Tag Archives: steak sandwich

Tir Na Nog

16 Aug

We met up with some family friends who were in the city from Upstate New York before a Yankees Game.  We had very little time and they were coming to Penn Station.  There aren’t a ton of great options near Penn Station, but Tir Na Nog (on 8th Ave at 33rd Street) has offered up some decent meals for me in the past. 

First up was the quiche du jour.  I can’t recall what it was, but I know it was enjoyed.

The open face steak sandwich came on Toasted Rustic Bread with Sweet Onion Jam, Melted Boursin Cheese, French Fries.  I know this was a hit and I was lucky enough to try the fries.  These were AWESOME fries! Perfectly crispy on the outside, just the right seasoning, and potato-y on the inside.

Both my dad and sister ordered the Vanilla French Toast with Maple Syrup.  My dad declared it “the best French Toast” he ever ate.  Stacey said it was good, but not that good.  I agreed with Stacey.

The burger looked tasty, too. But it was on the other side of the table so I’m not sure.

I chose the Smoked Salmon Benedict and it was DELICIOUS.  Perfectly cooked eggs, great light hollandaise, deliciously smoked salmon, and perfectly cooked potatoes.

Mmm Mmm Mmmm.

I was actually really impressed by the brunch here.  I wasn’t expecting much seeing as though it is near Penn Station and many Irish places in NYC come out with very run of the mill, bland food.  This was all the classics done right.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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Nom Nom Nom… All the Way Home (Portsmouth, NH & Providence, RI)

23 Jul

On our roadtrip back from Maine, we made a lunch stop in Portsmouth, NH and then did an overnight in Providence, RI.  I have always loved Portsmouth, however, it started to rain heavily midway through lunch, so we didn’t have much time for sight seeing.  And then Providence, RI seemed like a good idea… about midway home, in RI, known for being a lovely town… but I just. didn’t. get it.

Back to Portsmouth… after our fantastic tour of Maine craft beers, we decided to continue our new found tradition and stopped in at the Portsmouth Brewery for lunch.  We, of course, ordered beer and mine was quite tasty.  If we hadn’t been driving, we would have totally gone for the paddle of beer that had something like 12 small flights to try their stash.  Bummer.  We did have some good grub, however (and that’s what you’re here for anyway… isn’t it?)

Mike ordered what I thought was a cheesesteak… but I can’t find it on the menu. Hmm.  I remember him liking it very much though!

I chose a special pork dish which had a peach chutney.  DELISH! I was quite impressed that a brewery did such a good job with this dish.

Overall, it’s a great place to have a beer and the food ain’t bad!

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 7

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As soon as we pulled into Providence, I knew we were in trouble.  I had mistakenly thought it was on a lovely part of water, however, it looked like mostly highways.  We asked the concierge at the hotel where to go for a night stroll, and he sent us up in some direction that made us feel quite scared… and we live in NYC!  It was just so seedy.  We wound up going to see a movie that night… in a mall movie theater.  Pathetic I know.

On the way back from the movie theater we decided to continue our brewery themed trip and tried out the Trinity Brewhouse.  

We sat outside and it was a nice night… but the food literally took SO LONG to come out (and the restaurant was pretty much empty when we arrived) that it actually cooled up and the wind picked up outside.  Uncomfortable at best.

Mike ordered the pizza… big mistake.  It was heavy and greasy and just hardly worth eating.

Then mine came out… ugh… even worse!  Do you see the REFLECTION off those sweet potato fries?  That’s how greasy they were.  And soggy.  Ew.  The sandwich was a corned beef reuben that sounded good… but was basically flavorless.  How do you screw up a reuben and fries?  GA-ROSS

This place was crap.  Seriously.  I’m usually quite nice in my reviews, but I just can’t be.  It was utter crap.

Total Nom Points: 2 out of 10

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The next day we decided to take a recommendation from a family friend who had lived in Providence for a while.  She is a chef, so I figured she couldn’t steer us wrong.  This was when we saw the college part of town (Thayer Street).  This was much lovelier an area than where we were the night before.  

The recommendation was for a pizza place called Antonio’s on Thayer.  I was told it would be the “best pizza I’d ever have in my ginger life.”  
I chose mushroom and hawaiian. 

Mike went with a white chicken pesto slice.

And a chicken cordon bleu.

So how does this compare in my ginger life?  It was good, but not THE BEST.  I did enjoy it, however, and compared to the other place we ate in Providence, this was TOPS!

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

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This sadly ended Mike and my excursion in Maine.  In a strange twist of fate, however, I AM GOING BACK NEXT WEEK with the family!  YAAY! 

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Brews, Meat, and Gelato

6 Aug

A beautiful Saturday night led to a decision for an impromptu night out.  Unfortunately not many people could join on such late notice, however, my friend Travis (purveyer of dried fruits and nuts… see next entry) did manage to make his way from NJ to the far west side.  We decided to check out The Frying Pan which is an old Lightship that is current docked and converted into a bar on the Hudson River at the west end of West 26th Street.  It was an awesome space, but WAY too crowded and they had a wedding going on and were getting ready for a private party, thereby limiting the space even more.  Mike and I grabbed a drink while waiting for Travis and then decided that we’d be better off coming back to The Frying Pan on a weekday or weekend afternoon when it wasn’t so crazy. 

So we walked just a few blocks down to Chelsea Piers to go check out Chelsea Brewing Company.  I had been there late at night for drinnks and when all they had for food was brick oven pizza (which is pretty good if I remember).  It’s a great looking restaurant with two levels, arching bars, and the brewing tanks behind the bar.

As it was a beautiful night, we wanted to sit outside, and while inside was instant seating, outside would take about 30 minutes.  Fine!  There’s a bar and, my fave, beer flights!

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t even 10 minutes later that we were told our table was ready outside and a very impressive waitress balanced our flights and brought them outside to us.  The view of the marina was beautiful.  Who says Jersey and the Hudson are ugly?

We were pretty hungry by this time, so we ordered an app of fresh hot pretzels (sides of honey mustard and melted cheese that tasted like cracked out velveeta… in a good way).  We managed to devour the plate before I realized my camera was sitting next to me, so all you get is the empty plate. SORRY!

I went with the steak sandwich with provolone and a side of mashed sweet potatoes. The whole thing was great, and I managed to eat ALL those sweet potatoes since they were sooooo good.

Travis got the same thing but with blue cheese instead of provolone (smart) and mashed regular potatoes.

Mike went with (can you guess?) the BURGER!  This one sounded especially tasty with shrooms, bacon, and swiss.  It was a damn good burner with damn good fries.

Overall, you cannot beat the view and the beauty of the restaurant (even if it’s not exactly convenient) and the food is quite delicious.  I was pleasantly surprised since I thought that it would be “just okay” seeing as though there is really nothing else in the area to compete with.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

We decided to walk down The Highline (I LOVE THE HIGHLINE!) since Travis had never been.  I like the fact that there are VERY few vendors on The Highline and no stores.  One of the vendors this night was gelatto, and I couldn’t resist.  It was from L’Arte Del Gelato (a known great place) and it didn’t dissapoint. I went with the chocolate chip mixed with banana.  Mike chose Biscotti and Travis went with milk chocolate and banana mix.  I think we were all quite happy with our selections.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

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