Peels

325 Bowery.  New York, NY (btwn. 2nd St. & Bleecker)
www.peelsnyc.com

Price: $$
Favorite dish: Build-a-Biscuit

Prior to when I started blogging, I ate at Peels for brunch for my dad.  I enjoyed it so much that my family and I went back to Peels again for brunch so that I not only could enjoy it, but also share my experience with my readers.  My second time back was just as good as the first.  The restaurant has a spacious interior in addition to outdoor seating, which made for a perfect sunny Sunday morning brunch atmosphere.

Here's what we got:

Tropical Muesli with pineapple juice and yogurt soaked oats, mango, strawberries, toasted coconut, and seeds 

[muesli]

Spa Eggs: egg white omelet, sautéed spinach, and goat cheese with a side salad

Farmers Breakfast: fried eggs, smoked bacon, hash browns, and toast

Build-a-Biscuit: biscuit sandwich filled with scrambled eggs, avocado, and cheese with a side of gravy

[scrambled egg biscuit] 

Blueberry crumb cake

  This brunch was completely satisfying and a perfectly portioned meal.  Peels' muesli is famous and a very popular dish.  It definitely was an interesting muesli, as it tasted fresh with all of its fruity flavor.  It was different than what I am used to tasting, however it was still really tasty.  The spa eggs were simple and delicious with the goat cheese and spinach.  The Farmer's Breakfast included fried eggs with perfectly runny yolk.  The hash browns that were included were fantastic.  It was crispy, salty, and flavorful, and we were very close to ordering a second order of potatoes for all of us to share.  I ordered the build-a-buscuit, which I absolutely adored.  I think it was a perfect breakfast sandwich, and included great flavors with the avocado, eggs, and cheese. The biscuits were also wonderfully flaky and buttery.  I would definitely order this exact same sandwich again since I loved it so much.  We also decided to try a bakery selection, as Peels as a wide array of bakery items.  The blubbery crumb cake was moist on the inside, and the outside was crumby and sweet.  Every part of the meal was really excellent.

XOXO,
Danielle

Bondst

6 Bond Street.  New York, NY
www.bondstrestaurant.com

Price: $$$-- The food was a little bit expensive based on the amount of food that is served in a portion. Portion sizes are pretty small, so you end up ordering more.
Favorite Dish: Tuna Tart

Last night, we decided to try an upscale Japanese restaurant for dinner. The restaurant, Bondst, sounds and looks nothing like what it serves. It is definitely one of the nicer Japanese restaurants I've ever been to, with the dimmed lighting and candlelit tables. The menu selections were really surprisingly unique and different, and they all seemed delicious. I was excited to try out some of the cool things they were serving.

We decided to share everything that we ordered, since most things were smaller portions and were served "tapas style." Here's what we ordered:

Our love for grilled calamari led us to order the grilled baby octopus, with caramelized onions, jalapeños, avocado, radishes, and dashi poached potatoes. At first glance, the look of the octopus kind of scared Jaynie and me off, since they were served with scales--we steered away from those pieces. The safe-looking pieces were actually delicious. They tasted great paired with the citrus and avocado.

For our next appetizer, we ordered the red snapper tacos, with mentaiko (fish roe),  a sudachi vinaigrette,  and yuzu avocado spread. These tacos were AWESOME. The taco shell was super crispy, and the yuzu avocado was excellent on the taco. I'm not a huge fan of fish, but the snapper was really tasty. Loved this dish.

While we were ordered, our waiter mentioned how their Big Eye Tuna Tarts are their most popular dish by far.  Raw tuna is my least favorite of all raw fish, but this tart was AMAZING. The tart had a creamy ponzu sauce, white truffle oil, and micro shiso. It must have been the truffle oil that pushed this dish over the edge and made it so memorable. I definitely understand why the tuna tart is Bondst's most popular dish!

The next dish we ordered was the Main Lobster rolls, served with Japanese mustard, a steamed bun, and brown butter ponzu sauce. After having tried steamed buns for the first time last year in Los Angeles, I think they are just so delicious, so I was really looking forward to trying this dish. The lobster rolls were really good. I loved the lobster mixture--it was super flavorful and tasted great in the bun. I wish it could've been a bigger portion!!

As our first entree, we got the grilled rack of lamb, with a shiso and mint sauce, yuzu potato gratin, and Asian pear. The chops were SO juicy. These were great lamb chops. I love the combination of lamb and mint, however I couldn't really taste the mint in the sauce. But truly, I don't think it really needed it necessarily. Again, I would've like a little more, since we each only got one chop.

Jaynie wanted to order the Kamo Ramen, with a soft poached egg, duck confit, and tokyo negi (Japanese onion). The soup came with seaweed pieces to go alongside the dish, and a spice tray to add extra flavor to the noodles. The ramen was a bit bland without any of the spices, which is difficult for eaters who aren't fans of spicy foods. However, I, being a huge fan of spicy foods, loved the ramen with some of the added spice. The egg was a great addition, and the duck breast was super tender, and great paired with the noodles.

For our sushi fix, we ordered two different rolls: the hot eel dice, with eel, sweet soy sauce, and slice almonds, and the spicy yellowtail, accompanied by a red pepper sour miso sauce. Both rolls were great, but my favorite of the two was definitely the eel dice. The eel was quite tasty, and beat the yellowtail in terms of prominent flavor. The sweet soy sauce was delicious, and almonds added an unexpected crunch that I really enjoyed.

After a meal like that, we really felt the need for something sweet. After debating whether to stay or go somewhere else for  dessert, the amazing dessert menu helped us make our decision. We ordered the banana milk chocolate dim sum. Now seriously…how bad can THAT be? The answer: not bad at all. It was served with hazelnuts, and a sweet sour cream dipping sauce. Ugh..these were just so good. I only got to eat one because of the small portion, but that one bite of banana, chocolate, and sweet cream was perfect.

Jaynie and I are obsessed with chocolate lava cakes, so we just had to order the chocolate meltdown, with coffee ice cream and fresh cream. This cake was comparable to Morton's chocolate lava cake--it was that good. The sweet chocolate sauce, the chocolate cake, a little bit of coffee ice cream, and a dip of the cream: the ultimate bite. 

The aftermath...

A great place to go for a delectable Japanese meal.

Keep checking back…there are more amazing posts to come!!

XOXO,
Danielle

Butter

Location: 415 Lafayette Street  New York, NY

http://www.butterrestaurant.com

Price: $$$$ --Great place to go if you're looking for a nicer or fancier dinner. More of a parent-in-town meal than for simply going out with friends.

Favorite dish: Cavatappi Pasta with Spicy Lamb Sausage

To kick off my summer of eating (and working) in the city, my family (mom, dad, and Jaynie) and I decided to start off my move-in weekend in the city with Butter. Being a huge fan of the Food Network, I am always interested in trying the restaurants of some of my favorite celebrity chefs. Having heard of Alex Guarnaschelli's restaurant Butter for a while, we finally went to try it out.  The restaurant was dimly lit, and was decorated with tree-like branches lining the ceiling, and more nature-inspired decor lining the walls. In my dad's words, the restaurant seemed a little more "nutter-butter" than Butter. However, it was very inviting, and got me very excited to try out the food that Butter had to offer. It was so delicious and I highly recommend this restaurant to adventurous eaters. Chef Alex Guarnaschelli does an excellent job mixing unusual ingredients together and making them taste fantastic, and I encourage you to try out all the delicious flavors featured on this menu. I would definitely go back!

        Our Meal:

Coming to a restaurant called Butter, I could only come in expecting some of the best bread and butter out there. With bread and butter being one of my all time favorite things, these definitely lived up to my standards! A warm bread basket was accompanied by 2 different selections of butter. One was a standard soft butter, and the other was a wonderful herb butter. Delicious and perfect way to start off the meal.

Right off the bat, when we see a grilled calamari on a menu,  we are always on board! We decided to try the grilled octopus, served with a marinated cucumber salad with fresh oregano and a red wine dressing. This octopus dish was unlike any other grilled calamari I had ever tasted before, and it was really delicious. The pieces were cut thicker than usual, and were extremely flavorful. One of the best touches to this dish was the little chunks of watermelon mixed within the cucumber salad…an absolutely perfect combination with the octopus. We all loved it!   **my apologies about the terrible lighting!**

The first appetizer we ordered was the Cavatappi pasta with spicy lamb sausage, smothered in a yellow tomato sauce. Before arriving to the table, I did not expect it to be as good as it turned out to be. However, the second the dish showed up the table, the four of us quickly dove in to get a taste. Hands down, this was the BEST dish of the night.  The pasta was cooked perfectly al dente, and the yellow tomato sauce was out of this world. It was sweet and flavorful and just plain fantastic. The lamb sausage was an awesome touch that added great flavor to the dish. I could've eaten this whole thing myself, and then some. My dad and I finished off scraping the bottom of the dish for any excess remnants of the sauce….whoops. 

For my mom's main course, she decided to order the duck breast, which the waiter couldn't say enough good things about. This duck was SO GOOD. It was served with a peach marmalade and wilted dandelion greens, atop a bed of rice and topped with grilled peaches. YUM! The duck was super tender and perfectly cooked. We all couldn't get enough. In the end, my mom now couldn't say enough good things about it!

I am a huge fan of sea scallops, and whenever I see them on a menu, I usually jump to ordering them. Turns out that these scallops may be some of the best I have ever had. The scallops were served with braised peas and sugar snap peas, topped with lemongrass, and ginger. The ginger definitely added an unexpected bite which I loved, and the sauce that was on it was so delicious. The scallops were sweet and juicy, and were perfectly cooked. Mmmmmm…...

Jaynie's main course was the wild mushroom ragout. It was served with a warm toasted brioche with duxelles, truffle butter, and a fried farm egg to top it off. Right as Jaynie's dish was served, I couldn't help but smell the amazing aroma of the truffle butter (one of my favorite things)! That was when I decided to try, and it was delish. The addition of the fried egg with its runny yolk was a great combination with the mushrooms, and was great eaten atop the brioche. 

My dad ordered the New York Strip steak. A classic. It was served on top of a bed of sautéed wild spinach and toasted breadcrumbs. With steak being one of my favorite foods, THIS was a great steak. The meat was tender, and was prepared to just the right temperature. Very very good! 

As our waiter was reading the specials, as soon as he mentioned Blondie Sundae, I was sold. Brownie sundaes have always been my favorite dessert, so at this point in the meal, a Blondie sundae sounded mouthwatering. As the dish was served, my mom and Jaynie were so excited, they dove in so quickly that I almost couldn't take a picture (thanks for fixing that up for me ;) ) This sundae was awesome. It was served with vanilla ice cream, blondie pieces, fresh strawberries, cognac caramel sauce, and a drizzle of chocolate. In the wise words of Ina Garten, how bad can that be? It was really delicious.

Although we originally decided to pass on the raspberry beignets to save some precious calories, we found that they are one of Butter's staple desserts, so how could we pass that up? The beignets were filled with a raspberry jam, served with a vanilla dipping sauce. The scent from the beignets was heavenly, and they tasted even better, with a wonderful coating of sugar on top. The vanilla dipping sauce paired perfectly with the raspberry flavor. They were absolutely addicting. I could've eaten all 3 by myself, no matter how full I already was. They were scrumptious. 

Can't wait to continue blogging about my delicious experiences!
XOXO,
Danielle