Peter Luger Steak House

Well, well, well... after 3+ years of living together, my 2 roommates - Howie & Danny - and I went out to eat. Amazingly enough, this had never happened prior to Friday night. We had shared many meals together in front of the TV and many more in restaurants where we were joined by our friends, but it was never just the 3 of us. With the 3 of us leaving our current digs at the end of the month, we needed to change this ASAP. Where do you go to celebrate 3 amazing years of living together? We decided to go big-time and went to the best steak house in all the land.. Peter Luger Steak House (The #1 Steak House in NYC for 26 straight years!)

We were looking forward to this meal since we made the reservation a month prior. After a pre-dinner cocktail at our apt and a short cab ride from the East Village to Williamsburgh, we found ourselves in the famed Steak House. It was crowded and had an old school vibe with wood surrounding you on all sides & a wait staff dressed in all white. We were seated upstairs and immediately greeted with an above-average bread basket filled with my favorite, pretzel rolls. Don't be a newb and fill up on the bread!! There's much, much better food to come!

We didn't even need a menu as the waiter took one look at the 3 of us and told us exactly what we were going to order. He was spot on! Tomato & Onion and 3 slices of bacon to start, steak for 3 as the entree with french fried potatoes & creamed spinach on the side. Boom! We got started with some cocktails and then the food just kept coming.

The key to the tomato & onion appetizer is the Peter Luger Steak Sauce that's served alongside it. The steak sauce is a blend between traditional steak sauce and cocktail sauce.

The key to the bacon appetizer - one slice per person - is that it's sliced super thick. Thinking of this as one slice of bacon is deceiving because it's more like 3 normal slices of bacon packed on top of each other. Obviously, the bacon is just oozing with flavor!

The entree is served family style and the steak comes on a sizzling hot plate. It was cooked perfectly (what else do you expect?) and had loads of butter-y flavor. From what I hear, the steak is marinated & cooked in butter and in addition to being great beef, this is what gives it a lot of it's flavor. You can dip it in the steak sauce or you can just have it straight up. Either way, there will be a big smile on your face. Throw in some creamed spinach and a funky french fried potato dish (that's similar to hash browns) and you have yourself one helluva meal.

You don't get voted the best Steak House for 26 years by leaving people disappointed. We were no different. And Howie made sure that we left nothing on any of our plates:

It might have taken us 3 years to sit down and share a meal, but in one evening, we reached the pinnacle of New York dining.

Marlow & Sons

On Saturday we had plans to go to a friend's rooftop party in Williamsburgh, so we decided to hit up Marlow & Sons before. It's not every day that we find ourselves in the outer boroughs so when we do, we want to take advantage of the great food options that exist.
It's not very big but the space is filled with soft lighting, old school decor (think lots of dark brick & chandeliers), good music and people everywhere. We sat at the bar since there were no tables available and we got placed right in the heart of the hustle and bustle.

Even though the menu is tiny, we still had trouble deciding what to order (not surprising for the two of us)! It's one of those places where you know anything you get is going to be tasty, but you still want to make sure you nail your order. We opted not to get oysters, which seemed to be a big deal there, because there were too many other items we wanted. We started with the fried corn which was buttery and delicious. It's not coated in anything, just simply fried until the edges get crispy and super tasty. It was served with tomatoes, herbs and a delicious butter sauce. Corn & butter is a classic combination.

For the entree, I got the seafood salad appetizer because it sounded too good to pass up. Scallops, calamari and clams in a white wine sauce with huge chunks of tomatoes served over crusty bread - it was deliciously flavorful.

Eric went with the brick chicken. What's brick chicken? I think it's chicken served on a brick, but I really can't be sure. (NOTE: I've since learned "brick chicken is usually chicken that is cooked on a grill or griddle with a brick on top so as to smash it and make it cook more evenly." Thanks Val!) What was put in front of me was a half chicken (bones in) oozing with flavor juices. The bird was cooked perfectly and wasn't the slightest bit dry. Just the opposite as there was more than enough juices so that each piece could be dipped in said juices. The skin was crispy & seasoned well, providing a little texture to each bite. Served alongside the chicken is eggplants, zucchini, capers, & squash. All well & good, but the star of the dish is the chicken. And you should know by now that nothing was left on my plate.

All & all, we both really enjoyed our entrees (hooray for good ordering!) and would happily come back here with some friends to try some of the other tasty offerings on the menu. We recommend you check it out & let us know what you think.

Rooftop view of NYC

Rose Water (Brunch in Brooklyn)

While eavesdropping at work last Friday, Eric heard rave reviews of Rose Water in Park Slope. We checked out the menu and our mouths watered. It's a seasonal restaurant that uses local and organic food to create a unique and everchanging menu....very "Brooklyn."

We arrived at Rose Water on Sunday around 11:30, which wound up being the best time possible - there was no wait but by the time we ordered, all of the tables were filled (mostly with young parents and babies - Park Slope is so gosh darn cute).

In a rare occurence, both of the RH bloggers ordered the same dish, since it sounded too good to resist: the frittata with carmelized onions, asparagus, parmesan cheese and a golden beet salad. The dish also came with a spicy tomato sauce on the side along with a piece of zucchini bread.


We savored each and every bite of this delicious dish! The sweet carmelized onions were balanced out perfectly by the salty parmesan and the tomato sauce added great flavor as well. The salad was simple but the beets were so fresh and really went along nicely with the meal. The service was good and our coffees were refilled about five times!

We loved this place because not only was it delicious and healthy, it was a welcome change from our usual brunch spots in Manhattan. We will definitely make our way back here to sample future menus.