visit to his new bakery in the West Village, I think I never need to go to his original location again.

There had been a lot of press about Dominique Ansel Kitchen even before it opened; I read some of the reviews but kept my expectations low knowing how things ran at the Bakery. It’s been open for a while now but I finally went on Sunday with my friend Queenie. It was to be lunch for her and an afternoon tea break for me since I had lunch a few hours earlier. The premise for Kitchen is to serve a lot more made-to-order dishes (both savory and sweet) though there were still many things that can be ordered to go easily.

I had my eye on a Fraisier in the refrigerated counter but decided it was probably time to eat something that did not contain strawberries for once, given my recent berry cravings. Instead, I opted for the matcha beignets and the whole vanilla bean ice cream. And this is what they looked like when the waitress brought both to our outdoor table.

The beignets were light and airy, and the matcha flavor was very subtle that I could barely taste it when it’s mixed with confectioner’s sugar. It was good that I was wearing a green skirt that day too since I ended up getting sugar all over the table and in my lap. The ice cream was really delicious as well, creamy and smooth and a good vanilla flavor.

Queenie had ordered both savory sweet items. Her lunch was the Spring Vegetable en Papillote with Farro: vegetables and a softly cooked egg baked in parchment. It looked really good and would probably be something I would order if I wanted a healthy meal. As for the something sweet, it was the very popular (there were other tables besides ours that ordered it) Extra Fluff Mille Feuille.

I dubbed it as the leaning tower of custard and flaky pastry; it really was leaning and Queenie had to nudge it to keep it standing straight before she finally ate it. Each layer of pastry was at least an inch high. I didn’t try any of it as I had enough desserts in front of me but definitely something to keep in mind on a future visit… unless there’s something else new and tasty that would catch my attention.

June 3, 2015
The Dessert Kitchen

I met up with my friend M for dinner on Friday and noticed there was a new dessert place that opened next door to the Indian restaurant we were visiting that night. Simply named, The Dessert Kitchen serves a variety of desserts, most of which have an Asian twist. To me, it’s like a cross between the Asian-style dessert places in the city (e.g. Chikalicious or Spot Dessert Bar) and those I find in Hong Kong or Chinatown that serve Chinese dessert soups.

After our unsatisfying Indian meal, we headed next door. The staff were offering samples of waffles to passersby, who mostly seemed to be local residents. There were balloons outside that heralded the restaurant’s grand opening; it had only been opened for about a week. When we arrived, it was still pretty early in the evening so there were no seated customers except for us.

The menu comprised of a lot of sundaes, parfaits, waffles as well a section of interesting Asian style desserts (green tea kanten jelly noodles anyone?) and Taiwanese shaved ice. I ended up ordering a strawberry sundae (I forgot what the fancy name for this was from the menu) and a hot fruit tea.

I love strawberry-based desserts and we’re at the start of the peak season for the berries so I thought this was a good item to try; other people had ordered strawberry desserts as well for takeout and I heard one of the staff members say that it’s been a pretty popular option so far. The strawberry ice cream was made in-house and tasted delicious. I’m unsure of the rest of the ingredients in it but there were some tapioca balls, lychee jelly and I think condensed milk. Overall, I liked it but want to try other things the next I visit. There were a lot more eat-in customers later on so it was nice to see what some of the other menu items look like. One couple who arrived just after us ended up ordering some of the ice cream cones which looked as fanciful as pictured on the menu; it’s definitely something I would consider choosing next time. The freshly made waffles smelled tasty too but I wasn’t really in the mood for waffles that night.

My fruit tea arrived in a very large glass teapot-cum-mug. Bonus points for the pretty presentation and how it matches my sundae. I thought it would be a fruit-based tea with leaves but it’s all fruit pieces which is nice too. As for the taste, it was mostly of a berry flavor though I thought I saw pieces of papaya in there as well. Not really sure what else was in there but it was good.

The best thing I liked about Dessert Kitchen so far is the lack of crowds since it’s still new and under the radar (for now). So many of the other dessert-only restaurants in the city are always packed and I don’t really frequent them anymore because there are rarely empty seats since people tend to linger. At least there is a to-go option here so that’s definitely a plus.

June 1, 2015
Tea Break at Chalait

I finally had an excuse to visit Chalait, a cafe that opened not too long ago that specializes in matcha-based drinks — my friend Queenie is working there and what better excuse to drop in, say hello and take a tea break. After dim sum earlier in the day followed by some window shopping, it was the perfect time to give my feet a rest. Thankfully, Chalait wasn’t too crowded when I arrived and after placing my order, I grabbed a seat at the counter so I could chat a little bit with Queenie.

I definitely wanted a drink and I ended up ordering a snack of Nutella toast as well. Instead of a simple matcha iced tea, I chose the special, a matcha spritzer made with cucumber and mint. It was the perfect drink, light and refreshing. The toast was simply two pieces of baguette slathered with Nutella and topped with pistachios and sea salt. Simple and very sweet; the Nutella was warm and very gooey, with my fingers leaving a sticky mess all over the napkin. There are savory options on the menu, too; the woman sitting next to me ordered the avocado toast and it looked tasty. I should definitely return and try it on my next visit.

May 20, 2015
Lunch at Genuine Superette

At a corner where Little Italy meets Chinatown is a new eatery that is neither Italian nor Asian. I met M for an early lunch on Saturday at Genuine Superette before we headed for an event in Brooklyn.

The new downtown location is much more convenient for me to get to than their original spot at Gotham West Market. Having just opened a few days before, I thought Genuine Superette would be crowded but thankfully it wasn’t, with only about three occupied tables when we arrived.

I like that it’s counter service so it’s pretty casual. The menu is hung in large panels above the counter though I found it easier to browse a printed smaller version at eye level. After placing our orders and receiving a number, we grabbed a table near a window and waited for the waitress to bring the food once it’s ready. I was going to order the buttermilk battered chicken sandwich when something else caught my eye.

How can anyone say no to the “Left Coast Chicken & Waffles”? It satisfied my fried and waffle cravings perfectly and the portion was perfect for me, though it may look a bit small to others. I also ordered a side of fries to go with it and the one healthy part of my meal was a green juice. It was all very tasty and I ate it all, though it meant the waitress had to come back to our table a second time since I planned on leaving no leftovers.

M settled on the Portobello Mushroom Burger, a side of sweet potato fries (which I thought were pretty good and I’m not a fan of sweet potatoes) and a “Gold” juice; she originally wanted hot coffee but they don’t seem to serve coffee (or any hot drinks at all).

The time we arrived at the restaurant was also perfect; by the time we were done, more people had come in and in larger groups (there were a few families with children) so it would have been harder to get a table. It’s definitely a nice addition to the neighborhood since I do end up in Chinatown a lot and great for grabbing a bite to stay or to go.

April 23, 2015
Eats at El Rey

After a round of last-minute emails back and forth with my friend Queenie, I suddenly had brunch plans for Sunday. It’s been a long while since we last met and our schedules just hadn’t worked out for a meet-up earlier this year. There was an errand I needed to run in Chinatown that morning so she suggested a restaurant (that won’t be named here) in the general vicinity. We were planning to meet just before noon so lines to get into this restaurant were to be expected, but it was absolutely ridiculous to find out the wait time for a table for two was an hour.

Absolutely not. I don’t mind waiting for things at times but not for this. And yet, there were plenty of people who had put their names down and didn’t seem to mind standing outside in the cold to wait for a table. Since I had arrived early, I let Queenie know and met up with her at the train station and we went looking for a different restaurant. The night before, I did some research and came up with a list of back up places in case things didn’t work out but we didn’t use the list at all. Instead, she suggested a few places on the Lower East Side so we just began to walk over; there are plenty of good restaurants in that area so we were bound to find something decent. Where we ended up was El Rey Coffee Bar and Luncheonette.

El Rey is one of those places I’d always wanted to visit but promptly forgot about. It wasn’t even on my current “to visit” list (yes, I do have a list saved in Google Drive), so I’m glad that Queenie suggested it. And we were fortunate enough to arrive and snag two empty seats in the really tiny café.

There aren’t many items on the lunch menu but most of the dishes looked pretty good. It was easy for me to decide what I wanted: the Avocado ‘Del Sur’ with poached eggs and flatbread. Queenie settled on the Kale Salad with egg and avocado, and we both ordered hot tea to go along with our food.

Not only did my dish look pretty but it was so damn tasty! I especially loved the za’atar bread, especially when dipped into the runny yolks and chimichurri sauce on my plate. I almost considered ordering an extra side of the flatbread—that’s how much I liked it. And extra bonus points for being a healthy dish that sated my hunger but not leaving me overstuffed.

Queenie’s salad looked delicious too. The salad comes in two sizes and she chose the large. Several people who came into the café after us eyed her big bowl and ended up ordering it as well.

There was a display case on the counter full of baked goods that looked interesting. I didn’t get close enough to see the labels but it seemed to be mostly slices of tea cakes or pound cakes. The ironic thing is that by the time we finished eating and getting ready to leave, exactly an hour had passed since I put my name down at the other restaurant. And look what we accomplished in 60 minutes: crossing from the west to the east side, sitting down and finishing a meal. I’m kind of glad things turned out the way they did and I would very happily return to El Rey for lunch again.

April 2, 2015
Lunch at Kiin Thai Eatery

With the weather warming up and my immune system on the mend, it was time to finally get out and hang out with friends. I met up with P on Saturday for lunch at Kiin Thai Eatery.

There seems to be a lot of new Thai places opening around the city; I always send links and reviews of new places to P because a) she’s Thai and b) we are foodies and we enjoy comparing notes about Thai food. I think for me, it’s still hard to beat Pok Pok for really good Thai food in New York even though we have visited other places that do have excellent food. I think we end up going to certain restaurants for certain dishes and regional cuisines but there isn’t a definite favorite place for me yet.

Kiin is a sister restaurant to Somtum Der, another place where we’ve eaten at I think last year. The latter has pretty good food though it’s location on the Lower East Side isn’t that convenient. Kiin is across town in the West Village and is much more accessible to the trains, which was a plus since both P and I were running late that afternoon. I still managed to arrive first and took a seat in the larger dining room. There were only about three other tables occupied when I got there so I was able to get a good look around the space. I liked that it was light and airy, which was a nice change from the decor of so many other Thai restaurants around town.

While I waited for P, I browsed the menus; we were given the regular menu as well as another one that listed the lunch specials. It was hard to choose because I wanted to try several things but in the end, I chose the ‘Prik Pao‘ fried rice with fried chicken. P went for something simpler and nostalgic and ordered the Fried rice with shrimp. Both were lunch specials and we had the option of a side of spicy papaya salad or a cucumber soup—it was salad for the both of us.

My fried rice was good but I couldn’t finish it at all. I like spicy food but between the rice and the papaya salad, there was a bit too much heat for me. And I can’t say I wasn’t warned either; on the menu, there was a picture of two chili peppers next to my dish to indicate the spicy factor. Perhaps I should’ve gone with the Pad Thai instead, or ordered the cucumber soup instead of the salad. It was a good thing there a small plate of cucumber and carrot sticks; I ate all of them to help cool my mouth. And I drank all of the Thai Tea with Lemon I had also ordered.

We were offered the dessert menu but to be honest, we were both too full to eat anything else at the point. If we had ordered, it probably would have been the traditional mango with sticky rice. Ah well, maybe next time!

March 30, 2015
Brunch at Coppelia

December has been pretty a crazy month for me: between the insanity at work (deadlines and being short-staffed is a really bad combination) and taking a trip (more to come on that in a future post), life has been a not-so-fun roller coaster ride. With so many commitments, it’s been hard to actually get anything done. One thing I did make time for was brunch with my friend (and former work colleague) T, who has taken a job on the West Coast and has been dividing her time between here and there the last few weeks as she is preparing to permanently move out to California.

We met last Sunday at Coppelia, a 24/7 Latin diner in Chelsea that’s been on my to-visit list for ages. One of her other friends, M, joined us as well and it was definitely much more merrier and interesting with three people in for food and conversation (sample topics of discussion: work, travels and how reality television makes one dumber).

It was really hard to pin down our brunch order; everything on the menu looked delicious. In the end, we settled for some guacamole and chips, hot chocolate and sangria (for them; I passed and stuck with some nice hot mint tea), and some really good breakfast dishes. I also enjoyed the bread basket, which made a nice change from the standard toast, baguettes and croissants.

Alas, I didn’t take photos of everything and only have a picture of my own main course, the Hash de Costilla. It was a short rib hash with potatoes, red peppers and a fried egg. Pretty darn tasty. I wavered between that and about a half-dozen other dishes, which means I need to revisit so I can try everything else. And we were all so full that we had no room for any dessert course afterward.

December 27, 2014