The popular vegetarian chain, Maoz is opening a new location on Central Park. The new location willl be at 106th and 5th Ave, open Monday to Sunday. Maoz is famous for their freshly baked pita pockets filled with steaming hot falafel balls, eggplant, hummus, and signature salads.
Koshertopia has confirmed that Burger Zone has opened at at 1830 2nd Ave. (between 94th & 95th St.) under the supervision of Rabbi Harry Lax (Agudas Hamashgichim). Burger Zone offers a wide range of beef, chicken and vegetarian burgers as well as fresh salad options. Burger Zone is another kosher option to open on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
The Italian café Noi Due is on the lower level of an Upper West Side building, so it may be easy to walk right passed it if you’re not paying attention. But once you descend the stairs to the restaurant, it feels nothing like the basement space it’s in. It has a warm atmosphere and manages to feel like both an Italian café and an Italian restaurant.
We were greeted immediately by one of the servers, and were seated in a seat right next to the window. I glanced over the menu and was impressed with how many dozens of options there were. I thought it would be fun to share a few smaller things. We started with the funghi ripieni – stuffed mushrooms with feta cheese, baked in marinara sauce and Parmigiano. They were served with a few slices of toasted bread. The marinara sauce was incredible. It had so much flavor, and complimented the earthiness of the mushrooms and the saltiness of the feta cheese.
Next we had the Mediterranean salad, which had romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, red onion, olives, feta, za’atar, and a lemon vinaigrette. The salad was was really good, but there was entirely too much dressing.
A lot of the pizzas on the menu looked great, and it was definitely hard to narrow it down. We finally decided on the Melanzane E Formaggi Di Capra pizza, with marinara, goat cheese, fresh mozzarella, eggplant, spinach, and oregano. The pizza was my favorite part of the meal. It had the fantastic marinara that was served on the mushrooms, but also had a great mix of toppings.
Noi Due means “the two of us” in Italian, and it is a great location for a date, whether it’s a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, or a great Italian meal. But it is also a great spot for a group dinner, as long as you get there early enough to beat the crowd. I was there on the early side during the week and by time I left, the entire restaurant had filled up.
Koshertopia has confirmed that a new Cholov Yisrael Dairy restaurant, Tiberias, is set to open TODAY under the supervision of the OK. The new restaurant at 45 E. 34th St. is the third kosher establishment on the block between Madison & Park Ave. Nestled between the Eden Wok & Mendy’s Restaurant, Tiberias will offer a wide range of pastas, salads, juice, smoothies and toasts and will be will be open 24 hours (excluding Shabbat).
Koshertopia has confirmed that the new location of Lunchbox at 844 Second Avenue (corner of 45th St.) is opening tomorrow. The dairy take-out offers fresh salads, hot lunch options, sushi and a variety of take-out options. The restaurant is under the supervision of the OK.
Koshertopia has confirmed that NY Lunchbox is opening a new location at 844 Second Avenue (corner of 45th St.). The new location which is set to open straight after Pesach will mimic the original location with the same menu – good tasting, quick and healthy fare. The new location will be Cholov Yisrael under the supervision of the OK.
Olympic Pita has been going through a bit of an identity crisis lately. When I first discovered it last year, it was a casual falafel and shawarma restaurant. Then, it became Baraca with dimmer lighting, more modern décor, a much pricier menu, and sushi! In recent weeks, the name has reverted back to Olympic Pita. All of these changes never affected the quality of the food, fortunately.
Olympic Pita is fantastic for many reasons, but mainly because it offers something that most pita places in Manhattan do not: homemade laffa. For those of you who may not know, laffa is freshly-made, over-sized pita baked in a tandoor oven that comes out with the perfect combination of soft and crispy at the same time. As soon as you open the door to the restaurant, you can smell the laffa baking.
On the way to our table the main dining area, we strolled by the laffa oven and the salad bar. Everything looked delicious. We started with an order of hummus, which came with a piping hot laffa for dipping. The best way I can describe this combo is “heavenly.” The hummus was garlicky and creamy, and topped with great tahina and olive oil. Although it doesn’t say it anywhere on the menu, the basket of laffa can be refilled as long as there is hummus left – so, be sure to ask!
Every lunch order comes with a trip to the salad bar. You are allowed to fill up one small plate with a delicious assortment of coleslaw, Israeli salad, pickles, etc.
For my main meal, I ordered a falafel laffa, which comes with hummus, harisa, Israeli salad, and French fries. I have had fries in pita before, but those were always bland and soggy. Olympic Pita’s fries were actually good on their own, and even better squished in with falafel and covered in hummus! The falafel was absolutely delicious…a little spicy, crispy on the outside, and a ton of flavor.
Even with all its changes and my few minor complaints, I can’t stop raving about Olympic Pita. It is definitely as good as any falafel I’ve ever had in Israel.
And finally, a few additional Miss Menu pointers…
It took a while, but today is the day that Circa opens their second location downtown on Fulton Street.
Circa Downtown will offer much of the same that Circa Midtown offers, including salads, sushi and pasta. They will also be offering smoothies and shakes.
They are located at 111 Fulton Street.
Lunchbox, located at 255 West 36th Street, Between 7th and 8th Avenue, also opened this week.
Their menu includes many appetizing options including sushi, salads, paninis, wraps and several hot buffet items as well. They’re prices look very competitive and are sure to please the clientele. If they can keep the prices where they are and provide good service they will do just fine.
They are under the kosher supervision of the OK.
