Restaurant Review: Arancini Bros.

Details: I went to the holiday stall at Bryant Park in New York City. The official site is http://www.arancinibros.com/

This place was all right. This is a snack, not a meal, so don’t expect anything more. The rice balls are not substantial. You can get three rice balls for seven dollars, six for twelve dollars, and twelve for twenty something, although I would advise against ordering that many.

They have a variety of flavors. I ordered the Ragu, something else with pesto I think, and one that was described as an Italian macaroni and cheese. They were all okay. It was just really unfulfilling in regards to quantity.

Score: 5/10 It was just okay.

Restaurant Review: Toparepa

Details: I went the holiday stall at Bryant Park in New York City. The official site is http://toparepa.com/

This was pretty bad. I ordered the arepa with sun dried tomatoes, goat cheese, and pesto. It cost me ten dollars. I had trouble eating it because it tasted pretty bad. The arepa itself was okay, but also not great.

Score: 2.5/10 I do not recommend this.

Restaurant Review: La Sonrisa Empanadas

Details: Went to the holiday stall at Bryant Park. Official site is http://www.lasonrisafoods.com/

I came here for lunch. I bought the coconut curry chicken empanada, the pulled pork, and the elote corn. It came out to twelve dollars.

The empanadas were pretty good, but kinda pricey for their size. They were small. I’m probably never coming back and not going to recommend it unless you really need some deep fried empanadas.

Score: 4.2/10

Restaurant Review: Domo Taco

Details: I went to the holiday stall at Bryant Park in New York City. The official site is http://www.domotaco.com/

Domo Taco is a place that specializes in tacos and burrito bowls, but with an Asian twist. I came down to Bryant Park for lunch again and decided to try this place out. I’ve actually been to the food truck before and I think I got a burrito bowl.

This time, I ordered the three tacos for nine dollars deal. I got the teriyaki steak, the tempura fish, and the five spice pork tacos. They were all pretty good, but the steak was by far the best taco. If I could go back and order again, I would probably just get three steak tacos.

Score: 5.3/10 All right place to get lunch. I would come back for a burrito bowl or their steak tacos.

Restaurant Review: Kaya NYC

Details: I went to the holiday stall on the south side of Bryant Park in New York City. The official site is http://www.kayanyc28.com/

Came here for lunch one day. They serve Taiwanese style bao, which is meat wrapped in a soft, Chinese bun and topped with sauce and some vegetables.

I ordered the combo, which was two baos and Taiwanese popcorn chicken. I ordered the chicken bao and the pork belly bao.

To be perfectly honest, the baos were pretty bad. I’ve been to Baohaus and other places with these kinds of baos and these baos were some of the worst. The popcorn chicken was okay.

Score: 3.5/10 I do not recommend this place.

Restaurant Review: Waffles & Dinges

Details: I went to the holiday stall in Bryant Park, on the south side of the park. The official site is http://dinges.nyc/

Waffles & Dinges has become another New York City institution. They have locations all over the bottom half of Manhattan and that’s not even counting that flashy food truck.

I walked over during my lunch break and decided to buy a waffle. Waffles & Dinges sell Belgian style waffles, which to my untrained eye look like American waffles. You can get toppings like whipped cream, chocolate, ice cream, etc.

I ordered De Throwdown Waffle, which is a waffle that’s topped with speculoos spread (it’s cookie butter or mashed cookies with fat and sugar), whipped cream, and cookie crumble sprinkled over it. Apparently, this waffle beat Bobby Flay in a throw down.

It was fine. The main thought that ran through my head as I ate this was, “I just paid about ten dollars for a waffle.” I could’ve made this for less than a dollar. It was good… just not worth it. I also felt the sugar hit me like a truck. Man o’ man was this thing sweet.

Score: 5/10 I can’t see myself ordering this ever again. At least not for myself.

Restaurant Review: Enfes NYC

Details: One of the holiday stalls on the south side of Bryant Park in New York City. Here’s the official site, their facebook site which has a menu, and their page in the Bryant Park directory: http://enfes.nyc/, https://www.facebook.com/enfesNYC/ and http://wintervillage.org/shop/shop/45

In going along in my quest to try as many of these Bryant Park holiday stalls as I can, I decided to try Enfes. The Bryant Park Enfes page says that they serve Turkish street food.

I ordered the Enfes Classic, which had ground beef, sauteed onions, and black pepper with tzatziki sauce on the side. The lady working there was nice enough to add a spinach spread at no extra charge. The whole thing was wrapped inside Filo dough, which is a kind of wrap, and then wrapped up and toasted on the grill.

It was okay. Most of my affection for this food item comes from a sense of charity in that it was bitterly cold when I bought this thing and I felt really shitty seeing someone having to suffer through it selling wraps. Also, some guy was pelting here with all these stupid requests in regards to his wrap. I just felt even worse for this stall and the lady who manned it.

Score: 5/10 Not terrible, but not great. I’m probably not going to go there again. I would suggest you go there just to try it. You might like it more than I did.

Restaurant Review: Black Iron Burger

Details: I went to their holiday stall in Bryant Park. The official website is http://www.blackironburger.com/  Here is the official directory for all holiday stall at Bryant Park: http://wintervillage.org/shop/directory

Without saying too much about myself, I work around Bryant Park. This time of year, the ice skating rink opens up along with all the holiday stalls. Accordingly, I plan on writing some reviews for the food stalls. Most of these stalls have brick and mortar locations elsewhere and that is true for the first place I visited, Black Iron Burger.

I ordered the Black Iron burger (beef patty, horseradish cheddar, carmelized white onions, and horseradish mayo; $9) with loaded fries (horseradish mayo I think with bacon bits on top; $7). The burger was pretty good as were the fries. Really, it was that horseradish mayo that was amazing.

I should mention that when a coworker asked for lettuce, tomato, and onions on his Black Iron Burger and they wouldn’t let him have it. Instead, they recommended he get the classic burger if he wanted those things. Instead, he compromised by asking for the Classic burger and paid extra for the horseradish mayo. Just kind of a round about way to get a burger which didn’t make any sense since it all cost about the same anyways.

Score: 6/10 It was a good burger. I think it was worth it. Just brace yourself for a hassle if you want the Black Iron burger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, or onions. They just can’t figure out how to put those ingredients on a burger not named the Classic.

Restaurant Review: Bravo Pizza

Details: Located at 6 East 42nd St., New York, NY 10017. Official site is http://www.bravopizzany.com

The first thing you get when you walk into this place is that it is meant for tourists. This place is located on 42nd Street and across the street from Bryant Park, prime tourist location.

Slices are generally around five dollars. I don’t know what a regular slice costs because I never ordered one. I’ve only pointed at what they have on display.

I think I ordered a bacon and pineapple, a meat lovers, a grandma slice (if that is the rectangle one with a lot of sauce and cheese sprinkled over it), and something else with bacon. The grandma slice was good. The rest of their pizza tastes a whole lot like Pizza Hut actually, and I like Pizza Hut pizza so that’s good. I can see how many would have a problem with that because when you want local, New York pizza, you do not want Pizza Hut.

Additionally, they tried to give me a gold coin in lieu of a dollar bill, which turned out to be a Canadian coin, which is worthless in America. Nice try Bravo Pizza. If you plan on going here, count your money. People are always trying to lie, cheat, and nickle n’ dime you every chance they get. I asked for the coin to be exchanged and got proper, legal tender like I was supposed to.

Score: 5.5/10 Pretty good, but mostly because I like pizza that tastes like Pizza Hut. They lost points for trying to give me fake/worthless money.