The psychology behind the COUPON:

My mother is one of those frugal Asians. She refuses to buy things like Folgers Coffee until it’s on sale and until she has a coupon. She doesn’t buy toilet paper from BJ’s until there’s a rebate. In other words, she’s everything that a company would hate. She knows how to use her coupons because she uses them on products she’d buy anyway.

Now, I have this friend. She also uses alot of coupons because her disposable income isn’t that much. When she receives a coupon from American Eagle, she’ll make an effort to utilize that 10% off offer. When she gets a coupon from Dunkin Donuts, she’ll go and buy that large latte to save that $1. In other words, she’s everything that a company would love. She spends more money using coupons on products that she normally would not buy.

Mimosa, Bloody Mary, Screwdriver

And then there’s me. I have high expectations for brunch entrees that set me back $15 or more. But throw in a prix fixe, especially one that includes drinks, and I am one happy camper even if the food isn’t that great. It makes no sense since the entree that I ordered at Essex sure as heck wasn’t $18 worth, but I left so happy, because they threw in three mimosas. The weird thing is, I don’t even care about drinks. I’ve never ordered an alcoholic beverage at brunch. The fact that they included not one, but three drinks, into that $18 deal made me think I was getting a super-cheap brunch.  It’s like using coupons in the wrong way.

So yes, brunch at Essex is $18 for an entree and three drinks- a choice between (3) Bloody Mary, Screwdriver, or Mimosa. And the food is okay, though I’d only be willing to pay around $12 for my Cubano at any other place. The Mimosas actually err on the side of being too champagne concentrated, which in some ways, is better. But the highlight wasn’t the drinks or the food. I actually thought it was the venue.

The Essex is two storied, and if you dine on the ground floor, you have sweeping ceilings that are at least 20 ft. tall. We dined on the second floor, which felt totally different. Satin and sheen curtains hanging on white paneled windows made the place feel intimate instead of the loft-like ambiance downstairs. And although they had some ghetto looking sunlights, it was great to have the sun shining down the whole time.

The Essex Cubano with sweet plantains // 3 eggs any style with fresh fruit & choice of bacon, chicken apple sausage

The walls are brick white and showcase some awesome abstract pieces. They sorta remind me of Jackson Pollock, but less crazy. Anyway, I really love the way the restaurant is decked out. The only complaint is how cramped everything is, but I guess if I had a restaurant that had reservations hours long, I’d also make use of every square foot.

The Essex Cubano up close

So how was my Cubano? It was delicious, but not the best Cubano I’ve had. It’s a pressed sandwich with goeey, melted Swiss and ham and roasted pork right smack in the middle. Then there’s a small side of those plantains, which really are as soft and delicately sweet as they look. I thought it lacked KETCHUP, but I think that’s just me. Would I recommend the Cubano despite everything I said? Yes- especially if you want savory food.

Baked eggs over crisp ham with peppers, shitake mushrooms & monterey jack*

I really wish I ordered this. It’s the savory dish that your mouth craves for when it’s hungry in the morning. Literally, they layer everythhing on top of each other and bake it so that the cheese melts perfectly over the eggs. The eggs are undercooked so that when you cut into the egg, the yolk starts running out. I will admit that it’s a bit too heavy and rich, meaning that it’s good up until like the 10th bite. Everything that ends with an asterisk on the menu is served with home potatoes and a side of salad.

I almost forgot! The stale garlic bread! Yeah, so they serve store-brought garlic bread that’s a bit stale. I guess with three drinks and an entree, I shouldn’t expect in house baked bread. The service was timely despite how busy the place was and the servers were constantly refilling everyone’s drinks. As a note, it’s illegal in NYC to serve alcohol before noon on Sunday, so if you go during that time frame, all teas and coffees are complimentary.

I don’t expect that I’ll be coming back here again. It’s one of those places that you should go for brunch only because “it’s one of those places” that everyone talks about, and it’s group friendly. But it’s definitely not worth a 20+ minute wait so make reservations at 11am and get there on time. Before noon, you can still snag seats for groups of 5, but be prepared to wait as soon as noon hits. The food is good, but not great. The whole deal, for $18, is worth it though, especially for all of the choices you get.

You should also check out:

• The Great GoogaMooga | Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• An interview with Terry Chen of “Filled with Sweets”
• Co. Pizza
• Crif Dogs (take 2)- best hot dogs ever
• Saturday brunch at Locanda Verde

This morning, I woke up super early to catch the bus into the city for a day full of good eats. Gosh, it’s so nice to be out of the middle of no where and see tall buildings, people in a rush, and non fast food restaurants! The first stop was at 88 Orchards for 93 Plates. It’s a cute coffee spot in the Lower East Side that reminds me of Think Coffee, but with a friendlier price tag.

So now, the question of the day (or.. post)- What does 93 Plates mean?

I will eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at 93 separate New York City eateries from breakfast New Year’s Day to dinner on January thirty-first with New York City’s best and brightest independent food writers.

Thirty-one days, three meals a day = 93 Plates.

No, no. Don’t get excited. That’s not me. That’s Hagan Blount there, aka  The Wandering Foodie. It’s quite an ambitious project because not only do you have to contact both restaurants and food bloggers, but then you have to eat all that food and then write about it. And yes, it is possible to get tired of food. There, I said it, but it’s true.

I have to say, their “specialty drinks” looked particularly delicious- especially the Irish Cream Mocha and Frozen Mocha (anything with vanilla gelato can’t possibly go wrong!). But alas, Hagan found their freshly squeezed watermelon-orange juice on a separate menu and I was sold. Two of my favorite fruits together?! Could it be?!

The drink was perfect. Don’t you just love that separation? If I recall correctly, it’s only 25 cents more than Think’s freshly squeezed orange juice. I don’t think I need to tell you which one is better.

Challah French Toast with vermont maple syrup ($7)

Of course, a breakfast isn’t complete with some food. I was initially set upon ordering the French Toast, but the cafe recently launched their burrito menu. Luckily, Hagan ordered the French Toast and we split our dishes.

Breakfast Buritto with scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, black beans, and pico de gallo ($?)

For those of you that know me, you should be proud that I ordered the breakfast burrito without asking them to make it without beans! Definitely keeping in mind that resolutions list whenever I eat out now. Anyway, surprisingly, I didn’t mind the beans! I mean, a few minds might have “accidentally” dropped onto the plate, but I actually really liked the beans. Maybe it was an effect of eating leftover zha jiang mian in the past couple of days.

So which one did I like better? It’s hard to decide. The French Toast was crisp on the edges and soft but fluffy in the middle. I really love how they just stuck with strawberries and blueberries. The berries were fresh and really vibrant in color.

As if you need another view- but two thick slices, a good serving of fruit, and sides of maple syrup and butter.

What I loved most about my burrito were two things, and they should be pretty obvious. The first is the bacon. Can’t have a breakfast burrito without bacon. The only complaint was that most of the bacon was actually near the end, but that just meant an aggregated burst of bacon-ness in the last few bites.

The second is that cheese that you can see oozing from the egg. There was so much cheese. Extra points for that. Hagan liked dipping the burrito with the hot sauce. I probably would have preferred ketchup to hot sauce, but… the burrito is good enough sans any condiment.

They also carry a bunch of pastries and desserts although those are supplied by Cesi Cela and This Chick Bakes. They did, however, make their breakfast (the Challah bread in the French Toast is from Amy’s) in house. Their coffee beans are supplied by Irvin Farm.

Don’t those muffins just look plain delicious? They look just like the muffins that they sell at Costa Coffee in London!

[Draw attention to] CANINE HITCH!

Overall, I really liked this spot. Their drinks are a lot cheaper than I expected probably because I practically lived at Think where they charged $4+ for an espresso based drink. If only 88 Orchards moved a tad bit closer to NYU, I’d go like everyday. But what am I saying, I’m not going to need to study at coffee shops anymore!

MENU
88 Orchard St.
New York, NY 10002
At Broome St.  See Map | Subway Directions
212-228-8880 Send to Phone

You should also check out:

• The Great GoogaMooga | Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• An interview with Terry Chen of “Filled with Sweets”
• Co. Pizza
• Crif Dogs (take 2)- best hot dogs ever
• Saturday brunch at Locanda Verde

The Frenchie: 6 oz beef patty with grilled pork belly, arugula, tomato-onion compote, & morbier cheese on a peppered brioche bun with cornichon, mustard & fries ($17)

When Sabrina and I failed to secure a reservation at Babbo last week for last night (seriously, it’s like trying to make an appointment with the Pope!), we decided on DBGB aka Daniel Boulud Good Burger. It’s Boulud’s attempt at making his usual gourmet dishes a bit more affordable. That being said, my 6 oz. burger was $19.

But the restaurant is gorgeous. It sits in a remote area on Bowery next to Whole Foods and the panels of glass are filled with words of French wisdom and famous quotes. It’s as if someone took a white-out pen and elegantly scribbled on the glass.

There’s a huge bar with a dining area (for the non-reservers) and then inside is the main dining room filled with booths and tables. Bottles of wine align the walls to the right with the kitchen and expo station on the left. Everything is stacked so neatly and perfectly that it feels like you’re in some sort of mid-western gourmet factory. Sabrina and I appreciated all that effort in the decor.

The Piggie: 6 oz beef patty topped with daisy may’s bbq pulled pork, jalapeño mayonnaise & boston lettuce on a cheddar-cornbread bun with mustard-vinegar slaw & fries ($19)

Of course, how could I possibly go to DBGB without ordering the menu item named after me or The “Piggie.” It’s Sabrina’s nickname for me (don’t be offended for me, she says it affectionately). And who am I one to reject barbeque pulled pork and a cornbread bun?

As expected, The Piggie did not disappoint:

Pros:

• The bbq pulled pork was so sweet and succulent. Exactly as pulled pork should be. In fact, I’d argue that it was the star ingredient, not the beef.
• That being said, the beef was juicy, but not so juicy that it soaks the bottom bun. It didn’t have as much flavor as some of the other burger’s that I’ve had, but the flavor came mainly from the bbq pulled pork.
• I love the jalapeno and the jalapeno mayonnaise. The mayo is thinly spread on some lettuce leaves. The jalapeno added that extra kick to the assemble.

Cons:

• Didn’t quite taste the cornbread part of the description in the bun.
• Ordered medium rare and was more on the rare side.

Sabrina went with The Frenchie, sans cheese. Our server tried talking her out of it because “The Frenchie without the cheese is like… well, you should order the Yankee.” And Sabrina responded with, “Uh, can I just have The Frenchie without cheese (goddamnit!)?”

What do you know? The server was right. The Frenchie without the cheese is simply not The Frenchie. The “grilled pork belly” was just a fancy name for your average tasting bacon and I didn’t taste much of the tomato-onion compote. But I’m sure the experience would have been a hundred times better with the cheese because without it, the burger was actually a bit bland.

The burgers come with awesome shoestring fries that are cooked and seasoned to perfection. They remind me of the fries that Houston’s serves, but a tad bit thicker and less oily. Sabrina actually enjoyed the fries more than her burger.

Sure, the burger does look small, but I have to admit- with the bread basket and the fries, Sabrina and I were really full. It wouldn’t work for the typical male though.

And what is a burger without some beer? They have alot of ales and lagers on draft and several are only $7, which is really reasonably priced when you consider what bars charge.

Brouwerij Strubbe Pilsner, Belgium ($7)

I ended up getting… that. It was a bit like Stella, I think.

Coffee Mocha Sundae: chocolate sorbet, brownies, chocolate chip cookies, candied macadamia nuts & whipped cream ($9)

Last but not least, as if we weren’t stuffed enough, we got a sundae! The coffee ice cream was the most strong in espresso flavor I’ve ever tasted. The only complaint was that the whipped cream ratio to the rest of the sundae was like 2:1. Another scoop of ice cream wouldn’t have hurt either as it was 2 scoops. Aren’t standard sundaes 3 scoops anyway? Regardless, I loved the candied macadamia nuts and the bits of cookie that just somehow fell into every spoonful. DEEEELISH!

This is the first Daniel Boulud restaurant I’ve been to and I came out quite satisfied. The total bill came out to around $65 without tip. The only one pet peeve that I had was our server. For some reason, I just got this really fake vibe off of him. He tried to push the specials- the juniper beer to the yule log dessert- a bit too much. Nevertheless, the service was timely and the food didn’t take that long to come out. Thumbs up!

MENU
299 Bowery, New York, NY 10012
nr. Houston St.  See Map | Subway Directions
212-933-5300 Send to Phone

You should also check out:

• The Great GoogaMooga | Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• An interview with Terry Chen of “Filled with Sweets”
• Co. Pizza
• Crif Dogs (take 2)- best hot dogs ever
• Saturday brunch at Locanda Verde