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NY Food Finds- App Review! Urbanspoon for iOS

Are you consistently confused as to which restaurant you should eat at? Are you as indecisive as me? Well, there's good news. Urbanspoon is an application available on Apple's App Store for FREE and it will help you make the decision on where to find the best eats! My review is going to cover the iPad version of Urbanspoon, but the iPhone version is very similar. In addition, you can find Urbanspoon on Blackberry's App World and the Android Market but you may not experience the exact same screens as I will show you here. Want to know how it works? Read on.

This is the screen you'll see once you've fired up the app.

The beginning Urbanspoon screen shows three columns: the first containing the city the restaurant will be located in, the second being the type of food the restaurant serves, and the last is the price (ranging from $-$$$$). If you want to "lock in" on a specific category, you can simply press the translucent looking lock icon located to the right of the selected category (you can see it in the photo). Urbanspoon uses your device's GPS to locate where you are, and puts the city closest to you as the primary spot in column one. 

After you've "spun the wheels"

Now that you're in the app, you can either shake the iPad or iPhone (similar to the "shuffle" effect when you're in the music app) and the wheels will spin, or you can simply press the "Spin" button under the third column. In my example, I got White Plains, Seafood, and $$$ which led me to Legal Sea Foods (which, by the way, is a fantastic restaurant, albeit a chain). So, lets pretend I'm totally interested in learning more about Legal Sea Foods. Next, I'd press the small blue arrow next to the restaurants name, and this screen will come up:

Here, you can see the percentage rating of how many people like the restaurant (in this case, 76%), the phone number and address, view the menu (not for every restaurant in the app, but in this instance it redirects you to Legal Sea Food's website), view more details about the restaurant, and even some Urbanspoon user reviews. My next step is always to press the "View Details" button, which brings you here:

It's basically Urbanspoon's website on the device you're using. 

In my opinion, its a one-stop-shop for all of the information you could need to know about the restaurant.

My suggestion: Use Urbanspoon to explore food you've never tried! I had no idea there was a Korean restaurant in White Plains before I explored this app! You'll find new restaurants as soon as your download is over! And plus, its free. Find it in the App Store, App World, App Market, whatever smartphone you have... I'm pretty sure there's an Urbanspoon application for it.

NY Food Finds- "The Pub" at the Doral Arrowwood

Hidden in the land beyond the City of White Plains is the Doral Arrowwood hotel and golf course (975 Anderson Hill Road, Rye Brook, NY 10573). I kind of stumbled upon this great bar find by accident. On March 7th, SUNY Purchase experienced a nearly 24 hour blackout caused by the malfunction of the Con Edison power supply system. The only food establishment open on campus was Terra Ve, the all vegetarian eatery. Although I love cheese quesadillas and falafel, I was craving wings and beer (even though it was 4pm). My roommate Joey, a raging alcoholic, suggested that we go to "The Pub" at the Doral Arrowwood, a hotel approximately 3 minutes from campus. I agreed. What could be better?

A very different environment than what is to be found at SUNY Purchase.

As we arrived, I was floored at how nice the ambiance was! A decent size bar, several flat screens, big comfy leather couches, pool, darts, foosball... I could go on and on! Now, lucky for us, it was happy hour. Happy hour lasts from 4pm-6pm on Monday through Friday, and you can really get some good deals. Half price appetizers (36 wings for 9 bucks? Heck yes!), $3 select draft beers, and 2-4-1 well drinks are the specials. And guess what? Everything was delicious.

The wings were way better than anything you'd find at Buffalo Wild Wings,

not to mention cheaper.

Normally, the wings at The Pub would run $8.50 for 12, $13.50 for 24, or $18.00 for 36, but during happy hour, they're all half price. You can choose from a bunch of different sauces too, including: Mild, Medium, Hot, Extreme, Teriyaki, Barbecue, Sweet Chili Garlic, Bourbon Brown Sugar, Asian Sesame Garlic, Jamaican Jerk, Lemon Pepper, and Parmesan Garlic. And even better, you can order any flavor in quantities of 6, thus, if you order 36 wings, you can try six different sauces. In the photo, going counterclockwise starting from the vegetables, you can see the Bourbon Brown Sugar, Asian Sesame Garlic, and the Hot wings. To be honest, the Bourbon Brown Sugar were relatively sweet for my palate and I probably wouldn't order them again. The Asian Sesame Garlic were absolutely delicious. Perhaps the best wing sauce I've had. The Hot wings were just that: Hot wings, perfectly done.

After sharing all those wings, we decided to get more food.. No Power, No Rules!

In the photo above, you'll see the Chipotle Chicken Quesadilla ($11.00 / $5.50 during Happy Hour). It's served with Sour Cream, Salsa, Pico De Gallo and Lettuce. The flavor of the chicken was on point with what you'd expect by the dishes name. Not the best quesadilla I've ever eaten, but it is a must-have on every bar menu.

I didn't actually eat these, but the presentation was so nice!

The above photo is are the Sliders ($11.50 / $5.75 during Happy Hour). The trio of miniature beef burgers are adorned individually with Cheddar, Swiss, and Blue Cheese and served with a side of French Fries. 

As college students, we love our beer.

I dislike Guinness beer, but my roommate Joey, the raging alcoholic, loves this drink. Its called a "Black and Blue" and consists of Franziskaner, a German wheat beer layered below tap Guinness. I drank the Franziskaner all day, and I must say, it is truly one of my new favorite beers. I'm no brewmeister but I'd say this beer is closest compared to Blue Moon or Hoegaarden. PLUS, it's $3 during Happy Hour.

Check out the cool fish inside the tank at the entrance!

Another thing to note about The Pub is how to actually get inside. After you park your car, you enter the main entrance to the hotel. Walk inside, swing left, go down the stairs, walk to the right and then you'll see the entrance to The Pub. If you get lost, ask someone! I'd like to thank Con Edison for messing up the power supply to SUNY Purchase, without your mistakes, I wouldn't have been able to find the BEST happy hour around!

Check out the menu here.

Recommended!!

NY Food Finds- Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

Pizza is truly the staple food of New York City. If I were to review every good pizza place in the city, it would take me years if not decades to complete. Thankfully, thirty minutes north of Manhattan, we find Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza (264 Main St., White Plains, NY 10601) which puts an 'old world' spin on pizza that I had never experienced before! Clearly, as the name points out, Anthony's uses a coal fired oven to bake their pizzas. This oven, which cooks at nearly 800 degrees, provides the classic Anthony's flavor profile which they describe as "well done" (in fact, there are signs throughout the establishment that point this out as well).

The ambiance inside Anthony's screams "pizza joint", but a totally nice one!

Now, down to the good stuff. The menu is not extensive, which is incredibly good for an indecisive person like myself. There are nine specialty pies ($16.25-$19.25), two salads ($6.75-$9.25), two sandwiches ($8.25), four different share-size portions of italian soul food ($9.95-$16.50), and the one dessert any restaurant really needs: Cheesecake ($4.75). For me, it was all about the pizza. I have a friend that works at Anthony's and she has been begging me to come in and try their Philly Cheesesteak Specialty Pie ($19.25 for a large).
Side Note: You cannot order individual slices at Anthony's.

Growing up in NY, I'm used to the "upscale pizzeria" table setting.

I must say, although the setting is familiar to me, the pizza is not. The tastes and textures of the pie that are produced by the coal burning oven are incredibly unique. The bottom crust is harder and crunchier than you're probably used to, and maybe even slightly blackened in some parts, but it tastes amazing. Also, the meat used on this particular pie is well seasoned for use on pizza, and the onions were also cooked perfectly.

 I really didn't eat it before I took the picture this time. The waiter immediately served us two slices.

So, is the experience worth it? YES. Try a different kind of pizza place! Especially in White Plains, a city that doesn't really have a staple you-gotta-eat-at-this-place pizza joint (in my humble opinion). Also, if you go on a Wednesday, they have "Meatballs and Martinis" where from 5pm-closing you can enjoy $5 Martinis at the bar, along with food tastings until 7:30.

Recommended!!