After eating 2 pounds of meat, cheese, and noodles at S’Mac, I figured there was no better way to end the night than to have some fried foods at Led Zeppole. Led Zeppole was opened by the Artichoke guys and specializes in fried desserts like the ones you’d eat on Coney Island. They also have soft serve (but the machine was broken when I went) and Italian ice.
Some specialties include cannolis, fried dough, cream puffs, and funnel cake:
However, we were there specifically for their fried oreos:
Everything is fried-to-order, so you order what you want and then the guys behind the counter fry it up. We ordered three fried oreos – the guy behind the counter coated it in a sweet batter and quickly fried them and dusted them with powdered sugar. The fried oreos were hot and sweet, but the flavor was more from the fried dough than the oreo. Delicious, but I definitely do not recommend eating more than one because you might die from the sugar and fat overload (I ate one and a half and still feel like I’m on a sugar high). Next time, I’m trying their funnel cake and cannolis!
After a fun day of biking and walking around the city, I went to S’Mac for dinner. The only savory dishes at S’Mac are macaroni and cheese, but there are about twelve different combinations, so you’re bound to find something that will interest you. If you don’t, there’s also the option to make your own macaroni and cheese combination (pick the meat, cheese, and other toppings). We decided to go with the sampler (eight different kinds of macaroni and cheese!) and an extra order of the Alpine since the sampler didn’t look that large.
Our sampler:
The sampler includes eight different types of macaroni and cheese – we referenced this sheet while eating:
My favorites: La Mancha, which came with fresh fennel and manchego cheese and Alpine, which was gruyere cheese with slab bacon. The other macaroni and cheese flavors kind of melded together after I sampled all of them. The one flavor that really sticks out in my mind right now because it was SO terrible is the Parisienne (brie, figs, rosemary, and roasted shiitake mushrooms). The mushy figs and bits of elbow macaroni with cheese kind of grossed me out; the figs were sweet and definitely the most dominant flavor in the savory dish.
We also ordered the Alpine macaroni and cheese:
The Alpine was probably the best out of all the ones we tried, but was definitely not the best version of macaroni and cheese with bacon I’ve ever had. All of the macaroni and cheeses were a tad greasy and I definitely felt gross after finishing both macaroni and cheese dishes. I don’t think I’d return to S’Mac; the restaurant specializes in macaroni and cheese, but none of the ones I tried were special enough to order again.
After church on Sunday, Laura and I headed to the theater district to get dinner. Originally, we wanted to go to Sake Bar Hagi, but the wait was close to 30 minutes and it was pouring outside, so we decided to head next door to Sapporo. Sapporo is really run down, but I’ve been there in the past for ramen and I think it’s pretty decent. I went with the special Sapporo ramen:
The special Sapporo ramen comes with two types of pork (sliced and minced), corn, fish cakes, and spinach. The broth is okay, but was more salty than anything. The portion was gigantic and they are definitely really generous with the pork. The ramen was very chewy and on par with a place like Ramen Setagaya.
Laura went with the vegetarian ramen in a miso broth:
I liked her broth more because there was actually miso flavoring (although we couldn’t determine for sure if our broths were the same…I’m pretty sure hers was miso-flavored and mine was salt-flavored).
Sapporo isn’t bad for a quick bite to eat, especially since it’s difficult to find good restaurants around Times Square. In the future, I think I’d rather wait for Sake Bar Hagi (especially since they take your phone number down and will call you when your table is ready!)
On Thursday night, I was introduced to the most amazing restaurant in New York, Fish. Fish is located on Bleecker Street (next to Isle) and I’ve walked by so many times but have never walked in because the restaurant looks really run down that I’ve never even thought about looking up the place to read reviews. However, I was starving on Thursday night and my friend suggested we head to the restaurant to try it out. Fish:
Fish has amazing deals – the first one (that we both ordered) was 1/2 dozen Blue Point oysters + PBR (or house red/white wine) for $8:
We were contemplating whether or not we should just get really drunk on PBR and order 30 more oysters, but decided against it since we wanted lobster as well. The oysters were very large compared to the oysters I’ve had in NYC so far but definitely amazing.
For dinner, we ordered the Down East Lobster Feast:
And added another lobster to the order for $12:
The Down East Lobster feast quite literally is a feast; it comes with a 1 1/4 pound lobster, 5 steamers, corn on the cob, and fries. For another $12, you can add another lobster (which we did). The lobsters were amazing, the fries tasted like they were triple fried (triple awesome), and it was the first time I’ve ever had steamers, so they were fun to try to unassemble.
Fish also has great lunch specials – all you can eat Maryland blue crabs for $24!!!!! I am DEFINITELY going back (and I’m bringing Dorren and Matt!)
On Friday afternoon, Blake invited me to brunch at Calle Ocho by the Museum of Natural History with two other friends. I’d never heard of the place, but Blake said the food was very good (Tex-Mex style) and unlimited sangria for around $15 a person. I was a little skeptical, especially since some places that have unlimited alcohol have really bad food (because you’re usually too drunk to realize that the food sucks). Blake assured me that the food was really good, so even though the weather said it would be pouring all weekend, I signed up. The subways were definitely all messed up over the weekend, but I made it to the 12:30 reservation, soaking wet. We were seated in the main dining room and immediately started digging in on the bread basket:
The bread basket had various types of bread: a fried doughnut filled with a tiny bit of caramel, a chocolate bun, cornbread, and a multi-grain roll. The basket also had strawberry butter done right (unlike the one at Jane Restaurant). While we were starting on the bread basket, the waitress came by to explain the sangria bar: only one glass at a time and as long as you ordered an entree, you were invited to have as much sangria as you wanted. We all decided to order entrees so we could sample the seven different types of sangria:
For brunch, I ordered the Pollo Ranchero: Crispy Corn Tortilla, Refried Black Beans, Chicken Escabeche, Scrambled Eggs, Ranchero Sauce:
The pollo ranchero was my favorite dish out of all of our choices – Blake also liked it the most (he usually orders this dish and suggested I try it). The ranchero sauce reminded me of the salsa they serve at Mexicana Mama (creamy and slightly spicy).
Blake ordered the Burrito Sucio: Chorizo, Scrambled Eggs, Black Beans, Tetilla Cheese, Salsa Verde:
The burrito was a heavy breakfast burrito that was stuffed with scrambled eggs. The innards of the burrito were unevenly distributed, meaning some bites were just tortilla and some were bites of chorizo and black beans. It was a huge burrito, but too heavy to go with all of the alcohol.
Ariel ordered the Cuban Sandwich: Cuban Sandwich with Roasted Pork, Panela Basted Ham & Swiss Cheese, Pickles, Latino Chips:
The Cuban sandwich was my least favorite of the day – it reminded me of a sandwich made at Zabar’s sandwich bar instead of something made from a restaurant. The bread wasn’t toasted enough, the cheese wasn’t melted, and “Latino chips” were French fries. I think I might have set my expectations for a Cuban sandwich too high (I was searching my post about The Spotted Pig’s cubano and found my entry on Perilla, which I said also reminded me of a Zabar’s sandwich!)
Chris, Blake’s cousin, ordered the burger with fries:
And fried green plantains:
Me and Blake at brunch:
And Ariel, Blake, and Chris:
I’m definitely going back to Calle Ocho; it’s fun, very inexpensive, the food was good, and everyone had a really great time! I suggest making a reservation or arriving early; when we arrived, three other girls tried getting a table without a reservation and the maitre’d said the restaurant was completely booked, but they could eat at the bar (first come, first served).
