Maison Kayser

921 Broadway, NY, NY 10010

Rating: A - Excellent
Taste #: 3
In brief: Pop! pop! pop! pop! pop! That's us eating five chouquettes from Maison Kayser.

Halal Cart

5th Ave above 23rd St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visit #: 1
In brief: Original ingredients, but could use fresher pita.
We've been looking for good street meat up here but it takes awhile to try all the carts without knowing which one is good. We stopped at the one in front of the Marimeko store because the tantalizing smell of grilled meats caught us mid stride. They put olives and corn in the gyro, very unusual, and not unpleasant. Would have been better with a less stale pita, but then again, everything tastes better with fresh bread.

Lenny's

16 W. 23rd St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visit #: 4
In brief: The # 2 Italian combo hoagie is worth the chaotic line, the cramped waiting space and total lack of ambiance.
The hectic wait at Lenny's for our #2 Italian combo hoagie was mitigated by the beautiful sandwich eating weather outside. We even got a table at the outdoor triangle of paved road. It's the crisp, thinly shredded iceberg lettuce that puts this hoagie over the top. Every bite was stunningly delicious.

Bob White Lunch & Supper Counter

94 Avenue C, New York, NY 10009

Rating: 1 - Wonderful
Visit #: 1
In brief: This place is not disappointing.

I've been wanting to come to this place since it opened a few years back, but somehow it just didn't sink into Y's head. That is until one of her friends brought it over for dinner. Anyhow, my first visit ever was not disappointing. The fried chicken is classic. No frills, no fancy crusts, no extra flavorings, just straight up fried chicken. It is often hard to do the seemingly simplest things well. And Bob White does an excellent job.

Trader Joe's Belgian butter waffles

675 6th Ave, NY, NY 10010

Rating: B - Above Average
Taste #: 1
In brief: We were sad not to have picked up dessert but then, upon rummaging around in the food pantry, discovered these yummy things.

Homes Kitchen, with Hong

22 E. 21st St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visit #: 11
In brief: For the first time in forever, we were disappointed with the green beans.

Normally they are stellar, the star of our meal. Yesterday, weirdly, they were soggy and overcooked. Boo. Sad.

Maison Kayser

921 Broadway, NY, NY 10010

Rating: B - Above Average
Taste #: 1
In brief: Happy Birthday M.! A pretty taste of summer strawberries.

Dos Toros

1111 Lexington Ave, NY, NY 10075

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visit #: 7
In brief: Even when it's cold from traveling back on the subway, the pollo asado quesadilla at Dos Toros makes us happy happy happy.

It's M.'s birthday so I gallantly offered to pick up our favorite grilled chicken quesadillas from Dos Toros on my way back from the job site. Even cold they were still delicious. So delicious I wanted to take a break from talking about work stuff until we had finished at least a half.

Dough

@ Stinky Bklyn - 107 West 20th Street, NY, NY 10011

Rating: B - Above Average
In brief: I've tried the doughnuts from Dough a handful of times now, and I don't get the hype.

If you've read this blog with any regularity, you'd know about our immense love for the donut. But I just don't get the hype about the donuts from Dough. They are very good, yes, but great? I'm not so sure. Theses are purely a matter of taste so there are no bad feelings for the loyal followers. It's just not a donut I dream or think about. Put it in front of my face? I will happily eat it.

Stinky Brooklyn

107 West 20th Street, NY, NY 10011

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visit #: 1
In brief: A welcome addition in the neighborhood, we hope they expand their offerings.

The owners of three beloved Brooklyn food/beverage institutions, have comes across the river and into Chelsea! It's a shame they only offer sandwiches at the moment, as we don't crave sandwiches often. The #3 Smoked Turkey, Aged Jack, Spicy Tomato Jam sandwich was not too memorable. Actually it was the bread that killed it; the sandwich fillings were well balanced, fresh and delicious. That being said, I'm super excited to have a nice wine/cheese shop I can hop in on my way home from work.

Old Town Bar w/ Phi

45 East 18th Street, NY, NY 10003

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visit #: 9
In brief: No matter how average your experience is the frankfurters are more than average

When Phi told me that she had never been to Old Town, I couldn't resist indulging her curiosity. We love this place during the day and it really doesn't matter if the rest of the menu is forgettable (they have a serviceable burger) because their hot dogs are pretty out of this world. We noticed that the bun which looks like white bread folded in half, actually has a manufactured looking crust on the underside. Could this mean that you can purchase buns that look like white bread slices? If so, I definitely need them for our next cook-out.

Birdbath Bakery

35 3rd Avenue, NY, NY 10003

Rating: B
In brief: The cookie was nice, but the coffee, too strong and undrinkable

Somtum Der with Phi

85 Avenue A, NY, NY 10009

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visit #: 1
In brief: We enjoyed everything but the fried chicken was exceptional

We had a little over an hour to kill for our lunch break in the East Village, and thanks to Phi, we had a really super lunch. I had heard great things about the relatively new Thai spot Somtum Der, even from my Thai food specialist friend. I had also both read and heard first hand about their crave-able fried chicken. It's nice that all the dishes are small, as we were able to try four of them for lunch. The Papaya Salad, Duck Laab, BBQ Pork w/ Coconut Rice Sticks and the Fried Chicken. Everything was quite good, but thoughts of the Fried Chicken and the coconut rice have not yet left my mind. We'll be back.

The Donut Pub

203 W. 14th St, NY, NY 10011

Rating: A- Excellent
Visit #: lots and lots
In brief: Happy National Donut Day! Nothing like our absolutely favorite local donut to celebrate this joyous day. Perhaps from next year we will make it an office holiday. It was soo especially good today, I felt like I polished mine in two bites.

Carta Azul (aka Pinche Taqueria) w/ David

103 W. 14th St, NY, NY 10011

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visit #: 2
In brief: Fish Taco Fridays, get 2 and 3rd one if free - we like that.

While the fish tacos aren't quite the same as they were when it was Pinche Taqueria (although we hear that it still sort of is), it's still tasty and we love the Fish Friday deal. However we split the 3 tacos as an appetizer between us and opted for other dishes. David's Torta de Pollo Asado was quite tasty, but neither of our breakfast dishes excited us. The chilaquiles I ordered was a big bowl filled with soaked corn tortillas with not much else aside the eggs; the ratio was totally off. We'll definitely go back, but we definitely won't be ordering what we had today.

Ootoya, with Hong

8 W 18th St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visit #: 7
In brief: Still good, still not cheap. Still love.

Hong wavered between one of the three fried chicken dishes but went with the tatsuta (fried chicken), and I'm glad she did because it was gooood. Also quite lovely is the tofu salad with pencil shavings, I mean shaved bonito flakes.

L.A. Burdick

5 E 20th St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: B - Above Average
Taste #: 3
In brief: I always forget LA Burdick likes to add a bit of fruit to their madeleines, which I don't mind when it's one little taste but today's was more than that.

Ennju

20 E. 17th St, NY, NY 10003

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visit #: 5
In brief: Something quite perfect about the textures and tastes of the salmon-skin don bowl from Ennju. Irresistibly so, we have tried very few other dishes here.

I realized why I don't mind Ennju so much now in the warm weather as in the winter. The dining area is really tight, everyone is a bit crammed in and in the winter, with coats and hats and scarves it can be a bit hectic. Now that jackets aren't even needed, it's easy breezy to wait on the side until someone gets up.

mini cupcakes

Rating: D - Disappointed
Taste #: 1
In brief: I wasn't paying close attention to the timing of the cupcakes, dumb since baking can be so precise. And especially dumb because these are so much smaller than regular cupcakes I should have taken them out way earlier. I was expecting the tops to brown, like the recipe said, so I kept leaving them in for longer and longer and now they're too dry to enjoy except for eager beaver 5 year olds who will pretty much eat anything in the form of a cupcake.

La Pizza Fresca

31 E 20th St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visit #: 3
In brief: Hmm ho hum, there is nothing wrong with La Pizza Fresca, perfectly civilized, but I think we will stick to our Zero Otto Nove.

The service at La Pizza Fresca is friendly and I enjoyed the open doors in the shade of today's summer afternoon but the sauce is a little too sweet, the pizza on this side of too soft. We will stick to Zero Otto Nove for our Neopolitan pizza fix, especially since they are too close to make any excuses.