Tag Archives: West Village

September 21, 2015 · 8:12 pm

Dining at Alta

altaAlta is a lovely, charming restaurant with an elegant, yet homey feel, in a converted townhouse in the West Village area. The place is easy to miss because there is no sign out front, so you have to be looking for it.

My friends and I were seated downstairs near the fireplace and we ordered 5 dishes to share.

First came the bacon wrapped dates and olives (I requested only dates since I don’t like olives) which were stuffed with almonds. This was amazing! The bacon was perfectly crispy, full of flavor and the dates were sweet, chewy, wonderful. The roasted almond added a bit of crunch and wonderful taste.

alta_baconThen, the brussel sprouts, mixed with granny smith apple, creme fraiche and pistachio. The brussel sprouts tasted so good and were juicy, with great seasoning. I would have liked more apple in the dish though.

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The lamb meatballs had a charred red pepper sauce and some sort of white cheese. They were pretty good, but not particularly memorable for me.

alta_meatballsRoasted salmon came on top a summer vegetable salad of squash, corn, tomatoes and string beans. I enjoyed this dish a lot. The salmon was charred just a bit with the skin still on it and was slightly flaky, not fishy at all and was just delicious. And the salad was nice and fresh.

alta_salmonWe also ordered the roasted trumpet mushrooms, consisting of porcini caramel and breadcrumbs. This was quite good with a very savory, appetizing sauce with the best tasting breadcrumbs I have ever had!

As for dessert, we tried two different ones: First one was the Chocolate Peanut butter Napoleon, which consisted of chocolate cream, peanut butter ganache and malted milk chocolate ice cream. This was delectable with perfectly flaky cake with layers of yummy chocolate and peanut butter. And the ice cream was creamy and sweet.

alta_napoleonThe other dessert we had was the Georgia Julep Parfait, which came with roasted peaches, bourbon ice cream, mint granita and pecan praline. I really enjoyed this. The bourbon ice cream was superb, with amazing rich bourbon flavor and paired perfectly with the refreshing peaches and roasted/sugary pecans.

alta_peachesThe service was top notch and since one of my friends knew the host, our drinks and desserts were free! We weren’t expecting that special treatment, so were pleasantly surprised. And I would absolutely come back to try other dishes and that’s saying a lot, because I normally don’t like dine in the same restaurant twice.

Alta
64 W 10 St
New York, NY

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July 29, 2015 · 8:53 pm

Popbar: Gelato on a Stick

I love Popbar in the West Village. It’s the perfect dessert spot for summer and any other season. It’s gelato on a stick… Made with fresh, natural ingredients and dipped in different types of chocolate with the option to add toppings. Such a simple, yet delicious concept.

popbar_me1I’ve been to Popbar numerous times and twice this weekend! Some flavors I’ve tried (all dipped in milk chocolate): Dulce de Leche (probably my favorite flavor- extremely sweet, rich, wonderful); peanut butter (just delicious); pumpkin (seasonal treat- nice and yummy).

popbarRecently I had the coffee with milk chocolate and that was delectable. Loved the smooth coffee-chocolate taste. Today I had the strawberry yogurt with a new dipping sauce: Caramel dark chocolate. I loved the strawberry taste- Very creamy, sweet (but not overly so), refreshing! And I enjoyed the dark chocolate, but I felt like the caramel flavor was not that strong.

popbar_popsicleI really want to try the blood orange, green tea, hazelnut, pistachio & mixed berry flavors next. Looks like I’ll have to come back quite often… Which is perfectly fine by me. This is one of the few establishments I would travel out of my way to go to!

Tip: The Popsicles melt quickly, so it’s better to stay in the store/sit right outside to enjoy/eat it versus walking out with it.

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Popbar
5 Carmine St
New York, NY

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January 29, 2014 · 11:14 pm

Greenwich Village Food Tour

I recently had the pleasure of doing a Greenwich Village Food Tour with Free Tours By Foot. We made 6 stops and learned some history along the way, which was a nice bonus. Below are the places we tried:

Our first food stop was Mamoun’s Falafel, a favorite among NYU students and for good reason: It is delicious and cheap.

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I sampled one of the falafel balls with tahini sauce, which was incredibly flavorful and warm.

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Next, we sampled ¼ of an Artichoke Pizza slice for $1, which was definitely enough! It was a slice of creamy, cheesy goodness, though I would have appreciated more artichoke pieces.

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Bantum Bagels was actually one of the places I didn’t know about. They sell bite sized bagels with cream cheese filling inside. I was tempted to buy one of each flavor, but realized that would be way too much so settled for two bagel bites: One sweet and one savory. Bleecker Street was a delicious mouthwatering little ball of cheddar cheese with a pepperoni on the outside and marinara mozzarella  cream sauce on the inside. The French Toast flavor is made out of a cinnamon nutmeg egg bagel and filled with buttery maple syrupy cream cheese. It was delightful, tasting of sweet toast, cinnamon and sugar.

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At Faicco’s we tried the risotto rice balls, which were mediocre. I wasn’t too impressed; it wasn’t flavorful and cheesy enough for me.

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Bleecker Street Pizza is a well known thin crust pizza establishment. We tried the basil cheese kind and enjoyed the fresh flavors.

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The last place we visited was Sugar & Plumm. Unfortunately, their ice cream parlor shop in the back was closed, so I couldn’t get a milkshake. I was quite happy with the hot chocolate actually- It was sweet and very rich with chocolate flavor. It was made even better by the addition of a huge sweet, thick and fluffy marshmallow. I also tried their salted caramel French macaron which was a bit too sweet for me. I would skip the macaron if you go; there are far better places.

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Overall, a very fun, delicious and informative tour… Also, it was very affordable- I ended up spending under $15 at all 6 establishments!

In order to go on this tour (as well as many others), please visit Free Tours By Foot, a walking tour company that gives free walking, food, bike, bus & shopping tours. They are also available in other cities such as London, Berlin, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC and many more.

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August 29, 2013 · 1:41 am

Summer Supper at Recette

recette

I enjoyed the opportunity to dine at Recette, located on a street corner in the West Village. The interior is beautifully elegant, yet cozy and comfortable at the same time. This summer, Recette is serving special Summer Supper which consists of 1 snack (appetizer), 2 plates and 1 dessert for the great price of $40.

I chose salt cod fritters for my snack, which came came with lamb sausage ragu at the bottom and curry aioli. The cod fritters were balls of deliciousness- Crispy, flavorful, with the wonderful taste of cod. The accompanying lamb ragu was also extremely tasty and had perfectly seasoned.

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My next dish was crispy calamari in a salad of snap pea, radish, grape, cashew, and ranch. The calamari was decent, a little salty but I enjoyed the crunchiness and would’ve liked more on my plate. The bed of salad underneath was just okay. There was too much ranch dressing and I couldn’t taste the snap peas or cashews.

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After that came duck breast, which included confit leg, beluga lentils and maitakes (a type of mushroom). I was unimpressed. The duck breast itself didn’t taste much like duck; it was quite meaty and was reminiscent of a lean beef. I wasn’t able to discern the taste of confit leg and I wasn’t a huge fan of the black lentils. The maitakes were good though- Juicy and fresh. I was able to try the Berkshire Pork Belly, which was mouthwatering delicious and what I should’ve gotten.

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Last course was dessert and I was trying to choose between S’Mores and Chocolate Custard. The S’Mores dessert won, and consisted of graham cracker ice cream, toasted marshmallow, and ‘hot’ chocolate ganache. It was a truly delectable delight, bringing into memory the campfire treat. The ice cream melded and complemented the chocolate (with a hint of chili spice) and marshmallow perfectly, to combine sweetness, heat, roasted smoothness…

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The service was spot on and the waiter knew the menu well and answered any questions with expertise, as well as explained the dishes beautifully.

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Location: 328 W 12th St

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May 23, 2013 · 8:25 pm

Dining at Slide

Slide is a newly open restaurant on Bleecker Street in the West Village, specializing in Sliders (What else?) My friend and I ate in the outdoor beautiful garden-like area in the back which had hanging plants & flowers, a rock wall with waterfalls that cascade gently into a pond with koi fish! It was lovely and made us feel like we were not in the city, enveloped in this outdoor haven.

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The sliders come three to an order, presented on a custom-made wooden cutting board with cylinders cut out to hold each individual mini burger. I decided to try a combination of different sliders: Classic beef slider, fried chicken with cheddar waffle, pork belly slider.

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The classic beef slider is made with a top secret meat blend that’s mixed in-house. It came with Manchego cheese, plum tomato, arugula, remoulade and caramelized onions and is delicious. The meat was perfectly juicy, flavorful, tender and all the flavors combined perfectly to create a wonderful culinary experience.

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The buttermilk fried chicken & cheddar waffle w/ maple bourbon pear butter & spicy coleslaw was decent, but didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The fried chicken was not as seasoned as I would have liked; the waffle, though orange did not have a pronounced cheddar flavor and was too dry. I had to ask for syrup to moisten and sweeten the waffle. Also, I could barely taste the maple bourbon pear butter.

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Last was the BBQ pork belly slider, which I had reservations about but turned out to be quite good. It was made with Monterey Jack, pickled onions & fried brussel sprouts. I didn’t really taste the brussel sprouts, but the pork belly was crispy, and a slightly sweeter version of ribs.

I also had Parmesan, garlic & herb fries, which came in a silver tin. They were pretty good, and had plenty of Parmesan shavings but not so much the garlic and herb. I would have enjoyed it more if the garlic and herb were mixed in and cooked with the french fries; instead it seemed like some Parmesan cheese was thrown on top and that was it. They also have curly fries cooked in bacon oil which dark chocolate shavings, which sounded delicious but a little too indulgent. Maybe next time.

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Also for next time I would like to try the CBLT -Crab cake with bacon; the bulgogi cheese steak; the lobster slider, as well as one of their shakes!

Afterwards, my friend and I walked along Bleecker Street and kept passing amazing, tempting shops with posters, cheese, macarons, books, cupcakes… We stopped in a couple of the places. I ended up trying some of the macarons at bisous, ciao which had a clear white window exterior and white walls, accented with hot pink paneling and hot pink twinkle lights. I chose lavender + honey and gianduja, which is a classic mix of hazelnut and milk chocolate. The lavender + honey was truly delightful: Light, delicate flavor of lavender married with the sweeter, richer taste of honeysuckle cream. The chocolate one was surprisingly not as delectable, and was heavier, more dense and doughy with not enough hazelnut flavor.

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Location of Slide Restaurant: 174 Bleecker Street, New York NY

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