Teany (Not so Itsy Bitsy)

Patrick Food, New York, Restaurants, UK Life

Tea NYTeany is owned by Moby and is one of the many tea rooms that surprisingly exist in New York. It’s located in the East Village and serves over one hundred types of specialities in addition to vegetarian and vegan foods including sandwiches, scones, biscuits and cakes. I think you pronounce the story as “Tea NY” opposed to “teeny” but it wasn’t quite clear to me. As I sat and had my tea and scone I noticed that the majority of people appeared to be tourists with their lonely planet guides in tow, or a few local fashionably dressed New Yorkers.

Tea and SconeThe tea menu is overwhelming and although the prices are over inflated for New York some of the teas are definitely unique blends that are worth the try. The pot of tea is also excessively large and easily serves two people. I ordered the Earl Grey Creme, a scented black tea infused with vanilla flavours and as I just found out on their site, apparently one of their best sellers. I found it nice and light without any need for sugar what so ever. I also ordered a scone with clotted cream and jam that I thought was okay for the United States. Like most things on the continent I could taste the large amount of sugar or sweetener they’d added so each bite didn’t really need much jam other than for a different flavour. I think it would have went well with a tea that tasted slightly more bitter.

The atmosphere was bustling without being too crowded and if New York has good weather, I suggest sitting outside in the canvas-covered area where you can absorb the maximum amount of sun and warmth.

Details: Teany Cafe
Found on: 90 Rivington Street, New York, NY 10002
Contactable on: +1 (212) 475-9190
Highlights: Huge selection of teas, vegan selection of food and a nice relaxed atmosphere.
Room for improvement: Slightly overpriced in all aspects but understandable considering the name behind it
The Kua Rating: 6.5 out of 10

Going Vegetarian

Patrick Food, UK Life

Last November I decided I was going to try going vegetarian for a month as an experiment to see how hard it would be, what things I would normally eat that I would miss, and to see how it affects the body. December was out since it was such a festive period and part of January since I didn’t want to miss out on certain food experiences whilst overseas, I’ve committed to trialling a month of being a vegetarian until February 6.

Here are the rules I’m playing by:

  • All fruit, vegetables and legumes are fine.
  • Certain meat products are okay such as all forms of diary products (cheese and milk).
  • Eggs are okay.
  • No meats including your standard chicken, lamb, beef and all types of seafood.
  • Products listing animal rennet and gelatin must be avoided.

If you have any suggestions about making the move, some recipes or some other tips I should be aware of (maybe other things I should avoid), I would certainly like to hear about them.

Pescatore

Patrick Food, New York, Restaurants, Travel

When I was in New York, I managed to catch up with Gerrod and Kristy a couple of times and we visited a couple of nice restaurants together with their current visitors Karl and Caroline. The most recent one we visited was Pescatore that conveniently wasn’t too far from where they lived. This restaurant is split into two floors with apparently the bottom floor a totally different and definitely more positive experience than if you sat on the top floor. Gerrod thankfully booked in advance (it’s one of those things that you just have to do if you want to go eat somewhere in Manhattan at a normal dining hour) and they seated us at a nice round table as soon as we arrived.

As it sounds by the name, this restaurant serves Italian food and after dinner I concluded it was pretty decent stuff too. By the time we sat down I think we were all pretty hungry so we ordered appetisers and an entree (a main course dish) soon after we arrived. When the first course arrived I think we were all stunned by the size of the plates and could have easily been almost a meal on its own. The calamari plate was huge as was the bruschetta and the bowl of lobster bisque I ordered was absolutely massive. I thought the lobster bisque was fantastic – it had the right level of creaminess and just enough flavour without being overbearingly fishy. Better yet was the huge number of lobster chunks all throughout it and the small toasted bread to give it additional contrast. My mail meal, a grilled snapper was also nice though I thought it was slightly overcooked and their effort to completely debone the fish was incomplete. Service was pretty good all night around and the waiters seemed to top up our water glasses just enough times and they were never in our face.

Details: Pescatore
Found on: 955 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022, USA
Contactable on: +1 212-752-7151
Highlights: Great dining atmosphere on the ground floor. Great valued appetisers.
Room for improvement: My fish was slightly overcooked and my fish still had a couple of bones left in them.
The Kua Rating: 7 out of 10

Morimoto in Philadelphia

Patrick Food, Restaurants, Travel

Morimoto from the OutsideOther than a small sign embedded into the wall, and surprisingly discrete green doors leading into the restaurant, it is easy to walk by the entrance to Morimoto’s restaurant on Chestnut street that lies not too far from the Independence Hall. I ended up selecting this restaurant for lunch when I was in Philadelphia because it is one of two restaurants (the other ironically in New York City) owned by Iron Chef Morimoto.

The interior is a stunning work of art with a crested wooden wave floating high about your head and intricate designs impressed along the walls drawing down to the sushi bar and kitchen area at the back. Division by frosted glass tinged with colourA sculpture at the entrance splits the room into two with two walk ways splitting the main dining area into four main rows lined with glass tables and very comfortable modern wooden chairs. Each set of tables are separated by a thick layer of frosted glass embedded with a pulsating light at the bottom that cycles through calming tones of colours including purple, green, blue, and red. The shifting colours also incidentally pulse through the Morimoto sign that sits outside. Trendy lounge music pipes throughout the restaurant and even though the restaurant was fairly empty throughout my lunch the music never became overwhelmingly loud.

Cool interiorsThe interior is a stunning work of art with a crested wooden wave floating high about your head and intricate designs impressed along the walls drawing down to the sushi bar and kitchen area at the back. Though not Michelin starred, I thought the food was going to be more expensive given the name behind it but most dishes were reasonably priced. Morimoto offers a better valued set lunch including a salsad miso soup and a main course ranging between USD16-21 dollars. You can of course order individual dishes off the menu or the sushi menu but they also offer a set of tasting menus ranging from USD40 to USD80. I decided to pick one of these since I thought it would be the best way to not have to choose one particular thing and get a taste for many different courses without ending up with lots of food leftover. Based on the cost, the number of courses and the quality of ingredients improves as the price increases and better yet, you can still order it even if you are dining by yourself. Read on to find out what I ended up actually getting. Read more “Morimoto in Philadelphia”

New York Subways

Patrick Annoyances, New York, Travel

SubwayOne big difference I’ve noticed since coming to New York after living in London is how upfront people asking for money are. In one day alone I think I had about five different groups of people go through my subway car asking for money. Some of the more memorable ones since being here include:

  • A Mexican guy that played his guitar who never spoke a word of English, singing in Spanish, tipping his hat as a suggestion and saying thank you in Spanish.
  • A group of young kids (12 or 13 years old) who went outright and admitted they were trying to make money for themselves accepting donations and selling Starburst lollies (or candies as they say here)
  • A guy who had had his legs amputated sitting in a wheelchair who moved down a carriage at a time at each subway stop asking for donations.
  • A normal homeless guy rattling his cup as he walks through all the carriages.
  • Another homeless guy asking for anything (food, clothing or money to spare) using a story that he just had an operation on his leg.

Philadelphia

Patrick Travel

Yesterday I decided to take a day trip out to Philadelphia since I’d never been before and it’s close enough to catch a bus to and from New York City. Chinatown buses run regularly between the two cities each hour from early in the morning to late at night and it’s extremely cheap at only USD20.

Liberty Bell

It was a beautiful day in Philadelphia with almost perfectly clear blue skies and it made walking around to all the various tourist attractions quite nice. I first took a trip to the Visitors Centre and did the round trip of all the sights in the Old City. The famous cracked Liberty Bell sits just a block down and is easy to find once you make your way through all the security points. It’s not as big as I thought it would have been but the crack certainly is. Independence Hall sits one block further and you can take a free guided tour of the place where the Declaration of Independence was first approved and where a few of the original draft copies still sit.

Cheese SteakI also tried visiting the US Mint but it had shut for the New Year break so I took to walking around town for a little bit more. Lunch I had at Iron Chef Morimoto’s awesome restaurant for lunch (another entry soon to come). I also ended up visiting the Reading Terminal Markets – apparently the equivalent of the London Borough markets but definitely lacking its wide variety and I finally walked past City Hall and the tallest building in Philadelphia, One Liberty Place.

Given the fantastic weather, I thought the city was quite nice with many large walls around town painted with colourfully bright murals. I did notice a huge number of homeless people though and even saw a few people causing trouble being dragged away by the police. Before heading home for the evening, I popped down to Pat’s King of Steaks – the place where the famous Philadelphia Cheese Steak apparently first started and just down the road from its overly neon lit competitor Geno’s. I had been advised to skip the Cheese Whiz and went for the Provolone instead and ‘wit’ (meaning with onions). It was alright but I don’t think I’ll be ordering it again anytime soon. Philly is a great day trip from New York and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who’s seen all the sights of New York City. You can see more pictures from my trip here.

The Color Purple

Patrick Entertainment, New York, Theatre, Travel

The Color PurpleUnlike most West End tickets in the UK, tickets for Broadway shows seem to have a great variation with almost all tickets on last minute sites going for several hundred US dollars even though the original price is about twenty to forty US dollars. However thanks to a little hunting around I found a decently priced ticket offered by Razor Gator to see the Oprah Winfrey presented Broadway show, The Color Purple (sorry for the American spelling but I think it’s more correct in this case). At first I thought Razor Gator seemed a little dodgy when they told me to pick up my ticket from a bartender at an Italian restaurant just off Broadway but it all worked in the end and I got my ticket in the nose-bleed section of the theatre. The seat was actually not bad since they hadn’t sold out the entire theatre and there weren’t that many people sitting in front of me so I had a good view of the stage.

This musical follows the life of a small African American girl as she goes through all the trials and tribulations of living in the early 1900s. We see her mistreated as a child, abused as a wife, make friends with stronger female characters and ultimately triumph over all adversity in the typical heartfelt manner. Unsurprisingly, given the theme of this musical, the crowd was largely composed of large groups of African Americans. The set and the costumes are simple but very appropriate given the setting. The music on the other hand is extremely colourful and the songs are very catchy including that little bit of jazz, bit of blues, a touch of gospel and a hint of ragtime.

I’m glad that I saw this show in Broadway as I think it’s most apt played by Americans and the strong appreciation of the audience and it certainly makes up for the last show I saw.

TheKua.com Rating: 7.5 out of 10