Details: Located at 47 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019. I couldn’t find an official site so here’s their Yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/blue-ocean-poke-new-york-3
Like weeds, poke place have spawned across New York City and don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Poke, is essentially a Hawaiian style sashimi salad. That means raw fish with rice, vegetables, and sauce among other toppings. Blue Ocean Poke is another one of these poke places.
Details: Located at 12 East 41st St., New York, NY 10017. The official site is http://sunrisemart-ny.com/default_eng/
Sunrise Mart is specialty market for Japanese supermarket products. That means, drinks, snack, ingredients etc. This review is not for reviewing each individual product. This review is about the lunch boxes they make and prepare for the lunch rush every day.
While this place does make things to order like udon or a few rice dishes, the main reason I frequent this place is the pre-made lunch boxes. They make a variety of pre-made lunch boxes here like eel over rice, pork cutlet over, oyakodon, etc. It’s all Japanese type lunch boxes. They also have some sushi and other lunch boxes in a refrigerated display, but I prefer the hot lunch boxes that are not in the refrigerator that seem to be made daily. There are also smaller appetizers made daily like takoyaki and gyoza.
The main reason I like this place? It’s because I get some Japanese flavors for lunch in midtown Manhattan and I get them fast. Everything is already on display and ready to go. I just pick up a box and head to the register. The quality is also pretty good. Prices for lunch boxes are generally around $10.
Overall, a good place to grab lunch during the work day. I greatly prefer this place over Pret A Manger.
Score: 6.8/10
Details: Located at 163 East 33rd St., New York, NY 10016. Official site is http://www.leparisiennyc.com/.
I found this place through a quick internet search for relatively cheap French food (within the $20-$30 range) and I am so glad I did.
Le Parisien is a small, French restaurant in Midtown Manhattan that seeks to replicate the feel of a small French bistro. Although I’ve only been here for dinner, their brunch looks pretty good.
The space is small. Around fifteen seats. However, this only helps add to the feel and ambiance. It’s the perfect blend of casual yet romantic. A perfect date spot and a great place to bring your friends. Service was good, too. Charming staff.
In regards to food, the menu is as small as the space. Around a ten appetizers and ten entrees, with some off menu specials that change periodically. With that said, the food is fantastic.
I’ve been here twice. The first time I ordered the filet mignon carpaccio as an appetizer, followed by the steak tartare (raw beef) as an entree. My friends ordered the rainbow trout almondine and the bistrot steak frites (steak and french fries). My second time I ordered the duck confit.
For my first time eating steak tartare, it actually wasn’t bad. I’m probably never going to order it again. Its just chopped raw beef without that much preparation. Not exactly something to pay money for in my opinion unless something is added.
The filet mignon carpacciao was very good. So was the duck confit, where the only real downside was that after finishing the dish, I wanted even more. My friend said the trout was also very good.
However, the bistrot steak frites was by far the best thing out of all the above. Its cooked in a sauce of wine, thyme and onions which yields an extraordinarily tender, tasty steak. If I go back — and I will — then I will undoubtedly order that.
Score: 8/10 Loved the food. Loved the ambiance. The small menu and small space actually add to the experience instead of detract. Definitely coming back.
As a side note, the steak tartare was no longer on the menu as of my last visit.
Muse Bank 