Shake Shack

366 Columbus Ave (b/w 77th St & 78th St)

With the onslaught of warmer weather, I keep my eyes and ears open for milkshakes and sandwiches around the city. When a co-worker mentioned the vegetarian-friendly mushroom burger at Shake Shack the same day it was featured in the local paper, I took that as my sign to visit immediately.

Not patient nor brave enough to withstand the line at their original Madison Square Park location (which can take upwards of 2 hours), I ventured to the Upper West Side. I ordered the vegetarian mushroom burger, fries topped with cheesy sauce, and the Natural History “Crunch-stellation” shake in honor of the place being literally across from the Natural History Museum.

’Shroom Burger

Crisp-fried portobello filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese, topped with lettuce, tomato and ShackSauce

Cheese Fries

Topped with Shack cheddar & American cheese sauce

Natural History "Crunch-stellation"

Vanilla custard, malt, Valrhona chocolate crunchies and chocolate toffee

All I can say is thank you Danny! Danny Meyer, the genius behind Shake Shack (plus a number of New York City staples including Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, and Tabla) has my complete respect and adoration. The vegetarian ‘Shroom Burger was delicious! At first glimpse, I thought the staff forgot the cheese. Once I bit into the crispy sandwich, I was greeted by gooey warm muenster and cheddar completely encompassing a Portobello mushroom. Yum!

The sandwich itself was small, maybe about half the size of a normal burger. However, upon finishing it, I realized it was Danny who had the size of burgers correct; the rest of the world had them wrong. As for the fries, they too were delicious, but I prefer them without the cheesy sauce topping. They are tasty in and of themselves.

As for the shake, don’t get me started. On second thought, do. Anything that contains Valrhona chocolate has me sold before tasting. Blame that one on InterSportsWriter who exposed me to the finer dark chocolate in life. The frozen custard used in the shake was as dense as it was flavorful. With a number of toppings and mix-ins to choose from, there is something for everyone. They even have a flavor of the day! It was strawberry rhubarb during my visit.

For those brave enough to withstand long wait times, there is a shack cam on their website where you can check the line beforehand at their Madison Square Park location. Also, there are a couple other shacks opening up this Summer, including one in the Theatre District and one on the Upper East Side.

Later that day, I saw Shake Shack in Time Out New York. Good choice.

DAMAGE ~$18

VERDICT: GO NOW!

Ouest

2315 Broadway (b/w 83rd St & 84th St)

Ouest (pronounced West) on the Upper West Side is a 2 story French eatery catering to those who appreciate the finer things in life—namely great extra virgin olive oil and more extra virgin olive oil.

A number of various cuisines were discussed for dinner one Saturday evening, including Italian (proposed by InterSportsWriter) and Mexican (proposed by myself). Ouest was chosen due to its relative proximity (less than 10 blocks away) and a particular food item to be discussed shortly. Immediately after being seated, we were given a bread basket served with a special almond paste mixed with olive oil.

I ordered the Earl Grey Martini to drink, which is essentially grey tea infused with gin. I’m a huge tea person. With gin being my liquor of choice, I thought my drink amazing. It had a refreshingly light taste and crisp feel.

As a starter, my dining companion raved about the Truffled Omelet Soufflé with Mousseline Sauce. We ordered 2.

For the main course, we were crippled in vegetarian entrée choices (there were none). Thus, we opted for dinner size portions of the following appetizers:

Goat Cheese Ravioli w/ Tomato, Pancetta and Basil

Chickpea Pancakes w/ Green Beans

The key ingredient at Ouest is extra virgin olive oil; I nearly asked for a glass of it. From the initial almond paste served with the bread basket to the omelet soufflé, my taste buds remained on cloud 9 throughout the evening.

The omelet was light, fluffy, and fantastic. It falls into the top 3 things I have tried this year and might just be one of the best things I’ve had in my entire life. Like certain bars that have a 2 drink minimum, I would suggest Ouest have a 1 plate minimum and that plate be the omelet soufflé. It was this particular dish InterSportsWriter used as leverage to convince me of Ouest in the first place.

The goat cheese ravioli and the chickpea pancakes were quite good, but as stated before, the soufflé and the bread basket almond paste trumped the meal.

My only complaint was the utter disregard for vegetarians, at least according to the dinner menu entrée list.


DAMAGE ~ $120
VERDICT: GO NOW!

Sarabeth's

423 Amsterdam Ave (b/w 80th St & 81st St)

I would bet the average New Yorker dines out significantly more often than most people in the rest of the country. Being no exception, if I were to blog every last place visited, I would have little time to do much else.

Whether or not I review a restaurant depends largely on the food and the service. Sometimes I write to warn others; sometimes I write to urge others. The Lemon Ricotta Pancakes at Sarabeth’s on the Upper West Side fall into the urge category.

InterSportsWriter and I made plans for Brunch one Sunday morning and nearly abandoned our idea at the sight of the large crowd waiting for a table to open up inside. I insisted we check the wait time anyway, and as fate would have it, they had a table for 2 available. Seconds later, we were seated ordering beverages.

My Brunch companion had been to Sarabeth’s many times and, knowing my appreciation for foods of a lemony sort, urged me to try the Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes w/ Fresh Berries. ISW also said the Spinach & Goat Cheese Omelet was worth trying, so we ordered that as well.

Looking back, my taste buds shake in anticipation at the thought of those pancakes. I'm not a pancake person, yet Sarabeth’s has caused me to reevaluate my feelings about flat cakes. They were the best I ever had in my life and easily fall into the top 5 things I have eaten this year. The omelet was the perfect fluffy balance of goat cheese to egg and spinach.

I was highly impressed with the meal and the service. There are several other Sarabeth's around the city, including one on the Upper East Side and one in Chelsea Market. There is no doubt I will be back, the question is how soon.


DAMAGE ~$50
VERDICT: GO NOW!

The City Grill

269 Columbus Ave (b/w 72nd & 73rd)

Meh.

A word used to describe a recent visit to Upper West Side’s The City Grill. Scoping out the menu beforehand to ensure I had options, I agreed to meet my dining companion at the American eatery for dinner.

Side note: Menu investigation only works when I know where I'm eating in advance. Otherwise, expect a mild panic attack while I grapple with finding someone with phone internet.

It was through this initial research that I learned their fries were something to try. With a little help from the server, I ordered the artichoke and spinach cheese dip appetizer and a portabella mushroom sandwich with fries for my entree.

My companion had mushroom ravioli in a tomato cream sauce.

The fries lived up to their expectations. Everything else, however, was meh. Average. Bland. Blah. Normal. Not bad, not great, just average. I was not impressed by the overall quality.

The artichoke dip was decent but somewhat bland in taste. The starter bread basket was ok, although one of the rolls felt like I was tearing into rubber (are rolls supposed to be that hard?). I had a bite of the mushroom ravioli; it tasted undercooked. My companion had no qualms, so I’ll call it al dente.

We completed our evening with caffeine. I had an espresso macchiato; my companion, a regular cup of joe. Thank goodness the macchiato was fantastic. Next to dessert, I can’t think of a better way to complete a subpar meal but with a great cup of coffee. Unfortunately, the desserts (like the menu) looked unimpressive.

I only finished half my sandwich and took the rest home. Currently, it sits in my fridge enduring insults from my organic skim milk, feta cheese crumbles, and cage-free brown eggs labeling it “glorified diner fare.” Oh well. At least the prices were reasonable.


DAMAGE ~50
VERDICT: Pass

Jake's Dilemma

430 Amsterdam Ave (@ 81st St)

Friday night, a friend and I found ourselves foraging the Upper West Side for a good place to grab a few drinks. DeeScreenWriter suggested Jake’s Dilemma. I had been once before and remembered having a relatively good time. Thus, Jake’s Dilemma it was.

The divish bar consists of two main areas and a basement nightclub. The front bar has booths, one pool table, and a beer pong table; the back room is reminiscent of an old law school library with couches, books, and tables; and I only passed by the nightclub on my way to the bathroom. The bar was crowded when we arrived at 11, but it emptied out after a few minutes allowing us to score seats in the back. We stuck with pitchers throughout the evening, ranging in price from $13-18.

The best part about Jake’s Dilemma is the crowd. ComicJoy joined us and what followed was an evening of laughs, cries, over-the-top story telling, and crowd mingling. A group of friends chatted us up because they were so impressed by ComicJoy’s enthusiasm. A couple hours later, I had tears coming out of my eyes from laughing so hard. Overall, I had a great time and could not have asked for anything more of the evening.

Despite the location and the feeling you might be at a college fraternity party, the atmosphere is unpretentious. Everyone is there to have a good time, throw back a few, and mingle. They also serve food and have a cheap happy hour. I cannot say if I will be back, as I am not in the area often, but I will recommend it to friends looking for a decent place to drink on the Upper West.

DAMAGE ~ $20
VERDICT: Go if in the area.

Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar

44 W 63rd St., 12th floor

New Yorkers lead fairly busy lives. So busy in fact, we often don’t realize what day it is until we get to the office and, upon seeing nobody else there, kick ourselves for waking up early on Saturday, head back home, get into bed, and sleep through the rest of the weekend pretending it never happened.

That said, when New Year’s Eve came around, I did not see it coming until it was literally 48 hours away. I had been so busy just trying to get through Thanksgiving and Christmas, New Year’s Eve was the last thing on my mind.

I debated standing in Times Square with one million strangers for 9 hours, but decided against it due to a lack of public facilities and the chilly weather. My next option was buying tickets to a party at a bar/ lounge. My budget for the night was $150. Anything on 42nd or near Times Square was out of the question due to the massive crowds. I decided upon Stone Rose Lounge, an upscale bar overlooking Central Park on Columbus Circle. When I went to buy tickets the night before New Year’s Eve, the price was jacked up to $195 from $150 earlier in the afternoon. Sir Fancy Pants suggested the Empire Hotel Rooftop bar. He had been for a company party and said it was nice and featured spectacular views of New York from the Upper West Side. It was late, I was running out of options, and tickets were $125 each for the rooftop party. Empire Hotel it was.

After taxes, our tickets came out to $140 each. We arrived about 10:00 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. The lounge was smaller than I expected, two rooms, and about half full. The following is a list of pros and cons from the evening.

PROS:
1) Views: Lincoln Center, CNN Tower, Dakota Building, Upper West Side.

2) Proximity to Empire Hotel sign. Bar opens up to outdoor deck where sign is located.

3) Two full bars. Did not experience long lines to get drinks at all throughout evening.
4) Music was good- mainly older stuff from the past several years and some rock music.
5) VIP admission. Doorperson gave us pink VIP wristbands because she misread our tickets. VIP allowed us access to the second room of the bar, enclosed entirely in glass windows on one side.
6) The furniture was modern and spacious with many oversized chairs in the VIP area.
7) Crowd was cool and friendly.

CONS:
1) Appetizers included in price of ticket were far and few between. When servers did come through with plates of food, people attacked them, leaving crumbs in their wake.
2) No champagne toast. We ended up paying $20 extra at midnight for ONE glass of champagne. We then split that into two glasses to ring in the New Year.
3) No television screens. We did not get to watch the ball drop on New Year’s, as many other bars featured live feed of the ball dropping in their evening’s activities.
4) Due to the heat from the overcrowding of people, the windows showcasing the spectacular views were completely fogged up in the VIP area. Sir Fancy Pants said when he went the ceiling was open, allowing for some impressive views of Manhattan. The only way to get the views on this evening was to walk outside to the outdoor deck. The weather was freezing, so I did not last more than a couple minutes both times I went outside.
5) Lack of dance music/ eurotrance. I do not remember the DJ playing any techno/trance/dance music during the evening.
6) No dance floor. You danced where you were standing.
7) Half the bartenders did not know how to make a Tom Collins; it was hit and miss all night. For those of you wondering, Tom Collins is 3 parts club soda, 2 parts gin, 1 part sour, and sugar if you have it available.

I did have a good time but I feel like the evening could have been had anywhere rather than where it actually took place, in New York City. We left around 2:00 a.m. By that time, most of the crowd had cleared out. The place also had a fireplace, which is always a nice addition to any bar. The women’s restroom had four stalls and a bathroom attendant. I did not wait longer than 7 minutes to use the restroom. I cannot vouch for the men’s stalls.

I would not mind going to Empire Hotel Rooftop Bar again given the right occasion, such as a networking event, to impress out of towners, or warmer weather, but I will not be returning for another New Year’s Eve celebration nor recommending it to any fellow New Yorkers for New Year's.

DAMAGE ~$300 (or $150 each plus tip)

VERDICT: Go when it’s warmer