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Friday, March 23, 2012

AQ Kafé: A New Favorite Place!

A dining room that's nicer
than you'd expect 
Yesterday, I had the satisfaction of enjoying the second of two consecutive days off of work. I had to run an errand on the Upper West Side and decided to take a long walk, to lower midtown, from there. I thought I might stop in somewhere along the way for lunch, but found nothing that piqued my interest. Instead, I walked back uptown to Columbus Circle and in much need of some rest, decided to lunch at AQ Kafé. (it was the closest decent-looking eatery)

I began with a glass of Mionetto prosecco ($8) while I perused the menu. The two items that caught my eye most were the German 'bauernwurst' sausage and the herring plate. I opted for the latter. ($12)

Herring plate

When the dish arrived I was pleasantly surprised--the presentation was so much more than I'd expected from a coffee-counter café! (however, I'd wished the runner had told me what each herring preparation was) The herring plate included three different preparations: pickledtomato-horseradish and dill-mustard. I selected my first piece of herring and dressed it with a bit sour cream and a few red onion shavings. It was my first time eating herring and I loved it! I went on to taste all three varieties, which were all enjoyable, while also sampling the Swedish cheese and boiled potato (both good as well). My lunch reminded me of something that David would prepare at home... and also of the cafeteria food at Ikea--but three steps above.

AQ Kafé éclair

Finished with my plate, my server asked if I'd be interested in coffee or dessert. I decided on an éclair

chocolate-filled!

I closely examined my éclair upon arrival, and was pleased to see that the hand-frosted éclair was also prepared with thoughtful care; what I didn't expect was that it would be chocolate-filled (I'm used to  custard-filled éclairs)--perhaps I'd missed that on the menu. The fresh éclair was satisfyingly good and substantial. It easily could have been shared. 

FROM THERE I headed west to the Ana Tzarev Gallery, on ... read more » 

4 comments:

nycstylelittlecannoli said...

I have walked past this place near or at columbus circle many times. It always looks so fabulous and I do need to stop in for breakfast or lunch for sure after seeing your post. Another one to add to my long "to do" list!! Love the artwork too!!

Unknown said...

Yes--worth checking out! And Ana Tzarev Gallery is just steps away too!

Evelyn said...

Great post, Pat! And I love this video!!

Unknown said...

Thanks, Evelyn! And I love the video too--I'm a new fan of kulning! :D