The contenders:

Mabel made a batch of chocolate macarons and I was lucky enough to get one when we had dim sum in Oakland. I thought the texture was just about perfect aside from a little bit of coarseness in the almond flour (hard to get perfect when you grind them yourself!), and I loved the ganache filling.

I picked up three macarons from Tafu in the Doubletree Midtown while I was in New York. This was the only macaron on my food list this time, though I have tried macarons at Bouchon, Tartine, and La Maison du Chocolat on a previous trip. The only one that wowed me was the Tartine one, and that was at least partly due to its enormousness (six inches across!). I chose chocolate strawberry, chocolate hazelnut, and coffee. Lillie immediately pointed out that they were not uniform in size. But I didn’t care so much about that, because the flavor was the important part.

We carefully split each cookie in half. I have to say, I felt like Goldilocks, because:
The chocolate hazelnut was too dry & far too chewy.
The chocolate strawberry was too wet.
The coffee one was just right in texture, but the flavor was off.
I think my mistake was in getting the macarons from the tea shop. I should have only tried them if I could get them fresh. Oh well. Another trip, perhaps. I’m going to try and make time to get over to Paulette’s Macarons in Hayes Valley.

Result? Mabel FTW!

I had been hearing stories about this mysterious chicken & rice cart in midtown. Thanks to Midtown Lunch, I knew that the famous one sits at the SW corner of 53rd St. and 6th Ave., BUT a cart run by the same people is at the SE corner during the day. I walked past the cart, looking for the crucial components:
1) yellow bag
2) orange rice
3) white sauce in oval containers
4) hot sauce in tiny round containers
Check, check, check, CHECK!

There was no line, so I got my order in about 15 seconds. Mix plate: lamb, chicken, rice, lettuce, pita, white sauce, hot sauce on the side. It smelled amazing, and only cost $6. A bargain!

I took it back to my hotel and dug in. I was worried that the meat would be dry since I wasn’t there at a peak time and I could see the piles of food just sitting on the griddle. Whatever they marinate in, it works. The meat was delicious, though I preferred the chicken to the lamb. The white sauce bound the rice meat, and lettuce together and elevated the combination. I tried a little of the hot sauce, just dipping the tips of the tines of my fork into the fiery red stuff, but even when taken with a big bite of chicken and rice, it blew my socks off.

Overall impressions?
food 4.5 I wish the lamb was cut into larger chunks like the chicken. I also wanted more pita bread.
ambience 2 There really isn’t any. It’s a big clean cart as these things go, and there is a wide stone bench thing where you can sit and enjoy your food. Most of their business probably just goes right upstairs to an office.
why I’d go back? It’s delicious, cheap food. Also, for those of you scared of street meat, I had no issues with it.

Two weeks before we arrived in NY Lupe & I were discussing what we’d like to do. She suggested Le Bernardin, after seeing the Top Chef episode multiple times. I snagged a lunch reservation on Open Table and voila! Our fine dining experience was set!

We were so full from Shopsin’s that we spent an hour wandering Midtown and Rockefeller Center, fervently praying that our stomachs would digest the food and we would feel less full by the time our reservation for Le Bernardin rolled around. It…worked? At least, when we were seated I didn’t feel grossed out by the idea of eating another meal.

The service was a little odd to start. They brought the wine list and waited for us to order wine…but had not yet brought us menus. We weren’t sure what to do, so we obediently selected a wine. Well, Lupe did. It was a nice Riesling that we could sort of afford. Then we sat. For about 20 minutes. Midway through our waiting they brought us an amuse of chopped salmon/smoked salmon/chives/mayonnaise = salmon rillette = AWESOME with toast, so we munched, and waited. FINALLY a server brought us menus. The menu is seafood seafood seafood. They do offer a pasta, a lamb, and a Kobe beef dish ($150 surcharge), but come on! Seafood is awesome, and don’t waste a visit to Le Bernardin with someone who doesn’t like it.



The bread basket was brought over containing olive rolls, rosemary breadsticks, and parker house rolls. I was disappointed by the cold bread and hard butter. But I guess not everything can be perfect.

I had been eying the crab stuffed zucchini blossoms but that was the first dish the server told us had been changed. Instead, it was made with shaved cauliflower and a mustard-creme fraiche sauce. I was a little disappointed, but stuck with the crab anyway. Le Bernardin is very big on the “present the dish and pour the sauce(s) tableside” concept so that repeated for everything we ordered. The crab was fresh and sweet, and the mustard in the sauce added just a little kick to each bite. I didn’t like the raw cauliflower shavings on top though. I think I would have liked it more had they been roasted or even just blanched.

Lupe chose the calamari, which looked like a strange flower in the dish. I have never in my life tasted such tender calamari. It was amazing. Each piece was filled with chopped sweet shrimp and shitake mushrooms, and the entire dish was covered in a broth echoing the flavors of the filling.

When we considered main dishes I really wanted the escolar, which was Carla’s dish on TC, and actually an appetizer, but it was not available at all that day. =( I ended up with the striped bass and langoustine with tomato agnolotti in a bouillabaisse consomme and curry emulsion. The fish was very simply cooked, and flaked perfectly. When I read the menu description I was afraid the flavors would be too busy and clash but the opposite was true. I found myself wishing for some salt. The bass was impeccably fresh though, and the langoustine was excellent. We also liked the agnolotti – like mini ravioli – filled with fresh tomato.

Lupe chose the bread crusted red snapper with tomato basil consomme and zucchini puree. This was Fabio’s dish on the TC episode. It was really good. I feel like I’m running out of superlatives writing this review! I have no idea how they do the bread crust. It looks like a paper thin slice of bread that is attached to the fish somehow…magic flavor glue maybe? Anyway, it was delicious. However, we both thought our first courses had wowed us more.

While we waited for dessert, Eric Ripert walked through the dining room. Lupe nudged me and at first I was staring at a potted palm saying “where where where.” When I finally spotted him walking up to the front of the restaurant we commenced a silent freak out. We went back and forth on whether we could ask for an introduction or a photo but ultimately decided to play it cool. So I mean we continued to freak out and yelped quietly to each other: “OMG IT’S ERIC RIPERT!” “HE COOKED OUR FOOD!” “OR AT LEAST EXISTED IN THE SAME ROOM!” “OMG OMG OMG he’s hot!” etc. But we didn’t tackle him as he passed us on the way back to the kitchen. I’d call that a success.

They brought us a little complimentary dessert before our actual dessert. I LOVED this one. It was an airy chocolate mousse layered with something else creamy and topped with a sprinkle of Maldon salt inside an egg shell. The server cautioned us not to stir up the contents but to sink our tiny spoons down to the bottom for each bite. It was divine. I wanted an ostrich egg full!


I was so full at that point – I didn’t want a heavy dessert. The Greek yogurt panna cotta fit the bill perfectly. I loved the pomegranate pearls and the pomegranate sorbet was a nice counterpoint to the panna cotta, which had a thicker texture.

Lupe chose the chestnut dessert, which also included a coconut sorbet. She liked it. I didn’t try any because I’m not a chestnut fan, and I was also about to explode.

They also brought out a napkin folded like a flower which contained mignardises: warm madelines and tiny green tea cookies.

Overall impressions?
food 5 It’s 3 star Michelin! And they deserve it. Every detail, every flavor was so well executed. Even when it wasn’t what I expected it was still wonderful.
ambience 5 Le Bernardin’s dining room is really well laid out, with plenty of room between tables. The bathrooms are really nice too, and they offer complimentary tampons and pads in the womens’ room. The only thing that was annoying was that our table was kind of rickety, and no matter how we sat down, gracefully or awkwardly, we’d kick the table leg because of the spacing between the wall, chairs, and table.
why I’d go back Well, when I can afford it again, I’ll definitely go back to try some of the other dishes. I’d also like to have dinner there. Maybe by then I’ll figure out a way to meet Eric Ripert. Without freaking out.

Shake Shack is one of my musts – whenever I plan a trip to NYC it’s on my list. But I’d been reading about Burger Joint (I think on Midtown Lunch) and it piqued my interest. I was staying in midtown and on the upper West side, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try both the Burger Joint and the new UWS Shake Shack restaurant (no more cold metal chairs!)
I wandered into the lobby of the Parker Meridien Hotel and paused. It is a beautiful marble space with modern looking sofas and chairs scattered about – it definitely doesn’t look like it houses a hole in the wall burger place. I knew it was a little hard to find so I just sniffed the air. Even mid afternoon, you can smell the char of the meat and I followed my nose to a little hallway where my eyes were rewarded by the sight of the neon burger sign. Success!

I ordered a plain cheeseburger with tomato – my go to order, and waited. The works includes ketchup, mayo, mustard, raw onion, lettuce, and tomato. No grilled onions, so I made my order plain. The bonus here is they actually ask for your doneness preference. I bet you could get a rare burger if you wanted one. I got my burger in just a few minutes (I asked for medium), and took a BIG bite.

This burger is so good because of the patty! Fresh griddled beef, juicy, flavorful…mmm! If the bun were griddled too and if there were grilled onions, I would have entered burger heaven. It is a REALLY GOOD burger though. A little pricey, but hey, you’re in midtown Manhattan! There are several two-tops and a few booths that can seat four, as well as one larger 6 stool table. I think the whole place could maybe seat 30 people, max. They also had shakes and brownies but I was focused on the burger. I also needed to save room for the chicken & rice cart.

I was pleased to find that Shake Shack UWS is only about a 7 minute walk from Lillie’s apartment. Good thing I don’t live there. It’s a nice space and the street facing wall is all glass. I had my standard order there before so I wanted to try something new. I ordered the double stack burger. The double stack has a regular cheeseburger patty as well as a portobello mushroom patty filled with muenster and cheddar cheese, breaded, and fried. I love the Shake Shack potato buns too. I had to use a knife and fork for this one. It was way too big to get in my mouth, and I wanted to make sure I got a little of each component into each bite. Delicious and deadly!

Overall impressions?
Burger Joint
food 4.5 If I were staying there this would definitely be my room service order. How awesome is that! I saw a lot of uniformed hotel servers bringing in room service orders. I loved the burger, and the fries were also good – reminded me of old style McDonald’s fries.
ambience 4 It has the hole in the wall vibe. Clean, but dark and since it wasn’t too crowded when I was there, it felt like a secret.
why I’d go back? great great great burger. Fairly convenient midtown location. More than you’d usually pay for a burger but well worth it considering location and awesomeness.

Shake Shack
food 5 It’s the bun. It elevates the deliciousness of the meat to a new level. There are also a lot more options here in terms of sweet things and the fries are always fried to crinkly salty perfection.
ambience 4.5 I can see that seating would be crazy if I hadn’t gone on an off hour time. The new location is really nice though.
why I’d go back? This is possibly my favorite burger place EVER. It’s probably a good thing it’s in NY and not in CA.

Winner? Shake Shack, though I’d happily eat either burger. I think it came down to the bun. The mushroom patty is cheesy oozy yumminess too.

This is definitely a one of a kind place. I had a lot of great food in NY this time, but I would say the most exciting meal was the brunch I had here with Lupe.
I read about this place on The Girl Who Ate Everything’s site, and even though the “rules” sounded like a pain I wanted to come…especially after Lillie told me she thought it was great!
“The Rules”
1) No groups greater than four. The place is tiny, with maybe 3 2-tops inside, 3 bar stools, and another 2 4-tops outside the stall.
2) No cell phones.
3) No pictures – although I had my little P&S and I took shots of the food quickly without the flash.

The menu has more than 900 items on 2 sides of an 11×17 sheet of paper. There are no pictures, almost no spaces, just line after line of delicious options. Even more impressive is that all that comes out of a tiny kitchen barely bigger than an apartment kitchen.

The girls next to us recommended the coconut sweet rice pancakes (there are about 20 pancake varieties ranging from mac & cheese to walnut to their famous “slutty” cakes – peanut butter and pumpkin) so we got a half order, and I insisted on the sliders. We also ordered the “Diego” – poutine with poached eggs. I love runny egg yolk so when I imagined mixing the egg with the poutine gravy I was super excited! Just thinking about it may make your arteries harden, though. Apparently the ebelskivers (doughnuts) were on the Food Network so the Staten Island couple next to us got two orders of the sliders and the ’skivers.

The rice pancakes were really yummy. I had a few bites plain and a few with syrup and both were good. The rice added a little texture and amped up the flavor of the pancake batter.

SLIDERS. I ate several burgers on this trip, and they were all good, but the sliders…I’m kind of glad I don’t live in NY because I’d be queuing up here every week. SO DAMN GOOD. It’s the perfect combo of potato bun, ideal ratio of meat to cheese, and sweet tangle of caramelized onions. MMM.

Last but not least, the poutine was everything we thought it would be. The fries were fresh and crisp under the salty brown gravy and the cheese curds strung out with every bite. The eggs were poached perfectly with absolutely no runny white left and the combination was fantastic.

Sadly, because of our planned lunch at Le Bernardin, we couldn’t finish the food. It was really good though. There are horror stories on Yelp of people being turned away for big groups, or informed that they can’t order what they want – if they think you have enough food they’ll cut you off. The portions here are HUGE though, so listen to them! I think the prices are reasonable considering the quality and amazing variety, but they may initially seem high.

Overall impressions?
food: 5 Everything we tried was delicious. I can’t wait to go back and order something else awesome/strange.
ambience: 4 It’s clean and homey with stacks of supplies on the shelves. They pay more for individual bottles of syrup and ketchup and it really does make you smile.
why I’d go back: There are 897 things left for me to try!

I am also going to get the cookbook. I leafed through it while we were walking off the breakfast at Grand Central and the recipes look awesome.