busy girl thoughts

Travel Journal, Dining Review, New York City, Yum YumFebruary 16, 2005 10:30 pm

Tonight I ventured out to little Italy planning to dine at Nyonya, a Malaysian restaurant. After 45 minutes of train transfers and a cab ride, we only discovered that the wait at Nyonya was over an hour. There were about 50 people standing in the 6 by 3 waiting area like chicken in the cage. The food looked and smelled wonderful but we were too starved to wait (would’ve stayed if they had a bar)

After walking around a little bit, we settled for an italian restaurant nearby. The bread wasn’t impressive (cold, hard and bland, with butter, not olive oil), so I lowered my expectation for the Lobster spaghetti i ordered. When it was delivered to my table, i was vastly impressed. The portion size is obviously a winning factor. Not only was the lobster of a decent size, look all the calamari, clam and mussel they dumped on the plate. The flavor was unbelievable too. I could taste the masala wine, the nice blend of all the seafood flavor soaked in the spaghetti.

Couldn’t get enough of it!

Travel Journal, Dining Review, New York City, Yum Yum 3:53 am

Carmine’s is located in the heart of Times Squares. It’s one of the most popular pre and post theater dining option among tourists and theater goers alike. It’s famous for it’s family-sized portion. Well, it’s probably not your regular family. It’s more like for a family of at least 10.

That night two other girls and me, starved after walking around in a snowy night, decided to scout out this place. No menu is provided and everyday’s specials are written on the balckboards around the walls. It was quite a struggle for us near-sighted girls to read the menu. We ordered three dishes despite the waiter’s warning and pleading, and we assured him that we won’t let too much food go to waste. We ordered some pasta, veal marsala and a big basket of Caesar salad. I suppose we did pretty well, only left half of the pasta.

I’d recommend this restaurant to those who enjoy bargained-supersized-italian family meals. If you’re looking for exquisite Italian cuisine, and could wait around a month for a reservation, go to Babbo and forget about Carmines.