NYC Restaurant Reviews

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Matthew did a little jig this morning in honor of all of the Irish ladies out there.

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NYC is known for its food. Naturally, we have spent a lot of our time researching restaurants and eating. Here are some noteworthy restaurants that we have visited so far.

Spice Market

We ate dinner at the Spice Market our first day in Manhattan. It was cold and rainy and we did not want to venture far. So, this restaurant kiddy-corner from the hotel was a perfect fit. The food was good, Allan enjoyed spicy shrimp and noodles and I had chicken curry. Both were delicious. However, the restaurant was not baby-friendly and they did not have a highchair for Matthew.

Pastis

We have enjoyed breakfast (twice) and dinner here. It is an amazing restaurant with lots of clean options (egg white omelets, whole grain toast, fruit, organic salmon). The service is impeccable and I highly recommend this restaurant!

Swich

A simple sandwich and salad shop with sustainable options. I wasn't blown away by my salad - simple and easy to pick and go.

Better Burger

Quick delivery! The burgers were average and reminiscent of fast food. I had a chicken burger on a whole wheat bun and Allan had the beef burger with baked french fries. The burgers were dry and the fries were moist and not crispy. It satisfied our hunger and that's about it.

The Green Table

Very good gourmet, organic food located in the Chelsea Market. Not waistline friendly, but a delicious indulgence. I ordered the roasted organic chicken breast with braised greens and buttered spatzle and Allan had the GT Burger. Both entrees were very good.

Hale and Hearty Soups

I enjoyed a small mixed greens salad and half of a hummus wrap. The wrap was to die for and the mixed greens were just that - nothing special. This was a delightful lunch.

Amy's Bread

Matthew and I enjoyed lunch at this cute bakery twice. The first day I had a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with pest mayo - it was incredible! Matthew especially liked his nibbles of whole wheat pesto bread. Our second visit I enjoyed a delectable beet and chickpea salad with a delicious whole wheat roll. Matthew especially liked the whole wheat irish soda bread.

One Lucky Duck

Delicious! I cannot boast enough about how much I love this cute takeaway cafe. Green juice, shakes (carob latte), malomars, chocolate macaroons, cinnamon crispies... YUM! Needless to say we have been to the Chelsea Market location SEVERAL times and will be visiting again today to pick up a smoothie.

Pure Food and Wine

This is the one restaurant in Manhattan that I was most excited to visit. However, I was extremely disappointed by the food. I ordered the Prix Fixe lunch: Mediterranean salad, Lasagna and Tiramisu. The salad was very average and I got very sick after eating the lasagna. I spent the entire night in bed last night weak and sick to my stomach. On a positive note, the tiramisu was soft and chocolaty - better than any other tiramisu I have every had.

Slice

An organic and health conscious pizzeria serving up intriguing and delightful slices, personal and full-size pizza. I ordered the The Miki on honey whole wheat crust and Allan had The Guru with marinara sauce. The Miki was definitely better than the The Guru.

Good Restaurant

Delightful! This was one of the best meals that we have had! I enjoyed the Roast Chicken with bacon, kale and sweet potatoes and Allan had Fish Tacos that came with the most delicious squash creamed corn that I must reproduce at home.

What is the best meal that you have had a restaurant lately? What made it so memorable?

Bon Appétit!

Almost every morning we eat breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien. The service is terrible, but the food and espresso are organic and simple - just the way we like it.

Allan and I tend to fall into ruts. It's in our nature. We are creatures of habit. When something works we just go with it.

Le Pain Quotidien (which I have a difficult time pronouncing, so I just call it "Le Pan") is  conveniently located 1 block from our hotel and is on Allan's way to work. The decor is simple and modeled after a parisian sidewalk cafe. I like the quaint, simplistic nature that allows the food to shine.

Every morning I study the menu as if I have no clue what I am going to order.

Then I order a single Americano with a side of organic skim milk, one complex carbohydrate (oats), one protein and one fruit.

Oats

Organic steel cut oatmeal
topped with stone fruit and house made granola

Organic steel cut oatmeal with berries

Protein

Soft boiled organic egg with whole wheat miche
Matthew always eats the Miche

Plain low-fat organic yogurt with berries

Are you a creature of habit or do you prefer to run wild?

New: Oatmeal at Caribou Coffee

Wednesdays are my busiest day of the week. On a normal day, I work until 3:45 PM and then try to squeeze in a workout and dinner before choir practice at 5:30 PM. Somedays, like today, I am unable to leave work on time and end up sticking around the office until 4:15 PM (or later). On days like today, I am faced with the perplexing conundrum: drive 20 minutes home from the office to only be there for 30 minutes, which is enough time to make myself some oatmeal for supper and get in a 10 minute yoga session, then turn around and leave for choir practice. What's a girl to do?

Many days I end up going to Starbuck's to pick up a bowl of their oatmeal (and sometimes a nonfat latte) and sit down to read a book or the paper. However, I really would prefer to go to Caribou, because they have free wi-fi and I could spend my time blogging and catching up on personal email, facebook, twitter, etc. So, as you can imagine, when Caribou announced that they were going to follow suit and start offering oatmeal, I was SUPER excited.

Right now I am enjoying my own custom oatmeal creation: classic oats made with skim milk topped with a dash of cinnamon.

Usually in a situation like this, I would prefer to research the oatmeal ingredients and options offered online and then make my trek to Caribou for a taste test; however, today I was freestyling. Unfortunately, because oatmeal is such a new offering, the Caribou employees didn't know much about the available options, so I was left making ingredient/cleanliness assumptions.

There are 2 oatmeal blends: oatmeal and 7-grain oatmeal blend. The flavors available are Classic, Maple Brown Sugar Crunch, Very Berry, Apple Cinnamon and Cranberry Orange. You also have a 3 milk options: skim, 2% and soy. I chose the Classic Oatmeal version because all of the other topping options sounded like they would be full of sugar and after perusing Caribou's nutritional information online, my assumption was correct. The following is the nutritional information and ingredients for the Classic Oatmeal that I tried. I wish that I would have known that they add soy protein to the oats when they make them because I would have asked for my oats without it.

Overall, I really liked the flavor of the oatmeal, it was cooked to perfection and served at the right temperature; Starbucks' oatmeal tends to be too hot. I also liked that the Caribou oatmeal tasted fresh made, the Starbucks oatmeal tastes like it is made ahead of time and simply kept hot all day in a slow cooker/steamer. However, I could have done without the sweet vanilla flavor of the soy protein, I found it to be a bit overpowering; however, if I was enjoying the oatmeal on its own, it helps to make it a more complete clean eating meal including both complex carbs and protein, which I like.

For the sake of comparison, the following is the Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal nutrition info and ingredients from their website. From the weight of the serving size, I assume that this is for the dry mix only. Unfortunately, I am not sure if Starbucks makes their oatmeal with milk or water, I will have to ask next time that I stop in. If it is made with milk, this would increase the calories, fat, carbs and protein dependent upon the milk choice.

I would also like to try Jamba Juice's Plain 100% steel cut oats (without the brown sugar crumble). Has anyone tried it? If so, what did you think? The following is the nutritional information and ingredients.

The Birchwood Cafe and a Bike Ride

Yesterday Allan and I ventured out on a 15.6 mile bike ride along the river and to the Birchwood Cafe for lunch where we enjoyed the sun and a very nicely prepared Green meal. Their tagline is "Good Real Food" and it definitely was.

I enjoyed half of a turkey salad pesto sandwich, mango quinoa and hibiscus iced tea. Allan had a turkey burger, blue chips & salsa, and a Naked mighty mango smoothie.

Here are some pics from our outing, Allan gobbled up his lunch before I had a chance to take a picture of it.

My yummy meal!

Quinoa with mango vinaigrette, grapes, onions, green onions,

dried blueberries, dried cranberries, and carrots

Turkey salad sandwich with pesto

We waited to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the magnifent weather!

Even the To Go boxes were sustainable!