Bennett K.'s Profile

Superb beer selection that looks like it rotates frequently at reasonable prices.  I came here alone to kill time (thank you, iPhone Yelp location-aware recommendations!) and the place had two large groups sitting at the tables outside and a few couples inside, all of whom were enjoying themselves.  Great decor as described by the other yelpers-- the place reminded me of the now gone Standing Room Only in Hell's Kitchen.  It even smelled nice!  Doesn't seem like you can go wrong here.

OK, I take it back.  After reading my initial 3-star review, the owner of the wafeltruck contacted me and first made sure that I was actually talking about his wafeltruck-- beware!  there's an impostor wafeltruck around town!-- and then assured me that some of my issues (namely the bad hot chocolate) were teething pains the truck was going through last year and that it was worth giving the truck another shot. He even said I could get a free topping if I tried again.

So I subscribed to their twitter feed (!) to see when our locations would cross again and, lo and behold, found out that they tend to set up camp in Midtown on weekdays mere blocks from where I work.  This review would be 4.5 stars if it could because I tried going to the truck twice before having any success-- both times the truck said it'd be at it's locale until 4pm and both times I tried going around 3:40 and they were already gone.  I'm sure it ain't easy to secure a parking space in midtown for a day, but if you're gonna depart before you say you're going to depart, at least update your Twitter feed for those who rely on it to get your whereabouts!

Third time's a charm.  When I finally got to the truck, i was rewarded with a delicious waffle as described by so many reviewers before me here for $4.  And many days they give you a code via their twitter feed for a free topping-- it would behoove you to check the feed.  I got me the brussels wafel with nutella; next time I'll give their liege a second try.

If you haven't read the NY Times' initial review of this place, the gist of it is that the food was good to very good but the service was terribly inconsistent, and at times bordering on terrible.

You'd think that at such a high-profile restaurant as this with such a high-profile celebrity chef as Mr. Samuelsson that heads would have ROLLED the minute the Times review came out and they would have done all they could to remedy their service issues.

Regardless of Frank Bruni's one-star cautionary tale, my girlfriend and I have had some fun times getting Ethiopian food before and we wanted to go somewhere that was a bit of a spectacle for her birthday, so we went here.  Call me paranoid, but I think they judged us from the moment we walked in.  Maybe it was my Brooklyn Industries backpack (hey, I just came from work and didn't have a place to put my laptop) or my nice-but-not-Armani outfit I was wearing.  (Can you tell I'm not your typical meatpacking diner yet?)

After waiting a little while to be seated and moved once to a smaller table farther back in the restaurant (no joke), our waiter strides up to our table and asks what kind of bottled water he can get us. Thus began an evening of him aggressively upselling everything he could to us and us only going for what we're actually interested in, which was more often than not quite a bit less than he recommended.  I think he recommended to order 3 or 4 starters (including some sort of quasi-african torchon of foie gras or something) and then two full entrees... sorry, man, but even when we're gorging we don't eat that much, and I hate having a lot of food left over.  After a few rounds of selecting only a fraction of his lofty recommendations, he decided that the table of cougars next to us who were still ordering cocktails after an hour were a better catch, so he fawned over them for the rest of the evening and made it very apparent that he wanted nothing to do with us.

The food?  Eh.  Seriously, nothing to write home about.  I've had equally good Ethiopian food at Meskerem on Macdougal St or at a couple of places in Boston that I used to frequent at 1/2 or 1/3 the price.  I expected something more from Marcus Samuelsson; maybe I *should* have ordered the foie gras torchon or the lobster appetizer.  To Merkato's credit, the space is pretty cool and the best part of the meal was actually a fiery cocktail whose ingredients I don't remember (I've needed since May to calm down enough to write about this experience).

Apparently the table next to us got wind of how blatantly we were being ignored in favor of the table of the women with the implants, so the nice couple who were friendly with the wine manager at the place (not the sommelier, apparently) offered us the rest of an unfinished bottle of wine they had as they were leaving.  The wine was a familiar one-- a South African rose (Mulderbosch) that I had bought before for $13 / bottle at Pour-- God knows how much they charged on the menu for that.

To cap off an evening of blatant rudeness, the waiter simply dropped the check on our table and immediately turned away, never to be seen again.  No 'thank you' or anything.

So my $0.02 (which happens to be about as much as I left the waiter in a tip, as well): save yourself a hundred or so dollars and have yourself a fun time at one of the many more authentic African / Ethiopian places around town.  Get loaded off honey wine and fill up on injera while sitting around a real wicker table and spend the money nursing your hangover the next day.

Never had a bad experience here.  The drinks and menu change frequently and I am usually overwhelmed with options for what to eat and drink.  Last night I chose the vegetable lasagna with the 'best of the greenmarket' (or something like that) selection of vegetables instead of the gnocchi with some kind of kinky-sounding mushroom (I want to say Honshu?) and ramps-- I don't regret my decision at all as the lasagna and the veg were all delicious but I'm tempted to go back to try the gnocchi before ramps go out of season!

The place has a very comfortable ambiance and is never too crowded or loud.  Small but very solid beer selection ($5 blue point is certainly not bad for NYC) and a broad but not cheap (by the glass, at least-- typically around $12 / glass) wine selection.  Go here!

For a bar that prides itself on its extensive beer selection, you'd think they'd have more than your run-of-the-mill domestics (you know the list) and imports (heineken, amstel).  I remember maybe one or two semi-standout beers.  They could do so much more with the pretty nice space they have but it's just your average & perplexingly overcrowded meat market bar.

excellent and frequently changing beer list, sometimes a bit crowded but still my favorite spot for a pint on the UWS.

don't have much to add to the other yelpers' reviews-- it's really a great neighborhood spot with fun rolls, great specials, friendly waitstaff, and reasonable prices.  very comfortable interior, nothing flashy but just right for a relaxing evening of sushi & sake / sapporo on the UWS.

Fairway is part of what makes me proud to live where I do.  I've taken some out-of-town friends here who are used to their suburban megamarts with double-wide aisles and they were quickly overwhelmed and off-put by the angry old ladies in fur coats who must find the one perfect onion in the heap of onions and the staff who are constantly pushing massive pallets of produce through the throngs of customers as if they weren't there (i've always found them to be friendly and helpful when talked to) and the apparent chaos of the whole thing.  heck, my first five or so times coming here I was just getting the lay of the land and got yelled at a few times for not realizing where the checkout lines extended to (the aisles) or whether there are one or two per aisle (the verdict's still out on that).  a piece of advice-- learn the lay of the land and plan your shopping accordingly.  backtracking from the kitty litter aisle to pick up a tomato that you forgot in the produce section in this store, especially on a jam-packed sunday or monday evening, really sucks.

they have a great produce selection that often has new and novel items leading you to impulsively buy things you've never seen before (ramps!  satsuma oranges!), a great fish and meat section, and an AWESOME organic section upstairs with some unique finds (and, not to mention, fewer people).  they're also really starting to get the whole local / sustainable food thing, and will proudly display their long island-grown cukes and day boat scallops and lancaster county free-range eggs.  and the prices are great.  oh fairway, where would i be without thee?

One of those places I really want to like (prices = very reasonable, very close to my house) but every time I leave here disappointed.  The margaritas are standard-issue manhattan margaritas (= a little too sweet for my liking), the quesadilla just wasn't quite right-- the tortilla was nearly burnt on one side and slightly undercooked on the other and its filling (artichoke hearts, goat cheese, tomatoes-- maybe that was my mistake for ordering that) was mealy.  And would it kill them to put the tiniest bit of effort into presentation?  All the dishes look slopped onto the plate, middle school cafeteria-style.  The tilapia tacos weren't too bad tasting and I have to respect the abundance of vegetarian-friendly options on the menu and the fact that they have outdoor seating but... well, I wish there was a place in my neighborhood somewhere between Harry's and Rosa for a good Mexican (cal- or otherwise) meal!