Last night in NYC

Friday was our last night in New York. We had tickets to Christina Perri concert at Webster Hall.

Before the show we wanted to have some pizza and headed to Lombardi's.

The pizza was amazing! Meatballs and pepperoni...and really tasty tomato sauce.

Mexican restaurant in New York

Mole, 3.5.2012

Before the stand up so at Comedy Cellar in west village, we wanted to have some mexican food.

How fresh can guacamole get?

Happy hour till seven o'clock, some margaritas!!!

Day's special appetizer

Tacos

There are a few Mole restaurants in New York. We have been to West village and East Lower Side locations and both have been great! Mole

Lunch at Union Square

We had lunch at Rebublic. It's easy, quick and next to our hotel. The food is good and inexpensive. But the noise is unbearable when the restaurant is full. We were there early around 11 am and the restaurant was almost empty, thank god ;-)

Grilled Beef 13 $

Pad Thai 14 $

New York, New York, New York

On tuesday evening we went to the Bowery Ballroom to Bob Scheider gig. It was great fun!

Before the gig we had dinner at our favourite dumpling place Joe's Shanghai.

Here are the instructions how to eat the dumplings:

We love the place! The soup dumplings are the best ever!

What is the diffrerence between 2 -star and 3 -star Michelin restaurants?

This question has been puzzling our minds for a long time. After having the out of this world experience in Chez Dominuque last year we have been wanting to test out a 3 -star restaurant to see if the food can be even more outstanding.

New York has five 3 -star restaurants to choose from. It took us a while to decide but we ended up with Eleven Madison Park. They have a great lunch offer four dishes for 74 $.

There is really no point to review all the dishes while they all were amazing. The lunch started with four Amuse Bouche -greetings from the kitchen.

We chose duck liver for first dish and it was the best ever!

The second dish was lobster.

The third dish was meat and it was the weakest of all dishes.

After that we got two more Amuse Bouche.

For desert we had chosen milk chocolate and dark chocolate.

The lunch ended up with the same kind of cookie it started but as sweet version of it.

So was there a difference? The food in both restaurant was impeccable. The service was great in both places but different. In Eleven Madison Park the staff was really friendly, saying things like we are so happy to meet you and giving us compliments how we look and dress. In Chez Dominuque the staff was more reserved and distant. This could be a cultural difference too and I'm almost sure it is.

The portions were more complicated in Chez Dominique, in Eleven Madison Park the dishes were simpler. The Eleven Madison Park was a really exquisite restaurant, Chez Dominuque's interior is modern and simple.

So the case remains unsolved. Both restaurants are top notch but different. The food in both places was first-class.The Elevan Madison Park is much bigger than Chez Dominique and website is much more informative. But still I can't make up my mind. Elevenmadisonpark

Craftbar, New York, Tom Colicchio, 900 Broadway

Ravintola on melko suuri ja sisustettu modernisti. Valkoisten pöytäliinojen päällä oli ruskeaa pakettipaperia (luomassa casual dining ilmapiiriä???), joka ei mielestämme ollut kovinkaan hyvä ratkaisu. Palvelu pelasi perinteiseen amerikkalaiseen tyyliin. Olut ja viini lista oli turhan monimutkainen ja vaihtoehdot hintavia. Tilasimme alkuun drinkit, minä otin martinin (a 11$), joka oli tehty finlandia vodkaan.

Alkuruuaksi valitsimme friteerattuja makkoroita, jotka olivat maustettu salvialla (Sausage Sage Leaves 8$), jotka tarjoiltiin sitruuna aiolin kanssa. Nämä nyytit olivat taivaallisia, mutta suomalaisesta näkövinkkelistä en nyt ihan makkaroiksi kutsuisi, olivat sen verran lihaisia. Lisäksi valitsimme juustofonduun (Pecorino Fondue, Acacia Honey, Hazelnut, Pepperoncini 11$), jonka jokainen elementti toimi täydellisesti.

Pääruuaksi valitsimme listan ulkopuolelta päivän annoksen: häränhännällä täytettyjä ravioleja. Liha oli taivaallisen hyvää, mutta kastike ja lisukkeet eivät olleet meidän mieleemme. Pääruuan kanssa nautimme lasit punaviiniä (a 12$). Jälkiruuaksi otimme lämpimän brownien, suklaakastiketta, kermavaahtoa ja banaanijäätelöä (Warm Brownie, Chocolate Sauce, Whipped Cream, Banana Ice Cream 10$) sekä kahvia ja teetä. Minun makuuni brownie oli liian kuiva ja annos kokonaisuudessaan melko mitään sanomaton, jäätelö oli kutenkin todella hyvää!

Loppusumma illalliselle oli 150$ kahdelta. Jotain jäi puuttumaan, mutta menisin kyllä uudelleen, sillä ruoka oli korkealaatuista ja lista laaja, joten paljon olisi vielä kokeiltavaa. Sopii monenlaisiin tilanteisiin, rentoon menoon ja vähän juhlavampaankin. http://www.craftrestaurant.com/craftbar.php

Ruoka ***1/2
Palvelu ***
Tunnelma ***