New York City Restaurants - December 27, 2012

Go! Go! Curry!

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Location: 231 Thompson Street New York, NY 10012

Time: 12:00 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $7.50

Type of restaurant: Japanese curry restaurant

Food consumed: 
- Katsu (Pork) Curry- Medium

Website: http://www.gogocurryusa-ny.com/

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on image to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
My friend recommended this restaurant to me. I did not plan on coming to this place. I just walked around NYU and stumbled upon this place. I was the only customer so I started chatting with the lone employee. He was very friendly and asked how the food was, instant $2.00 tip (wow, that's 27%).

The curry was good and was safe for my stomach. Was not as salty as most Japanese curry are.

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

Good thing I did not eat the eggs. I asked for recommendations, the employee told me that Asians prefer the Katsu, I think he was hinting to me to not eat the eggs.

VERDICT: JerJai's Seal of Approval!

Pomme Frites

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Location: 123 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10003

Time: 1:30 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $6.00 (Hmm, not sure why they charged me $6.00, it's $4.50 + tax @ 9%. That comes to $4.91) Must be ripping off the tourist again.

Food consumed: 
- Regular fries with Sweet Mango Chutney Mayo

Website: http://www.pommesfrites.ws/default.htm

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on image to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
The fries were amazing and fresh. There was a line-up and seating was limited. Would definitely return if it wasn't for the inspection reports.

I snuck a shot of the kitchen. They peel, cut and fry the potatoes in-house.

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

This restaurant has a nice rap sheet. Of the 14 inspections, 4 were successful. The latest one being November 13, 2012, had mice infestations.

The unscored reports are for violation of city laws. Apparently NYC has a law for trans fat. Pomme Frites uses artificial trans fat and did not have proper nutrition label.

VERDICT: BANNED purely based on the inspection reports. But will return if I come back to NYC. It appears that mice infestation and flies are common in NYC.

O'Reilly's Pub

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Location: 56 West 31st Street, New York, NY 10001

Time: 8:30 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $22.00 before tax and tips

Food consumed: 
- Irish Sausage - $15.00
- Boddington's - $7.00

Website: http://www.oreillyspubnyc.com/

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

Mice again. 5/8 inspections passed, still an okay success rate. I might be harsh on my NYC reviews. But mice are mice.

VERDICT: BANNED! Mice are everywhere in NYC.

New York City Restaurants - December 26, 2012

Sabrett Hot Dog Stand

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Location: Near 500 Park Avenue

Time: 1:00 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $5.00

Type of restaurant: Hot Dog Stand

Food consumed: 
- Sausage - $5.00

Website: http://www.sabrett.com/company.cfm

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on image to enlarge)

Review of Stand:
I wanted to try out the hot dog in NYC, so I just went to a random one. I found it odd that the prices are not displayed. I asked the guy at the stand and he said it was $5.00. I paid and ate. Surprisingly, there are no condiments for you to add bacon, pickles, etc.

When I told my NYC friend about my experience, he said that New Yorkers pay $1.00 for hot dogs. I need to bargain with them. So there you go, I got ripped off by the hot dog stand guy.

Nuts4Nuts Hot Dog Stand

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Location: Somewhere in Central Park along 5th Avenue, in front of a lake.

Time: 1:00 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $3.00

Type of restaurant: Hot Dog Stand

Food consumed: 
- Hot dog - $3.00

Website: http://nuts4nyc.com/

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on image to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
Right after eating my sausage, I was still hungry and also curious, I wanted to see if I was ripped off (this is prior to speaking to my NYC friend). The stands in Central Park all display their prices prominently, so I went to one. The $3.00 hot dog pictured above was also a complete t rip-off, I would pay less than $1.00 for this. I got robbed twice that afternoon.

TOURIST TIP: Never pay more than $1.00 for hot dogs in New York. Bargain and be prepared to leave.

Shake Shack

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Location: 691 8th Ave, New York, NY 10036

Time: 10:00 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $11.25 before tax

Food consumed: 
- Shack Stack - $8.60
- French Fries - $2.65

Website: http://www.shakeshack.com/

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Cheeseburger and a mushroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato and Shacksauce

Review of Restaurant:
I was told about the legend of this burger chain. My friend recommended this and the tour guide said it was the best burger in town. The lineup was not too long because it was late in the evening and raining. This is comparable to Burger Priest in Toronto.

The burger was special, but expensive. Would definitely try the other options.

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

Faith in New Yorkers restored. No major concerns on my part aside from the one critical violation.

VERDICT: JerJai's Seal of Approval.

New York City Restaurants - December 25, 2012

Westway Diner

I met a tourist on the plane and we went here together. Stranger danger?

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Location: 614 9 Avenue, Manhattan, 10036

Time: 10:00 am

Party Size: 2

Price: $8.48

Type of restaurant: Diner

Food consumed: 
- Lipton Tea - $1.59
- Two Fried Eggs with Sausage served with potatoes and toast - $6.89

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Review of Restaurant:
New York City also has an inspection report. It is ran by the New York City Department of Health. Here is a link to the website: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/rii/index.shtml

Letter grades of A, B or C are given based on the number of points accumulated. The higher the points means more violations.

A - 0 to 13 points
B - 14 to 27 points
C - 28+ points

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

I find the website more user-friendly and more informative than the City of Toronto's DineSafe. The latest result is posted above. It was inspected on June 25, 2012. You will notice that it has 13 points, just a borderline A. They did not fare well as noted in the "Ungraded section.

Ungraded, according to this link, are for failed re-inspections who do not score below 28. They are re-inspected monthly until it scores below 28 or else, it is forced to close.

This restaurant has a rocky past. With scores as high as 49! (hot food not held above 60 Celsius, evidence of mice present, food not protected from potential source of contamination, food contact surface not properly washed, etc, just too many to list). Of the 13 inspections since July 27, 2010 (first time the program was implemented), it passed 5 of them (3 As and 2 Bs). That's a 38% success rate.

Based on the latest results, flies were present in the facility's food and/or non-food area.

You might ask, why did I even come here? I blame it on ignorance, being unfamiliar in a new environment, was recommended by the concierge at my new friend's hotel and I couldn't check reviews because the internet connection at the hotel was very slow.

VERDICT: Easy one, BANNED! I do not know how my stomach survived this. Maybe Americans know how to keep food cleaner in a dirty environment than Chinese restaurants.

Son Ja Jang

Korea Town in New York City

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Location: 34 West 32nd Street New York, NY 10001

Time: 9:00 pm

Party Size: 1

Price: $16.98 before tax and tips

Food consumed: 
- Janchi Gugsu  (Hot Noodle in Broth) - $10.99
- Oriental Brewery beer - $5.99

Website: http://www.sonjajang.com/index.html

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

OB beer with the appetizers

I tried to capture the steam from the soup.

Yogurt drink as dessert

Review of Restaurant:
It was late at night and I wanted to eat something close by. I lived near Korea Town so I walked down the street to narrow my selection. For some reason, I picked this place.

The latest A grading is dated July 19, 2012.

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

The inspection report was tricky. It is like two restaurants in one. I found it under Mukeunji II.

There is a flaw in the inspection report. The latest inspection is on December 5, 2012 (see below). They received 53 points, resulting in a C grading. However, If you look at the picture of the store front (above), the letter A is posted. As the December 5, 2012 is "Ungraded", this means that the uninformed and majority of the public will not know the true results of the inspection.

Source: http://a816-restaurantinspection.nyc.gov/RestaurantInspection/SearchDetails.do

Hot food and cold food at wrong temperature, mices, roaches, dirty wiping cloths, etc...

So the rumours about NYC having dirty restaurants are true. It's also truly unbelievable that my stomach did not react at all. Again, the display of the grading is flawed. The C grading should be displayed, no mercy granted.

VERDICT: BANNED! So far, it's 2 for 2.

New York City, NY - Dec 25-28, 2012

From December 25, 2012 to December 28, 2012, I was in New York City. I visited Central Park, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, shopped at Fifth Avenue, went on walking tours and ate at the some of the numerous restaurants.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Lived across the Macy's at Herald Square. The second largest store, a store in South Korea dethroned them. Surprised that Macy's hasn't updated the sign.

Central Park. Beautiful park.

Graffiti at SOHO

Times Square

St-Patrick's Cathedral

Oops, only saw this when I was about to leave

Snowy day at Central Park

Strawberry Fields memorial for John Lennon at Central Park

Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center

Arch honouring George Washington at Washington Square Park

Chrysler building behind the Grand Central Terminal

December 25, 2012
Brunch - Westway Diner (BANNED)

Dinner - Son Ja Jang (BANNED)

December 26, 2012
Lunch - Sabrett Hot Dog Stand (Tourist Beware)
           - Nuts 4 Nuts Hot Dog Stand (Tourist Beware)

Dinner - Shake Shack (Seal of Approval)

December 27, 2012
Lunch - Go! Go! Curry! (Seal of Approval)
            - Pomme Frites (BANNED)

Dinner - O'Reilly's Pub (BANNED)

Theme Song

Don't forget to listen to this song while reading the blog entries on the restaurants in New York.

Akina Japanese Cuisine - The dark past unveiled

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Date visited: December 23, 2012

Time: 1:40 pm

Party Size: 4

Price: $5.99 before tax and tips

Type of restaurant: Japanese All You Can Eat (AYCE) or À la carte

Food consumed: 
- Deep fried pork cutlet bento served with miso soup, green salad, rice and maki
I wanted to eat Japanese curry but they did not have a bento box version. The waitress asked the manager if they could accommodate my wants, which they did. Kudos to the service.

Pictures of food consumed: (Click on images to enlarge)

Japanese curry was added to the meal. Bonus ingredient, no extra charge.

Review of Restaurant:

• Why did I come to this restaurant?

My parents picked it despite my protest. I personally did not like this restaurant based on previous visits.

 

• What did I think of the service?

As mentioned above, the waitress accommodated my wants. The rest of the experience was typical of a Chinese owned restaurant.

• How did my sensitive stomach feel?
  

No stomach upset. No diarrhea. Yes, I can enjoy the Christmas holidays without spending unnecessary time in the washroom. That means no online boxing day with my tablet in the washroom.

• What about the York Region Inspection Report? 

   

  (Click on images to enlarge - in reverse chronological order)

  

  Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

  

  Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

  

  Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

  

  Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

  

  Source: http://www.york.ca/Services/Public+Health+and+Safety/Food+Safety/yorksafedisclosure.htm

October 5, 2011
Let's spend some time on October 5, 2011. There were 5 infractions that were not in compliance. Food not protected from potential contamination, equipment not maintained, food contact surfaces washed, walls are dirty and dim lighting. Combination of these 5 infractions is a recipe for food poisoning. Luckily, I did not visit the restaurant prior to October 5, 2011 or else this would have been the second restaurant closed down by my stomach.

October 7, 2011
They were able to clean up after 2 days. The October 7, 2012 inspection was a clean record.

March 30, 2012
Hand washing before and after food handling. This is basic sanitation. Even kids learn about this at school.

Second time for improper storage of clean utensils. First was on October 5, 2011.

VERDICT: BANNED. Unauthentic Japanese served by Chinese. Based on the inspection reports, I am banning this place. (The fact that they did not charge me for the Japanese curry does not sway my verdict. I am not easily persuaded.)