Posted by manda on July 23rd, 2009 [Click image to show Gallery]
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One of our recent guilty pleasures involves watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Food Network on Tuesdays, and then Wednesday night going out to one of the places recommended on the show So far it’s been a hit and a great way to try new places!
Stand Burger was recommended by Iron Chef Michael Symon and his favorite “sugar rush” was the Toasted Marshmallow Shake. He actually finished off three of them during the show! Needless to say, we were drooooling. So the next day we went there, right below Union Square at 12th St and University Pl. We ordered burgers, fries and shakes but I must say that the burgers were small and expensive. The small (not really) fries for $3 was a good deal, which were served in a simple paper cone, hot and fresh. Our group ordered the Chocolate Malted, Apple Pie, and Toasted Marshmallow shakes and each of them were delicious. The Apple Pie was very cinnamon-y but I couldn’t get much of the crisp apple flavor – if there were real apples in there, it would’ve been better. EDIT: Robo and I went back with friends and tried the the Pumpkin and Chocolate Malted. The Pumpkin was a cute pastel orange color and tasted like a fresh pumpkin, so there really wasn’t much sugar in here. I was sort of expecting it to taste like a pumpkin pie, like the Clocktower Pumpkin Shake (which AndrewT graciously reminded me of!) at the Cornell Dairy Bar, which is dark and thick, super sweet, cinnamon-y, and absolutely delicious. Needless to say, the Pumpkin was a let-down. The Chocolate Malted was waaay too sweet, even sweeter than the Toasted Marshmallow. The malted flavor was definitely there, as the shake tasted almost exactly like Whopper balls. It was good but you will need a glass of water to go with it.
But hands down, the Toasted Marshmallow was the best out of all the items we ordered. It comes out in a tall retro milkshake glass topped with a giant serving of whipped cream and two jumbo toasted marshmallows. It just tastes like pure marshmallow: vanilla-y, very sweet, creamy, a little frothy near the end. My favorite were the two perfectly toasted marshmallows. So props to Chef Michael Symon – we’ll be eagerly awaiting his next NYC “best thing I ever
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Posted by manda on June 2nd, 2009 [View with PicLens]
Cuz burgers, shakes, and bbq just sounds like summer doesn’t it? So to celebrate the warm weekend weather, we made our way out to the Shake Shack (or as Robo and I call it, Shake Restaurant) on the West side. I’ve never been too impressed with their burgers and here’s why: the veggies (L and T) are fresh, bun is ok, burger patty is thin but moderately juicy, but overall a smallish, untimidating burger. Also, the special “shack sauce” on the Shackburger is definitely just ketchup and mayonnaise. We got a picture of it anyway =) Note: There was a fair hosted by the nearby middle school a block away selling hotdogs, burgers, and chicken so we ate some there – support the little kiddies =P
Shake time! The “Concrete Jungle” is my favorite: a blend of hot fudge, bananas and peanut butter which is sweet, nutty, creamy, and disarmingly white. You would expect that they’d load this up with fudge so that it becomes dark but the lack of color is probably a good thing (btw its only available at the Madison Square Park location). Robo’s favorite is the “Upper West Side” and has vanilla custard, strawberry and banana, and shortbread. We recently tried their Red Velvet custard and was sort of disappointed..it tasted mostly like vanilla custard with pieces of red velvet cake smooshed in. Tasty, but I was hoping for some cream cheese flavor =( That concludes the lunch portion of this entry.
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Virgil’s BBQ – Best freakin’ (dry-smoked) bbq in the city. They serve several different styles of bbq but I’m a fan of the dry-smoked Memphis pork ribs and chicken. Some prefer wet-basted bbq but I prefer not wear bbq sauce on my hands, thankyouverymuch. Virgil’s bbq sauce is awesome and I can’t really explain it – just tangy, savory goodness. When we go, Robo and I share the Virgil’s Pig Out platter, which is a meal and half for us: Memphis dry-smoke ribs and chicken, Texas beef brisket, pulled pork, and sausage. The ribs are huge and have beautiful red smoke rings on them; chicken is juicy but the skin isn’t very crispy (sadness). The beef brisket can get dry on the inside, even though the outside is coated with sauce. The pulled pork is great but the pork sausage is the real deal – juicy, meaty, dark red casing, and slightly spicy (it’s usually the first thing to be devoured). Also, the cornbread is delicious – speckled with whole kernels of corn and tiny shreds
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