Fast, Cheap Lo Mein...Oh And Did I Say Cheap?

Fast and cheap are words that are becoming taboo in the food service industry. Those two words have always been associated with food that is really terrible for us and probably in the long run makes us ill. As much as I agree with that statement I also know that there can still be fast and cheap food that is high quality. Now no one would associate high quality with a fast food Chinese restaurant which of course I also agree, but really it's all about what you order. The other day, a little light in the wallet and hungry for some Chinese, I walked in to Lin's Chinese Restaurant, if you can really call it that. It is the typical take out Chinese shop that you can find all over the city and usually the food isn't that great...but it's cheap and fast! Anyway the key at these places is to stay away from all the Fried foods that they specialize in. Stick to the basics. White or Brown Rice (Sometimes you have to ask for the Brown if it's not on the menu) with Vegetables and Chicken. Noodle dishes are simple and often good. Steer clear of the Soups and the Fried Rice, too much salt and often not very good. So I decided on the Roast Pork Lo Mein which for a small order was $4.75 and well within my budget for the day. In and outta there in under 15 minutes. When I got it back to work I was surprised by the amount of food that I received and immediately knew it would fill me up. It was actually pretty good too and I almost couldn't finish it all either. If you must, Lin's Chinese Restaurant is at 32 East 23rd Street, I don't necessarily recommend it.

Fashion's Night Out Was A Filling One At Work

Last Friday, September 10th, New York City was abuzz with fashion as everyone was out late shopping for clothes. What did that mean for me? Other than having trouble navigating the streets of SoHo because there were too many damn people, not really much accept for a lovely dinner at my jobs downtown location. Now I don't work in fashion, I work for a furniture company, but we decided to participate in the festivities and kept the store open until 11pm. So to reward ourselves we ordered out for dinner and we ordered from one of my favorites, La Esquina. After looking at all the delicious choices I finally narrowed it down to Pork or Chicken, finally deciding on the Pollo Asado or Roasted Chicken. The dish came with White Rice, Black Beans, Cooked Onions, Tomato Salsa, Avocado with some White Cheese crumbled on top. Thinking I needed a side I ordered the Yucca Fritas or Yucca Fries which I thought would be a nice crunch with my meal. We also got a couple Elotes Callejeros which is Grilled Corn on a stick, mucho delicioso! So with much anticipation we sat in the showroom and waited for the delivery man who we assumed would be slowed by all the throngs of fashionistas littering the streets...so I had some beer. And then I had another one, let's just say it was a long wait. Anyway he finally showed up and it was time to eat. However once we spread everything out on the table it seemed as if something was missing. My Yucca Fritas! I was so looking forward to them. The fact was that when we placed the order over the phone the girl taking the order wasn't exactly totally fluent in English and probably didn't understand. Now I know it's a Mexican restaurant in a city that has a lot of Spanish speaking residents, but the last time I checked it was still the U.S. and English is our first language. This is not my rallying cry for or against immigration laws, that is not my issue. My concern here is for my stomach and how it would be unfulfilled without the delectable Yucca Fritas. Actually in all seriousness you gotta have a competent person answering your phones, and when I say competent I mean someone who fully understands the orders coming in, that means that they understand English first. It's really not that hard. Oh well, I digress. Saddled with an empty feeling in my belly I started in on the rest of my meal. As always it was extremely delicious as I couldn't have been more satisfied with the Pollo Asado. I polished off an Elotes Callejeros (Ear of Corn) in between forkfuls of Chicken, Rice and Beans, but I still felt like I needed something more. Luckily my colleague had asked for an order of Maduros (Sweet Plantains) and had actually gotten them...lucky bastard, so I scooped up a couple and man were they good. Overall I was very happy with all the food...that I received, it's always good at La Esquina and I will forgive their hapless phone order taker. Next time I will just have to ask her to repeat what I asked for. La Esquina is located at 114 Kenmare Street, just a block and a half from Spring Street.

Vanessa's Dumplings: I'm Addicted, It's A Problem

Of course I am not serious, it's never a problem to be addicted to amazingly good dumplings! They are just so good, and cheap to boot. It's not too often that I can be satisfied only eating an appetizer and I certainly  could have eaten a whole bunch more food but that simply isn't practical. I have to watch my figure you know. What else can I say? They were filled with Pork and Chives. They were steamed and then fried. There is something that I must mention and it has to do with the sauce. The one thing you can't have enough of is Dumpling sauce. Too little and you are just eating a bunch of dry Dumplings, good as they may be, they still need the lubricant (appropriate word?...whateva). At Vanessa's they gave me two of their cups of sauce and I was plenty happy. I poured one over the top and then used the other for dipping, pure freakin' Dumpling bliss. I know I have mentioned it before but Vanessa's Dumplings is located on 14th Street between 2nd and 3rd, closer to 3rd. Go, right now!

I Just Drank The City's Greatest Coffee, At Least That's What They Told Me

There it is. New York City's best cup of coffee from Cafe Prague on 19th Street just off of 5th Avenue. Honestly I felt really honored to drink it...but when I finished I felt a bit hollow like maybe they lied to me or something. How would I know if they were lying or not, I mean if they said it was the best it must be the best, right? Little did I know that many restaurants think they have the best coffee in the city, or the best pie, burgers, sandwiches, lobster, etc. You name it, somebody is claiming to have the best of something. So now suddenly intrigued, I went off in search of a few places in the city making similar claims to find out if in fact their boasts were true and to see if there was anyway possible for me to substantiate the claims.

First up on my trek was Brgr, a burger joint at 287 7th Avenue which has posted on their front window that they were voted to have the best shake in NYC...in fact I found out that they were also voted to have the best burgers in the city as well...back in 2007. So 3 long years ago the New York Post claimed that Brgr had the best burgers in the city and New York Magazine, also back in 2007, claimed that they had the best shakes in the city. Ummm...so that means for the last three years other restaurants have been voted to have better shakes and burgers thus making their claim seem a bit untrue. Besides it's not as if there was actually a vote anyway, a couple of critic's at the Post and NY Mag don't speak for the entire population of the city anyway. Letter to Brgr...time to take down the no longer true statement on your window please, it's a bit misleading.

Live lobsters now showing all night! Next up was Francisco's Centro Vasco restaurant on 23rd between 6th and 7th Ave's that claims on their sign that they are NYC #1, whatever that means. What caught my attention here was when I walked past the place it smelled really bad outside...gross. So no longer able handle it I went to their website where they claim to be NYC's #1 Lobster House, which I could not substantiate any further, but from all the reviews I read maybe they are. They really have to do something about that smell though cause that #1 is smelling a lot like #2...

On to Lindy's near Madison Square Garden, where you are bombarded with all kinds of signs and advertisments, it's a wonder I could even concentrate. On their front awning Lindy's claims to have world famous Cheesecake, but they didn't say they were the best. Is that any better? Now world famous doesn't exactly tell you if it's any good at all, maybe it's world famous for the amount of people that it has made sick and throw-up? Maybe some dude on business from Japan stopped in once for a slice and said it was good...does that make it world famous? The world may never know.

D'aiuto's over on 8th avenue suggests that their Cheesecake is the best on Earth, forget being world famous the best on Earth is the best! Whatever happened to being the best in the city? Not good enough for you? Seems as if neither of these last 2 establishments wants to claim their Cheesecake to be the best in NYC because they both know that Junior's makes the best Cheesecake in New York...even if I prefer traditional Italian Cheesecake over it (it's made with Ricotta Cheese not the usual Cream Cheese, way better). These vague boasts are even harder to decifer since it's almost impossible to find out the truth, therefore they are free to claim whatever they want even if they think they have the best Cheesecake on Mars...who knew?

So you are saying that it's Bleecker Street Pizza then? Stop being so passive aggressive! Guess that means I gotta give their pizza a try, but again this is just one opinion and not a true indication of the actual best pizza in the city. I can only imagine how hard it would be to figure that one out...I just know that my favorite is Joe's on Carmine Street. The best pizza in NYC is like trying to find out who has the best white rice in China. Never gonna happen.

Of course I could go on and on with places claiming to be the best in the city, or the world if you must, but that would be the longest blog ever. Overall I don't really have a problem with places claiming to be the best because that only gives me reason to give them a try...oh wait, I guess that's what they are going for huh? However the point is living up to your braggadacio (bragging for the layman) after luring in the customers to your establishment and not just having it be a sign on your window. Who am I to say anyway...I'm only the best food bloogger in the city and perhaps even the world (completely untrue and totally fabricated for effect).

Rafiqi's Street Cart In Union Square: Street Food Done Tasty

There are food trucks and food carts littered accross the city of New York devised to service the fast paced nature of all who work here. For years I believed that the food on the street only consisted of Hot Dogs and Pretzels and it was only something you ate in a pinch or at a ballgame. These days however it is a complete food movement causing major rumbles in the food service industry, some like it, some don't but I for one am an ardent supporter. The fast paced nature of the food doesn't have to mean crappy food and from what I have seen a lot of the carts and trucks offer good quality, sometimes even better than some restaurants. Now I am not sure I would call Rafiqi's Middle Eastern Food Cart in Union Square high quality fare but in a pinch it sure is some delicious food and all for only about $5 bucks. I'm a Chicken and Lamb combo kind of guy with Yellow Rice, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Onions, Cheese and White Sauce (I am not sure what this sauce is but it's a necessity here). Often times there is a line of about 4 or 5 deep awaiting to be served but it moves so quickly that you don't even notice the wait. I do caution anyone from eating this food more than once a week since I have had experience in this area and don't recommend it, in fact it's probably better suited to once a month.

Lunch With The Boss At Maxie's Bar & Grill

Now I know what you are thinking, my boss shows up unannounced and says he wants to take me to lunch in a crowded restaurant where I won't make a scene right? Well ease your fears and relax, he didn't take me there to fire me or well...maybe he just changed his mind over a really good Grilled Chicken sandwich. I don't care which it is because I'm still employed and the sandwich was really good too. When the two of us head out to lunch he always leaves it to me to choose our destination and lately I have been running out of suggestions...not really of course but I feel funny always picking the place. So as we stood outside momentarily pausing as I racked my brain, a strong wind blew the scent of burgers into my nose and I decided on Maxie's Bar & Grill which makes some of the finest meat patties in the city. Of course that meant we would both order Grilled Chicken sandwiches. The burgers certainly all looked good on the menu, even the coffee burger sounded intriguing, but I just felt like eating a piece of chicken. I chose the aforementioned Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Lettuce, Roasted Red Pepper, Fresh Mozzarella and an extra delicious Chipotle Mayo. I also changed from regular fries to Sweet Potato Fries as my side order, which is always the smart choice. My boss then copied my order, sans Sweet Potato Fries (just the regular fries), but also added on some Beer Battered Onion Rings which he implored me to share, not a hard thing to do. Out quicker than I expected, the sandwiches looked amazing, so I dove right in first plucking the Half-Sour Pickle for a taste. Really good. I spread on some of the Mayo and took my first bite of the sandwich which was really huge in my hands and almost impossible keep together. First let me just say that Fresh Mozzarella on any sandiwch is a huge plus in my book and automatically makes the enjoyment that much better. Unfortunately I was completely distracted by my boss dismantling the sandwich, tossing aside the wonderful roll for no apparrent reason other than he said it was just too big. Whimp. Then I wondered why the f**k did he order the damn Onion Rings for? Back to my meal. The Sweet Potato Fries were just that, sweet and I plowed thru them like a tractor occasionally dipping them in the Chipotle Mayo. Highly recommended. At the completion of the meal it was truly a tale of two eaters...mine practically finished and my boss' half eaten, what a waste. Now you might think that I felt like a pig at that moment but all I could feel was pity because he seemed like he couldn't enjoy the meal. Could it have been the company? Maybe I am a boring partner only concered with taking a photo of his meal and blogging about it. Sounds cool doesn't it. Maxie's Bar & Grill is technically located at 233 Park Avenue South but is actually around the corner on 19th Street. The main restaurant, Angelo and Maxie's Steakhouse, is on Park.

Hey Pluck You! A Dry Grilled Chicken Sandwich For Lunch

That's it, right there...dry like a walk in the desert. And it wasn't so much what they put on the sandwich, or what they didn't, but the Chicken itself was completely robbed of any moisture altogether! Ok I am being a bit dramatic but at least I was trying to be a bit healthier in not ordering a deep fried hunk of bird that probably would have tasted 10 times better. Anyway the other day I was making my way thru the village when I happened upon Pluck U at 230 Thompson, between 3rd and Bleecker. So I stopped in because I was hungry and it looked interesting. Well it wasn't. I immediately regretted walking into the establishment because it didn't look or smell too appetizing on the inside, but I didn't want to be too judgemental. I'd certainly heard of or seen one of these places before with 5 locations in the city, so I assumed that it couldn't be that bad. I guess it wasn't really that bad, I mean it did have some flavor but they just simply overcooked the Chicken, plus there was way too much roll. They cheaped a bit on the bird which after eating it wasn't such a bad thing. I also ordered a small cup of Potato Salad thinking that I needed a little side or something. You are pretty much taking a chance ordering Potato Salad at certain joints, it all depends on whether the place makes it themselves or buys it pre-made. This was pre-made and it was gross, I should have known better. Overall not the best experience and a place I won't be visiting anytime soon. Sorry Pluck U.