11 Howard, NYC, Dining

I have never really been happy with any hotel I've stayed at in Manhattan.  No, my complaints are not the standard "ZOMG the rooms are so small, I can't even open my suitcase in here!", nor are they "WTF is this 'destination fee'".  I've really just had a slew of things go pretty wrong at NYC hotels, and, none have left me eager to stay at a property again (although the Westin near Times Square is where I often wind up, always half-heartedly).

Anyway, during my July 2019 visit to New York, I took a tip from a friend, and tried a new property, 11 Howard, located in Soho, an area I haven't spent much time in, but I was eager to get way from Times Square, even if it meant a longer morning commute to the office.

I ... was quite pleased with the experience.  The location was far more interesting, right on the edge of Chinatown, right in the middle of more things, and, NOT slammed with tourists.  Major benefits.

The rooms *were* small, and they do not have suites, but, the rooms were modern, comfortable for sleep and leisure, well appointed, really, quite lovely.  And quiet.  No idea how, but my room was silent.  The gym was amusingly small (really, two tiny rooms, one for "Run" with a single treadmill and single elliptical" and one for "Lift" with the bare minimum of weights, but they give you gym access nearby).  There is no real lobby, no extra frills.  The staff were friendly, and responsive over e-mail in advance, and over the tablet system in the rooms.  Really, I have nothing negative to say about the property, even though I did have mishaps (like, um, my minibar coming with an opened bottle of alcohol in it, expired items, and more fun), but they handled it all quite well.  I'll definitely return.

But this is Julie's Dining Club, and if you are still reading, you likely want to know about the food program, not the hotel itself.  So I'll stop rambling.

Breakfast

The hotel offers breakfast, but they do not have a real restaurant, and so there are several options: you can go for in-room dining, made *super* easy by a tablet based ordering system in your room (available for on-demand or advance schedule), or you can go sit and dine in "The Library", or you can pick up takeout from the Library.  I tried the in-room dining (both pre-order and on demand), and the takeout.  I didn't ever really feel like sitting in The Library, although many people did, and it was a lovely space.

I appreciated that breakfast was available from 7am to 11am, much later than most places.

Breakfast Offerings.

While I appreciated the ease of ordering, the nice packaging for takeout, and the interesting drink partnerships, I can't say I was generally impressed with the food itself.

Tablet Ordering

Tablet Ordering.

Ordering from the room was crazy easy, all available on a tablet provided in the room.  Every menu item was illustrated, and had options to provide customizations, preferred style (e.g. for in-room dining or if you wanted it to go, etc).  I liked that you could pre-schedule, or order on demand, and it gave you a time estimate.

Really, quite easy.

The Library

"11 Howard has reinvented social spaces, making them multifunctional and moving them to the second floor, as true extensions of the guest rooms. With plentiful tables and chairs, The Library is an ideal place to work, meet, sip tea in the afternoon, or unwind with a cocktail in the evening. The Library features wide-plank wood floors, plaster walls, plush area rugs, and furniture collected from around the world. Images by renowned Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto grace the walls."

The Library is not a restaurant, but they have a kitchen in back somewhere.

The library is a kinda common space, available all day to guests to work, hang out, and get a drink in the evening.  For breakfast, they do have table service if you choose (or takeout, as I did), and they have coffee available for free in the morning as well.

Couches, Chairs.

By day it is bright and light filled, really a lovely space.

The layout of The Library included many, many different types of seating.  I don't think any two tables were the same.

Prefer a couch? A arm chair?  Yup, options.

Dining Table.

If you wanted a traditional dining table, that was an option, like this.

Small Tables.

Smaller, lower, not as easy to dine at tables were also available, with chairs that looked interesting, but weren't actually comfortable.

Lounge.

Lounge spaces were there too, not really what I was looking for at 8am, but I could imagine are nice in the evening.

Beverages

The beverage lineup available was fairly fascinating.

Beverage Menu (page one).

In addition to the complimentary brewed coffee for everyone, there is an a la carte beverage lineup as well.

Standard coffee and espresso drinks (La Colombe), tea (Palais Des Thés), and classic juices, but they also partner with quality vendors, like Substance Vitality in midtown to feature a few fancy cold pressed juice blends, and with Dirty Lemon for some trendy detoxifying beverages.

I wouldn't normally opt for those kinds of drinks, but, I decided to have a little fun and mix it up on this trip (also, the brewed coffee was horrible!), so I tried a few.  I was pleasantly surprised, but they didn't convince me to become a juicer.

Complimentary Brewed Coffee.

This was not good coffee.  Not good at all.

It was harsh.  It was acidic.  I tried to water it down with hot water (provided for tea) and that took the edge off, but it was still really horrible.

Even in my jetlagged state, I couldn't bring myself to have more than a few sips of this.

Decaf Ameriano. $7.

This. Was. Not. Good.

It was scalding hot.  Too hot.  As in, I think it was likely bad extraction it was so hot.  It took forever for it to be drinkable.

And the flavor was stale.  Muted.  Old tasting.  Just not good.  Although, compared to the regular coffee? Um, slightly better?

Decaf Coffee. $6.

The next day, I just ordered for decaf coffee, assuming it would be equally bad, but really wanting a second cup.

I was thrilled to find that it actually was half-decent.  No idea why it was so much better than the Americano, but it had no funk to it.  Not that it was amazing or anything, but, it certainly wasn't awful.

I ordered it again the next day, and yup, surprise, it really was pretty good.  And the second day, it came labelled "decaf", which reassured me greatly.

La Colombe Cold Brew. $7.

I prefer warm coffee in the morning, but the brewed coffee and espresso based drinks were so bad, I gave them one more try and went for the cold brew instead.

I was pleased to see it was just a can (served with a cup, straw, and large ice cubes), and served black.  

I really liked this.  Really liked it.  Smooth.  Lovely complexity.  Not acidic. 

A fabulous cold brew.  La Colombe makes several types of cold brew, and I have had some of the others before (my office carries the Draft Lattes, but those have milk, sugar, and come in several flavors like vanilla and chocolate, and just aren't how I like my coffee).

I stuck to this every morning after, and did not regret.

DIRTY LEMON +CHROMIUM / guarana and blue spirulina. $10.

I really wanted the +CHARCOAL, featuring lemon and ginger and activated charcoal, but, alas, it was sold out.

So I went for the other option, +CHROMIUM instead.

The bottle alone was worth $10 right?

This was ... well, intense.  It had many different fruits in it, but I didn't taste them.  Just lemon, and lots of ... I don't know.  I didn't care for it.

DIRTY LEMON +CHARCOAL / lemon, ginger, himalayan sea salt. $10.

Finally, my last morning, the +Charcoal was available!

But ... you guessed it, I didn't like this either.  It was quite bitter, in a way I wasn't expecting, way to ginger forward (like a hit in the face!), and, well, very strong lemon.  Not for me.

Substance Cold Pressed Juice: Heart Beet. $13.

"Beet, Carrot, Orange, Pineapple, Ginger."

I'm ... not a juice girl.  Not at all.  Not fruit juice with breakfast, and certainly not a post-workout juice chugger (this is designed for "post workout recovery", according to Substance).  And I certainly don't pay $13 for a juice.

But ... I was eating heavy and unhealthy the entire time I was in NY, and the idea of a lighter start to my day was appealing (alongside other things of course ...).

I liked it.  I loved the slight hit of ginger.  I was surprised by how refreshing and very balanced it was - not to vegetable forward, not too fruity, just, refreshing and strangely satisfying.

Yes I had it after a workout.  Yes I feel like a cliche.  But I liked it.  I think my favorite.

Substance Cold Pressed Juice: Knock Out. $13.

 "Grapefruit, orange, ginger, turmeric, cayenne."

The next day, I couldn't resist.  Yup, another juice. Another good juice!  This one was designed with the intention of "Vitamin C and cayenne to Knock Out your cold", which, I didn't have, but found it made for a far more interesting version of a standard breakfast orange or grapefruit juice.

Again, it was all about balance.  Not too sweet, not too acidic, just, balanced.  And again, I liked the kick from the ginger (and cayenne!).  Refreshing and quite drinkable.  This I really could imagine wanting with my breakfast! I think my second favorite, but nearly a tie.

Substance Cold Pressed Juice: Fresh Cut. $13.

 "Cucumber, Apple, Kale, Spinach, Ginger, Parsley, Lemon."

My final morning, I selected the one I was least excited for, a green juice (Substance makes many, but the hotel only offered one).  It was, as I expected, my last favorite.  But not why I thought it would be.

This one is intended to be "sweet greens for digestion aid."  I was thinking it would be vegetablely and refreshing, somehow missing the "sweet" part.  It was very sweet.  And very ... fruity?  The apple juice was dominant, unlike the others, this one just didn't seem nearly as balanced.

I shook it up, and tried it a few more times, but always found it to be just too sweet and apple-y for me.  Least favorite, obviously.

Breakfast - Mains

The options for Mains included the egg classics (Eggs Benedict, an omelette, a breakfast sandwich, a scrambled egg plate), plus some very trendy items (yup, avocado toast and acai bowls), a healthy choice (granola bowl), and a single hot carb (french toast).  All had unique components though, like spiced cashews, lemon & lime zest, and mint on the french toast (that used marble rye as the base), or the avocado toast that came served on sunflower batard and topped with chilis.

Mains (one page).

It was a menu I'd like to explore more, but, I was mostly getting smaller breakfasts, as I had huge lunch (and dinner ... and dessert) feasts lined up.

Housemade Granola / Thai Coconut Milk / Add Berries. $13 + $5.

Granola.  Not the most exciting item perhaps, but one that I've found to be shockingly good at some hotels (I'm looking at you Sheraton on the Park in Sydney!), or the fascinating coffee flour granola at the Lakehouse at the W in Bellevue.  So when I saw it was housemade, it seemed worth trying.

The granola comes with two options: yogurt, or thai coconut milk.  No regular milk (to eat like cereal), option.  I'm not a big fan of most yogurt in the US (but the full fat creamy stuff in Australia ... now that's another story!), and the thai coconut milk seemed really unique, so this was an easy choice.

I asked to have it packaged separately so as not to get mushy before I was ready to eat it, since I picked it up to go on my way to the gym.

For an additional $5, you can add on berries, which I did.  The berries were just blueberries and sliced strawberries, both fine, but not particularly notable - not bursting with flavor, but not too sad either.  Not really worth $5, but it was nice to have the fresh fruit with the coconut milk in particular.

Now, that coconut milk.  The portion here was amusing.  A huge container filled with the coconut milk, which was thick, rich coconut milk more like a coconut cream, really.  It seemed like it belonged in a dessert.  Which of course, did not make me sad!  It was nice to drizzle over the fruit and granola, and I found many fun uses for the generous amount I had left over, but I can't really imagine having a bowl of this like cereal milk, and they certainly provided ...  well, way too much really.

And finally, the granola.  The portion of this was the opposite: the container was not even half full.  Which, given that granola is actually usually very high calorie and high fat, made it a very reasonable portion, actually.  But it did not match the milk, certainly.  More on the granola soon.

House Made Granola / Yogurt. $13.

The next morning I gave the granola another try, opting for the yogurt.  I was hoping it would be as unique as the coconut milk option.

It wasn't.  Instead, the yogurt was about as boring as yogurt gets.  Not thick Greek style.  Not too watery, but really nothing special at all.  Bo-Ring.

Granola: Close Up.

The granola was above average, certainly better than store bought.  It was loaded with all sorts of goodies: pecans, walnuts, almonds for nuts, dried cranberries and raisins for fruit, sesame seeds ... and an oat base.

The first day, it was ... a bit moist though, which was odd.  This was not true the next.

Overall, it was good granola, crunchy, sweet, satisfying.  I wasn't into the cranberries or raisins (they were the hard style), but other than this, this was a winner.

Breakfast - a la carte

Some a la carte options.

The rest of the menu is a la carte, with standard breakfast meats (sausage, bacon, smoked salmon), fruit and veggies, toast, and chocolate croissants.  I was a bit surprised that a single type of croissant was the only pastries available.

Housemade Sausage $7. (plus maple syrup)

I ... have a thing for sausage.  Breakfast sausage that is.  Breakfast sausage *patties* that is.  Yes, I'm this specific, because I don't like breakfast links, and I don't like normal big lunch or dinner sausages (for the most part.  Um, I sometimes love hot dogs if those count, and sometimes a Brat does it for me, but, yes, usually, not a sausage girl).

But breakfast sausage patties?  Love them.

The menu didn't say if it was a sausage patty or a link.  It didn't say what protein was used.  But I still took a gamble and ordered it.  I was thrilled to see that it was indeed a patty.  I still don't know what the protein was, but I think likely pork?

The patty was fairly unique.  No thin wimpy patty here.  It was thick, it was irregular, it, well, had character?  I guess it really was house made.

It certainly was greasy, and the paper it was presented on quickly became translucent with oil.  I can't say that was appealing, but, the sausage was still good.  Nice sear on the outside, well seasoned.  The protein was ground, but had chunks still, resulting in a almost crumbly texture, which was better than it sounds.

I asked for a side of maple syrup, because, just like hashbrowns, breakfast sausages require syrup (in my world).  I loved the sweet, savory, and salty combination.

I was pleased with this order, and I'd get it again.

Housemade Sausage. $7.

I ordered it again my final morning, and ... it was fairly different.

First of all, I got two patties?  Why didn't I last time? Did they decide to give me one because I added syrup?

Second, they were more pale, not nearly as crispy, and slightly less oily (only slightly).  Still, good, with syrup of course.

Sautéed Vegetables. $7.

I *never* order veggies for breakfast, but, as I said, I was eating soooo heavy all week, that the idea of some vegetables was really appealing.  That said, I had no idea which veggies these would be.  The answer?  Spinach, mushrooms, and onions.

Of course, being me, I requested a side of hollandaise to drizzle over it all.  The hollandaise did not come.

The veggies, like the sausage, were very oily.  Very, very, very oily. I assumed the sausage was so greasy to get a sear and some of the fat came from the sausage itself, but, the veggies made it clear that whoever is running the kitchen has a heavy hand with the oil.

The veggies were fine, the spinach wilty, mushrooms not too soft, and I did like the onions.  But the seasoning was odd, salty, but seemingly no pepper.

I can’t say this was good.  Seemed like it belonged inside scrambled eggs or smothered in hollandaise on a benedict (if only they accommodated that request!).  I saved it and gave it to my mom, who enjoyed it in a dinner bowl she made cleaning out the fridge.

Home-Fried Potatoes. $6. (ketchup, hollandaise).

The next day, I was craving greasy carbs, so I opted for the home-fried potatoes, not knowing which style they would be.  I was hoping for crispy shredded hashbrowns, but, alas, they were chunks of potato, fairly crispy, well seasoned with some kind of red rub, and a few bits of onion.

They were fine, but not really the style of potatoes I was hoping for.

They came served with ketchup (never what I want with breakfast potatoes of any style), and this time, my request for a side of hollandaise was honored.  The hollandaise was ... very very odd.  Thick.  It looked like cream cheese.  But it did taste buttery.  Very very odd.  Also, not warm.

I decided to dunk them in syrup (which I had with me), which was better, but, overall, these were just average and not exciting.

Chocolate Croissant. $5.

The only baked good on the menu was a chocolate croissant.  No muffins.  No scones.  Not even plain croissants.  Just this.  Never my top pick of baked good, but baked goods are how I normally start my day, so I gave it a shot.

It was average hotel quality, about as expected.  Crispy but not flaky exterior, very oily moist layers, and a single bar of chocolate in each (but hey, surprise, it came with two?), that wasn’t particularly deep nor good.

Not served warm.  Not worth getting (nor even finishing).