Oct 17

Joe’s Pizza – New York, NY

1435 Broadway

New York, NY 10018

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Located just south of the heart of times square, Joe’s Pizza serves up New York style pizza to the masses. When we visited this location, there was not a lot of different pizza varieties to choose from, so we opted for two slices of classic cheese pizza as it came fresh out of the oven. At $3 per slice, it is pricier than the $1 slice places you see around, but we were hoping for quality. You definitely receive quantity because the slices were almost as big as Costco slices. The crust was fairly thin and the slice was loaded with sauce and cheese. Unfortunately, the bottoms of both slices were fairly burnt, especially near the edges. The sauce did taste fresh and there was plenty of cheese, but the burnt taste just really gets to you. Unfortunately, the burnt crust prevents me from recommending this pizzeria even with its new convenient Times Square location.

Oct 10

Amorino – New York, NY

721 8th Ave

New York, NY 10036

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located near the Theater District of Manhattan, Amorino serves up delicious gelato in decadent form on a cone. With numerous flavors to choose from, you can make your gelato cone as delicious and as pretty as you would like because you can choose as many flavors as you want for your cone. On one visit, we decided to order a large macaron cone with hazelnut, caramel, tiramisu, vanilla, and chocolate along with a caramel gelato macaron. The gelato flower came out looking amazing with the macaron on top. Each bite of the gelato was creamy and delicious. My favorite flavor out of the entire cone was the hazelnut. The macaron was crafted well and the caramel was very evident. On our second visit, we decided to go the sorbet route and order a large cone with strawberry and banana sorbet. The banana tasted delicious and flavorful, but the strawberry tasted pretty standard. I would suggest staying with the gelato instead of sorbet for richer flavors.

Overall, Amorino serves up delicious gelato in a well crafted form of a rose at decent prices. I would strongly recommend those looking for a pretty and tasty dessert to visit for a decadent cone.

Oct 03

Ippudo – New York, NY

321 W 51st St

New York, NY 10019

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located in midtown Manhattan, Ippudo Westside serves up delicious Japanese cuisine with a focus on ramen. Just blocks away from Times Square, this busy ramen spot in NYC offers up seating at the counter or at a table, so we opted for a table. Service was on point and consistent throughout this visit. After we were seated, our server offered to answer any questions and quickly retrieved our drink order. Once we received our waters, we were ready to order.

Today, we decided to order the pork Ippudo buns, shiromaru hakata classic ramen, and karaka-men. The two pork Ippudo buns arrived on a small clean plate. There was a large chunk of pork smothered in a special spicy sauce and mayo in the fluffy warm bun. The bun was delicious and savory throughout especially when the spicy sauce came into balance in each bite that included the mayo. The shiromaru hakata classic ramen was basically a fancy name for a classic tonkotsu ramen. The ramem arrived piping hot, but luckily we sat under an air conditioning vent that helped with cooling down the ramen. The broth was flavorful and rich, but I was not a fan of the pickled ginger so I picked it out. The pork was tender and savory. I liked how Ippudo uses thin ramen noodles, which is a nice change of pace. The karaka-men is basically the classic ramen with a scoop of hot spicy sauce plopped in the center. After mixing the hot spices, the broth carried a bit of heat, but was not overly spicy at all.

Overall, Ippudo serves up delicious ramen with superb service. Prices are a bit high for the amount of food received, but you receive value in the service and food quality. Servers consistently clear the table off of empty plates and bowls throughout the meal service. If you are in the Manhattan area, then you must give Ippudo a try.

Sep 26

Seasons 52

1689 Arden Way #1065

Sacramento, CA 95815

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Located right outside Arden Fair Mall, Seasons 52 serves up an ever-changing menu of American fare in an upscale setting. The servers seem accommodating to our large group. We were quickly provided with menus and drinks. After our entire group arrived and had a chance to get settled, we were ready to order.

Today, I decided to order the lump crab cake sandwich with a cup of tomato soup. After ordering, it did take a while for our food to arrive. The crab cake was fairly large in circumference, but not very thick. I spread the provided mustard sauce over the crab cake prior to my first bite. The sandwich tasted very fresh and you definitely get a lot of crab in each bite, but the crab cake itself was not very flavorful. The sauce added the much-needed savory taste to the sandwich. The crab cake was so fresh that I even found a bit of shell that I had to remove from my bite. The soup took many more minutes to arrive and came with a piece of flaky bread. The soup itself was fresh, rich, and chunky, but after drinking it for a while, the chunkiness was getting to me.

Overall, Seasons 52 has a menu with something for everyone. The food tasted fresh, and the service was pretty good. The kitchen does seem to run a bit slower, but the food did arrive fresh. Prices are on the higher side, but that resonates with the upscale dining. If you are really looking for a classy American spot, then this would be it, but I don’t see myself coming by here anytime soon.

Sep 19

Sushi Kuma – El Dorado Hills

4540 Post St

El Dorado Hills, CA 95762

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Located in the less fancy part of El Dorado Hills Town Center near Nugget, Sushi Kuma serves up a variety of sushi at a 50% off price point. At this price, you shouldn’t expect Mikuni quality, but you generally get decent tasting sushi at a great price. As we entered the restaurant, we were quickly seated at one of the many available tables. The server took our drink order as we reviewed the menu. We found it very odd that many of the menu items resembled those found at Arigatos with the exact same names. This could mean the owners are related, or mean they really ripped off the other restaurant. With that said, we were ready to order.

Today, we decided to order the lion king roll, volcanic scallop roll, tempura crunchy roll, sesame chicken roll, and the golden gate roll. We did have to wait a bit of time before the sushi arrived, but that was because there was only one sushi chef cooking for the very few tables with customers. The chef prepared all five rolls before the server brought over the large plate of sushi. The lion king roll was a bit small, but each piece had a piece of salmon on top and tasted quite sweet and tasty. The similar volcanic scallop roll was also baked, but did not taste as appetizing even though it used the same sauce. The sesame chicken roll was very interesting because the roll itself has cream cheese and crab meat in it, but the chicken just sat on top. The roll on its own was not very appetizing, but it went very well with the tender juicy flavorful chicken. Things went downhill with the last two rolls because the sushi chef used frozen tempura shrimp and just cooked them in a toaster over. Thus, the tempura crunchy roll tasted pretty plain and the texture of the shrimp tempura was undesirable. The same applies to the golden gate since the contents of the rolls were so similar. The shrimp inside the tempura was quite small, so there was a lot of breading.

Overall, Sushi Kuma serves up a great deal for sushi consumers in this busy shopping plaza, but the quality is quite underwhelming. If you ordered the same rolls from Arigatos, they would taste a lot better and fresher, especially for rolls including shrimp tempura. Service and value really shine here at the restaurant, so the meal was not too disappointing. With so many food options in this shopping center, I would not make Sushi Kuma my first choice, but if you are looking for cheap sushi with great service, Sushi Kuma does the job.

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