Tom H.'s Profile

eh, not bad. as others have said, i found the service friendly but SLOW, and while the prix-fix was a good deal, their dessert is not. sort of my fault for not checking the price before going for it (price conveniently not printed on the menu), but $8 for a flan cake is kind of excessive, even if it was pretty good. the havana benedict was enjoyable though.

3.5 stars.

This is an ok place to stay in NYC, provided you are on a budget and do not mind slightly crowded conditions. The rooms themselves are spare to say the least. Bunks, a sink in the corner and not much else, including personality. The beds and sheets were clean though, and they provided new sheets and towels every day.

The bathrooms, of which there seemed to be about 4 of on each floor, were not bad for a hostel. Not all of them were new, but they ones that were new had nice tile and shower heads. Each bathroom is a toilet/sink/shower in one small room, so it is private, but also always in high demand early in the morning.

The common areas were not very roomy, but did provide free wifi and movies, on no less than three flat screen TVs, which is a lot for such a small space. The kitchen is really just a sink, fridge and a microwave in the corner. This is more of a place to gather yourself together before going out than a place to hang out and meet people.

I was here in the end of May, and it was already pretty bustling, with lots of young europeans and some domestic travellers (you must have either a foreign passport or an out of state ID to stay here, no NY residents).  The staff was friendly, despite being a little overwhelmed at all times.

The neighborhood here (the upper west side) is not exciting, but is by no means a sketchy 'hood, either. It is near Columbia University, so there are cheap places to eat and drink nearby, but this is hardy a destination neighborhood. Still, it is close to the metro, so getting anywhere else is easy.

All in all, this is a good place to fall down at the end of the day and sleep, but not a great place to relax and meet fellow travelers.

This is a totally decent bar. I'm sitting here right now, drinking a lagunitas IPA and waiting out the afternoon, leeching off the free wifi. it's got nifty wallpaper (fuzzy variety), nice bartenders (read: hot) and supposedly they are going to fire up the bqq in the backyard sometime soon. on a hot day like today, the breeze flows through the space perfectly, and you have a nice view of the actual macri park out the front door. i tried to weather the hipness in union pool next door for a bit, but when the kids in dayglow started dancing to C + C Music Factory and complaining that a 26th birthday made them SO OLD, I needed to go somewhere a little more grown-up. consider it found.

Let me articulate exactly what is right about Taqueria Cancun's super tacos.

- The cheese is the base of the taco, going underneath the other ingredients, on the tortilla.
- They grill the tortilla, which makes it less prone to structure failure (and not gummy, like steaming will do) and melting the cheese into the other ingredients, thus enhancing deliciousness and cohesion.
- They use slices of avocado instead of guac, thus no extra sour cream (i usually get it sans sour cream anyway) or other hidden ingredients.
- the hot green salsa. if you know, you know.

Other "taquerias", take heed.

nice shop. especially like that it is right on the L-Taraval line, so it's real easy to get to from the other side of the city. the butchers were helpful and pleasant. i got an entire leg of lamb (!) for my birthday bbq and they sliced it up into kebab-sized chunks for me, no extra charge. meat selection is good, i suppose. nothing too exotic, but a wide selection of cuts of your standards.

the deli here is still the best place to get a fully loaded hoagie on the east side of SoMA. totally worth a train ride down from the fidi on a nice day for lunch.

Not super impressed so far. I've eaten here about three times now, quesedilla, tacos and torta respectively, and so far only the torta has been decent. even the al pastor, which is usually the one thing guaranteed to be good, was sort of dry and bland. organization behind the counter seems to be an issue, too, as two out of three times they have made me my meal for dine-in, when I asked for it to-go. they do have a nice looking tequila selection, though, and as long as they don't mess with the torta at all, I guess I'll come back. would come back more if they gave you chips with your to-go order, too.

niiice. well stocked shop with some helpful and un-snobby employees. lots of whiskeys of various types, naturally, plus a decent tequila selection. some wine too. they will probably be getting too much of my money.

Fantastic place. I've eaten here twice so far, and the menu has been mostly different both times, depending on the season. The food is not in-your-face flavorful, more subtle, and not sauce-covered. You get to appreciate the natural flavors of the ingredients. And be sure to leave room for dessert, the pain perdue is not to be missed.

What really sets this place apart for me, though, was the service. The servers are very professional, and as is most always true, they show their true colors when complications arise.

Our second trip here, we had to wait about half-an-hour for our table to open up, which resulted in earnest apologies and an unprompted free appetizer, which was very nice. When our food came out, there was a mix up on one of the orders, which was again met with apologies, and a free dessert resulted. After the two setbacks, they made sure to pay extra attention to the rest of our meal and to make sure everything else went smoothly. Very nice recovery, the extra attention made the mix-ups kind of fade away, and turned a potentially disastrous meal into a enjoyable one.

a classic pho joint. nothing fancy, but nothing out of place. much better than other joints in SOMA, east of 6th street.