One saturday afternoon not too long ago, I happend to be in the Times Square area and was looking for something to get for lunch. After walking around I came upon Carmine's on W.44th and decided to eat there. Instead of selecting one of their usual large dishes of food, which is too much for only one person, I picked a sausage and peppers sandwich from their smaller-portioned lunch menu. It also came with a salad, but I waived it off as I don't eat that.
Since I was by myself, I just sat at the bar instead of having my own table. I was at the end of the bar, and as I started to eat my sandwich an old man dressed nicely walked in and also sat at the end area, but perpendicular from my side, overall we were quite close to eachother. Before he even said a word the bartender brought him over a drink, so I knew immediately he must be a regular there. The drink was some type of martini. When the bartender came back over, the old man mentioned how he walked there all the way from 86th Street. Eventually the bartender had to take care of other patrons, so the old man turned his attention to me and my sandwich. He said their lunch specials are the best value, which I would agree with, but he was taken back I didn't get the free salad that comes along with it. Carmine's has turned into a franchise with multiple locations, I told him I only knew this one and the other inside the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. He said overall the best Carmine's is located further uptown, although he said it softly as the bartender was within a ear's distance.
The manager walked over to greet the guy and the two of them started talking about random FM radio stations that play swing time music, and the old man even mentioned how he saw Harry James & his Orchestra at a concert in the 1940's. I had finished my sandwich and the manager went off to tend to some business, which left the two of us again. The bartender did drop off a dessert menu in front of me as I told him I'm mulling it over whether I should have some or not. The old man warned me that their dessert portions are quite large, really for two people, so after hearing that I declined having any. I said ideally I would've like to have had a nice piece of cheesecake, so he recommended I try a place called the Brooklyn Diner sometime as they have the best cheesecake in the city. He told me it's located on the westside in the 50's, but I didn't catch the exact sreet.
A few weeks previous to this lunch at Carmine's, I had an excellend piece of strawberry cheesecake at Lindy's located on 7th Ave and 53rd Street. After he said the Brooklyn Diner had the best, I explained how I had Lindy's and was very impressed, but he waived off Lindy's like I waived off the salad, he was having none of that. This guy seemed to have vast knowledge of the city and all the top spots to eat something, so if he said the Brooklyn Diner had the best cheesecake, I was encouraged to take him up on his word. About a week or two later I went to that area, I wasn't sure the exact street, so I walked up and down all the 50's on the westside until I found it on W.57th and Broadway. They have a few cheesecake options and I selected one called the 'strawberry blonde', with a vanilla egg cream on the side. First of all, it was quite pricey as the slice and the egg cream came out to over twenty dollars. Secondly, the cheesecake was all soft and mushy. It tasted alright, but I don't like my cheesecake to be soft as mashed potatoes. I like a firm slice that doesn't come apart once I put my folk through it to cut off a bite. Clearly, Lindy's has the better cheesecake and the manner in which he waived it off boggled my mind.
I haven't been back to the Times Square Carmine's yet to confront him on this, but I will if I happen to lunch there sometime. What I did do is go back to Lindy's not too long after visiting the Brooklyn Diner to confirm who had the better cheesecake, and I did, no contest...
Since I was by myself, I just sat at the bar instead of having my own table. I was at the end of the bar, and as I started to eat my sandwich an old man dressed nicely walked in and also sat at the end area, but perpendicular from my side, overall we were quite close to eachother. Before he even said a word the bartender brought him over a drink, so I knew immediately he must be a regular there. The drink was some type of martini. When the bartender came back over, the old man mentioned how he walked there all the way from 86th Street. Eventually the bartender had to take care of other patrons, so the old man turned his attention to me and my sandwich. He said their lunch specials are the best value, which I would agree with, but he was taken back I didn't get the free salad that comes along with it. Carmine's has turned into a franchise with multiple locations, I told him I only knew this one and the other inside the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, NJ. He said overall the best Carmine's is located further uptown, although he said it softly as the bartender was within a ear's distance.
The manager walked over to greet the guy and the two of them started talking about random FM radio stations that play swing time music, and the old man even mentioned how he saw Harry James & his Orchestra at a concert in the 1940's. I had finished my sandwich and the manager went off to tend to some business, which left the two of us again. The bartender did drop off a dessert menu in front of me as I told him I'm mulling it over whether I should have some or not. The old man warned me that their dessert portions are quite large, really for two people, so after hearing that I declined having any. I said ideally I would've like to have had a nice piece of cheesecake, so he recommended I try a place called the Brooklyn Diner sometime as they have the best cheesecake in the city. He told me it's located on the westside in the 50's, but I didn't catch the exact sreet.
A few weeks previous to this lunch at Carmine's, I had an excellend piece of strawberry cheesecake at Lindy's located on 7th Ave and 53rd Street. After he said the Brooklyn Diner had the best, I explained how I had Lindy's and was very impressed, but he waived off Lindy's like I waived off the salad, he was having none of that. This guy seemed to have vast knowledge of the city and all the top spots to eat something, so if he said the Brooklyn Diner had the best cheesecake, I was encouraged to take him up on his word. About a week or two later I went to that area, I wasn't sure the exact street, so I walked up and down all the 50's on the westside until I found it on W.57th and Broadway. They have a few cheesecake options and I selected one called the 'strawberry blonde', with a vanilla egg cream on the side. First of all, it was quite pricey as the slice and the egg cream came out to over twenty dollars. Secondly, the cheesecake was all soft and mushy. It tasted alright, but I don't like my cheesecake to be soft as mashed potatoes. I like a firm slice that doesn't come apart once I put my folk through it to cut off a bite. Clearly, Lindy's has the better cheesecake and the manner in which he waived it off boggled my mind.
I haven't been back to the Times Square Carmine's yet to confront him on this, but I will if I happen to lunch there sometime. What I did do is go back to Lindy's not too long after visiting the Brooklyn Diner to confirm who had the better cheesecake, and I did, no contest...
Actually creamy cheesecake doesn't sound all that bad...now I want to try some.
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