"Ess" Them by the Dozen

A trip to NYC wouldn't be complete without a true New York bagel. Much like the great debate on pizza, there is much discussion as to what makes a good bagel. My favorite (and fortunately my friend's favorite too) is Ess-a-bagel. So, we decided to make a stop there on the way to the Yankees game...now that is my kind of Saturday!

"Ess" in Yiddish means "eat," and you certainly won't find me arguing with that glorious concept: eat-a-bagel. Ess-a-bagel makes all of its bagels on the premises in both locations. This ensures that no matter what time you go, there will always be fresh bagels available. Sometimes, they are so fresh that they are almost too hot to handle when you sit down to eat them. This is the reason that toasting is looked so down upon by the employees. I couldn't agree more. Why ruin perfection?! They are soft and chewy in the inside and nice and crunchy on the outside.

Everything at Ess-a-bagel is in excess. The bagels are massive and they are overflowing with toppings, no matter if it's a lot of schmear, lox, or tuna salad. I ordered the whole wheat bagel with plain cream cheese, and my friend got a sesame bagel with butter. Both had so much that we ended up scraping some off. But they were still divine.

Aside from the dozen varieties of bagel flavors, there are also dozens of schmear flavors ranging from veggie to scallion tofu to (and I'm not even joking with this) Oreo. There are dozens of "appetizing" - i.e. tuna salad, egg salad, whitefish salad, etc. and dozens of other goodies like pastries and knishes. You get the idea. Everything I've ever ordered there has been delicious, with one exception...the egg sandwiches. Because they don't have a griddle, they make their "eggs" in the microwave. If you're dying for an egg & cheese that badly, bypass Ess-a and head to your local bodega.

Ess-a-bagel seems quintessentially "New York" to me, and that's part of its appeal. Its wood-paneled walls and decor haven't been touched in decades. There are sesame and poppy seeds all over the floor, but rather than being dirty, it somehow gives the place more character.

For some added amusement, watch for the crotchety employees to speak a few words of Japanese to the hoards of tourists who found Ess-a-bagel in a guide book. And then watch the tourists' reaction...priceless.

Ess-a-bagel
831 3rd Avenue
b/t 50th & 51st Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Yo Quiero Pompano

In the past I have expressed my disdain for the Mexican food (especially burritos) in New York. But, thanks to a suggestion from a friend and fellow blogger, I have found a place that may have completely changed my opinion for good. Pompano Taqueria is the off-shoot of Pompano, a high-end Mexican restaurant run by Chef Richard Sandoval. This taco is truly a hidden gem, unless you are fortunate enough to work in the building in which it is located.

Pompano Taqueria has a small, but impressive, menu that features flavor combinations that are available on tacos, quesadillas, tortas, or burritos. I had to go with the namesake items and ordered two tacos: one Alambre with grilled chicken and one Pescado. I also made it a combo, which, for $2.50 more, gives you rice and beans, a soda, and a bag of homemade tortilla chips. But, here’s a Miss Menu tip: If you order two tacos (or more), it automatically comes with chips.

But, back to the heavenly tacos. The Alambre consisted of perfectly grilled chicken with poblano rajas (grilled peppers) and melted manchego cheese served in a flour tortilla. I have only recently begun to truly appreciate the goodness that is manchego cheese. And now that I have seen the light, I can’t get enough of it. This may have easily been the best taco I’ve ever had, and without a doubt the best one I’ve ever had in NYC. I seriously didn’t want to finish the last bite!

The Pescado featured sautéed king fish with napa cabbage and a chipotle sauce in a flour tortilla. The king fish was really tender and not fishy at all. The cabbage gave it a great crunch, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the chipotle sauce. I know chipotle is suppose to be smoky, but this was a little too much. If you are a chipotle flavor fan, then I’m sure you’ll love this taco though.

Now, for the extras. The authentic chips were fantastic and not greasy at all. They definitely were good enough to eat on their own, but tasted even better with the salsas. There was a salsa/toppings bar next to the cash register that features 3 salsas, a pica de gallo, chopped red onions, and cilantro. I tried the roasted tomato and the tomatillo salsas, both of which were very flavorful. I didn’t even want to put them on the tacos because the flavors were so good on their own. The rice and beans were pretty disappointing. The rice was on the bland side and the beans tasted straight out of the can. I ended up pouring some of the roasted tomato salsa on them to give it a boost. It helped a little, but I would have rather had another taco than fill up on the rice and beans.

Another Miss Menu tip: If you call ahead, you can skip the line and walk right up to the front to pick up your order. If you work in Midtown West, this makes it even more reason to make the trek to 3rd Avenue during your lunch hour! The line to order doesn’t take long, but there can be a decent wait to pick up your food. I waited about 10 minutes. At least you can be sure that the tacos aren’t pre-made and sitting under a heat lamp!

All in all, this was one of the best Midtown lunches I’ve had, without a doubt. The food was delicious, and you could taste how fresh the quality ingredients were. Pompano Taqueria is seriously unlike anything else available in the area and a true culinary treat. I’m already planning my next taco outing!

Pompano Taqueria
Pavillion Food Court - Lower Level
805 Third avenue
b/t 49th & 50th Street
website

GYUd Stuff

Some people aren't fans of restaurants where you have to do the cooking yourself. They really can be found in cuisines from around the world...fondue, shabu shabu, and the type I went to recently at Gyu-Kaku, Japanese BBQ. I get that some people go out to dinner to escape having to cook their own food. But, I think Japanese BBQ (and the others) is so different and so much better than making dinner at home - for a few reasons.

First, you're in a restaurant setting...and a very cool one at that. Gyu-Kaku is a sleek, modern restaurant perched on the 2nd floor overlooking the hustle and bustle of 3rd Avenue. My friend and I were seated at the craziest table...it was a bench right up against the window that had a small table/bbq in front of you. Picture a booth divided in half long-ways. If you can handle not being able to gaze into your friend/date's eyes, then it's actually a cool setup! But, if you can't handle it, don't worry...they have regular tables too.

Second, cooking your own food makes a normal meal into a really entertaining experience. As long as you follow the waitress's instructions and don't start any fires, it's so much fun and can make for some really funny moments. Note to self...grill marks good, completely black on one side bad.

Third, the food is damn good. We ordered a little bit of everything so we could get the full experience. I got the chicken and chose the teriyaki sauce (one of four options). My friend got the US Kobe Beef Kalbi and chose the tari sauce. And we ordered the shrimp in garlic sauce and assorted vegetables to split. The assortment included corn, mushrooms, onions, eggplant, zucchini and cherry tomatoes.

All of the flavors and sauces were delicious. In addition to the marinades that came with each meat, there were three sauces available on the table for dipping as well: a spicy Japanese BBQ sauce, a ponzu soy sauce, and a ginger white soy sauce. Each one complimented the meats and vegetables so well. It was pretty easy to overcook the chicken since it was sliced so thinly, but after the first piece or two, I got the hang of it. Same went for my friend's Kobe beef.

We had enjoyed all of the food so far, but weren't quite full yet, so we decided we wanted to order something else. When we saw the waitress bring an order of Bibimbob to the table next to use, we knew that's what we had to get. If you aren't familiar with this dish, it's basically a rice dish that is brought out in a hot pot with chicken and vegetables. A raw egg is added table-side, and because the pot is so hot, the egg actually cooks in front of you. The waitress asks how spicy you want it and adds the equivalent amount of chili paste before mixing all the ingredients together. It was so unique and flavorful...I loved it.

Now, normally I skip dessert when I'm out to dinner unless it's a special occasion, but when we noticed the dessert that the same people next to use were preparing/eating, we had to have it....S'MORES!!!! First of all, s'mores are just so good, and second of all, where in the middle of this concrete jungle do you get to make your own s'mores?!?! We had the choice of milk or dark chocolate, and we went with the classic milk chocolate. They brought out two plates that each had 4 graham cracker squares, two pieces of Hershey's, and two giant marshmallows. They also give you really long skewers to roast the marshmallows with. So, we let the marshmallows catch on fire and blow them out, made our s'mores, and inevitably made a HUGE mess...it was heavenly.

Two BIG thumbs up to Gyu-Kaku. The food was terrific, the experience was fun, the atmosphere was very cool, and we had s'mores! What could be bad about that?!

Gyu-Kaku
805 3rd Avenue
@ 50th Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Take a Sip

For some reason, I have been on such a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food kick lately. So, after throwing out a few restaurant ideas to my friend who I was having dinner with, I was excited that we decided on Sip Sak.

From the ambiance to the food to the service, Sip Sak gets it right. I came across a handful of reviews that have torn this place apart, and I have to say after having eaten there twice now, I still have no clue what these people are complaining about. We were greeted by the smiling chef/owner Orhan Yegen. He took us to our table right away. And then...the fun really began. We decided to order a bunch of dishes and share everything (my fav!), but we had no clue just how much food we were in store for!

We started off ordering the hummus and cacik appetizers. Cacik is similar to a Greek tzatziki sauce...made of thick yogurt with cucumber and garlic. Both were served with fresh, thick pita, and I am convinced I could have made a meal out of just these two starters! We had hoped to order the falafel, but they ran out earlier in the evening. Next came the Greek salad, which was massive and delicious. Mixed greens were covered with feta, artichokes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and stuffed grape leaves. And last, but certainly not least, was the spicy chicken...hand-chopped grilled chicken spiced with hot red peppers, served over rice. The chicken had a great flavor, but was somewhat reminiscent of a chicken patty or giant chicken nugget. Not that I'm saying that's a bad thing ;)


The waiter almost convinced us to order a dessert...and the baklava certainly sounded tempting. But, at this point I was thrilled with everything we had eaten and also very full!

We decided to be adventurous and ordered glasses of Turkish wines. They were both pretty good...but I am no wine expert, so I won't even begin to try and describe them. I just felt weird ordering a wine from Argentina in a Turkish restaurant!

So, aside from them being out of falafel, I literally have nothing bad to say about Sip Sak. I was almost looking for something wrong during the meal (bad idea!), but seriously could not find a thing. The service was attentive and prompt. The atmosphere was very cool...has a great Turkish vibe without being over the top. And the food was authentic, reasonably priced, and very tasty. What could be bad about any of that?!

Sip Sak
928 2nd Avenue
b/t 49th & 50th Streets
website
Menu Pages listing

Shot (of Sake) in the Dark

I was pretty sure I had heard of Ginger before, but also knew I had never eaten there. But the second I walked in and saw the stack of take-out menus on the counter, I knew why it sounded familiar. It's one of the dozens of menus that get slid under my door each week by delivery guys. Great. My friends left the restaurant selection up to me since I'm the one with a new restaurant blog, and I picked place that does 95% of its business via take-out/delivery!

Once I looked past the menus, my first thought was, wow this place is deserted and so plain inside. Guess it wouldn't make sense to spend a single penny on decor if next to no one is going to see it. I saw my friends at one of the two tables that were occupied, and hoped that they wouldn't be slightly disappointed like I was. Luckily we were all just excited to see each other after the holiday "break," and I was off the hook. (Right girls?!)

I've mentioned in a previous post how I'm not exactly the most adventurous sushi eater. I am proud to say, though, that I've come a long way from my days in college where I'd order my staple of chicken teriyaki, while all of my friends were served wooden boats covered in dozens of sushi rolls. Despite my increasing willingness to try new things in the past few years, there's still something comforting about ordering the good ol' chicken teriyaki. And if I'm going that route, why not go all out and order a bento box...which is exactly what I did last night at Ginger.

I knew my eyes were bigger than my stomach, and I was OK with that. Something about a lot of food, including hot miso soup sounded so good on a night with temperatures below 20 degrees. I have no clue what "bento" means in Japanese, but my guess at a translation would be "a little bit of everything." And that is exactly what I got. Granted everything was very small portions, but it included miso soup, vegetable gyoza, a California roll, seaweed salad, green salad, mixed tempura, and chicken teriyaki. I think I'm in another food coma after typing that all out!

I was really happy that it all worked out in the end...we enjoyed our food, and, of course, the company. But if you're looking for a cool ambiance or lively crowd (aside from the people you're with!), pass this one by.

Some suggestions:
- Unless you live in around the block and don't want to wait for delivery, I'd just order in from this place. Of the countless sushi/japanese menus I have in my apartment, I may move this one a little closer to the top of the stack.
- I've decided a bento box is a great solution when you're feeling indecisive about what to order.
- The tempura was really fresh, and very tasty.

Ginger
146 East 55th Street
b/t 3rd & Lexington Avenues

Menu Pages listing