Mind Over Stomach

I went here many years ago prior to a show and remember having good food and a good experience. This time, not so much. Made a reservation and waited at the bar and had a drink. A $12 vodka soda, seriously? Atleast make me tipsy if you’re going to charge me that much and not be a high-end scene-y place. My friend showed up and we were taken to our table. Were hoping to sit outside but it was a 20-30 minute wait and we didn’t have that time prior to our show at Terminal 5. As he ordered a drink that the bartender said was “the special of the day” we also ordered edamame. When he brought the drink, he asked if we wanted edamame. Um, we already ordered it with you. Then I ordered the stir fry and he had the asian chicken salad. We picked on the edamame and the rice noodle things that they give complimentary and I could snack on all day – are they healthy, I wonder?!?!

Salad and stirfry came out. It was a bit too dry for me, and his was too sauce-y. I ordered a side of the dressing from his salad, and by the time it came, he was done eating. I continued to pick at my stir fry but was not impressed. Our waiter came to our table minimum three times to ask if we wanted another drink and we didn’t and he wouldn’t leave us alone. It was VERY annoying.

I don’t know. It was overpriced and just didn’t do anything for me. I felt like everyone was trying so hard – the waiters, the manager, the hostess and even the other people dining there. Just overall poor experience.

Eatery
798 9th Ave

Pass by all the time, read reviews and heard people talk about this place – it was time to check it out for myself.

Made a reservation a week in advance for the exact time I wanted which was great. There’s nothing I hate more than asking for 8pm and they say 6pm or 11pm, um no thanks.

Okay so we waited a few minutes at the bar, waited to order a drink and by the time the bartender was ready for us, our table was ready. Lots of people standing around at the bar and upfront waiting to be seated, a bit chaotic. Our waiter was extremely nice, helpful and friendly. I told him I was a veg and questioned him on what he recommended. We ended up ordering a few things to share and my friend got something on his own (non veg). We had a carrot salad – yum. A ricotta thing with bread – it was good, but honestly nothing to write home about. Another salad thing that I can’t even remember. And the asparagus which was just nothing special. My friend got the meatballs and really enjoyed them. The girls next to us had pizza (which I was told by many not to order so we didn’t) but my friend insisted on trying theirs and said it was good. He was definitely happier with the meal than I was. We ordered a souffle like cake that was definitely the best part.

Overall food for a veg – negative. Service – excellent. Price – beyond overpriced Ambiance – sorta Schillers-ish with people trying a lot harder to be cool/celebish

Will I go back? Nope.

Pulino’s Bar and Pizzeria
282 Bowery

What a perfect Sunday brunch spot. We waited about 15 minutes before we were seated. Great little spot, cozy and outside seating. Great signs and pictures and stuff on the wall.

We were immediately served LARGE glasses of water with ice cold water which is always a perk after a night of drinking and hot weather outside. I proceeded to order iced tea which came in an even larger glass – I was in heaven. Just when I didn’t think things could get better, I ordered the croissant french toast. It was one of the greatest things I’d ever tasted. I took a picture of it and the man at the table next to us with the adorable baby said his wife was the chef and he would make sure to let her know how much I was enjoying the food. Not too sweet, or mush or well done, or anything bad – it was JUST RIGHT.

Wow, seriously, guys, you must go here when you’re in LA or if you live in LA. Great service – they kept coming to refill our glasses of water, iced tea, coffee etc so there was never a moment we could be parched. Reasonably priced and just really an overall wonderful experience.

Only downside, and call me crazy and picky (which of course I am) – was the bathroom. Just didn’t feel like a public bathroom, could have used a little umph or design or color or something to make it cheery like the rest of the restaurant. I felt like I was walking into the maintenance bathroom.

Grub
911 Seward St

In my walks to/from my addiction – Momofuku Noodle, I have looked inside and said “hmmm maybe I should try this….” and finally I decided it was time to switch it up from Momo to Tree.

We made a reservation for four and when we called we specified although the garden looked beautiful we wanted to sit inside because it was too hot outside. When we arrived they showed us to our table at the garden which was in fact adorable and would have been nice to eat at but not on a 93 degree day. Isn’t there a “notes” section when you take the reservation? And so they brought us back inside to the table at the front window. What I would like to refer to as the forgotten table.

Took a while for our waiter/the bartender to come to us and take our order. There was a gnocchi on the menu and below it said “vegan option available” so when the waiter came over I asked him what the vegan option of the gnocchi was. He looked at me like I made something up off the menu. The “vegan option available” was completely separate from the gnocchi – it was whatever the chef (who was probably the waiter/bartender too) felt like making. Anyway, we ordered basic things (nothing with/without anything – shocking for me) and I was the only one who ordered a drink, an iced tea. Food took a while. We all shared a side of asparagus. I had the veggie gnocchi which was very yummy but honestly not a big enough portion. I could have started with a salad. Everyone else had a burger and enjoyed it and the fries were good. The waiter brought us a fish pasta and apologized for not bringing it out earlier because he forgot it. Huh? We never ordered a fish pasta. He was completely scatter-brained so he decided to just leave the pasta for us (at no charge) if we wanted it. Um, strange.

He forgot my iced tea and yet charged us for it, and then when we told him he didn’t even say like, “sorry I forgot” It was just weird, he was quite spacey but the food was good. Something tells me the waiter is the bartender is the chef is the manager and who knows, maybe even the owner.

Tree
190 1st Ave

Came here for brunch on a Saturday with my best friend who said he’s there all the time and loves it. It wasn’t packed and getting a table last minute was totally easy. Nice ambiance, sorta Balthazar-ish with a DeNiro kinda spin on it of course (whatever that means).

Their orange juice with pomegranate was delicious – so delicious.

Waitress was nice, helping me pick out what to eat as a veggie and recommending things. She made it clear there weren’t that many options for me especially as I went through my list of my “no” eats. She suggested the pesto pasta or the zucchini fritatta. I don’t think I’ve ever ordered a fritatta before so this day I was feeling adventurous. It was good, nothing amazing. A bit too much cheese but that’ expected with a fritatta. We also shared the fruit salad and the fruits were very fresh and tasty – especially the grapes.

I don’t know. It was good but really nothing outstanding stood out to me….in simple terms, I don’t need to go back.

Laconda Verde
377 Greenwich St

Three of the six of us for the reservation arrived, and they immediately seated us. It’s always been a pet peeve of mine when they require the whole group to be there in order to be seated. What a great place. The atmosphere was very laid back, east vilage-y. Everyone was well dressed, but it didn’t feel like a fashion competition.

There were so many different options on the menu, even for a picky eater like myself. I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich that came with tomato soup (which I didn’t eat) and salad. The grilled cheese was huge and cheesy. It was good but I think it made me realize that I’m definitely allergic to dairy. Anyway, the salad was good. Everyone enjoyed their meals–especially the french toast. The waitress was fantastic–she didn’t think we were crazy, well maybe she did but she didn’t show it.

Two small complaints. The bench I was sitting on was next to or attached to the heater so the bench was scorching hot. Painfully hot. I guess I learned my lesson NOT to sit on the bench. Also, they list on the menu “no substitutions” and for such a picky eater–that’s not really my thing, although I was very pleased with the service, food, price etc of the meal.

Belcourt
84 East 4th Street

My friends and I headed down to Tribeca to have a nice little dinner at Bubby’s. I had heard of it as more of a breakfast/brunch place but we decided to go for an early, after work dinner. It’s an adorable place, very comfortable, with lots of room. We were seated at a table that could have fit more than three of us but it was nice to have that space and not feel crowded-especially eating in a NYC restaurant.

Our waiter was extremely friendly-suggesting drinks and dishes to us. They had many options for side dishes and many of the entrees came with a choice of sides. We shared the Hot Artichoke Dip on sourdough which was absolutely delicious. Just the right amount of dip for the three of us to pick on before our meal. I was considering getting the Platter Of Grilled Vegetables but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be what I wanted and $17 for veggies seemed quite silly.

I’ve constantly been trying out different restaurants veggie burgers (get used to my veggie burger critiques! I’m really interested in finding THE best ones). I decided to order the Bubby’s Housemade Veggie Burger with caramelized onions (they give you the choice of different toppings-cheeses, veggies and such for $1 extra) and a side of Onion Straws. Unfortunately it didn’t do it for me. It was a bit too mushy-every time I went to take a bite, the burger fell apart. the onion straw were so fried, that I couldn’t tell you if there were even onions in it. My friends both enjoyed their meals of fish tacos and a turkey burger (highly recommended by the waiter).  After dinner, we felt we had to try the Chocolate Chip Cookie with vanilla ice cream. Cookie was heated up and delicious.

Overall, Bubby’s was a cute place, good service, but the food wasn’t excellent (atleast mine wasn’t!)

Bubby’s Pie Company
120 Hudson Street

I went to Fig & Olive with a few family members and had already picked out off the menu prior to going there, what I was going to eat. I shared the Tuscan Salad (prosciutto, parmesan, fresh ricotta basil pine nut tapenade, olive tapenade, marinated eggplant warm olive oil toasts, tomato, artichoke, arugula salad, fig balsamic vinegar – frantoio olive oil) which was delicious. Especially the fresh ricotta basil pine nut tapenade! For my entree I had the Penne Mediterraneo with shrimp, tomato, garlic, cilantro, scallion – spicy sundried tomato olive oil (without shrimp) and it was very delicious. Lots of flavors and yumminess. The food was very good.

Loved the ambiance of the restaurant, just a cool vibe (minus that in the 1 1/2 hours of being there, they changed the lighting THREE times, um, huge pet peeve). Two complaints. When we received our appetizers, we asked for extra plates (because there were 4 of us, we were sharing two salads) and they brought us bread plates. The waiters were very difficult to understand and didn’t seem to comprehend that we wanted a bigger plate. FINALLY after I had picked at the salad so much already, they brought other plates. Other complaints–the bathroom was upstairs. Why would people want to go to the bathroom UPSTAIRS (not just a few steps, a full staircase) when you’re eating downstairs? Just kinda inconvenient.

Again, food was very yummy (everyone else enjoyed their food as well) but there were definitely some drawbacks.

Fig & Olive
10 East 52nd Street

I first discovered Penelope when I was traveling (outside of the US) and my friend had a little matchbook notebook from Penelope when she needed to write some notes down. I was fascinated by the cuteness of the book (it’s the little things in life!) and immediately went when I returned from my travels and oh was it worth it. Cutest place ever. So homey. Very friendly, nice employees. There’s often a wait and they don’t take a reservation but I’ve never waited more than 15 minutes even during busy times (lunch!)

Everything they have LOOKS delicious, even the meat dishes I wouldn’t eat. I am obsessed with their veggie burger because it comes on an english muffin with pesto mayo and lettuce/tomato/onion and yummy fries. It’s simply deliciousness. After eating the veggie burger on a very regular basis I did find out some good/bad news. The veggie burgers are not homemade, but in fact they are, get ready for it, Morning Star. Now, it’s nice to know that I can go to the store and buy it whenever I want, but it doesn’t make it seem as special as I thought it was at Penelope. I try not to think about it, and enjoy it. 

I tried the spinach and artichoke dip and was salivating at the mouth. INCREDIBLE. I think the best ever. They provide you with different types of breads for dipping. The dip has breadcrumbs on the top and isn’t TOO cheesy or too artichokey or too spinachy–it’s just perfect. The food is reasonably priced and I just love this place. I can’t imagine ever getting sick of it.

Penelope
159 Lexington

Basel is one of the most expensive neighborhoods in Tel Aviv, well aside from Neve Tzedek of course so it’s easy to assume that all restaurants there are going to be extremely overpriced.

Not the case with Lulu. Cute cafe in Basel that is always busy with great food. I’ve been here for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it’s definitely the busiest on a Saturday afternoon when there’s a wait to get a table. When I first tried it, over two months ago, they told me they recently changed their menu and don’t have an up-to-date menu in English so that’s what friends are for–to translate!

I’ve had their quinoa with vegetables and really enjoyed it as it’s quite flavorful. When I first tried it, I finished the whole dish and my friends turned to me an said “You’re still hungry”, and they were correct. Although it was a decent portion, it didn’t have much to it–it wasn’t heavy and I was starving so I ended up eating some bread and butter. Wow, exciting.  I did take the risk of ordering it another time, but I was less starving so it was perfect for me. For breakfast I’ve had their challah french toast and it’s so delicious topped with syrup and fresh fruit. I think it was some of the best challah french toast that I’ve ever had.

The service is inconsistent. I’ve had waitresses that check in with us every few minutes to make sure everything is okay, and other times, they go completely missing and we’re left unattended. I enjoy this place and it’s ambiance, and sometimes its food and service…

Lulu
5 Alkelay Street