Hooked on Luke's Lobster

Luke's Lobster: Half Lobster Roll, Pickle, Chips, & Maine Root Sodas

We were lucky to discover Luke's Lobster pretty early on in our NYC adventures and we immediately declared them to be our favorite lobster rolls (see our original post on Luke's). Since then we've repeatedly traveled throughout New England and have yet to taste a lobster roll that even comes close to comparing. Yes, even in Maine itself. This is one of our absolute favorite places to grab a quick bite, especially when friends visit from out of town. Time after time you take your first bite (either ever or just of the night) and have to pause to breathlessly say "Woooow." Yes, it's that good. If you've never tried it and are wondering if it lives up to the hype/price tag, stop wondering and just go do it.

A perfect night: Apotheke, The Boil, & Pouring Ribbons

Apotheke: Interior

Tonight we headed down to the Lower East Side to have a crawfish boil at one of our favorite spots, The Boil. Since it's obviously a lot of other people's favorite places too we were looking at a bit of a wait. It seemed the perfect opportunity to meander on in to an unassuming pharmacy in Chinatown.

Joe Bag of Doughnuts

Doughnut Plant: Marzipan, Vanilla, & Pistachio

It's been quite a while since I originally posted about Doughnut Plant, so just wanted to do a quick update post that this place is still our favorite doughnut place in NYC and one of our favorite treats. Paired with a cup of Joe's Ethiopia Coffee this duo makes the perfect weekend morning in.

Special shout out to the special Holiday Marzipan Yeast doughnut. Mmmmmm....doughnuts.

Keen on Keens Steakhouse

Keen's Steakhouse: Creamed Spinach, Potatoes, & Prime Rib

Confession time folks: this was actually our second visit to legendary Keen's Steakhouse. But we liked it so much that we returned quickly and I didn't even have time to write a post about it yet. When our favorite steak place Dylan Prime closed earlier this year we were at a loss so I put together a list of new steakhouses to try. We tried and really enjoyed Del Frisco's, but Keen's historic status really piqued my interest, so when we were celebrating my first project launch at my new job, this is where we headed.

A Rolling Good Time at The Boil

The Boil

Tis the season for crawfish boils if you live in the South. I've been salivating over all of our friends in Texas' photos on Facebook and recently asked The Mr. if he's ever attended such an event. He had, but just remembered them being more work than worth it.

So imagine my surprise when he asked if I wanted crawfish for dinner tonight! I guess our conversation had sparked some hidden craving and he used the magic of The Internets to find The Boil. We tried to get there on the early side (before 7pm) to avoid a wait, but no such luck. We were quoted an hour wait for a party of 2.

Update: Gazala's Place

Spinach Bourekas

It's hard to believe, but it's been a little over a year since I first visited Gazala's Place with my parents. We absolutely loved it (they've even gone back on their own!). So when we found ourselves out again in Midtown West with empty stomachs, we stopped by a liquor store to grab a couple of bottles of wine (it's BYOB), then made a beeline back to this great Israeli Druze joint.

Update: Tipsy Parson

Tipsy Parson

I've been to Tipsy Parson a few times for lunch now and keep saying that I'll come back for brunch. For some reason, I never think about it when deciding where to go, but luckily today was not one of those days. We walked right in and got seated in the window seat (joy!). Then our impressively mustached waiter swung by to take our order, but everything sounded so good (cliche, I know) that we couldn't decide! 

Best Steak: Dylan Prime

Dylan Martinis 

A couple months ago The Mr came home from a business dinner and was absolutely RAVING about Dylan Prime. Then I saw a Living Social deal and jumped on it since he really wanted to go back there. Today, The Mr got some good news, so we decided it was the perfect time to go celebrate.

Ten outta Izakaya Ten

Izakaya Ten

We walk past this sign almost every single day. But I've never heard anything about this place, so never checked it out. One night we were looking for a date night, but were really hungry, so wanted something close, convenient and without much of a wait. On a whim, we decided to take a chance on Izakaya Ten.

Center Stage: Shake Shack (Theatre District)

We here at Newbie Foodies are huge fans of Shake Shack and go to the original location at Madison Square Park on a fairly regular basis (especially The Mr). We have now visited the relatively newer Theatre District location several times now and feel like we can definitely weigh in. Every time we've come it has been later in the evening after a show and there has never been much of a line. We've also only had to wait a minute or two for a table, so not too shabby on those fronts.

What've we eaten? Well of course we've had the burgers and cheese fries and found them to absolutely measure. In fact, since all of our visits have been this winter, the food has been better considering we didn't have to eat them in the freezing cold or wait until we got home until stuffing them in our mouths.

The Breslin is another Ace

I've been wanting to try The Breslin almost as long as we've lived in NYC. Unfortunately, The Ace Hotel is in the weird no-man's land that isn't quite Midtown, Chelsea or Flatiron and definitely isn't too convenient to anything. We've hit up Stumptown a few times for coffee (and it would be way more if it were closer), but never happened to be hungry enough for a meal. Finally, filled with the determination of the New Year, we hopped in a cab and headed over for brunch.

Let me see you do the Kati Roll

The Kati Roll Company 

I was out of town last week and the first thing The Mr. said to me when I got home was that he had discovered a new place that he had to take me. So we scheduled a date night, toute suite and headed down to The Kati Roll Company's Greenwich Village location to check out his new find.

Getting our fix at Momofuku Milk Bar

Crack Pie & Candy Bar Pie
Pistachio Truffles & Birthday Cake Truffles

Momofuku Milk Bar is one of those places that we love so much that it was a complete shock to me  that we don't have a post for them. Now I will officially right this wrong. In a nutshell, everything is fantastic here and yes, it is worth going out of your way for. Any time we find ourselves in the East Village we swing by and load up on their goodies, such as the stash shown above. Not pictured though is the cereal milk soft serve, because duh, we had to eat that as we walked home or it would melt.

Bonus Tip: Did you know that you can have Momofuku baked goods shipped across the country?!?

Bonus Video: Chef Christina Tosi's appearance on Conan.

Milkin' It at Ronnybrook Milk Bar

Avocado & Fresh Mozzarella

One of our favorite lunch spots in Chelsea Market is the Ronnybrook Milk Bar. If you fancy a sandwich with some absolutely fresh mozzarella, this is your stop. Our pick is the Avocado & Fresh Mozzarella sandwich with spicy aioli, tomato, and basil on a pumpernickel hoagie. This sandwich is light and fresh yet extremely satisfying. While you are there be sure to pick up a small ice cream or one of those blueberry cream cheese pastries to satisfy your sweet tooth.

And if you want to keep enjoying the farm fresh dairy later, they also sell their milk, mozzarella and yogurt to take home.

A Grand Time at Le Grainne Cafe

We've lived in Chelsea for 8 months now and only a few blocks away from the highly recommended Le Grainne Cafe. Recently, yet another person was talking about it, and it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I knew we had to get to this place post-haste.

We arrived a little after 11 and had about a 20 minute wait. I was expecting this since I always see people waiting outside when we walk by. Finally, we were ushered to a table, this is a truly crammed little place in true NYC fashion. We ordered our coffee and enjoyed some deliciously crisp and fresh bread and butter.

Bread & Butter 

The Grey Dog is Top Dog

Last week I had an early Doctor's appointment and was looking for a place to grab an iced coffee on my way to work. I'd heard of The Grey Dog's Coffee before and was going to pass right by it, so I stopped by. The instant I stepped in the door I felt like I had been transported to Austin. Part coffee shop, part brunch haven, part bar, it reminded me a lot of Austin Java Co. I knew I needed to bring The Mr by here for brunch, lunch, or happy hour immediately.

Time to eat at The Doughnut Plant

Creme Brulee with a Chai Tea

Blueberry, PB&J, and Vanilla

A location of The Doughnut Plant opened up in Chelsea back in February to much fanfare. It took us a while to visit though, since we don't consider ourselves to be big doughnut people. All of that changed after our first visit and I now find myself cursing them for being a little too close to home.

Momofuku Noodle Bar Part Deux

When guests come to town one of the first places we will take them is to Momofuku Noodle Bar. When we are having a special dinner out, one of the first places we consider is Momofuku Noodle Bar. This week we had both occasions, so we wound up eating there two nights in a row. But we are definitely not complaining.

Night 1 (Date Night):

Started with our usual order of Pork Buns and Momofuku Ramen.

Pork Buns 

Momofuku Ramen

Gotta buy-a Tebaya

Jasmine Tea,  Karaage Sandwich, Katsu Sandwich, Potemochi, & Wings

If you are lucky enough to be in Tebaya's delivery zone, run to your computer, open up Seamless Web, and do yourself a big favor. These are some of the best wings you will ever eat. I've heard several people who didn't even think they liked wings, wax poetic on these little pieces of soy sesame chicken heaven. 

Now the wings would be enough on their own, but they also have the most amazing chicken sandwiches. This is coming from someone who doesn't usually like chicken sandwiches. The Karaage comes with a double stack of slightly sweet, crunchy, battered chicken while the Katsu has a single layer of savory, crunchy battered chicken with some lettuce and secret sauce. The Katsu is my personal favorite, but I think this is going to come down to personal taste since they are both filled with amazingly moist and tender flavorful bird- so go ahead and order both and conduct your own personal taste test.

The Mr is also obsessed with the Potemochi which are sort of potato pancake like things with a mochi texture. This sounds like something I should go nuts for, but I find them a bit too oily. If oily doesn't bother you, go ahead and throw in an order of them too.

You are welcome.

This Pizza Ain't No Patsy

Patsy's has been our go-to pizza place since we've been living in NYC. When we lived in Gramercy, and outside of their delivery zone, we would walk the mile to pick up our pie. Now that we live in Chelsea we are thrilled to be only a few blocks away. I don't have much more to say than it is great, local New York style pizza, but I just couldn't believe that we don't have a post up for them- so here it is. We'll make sure to pull out the camera on our next visit/delivery!