The Presidential Treatment

Dude wasn't the Fourth of July three weeks ago? Errg...Yeah just DEAL!

BBQ and Fourth of July go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Like rain and Seattle

Like Bravo and fabulous reality TV...

So we decided to take our guests to one of our favorites.

Hill Country

30 West 26th Street

Any place with tableclothes other than red checkered or brown paper is not a true bbq establishment. This is a large restaurant (by regular standards and NYC standards) with an upstairs and downstairs. Complete with two bars and even a stage downstairs where they play live (and FREE!!) music.

Actually let's back up. We arrive in there all ready to get our BBQ on and the hostess escorts us to our table. "This is where Bill likes to sit when he comes." We all laugh thinking "huh?" and then see the sign.

We were sitting in the Presidentail Booth. Because if we're going to enjoy BBQ you might as well enjoy it from Bubba's seat.

Onto the food.

This is what you would call "classy" fast food. You take your card to the front of the line and point to what you want and they wrap it up in paper . Why classy? Because they cut it up in front of you and if you are lucky like Mrs. TWH was, they'll give you some tastes to help you with your decision.

Beef Ribs (the pork ones were sold out) and some Beer Can Chicken

Hey I didn't say they were big on presentation.

Lone shot of a Rib-

Fatty. Meaty. Good.

Other meats that may have been consumed but do not take pretty pictures were:

Beef Shoulder and Briscuit

And let's not forget any sides! Apologies to the baked beans I think I was just too busy eating to take a picture.

Succotash with some Moist Briscuit down in the foreground

Mac 'n Cheese- My personal favorite. Maybe not the best mac in the city but pretty darn tasty. PS- I take Mac 'n Cheese suggestions. And don't you DARE say 'Smac.

Mr. Broad had been raving about his favorite dessert and he pretty much talked Mr. TWH to get the (Wait for it)...

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcake. A vanilla cupcake with peanut butter icing with jelly filling. It's a bit dry for me but come on I could just take a spoon full of the icing and be all set. Note Mr. Broad did not get one because he opted for seconds of BBQ.

And the center filled with Jelly. Note the lights were dimmed, it was the end of the night so my amateur "food" setting wasn't cooperating.

Review:

Smoked Meat. Does it get any better than this? I challenge you. Good friends and might I add a FREE LIVE band to provide some bluesy tunes as you eat?? Quite possibly one of NYC's best kept secret. The word Free and NYC are not often in the same sentence. Yah, we're fans. Although next up for BBQ Mr. Broad and I want to schlep to Harlem for Dinosuar BBQ!

Review: Mr. Broad and I were split between and 8 and an 8.5. I'd go back so that's all that really matters.

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I'm like totally Blog Famous. Kinda

I interrupt these regular posts to tell you of my recent cross with "fame". Well, blog fame that is...

This past Friday I received a WONDERFUL shout out from the Foodie Blogroll community AND from Leftover Queen! I was flattered. If my blog could blush, it would.

Every Friday they highlight foodie blogs and I got highlighted this past week.

This blog is written by a foodie couple who recently moved to New York City and are enjoying exploring their new home city by dining at restaurants. Their blog posts reviews of the placed they enjoy (and didn’t). So many cuisines! This is a great blog to check out if you find yourself traveling to The Big Apple

Now I have to remember to be a more active poster... DOH!

But have no fear. They are comin'! And I apologize to my foodie friends I dined with that are looking for their 2 minutes of blog fame. It's a comin'!

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Cause There's Always Room for Fro Yo! (And Toppings)

The next morning when TWHs were in town, I went with the girls and we did a bit more of the walking/eating thing.

Knowing Mrs. TWH's recent attraction for frozen yogurt I took them to one of my new finds.

16 Handles

153 2nd ave (between 9th and 10th street)

A complete self serve frozen yogurt shop where they weigh your creation with toppings and all at the end. You never realized frozen yogurt could be soo good. And yet so expensive.

Note: Peanut butter cups bring the weight up.

Topping included the regular fruit to the candy section where sometimes you often think you might as well just buy a freaken candy bar.

Highlights on the topping buffet include (but are not limited to):

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Lychee

Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles

Captain Crunch

Cookie dough

Brownie bites

Chocolate covered pretzels

Jelly Beans...

I could keep going on. But at least the fro yo is fat free!! Right??

Just another angle-- further down was the candy section

The fro yo's vary in flavor from the tarts (Margarita...Eurotart) to the more "Traditional" (Cookies and Cream, Peanut Butter, NY Cheesecake)

A fun place on a walking tour near the East Village/Union Square. We took a picture of our three concoctions posing together.

Guesses which one is mine?

Clockwise from the top:

TWH (She's partial to the fruity/cereal toppings)

Mrs. Broad (I had to put the cherry on top. duh)

Spicy Lee (Hidden underneath was coffee yogurt which she suggested readers avoid)

Review:

Right across the street from this place is a pathetic looking Tasti D Lite. It's almost fun to look at while you chow down on your own creation. Anyway, it's fro yo. How can you not love?? And did I mention it's near my office?

Lunch anyone?

Rating: 10. I stand behind good fro yo.

Note: Mr. Broad has not been but clearly questioned the 10 rating.

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Somewhere in K Town

Welcome to the beginning of the Fourth of July posts.

Mr. Broad and I had some great friends in town-- Mr. and Mrs. Talking with Hands (TWH) and Spicy Lee.

Thursday night Spicy Lee came into town and we were at the Bryant Park Grill drinking (pitchers of) margaritas to toast one of my cousin's birthday when we "picked her up" from her bus stop. FYI picking people up when they come into NYC is a bit different from the suburbs ... and even moreso when you are SEVERAL margaritas deep. Oops.

Soo. Mr. Broad and I both stumbled the streets with Spicy Lee with no food in our bellies (ROOKIE MOVE) when we decided that we needed something. And since I am now a Korean EXPERT...

Enter K Town. Or Koreatown. It is located between 31st to 36th street between 5th and 6th ave.

Somewhere on K Town

In the 30's I guess??

I'd like to say I remembered where we ate. Or what we ate. But I was approaching a 3 day weekend and Mr. Broad and I kicked it off appropriately.

Korean BBQ is the name of the game here. We sat down and I guess ordered a bunch of stuff. And then you throw it on your flame and go to town. Like my other Korean experience they give you a lot of sides and you have no idea what you are eating but you try all the same.

Interesting Math Fact: Camera + Alcohol = Lots of Pictures.

Some sides... and the soon to be flame

Pork Belly

Dumplings

Something Else on the flame

A salad of some sort?

Something else random that I remember really liking...

Straight up garlic to roast on the flame. Some kimchee in the background.

Review:

I promise that my reviews will get better. It's not often that I imbibe like this.... Sure it's not. I can't even give it a rating. It was perfect for the mood we were in and quenched some alcohol. But not all of it as we found out the next morning...

Rating: Worth it to go back if we knew where we were.

The blurry shot from above. We were done.

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How Long Would You Wait For A NYC Slice? Discuss.

Traditional NYC pizza is thin, loaded with cheese, oil, and somewhat floppy so the best method to eat it is by folding it. That's how I grew up at least.

So a couple of weeks ago, we stayed on our side of the river and headed to Williamsburg for one of the new hotspots for NYC pizza. Hot, trendy we are...

Motorino

319 Graham Ave

We sat in the back and ordered. And waited. and waited. for FORTY FIVE MINUTES for our APPETIZERS. Were they picking the tomatoes for our salad?? Perhaps pasturizing the cheese? I normally don't say much but you know it's bad when even Mr. Broad is calming me down. He was still in the "excuses" stage.

Finally. Out came:

Arugula Salad pears, figs, smoked bacon, gorgonzola

Pretty good for a starter salad although a bit more dressing than I would have liked. Although might I add figs are a bit underutilized. They were a nice touch because I hadn't had them in awhile but I don't think it tied the salad together. Or I was just in a bad mood.

Panzanela salad- Tomatoes, bread and some vegetables.

We have made this before so Mr. Broad decided to order it and see how ours stacked up. He enjoyed it, quoted "fresh" ingredients... The serving was rather large but in my opinion... I think the salad that Mr. Broad and I made at home was better :)

Appetizer mode was over. And then came the pizzas. Well not really. ANOTHER FORTY FIVE MINUTES WENT BY. and THEN came the pizzas. After the waitress telling us numerous times just another two more minutes and we told them that this is a bit ridiculous. They assured us they would take care of us with dessert. That calmed us down a little bit until I wondered how long it would take for that to come.

Ugliese burrata, broccolini, sausage fresh chilies garlic

I must say we were torn over the type of pizzas to order. The broccolini on this one called to me. Um yummmm. Everything came together really well on this pizza. Except for the middle. Where it sogged down because I guess the dough was too thin.

Margharetia DOC mozzarella di bufala, tomato basil

We both felt obligated to try the "plain" pizza. Pretty standard, however is it just me but I have a problem when you get the mozzarella one and they throw the cheese on it so haphazardly that you can have an entire piece of pizza without cheese on it. Grrr. Regardless, Mr. Broad liked this one. I was privy to the broccolini/sausage one. Look closely and you can find the cheeseless slice.

Review:

I don't know what it is about "brick ovens" but people just go nuts over them. Don't get me wrong it was good pizza. And it maybe coulda have been great pizza if we got it in time. No pictures of our free gelato ice cream. It really didn't warrant it because the scoop was pretty pathetic. Oh I don't know... I've read several articles raving about it but I think it was slightly overrated. I'm glad we went to try it but next time I have about several hours to wait for pizza? I'd head over to Artichoke Pizza but that's another post...

Rating: 6 Maybe if we got it at a reasonable time the rating would have been higher?

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Asian Food Does Not all Taste like Thai. An Introduction to Korean Food.

So before I get to all things fourth of July... and our food ventures.

Let me rewind to 2 weeks ago when I picked up my latest electronic toy..

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Broad got the... wait for it...

iPhone.

Aaah, we are such yuppies.

I could write a whole post about the iPhone itself (and how I do NOT know how to use it!?) but that will have to wait for another time.

After I picked up my new iPhone and completely became a 100% bonafide sucker for Apple, Mr. Broad and I wanted a quick/cheapish dinner in Union Square. So we used our new downloaded application called urban spoon and shook the phone and it spit out a recommendation!

This is life changing I am telling you.

Express Manna Kitchen

28 East 18th Street

"What do you have against Korean food?" ...Mr. Broad has asked me numerous times.

Nothing really, I don't think I had tried much of it. So because we were so hungry after AT&T took FOREVER (sorry, Sprint, it was time)... I succumbed.

Bi Bim Bap (Chicken)

7 types of organic vegetables mixed with rice, a fried egg, and spicy sauce.

Served in a hot stone bowl

Does this look like a bird's nest to anyone but me?? Okay this rocked. Rice, a bunch of vegetables, some noodles I wasn't familiar with, sprouts(??), chicken... all served in a hot, hot stone bowl. The bowl kept cooking the rice causing it to stick to the bottom making the rice nice and crisp. The stone was so smokin' that it caused the chicken to become a bit dry. But I could deal.

I've had kimchee before but I didn't realize that Korean food often comes with many side dishes. While I may not have liked them all it was still fun to try and well, take a picture of!

Spicy Pepper Pork

It was good and as you can tell came with it's own mini side dishes. Is that how all Korean food is served? Or is that how it was at this restaurant? I asked Mr. Broad for feedback and he gave me a generic "it was great." That's what I get for interrupting him while he is playing on his iPhone.

Review:

So my first non kimchee Korean food experience. Mr. Broad had in me a convert. For those that don't know, Kimchee is fermented chili cabbage and is what I would call an "acquired" taste. Of course Mr. Broad has acquired such taste. I, on the other hand, have not been so lucky. I guess it's like eating the California Rolls of sushi-- I play it safe. The meal was quick with lots of "fun" side dishes which made me excited until I realized yes, one was kimchee. Oh what are you going to do- I'd go back but for now I'm playing with my iPhone.

Rating 7

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