Irene H.'s Profile

A bit of Manhattan in Williamsburg. The L wasn't fully running so I had to walk a bit to the restaurant. We had a reservation but our party was slow to arrive. We had to wait a while for a table and passed the time by discussed the very recent news of Whitney's death (RIP Whitney!). This was my friend's pick and I didn't read up on it prior.

My Mr Pink cocktail was ok. We shared some whiskey bread, which came way after our other apps. I had the bok choy/grapefruit/cauliflower dish with shredded feta. It reminded me of romaine and parmesan. Very good. My entree was the scallops. The plating was weird. It was a huge white plate and my food was on one corner, leaving at least two thirds of the plate empty. The scallops were wonderfully executed but as expected, there were only three of 'em. I was full at this point though. My friends had the fish and the duck.

Overall ambience was good - tons of waitstaff and obvious that everything was prepared with love and pride. Don't bring picky eaters... they don't have a very large menu and it's also always changing since they use local ingredients. Good thing I ate a cupcake beforehand. Portion sizes aren't big so don't come with a huge appetite. Given the price point, I wouldn't visit often, but save it for more special occasions.

Maybe brunch is a better deal or maybe my friend hyped up this place too much. If it's Asian food, I naturally put a filter on the reviews and put more emphasis on ones written by those of Asian descent.

Perfect for a date night if you don't mind being in close proximity with the adjacent tables. We glanced over at the tables of 2's at some point and chuckled -- the tables were in perfect formation for speed dating and it looked like a bunch of couples were lined up on dates.

Overall, I thought the food here was alright, very fusion, and overpriced (or priced appropriately for the East Village/ambience). We tried the fried mantou and chili crab dip. Yummy... mantou is always delicious and you can't mess up fried mantou. The scallops were also tasty. Alright portion size. We weren't sure what the qui pie tee was and neither did my Singaporean friend. It's fried cups with filling. I had the mushroom. It was delicious, but pricey. Two of us got the oxtail noodles. Portion size was ok. Flavor was ok. If you don't like tendon, there is a lot of it in this dish. Another got the burger and was disappointed, but he said the fries were good.

Not itching to come back here any time.

At night (I guess it's after 6pm), donuts are buy one get one free. I tried the triple chocolate and the salted caramel. Both are delicious. Despite its cakey appearance, they are quick light, moist, and greasy. If you enter the Grand Central food court from the Oyster bar side, make a right and it's on the side of the first vendor. As for service, all I'm doing is grabbing a donut and going. Nothing much to talk about there.

This is not the biggest Anthropologie, but it is the one I frequent the most given its proximity to other favored chain stores. Whenever I need to run errands, e.g. make returns/price adjustments, etc., I come to this one. They also have a decent sale section. It must be annoying processing returns, but the girls here have a huge amount of patience and are always very nice. Never once do they let a hint of frustration show.

I had a few Inbundles to burn so here are some additional observations:

- I like how the total amount is always an even number. I like not dealing with change, so much that sometimes I'm too lazy to use a credit card.
- Everything is truly delicious. They have specials on a daily basis and some risotto/soup/salad deal for $15 after 6.
- I've realized that the egg dishes are best ordered during a busy time. I'm not sure if they precook them, but when I order on a weekend it's often a bit too cooked and this is coming from someone who doesn't like it easy.
- I love how I hear Italian flowing when I'm in here. It's almost like being in Italy...
- The key to beating the lunch crowd is phoning ahead :)

I love this place! I came here almost every day while I was in the area for work.

- Parking sucks, unless you come during off hours.
- Service is fantastic, whether I am one of the few people during late at night, during the peak of the lunch crowd, or late morning.
- You can order sandwiches/salads via phone if you have less than 5 orders. We did this once. They told us to pick up in 30 minutes. It took them a while to find our order out back... I would say not preordering and waiting for a small order isn't TOO bad.
- They have every type of specialty food you can think of whether it's pro-Georgia or from Europe. Honey, jams, chocolate, etc. Great to check out while you're waiting for a sandwich/salad. They are somewhat organized, but if you wanted say gourmet popcorn, you have to walk around to find all the flavors.
- You can checkout at the front or at the dessert/cafe area.
- It is pricey... I couldn't eat here regularly on my own dime.
- I wish they had more fresh fruit.
- I wish they had more dessert selection. I only checked it out for 3 days... nothing new.
- Need to try their marshmallows - fresh, made on site!

Things I've tried:
- I love the West Coast salad with orange wedges, goat cheese, beets, greens, along with grilled chicken breast. Their grilled chicken was perfection. It's also a reasonable portion size. I got this twice in a row because I loved it so much (after coming off of two days of Chickfila lunches).
- Mini cakes... tried the raspberry chocolate mousse, opera cake (loved this and I'm not a big chocolate person), peanut butter mousse (coworker liked it).
- I sampled around while I was waiting for my order. The pimiento cheese spread was really yummy. Cannele wasn't bad.
- Wasn't a big fan of the chicken pesto sandwich. I think the pesto was too garlicy? Bread was fresh and made on site. But the crust was too crust compared to the bread.
- Butternut squash soup was good and not too heavy.

Service was great ... as were the vegetarian sides, queso, lettuce salad and fancy margarita, but the chicken liver/pumpkin bread/fig chutney was too complicated, chicken liver hearts wasn't what i expected it to be, and the short rib taco was too rough.

Delicious! I've only been waiting for them to open for 2 months and clearly I wasn't the only one because the place was packed. This is a pudding bar. I had a classic parfait - chocolate (really good dark chocolate from Iceland) + butterscotch (has real scotch in it) + whipped cream. That was delicious. I got a jar of it and still have leftovers. I also had the banana cream dream with real banana pudding + banana cake + whipped cream + graham cracker crumbs. They already ran out of jars for those so I got a cup. You can also make your own parfait.

The sad part is this place isn't cheap, but they use quality ingredients and ... pudding is rich! Also, if you bring back a jar, you get $1 credit.

I'm curious what cake/pie/cookie selection they will have. Their menu also has Stumptown coffee and Harney and Sons tea... really wish they were open for the morning coffee crowd!

Jan 21 edit:
I've been back here 3 times since they opened.
- Sometimes they are open at 9am for coffee. Stumptown coffee for $1.75. I stopped in one day because there was a huge sign outside advertising coffee at 9am, pudding not until 4. I walked in and the owner said "excuse me, we're not open!". Now, I hadn't had my morning coffee yet, I said "just for coffee?". "Oh, oh yes." I was caught off guard by the tone of voice - I wasn't fully awake yet because I needed caffeine. I understand that they're really busy, but don't advertise coffee if you don't want people walking into the shop. I say sometimes because I've noticed that the sign hasn't been outside on every other morning.
- If you're traveling from afar, know that not everything on their menu is available. Every time I go in, some pudding is sold out or about to be sold out.
- The pudding cakes look pretty fantastic. I preferred the coconut pineapple cake over the parfait, which was not as sweet due to the lack of frosting. I do have to say the second time I got the cake, I got a noticeably smaller piece :( The slices weren't cut evenly. Overall, the cake slices are a smaller size than say Magnolia, but you can taste the quality of the ingredients.
- The cookies are delicious. Try their version of the oreo and the brownies!
- The shop space is tiny and crowded... and overheated due to all the baking and pudding making. I really wonder how they are going to make the space cooler, because we're in the coldest months of the year. At least the space gets northern exposure. I wonder if they will eventually have to move production off site to keep up with demand, or at least that's what it seems since something is always sold out?
- My fave parfaits are the banana dream and the coffee macchiato.
- I wonder if they are still doing the bring jars back for $1... I ran mine through the dishwasher and the label is 98% what it looked like pre-dishwasher.

I really hope they do well. I love when local businesses thrive.

I called this story during the additional 50% off sale because someone told me they had what I was looking for. Despite the craziness that must have been going on in the store and being put on hold many times, the service was so friendly and courteous. This what I expect from the South and from Anthropologie and my expectations were exceeded. My order arrived right after Christmas with a handwritten note thanking me for my purchase. And this is why I continue to frequent Anthropologie! (And the sales are great!)

I dangerously live a block away from the shop and have been here quite a few times since they opened thanks to the Groupon/friends.

Salty pimp - Very popular and not a bad place to start, but now that I know better and reembraced whipped cream, I won't be going back to the S.P. This is super messy so get a tray. When the chocolate doesn't cover the soft serve fully, it starts melting in the middle.
Bea Arthur - The nilla wafers really don't do anything for me. It's not moist enough on a cone.
American Globs - Similar to Bea, I would've preferred the pretzels to not be dust. Out of these 3 cones, I like the S.P. the most and recommend that.
Gobbler - The sundaes are great. I tried the Apple version of this.

I also love the soft serve twist with the spicy hot fudge and whipped cream. They have specials and I recently had a waffle cone lined in speculoos and topped with whipped cream and strawberries. That was a winner too.

I tried the choc chip / vanilla Melt sandwich and it was amazing... as if I've never had a better ice cream sandwich with the right texture combination. I would've tried the other ones but they were out of stock.

Service is always friendly and it's hard to imagine that any interior with rainbows and a glittery unicorn on the wall could not be friendly.