A Great Meal at Empire Diner, Amanda Freitag's New Restaurant

Growing up in NJ, diners are still a go-to spot for me for a quick casual meal. I'm also a big fan of the show Chopped on Food Network and of Amanda Freitag, but regrettably wasn't able to try her food when she was the executive chef at the Harrison.  I was very excited to find out that Freitag is now the chef at the newly reopened Empire Diner in Chelsea, where she takes modern approaches to reinventing old-school diner classics.  

Freitag's playful riff on the Buffalo wing using the same flavors, but she uses a skate wing instead, which is lightly fried and tossed in hot sauce.  The wings are appropriately accompanied by shaved carrots in a light blue cheese dressing.  Pretty cool concept, with familiar flavors.

The Greek salad with octopus was OK, with a well dressed salad and a grilled piece of Octopus on top.  The octopus was pretty good but I wish the piece was bigger!

The entrees were where things really started to shine.  The "pork on pork" had a huge piece of pork chop topped with bacon and served with beans.  The pork chop was cooked perfectly and the bacon mixed so well with the chop and the beans.

The oyster pan roast was basically a kick-ass chowder.  If you like seared pork belly, oysters, and chowder, this IS the dish for you to order!  The pumpernickel toast  garnish soaks soaks the soup up nicely.

The entrees were great, but man I was so glad we ordered dessert because the cake and the pie we ordered were both outstanding.  First off, the "Impossible Cake" had a very rich chocolate cake with a rich flan "filling".  This was served with a chocolate and caramel sauce.  Rich and decadent, but not overly sweet.

The dulce de leche pie was also amazing.  The caramel mouse filling was super light and fluffy.  

Empire Diner's menu rotates seasonally so I for sure will be going back...If you do end up going, make sure you leave room for dessert!

Empire Diner

210 10th Ave, 

New York, NY 10011

(212) 596-7523

    

New Flavors at the Newly Renovated Doughnut Plant in the Lower East Side!

I think this is my third entry about Doughnut Plant, which does such a great job of bringing repeat customers back due to their ever rotating seasonal flavors to keep things fresh.  I stopped by a couple of times recently just after I found out that their original Lower East Side location was renovated to match the look of their newer Chelsea location.

Some of the great new donuts include:  Chocolate Chip Donut....this was awesome.  It's basically a chocolate glazed donut with crumbled chocolate chip cookies sprinkled on the outside.

Next up is the hazelnut donut stuffed with chocolate.  It's s small donut but packs a flavor punch!  The hazelnut flavor REALLY comes through and was so aromatic.  The chocolate filling was smooth and compliments the hazelnut really well.

I love pineapples, and their pineapple donut was awesome and choc full of pineapple-y goodness!

Of some of the newer flavors, the only one that was a letdown was the salted peanut.  I'm a fan of savory desserts (anything salted caramel or salt with chocolate is awesome), but this donut tasted more like just peanut flavor instead of salted peanut.

Here's their new fancy display case with some of their donuts.  Some of the perennial faves like tres teche, carrot cake, and creme brulee are still always in stock.

Here's the new storefront.

Finally, last fall I was able to try some seasonal flavors but forgot about posting them.  They included the (then) new strawberry donut (I got the yeast version).  It was pretty good from what I remember.

The sesame donut was really amazing.  The sesame seeds really come through and gave a super, nutty toasted flavor.

The Valrhona chocolate was just ok.  I got the yeast instead of a cake version and it just simply reminded me of a chocolate glazed donut.  This flavor is still around now.

Two locations:

Lower East Side

379 Grand St

NY NY

Chelsea

220 West 23rd Street
New York

Quick NYC Eats: Tebaya for Japanese Style Wings

Nestled along a quiet block on West 19th St. in Chelsea, Tebaya is a great spot if you're craving some good, quick Japanese style fast food on the go.  Tebaya is known for their peppery and nutty wings since they're generously topped with black pepper and sesame seeds.  Tebaya also has other Japanese fast food staples such as Chicken Teriyaki or Chicken Katsu (fried cutlet).

Their usual combos run around $10, and come with rice, a side salad and a side of five wings (yes you read that correctly A SIDE of five wings), which is pretty cool.  They do have smaller portion lunch specials for around $7.  You can check out the full menu HERE.

We went at dinner.  Here's the generous chicken katsu combo, with wings.  

It's hard to see, but it's served on a bed of rice.

Here's the grilled tsukune combo (ground chicken and tofu "meatball"), 

grilled and sliced.  It also comes with five wings.

The lunch meals or dinner combos come with a side salad...not to shabby!

Just know that there is very limited seating, it's more of a takeout place and I'm sure is busy during lunch.  We went on a quiet weeknight and were able to easily snag a seat.

Tebaya
144 W 19th St
New York, NY 10011

The Lobster Place at Chelsea Market...A Great Place for Cheap Delicious Oysters!

Going for decent oysters in any restaurant can cost about $2 to $3 each when the cost of an order of a dozen or half dozen is broken down.  The Lobster Place, in Chelsea Market as well as other various locations, is a must stop for any oyster lover.  The store also sells other amazing looking seafood, as well as fresh looking sushi, soups like clam chowder, and even lobster rolls.

They have a rotating selection of oysters that range from $1.10 to $1.50, and the shucking fee is 20 cents (which is really the equivalent of tipping at a restaurant anyway, so this cost really is negligible).  Lobster Place is also great since there is barely a wait and they shuck your oysters as you fall in line to pay for the total.

This is a selection from one visit including Blue Points, Beau Eagle Rocks, Wellfleets and more...

Another second visit here showed that they had some Calm Coves, Hog Islands, Wiley Points, and more

So its not served in a fancy metal tray, but the oysters here do taste fresh and briny.  It's only simply served with a lemon but they do have Tabasco sauce available as well.

If you're a lover of oysters and other seafood, you owe it to yourself to check this place out!

Lobster Place
Chelsea Market
75 9th Ave
New York, NY 10011

More Doughnut Plant NYC! Still the best donuts in the area!

Doughnut Plant NYC is just amazing!  Yes, this is my second entry (read my previous review) but I feel compelled to share this lil gem of a donut shop.

Their donuts are sooo good that I constantly think about swinging by to pick up some up whenever I'm by either Lower East Side or newly opened Chelsea location.  The most amazing thing about Doughnut Plant is that while they have some faves that stay on the menu, they also have a number of seasonal donuts that they rotate on a fairly regular basis to keep regulars coming back for more!

Let me get straight to the pics!

The Carrot Cake Donut.  This is always on the menu, and for good reason!  It's amazing and really feels like you're eating a REALLY GOOD carrot cake.  

There's even icing on the inside! 

Here's another seasonal donut that is amazing...the pistachio donut (which I saw at the LES location but 

not the Chelsea one the other day)  If you like pistachios this is the donut for you.  The unmistakable pistachio flavor really comes through and it's even topped with chunks of pistachio on top!

Here's the Cocunut Creme Donut *yes it has coconut creme filling!*

The Blackout Donut, with a deep and chocolate-y flavor!

Wall o' donuts when you get to the counter.  They taste as good as they look!

If it's your first time there, I would really recommend the Creme Brulee and Carrot Cake Donuts, both are out of this world and will jog start your addiction to this donut chain!

Doughnut Plant NYC

LES Location:
379 Grand St
NY, NY 10002

Chelsea Location:
220 West 23rd st
NY NY 10011
by Chelsea Hotel

Doughnut Plant NYC! As Addictive as Crack (and Legal!)

If you like donuts and live near the NYC area, you OWE it to yourself to check out Doughnut Plant NYC.  Just be warned that they can be addictive and will ruin all other donuts for you!    From the three times I've been Aside from the original Lower East Side location on Grand St, a new branch just opened by the Chelsea Hotel.  Although a bit more expensive than the usual donut (around 2.50 or 3), it is well worth it.  There are some amazingly creative flavors, some of which are rotated on a seasonal basis to keep people coming back...and come back they do!   There's always been a line whenever I stop or drive by, but again, it's well worth it.

Here's the rack of donuts:  Don't they look gooooood?

The creme brulee donut.  Small but packs a punch!  It amazing how they make it taste like the 

real thing...right down to the crispy sugary crust that "cracks."   

A look at the inside of the creme brulee, the cream is just like the rich creme brulee custard!

The donut is rich but not too sweet like say...a Krispy Kreme glazed donut.

The PB and J Donut.  Peanut butter glazed donut on the outside, jelly filling in the middle!

  

I also went last summer and had the Lavender donut, which has been rotated out...I also recently went again and they rotated out the Meyer Lemon Donut for the Pistachio Donut (review to come soon!) and Organic Orange Glaze Donut.   Second review of my follow up trip to Doughnut Plant to come soon!

Finally, I just wanted to mention something amazing.  Last year, Doughnut Plant NYC only had one location in the Lower East Side and I didn't think they had even franchised out at all...so imagine my surprise when I flew to Korea and saw that they had a branch in Incheon International Airport!  I didn't get to try any though, opting to get Korean food at the airport instead!  

OMG! Doughnut Plant NYC has gone global!

Doughnut Plant NYC

379 Grand St

(between Essex St & Norfolk St in the Lower East Side) 

New York, NY 10002