• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Alice Dishes

Adventures and Real Food

  • Design
  • Life
  • Recipes
  • Reviews
  • Travel

June 29, 2013

Bites of the Big Apple

A whirlwind work trip to New York doesn’t typically leave much time for real food adventures, but nevertheless I am pretty ruthless about asking locals for their favorite haunts.

On this sweltering hot trip, with temperatures in the high 90s and humidity to match, I managed to squeeze in two jaunts. One to Keens Chophouse, a traditional New York steak house which won’t be of interest if you’re anything other than a red meat-eater, and the other to a fab Spanish tapas spot called Boqueria.

Keens, on 36th Street near 6th Avenue, is a rambling, sprawling, low-ceilinged joint that feels like it’s been there forever. For some reason, the entire ceiling is decorated with tobacco pipes, each one painstakingly attached to the ceiling with two cup-hooks. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of these things. We speculated whether they were all hung at once, or slowly added over the years. I pity the pipe hanger.

You can have anything you want to eat as long it’s beef (or lobster – there were a few unfortunates staggering around in a tank). For some reason, each piece of beef comes accompanied by a piece of broiled red pepper. You order the sides separately – potatoes of multiple varieties, or the typical chunky, overcooked veggies you’d expect in a place such as this.

Prime rib comes nearly three inches thick, on the bone, and according to my fellow diner, who mostly eats a Paleo diet, quite delicious. It certainly looked juicy. I split a filet mignon with my friend, and it was just fine. Nothing outstanding, but much as you’d expect it to be. Most surprising was the fact that people were still showing up at 10.30pm to eat humongous amounts of beef and potatoes. I wonder how well they slept.

Boqueria NYC

Boqueria, on 19th Street near 6th Avenue, is an altogether different place and perfect for sharing eats with friends. They don’t take reservations, but you can put your name on the list and they’ll text you when your table’s ready. It’s a perfect excuse to get a fancy schmancy cocktail at the Flatiron Lounge, just a few doors away.

Boqueria is jumping, loud with chatter and music, and offering a comprehensive tapas menu. Choose from the usual suspects, they’re all good. Jamon Iberico with sweet little olives, pimientos du Pardron – deliciously sprinkled with sea salt; patatas bravas, spicy and crunchy and very moreish; and lots of lamb dishes from meatballs to skewers.

The energy of the place, along with most of the dishes (skip their take on paella, it’s made with a type of pasta and was a little dry), make this a great spot. We really enjoyed the people watching. One table seemed to be straight out of an episode of HBO’s Girls. It was hard not to stare and ascribe a story to each of the diners.

Oh, and there’s a new type of lunch place that has sprung up of late. It’s called Fresh & Co and if you’re looking for a “clean” lunch that isn’t chock full of gluten or dairy, this is a great spot. They have a salad bar where they’ll make your favorite combo on the spot; a quinoa bowl bar – you can choose from a few different combinations of meat or tofu and spices; and a soup station. It was reasonably priced (for New York), quick and not diabolically unhealthy. Check it out.

Filed Under: Reviews, Travel Tagged With: beef, Boqueria, Flatiron Lounge, Keens Chophouse, New York, restaurant review, steak, tapas

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Alice

A bit about me... I grew up in the UK and moved to Northern California in the late 1990s, drawn here, like so many others, by the lure of ...

Read More

Popular Posts

  • holey_grail_donutsThe Best Places to Eat in Hanalei, Kauai
  • 10 Things to Do in Sea Ranch, CA10 Things to Do in Sea Ranch, CA
  • When All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really Matter in LifeWhen All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really…
  • Stunning Beet and Cauliflower SoupStunning Beet and Cauliflower Soup

People are Talking About

No People Food

A Lesson in Salt From Samin Nosrat

Madeleines by Monkey

When All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really Matter in Life

Alice’s Favorites

101 Cookbooks
Chef on a Mission
Cook, Taste, Eat
Food Politics
Golden
Good Eggs
Healthy Cooking
Jamie Oliver Food Revolution
Mary Vance
Michael Pollan
Nina Planck
Not Without Salt
Nourish Network
Samin Nosrat
The Healthy Home Economist

alicedishes

Lover of life, Labs & horses. Visit AliceDishes.com blog for travel, recipes, design & life. Area VI #morganhorse #blacklab #eventing #interiors

Alice Dishes. Eat, Bark, Ride
A little bit of our dressage and SJ action from th A little bit of our dressage and SJ action from the weekend @twinrivershorsepark - Q and I were either great or mediocre during dressage to give us a 36.4 which made it hard to be competitive, but the goal was to finish on our dressage score and feel confident all weekend ✅. We moved up 4 places over the weekend and jumped double clear in both SJ and XC for a top 10 finish. Our rhythm and timing in SJ was probably our best yet. #eventing #areavi #comeback
The sunset was spectacular last night in Paso Robl The sunset was spectacular last night in Paso Robles! #sunset #pasorobles
So fun to watch @tommygreengard on these two speci So fun to watch @tommygreengard on these two special boys: Barry and Josh. 😍
The boy is back in town! Rogee had a blast doing X The boy is back in town! Rogee had a blast doing XC schooling for the first time since February. He was relaxed (shocker!), said yes to everything and although he wanted to shred up the track he listened and was a very good boy 😍😍😍 - so happy with him and I think he had the best day ever 🙌  Looking forward to showing him at @woodsidehorsepark in Oct! #xc #eventing #eventinghorse
My little pocket 🚀 was on 🔥today! I couldn’t have been happier. We jumped all the Training things and tackled some challenging questions. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs since losing some confidence. At one point in June I froze jumping a x-rail 🤷‍♀️. But we have fought our way back, filling in gaps and ultimately our partnership has become even stronger. I’m so proud of her. I have lots of work to do to be fully deserving of this brave girl, but after a day like today it feels like we could conquer anything! (Except dressage 😂 - but we are working on that too!) #eventing #eventinghorse #xc #morganmare #comeback
Fun working on our jumping at home today 1) no st Fun working on our jumping at home today 
1) no stirrups 2) trot verticals 3) adjust canter 4) work a related distance ✅. Felt great. She was keen and took me to the fences 😍 #eventinghorse #morganmare
🎉 New blog post alert! My first story about our 🎉 New blog post alert! My first story about our trip to the Baja peninsula is live - link in bio.  Read all about the fun we had staying and tequila tasting at  @thecapehotel, massages at @cabosurfhotel delicious food at @florafarms and @elhuertof2t  #bajacalifornia #vacationvibes #cabosanlucas #beachday @thecapehotel @florafarms @cabosurfhotel
My handsome boy. The many faces of King Arthur. #b My handsome boy. The many faces of King Arthur. #blacklab #blacklabrador
I would choose them both every time. It’s defin I would choose them both every time.  It’s definitely not easy having two horses and one rider. But I am going to make it work as long as I possibly can because they are part of me. 😍 Can you have two ❤️ horses for different reasons? Because I might have just got that lucky.
It makes me so happy to see Rogee fit, strong and It makes me so happy to see Rogee fit, strong and enjoying his rehabbed body. He’s really learning what he’s can do with himself these days physically and it’s also really rewarding to see his personality shift down a few gears to a generally more relaxed state… #goodboy
I planted these at the end of April - and finally I planted these at the end of April - and finally I get my first harvest!!
Burghley Revisited. What a terrific time we had. # Burghley Revisited. What a terrific time we had. #eventing #5* #burghleyhorsetrials
This 15.1hh stallion stole my heart. Does Q need a This 15.1hh stallion stole my heart. Does Q need a husband? 😍 I mean, that jump. Very much my ride!!!
Scenes of St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Fulham Scenes of St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Fulham Palace Road at dusk #london
After all the fun and running around of the last w After all the fun and running around of the last week, I spent my last full day in the UK at the spa with @rachaelfaulkner1 who no doubt deserved a day off way more than me! Fun times. And what an amazing week I’ve had. #spaday
Load More Follow on Instagram

Footer

A bit about me... I grew up in the UK and moved to Northern California in the late 1990s, drawn here, like so many others, by the lure of the dot.com ...

Read More

More to Explore

All Posts Archive

Stay Connected

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Never Miss a Post

Copyright© 2023 · Alice Dishes

website by lobstervine