Qdoba Mexican Grill House Party!

Hello friends!  It's shaping up to be quite a busy month and this weekend was no exception.  Yesterday I hosted a Qdoba Mexican Grill House Party in celebration of Cinco de Mayo and had a blast!

It was my first time as a host for House Party, which connects brands with people nationwide who apply to be hosts for parties.  Brands will sponsor parties, and if you are selected as a host, you promise to invite friends and share the goodies supplied in the Party Pack.  It's a great way for brands to directly connect with consumers in such a saturated market.  Qdoba happened to be the first House Party I applied for, and I was so excited to be selected!  As a newbie host, I was a little anxious about how my first House Party would turn out, but it was a big hit and I'm hoping more parties will roll around that I can host.

I'm always looking for an excuse to have get togethers at my apartment (I think I get this from my parents - they always willingly host parties at their house!) so was happy to celebrate Cinco de Mayo courtesy of Qdoba.  About 2 weeks before the party I got my Party Pack which included some goodies to use at the party and a certificate for a 20-person catering bar to redeem at my local Qdoba.

I suppose living in NYC for a decade has hardened me into expecting a hard time, but the manager of the local Qdoba at 3rd Avenue and 53rd Street was absolutely amazing!  Charisee truly went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we needed.  I was so worried it would be a hassle but she made it all so easy and was a joy to talk to.

With the food taken care of thanks to Qdoba, I was able to play around with decorations.  Qdoba supplied plastic glasses which I dressed up with some mustaches.  I also made mustache props for my guests, a Fiesta banner, Cinco de Mayo wreath, and got some fun Fiesta necklaces!

Fiesta time!

Le Parisien

Last summer, as I headed to Cask Bar + Kitchen, I passed by the cutest restaurant front:

Le Parisien just exuded such a feeling that, for a moment, I got that "I'm not in NYC but in Europe" feeling.  As I walked passed and peeked into the window, I saw such a warm and cozy space that I immediately took this picture so that I could add it to my "to-try" list.  Fast forward a couple months, and I've finally managed to have a meal at Le Parisien! 

I'm embarrassed to admit that on the day of dinner, I was 30 minutes late to meeting my friend (for those of you who know me, I institute a strict 15-min rule).  However, the hostess at Le Parisien still sat my dining compadre before I arrived.  I love that - most restaurants in NYC won't even take your name unless everyone in your group has arrived!

The inside of Le Parisien is charming and filled with various knickknacks and pictures.  There is a small bar area with wine bottles sectioned off by labels written in chalk.  Really added to the charm of the restaurant! 

Wine selection with labels written in chalk (love!)

Inside of Le Parisien - never an empty table the whole time we were there!

Knickknacks, barrels, interesting wall decorations added to Le Parisien's charm

Brunch: Le Bateau Ivre

I was meeting a friend for Sunday brunch a couple weeks back, but the caveat was that we had to meet in Midtown East - she had to go to work afterwards (boo!) so preferred to meet near her office.  With a little help from Yelp, we settled on Le Bateau Ivre.

If you are brunching here on Sunday, you'll be treated to a live Jazz band with your meal!  Love how it changes the atmosphere!  Sadly the space was kind of small and our table was very close to the band - next time I'm going to sit farther away and maybe I'll be able to chat more with my dining compadres lol

Live jazz band with Sunday Brunch!

View from our table

They offer a brunch prix fixe - for $19.95 you get a brunch drink, coffee or tea, and a brunch entree of your choice.  While it was a little more than my usual brunch prices, this isn't too bad for Midtown East.  And who doesn't love a drink with brunch!

Park Avenue Tavern

I've worked in Midtown East near Grand Central for many many many years now, so it's pretty embarrassing for me to admit that I actually don't know many good places for lunch in the area!  Lucky for me, a former coworker who relocated to LA last year (VL come backkkkkk!) stopped by the office for a quick visit.  No better excuse than this to go out for lunch!  It was raining cats and dogs out so we went right across the street to Park Avenue Tavern!

When you walk in, you'll see a big bar in the middle of the room and booths/tables throughout.  There is also a room in the back so the place is pretty big and can accommodate a decent crowd for lunch. 

Big square bar area in the middle of the space

Booths!  It may be the Jersey girl in me,but I looooove booths!!

Looking at the menu, I love that there is a pretty big menu available for lunch. While I love all the Japanese options in the Midtown East area, its great to find a place with classic American offerings at reasonable prices.  Sometimes you just get a hankering for a great salad, burger, chicken...

Glaze (Union Square Location)

Glaze has finally opened their second outpost in Union Square!  Their first location in Midtown East is only a couple blocks away from Piggy KL's humble abode and I was definitely jealous.  Well you know what?  Now I get my very own Glaze just a couple blocks away from my apartment too!  YAY! 

Glaze Union Square now open!

The look, feel, and menu of this location is the exact same as their Midtown East location.  Glaze's specialty is the teriyaki plate and they streamline your decision making with a three-step process: you choose a protein (chicken, steak, salmon, tofu, veggie, or pork loin available), white or brown rice, and a dressing for your salad. 

Menu

Simple and open space

Soba Totto

With the great weather we've been having in the city lately, I couldn't resist venturing out of the office and taking a nice long lunch.  On this particular day, I stopped by Soba Totto in Midtown East for a bite.

Main entrance to Soba Totto

As with most lunch places in Midtown East, there was a bit of a crowd during the peak lunch time.  Luckily, our wait was short (<10 minutes)  and we were seated quickly.  As you walk through, you'll notice that the restaurant is nicely decorated with lots of dark wood.  The sushi bar area looks great!  It's only when you sit down at your table that you notice how tightly packed the tables are...

Bar area / waiting room on the side

Sushi bar on one side and table dining on the other side

Spotted: Another LadyM location coming soon!

I was walking around Bryant Park today and look what I saw coming soon on the 40th Street side of the park (next to Bryant Park Hotel):

LadyM Confections!  And it'll be only 3 blocks away from my office!  I hope it opens soon so I can enjoy cake (slice of green tea mille crepe pleaseeee!) and Bryant Park together while the weather is still gorgeous. 

Yay!!  I can't wait!

Thanks for reading - Piggy KK

Cask Bar + Kitchen

Lately, I've been drawn to Cask Bar + Kitchen for Happy Hour, for dinner, for snacktime, for everything.

Located on 33rd Street and 3rd Ave, it's great for after work Happy Hours (well, for those who work
in Midtown East).  There's a bar area in the front with lots of seating, but during happy hour (4-8pm Mon-Fri) space may get a little tight.  For dinner (or drinks that roll into dinner) there's a decently sized dining area in the back.  There's lots of wood everywhere and the whole place is softly lit - great to take a load off after work or relax with a nice dinner!

Great wooden bar area in the front

Dining room in the back (pic from yelp)

There's a great selection of beers, wines, and cocktails.  My personal favorites would be the white sangria and the St Murray cocktail (both of which happen to be on the happy hour menu!).  The St Murray is especially excellent - at my last dinner here I converted the whole table and we all ended up with St Murray's by the end of the night!

Blood Orange Jalapeno Margarita and the White Sangria

St Murray cocktails for the table!

Ariyoshi

A few months ago, I wrote about my second favorite izakaya spot in Midtown, Donburiya.  Today I'll finally share with you which restaurant takes the #1 place!

Sandwiched among other small restaurants and bars on East 52nd Street, it's really easy to miss Ariyoshi.  You've got to go up a few steps to enter through a wooden side door.  Inside, it's a tiny little place with wood tables, chairs and benches. It looks very unassuming, but the food is amazing and traditional Japanese, and the prices are reasonable.

There is a very loyal lunch following, so on some weekdays you can find yourself waiting 10+ minutes for a table during lunch hour.  In addition to their regular menu, they have a lunch set menu which is pretty popular - you get a lot of food!

It's not as busy at dinner time, but I've noticed that the service is significantly slower and the food takes a lot longer to come out.  There is usually a steady light stream of people throughout the night though, as they are open until very late at night.  You'll probably notice more mugs of beer and sake carafes as the hours tick on.  Try out some of the Japanese snacks and join the fun!

These are a few of my favorite dishes at Ariyoshi:

Tori-Kara Ponzu (Fried chicken with grated radish in ponzu sauce)

[Revisit] Bonchon Midtown

I caved the other day and succumbed to a craving for crispy, golden delicious fried chicken.  Unfortunately for my waistline, BonChon Midtown is way too accessible for me, so there I went for a Sunday lunch.  I've been back many times since I first posted about them back in October. 

Since then, they have added a lot of items to their menu.  One dish which I particularly enjoy is the Egg + Scallion Fried Rice for $6.50.  It's listed as a 'side', but it's actually a very decent portion size, definitely shareable!

If you happen to make it to BonChon Midtown one of these days, believe me, you won't regret it!

Mai Sushi

Last week, a girlfriend and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice sit-down lunch.  We picked Mai Sushi located on that street in Midtown East with all the Japanese Restaurants (41st between Madison and 5th).  We had both been to the original restaurant when it was run under a different name, but have yet to give this new version a try! 

Mai Sushi for lunch!

Similar to the old restaurant, the front half of Mai Sushi offers a cold case of ready-to-go items.  Everything looked tasty and I was particularly attracted to the rice bowls (or anything with rice for that matter), but I usually prefer my hot food served hot (not cooked hot, then put in a cold case waiting for me to purchase chilled because the Health Department wills it so. poo).  Only select items such as the tempura and gyoza were in the warm window.  Sushi looked fresh though!

Cold case up front for quick grab 'n go meals

Warm case for select items

Donburiya

When I moved up to Midtown East, I didn't expect to find a little bit of St. Marks (my college days!) in my neighborhood.  St. Marks has a strip of hole-in-the-wall "izakaya"-ish (Japanese food and drinking) spots which are really popular for college students.  Many late nights were spent over bottles of sake and lots of little Japanese noshes.  I've aged out of that crew a few years ago so it's been a while since I've been spotted there at 1am and beyond.  Wondering where the older people go? We go to the Midtown version of St. Marks!  Sure enough, there are a handful of authentic hole-in-the-wall restaurants in the East 40s/50s Streets. 

Donburiya

My second favorite izakaya spot is Donburiya located on East 47th Street between Lexington and 3rd Avenues.  It's open late, and the later you go, the more packed it gets with groups of friends relaxing over their ## bottle of sake.  It's a good sign when you see lots of Japanese people there too!

Sake! Just chillin'...

Rickshaw Dumpling Bar

Midtown Manhattan has an abundance of good lunch spots, and Rickshaw Dumpling Bar decided to join in too! They opened up a branch on Lexington Avenue and East 45th Street last year.  Walk by during lunch time and you'll often spot a crowd milling around the tiny corner store.  It's take out only here, as there are no tables (except for a 6 foot long ledge along the window).

I've known about Rickshaw Dumplings for years but it wasn't until their food truck made an appearance at a holiday party last year that I actually tried it.  Wonder why it took this dumpling lover so long? I've heard very mixed reviews, with negative comments coming mainly from friends who have grown up eating authentic fresh made dumplings like me.  I wasn't wowed by the dumplings I had at their food truck, but I chalked it up to the limited facilities they had working out of the truck.

I've visited the Midtown branch a couple of times since they opened.  While I'm not impressed by the dumplings, it's a nice break from the regular soup/salad lunch options and is still light enough since they're steamed.  I've tried the Pork and Chive dumpling and also the Szechuan Chicken one.  The skin is nice with medium-thickness, but the meat fillings can tend to be a little dry and lacking flavor.  Each order of dumplings comes with a little container of sauce which varies depending on the dumpling you order.  The sauces are tasty and unique!

Roasted Duck Congee (Chinese Rice Porridge)

My little adventure to make Roasted Duck Congee actually started 2 days ago, when I had a craving for Peking Duck. 

Peking Duck House, as their name suggests, serves very good Peking Duck in Manhattan.  They have a location in Chinatown, which is almost always packed as it's popular among locals and tourists, and they also have another location in Midtown East.   A few nights ago, I caved into my craving for Peking Duck and ordered one for take out from their Midtown location.  My duck was packaged well and came with their house-made pancakes, scallions, cucumbers and house peking duck sauce, and also a pint of white rice.  Wow, so much food!

We also ordered the House Made Noodles with Beef, not realizing the enormous amount of duck we were actually getting.  It was yummy, and complemented the duck well!

After picking through all the duck, we were left with lots of bones.  Thinking back to the mornings after Thanksgiving and Christmas, I recalled that my Dad would take the leftover bones from our Turkeys (carcass works best if you have it!) and make Congee from it.  The flavors from the bones would carry through into the porridge and would make it soo delicious and unique!  I figured leftover Peking Duck bones would do the trick too, hoping the roasted flavor would give a great taste. Afterall, their preparation of the Peking Duck sounds amazing (according to their website):

"...air is first pumped into the duck to stretch and loosen the skin, and then boiled water is repeatedly spread over the bird, which is then carefully dried. The dried skin is rubbed all over with maltose and the duck is then roasted in a hot oven for a period of time until the meat is tender and the skin crispy."


Cool right?? Turns out it does make make fabulous congee! Read on to see how I made it.

Smith & Wollensky

Even though I've been living in NYC for over 8 years, it's actually taken me this long to try one of our city's staples - Smith & Wollensky!  Admittedly not a fan of big steak dinners (I like variety in my entree!), this was a pleasant surprise.

Compared to other steak houses in the city, it's not as modern as places like Del Friscos or BLT Prime.  It feels like an old school steakhouse, but at the same time doesn't exude the same old-time bare bones feel as Keane's does. 

The service was pleasant and our server was attentive.  My only qualm was when he cringed his nose and shook his head when I ordered the Filet Mignon instead of the Rib Steak.  He can cringe all he wants, but I really enjoyed the Filet!!

Appetizers: we ordered the Fried Calamari and the Tomato with Bufala Mozzarella.  Basic choices, they were good but nothing special to note.

Fried Calamari

Tomato & Bufala Mozzarella

And now for the main event - our steaks!  We had the Cajun Spiced Filet Mignon and the New York Cut Sirloin (On the Bone).  The Filet was tender and the cajun sauce was flavorful but not overpowering.  Thumbs up!  The New York Cut Sirloin also got stellar reviews from my fellow diners.

Cajun Spiced Filet Mignon

New York Cut Sirloin (On the Bone)

For sides we had the creamed spinach and onion rings.  Both were good, and before I remembered to grab a picture, there were only bits of food left on the plate! Oops :)

Last but especially not least, what steak dinner is complete without a bottle of red wine?? We loved the Sequoia Grove 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley.  Before even tasting it, I knew I would love love love this bottle.  2007 was a stellar year for California Cabernets.  To top that, this wine hails from the Rutherford region in Napa, which I have a biiig soft spot for!

Fun fact: That region yields wines made from grapes which have a distinct character referred to as "Rutherford Dust".  Don't worry, it doesn't actually taste dusty!  In my opinion it does taste earthy, mineral-y and you pick up the tannins that are in the wine.  My favorite wines are from this region, and Sequoia Grove's 2007 Cabernet was no exception.  It was so good that we got another bottle!

Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, Napa Valley

Smith & Wollensky is a traditional steakhouse and the food was done well.  The service was spot on.  Also good wine puts me in a very good mood, so I'll give this a...

Piggy says yes!

Piggy KL

Houston's (aka Hillstone)

What happened here???  My go-to spot in the city is what happened...

Everybody has their own “go-to” restaurant in the city.  A place where you can always count on the consistency of the food, you always order the same one or two things, and you always get this sense of happiness when you are there.  First place that comes to mind?  Houston’s is it (I know I know, they changed their name to Hillstone but I refuse to accept)!

Yes, Houston's is a chain.  And yes, I acknowledge that NYC does have a lot to offer in terms of eating options.  But Houston's is one of the best when it comes to great service, consistent quality in the food, nice atmosphere, and manageable pricing.  Most importantly, I have never walked out of Houston's less than satisfied. 

I love the open kitchen in each of Houston's locations

The Palm

On the Tuesday before Thanksigiving, the bf asked me to prepare a "Friendsgiving" dinner for a bunch of his buddies, kicking off the holiday eating spree.  I prepared a fabulous home-cooked feast (including the honey glazed ham that I posted about here) and to thank me, the bf took me to dinner at The Palm!

The Palm is a low key steakhouse - laid-back feel with lots of wooden booths and caricatures on the wall.  No stuffiness here!  You could easily mistake it for an Italian restaurant but they offer a traditional NY steakhouse dinner with all the fixings (and a full bar of course)!

Loved the caricatures on the wall!  (Apologies on the terrible picture - no flash)

This year is the Palm's 85th anniversary and to celebrate they were offering a special anniversary special:

The Palm's 85th anniversary special menu

Drinks @ Zengo

It’s funny how you can work in the same area for years yet still manage to discover new places in the neighborhood.  My friend S recently suggested we go to Zengo for happy hour and, as it turns out, it’s only 2 blocks from my office! 

Zengo, a Latin American/Asian Fusion restaurant, is a stylish space with high ceilings and trendy feel.  They main seating area is spacious and there is a bar both on the main level and upstairs on the second level. 

Zengo Entrace

Inside main dining room area (through the lens of my fuzzy blackberry...)



The Smith (Midtown)

Welcome The Smith to MIDTOWN!

I was doing another happy dance when I found out The Smith was opening a location in Midtown!  Yay for more yummy eats coming to my area!  They finally opened their doors a few weeks ago and it's already always packed.

Lots of seating straight ahead...

And also seating on the left!