Rating: 4.5 paws out of 5
Spent: $5 per person
Chain: Yes
Date Friendly: Yes
Note:
between 18th + 19th St
170 8th Ave.
Nework, NY 10011
212 488 2510
http://www.pinkberry.com/

Oh the long forgotten Frozen Yogurt seems to have come back into fashion. This time with arsenal of fresh fruits and crunchy sugary cereal toppings. The Hungry Ferret will ski down the “soft swirls of chilly bliss with a distinct pouty peak” to look for a sweet healthy treat. [Pinkberry TM]

The two main flavors at every chain location of Pinkberry are Original and Green Tea. Coffee and the shaved ice is listed on the website but not available at every location. Pinkberry is frozen yogurt, but it is not your frozen yogurt from the 90′s. This formula that the Pinkberry came out with has a very rich, smooth, and creamy texture.  The reinvented frozen yogurt has a bit of tartness and maintains its nonfat low calorie base.

” Fruit toppings, cut fresh on-site, include: strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, banana, kiwi, mango, and pineapple. There are also a variety of dry toppings to choose from, including: almonds, carob chips, chestnuts (new topping), chocolate chips, Cocoa Pebbles, Fruity Pebbles, coconut, mochi (rice cakes), yogurt chips, cookies ‘n cream, granola, and Cap’n Crunch. Pinkberry has introduced seasonal flavors like pomegranate seeds and lychee for holiday and summer seasons.” [toppings via wikipedia]

As you can tell listed above, the toppings can add a good amount of extra calories to the mix.  The two flavors that the Hungry Ferret had tasted, were quite good.  The original flavor can be closely described as vanilla with a tartness.  It was not bland, fatty tasting, overly tart, half melted or have sharp ice crystals in it.  Those previously mentioned are all the downfalls of a frozen yogurt treat.  The  Green Tea had all the good elements of green tea without the bad.  This was one of the best examples of usage of green tea in a desert.  Usually the outcome is horrid, the extremely bitterness or weirdness of flavors just ruin whatever the artist was trying to create.

Because of the simplistic idea of quality control and freshness of fruit and toppings, Pinkberry has earned 4.5 paws.

*Update: Pinkberry has received the National Yogurt Association for Live and Active Culture Yogurt seal.

Related articles

• Free frozen yogurt at Pinkberry this Friday (timeoutny.com)
• Buy one Pinkberry and get one free! (timeoutny.com)
• Charlize Theron: Pinkberry Run! (justjared.buzznet.com)
• Pinkberry’s Racist Scandal! [Consumed] (gawker.com)
• Cazwell Invites You To Stop By His Frozen Yogurt Truck (queerty.com)
• Yogurtland Rings in the Holiday Season with “Twelve Days of Yuletide Yumminess” (eon.businesswire.com)
• Menchie’s frozen yogurt, one week and counting (queenanneview.com)
• The big chill (thestar.com)
• Frozen Yogurt Dreams (iheartberlin.de)

Rating: 3.5 paws out of 5
Spent: $35 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: Yes
Note: Black Angus Beef
13693 37th Avenue
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 359-1227

Oh Glorious meat, how the Koreans make some wonderful grilled meat.  Today the Hungry Ferret had a big craving for grilled BBQ.  We will see how well the Hungry Ferret searches for the sweet scent and flavor of the wonderful Korean BBQ.

In the Korean tradition we were served lots of appetizers with our BBQ order.  The Kim Chi was quite good and had a really nice tangy flavor.  Along with that we had ordered a Kim Chi Pancake, the pancake was very flavorful and full of spicy goodness.

The grill was fired up and the first up to be grilled was the BBQ Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal Gui).  This dish reminds me a bit of unsmoked bacon.  After the meat was cooked, we dipped the meat in a salt / pepper vinegar.  It was then wrapped in a piece of lettuce with some scallion / lettuce salad.  The meat was thick and had chewyness.  Often when I have had this dish, the meat was too thin.

Next to be grilled was the BBQ Short Ribs (Gal-Bi).  This will be a true test to see if black angus meat was better.  Oh it was very tasty and full of flavor.  The black angus had a nice marbling to it and that marbling transferred to how good the short ribs tasted.  The meat was very tender and juicy.

BBQ Pork Belly (Samgyeopsal Gui)

Kim Chi Pancake

BBQ Short Ribs (Gal-Bi)

Kim Chi

Rating: 5 paws out of 5
Spent: $15 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: Yes
Note: Chicken is made fresh, can take up to 20 mins, cash only.
71-22 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
(718) 205-6662

With the recently popularity of the Korean fried chicken stands, there has been a lot of winners and losers in the fried chicken game. The Hungry Ferret will dig deep and look to the skies for an answer to the age old question, ” It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a flying chicken?”

Out of all the different flavors of fried chicken, the best the Hungry Ferret tasted is “Soy Garlic”. They claim the taste is out of this world, well it is according to me. So what makes a good fried chicken? Lets look through the steps of how the perfect fried chicken is made.

1: use fresh chicken and cook to order.
2: have a flavor that is well balance and perfect.
3: have the skin crispy and thin.

But really I believe the 2 main things that make this fried chicken so good is the flavor and how the skin is. Flavor is some secret voodoo that the chefs at UFC has come out with. The skin is really crispy and separates from the main portion of the meat. The best way to describe it would be comparing it to another dish, Peking duck. Peking duck when prepared correctly, the skin is suppose to separate from the meat after pumping air in between the meat and the skin. Well somehow the UFC master chefs have figure it out to do this to their chickens dishes. UFC has won the elusive 5 paw award.

The sides here are also good, the chicken comes with a cabbage salad with thousand island dressing. The Fresh thick fries have a very crisp outside and soft potato inside. The macaroni salad has nice sweet tangy creaminess that most will enjoy.

Interior Decor

Macaroni Salad

French Fries

Chicken Wings

Up close chicken wing

The 6th Annual – Big Apple Barbecue Block Party

New York City, Madison Square Park
June 7-8 2008
Noon to 6:00PM
http://www.bigapplebbq.org/

This has to be one of my favorite events out of the year. Famous BBQ champions come to New York City with their legendary pits to Madison Square Park. Word of warning, it gets very crowded very fast and food WILL run out. Expert Ferret Tip, come early, around 11am or get a fast pass for $100 from their site. The fast pass gets you into the express line and $100 credit for food and merchandise excluding books. Note: There is plenty of different foods, shirts, sauces, and rubs to take home.

Barbecue $8 per Plate • Sides & Desserts $4 per Plate • Beverages $2-$6

If ya slept in too late, still show up for the music, draft beer garden and BBQ merchandise. You might just have to go eat the the Shake Shack in the park. Which is not bad by the way. Oh and for you foodies that can’t make it, you can watch it from the Shake Shack cam.

http://www.shakeshacknyc.com/

Who’s coming, info Via Big apple BBQ site?

Big Bob Gibson
Alabama
http://www.bigbobgibson.com/

17th Street Bar & Grill
Murphysboro, Illinois and Las Vegas, Nevada
http://www.17thstreetbarbecue.com/

Mitchell’s BBQ
North Carolina
No website listed

Ubon
Mississippi
http://ubons.net/

The Salt Lick
Texas
http://www.saltlickbbq.com/

Dinosaur BBQ
New York
http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/

Black Jack BBQ
South Carolina
http://www.foodforthesouthernsoul.com/

Hill Country
New York
http://www.hillcountryny.com/

Rack and Soul
New York
http://www.rackandsoul.com/

Blue Smoke
New York
http://www.bluesmoke.com/

Rating: 3 paws out of 5
Spent: $25 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: Yes
Note: Billy Joel ate here and I think left a good tip.
4119 Kissena Blvd, Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 463-0803

In Korean BBQ Tradition you get lots of appetizers to munch on while waiting for your grill to get prepped for the meat. The Hungry Ferret doesn’t shy away from free tasty appetizers and will wait patiently for a tasty meal.

An order of Prime Beef Short Rib (Gal bi Gui) was sent to the kitchen and we waited for the food to start rolling in. This Korean style cut of meat is basically beef ribs that have been sliced crosswise instead of the traditional American style ribs cut. In this cut you would get slices of bone instead of bone sticks. To get this grilled at the table you have to order two orders of a BBQ dish.

The meat was well marinated and flavorful with the extra sauces that gave you. You normally would wrap a piece lettuce with BBQ meat, bean curd paste, scallion / green onion salad. This combination would make the meat more savory / juicy than usually. The only issue is that they switched from charcoal to table top portable burner. I believe the portable burner was not able to produce a high enough heat to give it the special Korean bbq flavor.

The Kim Chi (spicy pickled cabbage) was very good. The seasoning and spiciness was up to par of a good Korean Kim Chi. The sides very good due to the number of them, there was a something for everybody type of deal.

Korean style mini Vegetable pancakes

Kim Chi – Spicy Pickled Cabbage

Table side grill

Prime Beef Short Rib – Gal bi Gui

Lettuce Wrap we made from the beef

Soft Tofu with Pork in Heated stone Bowl

Rating: 3 paws out of 5
Spent: $20 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: Yes
Note: Cash Only
3804 Prince Street, Flushing NY 11354
718-353-1888

Many also have described Thai cuisine as a marriage of Chinese and Indian. It is a difficult balancing act among the five primary flavors. spicy, tangy, sweet, salty and bitter are the main stars of the show and needs to be used in the right combination. It’s a tough act to follow but the Hungry Ferret is up to the challenge.

We started with a Tom Yum soup served in a traditional large self heating pot. This spicy and tangy soup is one of the most famous thai soups you can order. There was an abundant amount of shrimp, mushrooms and onions.

The Pad Thai was very tasty. The shrimp was tender, sweet, salty and tangy were in the right places. For those that do not know, Pad Thai is one of the few non-spicy dishes. The chopped peanuts, raw beans sprouts, and carrots mixed in with the dish gave it a very complex texture. They balanced out the soft noodles and meat.

Kee Mao Noodle’s direct translation means drunkards noodles. It got this name because this dish pairs well with cold beer and whiskey. I have also seen this dish labeled as Spicy Noodles in many other Thai restaurants. The Kee Mao Noodle with chicken was excellent. I would consider this example one of the best I have been served. It had such a nice medley of basil, garlic, and hot spice.

The Seafood Crispy Noodle combination of textures was very pleasing. The crispy noodles with the noodle soften by the creamy sauce was delightful.

For desert we had banana pieces in spring roll skins with a scoop of ice cream on top. I would have prefered the bananas inside the springrolls to have been sweeter. Mixed with the vanilla ice cream, the flavors from the banana spring roll did not stand out enough.

One more thing to mention, the French / Vietnamese coffee was extremely good. The combination of Chicory, Coffee and condensed milk, gave this drink a very unique flavor. It had an extremely good strong coffee taste without the bitterness. But forewarned, order this drink a bit earlier than you want to drink it, otherwise you will have to wait for the coffee to fully brew at your table.

Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp

Large Tom Yum Soup with Shrimp

Seafood Crispy Noodle

Khee Mao Noodle Chicken

Shrimp Pad Thai

Hot French Coffee with condensed milk

Fried Banana with a Scoop of Ice Cream

10th Annual dine around downtown.  

Location: Downtown between liberty, pine, nassau and william.  

www.downtownny.com [info via downtown website]

“Favor some of the best food in town at the 10th annual Dine Around Downtown — a Downtown tradition showcasing the finest restaurants in Lower Manhattan.

Sample signature menu items for $3 to $6 while enjoying an array of live entertainment throughout the day.  Music by the Jazz Museum AllStars featuring Dominick Farinacci. ”

 

• Acqua at Peck Slip
• Adrienne’s PizzaBar
• Ancora Ristorante
• Battery Gardens
• Beckett’s
• The Beekman Pub
• Bouley
• Bouley Bakery & Market
• Brasserie Les Halles
• Brouwers of Stone Street
• Bull Run Restaurant
• Chase Plaza Cafe
• Ciao Bella Gelato
• Danube
• Delmonico’s Restaurant
• Financier Patisserie
• Fino Wall Street
• Fizzy Lizzy
• Fraunce’s Tavern Restaurant
• Giardino D’oro
• Gold St.
• The Grill Room
• Harbour Lights
• Harry’s Cafe & Steak
• Haru
• Jim Brady’s
• The Ketch Restaurant
• Kitchenette
• Klatch Espresso Bar
• Mad Dog & Beans
• Mangia
• Moran’s
• Nelson Blue
• One Ten John
• Papoo’s Italian Restaurant
• P. J. Clarke’s on the Hudson
• Pound & Pence
• Roy’s New York
• Salud Restaurant
• Smorgas Chef
• SouthWest NY
• Stella Maris
• Stone Street Tavern
• Suspenders Restaurant
• Trinity Place
• Ulysses Folk House
• Wall Street Burger Shoppe
• Waterstone Grill
• Yushi
• Zeytuna

 

From 5/29/2008 – 5/31/2008 after 12am – 12pm, with a reservation you can get anything on the menu for free, excluding liquor. Who can past on this highly rated Vietnamese food? Hit the link and check it out.   What will they think of next to keep us awake?

143 Grand Street
Soho NY 10013
212-431-7999
http://bunsohonyc.com/rsvp/rsvp.html

Bun Goes 24/7, Gives Away [via: Grub Street - New York Restaurants]

Rating: 3 paws out of 5
Spent: $8 per person
Chain: YES
Date Friendly: Maybe
Note: Peanut allergy warning. Peanut oil
132-01 14th Avenue, College Point, NY 11356
www.fiveguys.com
718-767-6500

May 10, 2008

If you are looking for one of the “best burgers ever”, this place is probably a place you should visit. Even though this a “fast food chain”, I would not dare compare it to the others (you know whom I am talking about.)

Five Guys just offers fresh real American burgers.  While munching on free peanuts, my burger was crafted in an extremely efficient clean open kitchen.   You might wonder why the burgers so much better than everybody else.  Did I mention the fresh never frozen meat, fresh cut fries (note they post where the potatoes are from daily).   Five Guys also offers 15 toppings for free, which you can’t beat. On their menu you can choose various sauces, spreads, grilled mushrooms, onions, and other fixings to make your burger perfect.

Not to forget the french fries, they come two tasty version, salted and Cajun.  They have a slight crispy exterior with a mash potato quality center.  I highly recommend these if you love fries.

Bags are labeled who burger is whos

Normal Size Burger, two patties

Little Burger – Single Patty

Regular Cajun Style Fries

Rating: 4 out of 5 paws
Spent: $40 per person
Chain: No
Date Friendly: Yes
38-11 Bell Blvd, Bayside NY 11361
718-717-7202

May 9, 2008

If you are looking to catch some great Mediterranean seafood, we have found a spot for you.

Located on the very trendy restaurant area on Bell Blvd in Queens, this restaurant big attraction is fresh seafood with big flavors.

We started with the daily special which consisted of grilled octopus, shrimp and calamari. The pieces were perfectly grilled and tender. This was my first time tasting grilled octopus and I was very surprised by the excellent texture and flavor.

The grilled Chilean sea bass had a very delightful buttery and sweet taste with a nice crispy crust. Scallops was served with a very generous portion (about 13), were well seared in a nice herb infused buttery sauce.

Lastly, if you are looking for some entertainment, they have a very popular flaming salt encrusted fish. When it arrives this fish is literally on fire. These impressively large flaming dishes were extinguished table side with lemon juice and cracked open with a hammer to expose the steaming fish baked inside.

Warm Bread

Garlic infused Olive Oil, Big Flavor

Grilled Calamari, Octopus, and Shrimp Daily Special

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass

Generous Portion of Broiled Sea Scallops

Flavorful Rice

Lemon Potatoes