David Burke Kitchen

Sadly, last night's dinner brought restaurant week to a close for me and my sister.   Our last dining location was at David Burke Kitchen, which we had been to for brunch in the past but never for dinner.  We looked at the menu online and were excited about some of the offerings, and were just hopeful that we would have a better experience at this David Burke restaurant than we did at Townhouse.

We had a reservation for 6:30 and it was already packed when we got there!  We got seated right away since we did have a reservation, but our designated table left a little to be desired.  Since they try to use every inch of space that they can for a table, some of them are very close to one another.  There was probably about 3-4 inches of space separating our table from the table next to us, but luckily they were rather quiet so it wasn't too much of a bother.

This was another restaurant that offered their entire menu for restaurant week, which shows that they really capture the spirit of the event (again, there were a select few options that required a small supplement, but not many).  For the appetizer, I chose to keep it simple and ordered their simple salad.   The other option that I considered was the  burrata, watermelon, and asparagus salad, which I ultimately did not order because it comes with proscuitto, which I don't care for.  My sister ordered the lobster dumpling soup instead of her usual pretzel crusted crab cake (which is a staple at the David Burke restaurants) because the crab cake requires a small supplement and she wanted to try something new.

There isn't really too much that I can say about the salad except that you get exactly what it says-- a simple salad.  It comes with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, fennel, and supposedly onion (but I unfortunately did not taste any), and it is served in a mustard vinaigrette.  Even though it was a very basic salad, I did like it.  The dressing was really nice, and it was a light way to start the meal.  But, it was a bit large and after a while it just got kind of boring.  Also, there was a bit too much dressing for my taste, but overall it was a good salad.  My sister said her lobster dumpling soup was really nice and was exactly what she was craving.  When it came to the table, it was just a bowl with 2 lobster dumplings so we were a little confused.  Then, we saw that there was a pot of hot broth over a flame and the waitress brought that to the table and poured it over the dumplings.  It was a very light, seafood based broth, which she really enjoyed.  Overall, she said this dish was a winner.

The main course here is really what I was looking forward to the most.  When we did our preliminary look through of the menu online, I was intrigued by the short rib.  I have never ordered short rib in a restaurant before, but something about it peaked my interest.  My sister was in agreement, and we both decided to order the short rib as our main course.  It came glazed in a peach bbq sauce with 2 cooked peaches on top in addition to some chopped veggies, and served over aged cheddar mac and cheese, peas, and some crispy onions on the outside border.

My first test of the short rib was to put my fork into it and see if i could rip off a piece without a knife, to see if it was tender like it should be.  It passed the test by a landslide, and I was very excited to try my first bite.  The meat was extremely tender and flavorful, and the bbq sauce put it over the top.  The mac and cheese on the bottom also did not disappoint.  I mixed it with the crispy onions so that it had a nice crunch to it in addition to the peas.  I really liked that the portion of mac and cheese with this dish was on the smaller side so you didn't end up eating too much of it, as opposed to at David Burke Townhouse where it covered half of the plate.  Every aspect of the dish was perfect, and all the components worked really well together.  My sister loved the short rib as well, and almost cleared the plate!  I should also mention that I was taking note of the various dishes that passed by me and went to other tables, and the short rib was the most popular dish by far.  If every short rib is like theirs was, I will definitely order it more often in restaurants!

The last course, which usually is my favorite, was the dessert.  I opted for the caramel chocolate tart, and my sister got the passion fruit meringue pie.  

When ordering it, I forgot to ask for them to omit the raspberry sherbet because there is nothing that I hate more than mixing raspberry with my chocolate dessert.  Luckily, it hadn't melted yet when it came to the table so I was able to easily push it off the plate without tainting the tart.  The pie shell itself was a bit thick for my liking, and I would've preferred that it had been a little easier to cut into.  The first bite wasn't the best because it mainly consisted of the shell, but once I got towards the middle it got a lot better.  The chocolate was super rich and decadent, and the caramel layer underneath the chocolate paired really nicely with it.  I honestly would've been happy if there was no shell at all because I mostly ended up just scooping out the chocolate and caramel.  The tart was also rather large, so I had to control myself and not finish it.  My sister wasn't too happy with the passion fruit meringue pie, but it was mainly because it didn't satisfy what she was craving.  It wasn't bad, it just wasn't worth the calories to her.  

Not only was the food here much better than at Townhouse, but the service was far superior.  I would even say that it was a bit too quick.  Our appetizers came out within 5 minutes of ordering, and each course thereafter came out within 5-10 mins of our plates being cleared.  We are generally quick eaters and enjoy being in and out of a restaurant within an hour, but most people would probably think it was too quick.  It was very crowded so I'm sure they were trying to turn tables over quickly, especially since people flock here to take advantage of the restaurant week menu.  If they could find a balance between the slow and inconsistent service at Townhouse and the almost too quick service at Kitchen, it would be perfect. 

If you are looking to go to one of David Burke's restaurants, I would definitely recommend coming here over Townhouse even though the location is a little more inconvenient.  The food and service were far superior to our last David Burke restaurant experience, and the short rib stood out in my mind as the star of the evening. 

Lavo

Tonight was one of the rare occasions where me, my sister, and mom were able to get together with my aunt and grandparents to have dinner all together.  It had been a while and we were celebrating my aunt's birthday, so I had to make sure that I picked a good place.  We usually tend to stick to the same few restaurants and I wanted to get everyone to try a new place, so I did my due diligence and researched a bunch of restaurants.  Everyone has their own different specifications that they need in a restaurant, so I tried to do my best to make sure that I picked a place with great food in a convenient location.  Ultimately, I decided upon Lavo which is an Italian Restaurant in Midtown East that also has a famous nightclub below it.

I made a reservation for 6 people with no problem, but I had to give a credit card number I guess because they tend to get busy and want to make sure you will actually show up.  I had only been here once for lunch during restaurant week last year, but I figured it was a good choice because they have a huge menu and are in a convenient location.

When you first walk into the restaurant, it is definitely a bit overwhelming.  The bar is right near the entrance and when we got there at 6:30 is was already packed with people in business suits.  Not only that, but the music was blasting and I was starting to sweat worrying that I may have made a huge mistake with the restaurant choice.  However, the main dining room is a bit further than the bar and the music is much more faint, so don't let the bar area in the front overwhelm and frighten you.  The restaurant itself is pretty big and had the decor of a classic old italian steakhouse.  Since it tends to get crowded, the tables were all pretty close to one another so prepare to have your chair bumped into a few times throughout the night.

As I said earlier, the menu is huge and they have tons of great options to choose from.  For the appetizers, they have a great range from italian classics like caesar salad, minestrone soup, and tomato mozzarella, to more interesting options like tuna tartare, kobe rice balls, and a meatball appetizer.  The main courses also have a great variety as well.  They had a bunch of different pastas, pizzas, chicken dishes, fish, and steak, in addition to a lot of options for side dishes.  It is perfect for a large group because there is definitely something here for everyone.  For the appetizer, I opted for the caesar salad and the other dishes ordered at the table were the beet salad, tomato mozzarella, and vegetable minestrone soup.  After you order, they bring complimentary garlic bread with marinara dipping sauce to the table which was delicious and the perfect way to start the meal.

Even though we did all order our own appetizers, the salads can definitely be shared.  The caesar salad was really delicious and one of my favorites that I have had.  There was just enough dressing on it without being too heavy, and there was fresh shaved parmesan cheese on top which I loved.  I couldn't finish it because it was so big, but it was a great start to the meal.  I also tried the beet salad, which I thought was delicious because I love beets, and the vegetable minestrone soup which tasted very light, fresh, and flavorful.  

For the main course, I had a really hard time deciding because there were so many great options on the menu.  I narrowed it down to the penne alla vodka and spaghetti and kobe meatballs, but since they are known for their kobe meatballs my sister and I decided to share that as a main course since we figured the portion would be big enough.  

When the dish came to the table, we were very happy that we decided to share because the portion was once again very generous!  Neither of us really like ricotta cheese, so we pushed that off to the side and then were ready to eat.  The kobe meatballs were super juicy and tender and had a great flavor to them. The spaghetti itself was served in a tomato/bolognese style sauce and it was delicious.  We split the dish and still had some left over because it was so filling!  It did not go to waste, however, as we passed it on to our grandpa who gladly finished it for us.  The other dish that got rave reviews at the table was the tuna main course that my grandma ordered.  Again, I do not eat fish so I did not personally try it but she loved the dish overall.  

Of course, a meal is never complete in our family until you see the dessert menus, and their menu definitely stood out to me.  Usually it is a pretty easy choice for me because I pick the one chocolate dessert, but they had 3 different chocolate desserts in addition to oreo zeppoles!  My sister and I were once again sharing, so we narrowed it down to the dark chocolate bread pudding and the oreo zeppole. The bread pudding said it came with butter croissants, dulce de leche, chocolate sauce, and a few other components which made it seem delicious yet also overwhelming.  Since we were pretty stuffed already and at a table with 4 other people, we decided to order the oreo zeppole because it came with 6 oreos which made it easy to share and also easy to control the consumption quantity.  

The dessert was so rich and awesome.  It was basically like a donut with an oreo on the inside, and you can't really get much better than that.  On the side, there is a little vanilla malt shake which pairs really nicely with the oreo and is reminiscent of cookies and milk.  You can't find any dessert like this at any other nice restaurant in the city, so that made it much more special and unique.  This is a great dessert to order when you are with a few people because it is a very satisfying and you can easily share it and control your portion size.  While we were eating, I also saw there 20 layer chocolate cake go by (no, that was not a typo, it is 20 layers!) and that looked sinful.  

Overall, the food here was delicious across the board and we barely had any plates left with food on them by the end of the meal.  Yes, it is on the expensive side but the portions are very generous which makes it easy to share with others, and the quality of the food is worth the money.  Each course did not disappoint, and every one of the six of us was satisfied with what we ordered.  Even though the restaurant got packed and every table was full by around 7, the service was great and moved at a nice pace.  Lavo is mainly known for the notorious crowd that it attracts and for the nightclub, but it is also a fantastic restaurant.  While it gets very loud and you may have to strain your voice a bit just to have a conversation with the people at your table, it is a great italian steakhouse.  The evening was filled with great service, delicious food, and lots of laughs and great memories with my family!  You can't get much better than that!

Riverpark

Tonight was our third restaurant week outing, and our chosen destination was Riverpark.  My sister and I went there during winter restaurant week and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to return.  The location is a little isolated, but luckily it is within walking distance of my apartment so it was easy to get there.  It is located right on the east river and they have some outdoor seating, which was great because the weather tonight was beautiful and breezy.  The ambiance inside was also really nice, but it is hard to pass up a table outside when the weather is as nice as it was tonight.

Just like David Burke and Telepan, they offered their whole menu for restaurant week and had just a few select dishes that required supplements.  There was a great selection of appetizers to choose from, and they had a few pasta dishes that you could choose to be either an appetizer or a main course.  I usually tend to order a regular salad as my appetizer, but I decided to be a little more adventurous and I opted for one of the pasta dishes.  There were a few that looked good, but I got the Bigoli pasta which came in a light tomato sauce with heirloom tomatoes, lemon verbena, and a light sprinkling of breadcrumbs on top.  My sister got the avocado and hamachi salad which came highly recommended by the waiter, and my mom got the baby lettuces & greens salad.

The bigoli pasta was really fresh and delicious!  The pasta itself was pretty thick and al dente, but I liked that it had a nice bite to it.  The sauce was really light and had a nice tomato flavor, but the cooked heirloom tomatoes were the best part.  They were really juicy and tasted local and fresh.  The lemon verbena also added a nice touch to the dish because it had an interesting and distinct flavor that paired well with the pasta and the sauce.  My sister really liked the avocado and himachi salad, and my mom thought that the salad was ok but nothing special so she didn't really eat much of it.

For the main course, I went with my usual dish of choice, the grilled chicken.  For people with a more adventurous palate, they offered a really diverse range of dishes including rabbit, scallops, trout, lamb, steak, and pork chop to name a few.  My sister ordered the scallops, again based on the recommendation from the waiter, and my mom got the pork chop which the waiter said was their signature dish.  

The grilled chicken was cooked perfectly, and was moist and delicious.  It came with some roasted tomatoes, which again were one of the highlights of the dish, in addition to freekeh and a delicious sauce.  Even though I loved the dish, I actually liked my mom's pork chop even better (which is weird because I NEVER order pork chop).  It came with collard greens, grilled peaches, sauteed onions, and was topped with the best part of the entire meal--candied barbecue pork belly, which tasted like deliciously sweet pulled pork.  I had never had a pork chop before, but I tried a bite and it tasted like a spare rib and was actually really good.  The sauce that it came in was also delicious and paired nicely with the pork.  The collard greens were way too spicy for my taste, but the grilled peaches were a really nice touch.  But, like I said before, the best part of the meal was the candied pork belly on top.  At first we weren't sure what it was, but after I took the bite I just knew that it tasted like the best pulled pork I had ever had.  When the waiter told us that it was candied, it sounded even better.  Since this is their signature dish, I am hopeful that it will still be on the menu for the next time that I come back and I will definitely order it.  But, to be honest, my sister and I both agreed that we would be happy to just order a bowl of the candied barbecued pork belly (which they don't offer) and be perfectly happy.  My sister also really enjoyed her scallops dish, and even though it was a slight supplement to the restaurant week menu she said it was worth it.  

When the dessert menus came, we were a little disappointed because they had an upside down banana cake listed on their online menu that is not actually offered in the restaurant.  Since this was what we had planned on getting, we were a little sad but we each easily found something else to order.  My sister opted for the cheesecake which came with cherry ice cream, brandied cherries, and crushed graham cracker, my mom got the raspberry and white peach-hibiscus sorbet, and I got the chocolate mousse which had a liquid chocolate center and came with chai ice cream (but I asked for them to leave it out because I really don't understand the pairing of chocolate desserts with tea flavored ice cream) and chocolate whipped cream.

Even though I am a chocolate lover, chocolate mousse is not generally my dessert of choice.  I usually only order it if it is a chocolate mousse cake, otherwise I always opt for a different cake option since I much prefer cake to mousse.  But, since the chocolate mousse was the only chocolate dessert on the menu, and it said it had a liquid chocolate center, I decided to order it.  I was pleasantly surprised by the dessert, and really enjoyed it.  The mousse was very light and fluffy, but it still had a strong bittersweet chocolate flavor.  The liquid chocolate center made it stand out since I have never seen that before with a chocolate mousse.  Overall, it was a good dessert but it was not my favorite that I have had.  I was satisfied with it, but I was able to only eat half and did not feel tempted to finish it(normally if I love a dessert I finish every last bite).  My sister loved the cheesecake (she cleared the plate) and the sorbets were also great and refreshing.  

This dining experience at Riverpark was great, and even better than the first time we had been there.  It was nice to be able to sit outside on the beautiful summer night and enjoy the breeze coming from the east river.  The food was delicious, the service was pretty good overall (not amazing, but not bad either), and the company was the best.  The two standout dishes in my mind were the bigoli pasta and the pork chop (mainly because of the candied pork and the grilled peaches) so I highly recommend both of those.  Even though the location is a bit off the beaten path, it is nice to temporarily escape from the bustling streets of NYC and have a great meal on the water.  

Telepan

Tonight was part two of our restaurant week escapades, and our stop was Telepan, a farm to table inspired restaurant on the Upper West Side.  We always try to go to at least one new place, and my sister chose this as our new place since she had read great things about it.  For some reason I thought it was an italian restaurant at first, but it is American inspired and focused on fresh ingredients.

They really embraced the whole spirit of restaurant week here, and offered pretty much all of their menu options.  For the three courses, you have the option of choosing three savory courses or two savory courses and a dessert, but everyone at the table has to agree on which option to choose.  So, if you are going with a bigger party it may be a bit difficult for everyone to agree, but since it was just my sister we easily settled on the dessert option.  For the appetizer, I chose the seasonal salad and my sister chose the smoked trout appetizer, which was a $3 supplement but it is one of their most popular dishes.

The salad was really light and fresh, and had a very interesting combination of flavors.  It looks like a simple salad upon first glance, but there was a very unique blend of lettuces, spices, and vegetables with a light coating of lemon dressing.  I definitely tasted some licorice which I was not expecting, and there was some corn and radishes as well.  There were a few more things that I was unable to identify, but it was all delicious.  My sister really enjoyed her smoked trout appetizer, and said that it got even better after a few bites.  I should also mention that before the appetizers came, the waiter came over with a large bread basket and you were able to choose from 4 different types of bread.  I chose one that had a lot of seeds on it, and it was good but I only ate half to save room.  The waiter also brought an amuse bouche to the table, which was four little cheese puffs.  This was a nice little touch, and was a really great way to start the meal.

For the main course, I got the roast chicken (which is my standard dish of choice in most restaurants), and it came with some egg pasta and roasted mushrooms.  My sister had a harder time choosing what to order because there were a few things she wanted, but she ultimately settled on the burrata mezzaluna with veal meatballs.

The chicken was really delicious, and was cooked perfectly.  It was served over a nice sauce with egg pasta, mushrooms, some spinach, and something that was crunchy (but I couldn't figure out what it was).  The portion size was perfect and all of the components of the dish worked great together.  The burrata mezzaluna was also great.  The mezzaluna were pretty thin so they weren't overly stuffed, but the cheese on the inside was still super creamy and came oozing out when you cut into it.  I didn't try any of the meatballs because I don't eat veal, but my sister said they were really good (which is evidenced in the fact that the plate was cleared). 

Both of my courses felt light and fresh, so I was definitely ready for the dessert course!  For me, the choice was a no brainer and I ordered the S'more.  I used to go to sleepaway camp over the summer, so having s'mores was always a summer staple for me.  When I saw it on the menu, I got really excited because it felt like a much more decadent way to enjoy the classic treat.  

The presentation of this was spot on, and the taste definitely lived up to the hype.  This dish had every component of a s'more that makes it so good, but it was elevated to an even higher level.  The bottom was a dark chocolate brownie, then a layer of fluffy marshmallow with crushed graham cracker around the border, then graham cracker chocolate chip ice cream, and finally a dark chocolate square to top if off.  The plate was also surrounded with dollops of toasted marshmallow and dark chocolate ganache, which not only made it look prettier but it made it taste better.  Every aspect of the dessert was perfect, and it was just what I had been craving.  The brownie was really chocolatey and rich, the marshmallow was super sweet and fluffy, and the ice cream actually tasted like graham crackers!  I finished this whole thing up, and did not look back for a second!  My sister got the cheesecake sundae as her dessert, and while it was good it did not live up to her expectations.  It was basically a parfait of cheesecake ice cream and blueberry sorbet with crushed graham crackers on the bottom, which she said was fine except for the fact that she was expecting actual cheesecake and felt a little duped. 

As opposed to our last restaurant week experience, we left feeling satisfied with the food and the service.  The servers at Telepan were much more friendly and attentive, and all of our courses came out pretty quickly.  Even though it was really crowded, they did not seem overwhelmed by it and I still felt like they paid personal attention to each table.  When they brought the check, they also gave us two little coconut macaroons.  I waited to eat mine since I was stuffed, but this really reinforced their attention to detail and focus on good service.  This was a great restaurant week experience, and even though I am usually weary of trying new places, this one passed the test!

TBar Steak & Lounge

Tonight, my sister and I got the nice treat of going out to dinner with our Grandparents.  There are one or two restaurants that are on our usual list of places that we go to, but my sister decided to suggest TBar to change things up a bit for tonight.  TBar is a great American restaurant/lounge on the Upper East Side that we used to go to a lot, but I hadn't been there in a while.

Since I have last gone, the menu has changed a bit but the main staples have remained the same.  I used to always get the caesar salad which was great, but that has since been removed from the menu.  Instead, they added a bunch of new salads that sound really interesting, like the Kale & Apple Salad and the Watermelon & Feta Salad.  These all sounded great, but to start I decided on the Vegetable Summer Rolls, which come with some carrots, mushrooms, lettuce and soba noodles inside a very thin rice paper wrap with some hoisin sauce on the side.

These rolls were really delicious and light, so it was a great way to start the meal.  The wrapper is very thin so it does not overwhelm the taste of the vegetables and noodles on the inside, and the hoisin sauce added nice flavor.  My grandma got these to start too and she really liked them as well.  My grandpa got the tomato and burrata salad which looked delicious, and my sister got the half dozen oysters which she really enjoyed.  

The options for the main course range from chicken, steak, and pasta, to fish, burgers, and pizza, so there really is something for everyone. Even with the diverse menu offerings, I always get the same thing here:  The Natural Amish Turkey Burger.  It is a turkey burger that is filled with spinach and cheese (in the center!) and is topped with caramelized onions, and it never disappoints.  On the side you can either get a salad or fries, but to me it seems like a waste to get a salad.  If you are going for it and get the burger, you might as well complete the meal and get the fries.

First off, I love the presentation of the dish.  The fries come in a cool take-out container, and the burger is stacked nice and tall.  I always cut the burger in half because I like to see what the center looks like, and it is too big for me to eat the whole thing.  Inside, there is a very generous amount of spinach and some cheese to add some creaminess to it.  The whole combination of the turkey with the spinach, cheese, caramelized onion, and ketchup is spot on and makes it such a treat.  The fries are also really great and have the perfect balance of saltiness and crispiness.  We also got a side of roasted carrots for the table, and while it may seem like carrots are just a distraction, they were roasted perfectly and had tons of flavor.

After the main course we were all really full, but made the mistake of looking at the dessert menu and obviously had to order something.  Their parfaits and sundaes are what they are most known for here, and I have previously tried each one of their offerings.  They have the strawberry sundae, which is layers of strawberries, meringue, cream, and shortcake in a huge bowl, the chocolate sundae, which is layers of brownie, chocolate sauce, and ice cream in a huge bowl, and the banana parfait, which is layers of waffle cone, vanilla ice cream, caramel, coconut, and caramelized bananas.  They all are huge servings, and can easily be shared with at least three other people.  While I am a true chocolate lover at heart and love brownie sundaes, the banana sundae was the one we settled on for tonight.  They actually offered a smaller version, which we got for the table instead of the larger one which they say serves 2-3 people, but in reality the smaller one serves 2-3 and the large one can serve probably 4 or 5.

This dessert was so sweet and delicious that my sister and I somehow managed to finish it even though we could not breathe because we were so full.  The best part was the caramelized banana layer on top, but it was extra good when combined with the vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.  This was a perfect way to end the meal, and highly recommended for anyone who loves banana and caramel.  

While we had taken a hiatus from TBar for the past few months, I think it has officially been put back on the rotation. All of the appetizers, main courses, sides, and desserts were delicious, and even the bread basket was great (it came with olive bread, which, as I previously established, automatically gives a restaurant 5 stars in my book).  Our evening was filled with great company and great food, and you can't really ask for much more than that!

  

Amy's Spinach Pizza Pocket

Since I tend to go out to dinner and cook more over the summer, I eat my frozen meals less often.  Therefore, my freezer has been stuffed with various frozen meals, so I figured it was best to finally eat one of them.  I settled on the Amy's Spinach Pizza Pocket for tonight because I haven't had it in a while and have been craving pizza.

This is one of my favorite Amy's meals because it doesn't sacrifice flavor in order to be healthier.  The pocket itself has a pretty thick dough around it, which is my favorite part.  That is not to say, however, that the filling isn't great because it is.  It has the perfect ratio of spinach to sauce and cheese so that you can really taste each ingredient.  You can either heat it in the microwave or toaster oven, but I would highly recommend the toaster.  Even though it takes 25-30 minutes, it is worth it because the dough gets a nice crunch to it and the inside gets warm and melty.  I made the mistake of trying to eat it right away when I first made this, but after that first experience I learned that it is best to let it sit for a few minutes.  If you don't, the filling will fall to the bottom when you pick it up to eat, and you will probably burn your mouth like I did!

Overall, I highly recommend this Amy's meal for a delicious and easy dinner (or even lunch) option.  It is super easy to make and is much healthier than anything similar from a pizza place.

David Burke Townhouse

Today was the official start of Restaurant Week in the city, which is one of my favorite times of the summer!  It is a great deal because you get to go to really nice (generally expensive) restaurants and have a 3 course meal for only $38 (lunch is $25).  Each restaurant differs, but most of them have great options for each course, and the portion size remains the same but the price is just significantly less.  My sister and I always take advantage of restaurant week, and try to go to as many different restaurants as our wallets and stomachs will allow.  We generally choose places that we haven't been to before, but David Burke Townhouse is our annual tradition and is always on the list.  So, to kick off the month long restaurant week, we decided to go to David Burke Townhouse.

When you sit at the table, each person gets their own mini bread basket which I appreciate as a carb-o-holic.  It has an olive roll, popover of some sort, mini baguette, and some scattered raw vegetables in the basket.  I also love olives, so whenever a restaurant serves olive rolls I am sold, and their's did not disappoint.  It is hard to control myself when presented with that many bread options, but I only allowed myself to eat the olive roll since I had to save room for the other courses.

What I love about the David Burke restaurants is that they pretty much offer their whole menu (with the exception of a few dishes that require supplements) as part of restaurant week, as opposed to just 2 or 3 select dishes for each course like most other restaurants.  This gives you a lot of great options to choose from and you don't feel limited by the menu.  For the appetizer, I chose the beet salad that came with some goat cheese, and my sister got the tomato gazpacho with crab meat and avocado.

I really enjoyed the beet salad, as it was very light and fresh.  I mean, it is pretty hard to go wrong with a beet salad since it is basically just roasted beets, lettuce and a light dressing, but I enjoyed the dish.  My sister also really liked her gazpacho as it was a very light appetizer with great flavor.

For the main course, I was super excited about the chicken dish.  It was crispy chicken "under a salt brick," (which i'm assuming is just how it was cooked) and it came with broccolini and truffle mac and cheese.  I generally always order chicken, but the truffle mac and cheese was the selling point for me.

The chicken on its own was pretty ordinary, since it did not come with any sauce or anything, but the sides made me love the dish.  The truffle mac and cheese was super creamy and cheesy, and seeing that I never really eat mac and cheese I appreciated it that much more.  The broccolini was also delicious, and was grilled really nicely.  I was expecting the dish to come with a small side of the mac and cheese, but they give you a HUGE serving of it.  While it was hard to control myself, I wouldn't allow myself to eat all of it.  To me, the standouts of the dish were the truffle mac and cheese and the broccolini, and the chicken was just a side note.  My sister got the scallops, and was a bit disappointed.  She is not good with spice, and the dish had a lot of red pepper flakes on it so she was struggling with the spice level.  It also came with just 2 1/2 scallops, which is a very small portion even for a fancy restaurant.

For dessert, I got the chocolate caramel bar and my sister got the passion fruit trifle.  The chocolate caramel bar was really chocolatey and delicious.  It wasn't too large, so I didn't feel too guilty about eating the whole thing, and it was mainly mousse so it felt very light and fluffy.  What I didn't like so much was the side of earl grey ice cream that it came with.  It seemed like a very strange combination and it had a weird taste to it.  The good part was that it stopped me from eating the ice cream, but I was a little disappointed with the flavor choice.  I also didn't really notice any caramel except for the sauce decoration on the plate, but it was still really good.  My sister really enjoyed her passion fruit trifle, and compared it to a deconstructed macaron.

Overall, I really enjoyed my food.  My sister was disappointed with her scallops dish and said that this was probably her least favorite visit, but she would still return.  I would also be doing everyone a disservice if I did not comment on their poor service.  After we sat down, they took our order pretty quickly and the waiter made it seem like they were going to be swamped, so I figured that our food would come out very quickly.  The appetizers came out super quick, probably within 5-10 minutes of ordering.  Then, there was at least a 30 minute lag time between when they cleared our plates and when they brought the main course.  I normally wouldn't mind waiting a little for the main course, but I would've rather the appetizer come out later so that there wasn't as much wait time between courses.  Also, between our appetizer and main course our original waiter disappeared and someone else took over the area where we were sitting, and he never came over to let us know that a switch was being made.  While we were eating the main course, not once did the waiter come over to ask how the food was, which seemed a little strange to me since this is such a nice restaurant.  After the main course, we again had a bit of a wait until the desserts came out.  In fact, the table next to us (who ordered after us and had all of their dishes come out after us) got their dessert about 5-10 minutes before us.  Once the desserts came to the table, again no one came over to see if everything was good.  Then, when I asked for the check, it was to a third waitress who had taken over the area where we were sitting yet again.

Since we had been here before, we remembered that you get a little box of chocolates with the check, and I even saw that the table next to us got them.  However, when they brought us the check we did not get anything.  When my sister asked, the waitress said she had to go check, which seemed very odd since everyone else had gotten them.

I understand that things tend to get hectic during restaurant week, but that doesn't really excuse poor service in a restaurant of this caliber.  The service we received at our past visits was far superior, so I can only take it to mean that this visit was a fluke.  Since it is our annual tradition to go to David Burke Townhouse during restaurant week, I'm sure we will return (especially since I really like the food as well), but we were just a little disappointed with our experience during this visit.

Chicken Rollatini

To change things up this week, my sister did the Sunday cooking instead of me.  Since chicken is one of the few dishes that we both enjoy, she settled on a chicken dish instead of fish (which is what she really wanted to make).  One of the recipes that she has had past success with is the Chicken Rollatini with Spinach alla Parmigiana from skinnytaste (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/04/chicken-rollatini-with-spinach-alla.html), so she decided to make that.  The only change that she made from the original recipe, per my request, was to use shredded mozzarella for the top of the chicken instead of slices of mozzarella because it melts better and has a better flavor, in my opinion.  I have never actually made this myself, but it is a more involved recipe than some of the others that I made.  You need thin pieces of chicken that are the correct ounces, so that they can be rolled properly.  Since we couldn't really see what all the chicken pieces look like before we bought the pack of chicken, my sister had to get creative and had to layer two of the smaller pieces so that it was the correct weight.  It is apparently also difficult when it comes to stuffing and rolling the chicken, but you would never know it when you see the finished product!

I ate mine with some broccoli on the side (some of it got eaten before the picture was even taken) and half of a Japanese Sweet Potato.  I know it sounds like a strange combination, but it worked for me.  This chicken recipe is delicious and does not taste like it is healthy, but it is!  The inside is stuffed with spinach, low fat ricotta, and part skim mozzarella, and it is topped with marinara sauce and just a little more mozzarella cheese.  While it is a bit messy and hard to keep the filling from oozing out, it is a great dish.  I highly recommend it as a creative chicken dish to add to the rotation.

Aperitif

Friday night, to celebrate my Aunt's birthday, I braved the rain and went out to Long Island for dinner.  We went to Aperitif, which is a really great French restaurant in Rockville Centre right in the heart of the town.  It is one of my favorite restaurants in the area because they have a really diverse menu and the food is always great.

They have a really large bar area by the front, which is a good place to wait before you sit at your table.  They also just expanded, so it is a pretty big restaurant, but it gets very crowded at night so you should make a reservation.

On the menu, they have French classics like Coq Au Vin and Bouillabaisse, in addition to small plates, a raw bar, steaks, and many other options.  I ordered the chopped salad to start, which is tomatoes, romaine, cucumbers, onion, bell peppers, and avocado in a lemon dressing.  For my main course, I got the Coq Au Vin, which I have had before and is one of my favorite chicken dishes.  Their Filet Mignon Sliders are also really good, but I never order those I just tend to have a bite if someone else at the table gets them.  My sister and dad's favorite item on the menu is the tuna tartare which comes with guacamole.

Even though the top photo doesn't do the chopped salad any justice, it is really good.  It is not like a typical salad, since there is no lettuce, so it is basically just chopped up vegetables in a lemon dressing.  My favorite part was the avocado (which is really the only reason I order it) so once I finish all the avocado I generally stop eating the salad.  It is a very big bowl so after a while it gets a bit boring.  

For the main course, the Coq Au Vin was delicious.  It comes with a half chicken sitting in a pool of red wine sauce with some vegetables and a side of mashed potatoes.  The chicken itself was cooked perfectly and was really tender.  The red wine sauce pairs perfectly with the chicken and since there is a big pool of it on the bottom of the bowl, there is more than enough to coat the chicken with.  While the mashed potatoes were good, there was nothing too special about them in my opinion.  My sister got the bouillabaisse and really enjoyed it, and some other items ordered at the table were branzino, fried calamari, filet mignon, and steak tartare.  Overall, everyone really enjoyed their dishes here. 

The only thing that was lacking a bit was the service.  Our waiter was very inattentive and seemed irritated and annoyed with us from the get go.  Since I have been here before, I know that some of the other waiters are better, but there have been multiple visits where the service is not on par with the food.  The Coq Au Vin here is delicious and I find myself constantly craving it, so they just need to work on their service and they would be a top restaurant in my book.  

Dos Caminos

I never used to be a huge fan of Mexican food, but throughout the years I have grown to love it.  And, something about summer always makes me crave it, so I have been dying to go to Dos Caminos for weeks.  Finally I got to go for dinner today, and it really hit the spot.  

I went to the one on Park Ave and 26th street because that is the closest one to me, but there are a few locations throughout NYC to choose from.  If you check in on Yelp when you get there, you get a free prickly pear shot.  The prickly pear is one of their specialty frozen margaritas, and the shot was perfect because my sister was able to taste it before committing to the whole drink.  It had a nice fruity sweetness to it, but was also very strong, and she ended up ordering the margarita.  

When the waiter brought over our menus, he promptly asked if we would like some guacamole for the table.  It would really be a crime to go to Dos Caminos and not get their guacamole, so we got a small order (mild, because neither my sister nor I are good with spice).  Before the guacamole comes to the table, you get a big bowl of chips and three different salsas with various spice degrees.  I tried the mild one because I new I could not handle anything more spicy, and it was very good.  But, I didn't want to eat too many chips because I wanted to save them for the guacamole, so I held out until the guac came to the table.

The picture shows the bowl of guacamole after I had taken some out, so it comes with more than is shown.  Even though it is on the pricey side, it is a very generous portion for two people.  I generally don't like guacamole, but theirs is amazing because it is very fresh and creamy.  It pairs perfectly with their homemade chips, and I could easily finish the whole bowl and call it a meal.  But, I had to stop myself since the other menu items are delicious as well.

The menu is very large and they have a bunch of different classic options in addition to more unique things.  I was intrigued by their plantain empanadas, which is in the bocaditos (starters) section of the menu.  Since I didn't want to fully commit to getting an order of these and wanted to try some other bocaditos, I got the Bocadito Trio.  The trio came with two plantain empanadas, two chicken taquitos (which is pulled chicken and sweet potato in a crispy corn tortilla), and two mexican city street quesadillas (corn masa turnovers stuffed with chicken, almonds, and salsa).  While the tacos and some of the entrees sounded delicious to me, this seemed like a good way to be able to taste a few of their offerings.  My sister chose to get the Dos Enchiladas, which is roasted chicken in corn tortillas with some cheese and a mole sauce and a salsa verde sauce.  

The top photo is the Bocadito Trio and the bottom is the Dos Enchiladas.  In the Bocadito Trio, the one on the left is the Mexican City Street Quesadilla, the middle is the Plantain Empanadas, and the right is the Chicken Taquitos.  All of them were delicious, but the Chicken Taquitos were my absolute favorite.  The combination of the chicken and the sweet potatoes, with the crispy corn shell was just great.  I really liked the Mexican City Street Quesadilla as well, so I would recommend the two of those.  Even though I was most looking forward to the plantain empanadas, those were my least favorite.  They were too sweet and had a strange flavor to them, so I would not order those again.  My sister loved her enchiladas, and I tried a bite so can confirm that they were delicious.  She liked the enchilada in the tomatillo verde sauce the best, but the other sauce was really good as well.  

When we were done, we were both very full but had to look at the dessert menu.  We chose to order the Salted Caramel Tres Leches Cake, which has layers of caramel sauce, caramel cake, vanilla pudding, caramel crunch, and is topped with fresh strawberries.  

I dont know if it was the strange lighting or my phone was just acting up, but I was not able to get a decent shot of the cake.  So, try not to let the blurriness and low-resolution of the photo above fool you--this cake was absolutely AMAZING.  The cake was sitting in a pool of sweet vanilla sauce, and all of the layers of the cake were outstanding.  The thick caramel was super sweet and delicious, and went really well with the vanilla cake and the vanilla pudding.  Each layer was better than the next, and my sister and I finished this in under two minutes.  

I highly recommend coming to Dos Caminos for some great mexican food and a great experience.  It is a very popular restaurant in the city and gets very crowded late on the weekends because they have great drinks and great food.  If you come here, you must get the guacamole to start, and I highly recommend the Chicken Taquitos and the Dos Enchiladas.  And, if you are a sweets person, you have to get the Caramel Tres Leches Cake.  Even if you are full, just order it.  After you take your first bite, that full feeling will magically disappear and you will find yourself shoveling down bite after bite of cake. 

Italian Turkey Meatball Subs

Since I did not cook last weekend and ate frozen meals for dinner most of the week, I knew that this weekend I definitely had to cook something.  One of my favorite recipes from Skinnytaste that I have made is the Skinny Italian Turkey Meatballs (http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/12/skinny-italian-meatballs-turkey-1-pt.html) and it has been a while since I last made them, so I decided that today would be the day.

The recipe makes 6 servings of 4 meatballs, which is perfect because between me and my sister we have dinner taken care of for 3 nights.  For me the recipe takes longer than it is supposed to according to Skinnytaste (I started at 3:45 and finished at 5:10), but it is pretty simple.  The sauce has crushed tomatoes, garlic, a little olive oil, oregano, fresh basil, salt, pepper, onion, and a bay leaf, and you just let it simmer while you prep the meatballs.  For the meatballs, you just need 1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey, seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, egg, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Since it makes 24 meatballs, I weighed out the meat to make sure that all of the meatballs were the same size, and it came to exactly 1 oz per meatball. The recipe says that the meatballs should take about 20 minutes on simmer, but on my stove it takes about 45 minutes.  I'm not sure why there is such a large discrepancy, but if you are making them just make sure that you check the meatballs after 20 minutes, as they probably will need more time.  

You can choose to eat these with pasta or some other side, but my sister and I prefer to make them as meatball subs.  I found these really great subs in Gristedes, Calandra's Italian Rolls, which are really big and only 90 calories!  The package comes with 6 subs, which is perfect for the recipe.  To make them even better, I follow the package directions and re-heat them in the oven for 10 minutes (wrapped in foil so they remain very soft and fluffy).  

After I took my first bite, I remembered why this was my favorite recipe.  The meatballs are very juicy and flavorful, and the sauce is really delicious as well.  Having it on the sub is definitely the way to go, especially when you heat it up, because it tastes like it is fresh out of the oven.  The sandwich is extremely satisfying and filling and it is hard to believe how healthy the recipe really is!  While there are a lot of recipes that I love to make, most of them pale in comparison to this one.  If you are looking for a  lighter way to satisfy your craving for meatballs or a sub, definitely check this recipe out and i'm sure it won't disappoint!

Gotham Bar & Grill

One of the restaurants that I have wanted to try for a while is Gotham Bar & Grill.  My sister had been there a few years back during restaurant week and she said that everything there was really good.  Recently, we were reminded that we still had yet to go here, so I looked at the menu online (like I always do) to make sure that they had options for me since I am pretty picky.  I noticed that there was a Greenmarket Price Fix Lunch Menu for $28, so I looked there first.  There are three options each for an appetizer, main course, and dessert, so not only are there great options but it is an amazing deal.  They only offer this deal during the week, so my sister and I had to plan out a time that we would both be free for lunch during the week, and we decided on July 4th.

We had a 12:00 reservation, which is when they open, and there were already a few people waiting.  We got seated right away, and the first thing I noticed was the beautiful decor.  It is very classic and elegant, and the lighting is really pretty as well.  As we were looking at the menu, they came over and brought a warm sourdough roll which was delicious.  I decided to order off of the greenmarket menu and got the strawberry and arugula salad and the slow cooked chicken.  The menu was slightly different than the one online, but everything that I wanted was still on it so I was happy.  My sister ordered off of the regular menu because she is a seafood/fish lover and there were many more options on the regular menu.  After hearing the recommendations from the waiter, she got the seafood salad and the miso glazed cod.  The only thing that was a little misleading was that online it says the 3 course price fix is $28, when really it is $28 for the appetizer and main course, and an additional $6 for one of the three greenmarket dessert offerings.

(The top image is the strawberry arugula salad and the bottom is the seafood salad)

The strawberry and arugula salad was very fresh and light, and was really delicious.  It is a pretty big portion so I could not finish it because I was trying to save room for the rest of the meal.  The salad came with fresh greenmarket strawberries, hazelnuts, goat cheese, radishes and was coated in a light balsamic vinaigrette.  My sister also loved her seafood salad, which came with scallops, squid, japanese octopus, lobster, and avocado in a lemon vinaigrette.  

For the next course, I got the slow cooked chicken breast, which came with couscous salad, grilled eggplant, and a golden raisin chutney. 

The chicken not only looked really pretty, but tasted delicious. It was cooked to perfection, as it was still very moist on the inside but crisp on the outside.  The sauce made it even better, and the raisin chutney was amazing.  The couscous was also good, but the chicken and the chutney were the stars of the dish.  Even though chicken can be pretty generic at many restaurants, they really do it justice here.  My sister also raved about the miso glazed cod, which is their signature dish, so if you like seafood you should get that.  I tried the sauce and rice that it came with, and can vouch for the fact that the sauce is delicious.  She usually is pretty critical of cod since it can be a hit or miss, but she absolutely loved this dish.  

Once we were done, the waiter brought over the coveted dessert menu.  Since I had already scoped out the menu online, I knew what dessert I was getting; the Gotham Chocolate Cake.  It is the most popular dessert, and luckily for me it is offered as part of the price fix.  My sister did not plan on getting dessert since she did not do the price fix, but the seasonal offering today was the coconut dacquoise so she gave in to temptation and ordered it.

  

Oh. My. God.  The chocolate cake was so amazing!  This was one of those situations again where I went into lunch with good intentions of only eating half the cake, but ended up finishing it.  I was left with no guilt, however, as it was TOTALLY worth every single calorie.  The reviews I had read online did not adequately describe the amazingness that is the Gotham Chocolate Cake (which is actually more like a spongy mousse than a cake).  It is so rich and decadent, yet light and fluffy at the same time, and it just gets better and better with each bite.  It also came with a small scoop of salted almond ice cream and some chocolate crunchies, which were ok but could not even compare to the amazing flavor of the cake.  My sister is not a huge chocolate cake lover, but she took one bite and had the same reaction as me.  In fact, she told me I had to finish it otherwise she would!  The dessert that she got was really good as well, but it just could not compare to the chocolate cake in my opinion.  It had fresh pineapple slices, pineapple cream, and little coconut cookies (like macaroons), and a strange ice cream that she didn't like.  At first she loved it, but after having a bite of my cake she quickly changed her tune.  While it was good, she said that it was not nearly as worth it as the chocolate cake, and she should've ordered the cake so that we could've had two!  (As a side note, I can not remember the last time my sister ordered a chocolate dessert, so that really says a lot!)

Overall, this was an amazing lunch experience.  The decor is very nice and elegant, the service was impeccable and the servers were all very friendly and attentive, and the food was outstanding.  They really pay attention to the details here and every aspect of each course was fresh and flavorful.  The two stars in my eyes were the chicken and the chocolate cake, and my sister said her two favorites were the cod and the chocolate cake.  While it is pricey, we will definitely be back here.  The greenmarket price fix lunch is an amazing deal and you really get your money's worth.  There are many expensive places in the city that are over-hyped and pretentious and the food doesn't live up to the price tag, but at Gotham it is totally worth every cent.  I looked around at the other tables, and everyone was smiling and raving about their food.  Basically, you should save up your money for the week and splurge on a visit here. It will be worth it!  

International Delight Cafe

Seeing as I was out on Long Island again on Thursday, I used my visit as an opportunity to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the area; International Delight Cafe.  I went there all the time growing up, and it was always my go to place for birthday lunches/dinners.  They have a very extensive menu, like you would expect at a diner/cafe, that has a wide range of breakfast items, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, hot dishes, quesadillas and much more.

When you walk in, you are immediately greeted with a huge clear display case filled with over 30 flavors of their homemade ice cream and sorbet.  The decor is very simple no frills, but you don't go there for the ambiance.  In the past I have tried the salads and pasta dishes, but my go-to dish that I pretty much get every time is the Grilled Chicken on a bun with lettuce and tomato, and it comes with their thick-cut fries.  I also get honey mustard on the side to put on my sandwich and to dip my fries in. While that may sound kind of weird, you should just try it and you will understand. I don't know what they put in their honey mustard, but it is so much better than any other honey mustard I have had.   My sister always gets the grilled shrimp on a bun, and gets it with sweet potato fries.  I know that you are probably wondering what could be so great about such simple sandwiches, but it just tastes better than other grilled chicken sandwiches.  It comes with 3 huge pieces of chicken on the sandwich, so I always take the other two pieces to go.

While they may not have the highest quality food per se, it is just one of those classic neighborhood places that you have many childhood memories at. The service is also super quick, as we were in and out in probably under a half hour!  

The true star of coming here, however, is the desserts.  As I mentioned earlier, they have over 30 flavors of homemade ice cream, and it is so hard to choose because each flavor looks more delicious than the next!  When I was younger, I would always get the bubble gum flavor, which was pink ice cream with actual pieces of chicklets in the gum.  My ritual would then be to pick out all of the gum and save it until I was done with the Ice Cream.  But, seeing as I am a chocolate lover, I shifted my tastes and now my go to flavor is the chocolate chocolate chip.

The ice cream is so rich and creamy, and there are huge chocolate chunks generously spread throughout it (they are more like thick cubes!).  It comes in a cute little glass bowl with a chocolate stick cookie on the side, and you get a very generous scoop.  They have the classic flavors that would expect and the more unique ones like sunset, chocolate marshmallow chunk, mudd and confetti.  If I have had a really good day sometimes I will even get a waffle with a scoop of Ice Cream which I HIGHLY recommend.  I love waffles and ice cream, but it is one of those things that I don't really allow myself to order a lot. 

 Even though I do love the food here, the true reason I come here is for the ice cream.  It is my all time favorite, and it makes the perfect treat!  So, even if you are skeptical about the food here and choose to go to one of the nicer restaurant establishments in Rockville Centre, make sure to come here for dessert.  There is a movie theatre near by and tons of restaurants, so there have been many occasions where I came here with friends late at night to sit down, unwind, and have some dessert!  

Shake Shack

Part of the charm of living in the city is having the ability to find a restaurant from just about every cuisine within a 2 block radius.  A lot of times it is nice to just go to these neighborhood places and not give in to the hyped up "tourist traps" that plague the city.  That being said, there are a few exceptions, one being Shake Shack.

I would consider Shake Shack an institution in the city, and everyone that lives here has either been to a Shake Shack or has heard of it.  The thousands of yelp postings just verify how popular it is among city residents and visitors, in addition to the long lines that normally span at least 20 minutes.  Since it is officially the summer and I have been smelling that charcoal bbq smell all around the city, I have been craving a burger.  After going through the list of places in my mind, I knew that Shake Shack was the place I wanted to go to.  

There are many places in the city where you can claim to find "the best burger," but my taste in burgers is not that sophisticated, and therefore I find it difficult to rank one above the next.  However, I am able to recognize when a place serves a great, high quality burger, and Shake Shack is one of those places.  To me, it also ranks above the rest because coming here means getting the complete experience (with fries and a shake), as opposed to going to a nice restaurant and getting a fancy, overdone burger. The only one that I have ever been to is the one in Madison Square Park, because that has always been the closest to me and it is nice to be able to get your food and sit outside in the park to eat.  Upon arrival, the line may appear to be a bit daunting...

And, yes, I was in line when I took this picture, so clearly it wrapped all the way around.  From the time I got in line to the time I ordered, it was about 20-25 minutes which is not bad for Shake Shack.  They do have a "B" Line for those who just want to order Ice Cream, Beer, or Wine, but that one tends to be very short since most people come for the food/shakes. 

Once you finally order, you are then given a buzzer to wait for your food, which took about an addition 10-15 minutes.  Part of the charm is being able to sit outside in the park, so you have to be pretty vigilant and jump on a empty table when you have the chance, otherwise you my get stuck eating on a park bench.  

I ordered a single hamburger with the works (lettuce, tomato, pickles, and onion), an order of french fries, and a black and white milkshake.  I decided to go all out because I did a ton of walking today and a very hard boot camp class.  I had also been craving a black and white milk shake, so I knew I had to order that.  

This was such a satisfying meal, and exactly what I had been craving.  The burger was very juicy, and the patty was the perfect size.  I hate when burgers are too thick and everything falls off the bun, but this one was perfect.  It is a very simple and straight-forward burger, but that is what I love about it.  

The fries were also very good.  While they were not the best fries I have ever had, I can never eat a burger without having fries on the side, and these did the job just fine.  The shake was so creamy and delicious, and it was very hard not to drink the whole thing.  I made the mistake of looking up the nutritional information before I went, so I was too scared to drink the whole thing (note for the future: don't look at the nutritional information unless you are sure you want to see it!)  Even though I am generally a chocolate person, black and white milkshakes are my all time favorite.  My sister, my dad and I used to get a black and white shake from the country club we belonged to growing up, and now that we don't go there anymore I have been looking for a shake to fill the void.  This one did the trick.  

While there are many shake shacks in the city, I would highly recommend going to the one in madison square park if it is a nice day like today was.  They offer a variety of different shakes and frozen custards/concretes that also looked so good, in addition to burgers, fries, and hot dogs.  Sometimes you are just craving a burger with fries and a shake, and Shake Shack is the place to go for those days.  They now have tons of locations outside of the city, like in DC, Connecticut, Long Island, and Florida, and are quickly expanding, so you don't have to live in the city to experience Shake Shack!