Last night we went to Craftbar located at 43 East 19th Street (off Broadway). This place had great ambiance. When Amber and I arrived we had to wait for our friends to get there so we decided to sit down for a quick cocktail. It was about normal for a beer and a glass of wine ($18) but then by the end of our meal, and after ordering the exact same drinks, we had paid $6 more. Something was fishy but then we didn't notice until well after we had left the restaurant for the night -dear reader, be aware!
The food was good too -it was excellent in fact! However, after receiving my meal I had to pause for a minute or two because I could have sworn that I had ordered ravioli. I couldn't see anything except for the sauce and its garnishes. After poking the meal a little bit with the fork and found that there was a piece or two of ravioli in it.
There were five pieces to be exact. Doing the math that's about $4 per piece of ravioli...it's all in the presentation right? If you listened really close you could have heard my stomach growling at the end of the meal. Over all the food tasted great but a little more quantity with the quality would have been a nice touch. The over all experience was VERY overpriced. You can check out the restaurant on the web at http://www.craftrestaurant.com/.
I finished up my meal with a cup of diner quality coffee. We've all tried Denny's coffee right? The coffee cost a mere three and one-half dollars American. After departing the restaurant we went to The Coffee Shop.
The Coffee Shop, located at 29 Union Square, is actually a very cool lounge. Hidden away in the bowels of the building it is one of New York's hidden jems. The DJ was really great even though as the night wore on the mix started shifting towards pure noise. Not to worry though because it was about one in the morning and that means that it was time to go.
The majority of online reviews for The Coffee Shop given by users give this place a lower rating for service but that seems to be for the restaurant on the main level. The lounge in the basement is something totally different and so it should be checked out at least once.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Spitzer's Corner
Last Thursday night I went to what I believe to be the ultimate beer bar. They offer a wide range of premium beer both on draft and in a bottle. They have no Bud Weiser and they have absolutely no mixed drinks. They do however have a small selection of wines. I wasn’t able to sample the food as I was too busy marveling over the selection of malt and barley goodness. The only negative so far was trying to close my bill once it was time to go. I could have easily left without paying the bill, but I do want to go back for a future visit. Yes, the place was that good. When my brother comes into town, he is in for a treat.
It is now time for a negative review. It is Restaurant Week here in NYC and so we decided to check out one of the featured restaurants. We were in the mood for steak so a little muse (me!) suggested a different place: BAD MUSE!
We arrived early to Angelo and Maxie’s and were seated promptly. It was about 5-minutes before anyone even came around to give us water, which we had to ask for. It was much too long of a wait in my mind as there was something like 20 waiters and waitresses all in little groups having their own little conversations. They were probably talking about how slow it was in there! The waiter got us our ice water and then he came back about 20 minutes later to get our order. This too was way too long as it was a prefix menu!
The prefix was $35 per person and we thought that it was cheap until we found out that we had to order the vegetables ala cart. This greatly increased the cost of the meal. Amber ordered the filet minion and I went with the New York Strip. When they brought out our food the first time they got my order wrong. They took it away to keep it warm until they corrected the. The food correction was done pretty quickly but when they brought it back, Amber’s food was cold! Needless to say they corrected that little mess-up by bringing out a totally new filet for her. Summed up, the food wasn’t that great. The bread had onions and garlic in it (dragon breath!) our spinach was bitter with way too much garlic (more dragon breath!) and our mushrooms were dry and over cooked. My steak was burned and amber’s filet, even after sending it back and getting a new one, was not at all up to par -that’s a nice way of saying really bad. Basically the restaurant is a tourist trap and not fit for consumption by New Yorkers.
More on the dragon breath: did you know that you cannot brush your stomach? It is now almost 24-hours later and the little lady wants to be nowhere near me. I’m breathing and sweating garlic and onions. Jerk anyone?
After completing our little restaurant we went to see the epic sequel ‘the Dark Knight Returns’. No spoilers follow! The script writing, though it had it’s moments, wasn’t as good as in the first one. The story didn’t have too many holes in it and then special effects were awesome! I think my favorite line in the movie was, “I’m going to make this pencil disappear!” The movie was really -go see it!
On Heath Ledger: Yes, it was very tragic that he died. It might have even been senseless. However, before he died nobody could have given two poops about when his next movie was coming out. Does anyone remember any of his movies after Brokeback Mountain? I thought so.
It is now time for a negative review. It is Restaurant Week here in NYC and so we decided to check out one of the featured restaurants. We were in the mood for steak so a little muse (me!) suggested a different place: BAD MUSE!
We arrived early to Angelo and Maxie’s and were seated promptly. It was about 5-minutes before anyone even came around to give us water, which we had to ask for. It was much too long of a wait in my mind as there was something like 20 waiters and waitresses all in little groups having their own little conversations. They were probably talking about how slow it was in there! The waiter got us our ice water and then he came back about 20 minutes later to get our order. This too was way too long as it was a prefix menu!
The prefix was $35 per person and we thought that it was cheap until we found out that we had to order the vegetables ala cart. This greatly increased the cost of the meal. Amber ordered the filet minion and I went with the New York Strip. When they brought out our food the first time they got my order wrong. They took it away to keep it warm until they corrected the. The food correction was done pretty quickly but when they brought it back, Amber’s food was cold! Needless to say they corrected that little mess-up by bringing out a totally new filet for her. Summed up, the food wasn’t that great. The bread had onions and garlic in it (dragon breath!) our spinach was bitter with way too much garlic (more dragon breath!) and our mushrooms were dry and over cooked. My steak was burned and amber’s filet, even after sending it back and getting a new one, was not at all up to par -that’s a nice way of saying really bad. Basically the restaurant is a tourist trap and not fit for consumption by New Yorkers.
More on the dragon breath: did you know that you cannot brush your stomach? It is now almost 24-hours later and the little lady wants to be nowhere near me. I’m breathing and sweating garlic and onions. Jerk anyone?
After completing our little restaurant we went to see the epic sequel ‘the Dark Knight Returns’. No spoilers follow! The script writing, though it had it’s moments, wasn’t as good as in the first one. The story didn’t have too many holes in it and then special effects were awesome! I think my favorite line in the movie was, “I’m going to make this pencil disappear!” The movie was really -go see it!
On Heath Ledger: Yes, it was very tragic that he died. It might have even been senseless. However, before he died nobody could have given two poops about when his next movie was coming out. Does anyone remember any of his movies after Brokeback Mountain? I thought so.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Fajitas con Tapas
Tonite was yet another night of festivities for Amber and myself. It started out at Volstead located at 125 E 54th St. Upon first walking in you are first greeted (sized up) by the doorman (aka bouncer) who then tells you to enjoy yourself. You walk down a flight of steps where you will find a very well designed venue. The cross dressing DJ BabyBlu greets you with his multitude of beats -think Clinger from television’s M.A.S.H. but with more style. The guy does a crazy mashup of old skool and and new skool. So check him out! On the negative side: the beer selection is horrible. Their menu says that they have Amstel Light, Budwiser, Heineken, Stella Artois, Heineken Light, Brooklyn Winter Ale and Smithwick's. Everytime I've been there however, they never seem to have the Brooklyn Winter Ale or the Smithwicks. I asked the waitress and she said that they were phasing out those beers. Poop. For you mixed drink folks on the other hand: Do not worry. They have all of the top (and for you “budget” minded types the bottom shelf) variety. At the end of the day though the place serves as a great place to unwind after a long hectic day. Their website is http://www.thevolstead.com/. Check them out.
At around 7:30PM Amber and I had to head out for her friend Nagina’s birthday dinner. The restaurant, called Yuca Cafe, featured a Latin American style cuisine. Someone in our dinner party asked for Fajitas and they were promptly told,
"No!" -they then settled for the strip steak. Amber ordered the Pechuga de pollo (chicken) and I had the Puerquito c u bano (pork). Both were delicious but mine tasted the best! As far as service they handled our large group of abotu 10 people very well. A great time had by all but Amber and I had to take off early as she had to do some work for the next day. Check out their website at http://www.yucabarnyc.com/.
Random thought time: have you ever been to a place that claims to be ‘authentic’ Mexican but then you find that they don't have Fajitas? What kind of a Mexican restaurant doesn’t serve Fajitas? It sounds Mexican doesn’t it? Is it kind of like Chop Suey being authentic Chinese or Pizza actually being an Italian creation? I’ll have to look into that...I’ll get right on it...
Happy Birthday Nagina!
At around 7:30PM Amber and I had to head out for her friend Nagina’s birthday dinner. The restaurant, called Yuca Cafe, featured a Latin American style cuisine. Someone in our dinner party asked for Fajitas and they were promptly told,
"No!" -they then settled for the strip steak. Amber ordered the Pechuga de pollo (chicken) and I had the Puerquito c u bano (pork). Both were delicious but mine tasted the best! As far as service they handled our large group of abotu 10 people very well. A great time had by all but Amber and I had to take off early as she had to do some work for the next day. Check out their website at http://www.yucabarnyc.com/.
Random thought time: have you ever been to a place that claims to be ‘authentic’ Mexican but then you find that they don't have Fajitas? What kind of a Mexican restaurant doesn’t serve Fajitas? It sounds Mexican doesn’t it? Is it kind of like Chop Suey being authentic Chinese or Pizza actually being an Italian creation? I’ll have to look into that...I’ll get right on it...
Happy Birthday Nagina!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Friend or Foe?
What is it about Facebook that makes it a part of the greatest (and the worst) cultural evolutions ever? It isn't the first but it definitely is more...refined(?) It's a confusing maze of a thought actually. It is refined but then the question needs to be asked: Is that 'refined' in a positive or a negative context?
Facebook was originally a method of staying in touch with your friends and then all of a sudden there was this natural evolution. People that you used to know in high school, people with whom you wouldn't associate with (and vice versa) suddenly wanted to be your 'friend'. The request shows up one day in your e-mail inbox for you to 'Confirm' and then (BAM!) you become friend number 1,024 and the friend requester becomes a part of the spam mail problem. News of their new found friendship is sent out to all of their 1,023 other friends and then suddenly they all want to be your friend and the process starts new. More Spam please!
If you have ever wanted to safely poke, hug, pinch, or buy a shot for someone without any reprocussions then you are in luck because you can do that too. So go for it because you know you want to! Not to worry because the e-mail will be sent to everyone.
Next delema: With the spam issue put to the side, all of this poking and pinching is filling up your e-mail box. Who has the time to keep up with the pokes and the tugs? Given that we are all model citizens so that means that we all have day jobs. Just trying to keep a blog relatively up-to-date is hard enough...
It is best left to the user make a 'friend or foe' decision on Facebook. In the meantime, I just got a new friend request...
Facebook was originally a method of staying in touch with your friends and then all of a sudden there was this natural evolution. People that you used to know in high school, people with whom you wouldn't associate with (and vice versa) suddenly wanted to be your 'friend'. The request shows up one day in your e-mail inbox for you to 'Confirm' and then (BAM!) you become friend number 1,024 and the friend requester becomes a part of the spam mail problem. News of their new found friendship is sent out to all of their 1,023 other friends and then suddenly they all want to be your friend and the process starts new. More Spam please!
If you have ever wanted to safely poke, hug, pinch, or buy a shot for someone without any reprocussions then you are in luck because you can do that too. So go for it because you know you want to! Not to worry because the e-mail will be sent to everyone.
Next delema: With the spam issue put to the side, all of this poking and pinching is filling up your e-mail box. Who has the time to keep up with the pokes and the tugs? Given that we are all model citizens so that means that we all have day jobs. Just trying to keep a blog relatively up-to-date is hard enough...
It is best left to the user make a 'friend or foe' decision on Facebook. In the meantime, I just got a new friend request...
Monday, July 14, 2008
Thurgood
A few weeks ago, Amber's friend Karen came out to NYC for a visit. She was a taking a break from the grind of Washington, DC.
During her visit we checked out a play written by George Stevens Jr.'s called Thurgood. It was a one man show featuring Laurence Fishburne (from the Matrix and Death Wish II). It was limited showing at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th St) The play was about Thurgood Marshall's life from the starting from the streets of Baltimore to the halls of the US Supreme court. I thought that it was a truely great show. I found myself 'uh-huhing' and 'ah-hooing' with the audience from start to finish.
Thanks to Karen for treating us to a great and enlightening show.
During her visit we checked out a play written by George Stevens Jr.'s called Thurgood. It was a one man show featuring Laurence Fishburne (from the Matrix and Death Wish II). It was limited showing at the Booth Theatre (222 West 45th St) The play was about Thurgood Marshall's life from the starting from the streets of Baltimore to the halls of the US Supreme court. I thought that it was a truely great show. I found myself 'uh-huhing' and 'ah-hooing' with the audience from start to finish.
Thanks to Karen for treating us to a great and enlightening show.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Maggie Brown
Today Amber and I had to move our brunching activities up by a day as we will be busy tomorrow trying to get her mother back to New Jersey so that she can catch her bus back to D-Rock. This weekend's brunching activity was to Maggie Brown.
Maggie Brown is a converted ground floor of a brownstone. You walk in and it is nothing but atmosphere. They are trying to go for a relaxed old world style. They key to this place is all in the details. All of the wine glasses are in different shaped glasses though we were assured that they are all the same size glass. When we noticed that the glasses were different sizes we were compensated with some complementary OJ just to make sure. The bartender got a nice little tip for her trouble.
Breakfast was great. I had an Omlette with Spinach, mushrooms, and Brie complemented with salad and home fries. The salad had a raspberry dressing on it. Now that I think about it the jelly that they had for the biscuits was raspberry. Even their butter was raspberry flavored. I guess that you could say they they restaurant had a raspberry theme. Amber had French Toast that was topped with kiwi and strawberries. Amber thought that the French Toast was pretty mediocre; it was pretty bland actually. Amber's mother had Buttermilk Pancakes and a side of chicken sausage (very classically split down the middle and topped with parsley). Check out location details at http://www.maggiebrownrestaurant.com/.
Maggie Brown is a converted ground floor of a brownstone. You walk in and it is nothing but atmosphere. They are trying to go for a relaxed old world style. They key to this place is all in the details. All of the wine glasses are in different shaped glasses though we were assured that they are all the same size glass. When we noticed that the glasses were different sizes we were compensated with some complementary OJ just to make sure. The bartender got a nice little tip for her trouble.
Breakfast was great. I had an Omlette with Spinach, mushrooms, and Brie complemented with salad and home fries. The salad had a raspberry dressing on it. Now that I think about it the jelly that they had for the biscuits was raspberry. Even their butter was raspberry flavored. I guess that you could say they they restaurant had a raspberry theme. Amber had French Toast that was topped with kiwi and strawberries. Amber thought that the French Toast was pretty mediocre; it was pretty bland actually. Amber's mother had Buttermilk Pancakes and a side of chicken sausage (very classically split down the middle and topped with parsley). Check out location details at http://www.maggiebrownrestaurant.com/.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Moving the Car
As of yesterday and I have exactly three weeks until my GMAT. Tomorrow is my last last Manhattan GMAT class. Yesterday I was sitting in my car waiting for it to be 10:00 so that I can go upstairs to the a-p-t and complete yet another GMAT practice exam. It was my second practice exam that I scored only slightly better on from the first one. It's improvement. Tomorrow AM I will be taking my third and then it will be time to lay off for a few days to do some exercises from the question Manhattan GMAT question bank.
Looking at my watch I could see that I still had another four minutes until 10 so it was time for a rant...
The guy across the street next to me is sitting in his Ford Explorer listening to a reggae-rap mix. I have no clue of what it is. It sounds like a mix of Bob Marley with some Jazzy Jeff. People are driving by me as they are looking for a parking spot. They see me sitting in here and slowly come to a stop. There is the wave through the closed window very articulately mouthing, "Are you leaving?" I then mouth a very articulated, "No," and then they drive on. Parking cars has become somewhat of a challenge because they are resurfacing the perfectly find street. Correction it was a perfectly fine street until they scrapped the living poopies out of it.
Looking at my watch I could see that I still had another four minutes until 10 so it was time for a rant...
The guy across the street next to me is sitting in his Ford Explorer listening to a reggae-rap mix. I have no clue of what it is. It sounds like a mix of Bob Marley with some Jazzy Jeff. People are driving by me as they are looking for a parking spot. They see me sitting in here and slowly come to a stop. There is the wave through the closed window very articulately mouthing, "Are you leaving?" I then mouth a very articulated, "No," and then they drive on. Parking cars has become somewhat of a challenge because they are resurfacing the perfectly find street. Correction it was a perfectly fine street until they scrapped the living poopies out of it.
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