Photo Courtesy: HaveYouHeard.com

I hit up Covet’s restaurant opening the other night, hosted by Ramona Singer, of Real Housewives of NY fame, and I was definitely impressed. (Though secretly, I love RHONY so much even if the food had been terrible I would have been psyched to see her). The space is two floors, the first of which hosts a large dining room with a gorgeous chandelier and cozy booths.  As for cuisine, think Mediterranean meets Pacific Rim, chef John Keller (formerly Bruno Jamais) will be serving up creative dishes with a twist–featuring signature dishes such as Hamachi Duo, Lobster Brulee, and Wild Boar Tenderloin.

After dinner you can descend to the lower level where creative cocktails are stirred and there are plenty of cubby holes and couches for you to snuggle up in.  The ambiance is cave-like, cave-chic, LOL. It’s spattered with animal skin pillows and cushions.  It’s like a naughty cave, though I think the theme they're going for is secretive, saucy, ski lodge. The lounge is open until 4am. This is going to be a great, late night spot for swanky patrons to get a nightcap before heading up to lavish upper east side abodes.

Photo Courtesy: NY Magazine

Cocktails range from $18-$24, unless you’re a baller looking to impress that special someone–the Icarus is a $160 bevvie that packs in house flambé, premium saffron, Louis XIII Rémy Martin Cognac, and of course hand chiseled ice. I’m available any night of the week if anyone wants to buy this for me, bt-dubs.

The apps were delish, though I have to go back to try the food. Judging by the menu, be prepared to indulge in inventive cuisine—but bring your credit card, it don’t come cheap. 

Lana'i City Grille at Hotel Lana'i is a true gem that's worth it's high price tag in my opinion.  Afterall, nothing is locally grown on Lana'i so everything has to be either shipped or brought onto the island.  The food was nicely presented, generous and very tasty.  The drinks were poured with love and the Aloha spirit.  The restaurant is owned by a husband and wife who have poured their heart and soul into the menu and ambience.  Michelle Kommes, the restaurant manager and wife of the brilliant chef greets patrons with a warm and cheerful smile and walks around to make sure everyone's meals are perfect.  This meal is definitely splurgeworthy, we felt like we had truly had a unique Lana'i experience.

For appetizers we had the crabcakes and the seared tuna with a coconut sauce. Both of them were perfect and tasty.  The crabmeat was especially fresh and wonderful. 

We also got a salad, which if you're trying to save money I'd skip and stick to the mouth watering appetizers, which are some truly creative and mouth-watering dishes. 

They truly saved the best for last here. The oven baked chocolate chip cookie was absolutely the most amazing dessert I think I've ever had. And I am pretty discriminating when it comes to my chocolate chip cookies since my dad makes them the best but this ooey gooey cookie bursts with warm oozing dough when you take the first bite.  It would be worth visiting Lanai City Grille if only for this. 

Pictured above was what survived.

Visit Lana'i City Grille's website for more information and to make reservations.  It gets pretty packed at night so make sure to make your reservations early.

You may also want to see our review of Four Seasons Lana'i Manele Bay and Four Seasons Lodge at Koele.

This vegetarian haven rocks. It's cheap and fresh and pretty healthy too. They serve pitas, salads and hummus bowls (served with 2 falafal balls). They have an array of dipping sauces too that all rock. The peanut sauce is not to be missed! I love the African sandwich.

I eat here at least once a week. If you just get a sandwich you can definitely get out for under $10. 

But I can never resist their homemade iced teas. Especially the Passion Rooibos. Yum! They're available sweetened or unsweetened or semi-sweetened. Because they're awesome.

Also offer whole wheat pitas, which are outta this world. 

They use organic ingredients when they can. 

They don't have tons of seating options but it's still just as "crisp" when you get it back to your office.

Has anyone else tried this fab fast lunch option? 

Try both locations:

Before 7PM get the best lobster roll in New York City at the Mermaid Inn. Get the Blue Plate Special for $20 and it buys you a lobster roll and a Fire Island Pale Ale! Normally a lobster roll alone is $26 (still not bad).

If you go, you MUST get the Seared Calamari with wild mushrooms. To dieeeeeee for! It’s such a romantic place. Great for a nice date but not too expensive and very laid back. And who doesn’t love mermaids? Plus they give you complimentary chocolate pudding and one of those sweeeeeet fortune telling fish at the end of your meal!

Visit their Upper West Side Location or Lower East Side Location and ask for extra Old Bay Seasoning. Yum!

96 2 Ave, New York

568 Amsterdam Ave, New York

Visit http://www.themermaidnyc.com/ for more information.

Manhattan has so many wonderful gems…but they’ll cost you. There comes a point in a couple’s life when you start caring less about atmosphere and fruity martinis and just want good food at a reasonable price. We’ve reached that point.  While there used to be a time where weekly dates lead us to Rosa Mexicana for dinner sometimes you don’t feel like spending your entire paycheck. Furthermore, sometimes you want authentic Mexican food!

I came across a review on the internet last night when I was searching for a neighborhood Mexican restaurant and came across the Great BUrrito. Now, let me tell you that I’m quite picky. If a restaurant has as much as a drop on the menu and I won’t come back. Don’t even get me started on bathrooms. I’m very easily grossed out.  Point is, I’m picky and won’t compromise cleanliness for price.  Not to mention “dirty dive” places to me are just dirty. I don’t care how good the food is. Which is why you should recognize how special it is that I was enamored with Great Burrito. 

While I don’t want to describe it as a hole in the wall, at first glance you may think that’s what it is. Let me just tell you, best Mexican food I’ve had in the city since I moved here. I mean real Mexican. Authentic and tastes exactly like my favorite restaurant (Los Carboncitos) in Playa Del Carmen. The cooking here is done right out in the open with super fresh ingredients. The salsas are fresh and are to DIEEEEE for. There is a red (mild) and a green (spicy). Un-F-ing-believable. The burrito was amazing. Fresh tortillas. Great refried and black beans. Nuff said. Go. Go. Go! Oh and they have great authentic Mexican sodas. The grapefruit is amazing. They also play really cute Mexican music. 

Did I mention how inexpensive it is? Nachos are like $10 (with Guac) and a bean burrito is like $8.50. The Burritos are HUGEEEEEEEE by the way and that is going by my piglet standards!

405 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10024 
nr. 80th St.

This place is a gem! Apparently Zagat thinks so too as it was voted best Korean and Vegetarian 2 years in a row. You should seriously run before the word gets out. When you walk in you must remove your shoes, which at first I thought was rather irritating but came to enjoy it was part of the experience. Word to the wise though, SOCKS. You sit on the floor for your meal as waiters hustle and bustle around you. Great service. Wonderful tea. The Ginger tea is quite possibly the most delicious thing ever. When I go back I must ask them what they do to make it so delish. I had a TOFU rice bowl for my entree, which was to die.

How much you ask? Well it’s a pretty middle of the road type place. Maybe a little pricey for lunch but as I said it was so fabulous. I went in thinking I didn’t like Korean and I came out an annoying co-working wanting to drag my fellow attorneys there on a weekly basis. Appetizers run from about $8-$10. Entrees are about $15.

Visit HanGawiRestaurant.com for more deets!

12 E 32ND St, New York, NY 10016-5419
(212) 213-0077

*They had no idea I was reviewing their restaurant for a website*

]]> http://smartypanties.com/2009/09/01/best-vegetarian-korean-in-new-york-city-han-gawi-best-ginger-tea/feed/ 1 http://smartypanties.com/2009/08/25/best-restaurant-in-vermont-simon-pearce-is-worth-every-penny-best-romantic-getaway-from-new-york-city/ http://smartypanties.com/2009/08/25/best-restaurant-in-vermont-simon-pearce-is-worth-every-penny-best-romantic-getaway-from-new-york-city/#comments Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:20:53 +0000 Katie Lara http://smartypanties.com/?p=2466

So, as you know, Panties, I recently returned from a fantastic trip to Vermont. On our journey a friend recommended Simon Pearce restaurant to us so we figured we’d try it on my birthday. I’m telling you, this was probably the most romantic dinner I’ve ever been to. And not to steal credit away from BF but it had a little something to do with the ambiance (though we really appreciated the forethought of bringing a 2 and an 8 candle!). We sat at a table outside but in a room that could be enclosed by glass should it need to be. Our table overlooked a small but gorgeous waterfall. Things got even better when we got to watch a rainstorm from our seats, sipping champagne without getting wet. There was even a rainbow at the end! Okay, okay, no rainbow but it was spectacular. You can watch the sunset and the falls and the food is reasonably priced, for a nice meal. Entrees range from $22-$30. A glass of sparkling wine starts at $8.50. My favorite thing was the Pinot Noir Rose Frizzante (which I think was like 12)! I mean, sparkling red wine? I could not imagine a more perfect drink. BF and I split all the appetizers (LOL, seriously, just not the Duck Crepe) and 2 salads. It was all perfectly delicious and completely reasonable (especially since it was my birthday so I wasn’t paying). If I were to pick one I think I’d go with the Mushroom strudel. Yumm.

The restaurant is acclaimed as one of Vermont’s finest, drawing Gourmet Magazine’s highest rating from food critic Peter S. Jennison, who writes, “The coarse Ballymaloe bread that arrives at your table with a crock of sweet butter is, almost alone, worth the trip. We have never been disappointed by the cuisine.”

The meal was accented with Simon Pearce homeade glassware and pottery, which is available for purchase in the connected store (or online here). They’re not cheap but they are extremely well made.

And you wanna hear about going green? They have always recycled their glass, metal and cardboard and are currently considering composting all of their food scraps in a commercial composting facility. Their goal is to reduce our waste to as close to zero as possible. They use the freshest ingredients from local farms. Perhaps my favorite thing about the restaurant that I learned is that its Chef, Joshua drives a Mercedes to and from work that they converted to run off the canola oil leftover from the restaurant. They no longer dispose of this oil and the engine emits considerably fewer pollutants into the atmosphere than gasoline powered vehicles. Talk about an inspiration!

The restaurant is located in the quaint town of Quechee, VT. We stayed in Cavendish, which was about 4.5 hours from the city and Quechee is about 45 minutes to an hour from there. Wonderful, relaxing and memorable experience!

Check out Simon Pearce at their website today!

*We did NOT receive anything in exhange for this review…in fact Simon Pearce has no idea we even did it.

Upper West Side family favorite is shabby-chic and filled with teddy bears and love.Lots of families and friends meeting and catching up over eggs. You can even get a little tipsy with a cutely named beverage or as they call it a “Pop-tail”

Famous for its popovers that you can slather up with strawberry butter, you can’t go wrong on this menu. You may have to wait a little bit but the restaurant only has booths so you won’t be stuck sitting with another couple at a 4-top that was converted into an awkward double date.

It has some of the best food and service on the Upper West Side, and the atmosphere is fabulous.We tried the Coconut Almond crusted French toast, which was A-mazing. Also of note was the sandwiches which can be made on the eggy, doughy popovers. Yum! The pasta salad is creamy and tasty. Also, flopovers filled with all kind of different goodies won’t leave you disappointed. I know you’ll probably be too stuffed for dessert but my dad forced us to get a Belgian Chocolate Mousse and it was worth it. I haven’t had dessert like this in any fancy restaurant in a long time.

551 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10024
nr. 87th St.  See Map | Subway Directions
212-595-8555

Confucio Express, a new-ish little hut (for lack of better word) Chinese Take-out place is now open on Coral Way.

I know, I know what you’re thinking!

“Chinese food? Hut?  Take-out?  Not words that we like hearing together.”

Well, get used to it.  Because I’m not kidding you, I tried this place on a whim because a friend of mine lives close by.  I ordered the garlic brocolli plus tofu.  It was LIFE CHANGING.  Seriously…I liked it so much, I forced the bf to order it with me again the next night.

Portions are huge, delicious, and the meals are CHEAP!  I think mine was like $7 or $8.  If I wasn’t such a freaking pig those two nights, I could’ve easily made two meals out of it.

Trust me, try it.  It’ll amaze you.

FINALLY, MIAMI HAS A DECENT TAKE-OUT, HOLE-IN-THE-WALL CHINESE PLACE.  A word to the wise, you’re better off picking the stuff up than waiting for them to deliver.  These guys are ALWAYS INSANELY BUSY and it’s just quicker and better for you if you go get it.  Plus, you’ll save delivery charges/tips!

We ordered from this place last night. A large cheese pie was 15 bucks, which wasn’t too terrible. It came piping hot though and was delicious. The cheese was tasty unlike you know when you get some that tastes and feels like rubberbands? ick! Not this. It was great. We got the pesto pasta too. It said a “touch” of cream but what they really meant was a cup. It wasn’t that tasty. The way to go I think is the pizza here. Came really quickly too!So good I ate 4 pieces…literally.

While writing this review we were psyched to find that it’s actually BYOB…I mean, so is my apartment but if I should have the desire to leave my glorious new apartment I’ll head here for sure!