Dinosaur BBQ

Dinosaur BBQ:

646 West 131st Street

NY, NY 10027

Went to Dinosaur BBQ for my roommate's birthday. Dinosaur BBQ was one of the few places we could find that would accommodate a party of 20. The restaurant is large and wooden inside. It has the traditional bbq spot feel. Loud, dark, and a lot of energy running around.

I had never been here before and was surprised at how close it was to Columbia. When I left I told myself I would come back soon. I am writing this post over a month later, and have not been back. Don't know what that says. The place was absolutely delicious, but a little out of my normal lunch price quota and bbq isn't something I normally crave.

One of the hardest things about being a food blogger is remembering to take pictures. Especially before you begin eating the food. Failure this time. Also, the place was dark so picture quality further diminishes. I am still getting a hang of this people!

But, here ya go. LOL. this is a picture of the half-rack of ribs, with sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, and cornbread. Woops, all you can see are some bones and a piece of corn bread. The ribs were better then standard and made you feel happy when eating them. Of course, these were nothing compared to my rib place back home. On a side note, everyone seems to have a "favorite, absolutely best" rib place.

I also offer pictures of other entrees offered at this restaurant. These pics are slightly better. Thank god other people are crazy and don't order ribs at a bbq rib joint! haha.

Someone else got the chicken plate, and then another crazy person got wings.

Rating: 8

ELEVEN MADISON PARK

Eleven Madison Park:

11 Madison Park Ave

New York, NY 10010

So my friend Tiffany and I are two of the cheapest people around. However, once in a while we splurge on some fine dining. On this occasion the lovely restaurant of choice was Eleven Madison Park. Other food blogs had been raving about this place so we decided to give it a try.

The building was STUNNING! LOVE ART DECO ARCHITECTURE! Pastel greens and oranges on the high-ceiling walls, just yummy. The space is quite large and feels spacious. When we got there (a tad early) we were immediately sat. Good job! Waiting, in general, just blows.

The service was superb. We had three servers four our little table. One head server, her bitch that brought the food, and the water dude. Since Tiffany and I had already looked at the menu way ahead of time and knew exactly what we were ordering, that whole beginning process was quite fast. Bread and signature butter was placed on our table immediately, along with a sampling of some marshmellow-consistency like delicacies. The delicacies weren't too yummy.

The bread was great, but I have had better ( like at Jean-Gorges haha).

For the first plate, Tiffany got the seared diver scallop with rhubarb, celery, and yuzu and I ordered the composition of young vegetables with market lettuce and almond. We both agreed to order different items so that we could share each others and get the most (for our money) out of the experience.

As I have been trying new food items that I swore I would never eat as I child, I have come to be quite a fan of scallops. They are still not the first thing I look to order off of a menu, but when they are served there usually tasty. This scallop was delicious! Perfect consistency and not fishy at all. I loved the top part that was harder and crusted.

Salads are not usually something you get at a nice restaurant when attempting to be adventerous, but it the only other plate we could happily agree on. The greens were so fresh, and Tiffany and I were blown away by the snap peas. SNAP PEAS! Later that week I went to buy snap peas from the grocery store just because of how good these were. Sadly, snap peas from the local Morton Williams without any good flavoring are not as tasty.

Then on to the second! We both really wanted the lamb, so we got the same entree. According to Eleven Madison Park, we ordered the Herb Roasted Colorado Lamb with Sucrine Lettuce, Garden Peas, and Pickled Mustard. I love it when restaurants plate food in a cool way. The lamb was served in five different ways. 1) lamb sausage (4) 2) just lamb( (9!!!) 3) fried lamb (5) 4) pasta lamb (6) 5) fatty lamb ( 3)

The ratings next to each type of lamb probably display my lack of high-cuisine taste buds. But, the lamb served that looked the most like "just lamb" was the best. The fatty lamb was REALLY fatty and the consistency was just too much for me.

Sitting at this restaurant I felt important. Of course Tiff and I noticed the impeccably well dressed 25-year old sitting next to us. The other customers were mostly in there 50's. We were only 30% treated like little kids spending our hard-saved money at a nice restaurant. The other 70% of treatment felt like we were just like anyone else, with money.

This picture demonstrates what the plate originally looked like. The sauce on the meat was poured at the table.

The desert cart was tempting, but adding that last plate would have really upped the price. We decided to pass and just hit up a deli-market outside. Tiff got a bag of chips.

Rating: 7

Sakagura

Sakagura: 211 East 43rd Street
New York, NY 10017-4707
(212) 953-7253

"Do you mind sitting at the bar?" Not an unusual request by the hostess. As someone who doesn't mind going to restaurants alone, I am often sat at the bar, especially at dinner time.
I do not mind sitting at the bar because the service is usually faster and it is easier to listen in on other diners' conversations.

Last night I dined at Sakagura, a highly recommended Japanese restaurant by Grand Central Station. The restaurant is hard to find; it is in the basement of a large business building. Walking down the concrete stairs, the spot does not immediately appear all that nice. Once you enter the restaurant, however, the decor is very pleasing. The tables are well spaced out and the lighting is romantically dim.

I was feeling like some meat and was deciding between chicken and steak. I asked my waitress what she recommended and to no surprise it was the steak. So I ordered the Saikoro steak, described on the menu as " diced steak sauteed with olive oil flavored with grated onion and soy sauce."



When I first looked at my plate it did not appear all that appetizing. The steak was smothered in the onion soy sauce. The sauce was initially too strong for my liking. By the third slice of steak in my mouth, however, I got used to the sweet soy sauce flavor and managed to quickly devour the rest of my plate. The steak did not come with any sides so I also ordered rice half way through my meal.





The service was incredible. My glass of water never got to empty and the food was delivered in less than 5 minutes. Tea after my meal was also a nice touch.

I recommend this restaurant as a place to go with friends. The dinner menu is HUGE and consists of tapas size portions of a lot of interesting sounding items. Next time I will try the jaga dango or mashed potatoes coated in a sweet donut batter fried crisp. The prices are very reasonable; most items are under $10.00. My steak was only $12.50, not bad at all.

They also have a large selection of sake, which I did not try.
(My view from the bar)


You also know this place is legit when most of the other customers are Japanese business men.
Rating: 7

Sezz Medi

Sezz Medi: 1260 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027-5027
(212) 932-2901

Met up with Marti, Jeanette, Liana, and Genesis for dinner at Sezz Medi, an Italian restaurant on Amsterdam and 122nd. The place is bigger then it looks, with a large room in the back. We were sat in the back of the restaurant which I prefered because it was quieter then the busy room up front.

I was really craving pizza so Jeanette and I decided to share the margarita. We were deciding between different appetizers or salads to share but none sounded all that appetizing and were almost as expensive as just ordering another pizza. So we opted out.

The other three girls all got the cheeseburger, which came with fries. When the girls got their cheeseburgers first, Jeanette and I both looked at each other sadly because the burgers looked so tasty. Our pizza finally came and we shared sad looks once more. The dough was great; fluffy and not too toasted. The rest of the pizza however was sub-par. The tomato sauce was too thin, dripping off the pizza. The mozzarella cheese was clumpy and cold and there was no oregano anywhere. Also, the pizzas weren't all that big for how much they cost ($12.00 for a margarita). Four measily slices ain't cutting it friend.


Luckily, my nice friend Marti shared some of her delicious french fries and I got a taste of her burger. While the burger and fries were better than the pizza, we both agreed that the $5.00 M2M hamburger deluxe on campus is much better than this $14.00 sucker. The burger was bland and pretty small.


The best thing about this place was the bread basket served prior to the entrees. Why isn't this a standard in NYC restaurants; it is in LA? A nice helping of bread before a meal is always a great way to start. Hear me NYC? Thanks!



Rating: 4 (mainly for the atmoshpere)

Angelika Film Center Cafe

Angelika Film Center & Cafe: 18 West Houston Street
New York, NY 10012-1503
(212) 995-2000

I went on my weekly movie trip today and saw City Island at the Angelika. I enjoy going to this movie theater because they play the popular indie movies and there are tons of shopping places close by (Noho/Soho). I am giving the Angelika Cafe a shout-out on the blog because today along with the purchase of my movie ticket I got a free coffee and muffin from the Cafe!

Eating my muffin before the movie I realized how chill of a place the cafe is. I highly recommend it as a resting spot even if you are not seeing a movie. It is better then the manufactured culture at Starbucks. There are tons of chairs and a few comfy couches. They have ice cream, coffee drinks, teas, scones, and hefty desert bars. The Cafe is distinct from the popcorn and candy stand downstairs.



Rating: 6

City Island (the movie): two thumbs down

16 Handles

16 Handles: 153 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 260-4414
Hours: Open Mon-Thu,Sun 12pm-11:30pm; Fri-Sat 12pm-12:30am

FROZEN YOGURT! I don't care if it is just a fad, but frozen yogurt is the shit! Especially when there are many different flavors to choose from and even more toppings. Los Angeles has a much greater selection of create-your-own yogurt shops than NY, but the best one I can find out here is 16 Handles. They recently added a red velvet yogurt option that is quite tasty. I ALWAYS get peanut butter yogurt too, along with oreo, sprinkles, and sometimes cookie-dough toppings. Supposedly this deliciousness is healthy, but I think that's all bologny.



Regardless, 16 Handles is where you want to go because you also get to decide how much yogurt you would like. None of this pinkberry shit where you have to pay $6.oo for one weird super tangy plain flavor. GROSS!

The only downside is that there is no sampling. How am I suppose to know which new flavor I like without trying it out for free?

Rating: 9 ( it would be a 9.5 if there were sample cups)

SAMPLES

I am the QUEEN at finding free samples. Call me frugal, call me cheap. Whatever it is, I spot free food like a slut always manages to show her thong just a little bit. GET EM!

Yesterday, after another job interview( pray for me) I was walking down First Ave. and went into Gristedes. This grocery store was FULL of free samples. Immediately walking in I spot vanilla and chocolate cupcakes, st. patty's day cookies, and cake with BOMB vanilla icing. I choose the cake and also sneakily snag some cookies. Then, I proceeded to walk around for two minutes like I was going to buy something and made my exit.

The pics are bad because it was really sunny outside.



FREE!