Tim "Grom Nom Nom" L.'s Profile

Came here for a friend's birthday and they had provided the nice back room for our party.  It was nice that they didn't mind, that like most parties some people bailed and thus the reserved seats needed also shrunk.  (Then again it was pretty empty)

When you imagine a typical oyster bar, that's pretty much what you get here when you first enter and that's perfect. Then when you wander into the back room where they stash the parties, it feels like we're eating in someone's basement dining room complete with fireplace.  The sound system was at this peculiar volume which resulted in it sounding like The Killers were holding band practice next door.

The waiter we got was extremely friendly and had a great humorous personality to him, which always makes a dining experience more enjoyable.

The chef who's also the owner (of which the Shaffer part of the restaurant name comes from) also came out to introduce himself and some of the things that were on our cold appetizer plates.

I'm a  West Coast transplant and so was delighted to see a familiar offering of oysters from the waters of British Columbia where I'm originally from. On top of that this is probably one of the few places I've been to where they'll ask you how you want your salmon cooked in terms of temperature/doneness so extra points for that.

Although none of the dishes really blew me away, they were all well prepared and tasty.  When coupled with the pricing, the taste and price didn't justify a value I would come back for. However, if I was wandering around the neighborhood I might definitely drop in for the oysters and various mollusks.

From the same owners of Burger 67 in Fort Greene comes this new addition to Midtown.

For the amount of options and decent burger options this place might get an extra star, but when compared to all burger places available in the city it's not particularly special.

What they do have going for them is the reasonable pricing for the burgers and sandwiches. Most are around the $5 range.  Of course this all gets thrown off when you look at the pricing of their fries. Regular fries go for $2.50 and sweet potato fries go for $3, a bit too disproportionate for me.

I got their namesake Black Shack burger with the rest of my coworkers ordering all the other varieties.  The burger itself had a hint of that Burger King flame broiled whopper taste to it. I didn't peak in the kitchen but seriously hope it's from a legit flame and grill and that the lines aren't just painted on.

The seating and decor for this place is suitable and well optimized for their space, which funnels all customers down one wall to the registers and then to the seating (Think Chipotle etc)

Most likely due to the fact they recently opened, they were definitely not prepared for the lunch rush. It tooks us nearly 25 mins of waiting to get our order and it looked like some people before us had waited even longer.

They ran out of ice cream so refunded my coworker for his shake.  They don't have delivery yet, but I can foresee this place doing much better once they work out the kinks of being newly open.

So I've been on a bit of a hunt for a decent laundromat in the area that has that perfect balance for laundry service.

It's only been once, but I think I may have found it.  So far all pros and no-cons and that's the way it should be for a first time experience. After all, first impressions are everything right?

A quick call the laundromat gave me all the quick answers I needed.

$0.75/lb long hours for pickup / delivery (the lady told me sometime in the morning, I think 8am to 11pm) which is awesome, especially for weekdays when you're coming home late from work and most of the time same day wash and fold.

Sounded perfect for me so I went ahead and asked for a pickup. They were at my front door within 20 minutes which was exactly when they said I could expect them and off they went with my laundry in the late afternoon of a Saturday.  The driver asked me when I wanted it back to which I asked for later that day if possible. He said to call after 7 to check.

When I called back it wasn't quite done yet, but they said it would be soon and to expect it at my door shortly after 8pm.  That's exactly when it arrived back. Shortly after 8.

Things I love about them? They keep you informed. They told me it wasn't done yet and when I could expect it, which is what they delivered on. My biggest peeve with other laundry places is the false promises of "we'll be there in 5 minutes" and the constant calling back and forth.

Both drivers I dealt with were friendly and along with the lady working at the laundromat who answered my call spoke perfect English so there wasn't any chance of miscommunicating.

They're reliable, precise and quick. Perfect for anyone who is either too lazy or has no time to do their laundry.

Came here for lunch on the recommendation of a co-worker who while at another company used to come here pretty regularly.  The first thing he noticed was that the prices had increased quite a bit since he had last been here.

I ended up getting the bento box lunch for which I ended up selecting the spicy tuna roll, chicken teriyaki and sashimi.  The chicken was overly cooked which seemed to be the consensus at our table with the various cooked items.

The rolls were pretty good and looked great but for the cost it didn't seem overly justified.

The decor is simple and is definitely not as crowded as surrounding restaurants which makes it a suitable place to have a lunch meeting.

Waitstaff seemed a little absent minded but they did seem to be pretty apologetic about it and were happy to help when you flagged them down.

Popped in here after some friends had a hankering for bubble tea. If only I noticed the sign up front when I walked in, instead of on the way out I would have used my out of state id to be a tourist for their discount. (Yes, I really am that cheap.)

Students get one too.

Sharing space with the chicken place, the store is long and narrow and offers limited seating.  It's definitely not the first place to come to mind when you think of going for bubble tea, unless you're in the area.  Reason being their drinks really aren't that great. Mediocre and passable with relatively bland flavoring.

Unlike us, stick with one of the yogurt places if you're looking for a place to hop to after dinner.  You'll probably be more satisfied.

What was insane was the fact they ran out of cash for giving me change. I don't understand how a business whose products are all within a certain price range and deal in cash can't figure out to have enough small bills to break the ever common $20.  Seriously. I felt bad for the customers after me who had to rummage for change. I don't even think everyone was able to order as a result.

Outlet malls are outlet malls, they all seem to look the same after awhile and the brands and stores that occupy these places start to look extremely familiar.

Yet Woodburn strangely is able to appeal to the masses and set itself apart even if it is just slightly.

Given the name its wood heavy design is appropriate.  They have a sizable play area to keep the kids occupied while you whittle away the hours shopping the numerous businesses here.

You'll find all your typical staples for the outlets, kitchen wares, watch/wallet/accessory shops, books and of course food offerings.

Unlike other places that put all those restaurants and stands that offer food all together, they're spread out strategically all interspersed with the stores.

Overall the shopping experience is good although like outlets in general, I find it hit or miss whether you will actually walk away with a purchase.

The no tax in Oregon definitely helps this place out.

If I were to rate this place solely on their frosting it would definitely get a solid 4 stars from me, however this place falls short when it comes to the cake.

I'm not sure if it was because I came here around 10:30 at night (nice thing is their long hours) but the cake portion was definitely not very good at all. Very dry, however this place is definitely known more for their icing.  

There's about enough icing for you to make half the cake moist enough to enjoy.  Given that you can imagine just how good the icing is when it comes to balancing out a mediocre (at best) cake.  Also based on this formula they could probably make something I'd find especially delicious if they either:

a) Double the amount of icing

or

b) Halve the amount of cake.

I'm saying they should go with option a, since that would be a much better value and icing is their strong point here.

It's a cute little store space with colors that mimic and compliment the cupcakes themselves.  The icing available for trial is also great. No need to make hasty decisions since you can try it all!

Overall I wouldn't purposely trek out here for their cupcakes, but I certainly wouldn't turn one down if I were given one.

Yeah their buffet selection might be smaller than some of the other places, but hey it's $6.95 for the weekday lunch which is a great deal for a meal where you can stuff yourself to your heart's content.

The decor is certainly different than the typical Indian restaurants here in Curry Hill.  It reminds me of those converted country style coffee shops where all your cutlery, cups and dishware all occupy spots on a hutch to mimic the feel you're in someone's country kitchen.

It's just a weird juxtaposition of Indian buffet dishes and trays inset on an island nook.

Strangely they pull it off just fine, and no that isn't giant braille on the walls. If it were I might guess that it says "this way to the buffet, eat up and be merry"

The owner and his staff are all super friendly as well making this tightly packed operation an enjoyable experience.  This place is definitely a place you probably don't want to go to with a group of more than 4 people.

The dishes themselves are all very flavorful and do change from time to time.

This Future Shop is particularly horrendous with it's terrible parking situation and general disorganization.

Couple this with the annoying and super sharky sales staff and you can imagine how your tolerance for shopping here quickly drops.

Unfortunately it's one of the few places in the area to go to for your electronics, unless they're they more general selection found at Staples.

Don't even think about coming here when Christmas shopping season is in full swing, you'll kill yourself within a minute of shopping here.

If you're a public transit user, then it's only a few strides from the Skytrain / Buses and is relatively bearable.

However with the Best Buy close enough and with far less pressure from sales staff and a better maintained store, I'd recommend you avoid this place.

This is one of the small but growing number of places that serve real hash browns. It really irks me when places have "hash browns" on the menu only to be given either:

- home fries
- potato wedges
- pan fried potato
- a potato

So as you can imagine this review is heavily biased based on that one menu item. Coupled with the fact I've almost always ordered it with corned beef hash and two eggs. That's not much to go on for an indication of how the rest of the menu is.

I can say that the guys who work here are all super friendly and great at trying hard to get things exactly the way you want them.

No problem dicing up the hash browns extra good and frying it for longer for more crispiness.

If the staff aren't busy watching futbol, they'll also more than oblige to change the channel to whatever you'd like to watch.

Close proximity to buses and the subway stop (hence the name), this place is more than convenient to come get your true hash brown fix.