Guy's American Kitchen & Bar, New York City

From the minute I head heard that Guy Fieri was opening up one of his restaurants in New York City it was on my to do list of places to go to. Upon hearing of the reviews when it had first opened up did not whatsoever change my thoughts on "I have got to go here". I am a huge fan of his; the hubby and I love watching his show Diners Drive-ins and Dives. So it was off to a day in the city. We were first going for a bite then a nice walk around the Chelsea Market. We got there just in time for lunch. It is a fairly large restaurant with two floors separated dining areas. It was not extremely busy and we were seated upstairs as soon as we walked in. The entire theme of the restaurant is all American, using the American flag and I guess his love for guitars that seem to be everywhere you look. The entire restaurant is beautiful wooden shakes and planks. The waiter was by far one of the nicest waiters we have had in a long time.Our appetizer consisted of California Egg Rolls served with a Thai Chili dipping sauce. I totally enjoyed this dish and for the most part hubby did as well; except he does not like super crunchy stuff. Hubby opted for the Crispy Shrimp Po Boy and I went with the Pulled Pork Sliders. The shrimp is coated in cornmeal and served with a true New Orleans Creole mayo, shredded cabbage, pickles and tomatoes. Hubby really enjoyed the sandwich. The shrimp were excellent, however he thought the portion was small and the sandwich had a little too much cabbage for his liking. The Pulled Pork was extremely moist and tossed in Guy's signature bourbon brown sugar bbq sauce topped with fresh slaw and bacon served on Hawaiian rolls. I thought these were extremely tasty, the combination of each ingredient made all the dishes work well. Each  of our dishes were served with fries; that said I am not by any means a lover of french fries but I have to say these fries i found myself digging into. We decided not to get coffee or dessert because we wanted to have something over at Chelsea market. So I would have to say contradictory to what the reviews were from opening day, I am happy that I got the chance to eat there and found the restaurant to be highly favorable. As Guy says- Love, Peace and Taco grease.

We will give him 4 out of 5 forks.

http://guysamerican.com/

Ssambap Korean BBQ Restaurant, Stony Brook

After a day of going out to a winery on the east end and walking around the Vanderbilt Museum for the annual Jaguar Car show and a tour of the mansion, the wifeypoo and I were contemplating where to eat for dinner. She loves reading Newsday on the newest hot spots for dining. So she insisted that Ssambap Korean BBQ is the newest and highly rated dining experience we must go try. They are actually in the same parking lot as this really good Chinese market that we go to. So off we went. They have two choices for tables to sit at one with a BBQ pit in the middle of the table and the other without. They really did a great job on the decor and the staff was really hospitable. Our waitress Misook was so sweet and friendly and was such a big help with the choosing of dishes from their menu. Being it was our first time ever eating Korean food we definitely needed the help. We started out with the wifey trying a Korean beer Tsing Tao and for appetizers we had Mandoo Soup this is a chicken dumpling soup with a light broth. We also had seaweed salad; their version was the same as any other seaweed salad I have had in Japanese restaurants. The main entrees were Goong Joon Tuckbockee, in English this is short ribs in a soy based sauce served with vegetables and a bean paste and rice flour pasta topped with a hard boiled egg. As odd as this dish sounds we both really enjoyed it and recommend everyone to try it. The other dish with an equally odd name; Ssam is pork belly braised with scallions in a not so to our taste brown sauce. We also tried a spicy pork dish that was served with red bean sticky rice and accompanied by 5 small dishes of what they refer to as condiments. These dishes consisted Kimchi , spicy pickled cucumbers, broccoli , string beans and bean sprouts. Overall, the wifeypoo and I enjoyed our first Korean dining experience. We look forward to someday returning and trying the Korean BBQ where as you cook your own food in the built-in BBQ table pit.

They get 4 forks out of 5 on this visit.

http://ssambapbbq.com/Welcome.html