restaurant review Archives - Page 14 of 28

There is nothing better than an evening of beer and delicious food after a long run.

After a relaxing afternoon with Bo, we headed over to the Galway Hooker to meet Theodora and Tina for a drink.

Luckily, the bar was pretty empty, so we were able to snag a booth and hear ourselves talk without having to scream. This is a rare find in New York City during football season so we were all pleasantly surprised!

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Per Theodora and Tina’s suggestion, I started with Sam Adams Octoberfest since the bar was lacking on pumpkin beer selections.

It was absolutely delicious! Drinking regular beers is still a very novel idea for me as I used to be the “light beer” girl who would never fathom drinking a full, malty beer. This beer was malty with a little bit of spice, luckily lacking on the hop flavor that I don’t normally like. This may become my go to beer this season since Sam Adams is normally available in most bars.

After a round of drinks and lots of laughter, we headed downtown to meet Gabriella, Rebecca, and Clare at BLT Fish Shack. Even though this is one of our favorite spots in Flatiron, we hadn’t been to BLT Fish Shack since our Memorial Day weekend date night.

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Bo saw on Twitter that BLT Fish Shack was celebrating NYC Beer Week with a special prix-fixe beer paired menu for $40! I quickly sent the suggestion to Theodora and Tina, originally hoping we could go Friday night before I left for Philadelphia. Luckily the stars aligned and we were able to enjoy the evening together last night!

Upon arriving, we were quickly seated towards the back of the restaurant. Luckily, unlike many NYC restaurants, they were willing to seat us even though only 6 of the 7 people had arrived. This is just one of the many ways the service out did their self last night.

I love the Shack’s cute decor details such as the lobster placemats and dish rag napkins.

Within minutes of sitting down, our waitress graced our table with their famous garlic cheese bread. It’s easy to enjoy too much of this bread at one sitting as it’s so delicious. Luckily, I was forced to share last night and therefore limited myself to only one piece.

Bo was craving raw bar and quickly asked the group if anyone could help him enjoy some oysters, clams, and shrimp. Clearly we were all more than happy to oblige his request but were taken by surprise when the large seafood tower was presented!

The shrimp were absolutely divine and could have been a meal alone!

Everyone except for Bo chose the pre-fixe special for their meal since it was such a great deal and most of the items aren’t regularly on the menu.

The first round of beers were delivered to our table within seconds of us ordering!

Our first course was a rich but delicious corn & crab chowder, paired with Blue Point Toasted Lager. This was my favorite beer of the night, going down very smooth and paired perfectly with the rich soup. The chowder was delicious but the crispy bread, especially when dipped in the chowder, was the real winner. I only finished 1/3 or so of the bowl since I knew I still had two more courses coming.

The second course included tempura fried branzino served atop braised Swiss chard and lemon jalapeno aioli paired with Lagunitas IPA. Now I know why I stick to grilled or broiled fish. While the tempura was quite as heavy as other fried options, it really took away from the flavor and was too heavy to enjoy the whole serving. The Swiss chard was delicious however and thoroughly enjoyed!

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The final course of the evening was my least favorite unfortunately. I was excited for donuts when I saw it on the menu but disappointed to find that they were churros instead. Furthermore, the final beer was Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout, a very heavy beer that I could barely swallow. The rest of the ladies were very excited to happily pass my bottle around to share.

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The conversation flowed just as easily as the beers all night long! In fact, we may have hazed Tina at one point in the evening tempting her to double fist in true champ style!

Such a great time with wonderful food and wonderful ladies, plus Bo! He was a true champ!

After dinner I went to a friend’s house for a farewell to summer party but was in bed passed out by midnight! Beer+heavy foods+long runs=exhausted Ashley!

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After yesterday’s awesome VITALITY workout session that I hosted with my personal trainer and Equinox, we headed over to Beecher’s Cellar for their happy hour special!

We were all amazed by the Cellar’s decor and atmosphere! It is a small space, probably able to fit around 85-100 people, but lit with warm candles throughout. Featuring a full bar, cow hide covered booth seats, and benches made out of the original building.

Our service last night was wonderful and their happy hour specials were the best deal I’ve seen in ages!

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It was wonderful to catch up with some of the VITALITY class attendees afterwards in a non workout based setting. It was actually the first time I’ve seen many of these ladies in anything other than ponytails and workout gear. Randomly, my trainer, Lauren, and I both brought white tops and skinny dark jeans to change into for the happy hour!

After the happy hour Bo and I headed downtown for dinner with a few of our friends. I’ve been craving Mexican all week so was thrilled when we were able to snag reservations at Mole Mexican Bar & Grill, a small Mexican restaurant on Jane Street we’d passed by many times before. Believe it or not, it’s quite difficult to find authentic Mexican food in New York City, beyond Rosa Mexicana and Dos Caminos.

The food and drinks were absolutely what we wanted! The drink menu was an extensive, including plenty of tequila based drinks beyond margaritas. I started with a tequila and grapefruit cocktail which was delicious. But, their margaritas were the real show stopper. It even came with red pepper infused salt!

The space, while tiny, had a wonderful energy including Mexican music! The staff was also very friendly and helpful even though they were jam packed last night.

After studying the menu for what seemed like ages, I finally decided to go with my old favorite, a quesadilla. I used to order a veggie quesadilla every Friday night when my sorority sisters and I went out for Friday night dinners.

Last night’s quesadilla was enormous! I was only able to eat half of it but every piece was vegetable filled and dripping with gooey cheese.

It was a fun night that continued at Hotel Griffou until I finally called it a night when I was close to falling asleep on their comfortable velvet couch. On my way out, I passed a familiar looking guy and within seconds did a double take to realize it was John Mayer. He definitely looks nothing like he used to when I spent evenings listening to Room for Squares on repeat each night of freshman year.

THEN NOW

The wine, tequila, and double workout, while fun, left me exhausted. I slept in until 10am this morning, missing the yoga class I had hoped to attend.

All was not lost though, because this week’s pancake breakfast was even better than last weeks! I took a note from Meghann’s book and topped the whole wheat pancakes with peaches and bananas!

This was the perfect fuel for a three mile recovery run and shopping in Columbus Circle.

The short day flew by and I can’t believe it’s already 6pm! I’m currently curled up in my new pair of CEW recovery socks, silk pajama bottoms, and my favorite hoody while enjoying amazing fall scents from new candles and sipping on a lovely glass of wine. This my friends is going to be the perfect Sunday evening!

Question: Tell me, are you a pumpkin lover or hater? I find it so amusing that people are so passionate about this topic. If you love it, what’s your favorite pumpkin thing and if you hate it, what’s your favorite fall food?

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After work yesterday, Bo and I finally did what we’ve wanted to do for a while: date night!

Jean-George Vongerichten’s 8th restaurant in the city, Perry Street is a very sleek and minimalistic restaurant which includes minimal ornamentation such as simple hanging lights. However, the comfort of the wood tables and the soft white colors also made me feel like we were in someone’s living room. You can tell, as soon as you enter, that it was designed by Richard Meier, the same architect who designed the parent building in which it’s located.

Located at Perry Street and West Side Highway, the restaurant’s window front also provides amazing sunset views!

We decided to start with cocktails instead of wine for a fun change of pace.

The Thyme Lemonade cocktail was refreshing and a not too sweet take on the traditional lemonade. The Citron Vodka was mixed with club soda and a lemon thyme syrup, resulting in a delicious cocktail which went down far too quickly.

We were in no mood to rush and therefore decided to split a small appetizer between us before ordering our appetizers and main course.

The chilled Peekytoe crab salad did not disappoint! Unlike any crab salad I’ve ever had, it was topped with fresh summer vegetables, crisp to the bite, and a champagne mango vinaigrette. The smooth crab flavor against the fresh, crisp vegetables left me craving more than just a small plate portion!

We followed our waiter’s appetizer recommendation for the appetizer course. Tuna is one of my favorite fish, whether grilled or served sashimi style, so I knew I couldn’t resist their signature dish, rice cracker crusted tuna. On the menu since opening day, this dish was served with a Siracha emulsion which was perfect for dipping.

Always a sucker for sweet breads, Bo ordered the appetizer special which was a summer take on sweet breads, paired with freshly grilled peaches and a Siracha glaze. I don’t care for sweet bread so can’t directly speak to their flavor but I know Bo loved them!

Choosing a main course was a more difficult task as many items sounded wonderful, especially the fish dishes!

I finally decided on the pistachio grilled cod accompanied with summer vegetables and chanterelle mushrooms. Unfortunately, the dish was lacking flavor though the cod was cooked perfectly.

Bo’s chicken was the real winner of the evening as it was a creative and perfectly executed spin on the southern classic, fried chicken with creamed corn. One boneless breast and one boneless thigh were served with rich creamed corn that was perfectly seasoned. The chicken also came with an interesting scotch bonnet hot sauce which enhanced the flavor even more by contrasting the creaminess of the corn. Bo thought that it was one of the best dishes that he’s had in a while.

The service continued to amaze us through the final portion of the meal, a complimentary serving of strawberry French style macarons. I personally don’t care for these one bit. I’ll take a coconut macaroon over a macaron any day if I have my choice. But, according to Bo, who loves all things French, these were soft and delicious with a subtle sweet strawberry flavor.

Overall, we were both very pleased with the service and meal. While I’m not sure we would go again, as there are so many restaurants in New York City, I would recommend it to anyone. The sunset views and friendly service made the atmosphere more relaxed than stuffy. The dishes were all very reasonably priced for New York City, especially the main courses.

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BLT Fish Shack: Fifteen Bottles of Beer

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