Red Mango Opens TODAY!

Free Frozen yogurt from 4-10pm…I’m headed there at 7!!

Hope to see you there tonight!

Ed’s Lobster Bar

On our third date, Chris took me to Pearl Oyster Bar for Rebecca Charles’ lobster rolls and clam chowder. Since then, we’ve been back many times to enjoy the lively atmosphere, the wonderful service, and of course, the amazing food. Pearl Oyster Bar quickly shot up to one of our favorite restaurants in the city and I always bring friends by when they visit. When it comes to lobster rolls, we’ve also tried Mary’s Fish Camp and two places in Martha’s Vineyard, but they don’t even compare to the amazing seafood that Pearl has. We wanted to give Ed’s Lobster Bar a chance; there was so much news coverage about Ed, Rebecca Charles’ former sous chef, replicating POB that we had to see what the fuss was about. We went with two friends, Felicia and Tom, on a Saturday night to compare lobster rolls.

When you walk in, Ed’s looks very similar to POB – same decorations and New England feel, but the people eating are definitely different. The crowd is much younger and European – on the night we went, it seemed like there were tons of out of town visitors. We decided to give Ed’s a fair chance and ordered a wide range of options from their menu. We started off with muddled lemonade (which was named by New York Mag as one of the best lemonades in the city):

The lemonade is supposed to be prepared in a similar way mojito’s are prepared to give it more of a fresh lemony flavor…I thought it tasted the exact same as regular lemonade (maybe it tasted better with vodka). I didn’t think it was anything special and it was really watered down. Chris thought it had a natural, unique flavor (but in my opinion, it tasted like tap water with a couple lemons squeezed in!!).

Next, Chris and I ordered clam chowder and mussels to share. The mussels came with a white wine sauce and a light mustard:

The sauce was way too thick and the mussels were all over-steamed, making them too chewy (Chris agreed). The sauce was also too heavy for the mussels and we couldn’t even finish our order because we were grossed out by the taste.

Chris’ clam chowder, unlike most clam chowders, came with ONE clam instead of many clam bits interspersed within the soup:

Is that even considered clam chowder? We were seriously disappointed with the soup; not enough clam flavor and it tasted like we were drinking a straight vat of cream. The chowder was also over-seasoned with salt and it was definitely nothing special…or even mediocre.

Oysters:

Tom ordered the oysters and seemed to enjoy all of them. I didn’t have any, so I can’t really comment on how they tasted.

So for our main course, Chris and I decided to both order the lobster roll. We were expecting something very similar to Pearl’s. Here’s Ed’s take on the lobster roll:

Well, to put it nicely, it’s not something I’d ever order again. And that’s me being NICE. The lobster was really stringy and didn’t have any flavor to it. Also, there wasn’t enough mayo (this coming from a person that absolutely despises mayo!). The lobster tasted like it was too chewy and there were just little scraps of lobster, no big chunks like the stuff they give you at Pearl Oyster Bar. The pickles were also disgusting (Ed’s own) and the fries tasted like regular fries (I think the cut was too big, too).

Felicia and Tom both ordered the lobster burger because Ed’s ran out of lobster pot pie. Ed’s lobster burger:

The lobster burger is actually more expensive than the lobster roll (I think $30 vs. $26). The lobster all tasted second rate and I don’t think either of them finished the burger.

Initially, it seemed like a good idea to go to Ed’s and try it out to see what the fuss was about. After our terrible meal at Ed’s, I don’t want to go anywhere else but my beloved Pearl Oyster Bar.

I hate Ed’s Lobster Bar.

Koryodang

Koryodang in the heart of K-town, looks like a small eatery when I peered in from 32nd. However, when I walked in, I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the cafe; it’s HUGE! High ceilings, stone walls, and very modern decor make up this popular Korean dessert cafe. Chris and I stopped by on a cold night for some patbingsoo, the Korean spin on shaved ice.

I spent a couple weeks in Korea when I was a kid and had patbingsoo everyday; scoops of red bean topped with ice cream, mochi, condensed milk, mango and kiwi bits on a soft bed of ice. I blame patbingsoo on my childhood weight problems (jk!) but I also have fond memories of going to the same Korean bakery every afternoon before heading back to the apartment where I lived on dial-up and the June 2000 issue of YM! magazine. The patbingsoo at Koryodang came with different toppings – you had the option to choose from fruit, red bean, or green bean (which is actually mung bean). We chose a fruit topping, which came with strawberry ice cream instead of a vanilla ice cream:

The patbingsoo was a little too sweet for me (especially after living off Pinkberry for the past couple of months). Also, the prices were a little steep; patbingsoo was $9!! If you stop by Koryodang, you should try their honeydew popsicles instead; they’re only $1 and they’re a great treat while you try to navigate your way through Herald Square.

Smorgas Chef

Diagonal from Chris’ house in the west village is a small Scandinavian restaurant, Smorgas Chef. Whenever I walk by the place, I always think it’s a really run-down restaurant because the outside looks unkempt. During the summer, I see couples eating late meals outside (so it can’t be that bad) and we decided to check it out for brunch. Since it was too cold to eat outside, we opted for a nice seat indoors (next to the wall of glass bottles). The exterior of Smorgas Chef:

Well, I think it looks rundown…maybe that’s the look they’re going for.

Smorgas Chef has a prix-fix option for brunch (for $17.95, you can order one main entree, an alcoholic drink, and a coffee) or you can just order the entree by itself (they run from $11 – $20).

Chris ordered the standard eggs benedict:

The standard egg yolk oozing out onto the ham and English muffin make eggs benedict a great artery-clogging breakfast food. Smorgas Chef makes a pretty good hollandaise sauce (although I still prefer Balthazar’s) and the salad on the side was also pretty good.

I ordered cooked eggs with Jarlsberg cheese, spinach, ham, and tomato:

Underneath the cheese, veggies, and ham was a single piece of wheat toast, soaking up the yolk:

The bread was really solid and didn’t fall apart when the yolk flooded the dish. It was a really good; the Jarlsberg cheese was perfectly melted (not too mushy and not too firm), the spinach added a great flavor, and the ham bits were a nice salty compliment to the dish.

My dish and Chris’ dish came with a side of Jansson’s special potatoes:

They’re potatoes au gratin, but they just tasted like plain potatoes to me. Good thing they were free!

Smorgas Chef was a surprisingly good meal for a quick Sunday afternoon brunch. The food was good and the service was friendly….they also take reservations! I’ll definitely be back.

Starwich

On a Friday after work, I stopped by the Starwich in the Citigroup Center for a quick bite to eat. Starwich has locations all over Manhattan and offers a healthy alternative for upscale food on the go. Since the Citigroup Center location mostly caters to people in Midtown and people leave work by 6PM on Fridays, they stock their kitchen accordingly. When I arrived at 6:30 (they’re open pretty late), Starwich was almost out of ALL of their menu options (no joke). I originally wanted the filet mignon sandwich (herb-crusted filet mignon, caramelized onion compote, roasted garlic and horseradish aioli, tuscan log) but since they were sold out of the tuscan log, I had to substitute the log with sourdough bread:

The bread was really dry and the meat wasn’t tender at all – it was really overcooked and tough. I wasn’t really a fan of the sandwich. The sourdough and the onions didn’t mix well together and I couldn’t even finish the thing.

Chris ordered the spinach salad with chicken strips:

The salad was dressed well but the chicken was dry and the only topping it came with was corn. I blame the crappiness of our meal to the fact that they don’t plan the logistics of Starwich correctly; shouldn’t they only keep Starwich open at 6:30 on a Friday night if they have business? I read that Starwich is really busy during lunch hours, so maybe during the rush they have more options.

Starwich is an interesting concept of a restaurant/cafe because they offer wi-fi and phone chargers along with comfy couches:

They also offer delivery throughout Manhattan (ANYWHERE), which I think is pretty convenient. The guy that was working was really friendly and I wish I had a better experience at Starwich, but I really disliked the food and the fact that they didn’t have anything from their menu.