Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Street Sweets


"Street Sweets"
Location: Hanover Square between Pearl Street and Water Street (Tuesdays only). Murray between Greenwich and West Street on Fridays. See www.streetsweetsny.com for their schedule and locations.
Date: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 and Friday, June 19, 2010
Grub: Spinach ricotta croissant $5
Review: In my fruitless attempt to find the Picnick Smoked BBQ truck that used to be on Wall and South streets, I ended up at the Street Sweets truck again. The second time in five days. There's something irresistable about that turquoise blue truck. And how can you call yourself a real Manhattanite without spending five bucks on a croissant regularly? Admittedly, the spinach croissant is fabulous. Flaky, buttery whole wheat croissant dough stuffed with a healthy portion of spinach. And there's just the smallest amount of ricotta to prevent the filling from falling apart when you bite. I've now tried it at room temperature and heated. My preference is for the former. Heating breaks down the butter and makes the bread too oily. HD liked the taste, but struggled to get the spinach down. Much of her portion ended up on the floor.
Rating: 4 pita. But unless I win the lottery, I should refrain from returning there for the next month.


Wednesday, June 9, 2010

99 Percent Vegetarian

"99 Percent Vegetarian"
Location: On the same square as Alan's Falafels at Broadway and Liberty
Date: June 9, 2010
Time: 11:45, no line
Grub: Choose 4 dishes for $6. I picked yams, pasta, tofu scramble and chili
Review: Slip on your Birkenstocks and have Eugene (Oregon) on your mind before you head over to 99 Percent Vegetarian. Everything is mushy and watery. When you get home, all the dishes will have run into each other. All the dishes -- each in a different faux ethnic style of Indian, Tex-Mex, Italian and Soul -- are poorly prepared. Much in the way that a groovy college guy would try to impress the vegan ladies with his culinary skills and not realize you need to saute onions and use a bit of salt and olive oil to make things taste good. The curry tofu scramble had a off-putting odd flavor -- bitter? -- as did the chili. The chunky hot sauce, which I requested on the side, had kick. But like the other dishes, it lacked any complexity. HD loved the linguini pasta.
Rating: Never go back. No pitas.