Flex Mussels

I'm so excited that it's May already. The weather has been nice the past few weeks which makes eating out a lot more enjoyable. J had found out about this place a while back and since I love seafood, it was perfect!

It's an all-you-can-eat mussels fiesta. Surprisingly, the price is only $20 but there's a time limit and only 3 different broths you can choose from. The special starts at 5:30 and ends at 7pm. Along with the mussels you get fries as your side and a glass of beer.

The neighborhood was quite nice. And those cherry blossom trees makes it look that much more inviting.

Fried Oysters

The pot of mussels were pretty huge. There are 3 different broths like I said before, Classic, Dijon, and Fra Diavolo. All 3 are absolutely delicious, my favorite would be the Classic. Call me bland but it tasted so simple and fresh. The fries are good also, perfectly seasoned with salt and there's ketchup to accompany it.

Flex Donuts

For dessert, we had their donuts. Heard they made some good ones so we gave it a try. There were so many flavors or should I say fillings? From left to right in the photo above, Fluffermutter, PBJ, Chocolate, and Strawberry Shortcake. All the way on the left is the vanilla bean dipping and that was the bomb!

Definitely an enjoyable meal. $20 for all-you-can-devour mussels plus fries was absolutely amazing. If you're a seafood lover, or a mussel lover you would love this place. They also have other amazing broth which I will be trying the next time I come. By the way, they specialize in oysters so be sure to check out their daily specials.

They have two locations, one in the West Village and the other in the Upper East Side.

Flex Mussels
154 W 13th St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 229-0222 

Weekday Lunch: Goodburger

This is my second visit to Goodburger and it doesn't disappoint. I know I can go to a fast food chain and get a burger but it's definitely not as satisfying as Goodburger's burger. Plus, my company is just two blocks away from Goodburger which gives easy access. A burger from here starts around $5-ish but with all the knick-knacks you add in the burger, it'll most likely hit around $6-7. Add a complete meal, with fries and a drink (I replaced mine with a milkshake) and that would be $10-ish. But it's great to indulge in some greasy burgers once in a while.

Fries, Burger, Milkshake

They give quite an amount of fries but it lacks texture. I mean, it's really crispy, really really crispy, maybe even hard and it lacks salt. I love salt with my fries and if it's seasoned well, then there's no need for ketchup but that's not the case with their fries. But, I do like how it was packaged - every french fry stayed inside the bag.

The vanilla milkshake was alright. Nothing too surprising. A small is definitely enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Medium-cooked, cheese, onions, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and ketchup

Call me weird but I like my mayo with ketchup, it taste almost like the Thousand Island salad dressing. I guess the one thing I really like about Goodburger would be the way they cook their burger. I asked for medium and they cooked it quite well, you can still see the pink in the center which was such a beautiful thing. A little crust on the outside and the middle of the patty was so tender. Though, I do wish they added just a tad bit more sauce and a bigger slice of cheese.

Overall, a great lunch. This is a burger, which won't ever compare to a fast food chain burger. And one more photo for good time sakes.

You can totally see the beautiful layers of the burger.

goodburger
101 Maiden Ln
Manhattan, NY 10039
(212) 797-1700 

Luke's Lobster

This actually wasn't my first time at Luke's but the Nth time. J and I went to the one in the Lower East Side tons of times but we decided to give the Upper East Side a try. Why? They had fried clams and shrimps, and anything fried will get us there in a heartbeat. It was a long trip up to the UES since we both work way below midtown.

Finally hiked to the place, a lot bigger and roomier than the one in LES. We were so excited to order but we got shot down pretty quick. They didn't have the fried items! I was in panic. Seems that they don't have the fryer anymore, and they only had it the first month when they first started opening up the place. Oh, what disappointment! But that ok, because we got our usual Noah's Ark which consists of -- 2-half lobster roll, 2-half crab rolls, 2-half shrimp rolls, 4-empress claws, 2-bags of chips, 2-bottles of beverage. And if that wasn't good enough, we wanted to try their New England Clam Chowder.

Noah's Ark

New England Clam Chowder

I think I was perfectly satisfied with or without the fried clams/shrimps. I'm sure J was also but he was still hungry afterward, men just got a big appetite. I'm telling you, once you eat at Luke's all the other lobster rolls just won't suffice. I guess it's because they don't cover their lobster in endless thick mayo. Plus, their bread is so crispy and buttered up. And, there's something about their special spice. You can find that spice in a red claw, which is apparently in the first photo above.

If you come here, you definitely won't be disappointed. By the way, their bathroom is a lot roomier than it looks and watch out for the creepy lobster photo in the bathroom!

Multiple locations, but I went to...

Luke's Lobster
242 E 81st St
New York, NY 10028
(212) 249-4241  

La Zarza Resto-Lounge

I'm a roll with using my vouchers these past few weeks. I actually bought this last year and never came around to using it because... I have no idea.

J and I finally made reservations and hauled our butts to this nice and cozy small restaurant. The interior was definitely dim and it actually reminded me of the restaurants in Cancun within the hotels. Funny thing - apparently that night we dined in was a Speed Dating night. Another funny thing - all the dudes and dudettes were Asian. A bit weird but nonetheless quite amusing. But, they were soon moved to a private room so we couldn't see anything but we did hear bells ringing for them to rotate.

Back to my dining experience...
We got our drinks quite fast. I had the Payoso Loco which tasted like Bacardi Raspberry but in an extremely red way, quite sparkling as well. But, the drinks are overpriced but they were indeed good. For appetizers, we had mussels and sweetbread. They were absolutely delicious, the mussels were very plumped and they gave a very generous amount. The sweetbread was cooked perfectly, so you wouldn't get tired of the texture and taste of it. Might I add the salad along with the sweetbreads was an amazing touch, the dressing they used (which I have no idea what) was tangy yet sweet and paired really well with the sweetbreads.

For entrees, I had the NY Strip and J had the lamb chops. I really liked his lamb chops, just because it was cooked nicely, but the mushroom risotto that came along with the dish was way too overpowering. Too cheesy and way too much of it on the bottom of the lamb. My NY strip was ginormous, but was cooked too well done when I asked for medium. I think I'll just pass on entree next time and stick with the appetizers. To end the meal, we got the Churros. Since we were at a Spanish restaurant, why not choose their churros! Fresh and crispy with chocolate dipping, not bad at all.

Mejillones De Invierno

Mollejas Con Salsa Criolla

Corderito Pampero

NY Strip

Churros

I realized that my photos under dark lighting really sucks...
I'm hoping I'll be able to get a new camera by summer, something with better focus in dark lighting or bright lighting. Any suggestions?

La Zarza Resto-Lounge
166 1st Ave
New York, NY 10009
(212) 477-1111 

SobaKoh

Refreshing as can be.
J and I came here for an early dinner. Luckily, we were only the second pair of people there. Before you enter the restaurant, take a moment to look at the chef on the right window. The chef is making fresh soba noodles on the spot. J and I sat right by the window - the only window seat there is. The restaurant is quite small with friendly staffs.

The food was surprisingly good.
The drinks could have been better.
Overall experience was great.

Octopus Carpaccio

Grilled Sea Bass

Kamonasu Soba

Snago Tempura Soba

Soba Flavored Ice Cream

It was a very satisfying meal. They give a generous amount of soba here and if you think that wouldn't fill you up, think again. I was quite amazed by the dessert, it sounded weird but tasted otherwise. There was a little crunch to it, I'm assuming it was the buckwheat seeds (probably should've asked the waitress).

Sobakoh is definitely a nice soba spot to return. By the way, don't forget to stare at the man making the soba when you leave...

SobaKoh
309 E 5th St
New York, NY 10003
(212) 254-2244  

Thai NY

I'm on a Thai binge these days. Been craving for Thai food, especially the Pad Thai. Maybe it's different to my taste buds, Chinese noodles just don't cut it half the time because I eat that so often. Thai NY is literally right next to Jaiya, a recent restaurant I visited twice and did a review about down below.

I've been to Thai NY before, but for some reason I don't remember much about it. It was actually for dinner the first time around and maybe it just didn't hit the spot because I wasn't hungry. So, I pay another visit to Thai NY for their lunch special.

Their lunch specials weren't bad at all. They had a complimentary appetizer along with your main entree. Prices ranges from $6.95-9.95, depending on your liking of vegetables or meat.

Tom Yum Soup

Edamame

Tofu Pad Thai

Vegetable Duck Pad Thai

First of all, the service was pretty fast. The waitress seated J and I at the same spot we sat at the first time we came here, sweet. The appetizers came out quick, then again how hard is it to make soup and edamame. First time trying Tom Yum Soup, it was spicy and sour but nothing that can't be handled. Although the specs of spice (red little chilis) can't really make a person choke. Maybe it's just me and I don't know how to eat spicy food but I keep choking, but it really tasted good.

The Pad Thai were tasty, it came out when I was in the middle of my appetizer. No complaints because I like my food coming out fast. If only their lemons were a bit juicier, I find myself really having to work the remaining juice out of it. The noodles were al dente, cooked perfectly. Taste-wise, it tasted like an authentic Pad Thai. I like how they used thinner noodles here, a lot of places use the traditional pad thai noodles that are slightly wider than this.

Thai NY is certainly quite a roomy place. They have endless amount of tables that extends all the way to the back (this restaurants probably takes up half the block). 

Thai NY

394 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10116

(212) 696-2888 

Dessert Works: Beard Papa

Hands down the best cream puff in NYC. No doubt, no contemplation, no nothing.

I use to get my cream puff from the Beard Papa by 8 Street NYU, but that closed down. I was going to pay a visit to the one in the West Village but that closed down not too long after the first one closed. So, the only one that is still open in NYC is the one all the way in the Upper West Side. But, in order to get the food that you love, you need to go great lengths. Well, I didn't but J did. The price didn't seem to change, at least I don't think it did. Heck, I would pay $2 each for these suckers but of course it was less than that.

The puffs are freshly made each day and they are ready to be squeezed with the cream filling when you order them so the puffs wouldn't get soggy. The reason I praise this place so much is because their filling is perfect. It's not overly sweetened and they give you a decent amount of cream - no pun intended. On rare days they even have different flavors from green tea to pumpkin. The best which I always find myself ordering is the vanilla, can't go wrong with that.

Pretty big huh?

They're a decent size. And each bite is so light, it even feels light. I like how I can eat 2-3 without feeling guilty or feel too sick because of the cream. Oh, and the powdered sugar on top is a plus!

Beard Papa

2167 Broadway

New York, NY 10024

(212) 799-3770