Day 4 was a BIG DAY for us. For lunch, we were headed to the BF’s Top Pick for the trip. As such, we needed some caffeine…BIG TIME.
Per my brother’s suggestion, we grabbed a cup of joe from one of his usual spots from the Mudtruck. With two locations in the East and West Village, this popular spot is all about no-thrills, no-frills tasty coffee. Seriously. You won’t get your Sta-narz-bucks, unreliable coffee here! 🙂
With drip coffees (mine with two Splendas, please) in hand, we were ready to head off to grab a light breakfast and knock off another spot from our list. 🙂
The Mudtruck
307 East 9th Street
(212) 529-8766
Where to? THE DOUGHNUT PLANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Featured on the FoodNetwork’s, “Throwdown with Bobby Flay“, the Doughnut Plant is an institution in the Lower East Side for whipping out quality and innovative doughnuts. MMMMmmmm…..doughnuts! I was quite concerned about possible lines for this hot spot, per reviewers and other bloggers, but we were in luck! No lines! So we strolled right up to the counter to place our orders. 🙂
I’ll be honest….I was a little overwhelmed. It’s one of those moments that you think, “heck, I’ll take one of everything”. But common sense (and fear of great obesity!) rears in your mind. As such, I selected one of their infamous Tres Leche Doughnuts and the BF selected a seasonal special, Passion fruit…..ooooohhhh. 🙂
How were there?? Undeniably THE BEST doughnuts of our lives. Exaggerate much? Not me…..at least not this time. The Tres Leche was absolutely amazing. Rich, sweet (though not too sweet), crisp on the outside—yet moist in the inside. As for the Passion fruit….now that was the stumper. It looked like your average glazed, yeast doughnut. But after one bite, you realize that they somehow took passion fruit and infused it into the glaze. And not some “imitation-meh” flavor. But an honest-to goodness, passion fruit flavor. How did they do it? I have no idea. Sneaky, Doughnut Plant. Brilliant, they are. 🙂
Doughnut Plant
379 Grant Street
(212) 505-3700
With delish doughnuts and coffee in our tummies, we headed over the Brooklyn Bridge to take in some sights and encroach upon our lunch spot. Here’s our view from Brooklyn Heights into Manhattan. If you take a closer look, you’ll see a tiny Statue of Liberty towards the center. 🙂
A light stroll through the neighborhoods (with a greater appreciation for the beautiful brownstone homes), we headed towards Williamsburg for the BF’s Top Pick for our entire NYC trip. Drum roll please…….
Peter Luger has received awards after awards from the New York Times to James Beard and even has a Michelin star. And since the BF is quite the Steak Connoisseur, this particular meal was greatly anticipated. 🙂
The decor is old school…..and by old school, I’m talking 1887. The restaurant is embellished with dark woods, heavy set tables and chairs, and oversize artwork. In every sense, it’s an “old boy’s steakhouse” right down to the cantankerous waiters, who play their roles quite well. 🙂
Steaks are typically ordered by person. So, for our party of five, we ordered the Porterhouse for 2 and another Porterhouse for 3. We also added a side of their creamed spinach and sides of bacon (ordered by slice) because we were told that it was a MUST.
The Extra thick, sizzling bacon. It WAS really tasty–though for me, it was more reminiscent of ham than bacon.
Our Porterhouse still bubbling from the broiler….sliced, bathed in butter, and served table side.
My steak and creamed spinach.
My thoughts? Well……I’m scared to actually say it but I would only give this “meat institution” a 3 out of 5. Our steak was greatly under-seasoned and although there was the famous Luger Steak Sauce on the table, I think a good steak should be well seasoned. Heck–ALL food should be well seasoned. The quality of the dry aged beef was top notch that it was a shame that they drenched it in butter. However, I did enjoy their methods of using a blazing high temperature broiler to seal in the juices.
But I did enjoy the overall experience at Peter Luger. The waiters were entertaining, the environment/atmosphere appears to have not changed in the over 100 years it’s been running, and the sides were quite yummy.
Plus, we got these fun gold chocolate coins at the end of our meal. In fact, they were thrown by our server across the table at us. Again, another kitschy touch 🙂
Peter Luger Steakhouse
178 Broadway
(718) 387-7400
With a day filled with “heavy eats” paired with the FREEZING weather, we were in need of something warm to comfort our tummies for dinner. When this happens, only two things sound yummy to me….either Pho or Ramen. 🙂 My bro and sis-in-law suggested we head over to the East Village for their favorite winter Ramen from Minca.
Mmmmm……sounds good to us!
We were quickly seated right before a dinner time rush (kind of our luck the whole trip!). Between the four of us we shared an order of the Shrimp Gyoza and Kimchee. Both very yummy!
I ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen with Pork as seen below.
The bowl was HUGE!!!! The broth was extremely rich and savory–much thicker broth than our usual ramen spots however it was perfect for the cold weather. I loved the corn and mushrooms that were served as accouterments and the pork was absolutely delicious. Extremely tender and a little fatty—but in a good way! 🙂
Fantastic way to end our day and warm our tummies for the cold weather ahead.
Minca
536 East 5th Street
(212) 505-8001
theculinarychronicles.com 
3 out of 5? sadly to say, it’s not the first i’ve heard of this. while i do love my steak drenched in clarified butter (had it once that way at the best steak house in the world — a dive in the alley of some random street in florence), underseasoned meat is a big boo as in boo hoo!
I know what you mean about underseasoned steaks *wink. Welp, all you can say is “been there, done that” with that place! At least your morning started off with a big bang with those BEST doughnuts in the world!