Celebrity chef Todd English has a few places one of which is The Food Hall located in the basement of The Park Plaza hotel. Anticipate a wait if you walk in so try and make reservations. The name says it all, you have a choice fit for a king. Burgers, pizza, raw bar , sushi, you name it. My colleague describes it well "an upscale diner". The atmosphere is laid back,friendly.

You can't go wrong with anything on the menu. The pickiest of eaters will find something.

This night for me was the Kobe beef burger with Kobe pastrami. Yeah that's right I did....

Finished up monster week in Chicago only to head to NYC. More walking, more eating although I really behaved in Chicago all week. Might as well splurge a little, since I will be spin doubles tomorrow at the gym.

My sister recommended The Food Hall at the Plaza Hotel. The menu looks crazy good, everything you can imagine literally like a Food Hall. Still waiting for a table hope to be seated soon.

Table was worth the 35 min wait, not bad on a Friday night. Check out the menu:

http://theplazafoodhall.com/pdf/fh_menu_compl.pdf

We munched down the baked oysters, sweet potato bisque, the ravioli and pastrami burger. My fav, the burger, man that was good.

I could have eaten at this place all night , raw bar, sushi, pizza, Asian flavors you name it they had it.

Well done Mr. English!

I have some catching up to do here on the last few weeks of travel. I did a multi city tour recently and started the week off in the big apple. There has been a place I have been wanting to try since seeing them on Throw down with Bobby Flay. Schnippers quality kitchen was featured in a sloppy Joe challenge against Bobby where the maestro of the kitchen Mr. Flay took the crown for his sloppy joes. For those of you who do not know what a sloppy joe is. Here is a definition for you. A sloppy joe is an American dish of ground beef, onions, sweetened tomato sauce or ketchup and other seasonings, served on a hamburger bun

Well I wanted to check it out as the backlog associated to their restaurant sounded pretty interesting focusing on quality ingredients and good old home style cooking made to order at reasonable prices. I got there kind of late but had a chance to cruise their menu ahead of time. Here is a link:

http://www.schnippers.com/Schnippers_Lunch_Dinner.pdf

What I thought was interesting about the menu is that there was no sloppy Joe sandwich. There were some sides such as Mac and cheese and fries that can be accompanied by their famous sloppy stuff but no sandwich itself as they made in the show. I was a little pissed! Regardless a diverse menu, cool setting and friendly staff brought me back to ensuring that I fulfill my need for food! I asked the waitress her recommendations and fav dishes. She rattled it off and it became obvious she knew what she liked. Her choices included the grilled chicken sandwich on Italian bread and a side of the Mac and cheese with sloppy Joe, featured below.








I have to say, it was really good, the lady had some good taste, for my first time there I got a great sense as to what this place could offer. Bottom line for a quick meal and under 10 bucks, this is a great option to get good food fast! Check it out the next time you are in the city!


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Had a great dinner at Meze Grill at 8th Ave and 55th St. Check out my facebook for pics, but nice spin on Mediterranean food fast. Chipotle dining style. Loved it!

This has been a whirlwind trip so far. This week holds 4 states in 5 days in store for me, so I may have to post some of my eating observations well after-the-fact.

I want to write about a quick bite I had for lunch the other day in NYC. A colleague and I had wrapped up a meeting and were chilling at a Starbucks next to Penn Station when we decided it was time for lunch.

As usual, I didn't have a lot of time so it had to be quick. I planned to stop at a Quizno's to grab a sandwich on my way to the train for my next appointment. On, the way there my co-worker pointed out a different place and said I had to try it. It was called the Seattle Cafe and Grill, and I figured why not grab a sandwich there? It's closer to Penn Station anyway.

We walked inside to discover that the place was absolutely full - no seating for anyone. Customers had to stalk people for their chairs as they left.

Next, I noticed the menu. They had everything from burgers, sandwiches, soups , to....wait for it...wait for it...INDIAN FOOD!!!!

Look at the title of this entry to understand why that was so surprising! I had not had Indian food in a while, so it was very tempting. I'm a very particular about Indian food and I have to say, it looked really good. I broke down and ordered Indian food at the Seattle Cafe & Grill - what did I have to lose?

I ordered a non-vegetarian platter which included 2 meats, a vegetable dish rice, daal and naan. For those new to Indian food, daal is lentils and naan is our version of bread (have I mentioned that I am Indian?).

The two meats I chose were simply bbq chicken or what we call tandoori chicken. One was marinated in traditional tandoori spices while the other was marinated in a more heavy cream sauce. Both were great. I also had a chick pea curry which was amazing with the rice and naan.

Normally if you eat this type of food at an Indian restaurant in the city, you would likely spend $50. Here at the Seattle Cafe & Grill, $7.95! That's right, all of the above and a fraction of the cost! It wasn't gourmet Indian food, but I would absolutely go back when in a pinch and hungry. Service was fast, and truly a take-out place. For the price it is a no-brainer, I would recommend it to anyone.

The Seattle Cafe & Grill
430 7th Ave
New York, NY 10119
212.563.2911p

Tonight I flew into NYC for a quick trip to meet with some customers. The flight landed just in time - I was ready to chew my arm off!

My family lives in the area, so my parents, sister and I went out tonight to try something different in the cuisine capital and melting pot of the world. My sister recently spent several months in Singapore and traveled extensively in the Far East. She developed a taste for Indonesian flavors - a fusion of Thai, Chinese and Indian spices. Sounded great to me!

We went to a restaurant in Hell's Kitchen called Bali Nusa Indah. We arrive around 7pm and the place was empty. That always scares me a little? With all the places to eat in NYC I suppose it shouldn't surprise me, especially because most folks were probably at home - it is Oscar night, after all.

The decor inside is filled with little artifacts from all over the Far East - pictures, sculptures, paintings - all very tastefully decorated. Bali Nusa Indah is a small place but not like some other NYC eateries where you are basically sitting on your neighbor's lap.

I let my sister do the ordering since she's the expert in this cuisine. We started with two appetizers; vegetable corn fritters and chicken satay in a peanut sauce.

The vegetable corn fritters came out piping hot, fresh as can be and were a mix of corn, peas, and other mixed veggies fried to a perfect crisp in a spicy batter. They were accompanied with a spicy sauce similar in taste to a Sriracha sauce and a sweeter ginger soy sauce. Those things were good! I really enjoyed them with the spicy sauce and would have ordered another round of them but wanted to save my appetite for what was coming.

The chicken satay was good, nothing special in my mind but still pretty tasty. The peanut sauce was not a typical one you may find at Thai restaurants where the peanut flavor is far more dominant. Here the peanut sauce is a melody of peanuts, and other herbs blended together. The chicken was moist and well-prepared on skewers. The appetizers were served in decent portions and can easily be shared by up to 4 people.

For the main course we ordered three entrees. First, a vegetable-fried rice with a bunch of different veggies cooked to perfection and lighting up the dish with their bright colors. No eggs in this fried rice differentiating it from more common Asian rice dishes.

To go along with the rice we ordered a spicy tofu in a red curry sauce. Awesome. This curry sauce was not the typical curry. It had a tomato sauce base and was thicker then conventional Far Eastern curries, a little more similar to Indian if you ask me. It had a tremendous amount of flavor that had hints of garlic, cumin and a kick with curry powder and chili.

The other dish we ordered was a Red snapper fillet prepared in a coconut curry sauce with steamed veggies. I can tend to be skeptical of seafood, but this hit the mark. The fish was perfectly cooked and melted in my mouth. The coconut curry sauce was incredible.

My biggest observation with this type of cuisine is that it is a perfect mix of the region's flavors. I wouldn't recommend eating the fish with the fried rice, it tasted better with plain white rice. The tofu and the fried rice made a better combo.

To my palate, none of the items were excessively spicy. I found myself continuously adding the spicy sauce served with the corn fritters but remember I have a bad judgement when it comes to spice - for me, the hotter the better. The food was so good I wanted to order a few more entrees. Maybe next trip.

I did notice other dishes going by us that seemed like platters of food serving one person, like a combo of everything we had and they all looked and smelled wonderful!

In our family, we never skip dessert. This one featured a fried banana crepe topped with ice cream. Nothing special but hit the spot after a fabulous meal.

I highly recommend this place to those who like the cuisine of the far east. It is different - you shouldn't expect your typical Chinese, Thai and Indian dishes. You really can't go wrong with the dishes here. This place has captured the best the regions have to offer and does so at bargain prices. Everything we ordered totaled about $10 a head. Hope you get to enjoy this place!

Here is a link to the restaurant and menu:
http://www.menupages.com/restaurantdetails?restaurantid=3679