HK Cafe

HK Cafe, Hell's Kitchen


http://www.hkhellskitchen.com/

523 9th Ave
New York, NY 10018

Yelp Review

From the website

Okay first off, here lies unlimited bloody marys/bellinis/mimosas/screwdrivers/champagne at brunch for 15 dollars.  You had me at hello.

I had brunch here with some former classmates of mine from URI.  I wanted to pick a location close to Port Authority since my friend had a bus to catch afterward.  This place had decent reviews and although I was worried at first by the location, it is truly beautiful and sleek inside.

Lina stuck with coffee.  I chose a bellini as my bottomless drink and Kaoru chose a bloody mary... I think.  After the waiter coming by ensuring my glass was never empty I probably blanked out on a couple of things, haha.  I thought it was weak enough at first, but probably not since by my 5th one I was done.   I know, weak!  But it was only noon on a Sunday, my brain can't handle that!


There are plenty of choices here, simple like oatmeal or more elaborate like a lobster omelet.  There are also more lunch style options, but the point of brunch for me is to get breakfast.  Kaoru did like her turkey burger, which was pretty big.  Lina and I chose breakfast.  She got the eggs with smoked salmon.  As for my food, it was a nice big plate and overall good food.  I took the suggestion from our waiter and ordered the HK fritata, which comprised of merguez sausage, bell peppers and salsa.  It was good, but with all that drinking I wish I had ordered a side of toast.  Instead I ate Lina's toast!

Overall I would love to come here again.  Although I hear there are better brunch spots, this one was quite top-notch.  Plus there is a flea market next door! Good for me to walk off my champagne buzz!

Lederhosen

Lederhosen, West Village

39 Grove Street
New York, NY 10014

http://www.lederhosennyc.com/

Yelp Reviews

From the website

So a postdoc in my department had returned from a vacation in Germany, her homeland.  She talked on and on about the various meals and desserts she had.  It all sounded very good and all of the food she mentioned, I have never had.  My labmates suggested we and some other women go out for a german dinner one night, which made me very excited.


This is a medium sized restaurant in the West Village, on a residential street.  The main dining area had picnic bench style seating and german cultural knick knacks covering the walls.  Also plenty of signs saying, if you break anything it goes on your tab.  I guess Oktoberfest gets a little wild at this place.  Our waitress got our drink our immediately, and I  had 2 large glasses of hefeweiss for the night.  We all had different variety of platters at our large table, so it was nice to share some.  Only 2 quibbles.  The waitress forgot my order of spaetzle, so when I asked, it came out just about when I was full from the dinner platter.  She also said the kitchen messed up our german friend's order: the wrong schnitzel came out.  Which she decidedly did not like but at least didn't have to pay for.  The right dish came out, which was from her home region , but was decidedly not the way she preferred.  She also thinks the wursts are not housemade, which makes the restaurant lose some authenticity points.


Anyway, the dinner platters definitely do shine here.  Me and 3 others got the Zwei Wuerste Lederhosen Art, where one can order 2 different types of wurst and a choice of specific side dishes.  From recommendations of the women there as well as looking at yelp, I ordered the currywurst (new to me) and the bratwurst (a reliable choice).  My sides were delicious.  I generally hate cabbage, but the way they prepared the red cabbage was so good, I ate it all up.  The german fried potatoes was also excellent.  The spaetzle when I did get it, was decent, but like I said I would have preferred it if I wasn't already so full.   The mistaken dinner that came out was the Zigeunerschnitzel, a schnitzel in spicy red sauce, and although the other girl didn't like it, the some that she shared I thought was pretty damn good and I would maybe order that myself if I ever chose to come back.

For dessert we ordered 4 different kinds to share amongst our group.  The german chocolate cake, was decent, the apple cake was excellent and the black forest cake was my personal favorite.  And of course the waitress didn't put in our cheesecake order.  Which we were like, oh never mind.

So would I come here again? Maybe. But the service most definitely needs to be worked on.  However, german food agrees with me.  Can't wait to try it again.

Chimu

Chimu Peruvian Cusiine and Steakhouse, Williamsburg

From nycgo.com :J. Allen Hamill

482 Union Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211


Yelp Review
This is a warning to any vegans/vegetarians.  This restaurant has virtually nothing to offer you unless you make a meal out of side dishes, and a salad.  Not too diverse.

Which is a shame because this place is awesome.  A meat-eater/seafood paradise.  I've been here twice, the first time with my friend Fi, for her birthday.  As she is Peruvian and stated that this is authentic, so much the better.

It is a small place but both times we didn't have too much trouble getting a table.  The second time, the group was larger so we just waited by the bar area for about 15 minutes.

When you are seated, they give you these corn kernels with a spicy green sauce.  It's quite tasty but hard on the teeth.  For appetizers we ordered the Papa a la Huancaina,  boiled potatoes in a spicy cheese sauce.

Their sangria and wines are quite good, but  not really the star of the restaurant.  The star is the Peruvian chicken.  Poultry of legend.  It is basically roasted chicken marinated in various spices.  The 1st night they ran out chicken, so I ordered Arroz Chaufa Peruvian , which is steak fried rice.  Which was so good, I couldn't help but order it again the second time.  Also a plate of maduros, or fried sweet plantains.  They gave a lot, and I never feel like sharing, they are so good.

From looking at other people's plates, the tostones, the steak and of course the chicken, are all excellent choices.  I look forward to coming here again and tasting more dishes.