Looking for a great deal on brunch in the East Village? Head to Yuca Bar, on Avenue A & 7th Street, where $13.95 will get you tender, flame-grilled skirt steak, eggs, home fries or rice and black beans and your choice of coffee, orange juice, lemonade, a mimosa or a screwdriver. Read on to find out why Loco Tuesday’s at Yuca Bar are the best day of the week.
The aptly named Righteous Urban Barbeque lives up to expectations; Affordable and meaty ribs, brisket-topped chili cheese fries and deep fried Oreos. It hasn’t disappointed in 5 visits and I’m pumped to go back. Read on to find out how you and a friend can feast for $20 each.
http://web.sny.tv/schedule/dnl.jsp
I wasn’t actually on the air but my list of the Top 5 Foods for July 4th were broadcast on SNY Thursday July 3rd. Tune in to Daily News Live, hosted by Chris Cotter, Monday to Friday at 5PM for seriously entertaining sports talk.
If you miss the 5pm show, it re-airs at 11PM and 1:30AM.
Looking for food that’s different and delicious? Tuck Shop on 1st Street between 1st and 2nd Avenue is serving authentic Australian street food until 5AM on weekends. You may not know what meat pies, Lamingtons or Vanilla Slice are, but once you try them, your culinary landscape will be forever changed.
Until 2AM every night, Chirping Chicken offers 4 pieces of flame-broiled chicken & an order of fries for $10. Four pieces of flame-broiled chicken basted in chicken fat, garlic and salt ($6.49 half chicken, white or dark) and a fat order of crispy shoestring fries ($2.89). Click here for more details.
This may be the best late night meal on the UWS. The chicken is so good that a whole chicken ($11.29, 8 pieces) and no fries is worth considering. Skip the ribs, stick with the chicken. Beware they only serve Hunts ketchup, no Heinz, so prepare accordingly.
Chirping Chicken 355 Amsterdam Ave at 77th StreetAngelo’s, on 57th Street near 6th Avenue, is not the best pizza in the city, but as one of the only two coal oven pizza spots in Midtown (John’s in Times Square) it has a major advantage over the ordinary slice joints that litter the neighborhood. It’s pies only ($17 large, $15 small, $2.50 per topping) and it’s not cheap but it’s well worth it.
It all looks delicious but two elements of this pie shined above the rest, read on for the essentials.
A bad sandwich is like a missed layup, it invokes groans and easily avoidable pain. NYC Food Guy is here to tell you to avoid the #2 Italian Style sandwich at Lenny’s (top) and any sandwich that’s made to order at Todaro Brothers (bottom) on 2nd Ave and 31st street.
Purists be damned, there is no better hot dog than a Chili Cheese Dog only from Nathan’s on Surf & Stillwell in Coney Island. A garlicky, juicy and snappy all-beef dog covered in mild beef chili and heart-slowing warm cheddar cheese sauce, it’s heaven on a bun and it’s an authentic New York experience.
If you haven’t been to Coney Island recently, get out there. You can take a ride on the Cyclone, eat pizza at the legendary Totonno’s (just a block away from Nathan’s), grab some hot dogs, and go see the Mets future stars playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones. Read on to find out if the bacon cheese dog was better than it looked plus some delicious fry photos.
Burrito Box, on 9th Avenue between 57th & 58th, offers the best and most affordable Tex Mex delivery in Midtown.
I recommend the Grilled Chicken Burrito ($6.95) with sour cream on the side (it comes with too much in it) and a large order of chips and salsa ($3.85). The salsa is homemade and chunky, filled with chopped onion and garlic. It’s delicious, some of the best I’ve had in NYC, but spare your co-workers and have some gum on the ready.
All meats are flame grilled, tender, and delicious. Friends have spoken highly of the vegetarian burritos ($6.25 to $6.95). The quesadillas are quality too but don’t stand the test of delivery as well as the burritos. Soft tacos, particularly steak ($5.95 for 2), are also tasty, little bullets filled with your choice of meat with lettuce, tomato, and onion. Stay away from the hard tacos, they failed the test of delivery. I also didn’t enjoy the BBQ Chicken.
Here’s a link to my first two Burrito Box reviews with pics of soft tacos and quesadillas.
Harriet’s Kitchen, on Amsterdam Avenue between 84th & 85th Street, has now provided you with a reason to go to the Upper West Side. You can now enjoy the best burger I’ve had in a long time and then go eat the best chocolate chip cookie on the planet at Levain Bakery.
“This is why there is pork.” My words after eating a morsel of pork freshly pulled from the bone of a pork butt (oddly the top of the shoulder) which had been smoking for 16 hours at 225 degrees Fahrenheit. It melted in my mouth, it made my knees weak and it lives in Decatur, Alabama, 935 miles from NYC, in the smokers of renowned pit master Chris Lilly of Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Q.
Above you’ll see how the best pulled pork I’ve ever had was created, from smoker to cutting board to plate. Read on for a more in depth look at the process, The Salt Lick BBQ’s beef brisket (also the best I’ve ever had), plus serious sausage and whole smoked 120 pound hogs.
I learned three things this weekend: Big Bob Gibson & Chris Lilly’s Pulled Pork is melt in your mouth amazing, Salt Lick Bar-B-Que’s Brisket is the best I’ve ever had and everything I thought I knew about Barbecue is nothing compared to what I have to learn. Enjoy the collage, review to come.
Darrell Lea’s “Rocklea Road” combines light, fluffy marshmallow, roasted peanuts and toasted coconut smothered in either dark or milk chocolate. It’s like eating all the best Russell Stovers candys in one bite.
Tim Tams are “Australia’s favorite biscuit”. They’re also by far the best packaged cookie I’ve ever had and I dream about the day they appear in U.S. supermarkets.
The quest for the best slice of pizza in Midtown near Times Square continues. Thus far, Bella Napoli’s Grandma slice has received the only mark of distinction. I’ve heard good things about the brick oven pizza at Bella Vita, on 58th between 6th and 7th, but have only had it by delivery. It’s time to put Bella Vita to the test with a fresh pie, in house. Are looks deceiving or is it delicious enough to take the Midtown crown?
