This image, for me, exudes the idea of relaxation and calmness while having some fantastic food and drinks and that's exactly what happened for my friend and I at Petite Boucherie.  We stopped by here the other night and found the vibe to be extremely chill and the food to be incredible.

To start, I ordered the Salade Meli-Melo ($15) which was absolutely fantastic.  I am such a fan of burrata and when I saw this on the menu, I immediately went for it.  I mean, who doesn't love burrata?  Anyways, the combination of the tomatoes and the pesto was delicious.  There was so much flavor packed in this salad - I highly recommend it!

My friend ordered the beet salad (sorry, but I forgot the name of it exactly because my own salad was just so much better) which he really enjoyed.  We both polished off our salads pretty quickly because they were just so fantastic.

For my main entree, I got the Moules Frites ($26) which was delicious.  I wasn't that hungry especially after that salad I had to I opted for a dish that I knew wouldn't be too filling especially since the amount of mussels in each mussel is minuscule.

I absolutely loved the fries - they were cooked (or fried) to perfection and was a nice complement to the mussels.

The entree that my friend ordered was absolutely delicious.  He got the Linguine Neri ($25) and even though I only had a bit of it, I can still remember how yummy it tasted.  There was also a large amount of seafood in it - Petite Boucherie was not stingy in that regard!  Honestly, I would have opted for this dish as well if it wasn't because I wasn't terribly hungry.  However, when I visit again, I will be sure to order this dish or try something new!

As you can clearly tell, we were at the restaurant for a while because by the time we ordered dessert, night had fallen and it was a struggle taking a nice photo of the dessert!

We decided to go for the Apple Tartine which was nice but nothing too special.  It was basically half an apple sliced and then baked with some cinnamon seasoning and then placed on top of a crust.  Then there was that nice dollop of ice cream which added a nice touch.

Overall, I would definitely go back because the food is fantastic and the service is impeccable.  They also have a very decent selection of wine that I urge you to check out when you visit.

Overall Verdict on Petite Boucherie: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
Petite Boucherie

14 Christopher St
New York, NY 10014
b/t Grove St & Waverly Pl
(646) 756-4145

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? WOULD YOU BE ADDING THIS FANTASTIC FRENCH BISTRO ON YOUR LIST OF PLACES TO CHECK OUT? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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Yoon Haeundae Galbi | NYC

My friend and I stopped by Yoon Haeundae Galbi the other night for some much-needed Korean BBQ.  We ended up not getting too much food in terms of appetizers because originally, there were a few that we wanted to check out.  However, after eating all of the meats and the soybean soup, we were completely stuffed.  Next time!

First, we got the meats!  We opted for the Fresh Short Rib ($40) and the Marinated Short Rib ($38).  Both were absolutely fantastic.  The quality of the meat here is much better than what I have had in K-town so far.  While both were good, my personal favorite was definitely the Marinated one mainly because with the Fresh Short Rib, you need to add some sauce and seasoning before you actually consume it. Whereas for the Marinated version, you can simply cook and enjoy!

Once you're done with the meat, you can choose to add some potato noodles ($8).  We decided to get this since we heard some great things about it but honestly, this was just okay.  The main purpose, at least for me, was to soak up the remnants of all that meat juice from earlier as well as the sauce in the marinated meat.  Personally, I would have opted for an appetizer or something else rather than this. 

We also got the Soy Bean Stew ($13) which was fantastic.  It's made with the leftover bones of their super quality beef and thus, the stew tasted incredibly rich.  I would describe it as a Korean-version beef stew especially with all those potatoes in there.  My friend and I were absolutely raving about this dish and I would like to try to recreate it at home now that winter is coming.

Overall, Yoon Haeundae Galbi was just delicious.  It's a few blocks from K-town but the ambiance and the quality of the meat you can find here just can't be beat.

Overall Verdict on Yoon Haeundae Galbi: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
Yoon Haeundae Galbi

8 W 36th St
New York, NY 10018
b/t Avenue Of The Americas & 5th Ave
(212) 244-5345

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? WOULD YOU BE ADDING THIS PLACE ON YOUR LIST OF PLACES  TO CHECK OUT? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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Kati Shop | NYC

My friend and I stopped by the Kati Shop the other day for lunch and we were quite impressed with everything. I love the fact that they focus on authentic Thai curries and it was actually their family who was in kitchen making all the various curries.  Personally, I see a lot of Pad Thai and other Thai noodle dishes that having a place that focused on the curries was appealing to me.

So the way how this place works is that you pick a base which can be jasmine rice, riceberry or cabbage.  Then you a pick a protein (salmon, tofu, etc.), a curry sauce (4 choices) and then two sides.

For me, I got the riceberry which I find very comparable to the Korean purple rice.  I thought that having this option was a great choice on their part.  I also picked the salmon as my protein since I haven't had it in a while and was craving it.  She also allowed us to mix two curries together so I opted for the Panang and the Massaman curries.  Both were fantastic!  Those were the two that I am more familiar with which is why I ended up picking those two.  The Green curry would have also been a decent choice but their Kati signature curry was extremely spicy!  Even for me, who absolutely loves all things spicy, did not feel comfortable choosing that.

The two sides that I got was the larb mushroom and the healthy green beans.  Personally, I liked the green beans more than the larb mushrooms.  There was a hint of sourness in the mushrooms that I didn't particularly enjoyed.  I'm just not a fan of sour things so if you are then definitely try the mushrooms!

My friend got the chicken and riceberry with the same two curries that I had picked.  For his sides, he got the mushrooms and the somtum slaw.  Unlike me, he really enjoyed the mushrooms and didn't care much for the slaw.  Lesson of the day: everyone has different tastes so while I didn't like the mushrooms at all, my friend basically inhaled that side down.

We also opted for an additional side because we both wanted to check out the cucumber salad.  This side was actually both of our favorites!  The cucumbers were so refreshing once we paired it with our individual curry plates.  And because it was so refreshing, it also allowed us to eat more of our main dishes.  

I also loved the fact that they serve genuine coconut water in a coconut there.  It was so fresh and absolutely delicious.  If you're there, definitely grab one of these to try!

Overall Verdict on Kati Shop: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
Kati Shop

162 E 55th St
New York, NY 10022
b/t Lexington Ave & 3rd Ave
(646) 869-1362

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? WOULD YOU BE ADDING THIS PLACE ON YOUR TO-GO FOR LUNCH? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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Hortus | NYC

I am so enthralled with the food here at Hortus 😍.  Pretty much everything here was delicious with the exception of one or two items that I didn't 100% love.  I mean, just look at that Seafood Platter ($45)!  The oysters were extremely fresh and I loved the scallops.  The shrimp cocktail 🍤 was also really good - I especially enjoyed the homemade (or house special) cocktail sauce that it came with.  Extremely tasty.  Out of the entire platter, my least favorite was probably the king crab 🦀.  I had a lot of high expectations for it but while it was good, I don't think it was as amazing as others made it out to be.

We also grabbed some cocktails - these were called Garden ($11).  It wasn't on the menu when we visited but they might be on there now.  These were so delicious!  They were very light in terms of alcohol and incredibly refreshing due to the cucumbers in the drink.  I would definitely recommend these!

    

We ordered quite a number of appetizers because we wanted a taste of everything.  I also loved the fact that the manager himself went around each tables to personally ask how everyone was doing and in doing so, he also gave us some recommendations of new dishes and things we should try. 💞 So because of that, we ended up ordering more than we initially anticipated. 😅

On the left, we ordered the Yuzu Tare Angel Wing ($10).  This was one of the few dishes that my friend and I weren't super impressed with.  In the center, we got the Oysters Gratin ($10) and this was actually my least favorite of everything we ordered.  Admittedly, I did take quite some time to take photos and so it's very likely that because of the time I spent taking photos, the dish was then quite lukewarm and thus not that tasty.  This is definitely a dish that I would recommend eating it ASAP so the cheese will still be bubbling.  I did enjoy the Korean twist on this dish though since there is a hint of gochujang in it.  It's not very strong and not very spicy so those who aren't a spice lover can definitely enjoy this dish. 

On the right, we also got the Steamed Rice Roll ($12) which had a very distinct Chinese-inspired flavor to it, specifically that one dim-sum dish.  I actually really enjoyed this dish and found it very flavorful!  ☺ The only qualm though is that I thought that the rice roll itself was a bit too mushy for my taste.  It didn't have the chewy texture that I am used to

  

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The last two appetizers that we ordered were definitely my favorites!  The Crispy Sea Urchin ($13) was S O  G O O D!  😍 It was absolutely delicious and we loved how crunchy that seaweed part was.  It added such good texture and complemented the sea urchin so well.  I considered ordering more but for $13, it's a bit on the pricier end since it only came with 2 pieces.

The Charcoal Grilled Eggplant ($15) was another standout.  Honestly, everything about the dish was amazing.  My friend wasn't a big fan of eggplant so more for me!  The eggplant really reminded me of the Chinese street food that I had in Shanghai ages ago.  The only difference was that the street version had a ton of garlic whereas this one was loaded with minced pork, mozzarella and bread crumbs.  Yum!

The last dish that we ordered was the Beef ($42) to share.  O M G, this dish was phenomenal. 😍 It was a grilled ribeye that was cooked with Asian influences specifically in the seasoning as well as the romaine lettuce.  My friend and I absolutely devoured this entire dish.  It was so tender and so flavorful.  There was a bit of fat in it as typical of most ribeye steaks so if you're not into fattier meat then this one might not be for you.  But for us, it was divine.  Honestly, I would go back just for this.  And maybe the sea urchin as well. 🥰

For dessert, there was only one option - Rice Pudding ($7).  This would have been an amazing dessert if the mango was sweeter.  Since it isn't currently mango season and we went on a few short weeks ago (mid/late Sept), the mango was a bit on the sour/tart side.  Other than that, I really enjoyed the dessert!

Overall, I highly recommend this place!  The food was amazing and the ambiance was perfect for a date night or a girl's night.  The service was also impeccable and like I stated earlier, I loved how the  manager himself made the rounds continuously to ask if everything was okay.  That kind of service goes a long way!

Overall Verdict on Hortus: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
Hortus

271 5th Ave
New York, NY 10016
b/t 30th St & 29th St
(646) 858-3784

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? WOULD YOU BE ADDING THIS PLACE ON YOUR TO-GO LIST? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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Kahlo | NYC

My friend and I stopped by Kahlo on a rainy evening and we were glad to get some drinks to start things off.  Honestly, I forgot the names of the drinks since we actually got quite a number of them but they were all delicious!

The restaurant was also incredibly dark so please excuse the super dim and/or very flashy photos because it was probably the darkest restaurant I have been to recently and taking perfect photos here was very difficult.

To start, we obviously got the guacamole, specifically the Kahlo & Rivera ($16) which came highly recommended by the staff there.  I wasn't sure about the mango relish aspect of it since I tend to prefer my food to be all savory or all sweet and not a mix of both.  However, this one worked really well!  If you're looking for an unique twist on your regular guacamole, give this one a try.

We also decided to opt for a crudo dish and the Maine lobster ($18) was also recommended by the staff there.  To be honest, I think this was my least favorite out of all the dishes that we got.  I really enjoyed the large pieces of lobsters that were found in it but I wasn't particularly interested in the pineapple and mango relish.  And because that relish accounted for a large part of the dish, I ended up not enjoying it that much.  However, if you do like that relish then I think this dish would be great for you.

This was my second favorite dish!  We got a trio of molotes ($16) and for this one, we decided to get one of each.  Because my friend wasn't a fan of chorizo to start off with, he got the chicken and we split the huitlacoche (mushrooms) while I got the chorizo.  The chorizo one was S O  G O O D.  Good thing my friend didn't like chorizo because I would not have wanted to share this one at all!  It was flavorful and seasoned perfectly.  It wasn't too fatty tasting which can sometimes happen with chorizos.  The mushroom one was meh.  Maybe because I had the chorizo one first but in terms of taste and flavor, the mushroom tasted very bland in comparison.

We also decided to order two "botanitas", which I believe are appetizers.  The first one we ordered was the Tostados ($18).  I actually really liked the hard tortilla underneath but I thought that this tasted too fishy for me.  I think it was because of the caviar crema as well as the salmon eggs on top that really added that extra fishy-ness for me.  My friend really liked it though so I think it depends on how much you like fish!

The second "botanita" that we ordered was the prawns ($18).  It only came with 3 but they were huge!  It was also extremely flavorful and I really enjoyed the seasoning on them.

Of course, we couldn't not order some tacos so we decided to go for the Al Pastor tacos ($16) which came with 3 and I really enjoyed the tacos!  The shrimps that it came with were quite large which is always a good thing.  I also loved the savory-ness of the shrimps mingled with the sweet/tangy flavor of the pineapple salsa.  It worked really well together.

The final dish that we got was the Ancho Chile Arrachera ($34) which was by far, my favorite dish of the night.  I absolutely loved the presentation of the dish and how they rolled the skirt steak to resemble a rose.  The meat was so tender and seasoned so well.  We barely had to use a butter knife to slice the meat - it was that tender.  They didn't even give us a steak knife because they know that it was completely unnecessary.

We also ended up grabbing some desserts because who doesn't love dessert, right?  We opted for the Tres Leches and the Chocolate Mousse ($12 each).  I wasn't a big fan of Tres Leches to start off with so my friend was the one who gobbled that down.  He enjoyed it.  For the chocolate mousse, I thought it was very good.  The presentation for both (especially that chocolate mousse) was stunning.  I loved the flowers that they placed on each.

Overall, I enjoyed the place.  There were definitely a few dishes that I didn't love but there were definitely a number that I thoroughly enjoyed!  The standouts for me were definitely the skirt steak, the chorizo empanada and the guacamole.  The drinks that they have here were also fantastic so definitely give those a try as well! Also, the service was impeccable which is always a plus.

Overall Verdict on Kahlo: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
Kahlo

525 West 29th Street
Between 10th & 11th Ave
New York, NY 10001
(212) 256-0083

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN CHECKING OUT THIS NEW MEXICAN SPOT?  AND IF YOU'VE TRIED IT ALREADY, WHAT DID YOU THINK? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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Tatsu Ramen | NYC

My friend and I stopped by Sunday morning a few weeks ago and it was surprisingly very chilly so the ramen at Tatsu Ramen definitely hit the spot.

I decided to opt for the Bold Ramen ($13.50) because I wanted that egg.  I can't have my ramen without that delicious marinated soft-boiled egg and the ramen that I really wanted, Red Ramen, didn't come with it.  I would then have to order it on the side which was unfortunate.  

The Bold Ramen was incredibly flavorful and full of juicy pork fat especially with those thick cuts of pork.  Because it was so flavorful and fatty though, I couldn't finish the soup.  It was just too heavy for my stomach especially for a relatively early Sunday lunch.  The noodles were cooked al dente which is just how I like them.  I definitely recommend if you're looking for an incredibly flavored and bold ramen (pun intended)!

My friend opted for the Cheeky Ramen ($14.50) because he preferred his soup to be chicken-based as opposed to pork.  From what I recall, he isn't the biggest fan of pork so it was nice that Tatsu Ramen had options for those who prefer other types of broths.  

I didn't have a taste of that ramen but from what I could tell, he absolutely enjoyed it.  He gobbled that entire bowl down when I wasn't even halfway through with my own.  I think that clearly testaments how much he enjoyed that bowl of pure yummy-ness!

So originally, we wanted to grab a ramen burger as well since my friend never had one before and I wanted to get it for the gram LOL.  Unfortunately their grill was down and so we opted for the pork bun ($4.50) instead.  It was good but as you can clearly tell in the photo that the veggie to pork ratio is very much skewed.  And so, I didn't taste that much pork in the bun as opposed to the veggie and the sauce that it had.  

Overall, I would come back for the ramen.  I would be interested in checking out their ramen burger next time I visit and hopefully, the grill will be working!

Overall Verdict on Tatsu Ramen: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
Tatsu Ramen

167 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003
b/t 11th St & 10th St
(929) 284-7088

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? HAVE YOU HAVE BEEN HERE? WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT THIS RAMEN PLACE? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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French Epi | NYC

My friend and I found a Pulsd deal featuring French Epi which sounded really good.  I believe it was about $99 for an appetizer to share, 2 entrees and a dessert to share plus a bottle of wine.  Overall, it was a decent deal.  We were both surprised to find that when we arrived, there was absolutely no one there.  But hey, at least we'll have attentive service, right?  Not. 🙄

To start, we got the Grilled Giant Octopus ($16).  The octopus itself was delicious - perfectly grilled and very tender.  The one part that we thought was a bit odd was the mushy peas.  It was stated in the description for this dish but it was very bland and quite random, to be honest.  Why mushy peas?  My friend hoped that it was actually avocado LOL but alas.

My friend ordered the 8oz beef tenderloin ($32) 🥩 which looked quite nice.  He said it was overall not too bad but he has had better steak elsewhere.  As for the veggie sides, he said it was decent.  Overall, it was just a steak and nothing too amazing to write about.

We were both clearly in a steak mood 🥩 that day because I also ordered the steak but got the 12oz ribeye ($30).  Once my friend saw the comparison between his 8oz steak and my 12oz one, he was supremely jealous that he didn't order the ribeye as well.  As far as ribeye steaks goes, this one was decent.  It was tender and relatively flavorful.  I did notice that it did require a bit of bordelaise sauce which, for me, indicates that the steak itself wasn't that high of a quality.  

For dessert, we shared a souffle - I forget what kind specifically because that was how unmemorable this dessert was.  We also waited almost 45 minutes just for the dessert and when it finally arrived, it was ice cold.  🙄 It was as if they were waiting for the dessert to thaw as much as possible before serving because there was still a chunk inside that was frozen.  We were honestly so surprised by it but because we waited for so long, we didn't feel like waiting any longer to send it back to the kitchen.  

Overall, while the food itself was decent, the service (after waiting almost 45 mins) was very lacking especially when we were one of maybe two or three parties in the entire restaurant by the time we left.  

Overall Verdict on French Epi: 🌟🌟

I N F O R M A T I O N   O N   R E S T A U R A N T   M E N T I O N E D
French Epi

123 Greenpoint Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
b/t Franklin St & Manhattan Ave
 (718) 389-3029

Website | Yelp

WHAT ABOUT YOU? HAVE YOU HAVE BEEN HERE? WERE YOU AS DISAPPOINTED AS WE WERE?  LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS!   - Stephanie

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