omgNY's Mangotini recipe!

It's Friday! Happy Friday all, time to get the weekend going! Now, us girls at omgNY are weekend warriors, but classy nonetheless. No... we're not redbull and vodka kind of gals.

Here's my recipe for my Mangotini. Proceed with caution, it's refreshing tropical goodness with swallow you whole.

1oz. Malibu Coconut Rum
1oz. Bacardi White Rum
splash Triple Sec
splash lime juice
1/4 cup Naked Mighty Mango Smoothie
splash cranberry juice

Mix everything together, served on ice or strained into a martini glass.

I absolutely love Naked Smoothies so I tried to incorporate them into mixed drinks as well.

the end result... Mango trouble on the rocks.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Throwback Thursday.... Doing Three Things I Have Done Before

On Thursday, I decided to experiment with the concept of solo dining. With plans already in place to visit my boyfriend at work (and see a show) where is a sound guy at Mercury Lounge, I headed to one of my favorite brunch spots in the city, San Marzano. I love pizza and they offer unlimited mimosas at brunch (+500 points). I have been there several times before for my favorite brunch (in case you didn't get the gist), dinner and/or late night snack, so it remains unsure that what follows can be considered a review as I already know San Marzano is the shit.

I rode into lower Manhattan feeling like Swan from The Warriors because the J train I was on seemed to have crawled out of 1970. After trying to decipher decades old graffiti and being amused by two dudes who got on the wrong train at Marcy Ave, I arrived at my destination. I plopped down at the bar and ordered my favorite, the Caprino: fontina, goat cheese, caramelized onions, shitake and button mushrooms, roasted garlic, thyme and white truffle oil. I always order this one with honey on the side for dipping, as per a suggestion by a good friend with whom I went to San Marzano for the first time. Every time I order this dish and ask for honey, the waiters seem confused and always say something like "that's interesting." Perhaps they should try it, and then I have no doubt in my mind that it would become a staple and then I wouldn't have to special order it. I had barely read one chapter of Game of Thrones before I was able to have this calorie fest.

I ate the whole thing by myself.

Next, I headed west towards my favorite bakery in the entire world, Sugar Sweet Sunshine. They need no introduction with better cupcakes than Magnolia at half the price, and banana pudding that will literally knock your socks off. I couldn't get a good shot of their cases because the sun was setting and they have pretty ambient lighting inside, but I did notice this blast from the past that they were using to hold straws. Love it.

Cupcakes in hand, I headed over to Mercury Lounge. Some crappy band blaring and the new bouncer didn't know who I am. Finally, around 11pm, the reason I ventured into Manhattan, Reggie Watts took the stage. I spent my college years in Lower East Side basement comedy shows produced by my friends. Reggie Watts was often an opening act and I had seen him several times before, but it was super interesting to see him in a sold out venue where many of these people were obviously huge fans. His set was fun, but at 5'4" and stuck in the back next to the sound booth, this was what my view looked like.

The show was fun, but Reggie performed for nearly two hours. I was over it after 90 minutes. After a post-show bag of bbq pop chips and three shots of tequilla, with my boyfriend and his work friends, it was time to call it a night.

San Marzano - 71 Clinton St, NYC

Sugar Sweet Sunshine - 126 Rivington St, NYC

Mercury Lounge - 217 E Houston St, NYC 

Ginza Long Island: a review

I never, ever, Ever say no to a sushi dinner... or lunch... hell I've even had it for breakfast on occasion. One random weeknight I got the craving.... that indescribable urge to gorge on raw fish. There's something simple and perfect about sushi (and my personal favorite, sashimi). On the way back from the mall we passed an enormous and intriguing building, sleek and modern and completely out of place for the neighborhood that we were in. Screw it, let's do this.

 

So here's my brutally honest review of Ginza, in Massapequa, NY.

 

 

Very first impression... (holy crap, this place is Huge.) Dark and industrial with Japanese accents. Off to the side there's a cool looking bar with what looks like large egg-like seats dangling from the ceiling. The host didn't say a word, and ignored us while taking a to-go order on the phone (not even a head nod in acknowledgement). Soooo turned off by this! A restaurant has very little control over the amount of people that walk in the door that night, so when they do, they should be friendly and welcoming. The apologetic waitress then led the way to the sushi bar. This place was seriously busy, even late night on a Wednesday.

 

 

My boyfriend and I, when dining at a sushi restaurant, always opt to sit at the sushi bar. Not because the food is any different than sitting at a table, but rather, for the experience of watching your food being prepared and engaging in casual conversation with the sushi chefs. These chefs? Oh they were soooo not in the mood for chatting. Stone-faced, fingers flying, I almost felt the need to apologize for distracting them. Not a good look, in my opinion.

 

 

 

We sit down and wait for our drink order to be taken... After what seems like Forever (only 15 minutes, but that is forever in the restaurant world) we finally flag down our waiter. What pissed me off the most is that he had the audacity to tell us that we need to order everything in one shot because the kitchen is closing. I get it, I do. I understand that kitchen's do, in fact, close, and their employees do, in fact, need to go home. However, we wouldn't have been in that predicament had the waiter made first contact 15 minutes ago. I'm not a math genius but the numbers add up... right?

 

What I must say is that their food was A+. We got the wonton seaweed soup, Vietnamese salad, shumai (really good) and softshell crab app. Everything was tasty and the food came out really quick. My chocolate razz cosmo was Amazing.

 

After that, we split a plate of sushi. Pretty standard order, we didn't go crazy. Just the basics to judge if a sushi restaurant is passable or not.

I always judge, in particular, the preparation of smoked eel sushi nigiri, and they did it very well. Ginza did a very good job in terms of preparation and presentation. We left in a food coma. Good job, Ginza.

 

 

My finals thoughts for this place?

"Maybe we should have stopped in earlier"

"Ahhhhh the shumai I'm having a religious experience"

"Good food, not the best service"

"Will come back, probably when it's not so crowded... Maybe around 5pm with all of the old people"

 

 

Ginza - Massapequa

 

omgNY First Post!

Hey everyone, thanks for dropping in on our brand new site, omgNY!

Kaitlyn and I are so excited to launch our blog, and we've been hard at work exploring New York for you guys.
There's so much in store for omgNY in the upcoming months, so check back frequently.
We'll be delivering all New York-oriented content, covering Long Island and all of the 5 boroughs (and maybe even greater New York if time allows). Here's a little taste of what's in store....

We'll be reviewing pretty much whatever we feel like, because this is our blog. So expect a lot of sushi bars, thrift stores, bodegas, and beaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a lot of interesting friends that are doing really cool things in New York! From making music, to making clothes, to making moves, people are always active and inspiring here, and we'd like to get to know them and see what makes them tick.

If you have anything else you'd like us to write about (New York or beyond), shoot us an email, or leave a comment down below and we'll give it a shot. Full speed ahead...

Coming Soon...

Thanks for stopping through! We would love to share our thoughts, rants, raves, and reviews with you, so check back soon!