The Harrison

...is located in NYC's Tribeca at 355 Greenwich Street.

"E", "K" and I had a lovely dinner there.

We all started with glasses of white wine. "E" had the baked gorgonzola stuffed pear ($7). "K" had the marinated olives ($4) and I had the Gnocchi with oxtail, horseradish, kale and pecorino ($12).

"E" had the Atlantic Salmon with cauliflower salad, leek puree and lemon confit ($24). "K" and I both had the Potato Wrapped Trout with sunchokes, french beans, almonds and grainy mustard ($24). And we shared a side order of Sauteed Spinach ($8).

For dessert "E" and "K" both had french press coffee ($5) and we shared the brownie ice cream sandwich ($8).

Everything was wonderful.

The Meatball Shop

...is located at 84 Stanton Street on NYC's Lower East Side.

"C" had the daily special with spicy pork meatballs with mushroom sauce and tossed salad ($9).

I had the daily special with beef meatballs with tomato sauce and tossed salad ($9).

Then we topped it off with an ice cream sandwich ($4) - chocolate ice cream with one brownie cookie and one coconut macaron.

Holey Cream

...is located in NYC's Hell's Kitchen at 796 Ninth Avenue. They have created the ultimate in caloric desserts - an ice cream sandwich made with a donut...dipped in chocolate...with toppings!

First they start with a plain donut sliced in half. Then you select your ice cream flavor (I chose moose tracks). Then they dip the top half of the donut in chocolate. Then you select your choice of toppings (I chose peanut butter chips)....all this for $5.25 + tax!

What a decadent invention. The ice cream was actually good, but the donut put it over the top!

The Meatball Shop

Talk about your niche markets...this new restaurant located in NYC's Lower East Side at 84 Stanton Street specializes in...you guessed it! Meatballs!

You can order them in a bowl, in a sandwich, as a slider, as a topping over sides or with the sides on the side...as you would any other meat protein.

They have a novel way of ordering. Each menu is laminated and you receive a marker. You check off your selections and return the menu to the waitress who places your order with the kitchen. Within minutes your order is served to you.

I had the spicy pork meatballs with classic tomato sauce with a piece of foccacia bread ($7) and a side of white beans ($4). The meatballs were slightly spicy and the tomato sauce was tasty. The white beans were so soft they tasted mashed with a nice layer of breadcrumbs on top. The best part of the meal was dessert - ice cream sandwich! You have your choice of cookie and ice cream. I had a peanut butter cookie and a ginger cookie with caramel ice cream ($4) - a nice generous portion to finish off a good lunch.

Proud and Serving Ice Cream

Oct 9th was the last day of the season for The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. So I ran over to 17th St. and Broadway in NYC's Union Square area for my last chance this year to try one of their special treats. I just made the cutoff - being 2nd to last on line. Until a mommy used her little girl to gain sympathy from one of the owners and then I was 3rd to last on line.

I was torn between the Sweet Pimp and the Choinkwich - both $5. The latter won out - caramelized bacon with soft serve chocolate ice cream sandwiched between two chocolate cookies. It's unusual, but it tasted good!

Hey, Hey! Xie Xie

I have been eagerly awaiting the opening of this Hell's Kitchen area restaurant - which features an asian fusion interpretation of the Vietnamese banh mi sandwich. They offered a lobster roll version made with Kewpie mayo (you may have seen this sold in Asian grocery stores - it has the cute little kewpie character on the bottle), tarragon and fried shallots for $14.00. It had a little too much mayo for my taste and the bun was neither toasted/grilled or buttered (the bun, in my book, makes or breaks the lobster roll).

I ended my meal with the "1000 Year Old" Ice Cream Sandwich which had oozing black caramel in the center for $4.00.

Xie Xie

645A 9th Avenue

NY, NY 10036