happy hour + bull riding

There's no better cure for the doldrums than gathering up a bunch of girls for an after-work session of mechanical bull riding. When the clock hit 5:30 last Thursday, we left work wearing bull-riding ready pants and naughty grins. A colleague saw us waiting by the elevators and rightly assessed, "This looks like trouble."

Adding fuel to the fire: Johnny's Utah's, the scene of the crime, has happy hour from 5-10PM Mondays to Fridays. That meant our delicious frozen margaritas were just $5 a pop ... which ensured everyone got enough liquid courage to show that bull who's boss. Most of the girls tried their hand at the bull, but I will leave their pictures off my blog since they're all lawyers and I like my life without lawsuits.

I'd definitely recommend Johnny Utah's for those in serious need of mid-week unwinding. Nothing quite like hopping on a bull and holding on for dear life to distract you from whatever's stressing you out! If you're going with co-workers though and you intend to ride, make sure you're appropriately dressed. Heck, forget going with co-workers; if you're going AT ALL and want to ride, please don't do it in a skirt. There was one lady in a dress bull-riding in front of her co-workers, and while she actually did look pretty hot most of the time, she had to fall off eventually. And now they all know her business.

Johnny Utah's is running a 20% discount on food and drinks (you have to order both; there's no discount on drinks alone) from Mondays to Saturdays, 5:00 - 8:30PM, until September 3, 2010. Just visit their website to redeem this offer.

Johnny Utah's is located at 25 West 51st Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Tel. (212) 265-8824

the happiest happy hour

For my birthday eve, I went to Xai Xai with my favorite Frenchie and Aussie for South African wine and $1 oysters. Normally I would be wary of eating oysters being sold that cheap, but since we know people who work at the bar, I trusted that the oysters would be fresh—and they absolutely were. Juicy, succulent oysters at a buck a piece? Hellz yeah!

When I was a kid, we always had oysters at family picnics and it frustrated me to no end that the adults wouldn't let me have any on an empty stomach. I would have to eat something substantial (and cooked) first before I could dig into the oysters. Even at 29, I can't seem to get their voices out of my head so I had to order the mini ostrich burgers ($14) for added sustenance. 

Who needs birthday cake when you've got Gewurtz, oysters and ostrich burgers? 

Well okay, maybe not birthday cake but some Malva pudding? Malva pudding is a traditional South African dessert with apricot jam as one of its main ingredients. It is a plate of moist, mushy, warm deliciousness. I have developed an addiction to it, I'm quite sure.

So happy I've found a cool little bar that can support my oyster habit. I fully intend on regularly taking advantage of Xai Xai's oysters happy hour (4-7PM) on a regular basis.

Thanks to my lovely ladies for kicking off my 29th on a lovely note! Expect weekly groveling for wine and oysters from me.

Xai Xai is located at 369 West 51st Street between 8th and 9th Avenue, New York, NY. Tel. (212) 247-7826

bar none's take on health reform

I recently realized that I shouldn't really talk about politics too much because of my line of work (that and I'm sure you'd rather read my thoughts on sales, happy hour and food trips anyway). So all I'm gonna say about this Healthcare Reform issue is that I wholeheartedly concur with this sign that I saw outside Bar None today.

Cheers to that and happy hours that start at noon!



Bar None is located at 98 3rd Avenue between 13th and 14th Street

restaurant week diary: ilili

So ... I had this fun night all planned out. Was gonna go to Williamsburg to dance it up at Rose Land Music, where my friend Monica's beau DJ JKriv (of Tortured Soul fame) and Lou Teti were doing the first of many Deep & Disco nights to come. But my fun evening got cut short with this:  

I've developed a weakness for bone marrow. When I was growing up in the Philippines, I wasn't this crazy about bulalo, our local dish of bone marrow soup. But it's life's cruel joke, I guess, that you develop a liking for crazy fatty things just when you get to the age when you're supposed to start watching your health. In any case, I am now a bonafide bone marrow lover. So yesterday, when I sat down for Restaurant Week dinner at Ilili with Jammy, Sancho and Nina, I just went for it. And thus, my downfall. But first, let me tell you about the meal ...

I was unconscionable with my ordering. Ilili's prix fixe dinner includes two appetizers, one entree and a dessert. I went for the bone marrow AND veal sweetbreads for appetizers, then had the gall to order lamb chops ($7 supplement) for my entree. The bone marrow was served with small pita pillows that you can break apart and stuff with the unctuous bone marrow fat for a hedonistic little bite. The sour cherry tabbouleh on the side was nicely tart and fresh, and a great respite from all the greasiness—but that salad is a bit of an enabler, IMO, because then you feel refreshed enough to dive back into the fat. It's a vicious cycle.

The veal sweetbreads were also delicious. The exterior was crunchy and the inside succulent. I loved that they were cradled in crunchy lettuce cups and sprinkled with slices of kabiss turnips because it kept the richness of the sweetbreads at bay. Again, the lettuce were just enablers though because it made me wolf down two pieces of sweetbreads. Sigh. Other delicious appetizers were the addictive baba ghannouj and the steamed clams soaked in Harissa butter goodness. Sancho also ordered lamb sausages but I never got to that since I had more than enough food to deal with ...  

Along with our appetizers, we were given a complimentary taste of Chateau Kefraya's wine. Ilili is showcasing a different Lebanese wine every week until February 21, so diners who are doing the Restaurant Week menu get a free pour. The red wine we were served was nice and drinkable, though not complex enough for my liking. I did get a glass though ($9) to go with my lamb chops. I'm not sure if the lamb chops were nothing out of the ordinary or I was just too full by then. But we all agreed that the appetizers were more noteworthy than the entrees. Nina had black cod, Sancho had the Ilili burger, and Jammy had the duck kebab.

It turns out that this $35 prix fixe dinner is served year-round, not just on Restaurant Week. But what I wasn't crazy about was their rule that the entire table needs to do the prix fixe. It was really way too much food for us, plus we weren't able to order some things that we were really curious about from the a la carte menu because we were just way too stuffed. The duck shawarma will have to wait another day ...

I would love to come back there to enjoy their happy hour. It goes from 5:30 to 7:30 from Monday to Friday, and they have a pretty sweet selection of cocktails for just $7 and appetizers starting at $5. I had The Fresh Meadow, which is a refreshing concoction of gin, elderflower liquor, mint, ginger and cucumber. What I want to have next time though is the potent From Beirut with Passion: a sneakily delicious mix of basil-cilantro-mint infused vodka and sparkling passion fruit. You can check out the happy hour menu here.

One more Restaurant Week post to come and then we'll resume to regular programming. My friend Céline was begging me to put up more fashion posts because the food posts as of late just make her hungry! Soon babies ... now off to Bikram Yoga to atone for my gluttony!

Ilili is located at 236 Fifth Avenue (between W 28th and W 29th Street), New York, NY. Tel. (212) 683-2929.

hora feliz at tapeo 29

We discovered an amazing happy hour spot a couple of weeks ago thanks to our favorite Irish man, Conor. He celebrated his birthday at Tapeo 29, a cool little tapas spot on the Lower East Side. This place has a wicked happy hour every day, from 6 - 8 PM on weekdays and 5 - 7 PM on weekends. Check out the massive sangria, which comes in a Bordeaux glass. Good stuff and only $5!

There are also some super delish tapas for just $3 and $5. The pan con tomate is not worth the calories, in my opinion. Spring for the $5 tapas and enjoy the super tasty chorizo al sidra, which combines savory and sweet from the chorizo being roasted in apple cider.

If you're lucky like we were, maybe the tapa for the day will be the mejillones en chimichuri. I can never get enough of mussels, and having them seasoned with chimichuri is a nice new twist. I could've had two plates of those, seriously.

The one drawback for me is that Tapeo 29 is pretty far east in the Lower East Side for me to go there constantly. But if you're in the area, this is definitely one not to miss.

Tapeo 29 is located at 29 Clinton Street (on the corner of Stanton Street), New York, NY. Tel. 212-979-0002

speak low

What a morning ... I wake up to a call from my good friend announcing they're having a baby! And I'm just um, recovering from all those cocktails last night. It totally made me feel like I'm on a whole other track from the rest of my longtime girlfriends. Their calendars in Manila are crammed with weddings and baby showers. Me? Um, I popped my Dark & Stormy cherry last night! Yay.

But hey, my very first Dark & Stormy cocktail ever really was quite a moment. Last night, Zoe and I ventured to DUMBO to celebrate my new friend Amanda's birthday. It was my first time in DUMBO and I was so fascinated with the place. Quite hip, and the apartments are to die for. Made all the apartments I've seen in Manhattan during my hunt seem really ... lame.

But I digress. The party was at Speak Low, a cool lounge tucked under Rice. They make some very good cocktails. Historically conscious recipe-wise, and using good spirits and fresh locally grown ingredients. I started with a green tea gimlet which was absolutely refreshing. Next I had The Presidential, which was the drink of the night, involving two kinds of rum, orange bitters, and what other essentials a mixologist might put in there. Yumminess. But the revelation of the night for me was the Dark & Stormy. Why had I never had this drink before?? Rum, ginger beer, a little bit of candied ginger ... mmm mmm mmm. So good.

Speak Low has a nifty happy hour where you can get a couple of steamed buns and Tsing Tao for about $8 (I think? My memory's hazy) from 5-7PM. I had the pork belly steamed buns last night and while they don't quite hold a candle to the Momofuku version, they're still pretty darn good.

Where: 81 Washington St., below Rice restaurant, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Chicken Joy

If it seems like all I've been doing lately is eat, that's cos that is all I've been doing. I'm kidding. Of course I do a few other necessary things like working, shopping, drinking ... but I have been indulging my appetite and stretching the limits of my Earnest Sewn jeans' waistband quite a bit. Last night, our pool league team dinner was at Boka, a Korean restaurant in St. Mark's Place (By the way, I use the words "our pool league team" loosely. I am more of a mascot than a team member.). We come here solely for the love of Bon Chon fried chicken—wings and drumsticks with skin cooked to an incredible crisp and flavored to be eye-wateringly spicy. I must admit that I am no Bon Chon expert and NYC may well be peppered with better Bon Chon spots, but Boka's version is pretty darn tasty and the location is really convenient since I always get hit with late night hunger pangs in that area. We also tried some bibimbap, bulgogi, and a tuna-avocado tartare, which were all pretty good. But the chicken was the highlight of the meal. I would recommend the wings over the drumsticks, as they're a lot more flavorful. And when the heat gets to be too much, there's a side dish of pickled radish that's pleasantly sweet and helps in calming down your raging tastebuds.

The main problem with this place, though, is the service. We've been here twice and both times the service was excruciatingly slow (I managed to go all the way from 86th Street to St. Mark's and I still made it to the table before the Bon Chon). And it's quite amazing really because it seems that servers and waiters are running up and down all the time, but they're just not getting much done. Hmm. Our friend Linda said last night, "If service was faster, we'd go here a lot more." I hope they shape up soon.

To end on a good note though, Boka offers a pretty sweet deal on the Happy Hour Front. From 4:30-7:30PM, you can get a pitcher of draft beer plus 6 Bon Chon wings for the price of $8. Not bad at all! But at the slooooow rate they churn out the wings, you might wanna order those wings ahead to make sure you get to eat more than 6 wings before Happy Hour ends!

Where: 9 Saint Marks Place, New York, NY

Need to get your drink on?

This is definitely high on my list of favorite websites now: Coovents shows you what happy hours are ongoing in New York at any given time.

One cool discovery via Coovents: $10 manicure + martini at Beauty Bar from 6-11pm, Monday to Friday. Judging from photos on the website, the place isn't super swank. But neither is my manicure place round the corner, and they don't spring for water much less free alchie. Must try this one!

PS: There are also Beauty Bars in San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Get the deets on their website.

LES Happy Hours

I love hitting up the Lower East Side with Kathryn. I never come home anything short of hammered, but we somehow do it without draining our wallets! Ingredients of a great night indeed.

We started the night at Paladar. I got there early and considered stopping in one of the many clothes shops lining Ludlow Street. But then a sign that read "Mojo y Mas! Happy hour, all drinks half price 4 - 7 daily!" caught my eye. It was 6:54 so I rushed in and ordered 2 mojitos stat! Very good decision. Their mojito was strong and so refreshing, with well muddled mint, just the right amount of tartness from the lime, and a piece of sugar cane stuck in for good measure. Love munching on sugar cane marinated in alkie! Kathryn came and we ordered some bites from the pan-Latino menu. She had quesadillas, while I ordered the Costillas 'LES'—tender and very meaty pork spare ribs flavored with guava BBQ sauce, and served with an addictive slaw of mango, jicama (AKA singkamas to Filipinos) and cabbage. Soooo good. And everything we ordered was $9 and below! This is now officially one of my new favorite spots in the city.

After eating, we moved on to Verlaine, which has a sick happy hour that goes on until 10PM everyday. We consumed glass after glass of their delicious lychee martinis. I think Verlaine makes the best lychee martinis—and not just because they cost $5! They do not skimp on the vodka but mix it so nicely with lychee and pineapple juice that before you know it, you've lost count of how many you've had and you're walking out without your belt and scarf and ... I should stop before I incriminate myself further. Needless to say, this is one of the best happy hour spots in the city. Everyone needs a Verlaine night every so often for giggles.

Where:
Paladar at 116 Ludlow Street near Stanton Street
Verlaine at 110 Rivington Street near Essex Street