Dos Caminos Diverges

A going away lunch for a coworker recently brought us to Dos Caminos in the Meatpacking District. 

The decor

The ambience was great, and I was in great company, so was very optimistic about the meal. The chips & salsa were tasty and full of zip.

Lobster Tacos

Sadly, I just wasn't excited by my dish. The sauce completely overwhelmed the lobster and wasn't particularly tasty. Very disappointing, especially for an almost $20 dish. Although I didn't realize it when we went, as I look it up to link to, I see that it is a chain. Unfortunately, I do not find this surprising.

Shedding Some Light on Lantern Thai

We had some friends in town and they were in the mood for thai food. We'd had a long day, so wanted something nearby. A quick internet search brought up Lantern Thai and so off we went. When we arrived at the location I was delighted to see that it was the restaurant with large tree branches with beautiful lanterns hanging from them. Sooooo pretty, a beautiful ambience for an evening, yet still casual. 

Oooh Pretty Lights

Udon Basil

To our delight the food was as good as the decor. We all really enjoyed our meal and had a great evening. Worth stopping in if you are in the area!

Balthazar is not King

Had some friends in town so thought I would take them to the legendary Balthazar for brunch. Not surprisingly, there was a long wait, but I had prepared them for that since it's it's THE famous Balthazar. Finally, we were seated and I got the Scrambled Eggs in Puff Pastry (because I'm a sucker for anything served in puff pastry). Brunch was great. But no greater than some of the other brunches I've had around the city for less money and less wait time. Nothing here really blew me away, so I'm having a hard time understanding why this is the #1 restaurant on Urbanspoon! It definitely makes me want to go back, perhaps for another meal, or maybe focus on the breads, to find out what all the fuss is about.

August gets saved by an Angel(ique)

Charming

Adorable

Bread

How sweet is the garden room of August in the West Village? We decided to split a bunch of small plates instead of having a big meal.

Fava Bean and Pecorino Bruschetta

The Fava Bean & Pecorino Bruschetta was a bit lackluster. The bread was kind of chewy and the toppings didn't have a lot of flavor.

Grilled Baby Octopus

This octopus didn't really do it for us either. It was also on the chewy side and again, not a whole lot of flavors happening here. 

Ok, and then this showed up. If it looks like a corn dog served over some shrimp salad and cucumbers, well, that's because it was. Now we're no snobs, we have no problem with a fancy restaurant deconstructing junk food, but this wasn't even a good corn dog.

Aaaaand then this happened. It tasted even grosser than it looks. Oh August, where did you go so horribly, horribly wrong? Here's our tip, if you want to go to experience the charming ambience of the garden room, just order some beers & the pizza. That looked decent.

We quickly paid the bill and went off in search for something to fill our tummies and get rid of the weird taste in our mouths. That's when we found Cafe Angelique. It embodies everything that comes to mind when you hear the word 'cafe': wire backed chairs, small tables, and delicious pastries galore.

A couple of coffees, some tiramisu, and a stuffed cupcake later and our evening was salvaged. 

The New BFF: Best Friend of a Farmer

This is one of those restaurants that I knew I was going to like as soon as we walked in. It's like walking in to a farm house, complete with baskets upon baskets of fresh fruits & vegetables lining the halls & stairs. It immediately made the promise that your food would be prepared with the finest, fresh ingredients.

French Toast

Sunrise Sandwich

This is the place to come for solid, traditional American breakfast fare. You get your own french press full of coffee and the warm feeling like you are in a rosy-cheeked woman's home about to be served a hearty breakfast. The bread basket is HUGE, but is chock full of fresh lemon, zucchini, corn and banana bread. Even with 4 people we had a hard time putting a major dent in it. And the food delivers on everything the decor promises. Friend of a Farmer shoots quickly to the top of our favorite brunch places in NYC.

Blue Water Grill leaves us blue

We've been wanting to do a 'jazz brunch' for a while now, so when the ever elusive free Sunday afternoon hit I knew just what to do. We decided on Blue Water Grill since I've been wanting to try all the places in my backyard in Union Square. Things started out well with some delicious rye raisin bread and strawberry butter that was placed on the table. Since I went nuts on the delicious bread, I just ordered the fresh fruit which was sweet, fresh and very much in season. The Mr. got the Maine Lobster and Shrimp Sandwich, which for 21 bucks we expected to be chock full of quality lobster. Instead it was swimming in mayo and unimpressive. He had also requested some extra bacon, which we were charged $4.50 for. Ok, so perhaps we were paying for outstanding service? Not so my friend, The Mr.'s coffee cup was empty the entire meal. Ok, ok, so perhaps we are paying for the jazz duo guitar and bass? Only problem with that is that they played for about 5 minutes the entire time we were there and that was pretty uninspired elevator music. Hmmm. All in all a very disappointing experience. Determined for the day not to be a complete loss I dragged the Mr. over to The City Bakery to get a Baker's Muffin & Pretzel Croissant to enjoy this afternoon.