Her Take: I had been wanting to check out Nitehawk for a while now, maybe about a year? Nicky had been there with his friend, Carter, to watch "Killing Me Softly" and he told me that it was a cool experience.
I was seeing the advertisements for James Franco's movie Palo Alto all over, which made me want to go see it! I saw that it was playing at Nitehawk so I quickly told Nicky that we had to go! So we did :) Thursday night, the 7:30 screening.
We walked to Nitehawk, it isn't too bad of a walk unless its SUPER humid out, which it was, so we immediately said "walking was a bad idea." We arrived at Nitehawk sweaty and sticky, but we arrived nonetheless. It was 7 o'clock and Nicky had purchased tickets in advance so the bartender printed them out for us. Yes, I meant bartender. Let me tell you a bit about Nitehawk. It is a movie theater that plays not-your-usual-movies. They play foreign films, indie movies, oldies and a selected few movies that play in regular theaters; but in Nitehawk, you get DINNER AND A MOVIE! DINNER!! The theaters all have a small table per couple with a small menu sticking out in the front of the table and small pieces of paper and a pencil on each side of the triangular table so if you decide you want to order more food during the movie, you just write it down and stand it up on a metal coil attached to the table. A waitress comes around pre-film to take your order. They have a full bar and a delicious selection of food such as sandwiches, salads and appetizers!
We walked to our theater, theater 3, and took our seats in the front row. This theater only had 3 rows with about 5 tables in each row. The screen isn't your typical movie theater screen size, its more like a big screen tv someone has in a home size, so sitting in the front row wasn't as bad as you were thinking. We quickly picked up the menu and of course I wanted everything. We ordered our drinks first because I couldn't decide what to eat yet. I got their version of a Dark & Stormy and Nicky got a Miller High Life. Finally we decided to just order a couple of apps: the cheese fritters which were small cheese balls that were filled with cheese (obviously) and chorizo with chipotle aioli drizzled on top. (That was my choice) and Nicky ordered the steak skewers that came with chimichurri sauce and homefries. They were both really really good! I loved my fritters! Surprisingly we filled up on that.
Now onto the movie. It wasn't really what I expected. I was expecting better due to all the "hype" it got all over social media and Nicky and I read the description of it, and it didn't really sum up the story line. I mean it SORT OF did, but the movie didn't have a well-drawn out, strongly stated plot. It was just alright. I guess the movie's point was to show the generation of today and how it really is to live as a teenager? It wasn't the worst movie, but it was a little depressing in my opinion. I watched the entire thing with a look of confusion on my face. But hey if you like "teenage-angst-it's-so-hard-being-a-virgin-everyone-does-drugs" movies, go watch it!
Anyway, after we left Nitehawk a little frazzled, we decided to walk yet again, and we stopped by the Roebling Tea Room; another place I've been wanting to go to. We sat at the bar and got a drink Nicky asked the bartender for a beer suggestion and the bartender served him a Kronenbourg and I got some cocktail with tequila, raspberries and spicy salt; my kinda drink. It is a cute place with nice Victorian looking wall paper and woodsy decor. It was cute. Its a bar/restaurant and the food others were eating smelled so good. We walked around the place and discovered that it was bigger than we thought! They have a back room which also has cute little wooden tables and candles and they also have a patio! I would like to go back to sit out in the patio, it was precious. We only had one drink here and we sipped slowly and chatted and enjoyed the end of the night.
Nitehawk was AWESOME I would definitely go back and I most definitely recommend it to all of you. But be sure to go in even numbers since its one table per two chairs and also go early (it fills fast!) you don't want to end up sitting alone on the other side of the theater while your two friends enjoy the movie together! As for Palo Alto, I am gonna let you decide on that movie, and let us know what you thought.
and the Roebling Tea Room, we will be seeing you soon!!
His Take: Movie dates, a fairly common and popular thing among those who date! Here I’ll spare you the movie review and talk more about Nitehawk Theater. Firstly Ariana wanted to see Palo Alto, a James Franco movie (she finds him so “hot” in her words, but hey he’s no ME!) based off a book he wrote “Palo Alto stories” or something like that. I had never heard of either the book or the movie, but when it comes to movies ill watch anything that is not a sappy love story, because frankly those are incredibly boring! Movie was a solid movie, nothing special, although I think now I’d give the book a try.
Any who, back to Nitehawk. So if you’re not familiar with Nitehawk, it is a movie theater with a full bar, and food service, that you can order before and during your movie! I know what you’re thinking, “how uncomfortable to sit with plates of or drinks throughout a movie”, well no, each of the seats are separated in pairs and each pair conveniently has a small table shaped like a pool table rack for you to sit comfortably and eat and drink! The ordering is pretty cool too, you write your order on a piece of paper, provided to you at the table along with a pencil, and whenever you’re ready to order, you stand the paper up in its “holder” or whatever it’s called! It stands up letting the waiter/waitress know “hey I am ready to order!” The waiter/waitress does an excellent job of sneaking and ducking back and forth to not get in the way of the movie. Pretty cool huh! The waiter/waitress also lets you know they will be closing out your tab 30 minutes before the movie.
As for our Nitehawk experience, Ariana ordered a mix drink and I a Miller High Life. We looked over the menu, and frankly we wanted everything! To name a few, we wanted the nachos, the tator tots, the popcorn, the quesadilla, etc. etc. etc. We ended up settling on the Chorizo and Cheese balls (Ariana’s choice, which she loved) and the Skirt Steak Skewers that had chimi churi sauce and came with some diced potatoes. The Skirt Steak Skewers were delicious! We struggled hard not to order the nachos, but we should have!
Not your standard movie theater, and the ticket prices are the same as a regular movie! Nitehawk is awesome, also their schedule is different. They play old school movies, new movies, and indie films! Check out their calendar and head over and there. I suggest getting the tickets in advance as they do not have many show times. Also get to your seats in advance, depending on the theater your movie is playing in, some of the seats are limited! I know I will head back, it’s a great way to see a movie!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Double Date Night: Escape the Room NYC - Midtown, NY - Thursday 6/5/2014
His Take: A while back I had mentioned something to Ariana that I had seen on Facebook called “Escape the Room.” The brief description of the place basically said, you are locked in a room, 10 people total, and you have one hour to get out. Everything in the room is or can be a clue to get you out of the room. At that point the record of the day was 52 minutes. I was incredibly intrigued by this and really wanted to do it. Ariana and I kind of brushed it aside, but Escape the Room came back up during our date to Panna II (see that post as well!). Dan, the boyfriend of Lee, the other couple we were with, had brought it up, and we decided to buy the tickets! Long story short, we finally decided to do Escape the Room and I could not wait!
We finally were here, Ariana, her brother, Dan, Lee and I, were set to do “The Office” which was the original game made for Escape the Room. They now have two other rooms, which I PROMISE you I am going back to do. That’s how good this experience was, without telling you anything, I already told you I was going back! We were put together with 2 other couples, totaling 9 players. The employee there assured us that having 9 of us was better than just us 5. I am going to try not to give anything away here, because you really need to do everything on your own to enjoy it! Off we went into the Office. We were locked in! There is a computer count down that helps with some hints and tells you the remaining time. Literally everything in the room was a clue or led to another clue. We were like scavengers hunting for clues or shouting thoughts out loud because in Escape the Room, you never know, anything might help. I truly felt like Sherlock Holmes! Escape the Room was absolutely so much fun, for one hour we searched and pulled clues from any conceivable way, one clue leading to the next and finally, WE SOLVED IT!!! It was such an awesome experience to crack the code and Escape the Room. Afterwards, our helper/employee came in the room and explained everything we had just solved in an nice organized order, also she told us that 85% of those who play, DO NOT escape the room, which made us feel even better! We took our winners photo, which they posted on their Facebook account.
Escape the Room, I am hooked and next up is the Agency, which is the 8 person Escape the Room challenge! Hopefully we will see you there!
PS: this place is now incredibly popular, and the person who runs Escape the Room told us it is best to book the tickets at least 3 weeks in advance!
Her Take: Remember in our last double date blog I said that we planned our next one? Well here it is! We planned to go to Escape the Room NYC!
Escape the Room is basically: you and your teammates are locked inside a room with a specific theme and you have 1 hour to get out using clues that are scattered all around and with hints you are given. IT IS AWESOME! Nicky had mentioned this place to me a while ago and then we forgot all about it, then Dan brought it up and that's when we were like "YES BOOK IT!!"
So Nicky, Dan, Lee, my brother Dominic (which I invited to come) and I went on June 5th, a Thursday night! We had bought tickets (which are $28 per person) for the office room. There are three rooms; The office, which was the original one and holds 10 people, the Agency, which is a spy themed room which holds 8 people and the Home which is a Victorian themed room that holds 6 people.
Being that it was only 5 of us, we shared the room with 4 other people who were very nice and helped a lot! We were a team after-all!
I have to say we had a lot of fun! I love mysteries and riddles and all that good stuff and I'd like to think i'm pretty good at them ;) I diddddd solve quite a few clues! (ehem ehem) And WE GOT OUT! the lady told us only 15% of teams get out, and we made it! Woo hoo in 53 minutes!
This post is pretty short because I don't want to ruin the experience for you if you go, which I really think you should!!! You will LOVE it, I know you will! So you'll have to find out for yourself and see if you can make it out in time!!
Escape the Room is located in Midtown on 31st between 5th and 6th and is in an apartment building up on the 11th floor, so when you go don't be confused (like we were.)
I just found out that they have a Lower East Side location too!!
I highly recommend going here! Its a different kind of date; a mystery game date and who wouldn't love one of those?? WE TOTALLY DID! And we can't wait to go back to try a different room!
We finally were here, Ariana, her brother, Dan, Lee and I, were set to do “The Office” which was the original game made for Escape the Room. They now have two other rooms, which I PROMISE you I am going back to do. That’s how good this experience was, without telling you anything, I already told you I was going back! We were put together with 2 other couples, totaling 9 players. The employee there assured us that having 9 of us was better than just us 5. I am going to try not to give anything away here, because you really need to do everything on your own to enjoy it! Off we went into the Office. We were locked in! There is a computer count down that helps with some hints and tells you the remaining time. Literally everything in the room was a clue or led to another clue. We were like scavengers hunting for clues or shouting thoughts out loud because in Escape the Room, you never know, anything might help. I truly felt like Sherlock Holmes! Escape the Room was absolutely so much fun, for one hour we searched and pulled clues from any conceivable way, one clue leading to the next and finally, WE SOLVED IT!!! It was such an awesome experience to crack the code and Escape the Room. Afterwards, our helper/employee came in the room and explained everything we had just solved in an nice organized order, also she told us that 85% of those who play, DO NOT escape the room, which made us feel even better! We took our winners photo, which they posted on their Facebook account.
Escape the Room, I am hooked and next up is the Agency, which is the 8 person Escape the Room challenge! Hopefully we will see you there!
PS: this place is now incredibly popular, and the person who runs Escape the Room told us it is best to book the tickets at least 3 weeks in advance!
Her Take: Remember in our last double date blog I said that we planned our next one? Well here it is! We planned to go to Escape the Room NYC!
Escape the Room is basically: you and your teammates are locked inside a room with a specific theme and you have 1 hour to get out using clues that are scattered all around and with hints you are given. IT IS AWESOME! Nicky had mentioned this place to me a while ago and then we forgot all about it, then Dan brought it up and that's when we were like "YES BOOK IT!!"
So Nicky, Dan, Lee, my brother Dominic (which I invited to come) and I went on June 5th, a Thursday night! We had bought tickets (which are $28 per person) for the office room. There are three rooms; The office, which was the original one and holds 10 people, the Agency, which is a spy themed room which holds 8 people and the Home which is a Victorian themed room that holds 6 people.
Being that it was only 5 of us, we shared the room with 4 other people who were very nice and helped a lot! We were a team after-all!
I have to say we had a lot of fun! I love mysteries and riddles and all that good stuff and I'd like to think i'm pretty good at them ;) I diddddd solve quite a few clues! (ehem ehem) And WE GOT OUT! the lady told us only 15% of teams get out, and we made it! Woo hoo in 53 minutes!
This post is pretty short because I don't want to ruin the experience for you if you go, which I really think you should!!! You will LOVE it, I know you will! So you'll have to find out for yourself and see if you can make it out in time!!
Escape the Room is located in Midtown on 31st between 5th and 6th and is in an apartment building up on the 11th floor, so when you go don't be confused (like we were.)
I just found out that they have a Lower East Side location too!!
I highly recommend going here! Its a different kind of date; a mystery game date and who wouldn't love one of those?? WE TOTALLY DID! And we can't wait to go back to try a different room!
Friday, June 13, 2014
Date Night: New York Comedy Club - Kips Bay, NY - Wednesday 5/28/2014
Her Take: A long, long time ago, I can still remember how the music used to make me smile... The music being the Times Square ruckus we heard on February 15th. Yes the day after Valentines Day, when we took a walk in Times Square early in the morning. We were stopped by a short stocky young man asking us "do you guys like comedy shows?" Naturally I ignored the poor kid and kept walking, but Nicky stopped and said YES I DO! So we listened to what we had to say and Nicky gave in, well, because he really does like comedy shows. This kid was selling tickets to the New York Comedy Club for $20. It was one ticket per two people and it came with a bunch of vouchers to different bars around the area. It seemed like a pretty good deal so Nicky bought it and said, we're going!
So, FOUR months later, we finally went! (because I reminded Nicky that the ticket expired June 1st and we HAD to go) But I'm glad we did because it was a lot of fun!
So May 28th, we headed out to the New York Comedy Club. It was a beautiful day to go so we took the train to 3rd avenue on the L and walked all the way to 24th street. We stopped in at one of the bars we were given a voucher for, Kipsey's, and to our surprise, it wasn't bar-like at all; it was quite nice in there, and also was a meeting spot for every elderly person in New York.
We sat down and told our waiter we had this voucher and he said something that neither Nicky nor I understood except for the "happy hour" part. So we just ordered a margarita for me and a sangria for Nicky. For food we got 2 sliders each, I got pulled pork sliders and Nicky, burger sliders, a mac&cheese to share, fries to share and I ordered a chipotle cornbread. My margarita tasted like soap, I didn't really like it, but the sangria was pretty good. When the food came out we saw that the sliders were so tiny!! And they didn't even use burger buns, they cut the end off an Italian bread for the top bun, and a slice of italian bread for the bottom bun. Weird? I thought to myself "how many loaves of bread do they go through in order to have top buns for sliders?" They were just alright. The mac and cheese i didn't like at all; it tasted like they just boiled pasta and put cheese right on top to melt while they brought it out to us. The fries were a bit soggy, and the cornbread took forever to arrive!! But when it did, I saw why; they bake it to order, and honestly, it was the best part of the meal, I really liked it!! It was delicious and warm, crunchy on top and moist inside with a slight kick and accompanied by some parsley butter; I could go for some right now!
When we were done, we hung around just reminiscing about when we first met and laughing at inside jokes. When we realized it was 8:20, we decided to start heading over to the comedy club. It was just around the corner and we walked in and checked in with the guy at the podium and then he told us we were really early (the ticket said be there by 8:30) and to go have a drink and come back because their bartender hadn't arrived yet. That's kind of messed up that the bartender wasn't there and they have to give other places money.. oh well! So we went to another bar, Rose Hill tavern, because the guy gave us a voucher for them. It was down the block, we walked in, had a seat at the bar and ordered a Stella each. (it seems Stella Artois is our beer of choice) We continued our reminiscing and we walked back at 9, where a lady showed us to our seats: on the left of the small stage. the room was small! There were about 12 small tables in there! We were required a two drink minimum and there is a waitress who comes around. Nicky got two Coronas and I got two frozen drinks: one pina colada and one strawberry colada. They were ok, definitely not worth $12 each.
The host came out and asked where everyone was from and it turned out we were the only ones from New York! Of course, they sell these tickets in the middle of the street in Times Square, the biggest tourist destination!
He made fun of us for being from Brooklyn, but he did call us the nicest people from Brooklyn ever, so I guess that's pretty sweet? He said that Nicky looks like captain hook and I looked like a prisoner because I was wearing a top with black and white stripes. (I guess sooommeeoone'sss not in the fashion loop!) He picked on us for a little, and I thought it was great! I like when people make fun of me, as strange as that sounds. Most of the comedians were funny, but there were a few who really were not. I laughed a lot and had a great time! A couple of the comedians also picked on us because they basically knew our life story since the host didn't stop talking to us and asking us questions. A nice thing was that one comedian asked how long we were together and when we said a little over a year, he made everyone clap for us :) yay!
The show ended around 11 o'clock and we walked out laughing and glad we went! Comedy shows are fun! I definitely recommend going to one!
His Take: So remember way back when on Valentine's Day when Ariana and I went to Rosa Mexicano? (if not, check that post) well the next day we were in Times Square and if you're not familiar with this, I will be your warning, there is plenty of people standing out there trying to sell you plenty of things, from photos with spiderman to tickets to plays, and most importantly for this time COMEDY SHOW tickets! I love stand up comedy, and have always thought about going to do an open mic! Ariana and I were stopped by one gentleman who rambled on and on about the New York Comedy Club and how we should check it out and how we would have a lot of laughs and a really good time. Partly because I wanted him to stop talking (literally he spoke for 5-10 minutes straight) I agreed to spend the $20 on this $50 offer of admission for two at the New York Comedy Club. Sweet! Mind you I had already known that almost every comedy club has a two drink minimum per person, but that's not a problem for Ariana and I (especially her, trust me). Anywho, here we are in May trying to figure out our next date and Ariana mentioned that we still had these comedy club tickets that we had to use by that coming weekend or they would expire. Also with the tickets we were given flyers for participating bars that were close by that offered different beer and food specials.
With that being said, we decided to put these tickets to use and head over to the New York Comedy Club on Wednesday night. The back of the ticket says reservations are required so I called and reserved a table for two. We decided why not check out one of the participating bars and have a drink or two and some food before the show. We settled on trying out Kipsey's, which was around the corner from the New York Comedy Club. We walked in to Kipsey's and it was a pretty nice looking bar, and we were told to have a seat anywhere we chose and a waiter would come help us. We sat down and thought and thought and thought what we wanted to eat and drink. I asked the waiter a few questions about the food and the specials that were on the card about the bar. Finally I settled on the sliders, which were on the card, but it was ONE slider. One slider does not fill up my big toe, so i ordered two (I know what you're thinking, WOW a whole two of them!). The slider was just ok, nothing special but it was not terrible. Ariana ordered the pulled pork sliders, same kind of thing! To go with those, we split an order of mac and cheese. We love mac and cheese and Kipsey's was just ehh, it was kind of oily and not cheesy enough for my taste. We also split an order of french fries, which if you mess up french fries, your place should not be in business. The fries were fries that's all. Ariana also wanted to try the corn bread so we ordered that as well. I tried a little piece and she ate almost all of it, so I guess she really liked it. For drinks I ordered a red sangria which was pretty good and Ariana a margarita. I was a little disappointed with the food and the service overall, because the waiter was a little slow and the cornbread came out basically well after everything else did. We came here to kill some time before the comedy show and grab a bite to eat so I did not expect anything special, and Kipsey's was exactly that, nothing special. Off we went to the comedy show, but since we were early, we were told to come back, so we headed for a beer around the corner just to sit talk and laugh some more!
Finally comedy show time! I can't lie, I was excited for the comedy show. We were seated at a little table off to the right of the stage. I am not sure why the New York Comedy Club required us to make a reservation considering half the place was empty by the time the show started, but I'll cut them some slack considering it was a Wednesday night. We sat down and the waitress came over and ordered our drinks. The drink selection was pretty good, but I kept it simple and went with a corona. two drink minimum each, can't get too crazy ordering all kinds of things! Ariana had a frozen drink and she seemed to like it. We were treated to a funny comedy host who went around asking the different tables where every one was from and making jokes about everyone in between. He was a good host and even if he made plenty of jokes about Ariana and I, well mostly me! As my mom said, I have that kind of "face." Thanks Mom! Any who, the show had about 6 or 7 comedians scheduled who performed for different amounts of times. Most of them were ranged from really funny to "yeah I laughed a few times" and one was pretty boring and bad. The show lasted about two hours and Ariana and I had met our two drink minimum requirement. Side note, the drinks here are a little expensive, but then again, this is how the place makes most of their money considering they're selling tickets at discount prices!
All in all, if you like comedy, especially stand up comedy, check out the New York Comedy Club. Its a cool date spot and hopefully your show is funny and enjoyable! Here at The Dating Renaissance, we try to tell you about different dates and different places to check out, and that's what the comedy show is, just a different date that you'll enjoy! You can skip Kipsey's before hand, it's really not worth going to, but hey if you want a quick beer and bite its not the worst place! I would go back to a different comedy club maybe before heading back to The New York Comedy Club, just to get a different comedy feel, but Ariana and I left here happy, smiling, and laughing. As we walked back to the train, we recalled plenty of the jokes, especially the jokes said about me (my girlfriend is so kind isn't she!) and laughed like before!
So, FOUR months later, we finally went! (because I reminded Nicky that the ticket expired June 1st and we HAD to go) But I'm glad we did because it was a lot of fun!
So May 28th, we headed out to the New York Comedy Club. It was a beautiful day to go so we took the train to 3rd avenue on the L and walked all the way to 24th street. We stopped in at one of the bars we were given a voucher for, Kipsey's, and to our surprise, it wasn't bar-like at all; it was quite nice in there, and also was a meeting spot for every elderly person in New York.
We sat down and told our waiter we had this voucher and he said something that neither Nicky nor I understood except for the "happy hour" part. So we just ordered a margarita for me and a sangria for Nicky. For food we got 2 sliders each, I got pulled pork sliders and Nicky, burger sliders, a mac&cheese to share, fries to share and I ordered a chipotle cornbread. My margarita tasted like soap, I didn't really like it, but the sangria was pretty good. When the food came out we saw that the sliders were so tiny!! And they didn't even use burger buns, they cut the end off an Italian bread for the top bun, and a slice of italian bread for the bottom bun. Weird? I thought to myself "how many loaves of bread do they go through in order to have top buns for sliders?" They were just alright. The mac and cheese i didn't like at all; it tasted like they just boiled pasta and put cheese right on top to melt while they brought it out to us. The fries were a bit soggy, and the cornbread took forever to arrive!! But when it did, I saw why; they bake it to order, and honestly, it was the best part of the meal, I really liked it!! It was delicious and warm, crunchy on top and moist inside with a slight kick and accompanied by some parsley butter; I could go for some right now!
When we were done, we hung around just reminiscing about when we first met and laughing at inside jokes. When we realized it was 8:20, we decided to start heading over to the comedy club. It was just around the corner and we walked in and checked in with the guy at the podium and then he told us we were really early (the ticket said be there by 8:30) and to go have a drink and come back because their bartender hadn't arrived yet. That's kind of messed up that the bartender wasn't there and they have to give other places money.. oh well! So we went to another bar, Rose Hill tavern, because the guy gave us a voucher for them. It was down the block, we walked in, had a seat at the bar and ordered a Stella each. (it seems Stella Artois is our beer of choice) We continued our reminiscing and we walked back at 9, where a lady showed us to our seats: on the left of the small stage. the room was small! There were about 12 small tables in there! We were required a two drink minimum and there is a waitress who comes around. Nicky got two Coronas and I got two frozen drinks: one pina colada and one strawberry colada. They were ok, definitely not worth $12 each.
The host came out and asked where everyone was from and it turned out we were the only ones from New York! Of course, they sell these tickets in the middle of the street in Times Square, the biggest tourist destination!
He made fun of us for being from Brooklyn, but he did call us the nicest people from Brooklyn ever, so I guess that's pretty sweet? He said that Nicky looks like captain hook and I looked like a prisoner because I was wearing a top with black and white stripes. (I guess sooommeeoone'sss not in the fashion loop!) He picked on us for a little, and I thought it was great! I like when people make fun of me, as strange as that sounds. Most of the comedians were funny, but there were a few who really were not. I laughed a lot and had a great time! A couple of the comedians also picked on us because they basically knew our life story since the host didn't stop talking to us and asking us questions. A nice thing was that one comedian asked how long we were together and when we said a little over a year, he made everyone clap for us :) yay!
The show ended around 11 o'clock and we walked out laughing and glad we went! Comedy shows are fun! I definitely recommend going to one!
His Take: So remember way back when on Valentine's Day when Ariana and I went to Rosa Mexicano? (if not, check that post) well the next day we were in Times Square and if you're not familiar with this, I will be your warning, there is plenty of people standing out there trying to sell you plenty of things, from photos with spiderman to tickets to plays, and most importantly for this time COMEDY SHOW tickets! I love stand up comedy, and have always thought about going to do an open mic! Ariana and I were stopped by one gentleman who rambled on and on about the New York Comedy Club and how we should check it out and how we would have a lot of laughs and a really good time. Partly because I wanted him to stop talking (literally he spoke for 5-10 minutes straight) I agreed to spend the $20 on this $50 offer of admission for two at the New York Comedy Club. Sweet! Mind you I had already known that almost every comedy club has a two drink minimum per person, but that's not a problem for Ariana and I (especially her, trust me). Anywho, here we are in May trying to figure out our next date and Ariana mentioned that we still had these comedy club tickets that we had to use by that coming weekend or they would expire. Also with the tickets we were given flyers for participating bars that were close by that offered different beer and food specials.
With that being said, we decided to put these tickets to use and head over to the New York Comedy Club on Wednesday night. The back of the ticket says reservations are required so I called and reserved a table for two. We decided why not check out one of the participating bars and have a drink or two and some food before the show. We settled on trying out Kipsey's, which was around the corner from the New York Comedy Club. We walked in to Kipsey's and it was a pretty nice looking bar, and we were told to have a seat anywhere we chose and a waiter would come help us. We sat down and thought and thought and thought what we wanted to eat and drink. I asked the waiter a few questions about the food and the specials that were on the card about the bar. Finally I settled on the sliders, which were on the card, but it was ONE slider. One slider does not fill up my big toe, so i ordered two (I know what you're thinking, WOW a whole two of them!). The slider was just ok, nothing special but it was not terrible. Ariana ordered the pulled pork sliders, same kind of thing! To go with those, we split an order of mac and cheese. We love mac and cheese and Kipsey's was just ehh, it was kind of oily and not cheesy enough for my taste. We also split an order of french fries, which if you mess up french fries, your place should not be in business. The fries were fries that's all. Ariana also wanted to try the corn bread so we ordered that as well. I tried a little piece and she ate almost all of it, so I guess she really liked it. For drinks I ordered a red sangria which was pretty good and Ariana a margarita. I was a little disappointed with the food and the service overall, because the waiter was a little slow and the cornbread came out basically well after everything else did. We came here to kill some time before the comedy show and grab a bite to eat so I did not expect anything special, and Kipsey's was exactly that, nothing special. Off we went to the comedy show, but since we were early, we were told to come back, so we headed for a beer around the corner just to sit talk and laugh some more!
Finally comedy show time! I can't lie, I was excited for the comedy show. We were seated at a little table off to the right of the stage. I am not sure why the New York Comedy Club required us to make a reservation considering half the place was empty by the time the show started, but I'll cut them some slack considering it was a Wednesday night. We sat down and the waitress came over and ordered our drinks. The drink selection was pretty good, but I kept it simple and went with a corona. two drink minimum each, can't get too crazy ordering all kinds of things! Ariana had a frozen drink and she seemed to like it. We were treated to a funny comedy host who went around asking the different tables where every one was from and making jokes about everyone in between. He was a good host and even if he made plenty of jokes about Ariana and I, well mostly me! As my mom said, I have that kind of "face." Thanks Mom! Any who, the show had about 6 or 7 comedians scheduled who performed for different amounts of times. Most of them were ranged from really funny to "yeah I laughed a few times" and one was pretty boring and bad. The show lasted about two hours and Ariana and I had met our two drink minimum requirement. Side note, the drinks here are a little expensive, but then again, this is how the place makes most of their money considering they're selling tickets at discount prices!
All in all, if you like comedy, especially stand up comedy, check out the New York Comedy Club. Its a cool date spot and hopefully your show is funny and enjoyable! Here at The Dating Renaissance, we try to tell you about different dates and different places to check out, and that's what the comedy show is, just a different date that you'll enjoy! You can skip Kipsey's before hand, it's really not worth going to, but hey if you want a quick beer and bite its not the worst place! I would go back to a different comedy club maybe before heading back to The New York Comedy Club, just to get a different comedy feel, but Ariana and I left here happy, smiling, and laughing. As we walked back to the train, we recalled plenty of the jokes, especially the jokes said about me (my girlfriend is so kind isn't she!) and laughed like before!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Double Date Night: Panna II - East Village, NY - Wednesday 5/21/2014
His Take: This was an absolutely new experience for me, I had never tried Indian food before! Panna II was definitely the right place for us to go and have Indian food for the first time. Ariana and I decided to double date with another couple, and it was Ariana’s friend who had suggested Panna II. Located right on 1st Avenue in the part of the city known as “Little Bangladesh” is Panna II. Cool little place, but do not be confused, this place is the restaurant towards the top right! When you go, you’ll know exactly what I mean! Well anyway, there is four Indian restaurants in the same building, divided by a stair case. Head into Panna II and be prepared to a duck a little bit. Literally you may have to walk with a slight hunch or crouch down a bit! Hanging from the ceiling are low Christmas lights and “chili pepper” lights (literally they’re chili peppers!). I am about 5’6 so I walked with basically no problem, but any taller and the lights would have dragged across my head. You might think this Christmas lights/chili lights idea is kind of stupid, but I really enjoyed the look and feel of Panna II. The place was well lit, but dim enough to make it feel a bit more “romantic” and cozy. Only knock on the actually place was it is small so the tables are rather close.
Wait before I continue, this is VERY important about Panna II! They are a BYOB (bring your own bottle/booze) place! Ariana and I came with a bottle of red wine and the other couple a bottle of white! Panna II opened the bottles for us, with no uncorking fee! Thanks for that Panna II! We sat down and looked over the large menu. I was worried because I am not a fan of spicy food and here I was in an INDIAN restaurant (not to sound stereotypical but when you think Indian food, you think spicy). Me taking charge, I was responsible for ordering the appetizers. I had heard of “samosas” before from people I knew who had tried Indian food before, so we ordered chicken samosas, beef samosas, and veggie samosas. The chicken and beef ones were both very tastey, but a little too full on the veggie side! I would have preffered them with more meat, but they were good none the less. I did not eat a veggie samosa because just veggies kind of bores me, and I had more than my fair share of the chicken and beef samosas! Also we ordered cheese poori for appetizers. These things looked huge when they came over but they’re filled with cheese and air, and let me tell you, they were absolutely delicious. Like really really good!
Finally onto the main course we went. I ordered chicken tikka, cooked in a Tandoori oven (not like I knew what all this meant, it just sounded good, plus I did a little research before heading over to Panna II). My chicken was well cooked and it was incrediblty tastey. The chicken was cooked with a dry rub of spices and it was very flavorfull. Ariana got the chicken makhani and she enjoyed it. They also brought out a tray of rice for the table that went well with the chicken as well as “naan” bread. The bread was excellent as well.
Overall, Panna II, I was impressed with your food! Definitely a great place to go, especially if you’re a first timer with Indian food like I was. The serving sizes were good and the bill was not expensive at all! Now that I have tried Indian once, I would like to go back to Panna II and give something else off the menu a try! Best I not forgot that after our meal we were all served a complimentary scoop of homemade mango ice cream, which was also very good. Head over to Panna II and you will not be disappointed, you and your date will enjoy the meal and the scene!
Her Take: I have always wanted to try Indian food. I like trying new things and expanding my food horizons. Nicky on the other hand (if you couldn't tell already) is super picky, but he said he wanted to try Indian. Yay! I had the restaurant Panna II written on my list of places to go but my good friend, Lee said to me she wanted to double date and go to Panna II. So I was like yay perfect, we've been meaning to go there! So we did.
Lee and her boyfriend Dan came to pick us up that night and we had brought a bottle of wine per couple since this spot is BYOB. Lee and Dan white and Nicky and I red, from this cool spot right on the corner of my house. Well the white was just for Lee because Dan isn't much of a "wine drinker". So they swept us up and we ventured in Dan's jeep to 1st avenue. We finally found a parking spot and walked a bit to the restaurant. This place is in a building that is divided into four. Each quarter is a different Indian restaurant and as we walked up the stairs people from each restaurant were grabbing us trying to get us to go to their place instead! After hustling to get upstairs, we entered Panna II and saw that this place was TINY. Of course it was, the building is shared!! We even had to duck a little to avoid getting hit with all the Christmas and chili pepper lights hanging from the ceiling. (First time Nicky and I ever had to duck for anything) but it was cute! They sat us at a table, which was tight because everything in there is packed in and tightly accommodated.
Right away they came to open a bottle of wine and asked which to open first, I said BOTH please :). They brought us 3 different "dips" and a few pieces of thin crunchy bread that looked like long nachos. Of course I was the first to break off a piece and try all the sauces and peppers they gave us. They were all delicious!
They wanted to take our order super fast, so I suggested lets get the cheese poori and some samosas: beef, chicken and veggie for apps. They were all like yea sure!? And I said we needed a little more time to order our entrees.
They brought them all really fast! The cheese poori is like a puff bread filled with cheese! Yum and the samosas are like empanadas! They were all really good. We each ordered our entrees and we all got chicken. I got the chicken makhani and everybody ended up liking my the most! ok everybody BUT Nicky, who didn't want to try it because it had "too much sauce." Along with our entrees they brought out naan bread, sort of like pita and delicious, some rice for the table (I think it was basmati) and a few more dips and cut up onions. I tried it ALL, and I really enjoyed everything, every part of the meal.
We ate and drank and laughed and it was gooooood. I wanted to take some home so my mama could try it because she was excited for us to go try indian food! So I told the waiter to pack up the leftovers and when he came back with it, another waiter brought over complimentary mango ice cream which was so creamy and delicious! I LOVE mango anything! It was a nice closure for our ethnicly awesome dinner.
After we got up, ducking a bit, and once again fighting through the "bouncers" outside, we walked back to the car and decided to go for a drink. Williamsburg it was! Since it was near us and on the way back to Lee and Dan's! We ended up going to Berry Park, which is on Berry Street between N 13th and Nassau Ave. We went straight up to their rooftop because it was beautiful out and we HAD to take advantage of it!
We sat at a quaint table and sipped on out Huckleberry Lemonades (their vodka lemonade yummy) and had some more laughs! Not only did we laugh, but we planned out a whole other night out, which you'll have to read about in our next double date post!! ;)
All in all, Panna II was excellent, if you're hesitant to try Indian, DON'T BE! You wont regret it! Head over to Panna II when you're in the East Village, you will love it!
Wait before I continue, this is VERY important about Panna II! They are a BYOB (bring your own bottle/booze) place! Ariana and I came with a bottle of red wine and the other couple a bottle of white! Panna II opened the bottles for us, with no uncorking fee! Thanks for that Panna II! We sat down and looked over the large menu. I was worried because I am not a fan of spicy food and here I was in an INDIAN restaurant (not to sound stereotypical but when you think Indian food, you think spicy). Me taking charge, I was responsible for ordering the appetizers. I had heard of “samosas” before from people I knew who had tried Indian food before, so we ordered chicken samosas, beef samosas, and veggie samosas. The chicken and beef ones were both very tastey, but a little too full on the veggie side! I would have preffered them with more meat, but they were good none the less. I did not eat a veggie samosa because just veggies kind of bores me, and I had more than my fair share of the chicken and beef samosas! Also we ordered cheese poori for appetizers. These things looked huge when they came over but they’re filled with cheese and air, and let me tell you, they were absolutely delicious. Like really really good!
Finally onto the main course we went. I ordered chicken tikka, cooked in a Tandoori oven (not like I knew what all this meant, it just sounded good, plus I did a little research before heading over to Panna II). My chicken was well cooked and it was incrediblty tastey. The chicken was cooked with a dry rub of spices and it was very flavorfull. Ariana got the chicken makhani and she enjoyed it. They also brought out a tray of rice for the table that went well with the chicken as well as “naan” bread. The bread was excellent as well.
Overall, Panna II, I was impressed with your food! Definitely a great place to go, especially if you’re a first timer with Indian food like I was. The serving sizes were good and the bill was not expensive at all! Now that I have tried Indian once, I would like to go back to Panna II and give something else off the menu a try! Best I not forgot that after our meal we were all served a complimentary scoop of homemade mango ice cream, which was also very good. Head over to Panna II and you will not be disappointed, you and your date will enjoy the meal and the scene!
Her Take: I have always wanted to try Indian food. I like trying new things and expanding my food horizons. Nicky on the other hand (if you couldn't tell already) is super picky, but he said he wanted to try Indian. Yay! I had the restaurant Panna II written on my list of places to go but my good friend, Lee said to me she wanted to double date and go to Panna II. So I was like yay perfect, we've been meaning to go there! So we did.
Lee and her boyfriend Dan came to pick us up that night and we had brought a bottle of wine per couple since this spot is BYOB. Lee and Dan white and Nicky and I red, from this cool spot right on the corner of my house. Well the white was just for Lee because Dan isn't much of a "wine drinker". So they swept us up and we ventured in Dan's jeep to 1st avenue. We finally found a parking spot and walked a bit to the restaurant. This place is in a building that is divided into four. Each quarter is a different Indian restaurant and as we walked up the stairs people from each restaurant were grabbing us trying to get us to go to their place instead! After hustling to get upstairs, we entered Panna II and saw that this place was TINY. Of course it was, the building is shared!! We even had to duck a little to avoid getting hit with all the Christmas and chili pepper lights hanging from the ceiling. (First time Nicky and I ever had to duck for anything) but it was cute! They sat us at a table, which was tight because everything in there is packed in and tightly accommodated.
Right away they came to open a bottle of wine and asked which to open first, I said BOTH please :). They brought us 3 different "dips" and a few pieces of thin crunchy bread that looked like long nachos. Of course I was the first to break off a piece and try all the sauces and peppers they gave us. They were all delicious!
They wanted to take our order super fast, so I suggested lets get the cheese poori and some samosas: beef, chicken and veggie for apps. They were all like yea sure!? And I said we needed a little more time to order our entrees.
They brought them all really fast! The cheese poori is like a puff bread filled with cheese! Yum and the samosas are like empanadas! They were all really good. We each ordered our entrees and we all got chicken. I got the chicken makhani and everybody ended up liking my the most! ok everybody BUT Nicky, who didn't want to try it because it had "too much sauce." Along with our entrees they brought out naan bread, sort of like pita and delicious, some rice for the table (I think it was basmati) and a few more dips and cut up onions. I tried it ALL, and I really enjoyed everything, every part of the meal.
We ate and drank and laughed and it was gooooood. I wanted to take some home so my mama could try it because she was excited for us to go try indian food! So I told the waiter to pack up the leftovers and when he came back with it, another waiter brought over complimentary mango ice cream which was so creamy and delicious! I LOVE mango anything! It was a nice closure for our ethnicly awesome dinner.
After we got up, ducking a bit, and once again fighting through the "bouncers" outside, we walked back to the car and decided to go for a drink. Williamsburg it was! Since it was near us and on the way back to Lee and Dan's! We ended up going to Berry Park, which is on Berry Street between N 13th and Nassau Ave. We went straight up to their rooftop because it was beautiful out and we HAD to take advantage of it!
We sat at a quaint table and sipped on out Huckleberry Lemonades (their vodka lemonade yummy) and had some more laughs! Not only did we laugh, but we planned out a whole other night out, which you'll have to read about in our next double date post!! ;)
All in all, Panna II was excellent, if you're hesitant to try Indian, DON'T BE! You wont regret it! Head over to Panna II when you're in the East Village, you will love it!
Pre-Panna II
The Outside
Dan and Lee
Cheese Poori (top) and Samosa (bottom)
Chicken Makhani
Chicken Tikka
Chicken Mushroom Masala
:)
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