March 9 2010

Kushi-Q: Midtown Lunch for Less

Category: Deals, Reviews

Kushi-Q

We first heard about the meal deals at Kushi-Q on one of our favorite frugal find blogs, NYCDailyDeals. When the opportunity arose to go there for lunch last week, we jumped on it of course!

If you’re looking for a break from the monotonous delis and pizza-by-the-slice joints in midtown, Kushi-Q is certainly a great change of pace. For between $6 and $9, you get three skewers of your dish of choice over rice, salad, or both, plus miso soup to start. Entree options include fresh bacon “grilled to perfection,” crispy pork and vegetable dumplings, and crispy tofu with a miso glaze. We sampled the signature chicken yakitori, fresh salmon with scallion, and Japanese-style Berkshire sausage with pineapple. Though the latter was only average, the first two were excellent choices, wonderfully flavorful and grilled to perfection.

Though the skewers are relatively small, you’re guaranteed to get a hearty meal if you factor in all of the sides. And for less than $10, you can’t beat this deal in midtown!

Posted by: Nicole Price Fasig
Order: Japanese-style Berkshire sausage bento box with salad and rice
Price: $
Location: 723 3rd Ave. (between 45th St. and 46th St.)
Type of Food: Japanese
Veggie Friendly? Y
www.kushi-q.com


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March 8 2010

Café Gitane: Get Ready For Spring!

Category: Reviews

We’ve officially passed the 50-degree mark, and you know what that means - sidewalk cafés! They may annoy hurried New York walkers, but for some of us there’s just nothing better than sitting outside on a nice day and enjoying a (cheap) leisurely meal. It’s true that this little French-Moroccan café in Nolita is known for being the place to see and be seen for NYC’s chicest, but behind the scene is some truly fantastic and surprisingly economical cuisine.

The perfect place to stop for a leisurely late lunch, Gitane boasts a variety of “petits plats,” small plates that are the ideal size for the peckish shopper who doesn’t want to ruin dinner. Ranging from $5-$7, offerings include gorgonzola with walnuts and honey, spicy Moroccan olives and oranges, and my personal favorite, Brie with apple, all served with a generous portion of baguette. If you’re a little too hungry for nibbles like these, try the spicy meatballs in tumeric tomato sauce with cucumber, yogurt, cilantro, and even a boiled egg ($13) - trust me, you won’t forget these meatballs. Equally delicious is the baked pasta ($11.50) with gorgonzola, tomatoes, optional prosciutto, and breadcrumb topping, though I wouldn’t recommend this one if you plan on having enough energy to walk around for the rest of the afternoon. On a recent visit I tried the smoked salmon tartare “pain garni,” pretty much an open-faced sandwich. In yet another wildly successful dish, the salmon was mixed with red onions and capers, of course, along with a wasabi mayonnaise that even a mayo-hater like myself appreciated, on a sourdough baguette. With a side of mixed greens and a house-made lemonade, it was the perfect light lunch for a (finally) sunny afternoon.

Waits can be almost an hour on weekends, but this isn’t the type of place you come to if you’re in a hurry. Once your name is at last called, have a seat, order one of their delicious iced teas, and sigh with relief that spring is on its way at last.

Posted by: Kim Partrick
Order: lemonade, smoked salmon tartare, pain garni
Price: $-$$
Location: 242 Mott Street (between Houston and Prince)
Type of Food: French, Moroccan
Veggie Friendly? Y


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March 5 2010

Led Zeppole: Fried Goodness on the Go

Category: Reviews

Led Zeppole

Let’s say, hypothetically, you’ve hit the end of a long evening of drinking in the East Village and you’re looking for something fried and greasy to soak up all that alcohol circulating in your system. Perhaps you’re wandering down 14th St. And maybe your destination, a certain popular pizza place with a vegetable for a name and a famous slice to die for has a line around the corner, even in the wee hours of the morning. What are you, oh weary reveler, to do?

Never fear, there is an excellent culinary option in the same building! That’s right, the purveyor of all things fried, Led Zeppole. I wandered in on a particularly snowy evening to find no line and a friendly counter staff that plied my party with fried oreos and other greasy treats. The zeppoles were reminiscent of funnel cakes and just as delicious as they look. I also saw some fellow patrons ordering the “waffle soft-serve sandwich” and, let me just say, a treat that massive is not to be trifled with.

Inebriated or not, if you’re looking for some fried goodess for a little more than pocket change, Led Zeppole is sure to please.

Posted by: Nicole Price Fasig
Price: $
Location: 328 E. 14th St. (between 1st Ave. and 2nd Ave.)
Type of Food: Dessert
Veggie Friendly? Y
www.ledzeppolenyc.com


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March 4 2010

Jimmy’s No. 43: Settle In and Bring a Spoon!

Category: Deals

With the first day of spring less than 3 weeks away, it’s time to start appreciating winter’s comforts before the season ends. This Saturday, Jimmy’s No. 43 is indulging in the best of winter’s warmest comfort: soup! At “Souperama,” budding kitchen witches throughout the city (including you, if you’re so inclined!), will submit their strongest soups to be judged by the likes of Edible magazine editor Gabrielle Langholz and Cathy Erway, author of popular blog Not Eating Out in New York. For a modest $20, your palate can get a piece of that action too, with proceeds going to Harbor Hope and the Fresh Air Fund. The event goes from 1-5 p.m., but don’t expect the best soups to last that long!

Posted by: Kim Partrick
Price: $$
Location: 43 East 7th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Aves.)
Type of Food: American
Veggie Friendly? Y
www.jimmysno43.com
Event info: jimmydrinkeat.blogspot.com


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March 3 2010

Geido: Sushi with Style

Category: Reviews

Geido sushi

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a hundred times: I could eat sushi every day for the rest of my life and die happy. There’s nothing like a good spicy roll, in my humble opinion, and I find chef’s special rolls divine. But I suppose it’s nice to branch out from my standard sushi spots every now and then. What better place to do so than at Brooklyn’s Geido? Straddling the line between Park Slope and Prospect Heights, this little storefront is easy to walk past without a backwards glance, but glowing reviews from Time Out New York, NYMag.com, Yelp, and so on make it a must for adventurous south Brooklyn diners.

Besides the standard favorites, Geido’s regular menu includes rolls like the umejlso maki (plum paste and mint leaf), saba maki (mackerel and ginger), and the spicy Mexican roll (spicy tuna, cucumber, and tempura flake, rolled in spices). But the real excitement comes in the daily specials. Other than the spicy Mexican roll, everything we ordered at my table was off the special menu. The only roll that wasn’t a hit was the spicy pepper roll, which was yellowtail and big chunks of jalapeno, which just completely overpowered the flavor of the fish. That big dramatic roll you see pictured above on the left is the Obama roll. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down all of the components, but if I remember correctly, it involved tuna, salmon, and yellowtail, with crunch, scallions, and roe on top, and drizzled with eel sauce. Though it didn’t quite live up to the spicier options, the Obama roll was quite a palate cleanser and a satisfying option.

The real hit of the evening though was the she-eel roll, which was eel with shitake mushrooms covered in eel sauce. The earthiness of the mushrooms meshed perfectly with the smokiness of the eel and the sweetness of the sauce to create an amazing, almost indescribable blend of flavors. You really have to try it to understand but, needless to say, the she-eel roll is worth the trip out to Brooklyn alone.

Posted by: Nicole Price Fasig
Order: edamame, spicy pepper roll, spicy Mexican roll, Obama roll, she-eel roll
Price: $$
Location: 331 Flatbush Ave. (at Prospect Pl.), Brooklyn
Type of Food: sushi, Japanese
Veggie Friendly? Y


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March 2 2010

Aroma Kitchen & Wine Bar: A Frugal Feast? Sign Me Up!

Category: Deals

Anytime a prix fixe menu and wine pairings are mentioned together, I usually sigh longingly knowing it’s an all but unattainable luxury. But the East Village’s Aroma has proven me wrong! In a deal that seems tailored to the frugal foodie set, Aroma’s “Frugal Feast” is just $32 and includes an appetizer and a main, each with a wine pairing. They haven’t skimped on the offerings, either. You might choose, for example, a lobster broth soup with mussels and cannelini beans as your appetizer, and enjoy a Sicilian meatloaf with red pepper pesto and mascarpone afterwards. Other options include a calamari spaghetti with fire roasted cherry tomatoes or a braised chicken with grapes, red potatoes, shitake mushrooms, and even truffle butter. The deal is available Tuesday and Wednesday at any time, as well as Thursday and Friday during pre-theatre hours. Certainly a date night worth trying when it’s your turn to pay! You’ll earn some serious points without spending serious dough.

Posted by: Kim Partrick
Price: $$$$
Location: 36 East 4th Street (between Bowery and Lafayette)
Type of Food: Italian
Veggie Friendly? N
www.aromanyc.com


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March 1 2010

The Oak Room: Coziness To Go!

Category: Deals

Until I heard about the latest deal at this legendary bar and restaurant at The Plaza, I never expected I’d hear the words “Oak Room” and “to-go” in the same sentence. Well, tradition be darned! The Oak Room is now offering a deal for shivering New Yorkers taking a stroll around Central Park South. $19 may be steep for a hot chocolate, but Swiss Miss this isn’t. More like 15 delicious ounces of the Oak Room’s own mélange of thick, rich chocolate with cinnamon, orange, and even a dash of port, comes in a thermos that is yours to keep! So stop by, enjoy the Plaza’s gorgeous interior, grab yourself an unforgettable cup of hot chocolate, and hit up Central Park before the snow melts!

Posted by: Kim Partrick
Price: $$
Location: 10 Central Park South (at 5th Ave.)
Type of Food: Dessert
Veggie Friendly? Y
www.oakroomny.com


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February 26 2010

Fake it, Make it: Hot Cocoa Brownies

Category: How-Tos

Snowed in on this nasty, blizzardy Friday? What better way to warm yourself up than with warm, gooey hot cocoa brownies? They’re not tricky - you can even use a box mix if that’s how you roll - but they’re sure to be a crowd pleaser.

I prefer baking from scratch, so I used a brownie recipe I have that involves cocoa powder. You can find a perfectly good recipe on the side of any cocoa powder can, but I’ll list mine here for convenience.

Here’s what you’ll need:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 bag mini marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour baking pan.

Stir together butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add eggs and beat well. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add dry ingredient mix to the egg mixture and beat until blended. Add chocolate chips if desired. Spread batter evenly in pan.

Bake the brownies for roughly 20 minutes, until almost baked through. Distribute marshmallows evenly across top and bake for another 2-5 minutes until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool completely and sprinkle with decorative sugar, if desired. Should make roughly 16 brownies.

Posted by: Nicole Price Fasig


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February 25 2010

Martini Week: We’re on a Liquid Diet

Category: Deals

I love a good martini bar as much as the next girl, but boy if those delicious concoctions don’t set you back more than a few bucks. Rather than resort to happy hours and syrupy substitutes, hold on a little while longer. The celebration of all things imbibable is coming to Manhattan next week.

Martini Week is sponsored by Tasting Table and Thrillist and will run from March 1 to March 14. Some of our favorite bars and restaurants will be offering custom cocktails and old favorites for a flat rate of $10. Intriguing options range from the Smoked Goose, a mix of Grey Goose, house-made smoked paprika syrup, and lime juice at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel’s upscale Peacock Alley to a sweet treat called the Green Angel martini, a combination of Grey Goose La Poire flavored vodka, pistachio sweet milk syrup, and apple juice, garnished with crushed pistachio and mint, served at downtown venue Madam Geneva.

Of course, you can also get classics like Braeburn’s dirty martini and Aspen Social’s Vesper. I’ll take one of each Shaken, not stirred of course.

Posted by: Nicole Price Fasig
Price: $
www.tastingtable.com


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February 24 2010

K! Pizzacones: Affordable, Portable, and Fun!

Category: Uncategorized

OK, we can’t really attest to that last adjective yet, as we’ve yet to visit the newly-opened spot near Herald Square, but a pizza cone does sound like a mighty fun way to break up a work day! The restaurant, which opened on Monday, serves cones made of pizza crust, with the “toppings” as the fillings. You can have it plain with just cheese, or add a variety of traditional and non-traditional pizza toppings at 50 cents for one or $1 for two or more. Cones come in two sizes: K! ($4.90) and the larger K!! ($5.90). Cones can even be your breakfast, should you choose to fill them with scrambled eggs, or your dessert, with such fillings available as banana flambe, chocolate, or mixed berries.

We hear the line can get long with curious customers, but such an inexpensive novelty might, we hope, be worth the wait.

Posted by: Kim Partrick
Price: $
Location: 325 Fifth Avenue (between 32nd & 33rd Sts.)
Type of Food: Pizza (well, sort of.)
Veggie Friendly? Y


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