Tag Archives: bread pudding

Sylvia’s- Harlem

12 Apr

Sometimes you just need some soul food.  So we took a pilgrimage up to Harlem to finally check out Sylvia’s.  

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We noticed that there was a beer on the menu from Harlem Brewing Company.  When in Rome…

It was quite good, especially with the rich food.

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The bread was old fashioned corn bread served with, what else, Fleichmann’s margarine. 

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And then the food started arriving…

Fried chicken with sweet potatoes and mac and cheese… OHHHH the mac and cheese.

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Chicken and waffles.

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Smothered pork chops with green beans and mac and cheese… OHHH the mac and cheese.

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More chicken and more waffles.

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And more mac and cheese… OHHH the mac and cheese.

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Everything was really delightful. The fried chicken had a great crisp to it and wasn’t greasy at all.  I had the chicken and waffles and the waffle was really fantastic. There is something quite spectacular about maple syrup on the waffles and chicken. 

But OH the mac and cheese.  It was heavenly.  Perfectly baked, perfectly cheesy, perfect perfect perfect. I consider myself a mac and cheese connoisseur and this, this was GREAT mac and cheese.  Up there with Blue Smoke (which is the best flavor but a little too saucy) and Chat ‘n Chew (which is #1 in my book, however, it’s inconsistent). 

We really wanted the peach cobbler for dessert, but they were out.

::pout::

So we got red velvet cake (which was good, but I’m not a red velvet cake fan).

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The strawberry bread pudding with bourbon sauce (really delicious).

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And the southern style banana pudding.  Also pretty good.

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I can’t say I LOVED the desserts, but the meal was great and that mac and cheese…. OH that mac and cheese.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Blue Ribbon Sushi and Grill

9 Sep

One perk of my job is that I get to go on client dinners.  This supplements my expensive eating habits nicely.  Sometimes I wind up at places that are less than ideal (a recent trip to Dos Caminos left me in the prickly position of a waitress saying to me “there is NOTHING on the menu you can eat”… awesome) but sometimes I wind up trying awesome places like Blue Ribbon Sushi and Grill (on 58th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in the 6 Columbus Hotel).

I had been there once before, however, this time I was with a coworker who knew the manager and he knew EXACTLY what to order.

We started with the lamb chops, which was yummy.  It even converted someone who typically doesn’t like lamb.  Winner.

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It came over a delicious sweet potato puree.

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Next up we ordered the pork belly.

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It was a delicious slice of perfectly cook pork belly with a great balance of sweet and spicy veg on top.

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We also ordered pork and shrimp dumpings, both of which were good, but no better than most NY Dim Sum.

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They enjoyed an order of spicy ceviche. I’ll take their word for it that it was good.

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We also ordered the duck, which came with orange teriyaki, cauliflower puree, and asian broccoli.  The skin on this was so perfectly crisp and the meat was so well cooked it almost melted in your mouth.  One of the top duck dishes I have had.

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And then… heaven came out…

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This was Oxtail Fried Rice.  It came with daikon, shiitake, and bone marrow.  The bone marrow was actually tucked inside an egg pocket.  See it broken open in the picture below.

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This was unbelievable.  One of the best dishes I have ever had.  And it was rice.  The most delicious rice I have ever had!  I actually felt bad while eating this that Mike wasn’t enjoying it with me and look forward to bringing him back here soon just for this dish.  Add this to the list of dishes I will crave during bad days.  Om nom nom nom nom nom nom.

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Just in case that wasn’t enough food, a sushi tray made its entrance.  I won’t go into the specifics (since I don’t remember them anyway) but I can tell you that every piece was awesome.

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For dessert we got bread pudding and this made lovers out of haters.  It was insanely good, perfectly cooked, unbelievably tender and moist, and full of flavor.  YUM!

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We also got green tea chocolate lava cake.  Awesome.  Simply awesome.

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This was a fantastic meal.  Absolutely fantastic.  Knowing what to order is key.  I usually wouldn’t focus on the cooked food at a sushi restaurant, but don’t forget about the “Grill” part of their name.  It’s fantastic.

And that Oxtail Fried Rice… mmmmmmmmmmmmm

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Glass House Tavern

12 Oct

It will be hard to blog about this without a twinge of bitterness.  I suggested a few restaurants to a friend and was unceremoniously SHOT DOWN by his boyfriend (and I believe my choice of Becco was called “pretentious.”  BECCO!)  Now I will try to forgive as I was warned that the boyfriend was picky, and thankfully he’s nice enough to make up for it… but BECCO?!?!  Ok… /rant

So the end choice was to go back to a place where they had been before and enjoyed.  I was slightly concerned when they made the choice to go to a place that was in my neighborhood but I had never heard of:  Glass House Tavern  (on 47th between 8th Ave and Broadway). 

The decor was lovely inside.

And I appreciated the aesthetic.

We started with apps.  Fresh Mozzarella & Tomato Salad sweet garlic, basil & extra virgin olive oil.

Organic Green Salad roquefort apple brioche.

Malfadine Pasta Primavera zucchini, yellow squash, fresh tomato & basil

Grilled Filet Mignon smashed potato, caramelized shallots and red wine

Free Range Roast Chicken garlic roast potato, tarragon jus

Then some dessert… Buttermilk Panna Cotta with berries

Pineapple Bread Pudding caramel, vanilla sauce

And then I, of course, ordered the Warm Chocolate Cake fresh berries, vanilla ice cream.

Notice the lack of commentary for this post?  Yeah… that’s pretty much how I felt about the meal.  Nothing stood out.  Nothing was even good.  Even that warm chocolate cake was bland and dry.  And it looks like they just plated an upside down cupcake without frosting.

This place was fine.  Just… fine.

Total Nom Points: 5 out of 10

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