Oct. 2, 2009 - Broadway Station to Studio Square

Hahahaha, so clearly my edible adventures are ALL over the board ... atleast these last few posts are somewhat close in dates of occurrence. The following will be nothing but scattered to the winds! LOL!

The Scene: Friday Evening, headed out to dinner with Mike and some friends ...

6:45PM: " ...What to wear to the engagement party? Oh look Saada, that's a pretty dress, maybe I can find something here."

7:15PM: "... Where am I going? Broadway Station? Ok. Walking the dogs now, then I'm gonna get dressed and get outta here."

7:30PM: "...I hate my clothes, maybe I should wear the new dress I just picked up?"

8:00PM: "...SHIT!!!"

For those of you who know me, this is a common if not albeit frequent occurrence with me. I need to change this, but this would require that I LOVE my wardrobe and how I look in my clothes at all times, which is another problem all by itself.

Stop judging me. And yes, I do wander outside of the borough named, Manhattan!


Name: Broadway Station
Cuisine: American/Bar Food
Location: 3009 Broadway, Astoria, NY 11106 (b/w 30th & 31st Sts)
Price: Fair, although for Bar Food it's equivalent to Manhattan prices. It may be a sign of times a changin' for LIC/Astoria, it's hip kids.

The Review:
We ordered initially a bunch of appetizers for the table to share (potato skins, buffalo chicken tenders, beef sliders and pulled pork sliders). Murphy was no fan of the buffalo chicken tenders, too hot for him to handle, I guess! ha! I thought the chicken tenders were well cooked. The potato skins were nothing to write home about, not bad, not stellar.

The beef sliders were about the same and I didn't try the pulled pork sliders although Mike thought they were great! Apparently, that was the dish I should have tried, because as a result of the appetizers, Billy and his brother, Tommy both ordered the main entree Pulled Pork Sandwich.

I ordered the nachos ($10) which I would say were really good! Very unconventional! Definitely give those a whirl, good for sharing, the chips come on the side and you get a dish of yummilicious chili loaded with cheese and jalapenos, just the way I like it! The guacamole, although, well done contained too much tomatoes and wound up watering down the guacamole. Great guacamole is thick and all avocado goodness!

Mike ordered the chicken wrap (he's good for that! Ha! *^_~*) but it was apparently a very good wrap b/c he ate the whole thing!!! Plus the appetizers!!!

As an overall, I wouldn't wander back to this place on my own. I'd rather check out all of the other great places that are popping up in Astoria/LIC. But if you live in the area, it's probably a solid spot to hang out and grab a few drinks with some friends.

The one thing that really does stand out at this spot is that each table has their own soundbox to watch any one of the big screen TVs with. I thought that was neat! Great place to be if you're watching a sporting event with friends!

~~~~~~~~

Post stuffing our faces we decided it was time to head out to our main destination ... Studio Square!!!! The brand new Beer Garden that opened earlier this year.

As a note: We took the NW train one stop ... we should have walked. But I learned very shortly after leaving studio square why we trained it vs walking. Can we say ... whine, whine, whine!!! LOL!!!!!

Name: Studio Square (http://www.studiosquarenyc.com/)

Cuisine: American, German, Sushi (who came up with that?!) - BEER GARDEN

Location: 35-33 36th Street, Long Island City, NY
Price: A little pricier than the Bohemian Beer Garden (down the road) but I guess you're paying for the cleanliness eh?

The Review:

I would just like to say ... THEY HAVE SANGRIA ON TAP!!!!

Hello?! After you say that, it. is. on.!!!! Now, honestly, I was a little leery about Sangria on tap but the guy behind the bar was more than willing to give me a sample in a little shot-sized plastic cup (which by the way is how they serve shots, it's how they keep their overhead low and the prices down). After trying the Sangria, I was a fan. However, I was with a bunch of beer drinkers and not just any beer drinkers, but IPA (got hops?) beer drinkers and so asking if they would help with Sangria after they ordered 2 pitchers of IPA was kind of out of the question so I went with a glass of Sangria ($7), pitchers are $13.

The outside is really, really expansive with HUGENORMOUS wooden bench tables! There were fireplaces too which was great! We got a good spot with the large umbrella covering us and sat down to imbibe and play "categories" courtesy of Murphy who is now forever, in my mind, the trivia king! Haha! It started raining but we were safe under the giant umbrella until the rain started to fall sideways ... ahhhh, mother nature always a step ahead of us.

I will definitely go back to Studio Square! Love this place as it is the only place I've found that has Sangria on tap, that's an automatic guarantee of my return!!!

If you guys get the chance, GO!!!! Do not miss this place! It's effin' awesome!

Saturday (10/3) Shenanigans, Part 3 - Stumble Inn

Post deliciousness at UVA, we walked a street down to Stumble Inn where I discovered that there was a beer pong table available. I'd heard previously about this place, according to the locals - the food is great, especially for bar food (aka - gastropub grub). Of course, having just come from a very nice italian dinner, we were exactly gunning for stuffed burgers and fries. So no food was consumed here unless you consider beer, food.



However, the bar was loaded with TVs which could translate to an excellent place for Sunday Pro-Football games! The ambiance was OK, it was definitely a locals spot, it wasn't very crowded but we also didn't get there until 1 - 1:30AM. They have great drink deals throughout the week as well so it makes for a great spot to hang out with friends, post work, or for watching sports!

Name: The Stumble Inn
Cuisine: American, Bar Food
Prices: Recession Friendly =)

The Review: See above.

The verdict? I would have to go back for the full experience versus just a couple of quick drinks! But I would go back to re-experience!

I just wanna say that I just realized I covered Saturday (10/3) without even covering Friday (10/2). Ridiculousness. Well that day we started with dinner at Broadway Station and then moved it to Station Square (Beer Garden with Sangria on tap!!!). But that's for another blog! Ciao!

Saturday (10/3) Shenanigans Part 2 - Uva

Well post Mee Noodle Shop, Mike and I walked to Union Square to check out the Mid-Autumn Festival that was taking place. It just turned out to be another street fair, when in fact, I was really hoping for a little more. Oh well. So then we wandered down into the West Village, where it became very apparent that I hadn't done much wandering down LaGuardia Place. That's what I love about NYC, there's still so much I haven't explored. Well we walked around SOHO shopping for a dress for my sister's upcoming engagement party (which turned out to be an unsuccessful venture, sigh). We didn't get back to the apartment until 9PM!!!



So, we had planned to be out of the apartment by 10PM (after we both took a shower, I know. Smart, eh?) to head out and find a late dinner. Well let's just say we didnt' get out of the door until 11PM. Yikes!



Now for all of y'all who know me really well and know how much I need to be constantly eating and how quickly I can crash if I don't eat shortly after feeling hunger, let's just say I was feeling hungry at 10PM. By the time we left at 11PM I was already hit the bottom of the barrel in terms of speed of irritability, patience, and anger. We decided to walk up on 2nd Avenue and go up town as we normally head down town.



Well Mike was being a little indecisive and then decided to tell me that I should make a choice and I was trying so hard to just stand up from lack of energy that my irritation was clear and in full bloom! LOL! I felt bad but I couldn't help it b/c poor Mike wasn't ever given any warning in regards to this part of me, so he wasn't sure what to do.



Well we decided to walk up to this new sidewalk pizza cafe called "Gina". When Mike asked if they were still seating for dinner, the waiter didn't even bother to speak he just used a hand gesticulation in the form of cutting off his own neck, which is what I felt like doing to the waiter. Rude! Could you please say something instead of just being flipant and gesticulating?! What the eff was that all about!? The minute I saw him do that, I started walking away, lol, my next action would have been to give him a piece of my very starved and angry mind! Haha, totally unproductive. So I walked away. Then we stopped at another italian joint half a block down called Spigolo. The waitress standing outside was much more polite and informed us that their kitchen was closed but that 2 streets down was a restaurant by the name of UVA and their kitchen was open until 2AM. So we make our way in that direction.



The hostess at UVA was very pleasant and confirmed that the kitchen was open until 2AM and we sat down, FINALLY, for dinner at 11:45PM. I was soo weak I had to lean against the wall for support. So here is my review of UVA:



Name: UVA

Cuisine: Italian

Address: 1486 Second Avenue @ 77th Street

Price: Average for an Italian restaurant, if you're trying to save and cash strapped, you would be better off doing some appetizers (which are more reasonably priced and well portioned).

Service: Fair. I can't say it was anything special, but they were nice and responded quickly when requested or called.

The Review:

Appetizer - Mike and I ordered the Polenta stuffed with Robiola Cheese and a black truffle sauce ($9)! We were in consideration of the Fondue that was part of the "Late Night" menu, which I find wonderful, but decided that the Fondue would be excessive for two! Not many restaurants have that option and options are BIG for me *^_~* (Wink wink!) The Polenta on first gander seems rather small and scant. However, upon sinking your fork into the Polenta you realize that it's made more grits-like because of the Robiola Cheese that's melted inside of it. The Robiola cheese gave the polenta a very nice thick consistency and the black truffle sauce was a very nice complement that did not overpower the mild Robiola and polenta. However, I felt that it could have been a little bit saltier (which I never say btw). I looked at the bread on my platillo and realized that I could use the polenta as a spread on the bread and the bread gave it that perfect saltiness that I was looking for! It was a wonderful dish that paired perfectly with the bread! If you go to UVA, I highly recommend the Polenta!

Main Dish - Me (Saltimbocca di Pollo, $18) which is a chicken in a light mushroom brown sauce over a bed of spinach. I would say that it would mostly be likened to a chicken marsala. However, the sauce is much lighter and the chicken breast was cooked perfectly! It was very moist! Mike ordered the Ravioli, which was also equally as delicious. It was also very different looking from a normal ravioli dish. Most ravioli dishes have little raviolis but this dish was like one big ravioli! It was very aesthetically pleasing and even more so for the taste buds, although I only had a small bite and Mike would be a better judge of the Ravioli! LOL!

We didn't get dessert as we were running a little late to meet up with Mike's friend. As an overall, I would definitely return here, especially if we were stuck up in the UES late at night with little or no options available again.

Saturday (10/3) Shenanigans Part 1 - Mee Noodle Shop

Where shall I begin ...



This has to be one of the most interesting days ever and I'll tell you, I think my boyfriend, Mike, got to see what I'm REALLY like when i'm in starvation mode for the first time! Haha! Hot mess!



Well we started by heading out for our usual weekend walk (well I was hunting for a potential dress for my sister's engagement party coming up this saturday - yikes! Totally unsuccessful hunt ya'll ... i'm in freak out mode ... again.)



We stopped at this really skeevy lookin' spot called Mee Noodle Shop. If ya'll don't know it, it looks like an old school straight-out-of-taiwan-hole-in-the-wall, but they serve good food ya'll! Though I would say not all Mee Noodle Shops (there are several locations throughout the city) are created equal. The one on the west side isn't as good ... but the one we went to is on the east side.



Name: Mee Noodle Shop

Cuisine: Chinese/Szechuan

Address: 547 Second Avenue @ 49th Street



Price: Recession proof! Delish and cheap, could you ask for anything better? Only if you don't like chinese food, but then that's a personal problem .... oop....



Service: Not bad, not great. Don't expect anything stellar, but the guy pouring water was pretty much on his game.



The Food: Well don't venture too far out into things like chicken and broccoli, in my opinion. Stick to the basics, the traditional chinese fare: Mike and I ordered noodle soups (Mike - Roast Pork Noodle Soup; Me - Beef Noodle Soup) with the thin rice noodles! Yum! We also split the Cold Sesame Noodles (which are always phenomenal in my opinion!). The peanut sauce on the cold sesame noodles was nice and thick and the light soy sauce at the bottom and then mixed up gave the noodles a very nice taste especially with the egg spaghetti noodles. This is one of my favorites.



The noodle soups were good. I was expecting something a little different when I ordered my beef noodle soup. For those of you who know what I'm talking about, I was expecting a noodle soup in a soy sauce soup base with stewed beef, but I got a clear broth w/unstewed but just as good and tender beef.



The overall experience was good and Mike really enjoyed (it was his first time there!) the food. I will definitely be back in the future for a nice chinese meal!

The Start of the Journey - Pio Pio

All right my loyal avid readers (snicker, snicker!) the start of this journey began roughly in April 2009 when a certain "beloved" of mine decided he didn't want to be anymore ... and the wonderment began ...

Well the start of all this and it will be the end of all this, is my absolute fave grubhouse ... and we do get down when we get there ...

PIO PIO (http://www.piopionyc.com/)
Locations:

1. UES - 1746 1st Avenue b/w 90th & 91st Sts
2. Murray Hill - 210 East 34th Street b/w 2nd & 3rd Aves
3. Hell's Kitchen -604 10th Avenue b/w 43rd & 44th Sts
4. Bronx - 264 Cypress Avenue

Prices:

ba-da-da-da-daaaa I'm lovin' it! If you feelin' the recession but you still wanna be able to go out and eat with friends and feel like a human being vs a hermit and still get fed well, get truckin'! There are lots more locations throughout the boroughs (these are the ones I've been to), check out their website for additional locations.

Fare: Peruvian

The Review:

The food is deeeeelicious! Now, they're supposed to be Peruvian and if you go to the UWS, Hell's Kitchen or Jackson Heights location you will get the "extended menu" with the full Peruvian fare (however, the traditional peruvian fare is not as purse string friendly). What I love about this place is the ROTISSERIE CHICKEN!!! A Whole chicken pio is $10 and they have different combos that you can work out with your friends and all of the additional platitos or side dishes are $3-$4. You can't beat that kids!

You have to try the Chicken Pio, Saffron Rice & Beans (to die for!), Maduros and Yuca Fritas! Their calamari is something to be had as well, do NOT miss out on those bad boys! Everyone I have ever taken to Pio Pio and has had the Matador Combo with has L.O.V.E.D. I.T.!!!! Take yourself here, have a glass of SANGRIA ($6-$7), and actually I think they have the best Sangria in town and their pitcher is affordable and HUGE!!!! The staff and service is a little spotty sometimes but that may only be due to the fact that Pio Pio is ALWAYS packed!!!

I will definitely be back, I've already been there a gajillion times, they should just give me my own table and an open tab, lol!

New Chapter - Foodieville

All right kids ... so I've decided to take my blog in a different direction ... apparently, i'm lovin' good eatin' again ... and have been eatin' very good! =)

I have a very special person to thank ... but if you know me, well, then you know who it is and there's no need for me to divulge more than I need to as I've decided that I'm going to start blogging about all of the great little restaurants and bars that I've been to recently (starting Memorial Day Weekend 2009) and all of the great noshes that I've been having ... I'm a little behind but hopefully I'll be able to catch you up to all of these great spots!

As a point, if you've heard for a hot new spot with some viciously good food, social scene and/or drinks, let me know and I'll check it out first if you aren't quite sure whether or not you want to be the one to take the first toe dip.

I won't be starting any reviews on this post - I'm at work so I gotta keep this short and sweet but did want to give you all an update but some of the places that I will be covering include:

1. A Casa Fox
2. Permanent Brunch
3. El Porron
4. Maya
5. Felice
6. Fatty Fish
7. La Palapa
8. The Perfect Pint
9. Duke's
10. Pio Pio
11. Mr. Biggs
12. Five Napkin Burger
13. Five Guys Burger
14. Spitzer's
15. Bo Green House
16. Houston's @ Hillstones
17. Porch
18. Black Finn
19. Maya
20. The Thirsty Scholar
21. Pommes Frites
22. The Bourgeois Pig
23. Porchetta
24. Su Casa
25. Van Diemen's
26. Hill
27. Baoguette
28. La Giara
29. Slate Plus
30. Whitehorse
31. Hell's Kitchen
32. Otto
33. Sidebar
34. Vig27
35. Barking Dog Cafe
36. Public House
37. No. 7
38. Joshua Tree
39. Stir
40. Baker Street
41. Natural Tofu
42. PJ Clarke's
43. Gonzalez y Gonzalez
44. Blue Owl Lounge
45. Frying Pan
46. Lobster Bar
47. Mercury Bar
48. Vero
49. Sutton Place
50. Turtle Bay
51. Uncorked
52. Ricardo's Steakhouse
53. Bar Vetro
54. 8th Street Wine Cellar
55. Empire Rooftop Bar
56. Mee Noodle Shop
57. Beer Bar
58. Sweet and Vicious
59. Soho Park
60. 218 Bar
61. Opia
62. Mama Mexico

So I will give the addresses and locations of these places later ... but I'm going to be reviewing bars, hotspots, restaurants and the like! I hope you guys have just as much fun exploring the city with me!

A little ...

I always thought I was a commitment phobe ... and I was while I was in California. I even had an allergic reaction to a guy (Long Beach cop) I was dating who called me "his girl" and my whole face broke out in an allergic reaction. It was horrific. Anyways, so I recently was in my longest term relationship, it's been a little over a year and a half. I was so happy and content. Then out of the blue (with the aid of liquid courage) my boyf calls me and tells me that he doesn't feel like he's "contributing" enough. WTF?! I guess I could see why a Bronx-born, proud, young man would feel that way. But still ... it hurts and now i'm very lonely and suddenly the prospect of being single is, not very exciting. I really saw myself with this guy ... forever. You know ... married. I guess I was wrong. I'm not even interested in dating at all ... not with like my other ex ... (Mr. Con Man), I don't want to be spending these days alone, I just want Putz to come back and stay with me. We're eachother's best friend and I'm not even comfortable talking to him anymore. It's so sad. We used to cook together and now i've lost my love to cook. I want to play my xbox 360 games but they remind me of him (we used to play together). I don't like being single. I don't sleep, I don't eat. My love to eat died. I don't sleep b/c of my previous jobs and when he wouldn't spend the night, I wouldn't sleep but when he would come over that's when i got my best sleep. My whole body just was so happy and content when he was here, I could totally relax and now ... that's gone. I'm thinking of taking up sleeping aids to help me sleep. I'm just not sleeping and it's taking it's toll on me.
It's hard to thank GOD through this, but there's a reason why this happened. I don't know why, but I have to THANK him for it all. Give him the glory and the praise. I mean I still have many more things to be grateful for ... I'm still so immensely BLESSED. How can I let one little hang up like this depress me so much?? I just don't understand. I have GREAT, loving and supportive friends, I have a wonderful family that's healthy and well. I have both my eyes, ears, arms, and legs. I have my health, I have a job that's in no danger of "lay off" despite the economic climate, I have 2 wonderful dogs who love me unconditionally no matter how much i ignore them b/c of my own hang ups. I have benefits; dental, medical and vision! I am utterly and completely BLESSED, and yet ... a breakup and i'm totally devastated. I feel totally lost. I feel totally alone although I know better. I know that GOD promised me that he would NEVER EVER leave me and he hasn't. But I'm just ... heartbroken. I'm sad and that's OK ... coz everyday, it gets a little bit easier ... I'm a little happier. I'm a little less sad ... I cry a little less ... I smile a little more ... I laugh a little more ... I feel a little less like a failure ... I feel a little more confident ... I'm a little less heartbroken.

Thanks ya'll for listening, every little bit helps.