Shake Shack - Lumbershack

Shake Shack (UWS)



Ok, so it's not really fair to review since it was a limited time offering and it's just going to make everyone upset that they didn't have it, but maybe people can spread the word and get it on the menu permanently.

Shake Shack can pretty much already do no wrong. Probably the best burger in the city. Rotating selection of tap beers. Seating in the park. Amazing custards and concretes (frozen custard with toppings mixed in). But I know what you're thinking while waiting in line for your Shackburger. You're thinking about bacon peanut brittle from Redhead. No surprises there. Get excited.

You get to the front of the line at Shake Shack only to find out about a new concrete called, the Lumbershack, an ode to the lumberjack breakfast, traditionally made with eggs, bacon and pancakes or french toast. What's in the lumbershack concrete? Just vanilla ice cream... caramelized bananas... big pieces of belgian waffle...and...peanut bacon brittle from Redhead! That. Just. Happened.

Unfortunately this was only available for a couple of weeks and only at the location on the Upper West Side. For those that made the trip, I congratulate you on your admission into the club that has tasted the very best that frozen desserts have to offer (how many desserts do you know that have meat in them?). For those that did not, I can only offer consolation photos. There's no shame in licking the screen.

Perfection:


Top view:

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
646 W 131st Street

There aren’t many restaurants worth traveling to that are north of 120th street. With so many restaurants in the city, many have trouble traveling very far in search of a great meal. But for those that are willing to brave the journey and suffer through wait times that often exceed two hours, there are wonderful food splendors that wait, and they are covered in barbecue sauce. It’s not that I am not willing to be convinced otherwise (trust me, I would love to be), but having tried Blue Smoke, Hill Country, and Virgil’s, Dinosaur is my overwhelming favorite spot for barbecue in NYC (*Disclaimer: I have yet to be to Fette Sau which I have been told could offer Dinosaur a run for its money).

Born from humble beginnings as a biker joint in Syracuse, Dinosaur quickly spread to Rochester and opened up its third location to wondrous praise in Manhattan. Since my first visit a few years ago, I have spread the gospel of Dinosaur to all that would listen in an attempt to find dining partners as often as possible, and after sampling its offerings on numerous occasions, have yet to leave with anyone disappointed.

Any trip to Dinosaur will undoubtedly be met with a substantial wait, as even during offpeak hours I have waited up to an hour (the most I’ve waited is almost two and a half hours). During the warmer months, the restaurant offers tables outside that are first come first served, and while the wait might be a bit shorter, there is no one managing the line so be prepared for some territory disputes. The best thing to do is grab a seat at the bar and order a flight. Beer flights ($6) contain four 4oz. servings of any of the 23 beers that they have on tap; a perfect choice for the first beer of the night to allow you to make a more informed choice for the next beer.

For something to snack on while waiting, order their chicken wings which made Yelp’s list of best eats in 2009 (don’t think I’ll make it to all of those spots this year). Served 6 or 13 to an order, they come tossed in a “spicy” barbecue sauce or in a garlic parmesan sauce. Don’t choose, just order some of both. They’ll get eaten. Incredibly plump with moist tender meat that falls off the bone, I have been tempted to just make an entire meal out of just the wings. While tabulating the total number of wings to order, a friend from Syracuse noted that he would be eating 13 himself. Champion.

Chicken Wings:


The restaurant offers a full menu at the bar, so if you can grab seats and avoid the wait, go for it. We did this the last time we were there and by the time we left, our table had still not yet been called. Entrée time, and there are so many choices to consider, but for first timers, there’s only one way to go, the Tres Hombre ($18.95). Served with ¼ rack of ribs, pulled pork, brisket, two sides and corn bread, it offers the best way to sample the best of Dinosaur, all on one plate. The pulled pork is tender and the brisket has beautiful pink smoke rings (though it can be a bit dry at times), but what separates Dinosaur is the ribs. With meat that falls off the bone and killer sauce that doesn’t overwhelm the dish, I make sure to get ribs every time I visit. Finish off the plate with some mac & cheese and baked beans and you’ll be stuffed. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Tres Hombre:


Ribs:


With plenty of platters under my belt, I’ve moved on to some of the other offerings. The Cuban sandwich ($10.95) adds pulled pork to the traditional sandwich mixing crunchy with tender and sour with savory. What I’ve been ordering most often, however, is the "Pork-Sket" ($13.95), a brisket sandwich topped with cole slaw, jalapeños, and yes, pulled pork. As my friend who eats 13 wings says, it’s a “man’s sandwich.” There’s nothing like a giant pile of barbecued meats on one roll with some spice and crunch from the jalapeños. Needing to have some ribs also, I make sure to split the sandwich and a ½ rack with a dining partner to create my own platter.

Pork-Sket:


Next time you’re looking for some of the best barbecue that NYC has to offer, make the trek, it’s worth the wait.

Know of another barbecue place that you think challenges the throne? Interested in joining me next time I go? Post a comment!

Levain

Levain
167 W 74th Street



As if Momofuku and Jacques Torres weren’t enough, my Internet surfing for the best cookie in NYC led me to Levain Bakery on the Upper West Side. Triumphant in its Throwdown against Bobby Flay and featured on numerous television shows, Levain (named for the French word for a leavening agent) is best known for their fist-sized, fresh-baked cookies. Coming in at a $3.75 price tag, they cost more than twice a cornflake marshmallow cookie and well over a Jacques Torres chocolate chip. Not being able to choose between the four selections, I did what any normal person would do and got one of each. These are their stories:

Chocolate Chip Walnut:


The anchor of the group. When people talk of Levain cookies, this is what they are talking about. This juggernaut of baking packs tons of chocolate chips and walnuts into a gooey mixture that is soft on the inside and firm on the outside. Getting one fresh from the oven is a winning proposition. If you prefer a softer chocolate chip cookie, this is the choice over Jacques. If you prefer a cookie that is just oozing with chocolate and is a little crispier, head down to visit the chocolate man.

Dark Chocolate Chocolate Chip:


Brownie-like in texture with melted pools of semi-sweet chocolate make this a wise choice for those that want a deeper chocolate flavor. What I appreciated was that although the actual dough was dryer than I would have liked, the melted chocolate balanced out the texture and made for a nice complement.

Oatmeal Raisin:


I’m a big fan of oatmeal raisin cookies, just not this kind. Though my girlfriend was a fan, I found the flavors to be pretty muted. I wanted more brown sugar, more cinnamon. The dough itself needed to be sweeter and the whole thing just wasn’t up to par with the other choices.

Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip:


Take one dark chocolate chocolate chip cookie and substitute peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips. It’s a tough choice between this one and the chocolate chip walnut for top honors (though I would be happy to sample again to determine a winner). Loaded with peanut butter chips, fans of peanut butter treats will adore this cookie. Peanut chocolate chip ice cream is my go to, so this cookie was a perfect fit for me.

Is $3.75 too much to pay for a cookie? Probably, but it depends on the context and if you’re a cookie freak it’s certainly worth a trip uptown. I’m not sure that I can justify just stopping in for a cookie whenever, but I can easily see myself skipping dessert at a nearby restaurant in favor of a couple cookies from Levain. Whether thinking about grabbing a couple before heading into a movie or for an after-dinner treat, the decision isn’t whether to go, but how many cookies to get.

Fred's

Fred’s
476 Amsterdam Avenue @ 83rd Street



My appreciation for restaurant.com gift certificates is well documented (Tacqueria, Joshua Tree), so when I was looking for a place to grab dinner before seeing a movie, my searching through restaurant.com led me to Fred’s restaurant, a spot on the Upper West Side serving classic comfort foods like roast chicken, meatloaf and mac & cheese with some seafood and pasta dishes to round out the menu. Named after a black Labrador retriever, Fred’s keeps the dog theme going throughout the restaurant with nearly every square inch of wall space dedicated to photos of dogs that patrons submit. After doing some due diligence online, I found that their recommended dishes were their meatloaf and the mac & cheese, and with the gift certificate in hand, I opted for the meatloaf, while my girlfriend ordered the red snapper off of the daily specials menu.

While the meatloaf ($16.95) topped with a thick mushroom gravy was plenty filling, it tasted like there was a lot of filler in the meat, almost processed. I want my meatloaf to be falling apart. I want to know that this is baked meat in loaf form. Not something I would order again. The red snapper ($19.95), on the other hand, was well seasoned and cooked appropriately. Nothing special, and definitely something that one could make themselves, but it wasn’t bad either.
Meatloaf:


Snapper:


For $10 a person, it’s tough to complain, and after hearing good things about their mac & cheese, I would be tempted to give Fred’s another chance, especially when their outdoor tables are open, but I don’t think I can justify coming here without a gift certificate.

Kefi

Kefi
505 Columbus Avenue near 84th street

Having dined here this passed Sunday, I was excited to see that The New York Times Wednesday food section included Frank Bruni’s 1-Star review of Kefi, a Greek restaurant owned by star chef Michael Psilakis and restaurateur Donatella Arpaia. Originally opened as Onera, Psilakis transformed the space into Kefi to allow for significantly more tables over two floors of dining space (NY Magazine reported that over 130 seats were added). The spot has become one of the more popular restaurants in the area, a fact made all too clear when we were told that our 6:00 reservation would only be held for 15 minutes since all of the tables in the gargantuan restaurant were booked. After being escorted downstairs and seated at a table towards the back, my girlfriend, her father and I placed our orders. Warm feta, grilled octopus and crispy cod to start, with branzinos and a lamb shank to follow.

The crispy cod ($7.50) was coated in a light batter and served over mashed potatoes which sounds like a fancy way to say fish and chips substituted with mashed potatoes, but it still managed to be light and I was able to actually taste the fish instead of just batter. While it was definitely a nice appetizer, the other two really did it for me. When octopus is done well, it can be very tasty, and Kefi knows how to transform a tough piece of octopod into something soft and flavorful. Served with a bean & chickpea salad ($9.95), this is octopus at its finest. Forget the chewy rubber band mess prepared at too many places and redefine what the dish really tastes like. Our last appetizer, warm feta ($6.95) offers a plate of tomatoes, capers, anchovies, peppers, olives and warm feta with pita slices for dipping. It’s simple, flavorful and has anchovies and feta. I’m always up for that. The warm feta makes for a great appetizer to share and I would definitely order it again at a table or waiting at the bar.

Crispy Cod:


Grilled Octopus:


Warm Feta:


While Kefi also offers souvlaki sandwiches and pastas (which they dub “macaronia”), the entrée selections looked too good to pass up. The grilled branzino ($16.95) was delicate, accented by a drizzle of olive oil and accompanied by roasted potatoes, tomatoes and a hot pepper (a cousin of the pepperoncini?) that still had the fiery taste but without any of the burn. While the branzino will satisfy anyone’s craving for fish, I opted for the braised lamb shank with orzo ($15.95). Tender meat that fell off the bone, stewed tomatoes, and a generous helping of rich orzo made this a dish worth coming back for.

Grilled Branzino:


Lamb Shank:


As if the food onslaught wasn’t enough, we indulged ourselves with orders of walnut cake served with walnut ice cream ($7). Though the edges of the cake were a little dry and needed to team up with a sliver of the ice cream for texture, the dessert had a carrot cake spice to it which is always a welcome treat.



Though the quality of service seemed to diminish as the meal went on, the food, the prices, and the atmosphere make Kefi a great place to go to with your parents, a date, or anyone that lives on the Upper West Side.

Salumeria Rosi

38-39. Salumeria Rosi
283 Amsterdam Ave between 73rd and 74th



Cesare Casella was the chef and owner of Maremma, a Tuscan-Italian restaurant in the West Village which my girlfriend and I enjoyed tremendously. We were pretty upset when we heard that Cesare was closing Maremma but I understand the allure of opening a grocery store selling Italian meats. When I visited the store to pick up TONY's recommended Prosciutto di Parma ($6 per quarter pound), the small eatery was bustling with customers lined up at the counter and all the dine-in seats taken. I picked up some Porchetta Toscana ($4 per quarter pound) and with the Finocchiona that my girlfriend had picked up for me, I was ready to see what Cesare had to offer.



Dubbed "the Ferrari of Italian pork products", the prosciutto was mild flavored, soft, fatty with an almost cheesy consistency. I could probably sit and eat a good pound of it, slice by slice and it would be one of the best charcuterie plates ever. While, I preferred the prosciutto to the finocchiona on its own merit, I would probably choose the finocciona for a sandwich. Finocchiona ($4 per quarter pound) is described as “a zippy, Tuscan-style salame, seasoned heavily with fennel, or finocchio. The salami is thinly slice and each piece is full of salty, meaty flavor and pieces of fennel. A quarter pound is probably enough for 1-1/2 sandwiches and is a bargain for $4.00. While certainly a solid option, the porchetta toscana clearly fell behind the other two champions of salami. Skip the processed meat from the grocery store and pick up as much salami as you can from Cesare.


Prosciutto di Parma & Porchetta Toscana:


Finocchiona:

Tacqueria III

Some gratuitous photos from Tacqueria:

Grilled pork taco:


Chicken tamale:


Vegetarian quesadilla

Hallo Berlin - Return to Taqueria

9. Hallo Berlin Express
744 9th Avenue between 50th and 51st

After receiving numerous accolades from midtownlunch and winning the 2005 Vendy Awards, Hallo Berlin Cart opened a full restaurant on 10th avenue and a smaller express restaurant on 9th avenue. Hallo Berlin serves 10 different kinds of wurst sausages and a number of other Eastern European dishes like schnitzel, goulash, and stuffed cabbage. Wanting to come here for some time, I finally braved the walk uptown and ordered the double soul food combo ($8.00) which consists of chopped up pork bratwurst and a pork/beef frank mixed with fried german potatoes, sauerkraut, onions and mustard. The sausages had a crisp casing with a tasty and salty filling, though certainly not the best sausage I've ever had. The potatoes were crunchy on the ends and the sauerkraut was probably from a can. The food was prepared well and left me satisfied but it wasn't anything special and certainly not worth the hype. On top of all of this was the service that was unbearably slow for a place that has most of its food prepared already and had few people to serve. The one item that did tempt me to come back is that the restaurant also serves various german beers in 17oz steins for $8.00 that look awesome.

Tacqueria y Fonda Part Deux
See original post for location info

Just wanted to add a couple of comments about Taqueria since I returned to try some new items. I admit that I was tempted to order the burrito again but I saw someone else order the tamale and it looked excellent. I went for the beef tongue taco ($3.50) and the chicken tamale ($3.50). The beef tongue came out first. They presented a generous serving of diced grilled tongue with cilantro, tomatoes and onions on top of a corn tortilla (there were 2 there though I'm not sure they meant to give me two). Two were necessary as there was too much food to fit into one tortilla. The tongue was tender and slightly liver-y in flavor, and the corn tortilla was made fresh. I didn't expect the tamale to be spicy but it had quite a kick. The thigh meat chicken in the tamale tasted greasy but the masa (corn dough) was well seasoned and filling.

Tacqueria y La Fonda

Tacqueria y Fonda

968 Amsterdam Avenue

Tucked away in an unassuming space is Tacqueria, a restaurant serving large portions of inexpensive Mexican cuisine. The menu doesn’t have anything above $12, and the value is accentuated even further given that the restaurant participates in restaurant.com gift certificates (purchase a $25 gift certificate for $2-3 with a minimum purchase of $35 which in this restaurant isn’t so easy for a party of 2).

The kitchen starts off tables with home-made chips and 3 kinds of salsa. Beers are all $4 and include Sol, Dos Equis, and Corona. We started off with some guacamole ($6) for the table in an attempt to reach the $35 threshold, which was fair but easily forgettable and not something I would be quick to order again. I ordered the Giant Burrito ($9) which is filled with beans, rice, cheese, lettuce, guacamole, tomatoes, sour cream and a choice of meat or vegetable. Following the waiter’s suggestion, I had mine with pork and grilled pineapple. I tend to think that I have a large appetite and yet I was narrowly defeated by the size of the burrito which I estimate to be about 1.5x the size of a Chipotle burrito and significantly tastier. While a substantial portion is rice and beans, the pork and pineapple were grilled perfectly and the mozzarella cheese forms chewy strings that contrast nicely.

At this point, we had spent $29 including 3 beers, the giant burrito and a vegetarian quesadilla. Scrambling to spend the extra $6, we were disappointed to discover that the only dessert option is flan. After ordering a chicken salad to go, which I subsequently ate the next day for lunch, our bill came to around $41, leaving the cost of the meal at $28 ($50 with tip - $25 gift certificate + $3 for the gift certificate). The chicken salad consisted of a nice portion of grilled thigh meat, avocado, tomato, onion and lettuce that left me satisfied but was certainly not up to standard with the rest of the meal.

While the atmosphere is non-existent and the location is fairly inconvenient for anyone living below 96^th street, Tacqueria’s portions, inexpensive menu and quality make it a strong contender for one of the top cheap eats in NYC.

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