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A Splurge to Make You Regurge: Stuffed Burgers at Question Mark Cafe

Allix January 30, 2010 Manhattan, Reviews 3 Comments

After reading NYC Food Guy’s post on the stuffed burgers at the East Village’s Serbian haunt Question Mark Cafe, I was determined to get over there ASAP. Succulent beef patties stuffed with (that’s right..they’re INSIDE the burger, not on top) provolone cheese and bacon? Yes, please! With my post-work voracious appetite and two Serbian friends in tow (and Lammy, last but certainly not least) I trudged through the night’s angry winds to 1st Ave. and St. Marks for dinner.

I had a feeling that Question Mark’s atmosphere would be tacky in a way that only Eastern Europeans could manufacture and comprehend (multicolored strobe lights flashing incongruously to jarring techno beats, a depressing display of week-old pastries behind glass, a congregation of non-speaking Serbs typing furiously on their laptops) and indeed it was. A balmy cloud of oil-saturated food stagnates and smells dangerously close to skunk aftermath. Nevertheless, the boyish waiter-cashier-cook-in-one runs the restaurant singlehandedly and infuses the cafe’s shortcomings with an endearing sincerity.
The burgers, though not as plump as Black Iron’s or as juicy as Bonnie’s, set themselves apart as the most exotic I’ve tried in the city thus far. The centers could have been much rarer, but the oozing pockets of provolone scattered liberally throughout the meat helped to keep it moist. Flecks of bacon added salty, smoky flavor. Together, the urnebes (a Serbian spread of feta cheese crumbles and roasted red pepper) and the thin pita encasement cloaked the burger in its Eastern European uniqueness. Regrettably I downed the entire thing — and that sucker was half a pound!

Splurge: Lunch for One at Schnipper’s

Allix January 29, 2010 Manhattan, Reviews 1 Comment


The trepidation which thwarted my longstanding desire to sample Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen turned out to be quite justified today. After sifting through cream-based soups whose unblended contents yielded mealy clumps of flour, sandwiches with rubbery cold cuts, and (the last straw) sushi which may or may not have caused a bout of nausea earlier this week (to which I attribute my own foolishness for selecting buffet sushi on a Monday), I’ve decided to throw fiscal caution to the wind and pay more for quality lunches.

Schnipper’s even looks expensive — girls in patent leather heels and guys plugging away at their BlackBerrys compose the clientele, and it’s located inside the formidable (despite the climbable factor) New York Times building. I hear they’re famous for their Sloppy Joes, but I’m a sucker for tomatoes, bacon, and melted cheese and ordered the grilled four cheese with the aforementioned additions. I wanted to check out the milkshakes too, so I chose the salted caramel one.
I just about upped and poked the shrimpy cashier’s beady little eyes out when she told me I owed her $17 and change for the meal but soon realized that this would be counter-productive as she doesn’t set the prices. But really, $17.56? The GD milkshake alone cost $6.50. The salt in there better have been Fleur de sel or I’m calling shenanigans on the two-timing Schnipper brothers.
The sandwich was pretty tasty, though not as colorful as I had hoped. Plum tomatoes were promised by the menu, but what I got were some anemic, barely-pink beefsteak slices. My favorite part was the bread. It’s tough to make bread fried in butter and stuffed with cheese NOT greasy, but Schnipper’s achieved that challenging feat. It was super crispy and resilient, putting up a little fight each time I tore off a piece of the crust.
The milkshake looked nondescript, its pallid color lightly streaked with tan waves of caramel. Its flavor, however, had about as much personality as the jokers sitting next to me (one of whom took a bite of his salad and yelled “they never put enough dressing on this SHIT!!”). It was equal parts sweet and salty (like mah man), each sip revealing different facets of the ingredients. With the first sip I designated it overly salty, but after I drank it for a little (more like a lotta) bit longer it tasted like a saccharine vanilla milkshake. Good, but more of a 2 am calorie-fest splurge than a “I have to sit upright at a desk and be a respectful person for 4 more hours until happy hour” kinda splurge.

Splurge: Baoguette from…Baoguette

Allix January 18, 2010 Manhattan, Reviews No Comments


My birthday was this past Thursday! In addition to a number of cupcake-themed clothing articles, foodie magazines, and a new cell phone, I got to have some banh mi from Baoguette on St. Marks.

I’d been to the Murray Hill location once before on a long lunchtime trek and am truly disappointed that my office is too far away to pay the deserved daily visit. A sandwich is definitely filling enough (3 different pork renditions — original, terrine, and pate — are wedged between a toasted French baguette), and it only costs $5! There may be some cheaper places in Chinatown (but there’s ALWAYS a cheaper place in Chinatown) that charge $3, but they’re a bit skimpy when it comes to the meat portion. The baoguette is a welcome respite from the typical reheated panini and sloppy chicken parmesan sandwich options that overrun Midtown. I love the earthy tinge of cilantro and crisp bite of pickled carrots that provide texture to the velvety pork pate.
Hopefully Michael Huynh will continue his rampant restaurant expansion and save us Midtown Westerners from the fiery pits of Guy & Gallard and Hale & Hearty hell.

Regurge: Oatmeal from Au Bon Pain

Allix January 06, 2010 Manhattan, Reviews 1 Comment

This is the price I pay for trying to be healthy. I reached for my usual cheese-covered brioche this morning at Au Bon Pain, but the minacious, shoulder-dwelling New Year’s resolution fairy guilt-tripped me into ordering oatmeal instead.

Turns out she’s a colluding strumpet, because the tangy apple- and spicy cinnamon-infused oatmeal I anticipated was nothing more than a lukewarm, gloppy porridge. A for effort — hunks of fresh apple and dots of cinnamon did sprinkle the mixture, but it just tasted outright bland. I couldn’t eat more than 3 spoons, and when I don’t finish a meal I’m either knocking on death’s door or it’s god awful. In this case, it’s the latter.
I don’t care if the cheesy pastry clogs my arteries and leaves a greasy film on my fingertips. At least it doesn’t leave my stomach empty and rumbling until lunchtime!

Splurge: Noodle Dishes from Sripraphai

Allix January 06, 2010 Queens, Reviews 1 Comment

This post is about a week overdue and deserves a concerted effort, but unfortunately its compilation will be as hasty and haphazard as my spontaneous trip to the restaurant in question. The comforting dishes at Sripraphai were a welcome respite from the cumbersome chore of helping friends move in last week’s sub-arctic winds. Luckily, we were in the possession of a vehicle (one black 2003 Toyota Camry, to be exact), which enabled such borough exploration.

When we got to the restaurant at 9:30, which was packed well-past peak dinner hours, the waitresses informed us that the kitchen was closing and we had all of 1 minute to order. This fact was both a disappointment and a blessing in disguise. While it meant that I’d have to speed through the extensive menu of the supposed best Thai restaurant in all of New York City, it also implied that a second, proper trip to the restaurant at a later date was inherently necessary. I had read about sweet sausage dishes and well-cooked pork and mango salads from the Frank Brunis and Adam Platts, but with one look at that sweet-faced, tired waitress I could dither no longer. Her innocent yet glazed-over eyes lured the expected “pad see ew!” from my lips.

Of the three dishes we ordered (pad see ew, drunken noodle, and pad thai), I liked mine the least. The ingredients were the freshest I’ve ever tasted at a Thai restaurant (the beef, which tends to be a bit tough at other eateries, was plump and soft), but the sauce was just too sweet. The dish, with its wide, chewy noodles, tasted just like kugel. No complaints about the pad thai, but I’d go for the drunken noodle. I feared it’d be too spicy, but it reminded me of an Italian sausage, peppers, and onions sandwich in Asian noodle form. I’m not sure why these dishes conjured up such an inharmonious array of ethnic delicacies, but I digress.

I can’t wait to go back (sometime before the kitchen is closing) to sample some of those recommended unique dishes!