For a while, Chris and I were checking out all the major cheeseburger joints in the city. We visited JG Melon and had a mind blowing experience (even with the two hour wait - review coming soon) and wanted to see how the other famous burger joints stacked up. We visited P.J. Clarke’s to sample their cheeseburger and other goodies; the wait wasn’t too long - only about 30 minutes for a table around 3PM on Saturday (which is nothing compared to some of the waits we’ve endured for a burger). We definitely wanted a cheeseburger, but P.J. Clarke’s also has a large menu of seafood items, so we decided to order a cheeseburger and an order of mussels. Our cheeseburger:

It looks like a standard cheeseburger (maybe even a cheeseburger you’d grill at home), but P.J. Clarke’s has a special combination of meat that makes the cheeseburger both juicy and flavorful. The onion sits between the bottom bun and the meat and you have to request other toppings (we asked for a side of tomatoes and lettuce). If I ranked my favorite burger places in the city, P.J. Clarke’s would probably be in my top 10, but nowhere near the top 5; the burger wasn’t juicy enough and it was a bit small for me.

Initially, we ordered mussels with white wine, but later found out that they sold out of mussels for the day (SHUCKS!). Since we were still hungry, we decided to order macaroni and cheese:

P.J. Clarke’s interpretation of macaroni and cheese was more of a Fettuccine Alfredo; they used shells, a cream sauce, bacon, and peas in their recipe and it didn’t resemble your typical mac and cheese. I definitely think it’s mislabeled and wasn’t a fan of the dish; the alfredo was too watery/runny and the shells weren’t cooked properly.

Based on our waitresses recommendation, we ordered hash browns instead of your typical French fries:

The hash browns were good, but didn’t match the rest of the dishes we were eating (it was too much of a breakfast food).

I’m not sure I’d visit P.J. Clarke’s for their burgers again, but I’m interested in trying their seafood offerings since they have mussels with white wine that sound like they’d be pretty good. Hopefully the next time I’m in the area, P.J. Clarke’s will actually have mussels in stock!

How to get to P.J. Clarke’s:

P.J. Clarke’s
915 3rd Avenue between 55th and 56th
New York, NY 10022
212-317-1616

Ryan, the manager that took me to Morimoto last year, invited me to Artisanal last week to celebrate the end of a project we were both on (the project ended a long time ago but our schedules didn’t match until recently). We chose Artisanal because I’d never visited but heard good things from a coworker and Ryan agreed to go because he’s had their cheesecake and thought it would be a good choice for lunch. We started off with a little bread:

It was just the two of us but we wanted to try a lot of things on the menu, so we decided to order the macaroni and cheese as an appetizer (in addition to the cheese sampler we ordered). The macaroni and cheese came with a side salad:

The macaroni and cheese had a nice baked crust and large chunks of prosciutto. The combination of cheeses was really sinful and delicious - we finished about half of it and were already stuffed! Too bad we ordered two sandwiches AND a cheese sampler:

We ordered three different types of cheese, my favorite being the Coupole. I almost bought some to take home, but I stopped myself because I’m trying to be more healthy (AFTER this lunch).

For our main courses, we ordered two different sandwiches. Ryan ordered a grilled cheese sandwich with English Cheddar, Smoked Bacon & Apple:

The only thing the sandwich was missing was a nice bowl of tomato soup! It was a great grilled cheese sandwich (it should be at $15.50!).

I ordered a Berkshire pork sandwich with pickled cabbage and muenster cheese because I’m a sucker for Berkshire pork and I happen to love muenster cheese:

Berkshire pork/pulled pork sandwiches can be really great if they’re done correctly (see The Spotted Pig). Artisanal’s sandwich, however, was really terrible. Like, absolutely disgusting; the pork was really dry and the pickled cabbage just tasted sour. It kind of ruined my Artisanal experience, actually.

On the way out, we stopped by the fromagerie:

We also ordered a cheesecake to go (so we could share with people in the office AND because we couldn’t eat another bite) and the cheesecake was absolutely amazing. It comes with caramel sauce, a pecan-shortbread crust, and pecan praline crunch that was so f-ing delicious. You can order them online here. On our walk back, Ryan and I were trying to decide whether Artisanal was 3.5 Grace Face’s or 4 Grace Face’s. We decided it was 3.5 because my sandwich was pretty gross. If I go back, I’m going for another slice of their amazing cheesecake!

How to get to Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro:

Artisanal Fromagerie and Bistro
2 Park Ave
New York, NY 10016
212-532-4033

Berry Wild Smooth and kinda icy:

Our second to last stop was Berry Wild, a place that Justin found one day after stumbling out of a bar in the neighborhood. Justin knows the area around Berry Wild very well; Tonic, the bar across the street from Berry Wild, is Justin’s second home. Berry Wild is special for two reasons (well, two that I know of): 1. they have a kosher-friendly frozen yogurt and 2. they have two ways of preparation - smooth and “kinda icy” (their phrase). Smooth is very similar to 40 carrots’ yogurt while kinda icy is like Pinkberry’s. We tried both (OBVIOUSLY). We’re evaluating both types of frozen yogurt here, but separately. Today will be a DOUBLE post. Berry Wild’s storefront:

1. Size of the hole:

I only took a picture for kinda icy’s hole, but the hole was *very* small for both frozen yogurts.

2. Tanginess vs. creaminess: On a scale from 1 to 5 (one being tangy and five being creamy), Berry Wild’s kinda icy scored a tangy 2 and smooth scored a 4 (smooth was much more creamy).

3. Topping Variety:

Berry Wild had a creative raspberry truffle chocolate chip topping you could add to your yogurt. I think it would go well with the smooth frozen yogurt since it was creamy like ice cream.

4. Fruit quality: On a scale of one to five (one being over/under ripe and five being perfectly ripe), Berry Wild scored a perfect 5!! Their blueberries were large and plump and their mangoes were very ripe (just like Flurt’s fruit!)

5. Calories per ounce: Berry Wild only had nutritional information for their special flavor, Caribou coffee. It had 23g calories/ounce (but it wasn’t being served during our tour).

6. Price per ounce: Berry Wild clocked in at 63 cents/ounce (both types of frozen yogurt were the same price).

7. Atmosphere/quality of service: Berry Wild had cool looking chairs and tables all over the place. Also, they have a Purell hand-sanitizer dispenser by the front door so you can clean up after eating frozen yogurt (how thoughtful!).

8. Iciness vs. Smoothness: On a scale of one to five (one being icy and five being smooth), we rated Berry Wild’s kinda icy a 2; slightly more icy than smooth and Berry Wild’s smooth a 5 (VERY SMOOTH).

9. Number of flavors: Berry Wild only has plain and coffee (although coffee wasn’t working the day we went).

10. Resilience to heat:

(Kinda icy - left, smooth - right)

Kinda icy did better than smooth in the resilience to heat category, but both yogurts had some meltage.

11. Topping Quantity/Presentation:

Kinda icy (with mangoes):

Smooth (blueberries and raspberries):

Berry Wild was very generous with their toppings (look at how much fruit they gave us!). We were very happy with the results.

As you can see from the results, we had a mixed reaction with both frozen yogurts. Dan and Bethany preferred the smooth frozen yogurt (they also really enjoyed 40 carrot’s frogurt), but Chris preferred kinda icy (Chris and I have always liked the icy consistency of Pinkberry’s frozen yogurt). Smooth scored a 3.71/5.0 and kinda icy scored a 3.43/5.0. Even though Chris and I preferred the kinda icy consistency, the majority of our tour still leans toward the old-fashioned smooth and creamy style of frozen yogurt. Tomorrow, on our last day of the frozen yogurt tour, we will visit Crazy Bananas!!

Here are all of the entries in order (in case you wanted to jump around):

Day 1: Oko
Day 2: Pinkberry
Day 3:Red Mango
Day 4: Yolato
Day 5: 40 Carrots
Day 6: Very Berry
Day 7: Flurt
Day 8: Berry Wild Smooth and Kindy Icy
Day 9: Crazy Bananas

After our quick stop in the east village for Very Berry, we hopped on the subway and headed to Flurt, a small shop in midtown east. Flurt is a cute frozen yogurt store with lots of interesting seating (there’s cool wood panelling and fun - but wobbly - chairs). It’s pretty small (only four of five tables), but very chic:

1. Size of the hole:

There’s NO HOLE! WOW! Amazing!! We’re off to a good start…

2. Tanginess vs. creaminess: On a scale from 1 to 5 (one being tangy and five being creamy), Flurt scored a 2.5, leaning more towards tangy.

3. Topping Variety:

Flurt had lots of basic toppings, including pomegranate seeds. Their fruit toppings were stored in metal containers and the dry toppings (including cereal and coconut shavings) were in colorful bowls.

4. Fruit quality:On a scale of one to five (one being over/under ripe and five being perfectly ripe), Flurt scored a PERFECT 5!! Their blueberries were large and plump and their mangoes were very ripe.

5. Calories per ounce: Flurt had 23g calories/ounce.

6. Price per ounce: Flurt clocked in at 72 cents/ounce.

7. Atmosphere/quality of service:Flurt had a really pleasant wheatgrass smell while we were visiting (similar to Jamba Juice’s, but BETTER). There was some upbeat music playing in the background and surprisingly, there were a lot of surveillance cameras watching us eat our frozen yogurt.

8. Iciness vs. Smoothness: On a scale of one to five (one being icy and five being smooth), we rated Flurt a 2; slightly more icy than smooth.

9. Number of flavors:Flurt only has one flavor: plain Greek strained yogurt.

10. Resilience to heat:

The yogurt was VERY resilient to heat and we saw very little melting.

11. Topping Quantity/Presentation:

The guys working at Flurt that night was very nice - he gave us lots of toppings. Frozen yogurt + lots of toppings = happy judges.

Ariel’s results are missing because he had to go back to work, but everyone else thought Flurt really hit the spot. Flurt’s final score was a high4.21/5.0. I was pleasantly surprised with Flurt’s frozen yogurt and I’m waiting for them to open more stores around the city. Tomorrow, we will visit Berry Wild, where we’ll have TWO reviews!

Here are all of the entries in order (in case you wanted to jump around):

Day 1: Oko
Day 2: Pinkberry
Day 3:Red Mango
Day 4: Yolato
Day 5: 40 Carrots
Day 6: Very Berry
Day 7: Flurt
Day 8: Berry Wild Smooth and Kindy Icy
Day 9: Crazy Bananas

On a Friday after work, I stopped by the Starwich in the Citigroup Center for a quick bite to eat. Starwich has locations all over Manhattan and offers a healthy alternative for upscale food on the go. Since the Citigroup Center location mostly caters to people in Midtown and people leave work by 6PM on Fridays, they stock their kitchen accordingly. When I arrived at 6:30 (they’re open pretty late), Starwich was almost out of ALL of their menu options (no joke). I originally wanted the filet mignon sandwich (herb-crusted filet mignon, caramelized onion compote, roasted garlic and horseradish aioli, tuscan log) but since they were sold out of the tuscan log, I had to substitute the log with sourdough bread:

The bread was really dry and the meat wasn’t tender at all - it was really overcooked and tough. I wasn’t really a fan of the sandwich. The sourdough and the onions didn’t mix well together and I couldn’t even finish the thing.

Chris ordered the spinach salad with chicken strips:

The salad was dressed well but the chicken was dry and the only topping it came with was corn. I blame the crappiness of our meal to the fact that they don’t plan the logistics of Starwich correctly; shouldn’t they only keep Starwich open at 6:30 on a Friday night if they have business? I read that Starwich is really busy during lunch hours, so maybe during the rush they have more options.

Starwich is an interesting concept of a restaurant/cafe because they offer wi-fi and phone chargers along with comfy couches:

They also offer delivery throughout Manhattan (ANYWHERE), which I think is pretty convenient. The guy that was working was really friendly and I wish I had a better experience at Starwich, but I really disliked the food and the fact that they didn’t have anything from their menu.

How to get to Starwich:

Starwich
153 E. 53rd Street between 3rd and Lexington
New York, NY 10022
212-371-7772