La Caridad 78

NYC is quite a mix of people from all cultures and walks of life, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that one of my favorite places (thanks to friend & NY Native CPZ) to eat is Cuban/Chinese hybrid La Caridad. They serve bountiful portions of delicious dishes, from vaca frita to sesame chicken. You can easily eat for under 10 dollars a person, too.

Jen A & I stopped here yesterday after some retail therapy. It was scorching hot outside, so we drank iced tea and soda at our corner window seat while perusing the chock-full-of-choices menu.

Jen A ordered the avocado & onion salad, not realizing it was only....avocado and onion. Raw, pungent, eye-searing onion. We removed most of the onions and ate the incredibly generous portion of fresh, soft avocado (there was still plenty to take home later).

I ordered the 1/4 roast chicken, and when the server told me they only had dark meat, I barely hesitated. I'm learning to love the darker, more tender meat that I once avoided. This may not look fancy, but it was juicy, perfectly seasoned, and I absolutely, happily demolished it.

My chicken also came with a mini-mountain of rice and beans. That is a plate piled high of zesty yellow rice and creamy red beans. YUM.

Jen A ordered the sesame chicken with broccoli. I had a bite of broccoli (one of my all-time favorite veggies) and it had a bit of the chicken's sauce on it--zippy and sweet--not bad!

We ate to our hearts' content and still had plenty of leftovers. La Caridad 78 is cash only, but you only need a little to get a lot of food! Our lunch specials were each around 8 dollars--an insanely affordable and savory treat!

La Caridad 78
2199 Broadway
New York, NY 10024
(212) 874-2780

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Gossip Girl Gimmick

My friend the NewsHawk was in town recently, and I joined him and his friends for a wandering along the Upper West Side (including lunch at Niko's). We stepped in to the lobby of the Empire Hotel for a drink, and we were surprised to see an entire drink menu devoted to the "Gossip Girl" show, a guilty pleasure show that many people reluctantly age 18 & over confess to watching.

Niko's

***February 22nd, 2011: The folks at Jeremiah's Vanishing New York just broke the sad news that Niko's has CLOSED!!! I'm sad to see such an institution leave our city. And while one commenter laments the probability of a Starbucks, I'll take that over another stupid BANK. Feh. Thanks, Niko's staff, for many delicious memories.**

I met up with friends on the Upper West Side last week for a place I hadn't visited in years: Niko's Mediterranean Grill & Bistro.

Arriba, Arriba!

When I was working at the talk show (years ago now!), I would order about once a month from Arriba, Arriba on 9th Avenue. My go-to dish was always the enchiladas suizas (tomatillo sauce!), and the dish was huge and delicious and satisfying!

A bowl of chips and salsa came right away to our table. I'm an admitted salsa snob, but ABF & I both really liked this version. It's a bit thinner than what I usually make, but it tasted fresh, chock full of onions, and tangy--so good that I didn't even mind that it was mild!

Flash forward a few years later, and ABF and I found ourselves on the Upper East Side for a former coworker's birthday party. It didn't start til 8 or so, so we popped into the Third Avenue outpost of Arriba Arriba for a quick bite. It was a Friday night, and we didn't have a reservation, but we still got immediate seating! Woo hoo!

I got a house margarita on the rocks, and it was an affordable 6 bucks for happy hour! Me gusta! It was tart, slightly sweet, and puckery, just the way I love them.

ABF got the soft taco/enchilada combo. The red sauce was delicious and tomatoy and perfect with the tender beef. I even had a bite of the taco, and it was great. Fresh veggies, tender tortilla, and wonderful seasonings. It was a plateful of yum.
I went with my usual suizas, you know, to see how they'd stack up against the West Side version. These did not disappoint. Tender chicken, tangy tomatillo sauce, and delicious, delicious refried beans. I didn't really mess too much with the rice, but it was fine. I'm just not a rice fan. Both dishes came with a side salad that was really good--more than just an afterthought: crispy, crunchy ribbons of romaine lettuce, sprinkled with suprisingly fresh tomatoes and a bright, citrusy guacamole on top.

I was also happy to note they had fast and friendly service. The lighting is a little weird, mostly dark with strong, strong, interrogation-type mini spotlights glaring down in points, but overall it was a fun place. We were in and out without feeling rushed, and we both enjoyed our meals there very much! I wouldn't say make a special trip, but if you're in the neighborhood, definitely try Arriba Arriba! Yum!

Sublime Sammiches

Last weekend, the BF & I went to an olive-oil tasting class at the Columbus Circle Williams-Sonoma. This was another event in our Finer Things Club, which was my 'gift' to him last Christmas (I plan these events that may or may not be fancy shmancy and we do them together).

After the class, the BF suggested lunch upstairs at Bouchon Bakery. I'd had their sweets before, but had never eaten there. We were immediately seated (shocking to me on a Sunday afternoon!) and our server came right over. She was friendly and nice and not at all snooty. She described the specials to us, and one of them jumped out to the BF. It was a sliced sausage with ricotta salata cheese on a baguette. We've been jonesing for some good baguettes since our trip to Montréal, too! I asked her to repeat the sausage name, because it sounded like she said Petit Jésu...but that can't be right.. can it?

Turns out, that's exactly what it's called...loose translation is 'little baby jesus' sausage. I don't know WHY it's called that, except maybe you do want to thank the good Lord for making something so delicious, but I am oh-so-glad my BF ordered this AND let me share a bit. It also had a light layer of tomato marmalade on it. YUUUUUUUUUM. My sandwich paled in comparison. It was Wagyu corned beef with watercress and a horseradish creme fraiche. Horseradish is one of my buzzwords--anything with horseradish, chipotle, raspberries, or wasabi is guaranteed to edge out other items on a menu. The horseradish wasn't that strong to me, though the BF tasted it and said it was very strong. Hmm..perhaps the awesomeness of his sandwich was overshadowing mine.

My sandwich came on a mustard-whole wheat baguette. While I enjoy mustard, I thought the bread overpowered everything else, and ended up taking the top half of the bread off the sandwich. I also don't care for watercress--it's too bitter for me, so I removed that as well. Then I could better appreciate the succulence of the Wagyu beef--it was buttery, almost melt-in-your-mouth soft, and just remarkable. What a exceptionally delicious cut of meat!

We were pretty full after our sandwiches, so instead of sweets, we opted for hot lattés. Sadly, my camera battery died before I could snap a shot. This is hands-down one of the best lattés I've ever had. I don't know what kind of bean they used, but it was smooth, not bitter at all, the foam was hefty and gorgeous, and the milk had a creaminess to it that made it taste like a dessert--no sugar needed!

Bouchon Bakery

My friend Kelli brought some sweet surprises up to my apartment today: a cream puff just for me, and a cookie to share. They were from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery, housed on the third floor of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan. I have never made it past the 2nd floor (which houses Sephora and Borders). But I digress...back to the good stuff. I started with the cream puff. It wasn't until I sliced into the cream puff that we realized it had blueberries inside, too. Kelli's not a huge fan of blueberries, so she didn't split it with me. The cream puff was quite big.. I only ate half of it, and put the other half of it in the fridge for later. I make a pretty mean cream puff pastry, so I'm already tough to impress. Still, I thought the shell itself was just okay, but the blueberry filling was delicious: just like a slice of fresh, summery blueberry pie. The cream puff filling was light and not overly sweet, but not super flavorful, either. I would have liked maybe some stronger vanilla or almond flavoring in that part. I suspect it might have been a mild Chantilly cream.

THIS was the real winner, though. Kelli bought one of their peanut butter cookies with peanut butter filling. This was spot on. The cookie had a touch of salt, the creamy filling was perfect. It was light and fluffy, but not greasy, and oh-so-delicious. We kept picking off little pieces at a time, but in a matter of minutes, there was nothing left. YUM.

Summary: the cream puff is a looker, but if you want melt in your mouth yumminess, grab the peanut butter cookie. It's big enough to share without feeling like you're missing out on deliciousness.

PS: I just realized the OTHER half of my cream puff is still in the fridge, days later. I don't normally forget about leftover desserts! THAT'S how much better the peanut butter cookie is!!

Bouchon Bakery
Time Warner Center
10 Columbus Circle 3rd floor
New York, NY 10019