Rosa Mexicana, New York

Entrance

On the 25th of December we did not really know what to do as many places and all shops in New York city are closed. We went to see a movie and looked for a Mexican restaurant which was open that day. We reserved a table and went to this restaurant.

Waiter making Guacamole in front of us

A waiter came along and asked us how we would like our guacamole and made it in an instant. That was nice to watch.

Fresh Guacamole

They had a variety of Margaritas, so we had Margaritas of course.

Margarita

They also gave us home made tortilla chips along with some salsa with the drinks.

As a main course we ordered different types of enchiladas. The portions were very generous. It was hard to finish one of them, especially with the sauce.

Beef enchiladas in black bean sauce 

The enchiladas were delicious but way too much for us to eat. We saw that the neighboring table also did not manage to finish their enchiladas. The guacamole and the chips were enough for at least four people. After all that food, or even in between I decided to try some of their tequilas. I am not into tequila at all. You can order a selection of three tequilas which is what I did.

Selection of tequilas, silver something else and gold.

The tequilas were ok after all this as you need something to digest. They were definitely not worth the money though.

All in all, this was fun and something different. In our part of the world we rarely have authentic Mexican food. When you get the bill however, you are not that happy but I guess that we paid a lot for our drinks. If you want to try Mexican in New York, this is a good place to go too. I suggest that you go as a group of 4 at least.

The Seafire Grill, New York

We were in New York City over Christmas Eve. During this time of the year most restaurants are booked out, holiday season... Our concierge spent a long time looking for a restaurant reservation for Christmas Eve. This was it and we were not disappointed. It was also in midtown Manhattan close to our hotel which was rather convenient. As it was Christmas we ordered a glass of champagne each and then ordered a nice bottle of wine from Chateau Canon which we know well as we had been there before (I have a blog entry about this chateau).

Chateau Canon 1994

Oddly enough, Californian wines in New York are quite expensive in terms of quality. You will spend at least 70-100 $ a bottle for a very mediocre wine. We spent a little more and I also asked the sommelier if he had tasted this wine as the price seemed quite reasonable to me. He said he had and we ordered the Chateau Canon 1994 which was a revelation. The Seafire Grill has a fireplace in the middle of the restaurant which absolutely fit our Christmas spirit that evening. 

Steak tartare

As a starter we ordered a steak tartare which was very good.

Fillet Rossini with foie gras, black truffle and madeira

I had the Fillet Rossini as a main course with some spinach and mac and cheese. This was a generous portion, delicate meat and very tasty which seemed like a symphony with the wonderful wine we had. The Seafire Grill also offers different surf and turf dishes. We ordered lobster though. 

Steamed Maine lobster stuffed with crab meat

The lobster stuffed with crab meat was a very generous portion, probably about 1 kilo. We still shared a desert.

New York style cheesecake

When in Rome... We had a New York style cheesecake. They had a reasonable selection of digestifs which were absolutely necessary after that dinner. They also offered some port wine on the house. All in all this was of course an expensive experience but well worth the money. Staff was competent and always attentive. It was an enjoyable evening and I thanked our concierge afterwards. I definitely recommend this restaurant. 

Victor's Cafe, New York

Entrance

Victor's Café is a Cuban restaurant close to Broadway. We had heard of it from some magazine with night life and restaurant tips. I made a reservation that night. They have quite a selection of Mojitos so we tried one of course.

Generous Mojito

The staff at this restaurant seemed friendly from the beginning and explained everything quite well. I have not been to Cuba or really had authentic Cuban food so this was something new and interesting for me.

Home made chips and salsa sauce

With the aperitifs they brought some home made chips and home made salsa sauce which were very good. We stopped ourselves from eating too much of them before our other courses but I would have wanted to order a second portion which many other people in the restaurant did.

Ceviche

If you like fish, you should try the Ceviche which is a fish dish with vegetables only cooked by the acidity of limes or lemons. This was our starter.

Ropa Vieja, Victor's house speciality

I had the house speciality Ropa Vieja as a main course. This is a kind of Cuban beef stew. It seemed to me like a Cuban goulash. It was tasty and not too big of portion for New York standards, which was good for a change. 

Camarones Enchiladas (pink shrimp in creole sauce)

We also ordered the pink shrimp in creole sauce which was very good.

Cuban flan, crème brûlée

We ordered a Cuban type of crème brûlée for desert. We were not disappointed by the desert either.

This restaurant was an interesting experience where we just sat and had a pleasant evening. There was no usual New York stress as you see in other places. We sat as long as we wanted. I asked for a rum and they found a special one to my liking. The restaurant was full and it was good to have had a reservation but I am sure that you could have just had a drink at the bar and waited for a table. All in all, this is a relaxed place with a nice atmosphere and I would definitely recommend it. We heard that they also have live music sometimes which we unfortunately missed.

Baohaus

This is a place I just knew from the internet because I like watching Vice videos on Youtube. This weird and funny young Chinese guy called Eddie Huang has a show and travels around trying out different foods. We stopped by this place in between sight seeing, shopping and other things.

Baohaus

A Bao is a type of Taiwanese street food. I just tried one because we had had lunch that day before. 

Beef Boa

The interior of this place is not very inviting. There is a tv screen where they were showing videos of the owner. The staff was very friendly and the Bao was great. They give quite a big piece of meat mixed with spices, onions in a taiwanese bun. I had never had something like that before so I really enjoyed it. Baohaus is located near Union Square so I guess lots of students go there. It is definitely a tasty alternative to fast food restaurants when you go out at night and want a quite bite somewhere in between things. 

Tao's, New York

Tao's is a chic restaurant close to central park. The restaurant is apparently frequented by all sorts of celebrities. We went there one evening without a reservation and it was completely packed with no chances of getting a table. We came back another day, had a drink and waited for about half an hour for a table.

Bar area

Upstairs seating area

We sat at the bar area where you can also eat if you do not get a table in the dining area. You have to pay for your drinks before you leave to your table. They do not just book everything onto one tab. You can also see that the waitresses really want their tipps because they say thank you at least ten time and circle the 'suggested' 20% on the bill accompanied by various smiley faces on the bill. The bar area was good for people watching though. You see the Sex and the City crowd and lots of young girls/women looking to find a rich guy.

Chicken dumplings

We ordered dumplings as a starter and a bottle of sake recommended by the waiter. The sake was nice but not the best and quite expensive. The size of the bottle was written in units which were not really familiar to us Europeans. 

Thai chicken

I had the chicken in spicy sauce. The sauce was good and the coriander on top was also nice. The chicken itself was not very lean though. It had a couple of fatty lumps which were not edible. I had had chicken at Tao's the last time I had been there which was two years ago. That chicken had been incredible but this dish was a little disappointing. 

Salmon with noodles

We also ordered salmon with noodles. This was a nice dish but not extraordinary.

Crispy apple blossoms with vanilla bean ice cream

For desert we ordered the crispy apple blossoms with vanilla bean ice cream. What I did not like at the end is that people were leaving and the waiter at some point just brought us the bill without us even asking. This basically means get out to me.

Koi fishes swimming by the Buddha

Buddha statue

All in all, I would say that this place is overrated. The ambience is nice and you have some luxuries like a toilet man with mouth wash, perfume, etc. but it is clear that they want you to spend money and get out in order for the next crowd to get in. The food itself was interesting but not extraordinary. The prices are definitely on the higher end. Cocktails were very good, I must say. It is worth a visit but I would definitely not queue up to get in. Value for money is not very good in terms of food. It is one of these places where people just want to go and see for themselves without any great culinary expectations.  

Roberta's, Brooklyn, New York

Roberta's entrance

Surrounding area, pretty bad...

Roberta's is a place I had heard about. Apparently it has the best pizza in New York (like so many other places...). It is located in Brooklyn, between buildings which seem to fall apart and warehouses. There seemed to be a couple of bars nearby as well. On the day we went there, we had walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and then went for a drink somewhere. We took a cab to Roberta's. I used a taxi app which is a complete rip off. The surrounding area did not seem very inviting. There were lots of people in front of the restaurant though as well as a big stretch limo.

Interior

We were there on a Saturday for lunch. The place was completely packed. We waited a bit and then they gave us a small table in the corner with some kind of bar stools. We were ok with that considering that the restaurant was completely full.

Garden area

The restaurant is in an old warehouse. They basically put tables in, and used every last space of the restaurant maximise seating capacity, not comfort. They have a pizza oven at the front of the restaurant which you can see straight away when you come in.

'Bar' area, drinks menu

Pizza oven

Once we took a seat, we had to wait quite a while before somebody came to us. It was hard to tell who is a waiter because they were all dressed in Brooklyn hipster style just like many guests. I ordered one of their home brewed beers.

Home brewed beer

The beer had a weird taste for me. It tasted like somebody brewed it in his back yard or garage, which was probably the case. We studied the pizza menu for quite a while. If you are looking for a typical pizza with tomatoes and mozzarella, this restaurant should not be your first choice. Roberta's has individual pizzas which I have not seen in that combination anywhere else. The menu is small but interesting. At that point we understood why the place is so full. Everybody comes there just for the pizza.

Four emperors pizza with mozzarella, ricotta, different spices and sesame seeds

We had the four emperors pizza which was quite a revelation. Turned out to be quite spicy in fact but was absolutely delicious. I ordered the Cowabunga Dude pizza which I had to wait for, for quite a while. They had seemingly burnt that pizza twice and apologised for that many times as well as for the wait. They then served me the pizza and said that it will be on the house, which was true in the end. I thought that was very nice and forthcoming of them.

Cowabunga Dude pizza with tomatoes, olives, sausage, green peppers, onion and mushrooms

The Cowabunga Dude pizza turned out good too. I would definitely order the Four Emperors next time though. 

All in all it was an interesting experience. The restaurant has minimum comfort and maximum exploitation. The staff was very friendly and forthcoming. The pizza was very good. Drinks cost as much as in Manhattan. I can definitely recommend the pizza. I would not say that it is the best pizza I have ever had though. The toppings are interesting combinations. It is worth going, if you want to see Brooklyn and the hipsters and have some good pizza. It was interesting to see such a shabby place, having the minimum dining requirements be so popular. I guess that this is a New York think. Once a hype is created there will be queues, no matter what the product being sold is. It was an interesting experience. If you feel adventurous when in New York, you should definitely try it out. 

Cafe Pushkin, Moscow

Outside view of Cafe Pushkin

Cafe Pushkin is an institution in Moscow. When you come in, you feel like you are back in tsarist Russia. On the 1st floor there is a collection of books. You feel like you could spend a couple of hours reading there. When in Russia, many people ask where you can actually have Russian food. This is a difficult question. The answer is Cafe Pushkin amongst few other places. As Moscow is such a melting pot now, you will find few purely Russian restaurants. The day we went there, this was our choice because most other places were closed. In a city that never sleeps, on weekdays you can not always eat 24 hours in decent restaurants. When you arrive with a time difference and leave the hotel at 11 p.m., it is hard to find a restaurant that is open nowadays in Moscow. The city has become more European lately. Cafe Pushkin is open 24 hours a day.

Beef starter

We tried a couple of Russian starters with vodka.

Salted mushrooms and greens

The salted vegetables were very nice.

Salted pickles

The salted vegetables are a typical Russian thing. Whether you drink vodka or not, this is something you have to try. The vodka comes perfectly chilled, the way it should be. 

Mors and vodka

They have their own 'mors', which is a berry juice.

Russian Pelmeni

I had Russian Pelmeni. Pelmeni are meat dumplings. 

Pelmeni with sour cream

You can put some sour cream on the pelmeni. We came to this restaurant late at night, had a little bit of Russian food with drinks at a late hour. Quality was very good. I must note however that this restaurant is ridiculously expensive. It is also known as a meeting place of Russian oligarchs (in special private rooms of course). The quality is very good and you feel somewhat like an aristocrat sitting there but you have to be prepared to pay for that and not be shocked by the bill at the end of the day. Value for money is definitely on the edge at this place but it was worth it.