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
:)
Monday, May 26, 2014
Date Night & Dessert: Juliana's Pizza & Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory - DUMBO, NY - Wednesday 5/14/2014
Her Take: So as I have said before, I love pizza, but also I love ice cream. We had the PERFECT date! We had talked about taking the ferry to DUMBO so I suggested we do it to grab some pizza from Juliana's and get amazing ice cream from Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory! We were to take the 7:00 pm ferry at Kent avenue on the north side so Nicky and I met up at 6:30 and took a nice walk there. We made it just in time for the 6:45 ferry; we saw it docking and we ran to get tickets and literally ran inside. (We did a lot of running for ferries as you'll see) we got lucky! The ferry was very nice, spacious and fun! We went outside and took pictures like tourists and enjoyed the scenery. It was a bit cloudy that day but it was still really nice! The wind felt so good!
We arrived at DUMBO in 10 minutes, super fast. We walked off and straight to Juliana's. I don't know if you guys have heard of Grimaldi's? Well the originally owner Patsy Grimaldi sold his restaurant and name and since that restaurant moved to the corner, Patsy came back and opened up a new pizzeria again! Voila Juliana's! Patsy was standing right in the doorway and he seated us at a little bar overlooking the pizzaioli and the coal burning oven. We already knew what we wanted to we ordered right away: two Stella Artois on tap and a large margherita pizza with half pepperoni! We could see the pizzaiolo (pizza man) making our pizza and I was literally drooling. Our pizza was done quickly! Thank God cause I was starving, and the girl brought it right to us. We dug right it.. DELICIOUS!!! Just how I remembered it from when I was younger. So so so yummy I didn't even take a break I gobbled my whole half of the pie up. I was super satisfied and so happy that I had the deliciousness in my mouth and tummy. Nicky loved it too!! We weren't too full so we had enough room for ice cream. We turned around and saw that the place had FILLED UP! It was packed and a line was forming outside! We felt kind of bad so we asked our waiter for the check and he said no no no take your time! He didn't want us to leave, so we enjoyed our beer.
We finally got up and squirmed through the people and started walking toward the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Oh my god yes I was so excited because I had been craving their ice cream forever!!!! Luckily it's only down the block :)
We walked in and I already knew what I wanted: CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHUNK two scoops in a waffle cone please!!! Nicky got one scoop of vanilla chocolate chunk in a waffle cone and we tasted it and our tummies smiled because its just THAT AMAZING!!! So creamy and the flavor is just right. They chocolate isn't too overwhelming it's milky chocolate goodness with big chunks of chocolate mixed in; OMG YUM I want some rightttt now!!! We ate as we took a walk through the DUMBO park, it was so pretty and by the water. It started getting a little chilly and misty so we went back into the ice cream shop and Nicky used the bathroom as I sat at a little table. We weren't sure what time the last ferry was so we peeked outside and saw the ferry docking! Once again, we ran for our lives for it!! We almost didn't make it! I ran with my ice cream cone in my hand and my studded loafers on my feet... Not a good combo. If I dropped my cone I would I have picked it up thrown it at Nicky and left him there for making me run!!!! But, it didn't come down to that :)))
We made the ferry just in time and relaxed until we had to get off and walked to a candy store since Nicky wanted something. He only got a pack of the gum that looks like cigarettes because he's a big kid. We walked home holding hands as he "smoked his cigarette" and digested all the yummy food all the way home to my house :)
We had a great night! The ferry was a cute and fun idea, I think everyone should ride it at least once, especially when the weather is nice to stand outside and enjoy the scenery! Pizza was amazing and the ice cream was to die for; definitely, definitely recommend both!! CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU LOVE PIZZA AND ICE CREAM! (but then again who doesn't?)
Links are in my post :)
His Take: Ariana and I love pizza, especially Ariana! We decided to do something a little different rather than the old "hey let's just go get pizza!" One of Ariana's favorite pizza places had reopened, Juliana's (the old Grimaldi's) in Dumbo, Brooklyn. They're pizza used to be great and it's coal oven pizza, which is absolutely delicious! Rather than just head over to Juliana's and give it a try, we took the East River Ferry. It as a decent day weather wise, I mean was supposed to rain but luckily it didn't! The Ferry was beautiful, we had caught it at the perfect time. From our neighborhood to Dumbo it is two stops on the ferry, a quick ride, perfect because we were hungry! We bought our tickets ($4 each person per way), and boarded our ferry. I really loved the ferry, on the way there we stood outside and watched as we passed both the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges. I did the real touristy thing and took pictures and it was cool. I plan on taking the ferry again to it's other stops or even back to Dumbo.
Next stop, Juliana's. Off our enjoyable ferry ride we walked right to Juliana's and were lucky enough to walk right in. By the time we were done with our food, there was line of people waiting outside for their turn! We got to the door and the original owner greeted and seated us (Ariana had remembered him!). We sat at the counter top right next to where they make the pizzas. While normally I prefer tables, this time it was pretty sweet to sit and watch them make pizzas! Ariana and I ordered a large margherita pie, with half pepperoni. A large pie may sound like much, but for us two, it was perfect. We also order two Stella Artois and watched our pizza be made. Shortly after our pizza came and we feasted! This pizza was PERFECT. It really was absolutely delicious. Mmmmm thinking about it now I could go for a slice or two! We ate the entire pie and almost forgot to take a picture! We finished most of beers and departed for dessert!
On to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory! If Ariana doesn't tell you this I will, she was the happiest I've ever seen when we decided to go here to! She absolutely loves this place, loves it more than she loves me! And I can see why, the ice cream was delicious! I got a vanilla chocolate chunk, one scoop that was more like three and Ariana ordered two scoops of chocolate chocolate chunk, which looked like four! We enjoyed our cones and walked the park on the pier. When we walked back we had to run to our ferry home because we were unsure of what time the last ferry was! We ran back and laughed as we got on the ferry just as it was leaving!
This was one of my favorite dates. The ferry, the food, the ice cream, and my date were all beautiful. I enjoyed everything about this date! The ferry is cool, and beats the more common means of transportation. The pizza was amazing! It really was so good. The ice cream was a nice finish. But most of all, my date was the best part! Enjoy guys!
We arrived at DUMBO in 10 minutes, super fast. We walked off and straight to Juliana's. I don't know if you guys have heard of Grimaldi's? Well the originally owner Patsy Grimaldi sold his restaurant and name and since that restaurant moved to the corner, Patsy came back and opened up a new pizzeria again! Voila Juliana's! Patsy was standing right in the doorway and he seated us at a little bar overlooking the pizzaioli and the coal burning oven. We already knew what we wanted to we ordered right away: two Stella Artois on tap and a large margherita pizza with half pepperoni! We could see the pizzaiolo (pizza man) making our pizza and I was literally drooling. Our pizza was done quickly! Thank God cause I was starving, and the girl brought it right to us. We dug right it.. DELICIOUS!!! Just how I remembered it from when I was younger. So so so yummy I didn't even take a break I gobbled my whole half of the pie up. I was super satisfied and so happy that I had the deliciousness in my mouth and tummy. Nicky loved it too!! We weren't too full so we had enough room for ice cream. We turned around and saw that the place had FILLED UP! It was packed and a line was forming outside! We felt kind of bad so we asked our waiter for the check and he said no no no take your time! He didn't want us to leave, so we enjoyed our beer.
We finally got up and squirmed through the people and started walking toward the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Oh my god yes I was so excited because I had been craving their ice cream forever!!!! Luckily it's only down the block :)
We walked in and I already knew what I wanted: CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHUNK two scoops in a waffle cone please!!! Nicky got one scoop of vanilla chocolate chunk in a waffle cone and we tasted it and our tummies smiled because its just THAT AMAZING!!! So creamy and the flavor is just right. They chocolate isn't too overwhelming it's milky chocolate goodness with big chunks of chocolate mixed in; OMG YUM I want some rightttt now!!! We ate as we took a walk through the DUMBO park, it was so pretty and by the water. It started getting a little chilly and misty so we went back into the ice cream shop and Nicky used the bathroom as I sat at a little table. We weren't sure what time the last ferry was so we peeked outside and saw the ferry docking! Once again, we ran for our lives for it!! We almost didn't make it! I ran with my ice cream cone in my hand and my studded loafers on my feet... Not a good combo. If I dropped my cone I would I have picked it up thrown it at Nicky and left him there for making me run!!!! But, it didn't come down to that :)))
We made the ferry just in time and relaxed until we had to get off and walked to a candy store since Nicky wanted something. He only got a pack of the gum that looks like cigarettes because he's a big kid. We walked home holding hands as he "smoked his cigarette" and digested all the yummy food all the way home to my house :)
We had a great night! The ferry was a cute and fun idea, I think everyone should ride it at least once, especially when the weather is nice to stand outside and enjoy the scenery! Pizza was amazing and the ice cream was to die for; definitely, definitely recommend both!! CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU LOVE PIZZA AND ICE CREAM! (but then again who doesn't?)
Links are in my post :)
His Take: Ariana and I love pizza, especially Ariana! We decided to do something a little different rather than the old "hey let's just go get pizza!" One of Ariana's favorite pizza places had reopened, Juliana's (the old Grimaldi's) in Dumbo, Brooklyn. They're pizza used to be great and it's coal oven pizza, which is absolutely delicious! Rather than just head over to Juliana's and give it a try, we took the East River Ferry. It as a decent day weather wise, I mean was supposed to rain but luckily it didn't! The Ferry was beautiful, we had caught it at the perfect time. From our neighborhood to Dumbo it is two stops on the ferry, a quick ride, perfect because we were hungry! We bought our tickets ($4 each person per way), and boarded our ferry. I really loved the ferry, on the way there we stood outside and watched as we passed both the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges. I did the real touristy thing and took pictures and it was cool. I plan on taking the ferry again to it's other stops or even back to Dumbo.
Next stop, Juliana's. Off our enjoyable ferry ride we walked right to Juliana's and were lucky enough to walk right in. By the time we were done with our food, there was line of people waiting outside for their turn! We got to the door and the original owner greeted and seated us (Ariana had remembered him!). We sat at the counter top right next to where they make the pizzas. While normally I prefer tables, this time it was pretty sweet to sit and watch them make pizzas! Ariana and I ordered a large margherita pie, with half pepperoni. A large pie may sound like much, but for us two, it was perfect. We also order two Stella Artois and watched our pizza be made. Shortly after our pizza came and we feasted! This pizza was PERFECT. It really was absolutely delicious. Mmmmm thinking about it now I could go for a slice or two! We ate the entire pie and almost forgot to take a picture! We finished most of beers and departed for dessert!
On to the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory! If Ariana doesn't tell you this I will, she was the happiest I've ever seen when we decided to go here to! She absolutely loves this place, loves it more than she loves me! And I can see why, the ice cream was delicious! I got a vanilla chocolate chunk, one scoop that was more like three and Ariana ordered two scoops of chocolate chocolate chunk, which looked like four! We enjoyed our cones and walked the park on the pier. When we walked back we had to run to our ferry home because we were unsure of what time the last ferry was! We ran back and laughed as we got on the ferry just as it was leaving!
This was one of my favorite dates. The ferry, the food, the ice cream, and my date were all beautiful. I enjoyed everything about this date! The ferry is cool, and beats the more common means of transportation. The pizza was amazing! It really was so good. The ice cream was a nice finish. But most of all, my date was the best part! Enjoy guys!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Date Night & Dessert: Cubana Social - Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Wednesday 4/23/2014
His Take: Ok so I am going to take full responsibility for this one. I did NOT like Cubana Social. I would not go back. I was craving some Spanish/Latin American food and decided to look some places up not too far from where we live. I suggested Cubana Social to Ariana and she was all for it, as we were both craving a dish called Ropa Vieja, which is a shredded beef stew. Off we went to Cubana Social, which is actually a nice looking place where they play old movies via a projector on the wall. We sat down right away because the place was empty. Even if it was empty, it took our waitress a little while to bring over our menus. Finally our waitress came again to order our drinks, I ordered their version of a Cuba Libre, figured I would try something different. Their Cuba Libre is a drink with rum and coke with lime, Fernet Branca and other bitters, and the more I drank of it (I did not drink very much) the worse it tasted. This is not the fault of the place, this is more on me because it was a drink I did not like. This Cuba Libre had a weird after taste that I could not continue to drink. I was deceived when I looked this place up on Yelp, and looked at the pictures of the food. I love empanadas and saw that Cubana Social had them, and I thought “great, a nice appetizer as well.” Yelp led me to believe they were a lot bigger than the really are. We ended up ordering 3 (started with 2), 2 beef empanadas and a pork empanada. The beef ones were just alright, and I have definitely had better empanadas elsewhere, they were not bad, but they were not anything “to write home about.” I tried a little bite of the pork one as well, and it was more or less the same as the beef. Obviously when it came to the main course, Ariana and I both ordered Ropa Vieja, the sole reason for us coming to Cubana Social. I have to say I was incredibly disappointed. Any time I have had Ropa Vieja I have tested plenty of flavors as it is a stew that should cook for a significant amount of time. Cubana Social’s Ropa Vieja tasted like NOTHING. It literally did not taste like anything, not like the beef, the onions, the tomatoes, or the peppers! The dish came with white rice, black beans, and plantains. The serving size was a pretty good portion, but how much of bland food could you really enjoy. Ariana's dish tasted different than mine. Ropa Vieja is a dish where the flavors all come together and mesh while it cooks, and Cubana Social’s really lacked that. Our waitress did come over again and noticed that I was not enjoying my drink and that a barely touched it. She was kind enough to take it off our bill without us asking, because again I ordered it, so I did not mind if I had to pay for it. We skipped dessert as we had planned to grab ice cream somewhere else not too far from Cubana Social. Again, it is really hard to enjoy food that lacks taste, especially when it is a dish I know and enjoy! Cubana Social, nice looking place, but the food killed it for me here!
After our disappointing meal, we headed over to an ice cream shoppe that Ariana had heard of called Oddfellows. I knew once we were inside why this was the perfect name, their flavors were well, ODD! There were flavors such as Lychee, Thai Ice Cream, Burnt Marshmallow, just to name a few. I went with a small Burnt Marshamllow, and it was delicious! There were little pieces of marshmallows in it and it was really really good. Ariana got Thai Ice Cream and Chocolate Chunk in a cone. She seemed to really enjoy her ice cream as well. The ice cream shoppe was really nice they had little tables and bar stools near the window. They made different ice cream treats and even cater to parties. Oddfellows was cool, and I would head back to see what other flavors they come up with!
If you take anything from this post, its simple, head to Oddfellows for ice cream, and you can skip Cubana Social, especially if you are looking for tasty Ropia Vieja!
Her Take: I really wanted to like this place, I really did. We were both craving some Ropa Vieja, and we found this Cuban place on the north side and said lets give it a shot! We told my dad we were going there and he said he had heard that it wasn't too good, that we would be wasting our time and that he's always right. So I got annoyed and said nope were gonna like it, you never like anything and you are too quick to judge!
We got there and the place was a nice one; good space and they had black and white movies playing on the wall from a projector. We got the menu and saw that they didn't have too many options but we decided that we would get two empanadas. Nicky originally wanted to get one and split it because he said that they looked big online. I said lets get two just incase, or even three because they had a 3 for $10 deal. He settled on two. One pork with beans and garlic and one ground beef with sautéed onions tomatoes and raisins. Our waitress came and asked if we wanted a drink and we looked over the drink list and I ordered the "Oooh I wanna take you to coco-mojito" ( a coconut mojito) and Nicky got a Cuba Libre that had fernet branca in it. We also ordered our empanadas and one ropa vieja each.
the two empanadas came before our drinks, which surprised me; I thought the food was going to take a while. Turns out the empanadas were small (what did I say?) and Nicky ordered one more beef. They weren't bad. Then our drinks came and mine was pretty good but Nicky did not like his so the waitress took it off the bill.
Our ropa vieja came and it looked decent! It came with black beans, rice and platanos. We were excited to eat it and once we tried it we kinda made the same "eh" face. It didn't taste of salt but it tasted of the acidity of uncooked tomatoes from a can. I didn't like the taste of it so I picked at the rice and beans and ate all the platanos. I ate about half of the ropa vieja because I was really hungry, but couldn't finish the rest because it was giving me a stomach ache. It was no good.
We were disappointed and lost our appetite. Turns out my dad was right....
After our disappointing meal, we were craving ice cream so I suggested Odd Fellows ice cream shop which was a few blocks away. We walked down and I saw they had extra virgin olive oil ice cream and HAD to try it!! it was weird I don't think I would get whole scoop of oil.. but anyway I got a cone with chocolate chunk and thai iced tea; it was ok, I have tasted better. But I was satisfied! Nicky got burnt marshmallow which was veryyy good!! (Nicky is a marshmallow :))
All in all our dinner was disappointing and we were hungry two hours later.. Cubana Social, we will not be going back. Food was pretty bad 2/10, service was nothing special (poor girl was nice)
But we bought a bottle of wine on the way home, drank and ate some chocolate :)
Cuba Libre and Coco-mojito
Ropa Vieja
Burnt Marshmallow Ice Cream
Thai Iced Tea and Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Date Night: Il Mulino - Taj Mahal - Atlantic City, NJ - Tuesday, 4/15/2014
Her Take: We finally went back to Atlantic City and I was sooooo happy! Much needed trip! Anyway, we wanted to extend our anniversary and wanted to go to a nice restaurant to celebrate again in a more romantic setting. Nicky told me he wanted to take me to Il Mulino because he really liked it and knew I would too. So we made a reservation on Open Table and Nicky wrote "anniversary dinner" as a special note. When we went down they told us that we had actually made the reservation for the fine dining section so they walked us (next door) to the right place. We could definitely see the difference; the lighting was a bit dimmer, the tables had tablecloths, the glasses all set up and the tables were all candlelit. Also, the waiters were all dressed up with bowties and nice tuxedos. The hostess quickly took us to a nice round table against a wall but what was weird was that she did not give us menus. (hmmm?)
The first of our waiters quickly came over with a huge wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano and with his cheese knife and gave us each a nice piece. He then offered to take a picture of us with the cheese because he saw how excited we were! Right after he asked if we wanted a cocktail to drink and we said sure! I ordered a rum and pineapple (not rum and coke because I had given sweets and junk up for lent) and Nicky a vodka and sprite.
Once he left, another server came over and dropped a plate of thin zucchini "chips" that were drizzled in oil and garlic. I LOVE THOSE!! And then another server came, dropped off sopressata, and offered us bruschetta (yummm), I said of course and Nicky said no thank you. Right after that man left, ANOTHER one came over and dropped off spicy garlic bread, regular bread and focaccia. I was so excited, we hadn't even ordered yet and food just kept coming!! We got our drinks and we cheered "to us." We ate and ate (and unfortunately I couldn't taste too much because I was sick and stuffy, I was PISSED) and were a bit confused because we had never been to a restaurant like this, plus we didn't even have a menu! I was like "Nicky, what if they just give us whatever food they want?" and he was like "they can't do that what if we don't like something??" I was really confused and for some reason, nervous, so I told him to google Il Mulino and see what it said!! HAHA! we're so embarrassing! But just as he was about to, our second waiter came and asked how we were enjoying our complementary antipasti and asked if we wanted to wait a little bit or if we would like the menu. Ah-ha! There we go, our question was answered! *phew* We said yes we'll take a look at the menu now, acting all nonchalant as if we knew what was going on. When he gave them to us and left, we died laughing.
To be honest I was already pretty full from all the food they had given us, and you know me I HAD to eat it. But you can't NOT eat at a beautiful, fancy restaurant like this, you can't make them think you only came for the complementary appetizers and say "ok thanks see ya next time!" NO! So we decided on having a bowl of Tortellini in brodo each, I wanted the pollo encrusto and Nicky spaghettini carbonara. When the waiter came to take our order, Nicky asked if they had meatballs (which he had had last time in the other side of the restaurant) and the waiter said that if we wanted an order of meatballs, he could make that happen! So we got an order of meatballs, two tortellini, one chicken dish and one pasta dish!
I don't know where we thought we were gonna fit all the food we had just ordered because we were both already filling up, but we couldn't stop eating. Anyway, we got our soup first so we could take our time and drink on it slowly, I wish I could have tasted :( the tortellini I couldn't taste at all but the soup felt good for my throat and Nicky said it was really good! Then we got our meatballs, which came 3 to an order. I could vaguely taste them but from what I could gather, they were yummy! after having a meatball each, we were already exploding! The waiter came and asked us how we were doing and I guess our faces told him how full we were and he laughed and said he'd give us some time to digest before our entrees came out. YES, THANK YOU!
We sipped on our drinks and held hands and chatted about how great this place was; I have to say I was very impressed. Just then our entrees came out. My pollo encrusto was a huge breaded chicken cutlet in lemon, white wine sauce. It was very good, but just too big for me! I had to take a break and sit there for a while. I cut small pieces and ate little by little, I think I ate a good amount before I literally could not eat any more.
The waiter came over and saw we were done and we did a pretty good job! He asked if we wanted any dessert or coffee and I said I'll have a tea please! Nicky got an espresso. They also said that they give complementary grappa or limoncello and asked which we'd prefer and I said we'd take two grappas perfavore! They brought over a beautiful wooden tea box so I could choose which tea I wanted! I chose pomegranate green tea. They brought over a little pot of hot water, Nicky' espresso and the grappa. Not long after, they came over with a cheesecake and fruit with a candle and they sang happy anniversary to us! We had forgotten that we had mentioned it on Open table! They sang so nice and everybody in the restaurant clapped for us! We said thank you and one waiter said "What? No kiss?!! Come on!!" So we kissed and they clapped :))) It was so sweet and made me so happy! We picked at it, I ate the fruit and whipped cream since I couldn't eat dessert and Nicky had a little of the cheese cake! It was very sweet of them! So many complementary things, and they were so good to us! (we left them a niceeeee tip ;)) We had the grappa, well I had it, Nicky didn't like it (too strong for him haha) But I understood; grappa is grain alcohol with a high proof so it is very strong.
I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with Il Mulino. The ambiance and atmosphere was amazing and beautiful, the service was perfect, the food was delicious, their restaurant mission is very well portrayed through their impeccable staff, food, presence and mannerisms. In my opinion, Il Mulino was the best dinner date that we have had! They we excellent I have absolutely no complaints except that I'm a little upset that I couldn't taste everything 100% but its ok, it only means that we'll have to go back :)))
The first of our waiters quickly came over with a huge wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano and with his cheese knife and gave us each a nice piece. He then offered to take a picture of us with the cheese because he saw how excited we were! Right after he asked if we wanted a cocktail to drink and we said sure! I ordered a rum and pineapple (not rum and coke because I had given sweets and junk up for lent) and Nicky a vodka and sprite.
Once he left, another server came over and dropped a plate of thin zucchini "chips" that were drizzled in oil and garlic. I LOVE THOSE!! And then another server came, dropped off sopressata, and offered us bruschetta (yummm), I said of course and Nicky said no thank you. Right after that man left, ANOTHER one came over and dropped off spicy garlic bread, regular bread and focaccia. I was so excited, we hadn't even ordered yet and food just kept coming!! We got our drinks and we cheered "to us." We ate and ate (and unfortunately I couldn't taste too much because I was sick and stuffy, I was PISSED) and were a bit confused because we had never been to a restaurant like this, plus we didn't even have a menu! I was like "Nicky, what if they just give us whatever food they want?" and he was like "they can't do that what if we don't like something??" I was really confused and for some reason, nervous, so I told him to google Il Mulino and see what it said!! HAHA! we're so embarrassing! But just as he was about to, our second waiter came and asked how we were enjoying our complementary antipasti and asked if we wanted to wait a little bit or if we would like the menu. Ah-ha! There we go, our question was answered! *phew* We said yes we'll take a look at the menu now, acting all nonchalant as if we knew what was going on. When he gave them to us and left, we died laughing.
To be honest I was already pretty full from all the food they had given us, and you know me I HAD to eat it. But you can't NOT eat at a beautiful, fancy restaurant like this, you can't make them think you only came for the complementary appetizers and say "ok thanks see ya next time!" NO! So we decided on having a bowl of Tortellini in brodo each, I wanted the pollo encrusto and Nicky spaghettini carbonara. When the waiter came to take our order, Nicky asked if they had meatballs (which he had had last time in the other side of the restaurant) and the waiter said that if we wanted an order of meatballs, he could make that happen! So we got an order of meatballs, two tortellini, one chicken dish and one pasta dish!
I don't know where we thought we were gonna fit all the food we had just ordered because we were both already filling up, but we couldn't stop eating. Anyway, we got our soup first so we could take our time and drink on it slowly, I wish I could have tasted :( the tortellini I couldn't taste at all but the soup felt good for my throat and Nicky said it was really good! Then we got our meatballs, which came 3 to an order. I could vaguely taste them but from what I could gather, they were yummy! after having a meatball each, we were already exploding! The waiter came and asked us how we were doing and I guess our faces told him how full we were and he laughed and said he'd give us some time to digest before our entrees came out. YES, THANK YOU!
We sipped on our drinks and held hands and chatted about how great this place was; I have to say I was very impressed. Just then our entrees came out. My pollo encrusto was a huge breaded chicken cutlet in lemon, white wine sauce. It was very good, but just too big for me! I had to take a break and sit there for a while. I cut small pieces and ate little by little, I think I ate a good amount before I literally could not eat any more.
The waiter came over and saw we were done and we did a pretty good job! He asked if we wanted any dessert or coffee and I said I'll have a tea please! Nicky got an espresso. They also said that they give complementary grappa or limoncello and asked which we'd prefer and I said we'd take two grappas perfavore! They brought over a beautiful wooden tea box so I could choose which tea I wanted! I chose pomegranate green tea. They brought over a little pot of hot water, Nicky' espresso and the grappa. Not long after, they came over with a cheesecake and fruit with a candle and they sang happy anniversary to us! We had forgotten that we had mentioned it on Open table! They sang so nice and everybody in the restaurant clapped for us! We said thank you and one waiter said "What? No kiss?!! Come on!!" So we kissed and they clapped :))) It was so sweet and made me so happy! We picked at it, I ate the fruit and whipped cream since I couldn't eat dessert and Nicky had a little of the cheese cake! It was very sweet of them! So many complementary things, and they were so good to us! (we left them a niceeeee tip ;)) We had the grappa, well I had it, Nicky didn't like it (too strong for him haha) But I understood; grappa is grain alcohol with a high proof so it is very strong.
I have to say that I was incredibly impressed with Il Mulino. The ambiance and atmosphere was amazing and beautiful, the service was perfect, the food was delicious, their restaurant mission is very well portrayed through their impeccable staff, food, presence and mannerisms. In my opinion, Il Mulino was the best dinner date that we have had! They we excellent I have absolutely no complaints except that I'm a little upset that I couldn't taste everything 100% but its ok, it only means that we'll have to go back :)))
His Take: Ariana and I decided while we were in Atlantic City that we would go out somewhere nice to eat. I had mentioned to her that I had eaten in Il Mulino at the Taj Mahal before and that I really enjoyed it. That’s all it took to convince her. We made our reservation using open table, and I added a special note that it was anniversary dinner (because Virgil’s as you know was no anniversary enough for me). We arrived at Il Mulino and were immediately seated and greeted. Il Mulino is set up beautifully. This is truly a great romantic date spot. The tables were set up with flowers and candles and it really set the mood we were looking for. Immediately after we were seated, one of our waiters, yes we had two, came over with a giant wedge of Parmeggiano cheese. My eyes lit up when I saw this. I LOVE PARMEGGIANO CHEESE. Our waiter sliced us both a healthy size piece right from the giant wedge, but mind you I probably could have eaten the whole thing. We ordered our drinks, I a vodka and sprite and Ariana I believe a rum and pineapple juice. Next our waiters provided us with some bruschetta (toasted bread with diced tomatoes that are seasoned), some fried zucchini slices that were cut into chips, a few slices of salami, and three different types of bread. We literally feasted on these and then realized, we had not even got our menus yet! We wondered if maybe Il Mulino forgot or was just going to serve us until we could not eat any more (not a bad thing). On cue our waiter brought over our menus and asked us if we enjoyed their complimentary foods while we waited. Yes, complimentary foods, as in FREE. Not only was this first wave of food free, but it was absolutely delicious. Our waiter also told us if there was anything we did not see on the menu, we should inquire about it and he would try to accommodate us. Last time I was at Il Mulino, the same one in Taj Mahal, just the other side of the restaurant, I tried their meatballs and they were amazing, so I wanted them again! I did not see them on the menu, so I asked our waiter and he told me it would not be a problem. Ariana and I also ordered a Tortellini in chicken broth each as an appetizer. Our waiter was kind enough to suggest bringing just the soups first before the meatballs. What an excellent idea. The tortellini in chicken broth soups were just as excellent as everything else! And it was a great size portion, ordering one each was the way to go. Plus the soup was perfect because Ariana was not feeling so well. The soup was tasty, and I love tortellini soup! Next came the meatballs! Ariana and I enjoyed our three meatballs (sorry there is only one in the photo, we forgot to take a picture before diving in). These meatballs were just as good as the ones I remembered eating last time. For our entrees, Ariana ordered a Lemon Chicken and I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara. I tried Ariana’s chicken and it was delicious and very lemon-y! Mind you her piece of chicken breast was pretty big. Now onto my dish! Spaghetti Carbonara is one of my favorite dishes. It is spaghetti served with pancetta, onions, cheese, and egg. I was excited when I saw the amount of cheese in this dish as well as adding more. Il Mulino made my Spaghetti Carbonara perfect. I really enjoyed it. Ariana liked her chicken, but could not finish it because she ate most of the complimentary food. When our waiter asked us if we wanted desserts he was shocked to hear us say no, but understood that we ate a lot. He asked us if we wanted any coffee or after dinner drinks. I ordered an espresso and Ariana a tea. Pretty standard espresso for me, but Ariana was brought out a tea box and let her choose her own tea! I thought this was pretty cool. Ariana also suggested we order a Grappa each, which is an Italian after dinner drink. I had heard of Grappa before and could have sworn I had it, but after tasting it I was pretty sure I did not. I did not like Grappa! Remember how I mentioned I had put in the note on open table that this was our anniversary dinner? Well Il Mulino served us a complimentary (more free!!) cheese cake slice and they sang anniversary! We were surprised by this and it was an overall nice cap on dinner.
Il Mulino was truly the perfect date. The place was great, the service was excellent, and the food was even better. There are two other Il Mulino’s in New York and I promise you I will not hesitate to go back at some point in the future. Il Mulino might have been the best place Ariana and I have been to. I loved everything about Il Mulino. Head over there and you have my word that you will not be disappointed.
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