Ziggy's

Hey guys! So this post is going to be a little longer than usual, but I want to go into details about one of my favorite places in New York City. It is called Ziggy's and is located on 2nd Ave. between 77th and 78th street. Read about it on Yelp.

Ziggy's is open 7 days a week, 4-1am Monday through Thurday, and 11:30am-1am Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The theme is Mexican Beach Bar, so think surfboards and a summery vibe. The whole place is painted aqua blue and the main goal of all the employees is to insure you leave happy (and drunk).

Ziggy's serves Mexican food, so think menu items like tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and a very delicious guacamole that is made in house.  Here is a list of my 5 favorite tacos:

1. Hawaiian Carnitas- braised pork belly served with pineapple
2. Carne Asada- steak served with pico de gallo and roasted poblanos
3. Mojo Shrimp- grilled shrimp
4. Crispy Fish- fried sea bass
5. Downtown L.A- Korean style steak with kimchi 

The food is good, yes, but if you are coming to Ziggy's, it is the drinks that you MUST try. They make a killer margarita both on the rocks and frozen that is sure to have you stumbling home. They have an awesome Happy Hour, which is from 4-5pm Monday through Friday. Their Happy Hour includes 2 for 1 drinks (including margaritas, sangria, and specialty cocktails), $3 draft beer,  $5 muchies (including guac) and $1 oysters.  

They also have bottomless brunch on the weekends from 11:30am-4pm. For $25, you get an entree and bottomless drinks for two hours. Trust me, this is a good deal. 

Another awesome deal Ziggy's offers is Ladies Night every Wednesday. On Ladies Night, all girls drink for FREE. That's right, completely free. However, as a moral human being, you should still bring cash to tip the bartenders, as they work incredibly hard to make all those drinks and don't get tipped well because the drinks are free. 

Ziggy's also offers certain deals all the time. Here is a list of them:

1. The Shot Ski-$25  This is 4 shots of either tequila or whiskey in a SKI. Grab three of your friends and line up as the server counts to three and take that shot. You can even do it with no hands. If you want your Ziggy's experience to go from good to great, this is what you need to order. 
2. The Beach Bucket- $25  The beach bucket at Ziggy's comes with 5 different beers, including Kona Big Wave, Coney Island Pilsner, Liliko'i Kepolo, Leinenkugal's Summer Shandy and Bronx Brewery Summer Pale Ale. It comes beautifully decorated and for $5 a beer, it is hard to beat. 
3. Scorpion Bowl- $24  The Scorpion Bowl at Ziggy's is also a ton of fun. A drink for two or more, it comes in a cool bowl with a shot of 151 in the center that is lit on fire. The alcohol is strong and tastes delicious. 

I went to Ziggy's on my 21st birthday and I was far from disappointed. I was dancing on the bar at the end of the night, which tells you something about the atmosphere. 

So, what are you waiting for? Go NOW. 

Ask for me (Amanda) and if I am there, I will bring you and your table free tequila shots on the house. 

Bangkok Cuisine UES

Hey so I'm back with another restaurant recommendation. It is called Bangkok Cuisine and you must go asap. I found this place on Yelp after having an extreme craving for some good Asian food and this place certainly lived up to its high reviews and my high expectations. Here is what I ordered:

To start, I ordered a Thai Iced Tea, which is an awesome drink to have with spicy food because it cools down your taste buds due to the heavy cream. It was served in a tall glass which I think added to the atmosphere of the place, which you can also kinda see from this picture. Not to mention it was only $3! It was very clean and felt very southeast Asian. To top off the aesthetic of the restaurant, pictured below you will see a golden decoration. Guess who? Buddha.

As an appetizer, I had the Thai Style Pork BBQ. It was insanely good and came with a sweet and spicy dipping sauce that complemented the pork perfectly. It comes with 5 skewers, not three like pictured below. I ate two before remembering I needed to take pictures for my blog. They were THAT irresistible. $13.

Next, I had the Pad Prig Khing with beef. The picture is a little dark, but this dish includes veggies like carrots, string beans and red peppers all sautéed in a delicious curry paste. A perfect combination of flavor, which leaves me with nothing to critique.  $15. 

Finally, the Massaman Curry with chicken. A massaman curry includes coconut milk, butter beans, sweet onions and potatoes. Paired with chicken, this dish is irresistible. I probably could have eaten two, and I will definitely be returning to Bangkok Cuisine for this dish. If you have read my post on Up Thai, you might remember that I had this same curry, however, in comparison, Bangkok Cuisine wins, hands-down. $14. 

I have really no complaints about this restaurant, except one. On my bill, I was charged $3.50 for the Thai Iced Tea instead of $3 like it said on the menu. Although it is only $.50, it displays either a careless mistake, or the restaurant being sneaky and trying to make a few extra dollars. So watch out for things like this at any restaurant you go to! 

Please go here. I promise you won't regret it!! 

Sushi Gama

Hey Guys! So last night was Saturday night and I visited a restaurant called Sushi Gama on the Upper East Side. 

I sat in a corner table with a nice view of the outside. The atmosphere was nice, and it was decently busy for a Saturday. Here is what I ordered:

Ika Butter: This is a grilled whole squid in a butter sauce. It was cooked to perfection and the presentation was appealing. I would order this again, and recommend it to you. $12.

Soft Shell Crab: The whole point of a soft shell crab is so you can eat the shell. This crab was delicious and definitely met my expectations. $8.

Hamachi Kama: This is a grilled yellowtail fish collar. It is the best part of the fish, in my opinion, and this collar proved that to be true. The meat of the fish fell right off the bone and was tender and perfectly cooked. It was so good, the person I was eating with wanted to order a second one! I do feel, however, that presentation could be improved. $14.

Sashimi Platter: Chef's Selection of 18 different pieces of sashimi. This was the one big disappointment of the night. The raw fish they used was horrible compared to other sushi restaurants in the area. The raw salmon was too slimy and the raw yellowtail was too chewy. Overall, this dish left me feeling unsatisfied and grossed out. I do not recommend the sashimi or any of their raw fish after this dish. $24.

Overall, I would recommend Sushi Gama, just not for their sushi. The three appetizers were all delicious, but as I mentioned, the sashimi that I ordered was below par. 

My Rating: *** $$

Terakawa Ramen

I want to share with you guys one of my absolute favorite ramen spots in the city. It is called Terakawa Ramen and is located only two block south of Fordham's Lincoln Center campus. Here are some things you show know about this restaurant.

It is meant to be fast-paced. If you know anything about Japanese cuisine, eating ramen is like eating pizza in America. If you don't know anything about Japanese cuisine, check out my previous blog post: The Right Way to Eat Ramen.

It is a quick eat kind of place since it only sits 10 people at one time, and therefore it is not the right spot to go if you are expecting to talk to your friends and sip a beer. However the ramen is delicious! My favorite is the Spicy Tan Tan, which is spicy so beware.

Terakawa Ramen is relatively cheap running between $9-$14 for a large bowl. Also, it is cash only-so come prepared.

My Rating: $ *****

Photographing Food Is A New Trend

It's Saturday night. You and your friends are out to eat at a new restaurant in town. The waitress comes and places all the plates of food down on the table. Yet instead of eating it while it's hot, everyone takes a picture of it for social media instead.

Why has posting food become the new pre-meal trend?

Maybe it's because our generation is obsessed with advertising every aspect of our daily lives on social media, and since we eat three meals a day broadcasting our food becomes essential.

But it also could be due to the fact that food has become 'cool'. Just look at Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg's new show that aired November 7, 2016. Who would have ever expected Martha Stewart, a 75 year old woman who started a catering business in her basement in 1976, to pair with Snoop Dogg, a 45 year old American rapper? See a clip of their show here:

This show is the epitome of what the food culture has turned into in recent years. Maybe it isn't entirely a bad thing, as people are more conscious of what they are eating and care more about things like food presentation. But as people are snapping pictures of their food, they are failing to appreciate the moment as it happens and are once again living life through a glass screen.

I am just interested in how long the trend will last... 

The Art of Food Presentation

Before I began dating my food savvy cook of a boyfriend I never realized the intimacy and importance of food presentation.  Now that I pay attention to food presentation, I can not not pay attention to it. I have become extremely judgmental towards certain dishes and have learned that the better the food is presented, the better it tastes. Think of it this way: sloppy plating usually means sloppy cooking, which directly affects the taste of the food.

One restaurant that cares immensely about food presentation is an Upper East Side restaurant called Cafe Boulud, one of the many staple restaurants by Chef Daniel Boulud. With one Michelin Star and three stars from The New York Times, Cafe Boulud has to make sure their food presentation is always perfect.

Below is an image of one of the plates currently served at Cafe Boulud. With the help of my boyfriend, who prepares this plate daily, I am going to explain to you the process of creating such a beautiful dish.

This dish is composed of apricot honey glazed duck, honey seared apricot, chantarelle mushroom puree, chantarelle mushrooms, chickpea panisse, garbanzo beans, mustard frills, and chive blossoms.

Restaurants like Cafe Boulud are focused on a balance of flavor and symmetry when plating the ingredients. Since there is only one apricot in this dish, it is forced to be in the center due to their focus on creating balance on the plate. If you look closely, you will see that besides the apricot, there are three of each of the other ingredients: three pieces of duck and three components of the other ingredients.  After the apricot is placed, the puree is put into an almost perfect triangle surrounding the center. Then the other ingredients are carefully placed on top of the puree, using tweezers to maximize precision in order to create perfect symmetry. The three pieces of duck are placed last, because they need to be the hottest ingredient on the dish. Two pieces of duck are placed sideways to display the temperature (rare, medium, well) requested by the consumer. The last piece is placed upright to display the crispy skin, which is especially important when cooking duck. 

Another thought that goes into each dish is the color choice. For example, in the dish above bright colors are sued such as green, purple, orange and the pink center of the duck. (Summer colors!)

So next time you go out to eat, remember to pay attention to the food presentation. It is an important part of the restaurant experience that too many people overlook.