Mollie's in Stroudsburg PA

Just off the Appalachian Trail, near the Delaware Water
Gap is Stroudsburg, nestled in the Poconos. One of the restaurants on Main is Mollie's. It claims to serve the best breakfast in the Poconos.





We ordered a western omelet, dubbed a Famous Three Egg Far Western Omelet. Okay. I can't argue that it had eggs, probably three. They were yellow. Not fluffy, not nicely cooked in butter, not tasty. Inside, the peppers and onions were cut in pieces too large to eat without a knife to cut them up, misshapen and inconsistent pieces, chopped in a thick slicer. Too big to cook, they were a bit soft on the outside and rawish throughout. Not revolting, just thoughtless and lazy. The ham was sandwich slices, probably right out of the package, just salty and rubbery, tasteless. Served with frozen fries and toast that was half buttered and warm but not crisp.





So that's it. A lazy, lousy omelet. Best in the Poconos. Service was provided. Decor was too. That's about all I can say without getting pissy about paying $12 for a $5 experience.

My verdict? Well, if this is the best breakfast, Subway is the best sandwich. Just get an Egg McMuffin if you are passing through.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Veselka- Ukrainian Diner

In the East Village, Veselka is a Ukranian diner, serving the neighborhood 24/7 since 1954.   We put it on the short list for our next NYC trip. Reviews praise the place, but damn the food. New Yorkers are such a whiney bunch of bitches. Fast to the point of brusque is how we like it.

So we walked in, and were shown to a table.  No snide, condescending "Reservations?", no show about finding one of the empty tables as if they were somehow invisible to all but the trained hostess eye.  Menus plopped on the table.  We studied it, taking a self taught lesson on Ukranian comfort food mixed with American diner fare.

Pierogies, latkes, matzo soup, blintz, beet/horseradish salad, and kasha.  Starting with the least, avoid kasha at all cost.  It is actually worse than you think it will be.  No seasoning.  The people who make this at home make it better.  Now that that is over with, the rest of was great.  The beet and horseradish salad was surprising, and deliciously balanced.  Four different pierogies were fried, and tasty.  We liked the sweet potato one best.  The latke tasted like those I make, that is to say, delicious, but was thick and fluffy.  Very good!  The matzo soup was rich, tasty and had chicken and vegetables, along with a big fluffy matzo ball.  But the blintz! How wonderful it was- perfect light crepe filled with a light cheese that was just the right texture.  This desert doubled the price of the meal, which was a total of $32.  Good value.

We passed on hamburgers, which are reputed to be fantastic, and look forward to coming back for them. We can count on Veselka being there, as it has, since the year I was born.  Veselka is Love!

UPDATE...........UPDATE.............UPDATE

We returned to Veselka.  The hamburger is well reviewed by many fans, so made a trip to be sure to sample it. What we found was a level of inconsistency in the food that was a bit off-putting.  The mazoh soup was different this time, much more fat on top, less vegetables, and a matzoh ball less light.  The blintz was not as good.  The beet/horseradish salad was bland.  The latke, thankfully was as good, though arrived cold.  The kielbasa burger was cooked as ordered, and was worth the trip- the addition of kielbasa to ground beef is genius!  Where I wish they put more effort was in the condiments- mustard and ketchup, and a leaf of lettuce are not worthy of this creation.  The pickled onions are a little start.  

Boqueria Restaurant

Catalan is a region of it's own quirky and assertive culture. Aggressive in espousing their difference and therefore superiority, Catalonians work hard to be worthy of their bragging. Sometimes as much as 35 hours a week! But they make up for that by telling everyone how little sleep they get. Parties, un-muffeled motor scooters and long lunches may actually account for that.  But I digress.

In Barcelona, design is present everywhere, like the legendary Gaudi's Sagrada Familia, the Village Olympic.  This little place in SOHO carries on the design ethic.  It is chic and sleek, refining modern well past the Italians, as only the Catalonians can.  But I digress.

We stopped for a quick bite before work at Boqueria, looking for the tiny, tasty bocadillas I remember from my time in Barcelona.  But on Sunday, the menu features a brunch, so the bocas are off the menu.  We opted for tapas instead, three small plates.

Good choice!  Delicious croquettes of salt cod and potatoes, pan roasted Brussels sprouts with chorizo, and  the famous tortilla, an omelet of potatoes.  All were tasty and fun, came to the table fast, and made a perfect light lunch for us.

Sweet Water's Steakhouse

It was sleeting and snowing in Westfield, but inside Sweet Water we were warm and cozy. On Elm St, this small, old school kinda place enjoys warm wood floor and trim, but is not designed to look like a steakhouse, it IS one.

The bacon appetizer is indulgent, smoky and unguent. Full of flavor, a pair of big hunks of pork belly pan seared to perfection. We also had a crab cake app as an entree, which was the right portion. The crabcake was the best one this crabber has had here on the east coast. My filet was a beautiful piece of dry aged perfection, cooked properly. And the sides we delicious.

Service was just right for an unpretentious, straightforward local steakhouse.

If you want a decent meal of beef, drive out of your way to Sweet Water.

The Greek Corner Coffee Shop Diner

At 6th Ave and 28th St, this diner drew us in, possibly due to its tattered blue awning and all inclusive name. We weren't expecting much, maybe a decent, quick meal, maybe a pleasant surprise. The place was packed, a good sign. In we went, got the normal NYC diner greeting- "Here or to go?", and contorted our way into our seats around a tiny table, inches from the one next to it.

The menu, as you would expect, includes everything, but the gyros and falafel. While we waited, place settings were plunked down. We don't normally inspect cutlery, but the smears of mayo or something less savory could not help but be noticed. For a minute I thought they were an amuse bouche. But they decorated all four pieces. I made a commitment to eat with my hands. The ketchup bottle too wore a gloppy coat of oozing red goo. It snagged our clothes before we wrangled it aside.

Thoughtfully, the food came, wrapped as you would expect it to be if to go. Good! Our hands were freshly washed, and served to stuff our pie holes. The gyro was tasty- full, well made and with a particularly good tzatziki.

Here we are, 10 hours later, no problems, but on balance, this is a place to avoid unless you have a strong stomach. But if you are here, and hungry, order something to eat with your hands.

Xocolatz Restaurant Review

Quaint, toney Westfield NJ has several interesting places to eat. Xocolatz is certainly the most interestingly named. On Elmer St just off North Ave, it is easy to get to, and inviting as you go by. We decided to go in based on curb appeal.





The decor is a bit odd. Sections are devoted to different design ethics. One wall is Cracker Barrel, one is Mayan, one is abstract, parts are Japanese modern. But the layout, tables & chairs, flatware & napkins say it is a place that place has been a cafe at one time.





With an open kitchen, knowledgeable servers and eclectic menu, it is a bit Napa Valley too.





Our food was impressive when it arrived at table. Even a bit frenetic. One less plating flourish would have been fine. The server recommended skirt steak and it was subtly and effectively marinated, and cooked perfectly. The house made and featured gnocchi was a disappointment. A bit heavy and dense. Vege cooked properly though. The Salmon also perfectly cooked, and the sweet potato cake was delicious. Saucing, like presentation would benefit from more restraint. And the skirt steak and everything on the plate would have benefitted from more seasoning.





Overall, Xocolatz was a pleasant surprise, and we would go back. The owners suffer from a lack of self editing, on the lengthy menu, the decor and the plating. But they have value, service, execution and flavor under control.

One thing though, what's with the name? Nothing on the menu seemed to contain xocolate. Nor were any Mayan flavors described. More evidence of mild schizophrenia.

Garlic Rose

Cranford and Westfield are pleasant little towns in Jersey, full of nice places to eat. Garlic Rose though, is a conundrum. Any place devoted to garlic has an advantage in my book. This little one has a cool and kitchy kind of vibe, and is informal and simple. We were hoping for some nona-style Italian.




The menu is a bit eclectic, with some French, American and Italian influence. We had a side of asparagus wrapped in pastry dough, and gnocchi with sweet sausage and spicey peppers. The asparagus was a good idea, with mediocre execution. The dough was heavy, the sauce was too. The gnocchi was just plain poor. An oily, grey garlic bullion was filled with heavy, store bought gnocchi. The sausage was good and the canned peppers were spicey. It had plenty of broccoli, so we were happy with the balance, just not the quality.

Too bad, we hoped for more, and were pulling for this little restaurant. Garlic Rose should not deter you from trying any other place in downtown Westfield.

A Toute Heure, or Jamais? A restaurant review

In the tiny centennial village of Cranford, this little gem is so popular reservations are required. But beware, don't let your expectations be set by this. The restaurant's size is the driver of this necessity, not its formality. In fact, once you do get a seat, the level of informality is, well, intense? Servers in tee shirts and jeans approach with "Hows it goin guys?" I expected him to sit down with us. A bit too Ruby Tuesdays even for this west coaster.

At first we were a bit taken aback by the latin music, but it thankfully went away.

One simple request that seems to consistently flumox service is "Water with no ice." Try it. You will see that less than 1 in 10 restaurants can deal with this seemingly simple request. If you get your first glass served correctly, wait for the bus boys to swoop in with a swearing pitcher of icey water to rectify the situation A Toute Heure failed. They thought they were OK, with just a few cubes of ice floating in our ice water, but of course, missed the point that water with no ice is not ice water. But this is not a restaurant with great service. They spend a lot on service, the server to table ratio was perfect. And they knew the menu and specials. But well trained? Not really. Earnest attentiveness is essential, but only half the equation. Here is what I mean. When peanuts were served with the butter (?), and we sent it away due to my allergy, I was informed peanut oil was used in the fryer. OK. Awkward moment. Is the server not mentioning something and I am a dimwit? Then I remembered I had ordered something fried. So we struck it from the order. That was that, and I was left disappointed. Why not suggest a substitute?

ATH, as they like to call themselves, are proud of their alliances with local producers. It is in your face everywhere. OK. I wish they had an alliance with some vegetable producers. On our two dishes there were a few sprigs of micro green something, and a grand total of three leaves of spinach . Really, just three. So it was meat and potatoes for us.

I had brisket. It tasted a lot like sauerbraten. It was braised to tenderness, so tender it was hard to tell where the meat ended and the fat began. So it took some care to ensure not to put the big globs of fat in my mouth. I avoided most of them. But really, pieces of fat about 1.25X3 inches? A bit extreme. Did the server notice? Of course not. Nor did he notice the skin on my wife's chicken thighs that the menu claimed were skinless and she enquired about, and he said had almost no skin on them. One restaurant truism is "fat is flavor", and so I would have expected more flavor at A Toute Heure, for the dishes were replete with oil, fat and grease, and not in a good way.

We passed on dessert. Our meal of a salad and two main courses ended with a bill for nearly $100. Fair value, like the fat on my brisket, had not been rendered. Even in a place as sophisticated as Cranford NJ, restaurants aren't all as good as they should be. We had looked forward to this meal for days. A hundred dollars is a lot of money to us. Our dessert from A Toute Heure was betrayal.

So, "A Toute Heure", or "Jamais"? Translation: At Any Hour, or Never? Since we go by this place often and it is often not open, and when it is, it is hard to get into, and when you do, it is not worth it, I say Jamais! Jamais!

Cipollini Restaurant Review

When One is shopping at the toney Manhasset Americana, one simply must nourish oneself in an appropriate establishment, mustn't one?






Cipollini is the only place close at hand. And yes, that is the correct spelling.

Decor is warm, clean and inviting. Not Italian chic, not kitchy faux trattoria. Good.






We returned here a couple of times just because of the bread. As good as it gets, as good as good bread in France, with a floral, rich olive oil. Worth the trip for this, a San Pelegrino and people watching.






The rest of the menu was very well done. Salads simple and delicious, delightful. Risotto perfectly cooked. Skirt steak too. This place is a real delight. We sat on the patio in the sun with the beautiful people who shop at Americana Manhasset and felt rich with the experience.

Landmark Diner

When you walk into a restaurant and smell a mix of hot coffee and hamburgers, and hear the clank of heavy china, itsa diner. Also called a coffee shop. These places bathe you in warmth, sounds and smells when you enter that say "Relax, take a load off and set a spell."

On route 25 out on Long Island, the Landmark does this.





Service is prompt and no nonsense. Take a menu, read it, place your order, get your food, eat. That's the way you want it at breakfast, lunch, or late at night.

The food is good, portions hearty, and the cheesecake is better than in Manhattan.





We also had corned beef hash and French toast at the counter.  It was good.  The hash had a nice seasoning, with lots of black pepper, and the challah bread French toast is tasty and tender, without being too much of anything.  

If you are out on Long Island, around Manhasset, take the trouble to find the Landmark, and have a bite to eat.  Worth a bit of a detour.  

Bar Frites Review Manhasset, LI

Yet another Ultra French restaurant? Yes. The influence of Balthazar's success continues to ripple through the area.






The decor could be part of a kit- a Disney-like French restaurant. Every artifact, every touch point. Even the theek ac-SOUNT of zee 'ostess, Mai oui.







The French though, believe in food. Not menu items, food. At Bar Frites it is good, tasty. Not good enough though to make the drive from anywhere. If you are shopping at Wheatley Plaza, by all means, stop in to see the Long Island wives take a break from spending. But don't expect a meal to remember. It is just a high priced place to get stuff to address your hunger. Pity.

Collichio & Sons Restaurant Rant

Tom Collichio has made a reputation on television as a celebrity chef alongside Bobby Flay and Gordon Ramsay.  He can cook with the best.  But can he run a media empire based on food?

Reviewing a celebrity chef in NYC is gilding the lilly.  Professionals in the little circle of the restaurant trade make a living doing this.  Like Andrea Thompson in the New Yorker.  But as a paying patron, and restaurant professional, I recommend to other travelers where to go and avoid.  So here goes.

Eating in Chelsea is a challenge.  The quantity and variety of places make decision making a challenge.  After all, we can only eat in a limited number of places each day!  What a wonderful conundrum!

When kicking around the Chelsea neighborhood the other day, we were pleased to see another Collichio restaurant, having become fans of Craft.

We went in, an found a wait, but were very pleased to sit immediately at the kitchen bar, always my favorite seat!

From here we could see the workflow (our profession), the work skills, ticket flow, everything on the menu, and technique.  Happily, it was a pleasant way to spend the time while we waited.

The restaurant was full.  Service was non existent for us for about a half hour, but we were entertained.  We also noticed that with more than 100 seats full, the three cooks working the oven were not just in the weeds, they were in the forest.  Who designs a kitchen/dining room that is so far out of balance?  Imagine you and two friends cooking for a group of 100, ordering from a menu of about 30 items and expecting their food to be served within about 20 minutes.  Impossible?  Yes it is.

The menu is produced in a woodfired oven.  Simple.  I worked on developing such a concept and admire it.  Some of the food looked good, but the inconsistency was pronounced as food was produced at breakneck speed.  Three working individually, not coordinating or as a team.

Finally, we were served. Sort of.  We waited for water, to have the order taken.  All because of the imbalance between seats and kitchen capacity.  A fundamental design screw up.  Mr. Collichio?

When we received our food, still in good humor because of our proximity to the oven, the taste was good.  But on a pie that was featuring artisanal sausage, we had one, yes one piece of meat.  We watched as the pizza, too long on the paddle waiting to get in the oven, was stuck to the wood, and as the cook tried to shake it off in the oven, the toppings slid onto the oven deck.  Lost.  But when in the weeds so deep?  Get the food out!  Any food is better than a re-fire.  Our roast vegetable dish was portioned in a laughable way.  Rather than grab vegs from each container, the cook used a spatula, reaching under the arms of another cook.  She simply neglected to reach the brussels sprouts.  This was rectified when we complained, and we were graciously given a side order of sprouts.

The flavors were good, really good.  The entertainment was fun.  The service was forgivable.  The restaurant design and conception is abysmal.  People can't overcome bad planning.

Mr Collichio, has your inattention to the restaurants been completely overwhelmed by focus on your media empire?  We see this over and over again.  The need to promote the business turns into a belief that the chef is a brand.  The demand for growth makes each additional restaurant less representative of the original.  Not knowing when you go from chef/perfectionist/craftsman to executive/media star/personality.

Waterzooi Bistro Garden City, Long Island

A Belgian Bistro. Not a concept in the front of one's mind is it? In fact, based on personal prejudice, I think of a derivative type of place. Maybe a clean, organized, efficient French restaurant? Or perhaps the Pulp Fiction scene discussing MacDo, fries and mayonnaise? Mai non, Mai non, Mai non!

It has a unique character, and a menu based on the traditional dish of the same name, a saucy, cream thickened, seafood pot. In the case of Waterzooi the pots are mussel based, PEIs to be exact, and they are imaginative and tempting.


The decor is interesting, warm and bistro-y. After the hyper French decode of NYC, this feels real, good.

Salad- chapeau! Simple and perfectly balanced, if over dressed. Horseradish cream, forme 'd Ambert bleau cheese, pickled cippolini onions and candied pecans. Simply good.

Mussels we selected to be prepared in the traditional way, white wine, butter, shallots, lemon. They were plentiful, delicious and hot. I love the sound of the shells in the pot as you dog out a big ladleful! As part of the $19 menu deal, these are too good to pass up. The Bistro burger was as good as you hope when you pay $16.

Well worth a stop if you are in the area.

Brasserie Cognac- NYC Restaurant

Located north of Time Square, this is a convenient place for theater goers. It has the right feel to extend an evening of fantasy, letting you feel like you are dining in Paris. Of course, in NYC every other restaurant has the "classic" Paris cafe-bistro-brasserie decor package found in, well, Hollywood? Menu written on mirrors, beveled glass, dark wood, cafe and bistro chairs, brass details, lighting sconces, the list goes on and on. Some do it better, some more tackily.

It was Valentines Day, and the reservation was handled without a glitch on OpenTable.com .

As I write this a week later, that is all I remember. It was good, we enjoyed ourselves, value was fair. I would not go back. O would not avoid it. No reason to.

2nd Ave Deli NYC Review

Comfort food in NYC means deli to us. 2nd Ave Deli means a treat. What if a classic old school NYC deli re-invented itself with decor that is planned rather than accumulated, and recipes that are evolved without changing character? That is 2nd Ave Deli.

The location is on neighborhoody 33rd at 3rd Ave, with a nice storefront that has some thought put into it's first impression.



A really pleasant place, where the angry deli attitude of the wait staff is completely baffling. The food is good, a bit more than average care.

Definitely one of our top 3 Manhattan delis.

Eisenberg's Sandwich Shop

These kind of sandwich counters are growing rare in NYC, sadly. They aren't the place to find trendy food. This is where you go to get a decent meal at a reasonable price, served to you while you sit. As opposed to the other way a workingman eats, at a food truck or deli.


Try the corned beef hash or matzoh ball soup- recommended.

Duke's Chowder House

Airtravel from where we live entails a lot of planning just to get started. We sometimes stay overnight in Tukwilla and get parking bundled in. When we do that we couple a bit of Seattle side business.

Recently I visited the Southcenter Westfield Mall, which is always changing. Duke's Chowder House has been open for a few months, so I gave it a try.

I had plenty of time to study the decor as I waited for the hostess to appear. It is odd, clearly a. Attempt to be a fish house, but with rows of graphite rods as space dividers and rowing shells?

Once the hostess showed and looked at me till I mentioned I wanted to eat, I was pissed. She then tried to squeeze me into a table between two large groups. Nice. Now I took an attitude and asked to seat myself.

The server was pleasant and efficient so I settled down and stayed.

Duke's is a fish house/ brew pub. But the presence of beer is really muted. The menu reflects this duality. I stayed on the fish side.

I had a combo of fried Alaskan cod and clam chowder. The fries were good, seasoned and sprinkled with parm. The fish is battered AND panko breaded. A bit much I thought, but it was crunchy and crispy, not as thick as I feared. the chowder was really good, even if there was too much sand in the plentiful clams. The cole slaw was so sesame I passed on it. I like mine creamy, not Asian.

I will go back and bring Mrs. ExecHobo, a real fan of chowder.

Wildfire Restaurant Review

Wildfire is like finding a refuge of dining in a town of diners. Nice, tasteful, muted decor. A big woodfired oven in direct view. Impressive. But then, the music was loud and raucous, jangly rock mixed with loud ballads.

Service strike one- asked for water with no ice, so the server poured the water while holding the ice. Ice water. Thoughtless. Was this to be another Olympic Peninsula dining disappointment?

It began to improve from there.  The menu had several items that were appealing.  Mussels stood out, but we passed.  The meat too.  We passed on the artichoke dip- too mundane.  The thing we wanted for an app was smoked salmon, baked brie and crostini.  We then selected pizza, what we were there for.

The app was good, decent salmon, if a bit on the small side for the price.  It is definitely a very light app for one, and sharing makes it an amuse bouche.  We ordered pizza with white sauce, artichokes, capers, and one called a meat lover's- sausage, pepperoni.

The pizza was good, a perfect crust.  The ingredients were very good also.  They were compromised though by someones pathological need to load on cheese.  The cheese was heaped in the middle, what we call "center loading" in the business, exacerbating the problem.  The problem?  These well conceived pizzas, cooked in an oven with a lovingly tended wood fire, were undercooked and soggy in the center.  All this potential compromised in a gooey, wet pile of cheese.  So sad.  Of course when you charge $17 for a 12" pizza, you may feel compelled to load it up and compensate with weight.

I will go back, and will request less sauce and half the cheese, hoping that will solve the issue.

Five guys burgers the best ?

Nope, no way, not by a mile. First the bun is whitish, doughy,
squished and full of sesame seeds. Second the meat falls apart.
Finally the ability to add a mountain of toppings overcomes the burger
flavor, a kilo of French Fries per order does not make up for the fact
that they laden in old oil . The best burger for the money remains In
& Out: The beautiful shiny dome bun, the secret sauce, the perfect
balance between meat and toppings...yum yum!!!
Sent from my laborcentric iPhone

Joe's American

This local pub kind of place presents a very nondescript face. Inside the decor is just as plain, done nicely but with no bric-a-brac with which so many pubs like to inundate diners, thankfully. Even as we were seated we kept wondering what kind of place it was.




As soon as the menus were plunked down, though nothing about the service here merits the term "soon", we had some clarification.

Burgers, sandwiches, salads, steaks. This is pub grub, but a little less "fryer forward" than usual. But the puzzle was not completely unravelled. Why are the prices so low? We realize this is not Manhattan, or Sequim, but $8 entrees? We looked forward to learning if it is a value, or just cheap.

As time went by, we also looked forward to seeing our server. And one we did, we looked forward to every step thereafter. This was the most painfully drawn out service I can recall. Wait for menus. Wait for a greeting. Wait for water. Yes, water didn't come  when the server came. We looked forward to having our order taken, as it eventually was. Then we waited for our food, our condiments, our follow up, and our bill.

What we couldn't wait for was to leave.

The food was a bit below mediocre. No effort at making it memorable, nor tasty was apparent. It was humorous though- check it out, two asparagus spears, and that broccoli is just about raw.
In a fit of rage, I left 10% and left.

It is rare to get good service, and a tip does not insure proper service, as it claims to.  But it is also rare to get bad service.  Service that is not only designed to fail by asking or allowing a server to cover too many seats, but also fails by hiring the wrong person for the job.  These two errors work to geometrically multiply the level of service ineptitude.