Tanoshi Bento

There's a place in the Upper East Side - once little-known, that does amazing sushi: Tanoshi Sushi. They serve only Omakase, and per report, it's -yes- amazing. Unfortunately, ever since Time Out New York did an article on them a little while back, they've been swamped. SWAMPED. The place seats 10, and in order to get a reservation, you have to be there - in the restaurant, at 2pm 2 months in advance. INSANE

Not likely to happen for me any time soon... I doubt my Chief is going to let me duck out of the hospital to trek up to the east 70's mid-day, just to secure one of these much-desired reservations.

Instead, Daniella, Anna, and I settled on dinner at their sister restaurant (located right next door): Tanoshi Bento. As you might guess from their name, rather than serving up delicious sushi, they serve delicious bento boxes


Every bento comes with the usual salad as a starter (nothing special here):

And then comes the actual bento itself:

In addition to the entree, there is miso soup, a small serving of potato salad, a bite each of two different kinds of seaweed salad, a sampling of cold noodle with vegetables, a shumai, and of course rice


Anna and Daniella both ordered the Salmon Teriyaki:

Whereas I ordered the chicken katsu:

Exactly my idea of good comfort food... and so close to home!

Overall rating: 7/10

Tanoshi Bento
1372 York Ave
New York, NY 10021

Maison Kayser

What do you do when your dinner with friends is cut short by a crazy (and possibly homeless and/or intoxicated) lady who sits down next to you and starts eavesdropping on your conversation (with periodic interruptions and laughs)?


Move on to dessert! We chose Maison Kayser in the Upper East Side - just a few blocks away from my apartment (and I never knew about it until now??!!)


As you can guess by the name, it's French - or at least French themed - and the waiters were all dressed in adorable striped shirts and black suspenders.


I ordered the frozen hot chocolate (Anna and Daniella had coffee):

It was less sweet than what you would get at Serendipity 3, but rich and creamy


Anna opted for the raspberry tart:

Daniella had the Paris Brest (the outer pastry is similar to what you would get with a cream puff, and the inner filling was a hazelnut cream)

I chose the pistachio eclair (my first choice had actually been the crème brûlée, but they had run out by the time we arrived)

This dessert spot also serves dinner, but all the positive reviews that I've seen online were for their delicious breads and pastries.

The eclair was pretty good, but not earth shattering. Anna loved her tart, and Daniella's dessert was decent too.

Who knows - I might have swooned over the crème brûlée, but we'll have to wait until next time to find out.  I'll even give their brioche a try (they have 5 different kinds!!)



Maison Kayser
1294 3rd Ave
New York, NY 10021

Tea at the Pembroke Room in the Lowell Hotel

This weekend a few of my friends were visiting the city, and per the request of one of those friends, we decided to do Saturday afternoon high tea at the Lowell.

How -you might ask- did she happen to decide on the Lowell for tea? It's not one of the larger hotels in the city, nor is there immediate name-recognition for those who don't live here...?

It ends up that when we had initially decided on tea, I sent her a list of options (I think there are about 25 places in the city that offer weekend high-tea), and she chose the one with the "prettiest place-settings" and "most sandwich options"

The menu is below:

Classic Tea

$39 per person

·

LEAF TEAS AND HERBAL INFUSIONS

Our exclusive and handpicked selection

·

ENGLISH TEA SANDWICHES

Assorted Including:

Maine Lobster Salad, Cucumber and Watercress,

Deviled Quail Egg Salad, Scottish Smoked Salmon with Dilled Crème

Fraiche, and Smoked Turkey with Arugula and Homemade Mayonnaise

·

TRADITIONAL SCONES

Homemade with Lemon Curd and Devonshire cream

·

PETIT FOURS, MINI PASTRIES AND MACAROONS

Royal Tea

$49 per person

·

CHAMPAGNE, PORT OR SHERRY

One glass

·

LEAF TEAS AND HERBAL INFUSIONS

Our exclusive and handpicked selection

·

ENGLISH TEA SANDWICHES

Assorted Including:

Maine Lobster Salad, Cucumber and Watercress,

Deviled Quail Egg Salad, Scottish Smoked Salmon with Dilled Crème

Fraiche, and Smoked Turkey with Arugula and Homemade Mayonnaise

·

TRADITIONAL SCONES

Homemade with Lemon Curd and Devonshire cream

·

PETIT FOURS, MINI PASTRIES AND MACAROONS

The Lowell Imperial Tea

$75 per person

Take pleasure in our mouthwatering Golden Osetra Caviar and

Veueve Clicquot Champagne tea menu for two.

·

GOLDEN OSETRA CAVIAR

One ounce accompanied with blinis sourdough toast points

and condiments

·

ENGLISH TEA SANDWICHES

Assorted Including:

Maine Lobster Salad, Cucumber and Watercress,

Deviled Quail Egg Salad, Scottish Smoked Salmon with Dilled Crème

Fraiche, and Smoked Turkey with Arugula and Homemade Mayonnaise

·

TRADITIONAL SCONES

Homemade with Lemon Curd and Devonshire cream

·

PETIT FOURS, MINI PASTRIES AND MACAROONS

·

CHOICE OF TEA

John and I each decided on the Royal Tea, which (includes champagne) while the others opted for the Classic Tea

The tea is loose-leaf, which means don't forget to strain it as you pour! (I've been known to forget on occasion, and ended up drinking leaves. NOT yummy). I chose the Darjeeling tea:

The sandwiches include the typical turkey and smoked salmon:

As well as the cucumber (this cucumber sandwich was particularly boring, as there was very little cucumber or mayo):

Last but not least were the lobster (delicious - my favorite of them all) and quail egg:

The desserts included a pear tart:

Napoleon:

As well as chocolate eclair and blueberry (also raspberry - but not pictured) tarts:

The scones were of the plain or cranberry variety (these were served very fresh and warm!):

The scone condiments included lemon curd, strawberry jelly, Devonshire cream, and raspberry jelly:

 (Always eat responsibly and use condiments!!! Hahaha... I didn't come up with that joke...)


Last but not least, the top tier of our tea-tower included the petit-fours and macarons:

As always, the tea snacks were more filling than you would expect based on their size. Although the cucumber sandwiches were a disappointment and the macarons were not the best (check out my post on Laduree for an example of outstanding macarons), overall our experience at the Lowell was very good. Plus, I love the blue striped chairs! Classy...

Rating: 7.5/10


The Lowell
28 E 63rd St
New York, NY