Lisa's Dumplings

Lisa's Dumplings is a dumpling restaurant up near Columbus Circle in NY.  It was started, you guessed it, by someone named Lisa.

"Her philosophy for Lisa's Dumplings is to create all natural, freshly cooked dumplings, with no artificial flavors or ingredients. Her store is an open kitchen where customers can see their dumplings being prepared right in front of them. The wrappers are hand made at the front counter, and the fillings are placed in them and then pinched closed into the perfectly formed  flavor pocket known as a dumpling. The dumplings come in a variety of flavors and are either steamed or fried. Customers stand at the counter watching the process take place in anticipation of that first savory bite." 

The restaurant features an open kitchen so you can watch the dumpling making action, which I haven't actually seen, as I only experienced their dumplings at a popup event offsite.

Popup Decoration.

At the event, they decorated nicely with traditional Chinese decor and a sign about the chef.

Popup Menu.

The popup menu was a dumpling meal, with choice of dumpling, sauce, and side.  Although the menu said only 1 kind of dumpling was allowed, many of us asked for two kinds which was no problem.

Steamed Dumplings.

Our lineup was only steamed dumplings, 4 kinds: Pork & Chinese Cabbage, Beef & Onion, Chicken & Green Pepper, and Veggie.  At the actual restaurant, they have more varieties (including seafood) and all are available pan fried or steamed.

If you buy them at the store, they come 7 to an order for $11.99/10 for $13.99/14 for $17.99, +$1 for pan fried instead of steamed.

I tried two kinds (pork & cabbage, veggie), but actually really disliked both.  They had a ton of 5-spice in them, and I truly don't like 5-spice.  There was no way to appreciate the filling given how strong the spicing was.  I wouldn't call them particularly well made dumplings either, as the wrappers were very thick and many weren't fully sealed.

Sides.

For sides we have 3 choices, all served cold:

• Cabbage and Cucumber Salad
• Kimchee
• Honey Glazed Potato

Dumplings (pork & cabbage, veggie)
w/ cabbage & cucumber salad, honey glazed potato.

For my meal, I selected two kinds of dumplings, and two sides.

Cabbage & cucumber salad:

This was a pretty simple side, just cabbage and cucumbers with rice vinegar and a hint of garlic and salt. It was fine.  3/5.

Honey glazed potato:

This was good.  Fairly flavorful, with soy and honey.  Potato not too mushy.  But a bit odd as a cold dish, and a bit odd alongside carby dumplings. 3/5.

Pork & Chinese Cabbage dumplings:

The wrappers were thick, and split apart on many of the dumplings.  The ball of pork inside was pretty big, and had a nice amount of chopped cabbage.  But ... I actually hated these due to the aggressive amount of 5-spice.  1/5.

Veggie dumplings:

The veggie dumplings turned out to be bok choy, carrot, and shiitake mushroom, with lots of five-spice.  Again, the 5 spice just killed these for me.  Also the veggies were pretty mushy.  Meh.  0/5.

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Mister Softee

Mister Softee.  An iconic brand you'd think I would have experienced before now, given that I adore soft serve ice cream.  And yet, although I had great brand awareness, I hadn't ever actually visited a Mister Softee truck before now.

"Mister Softee was founded by William Conway and James Conway in 1956 in Philadelphia and is one of the largest franchisers of soft ice cream in the United States, with about 350 franchisees operating 625 trucks in 18 states. The headquarters have been in Runnemede, New Jersey since 1958. It is still run by the Conway family, co-owned by cousins Jim Conway Jr. and John Conway."

Mister Softee trucks are ~everywhere in NYC, but the city also has so much actual premium high end specialty soft serve I've just never prioritize it, although I've walked by the trucks many, many times.  Also, I'll admit I've always thought they were overpriced for what is pretty basic ice cream at the end of the day.  They do NOT post their prices on the trucks (hello, tourist tax), but when I've stopped by to ask a few times I recall a basic cone being $6-8, which seems crazy to me.  They have just the basics: vanilla and chocolate soft serve (or twist), cup or cone (or double cone), and standard generic chocolate or cherry dip, sprinkles, and simple sauces for sundaes.  I think they only do a single size.  That is it.  Iconic, yes, premium, no.

But ... they also do catering, and I attended an event with the Mister Softee truck for all attendees, so I seized the moment to finally get to try it.

Small Vanilla with Rainbow Sprinkles.

This was such a basic cone!  It wasn't made with any particular care, it was kinda small (although really the size was fine with me), the sprinkles weren't particularly well applied.  Basically, generic, you can get it anywhere, in terms of looks.

The taste was good, but again, pretty generic you can get it anywhere.  The base flavor was perhaps a bit vanilla, not too fake tasting, not too sweet, but definitely more akin to frosting flavor than a deep rich vanilla.  It was very creamy, perfect temperature and consistency, and melted beautifully.  Their machine is clearly well calibrated.  The sprinkles were standard sugar sprinkles, the cone a triangle shape cake cone (which is actually my favorite style - I grew out of sugar cones for the most part, but I get annoyed by the flat bases of standard cake cones).  Both were fresh though, no staleness detected.

I see this as what is probably a very reliable, basic cone.  It is good, there is nothing at all wrong with it, but it is not an interesting, unique, or premium product.  Certainly many steps above a fast food cone though.  High 3/5, maybe 3.5/5.

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Dickson's Farmstand & Meats

I don't seek out things like butcher shops.  And yet, here I am, reviewing a butcher shop / restuarant.

"Dickson's Farmstand is a neighborhood butcher shop in Chelsea Market offering artisanal meats and house-made charcuterie. Our beef, pork, lamb, and poultry are sourced from small, family farms in upstate New York that are carefully handpicked for their humanely-raised, high-quality animals. We proudly share with you the stories of our farmers and their methods."

Dickson's is located across the street from my office, in Chelsea Market, so a very convenient location that I walk by every day.  That alone wasn't enough for me to give them a second glance though really.  I only paid attention when they actually brought them *into* our office, for a special lunch catered event.  If you do visit the actual shop though, they have a full service butcher counter with all the expected meats, plus grocery items, and a restaurant serving lunch and dinner.

Menu.

For our event, we had a very limited menu: the choice of a housemade hot dog or bbq star fruit (which, I'll admit, sounded mildly interesting), both of which just came with packaged chips.

The regular business has a much larger menu, with burgers, sandwiches, sausages, hot dogs, bbq items like ribs, pulled pork, and brisket, fried or roast chicken, steaks, and various sides including fries, mac and cheese, cole slaw, and other veggies.  I was sad they didn't at least include the cole slaw with our menu.

Hot Dog Toppings (in-store),

In the store you will find all the standard hot dog toppings, including crowd pleasers like chili and cheese sauce, or bacon, along with traditional choices like sauerkraut, chopped onions, and the like.

Housemade Hot Dog ($7)
w/ sweet pepper relish (+$1.25), kewpie mayo (+$0.25),
krispy onions (+$1.50).

"Beef and pork hot dog smoked over hickory & apple wood, topped with krispy onions, kewpie mayo, and sweet pepper relish, served on a Martin's potato bun."

Since this was a popup special event, we were not able to pick our own toppings, but I still liked the sound of the selection made for us, at least, I was definitely a fan of the Kewpie and "krispy onions", which the menu revealed are just fried shallots.  The toppings came very evenly, and generously, applied.

The hotdog was a slightly bigger than average length, delightfully longer than the bun (in a good way, that made eating that first bite a bit extra fun).  The casing had a wonderful snap, the dog was juicy.  You could tell it wasn't just generic processed meat, it had tons of flavor, almost more akin to a sausage really.  It was a blend of beef and heritage pork, and neither dominated, plus plenty of spices including smoky paprika.  It had a much higher level of smokiness than a hotdog usually does, again, akin to a sausage.  Really, just a high quality product, but it might not satisfy say a picky child who has a specific notion of what a hotdog is.  Think, thin sausage that is less granular texture, or flavor of a sausage, format of a hotdog.  I liked it, but again, not quite a standard hot dog.  4/5 hotdog.

The bun was soft, fresh, and what you'd expect from a Martin's bun if you've had them before.  A slightly sweeter, more robust flavor than your standard bun, and certainly more yellow.  It worked here, matching the slightly elevated style of the dog itself.

And then of course the toppings.  I adore Kewpie, I adore fried shallots, so, those were great just in general, although I'm not entirely sure they are what I'd pick in the future for a custom dog.  I did also want ketchup and mustard, call me traditional.  The sweet pepper relish was the only miss for me, but I can be pretty fickle about both relish and sweet peppers, so, not a surprise.  It was also heavy on the tomatillos.  It was nicely chunky, just a bit too tart for me.

If purchased at the shop, this would be $8.50 with this topping set.

Overall, I enjoyed this, and I'd consider getting another, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.  3.5/5.

BBQ Star Fruit.

"Star fruit topped with BBQ sauce and coleslaw, served on a Martin's potato bun."

The vegetarian offering was the same bun (Martin's potato), but this time stuffed with ... bbq star fruit.  I can't say I've encountered that before.  I've seen plenty of jackfruit in place of meat before (my office cafes in SF LOVED jackfruit as a vegetarian sub), but I've not seen star fruit used before.  But I love bbq, and I love slaw, so, why not? 

The answer, at least for me, is because it is way too sweet.  The texture was quasi-interesting, but, wow, it was so sweet. The bbq sauce was a standard-ish formula of ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses.  It didn't do anything to balance out the sweetness of the star fruit.  I just really didn't care for this base component, although I can see what they were going for, a veggie pulled pork-ish sort of base.  1/5 filling.

The slaw was classic cabbage (red/green), carrot, and red onions, with mayo based dressing, that also had buttermilk for some tang, cider vinegar for acid, and horseradish for kick.  You can buy this slaw as a side at the restaurant.  I didn't really care for this either, even though I love cole slaw and everything in this sounded like the right ingredients.  It was just too tart and hard to really get a bite without the rest of the flavor from the bbq star fruit with it.  I'd try it again separate, but, I didn't enjoy it here.

I don't think this dish is served at their regular store, and was an offering they did to accommodate vegetarians at our office.

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7th Street Burger, NYC

I don't seek out fast food that often.  I don't seek out burgers that often these days (although, many years ago, I hosted a weekly burger night, where we went to get burgers from places all over San Francisco, ranging from fast casual to high end steakhouses that served burgers only in limited quantities in their bar, etc).  Yet I was very excited recently when I got to finally try 7th Street Burgers, when my office had a special event at Barclay's Center, and they were one of the vendors.  I was so impressed by that first encounter, I quickly sought them out back in Manhattan at their regular stores.

"Craveable smash burgers, loaded fries, and late-night bites. 7th Street Burger serves fast, greasy goodness across NYC, Brooklyn, DC, and beyond."

7th Street Burgers has been on my radar for a while, often sited as a great, affordable, smashburger around New York.  The concept is fast casual, and pricing is lower than pretty much anywhere else.  The chain started in the East Village in June 2021, and has a slew of locations now in New York, New Jersey, and DC.  They are known for, well, the smash burgers.

"A "smash burger" is made by smashing the meat patty on the grill, creating a crispy outer crust while keeping the center of the burger juicy. Our house sauce brings the whole experience to the next level!"

7th Street has a very streamlined menu.  Cheeseburger or spicy cheese burger (with jalapeños and ghost pepper sauce).  All have onions cooked in.  Single or double. Vegetarian impossible burger option.  Fries, loaded or not.  And that is it.  No sides besides fries.  No fresh vegetables, e.g. lettuce/tomato as toppings.  No appetizers.  No desserts.  No chicken, salads, etc.  Heck, they don't even have a non-cheeseburger on the menu.  No ability to specify the done-ness of your burger.  Smash burger, the way they make it, and fries. That is it.  I'm sure this helps keeps costs down.

Visit #1: June 2026, Barclays Center

My first visit was to their stand at Barclays Center, just a concession stand.

Cheeseburger & Fries.

Since I was at a concession stand at Barclays, things were even more streamlined - the burgers were already made, and just handed over in a tray.   We had no choices, just the cheeseburger and regular fries.  They were handling steady lines so items were actually fairly fresh, but, obviously not quite the same as ordering at a real location.

Fries.

"Crispy, golden fries with a perfectly salted exterior and fluffy interior."

The fries did not impress me.  They were very generic, very simple, basic fries.  Not particularly flavorful, not particularly anything.  They just were.  With Fuku right around the corner with seasoned very crispy waffle fries, why would you ever pick these?

One of my co-workers however did like them, saying, they were "basic but not badly executed if that makes sense. I.e. they are crispy, not soggy, but lacking any good seasoning."  He was right, they were that, but to me, that didn't make them worth eating.  I was glad someone else wanted them.  2.5/5.

At their regular stores, these are $4.50.

Cheeseburger.

"Single patty, 100% fresh beef burger served with American cheese, grilled onions, pickles and house sauce on a Martin's potato bun."

The burger though.  That was something else entirely.

Wow.  Um.  This was good.  Really good.  Really satisfying.  And yes I'm talking about basically a fast food burger, not even from their own store, but from a stadium concession stand.  I then really, really wanted to try one at their real restaurants!

But backing up.  I really liked everything about this.  The burger had a great char.  Loved the crispy edges.  The beef was nicely seasoned.  It was fairly juicy inside for a thin burger.  The cheese was well distributed and perfectly melty.  Plenty of it, but not overwhelming.  Simple American, nothing more needed.  Yay for grilled onions and pickles.  Creamy flavorful house sauce (although I did add a bit more ketchup on some of the edge bits that had no sauce).  No "fresh" elements like tomato or lettuce, but I didn't mind. This was just a very satisfying burger base!

And then the bun.  Unlike most fast food or fast casual buns, this was not a generic bun at all.  Flavorful Martin's potato bun with a bit of sweetness.  Lightly toasted.  I often do lettuce wraps or open-faced burgers because I want to taste more of the burger/toppings and want to have more fries/sides and don't want to fill up on bun, but this was a bun I gladly devoured.

I truly enjoyed every bite of this, and can't wait to get another.  4.5/5.  Yes, for a concession stand burger (but again, it isn't trying to be a thick, mid-rare, truffle topped, $30 burger.  It is a cheap smashburger.  But a damn good one!).  At their regular stores, this is $6.50.  Insane value.

Visit #2: June 2026, Times Square Location

So, uh, a few days later I visited a real location, the one near Times Square, when the Knicks won a game in the finals, and 7th Street gave out 777 free burgers, and I of course snagged one.  You know how much I love my freebies!

Sidewalk.

Outside on the very busy sidewalk was two tables only, standing room, for devouring burgers on the spot, which I saw several people do, in impressive record time.

Counter.

Inside was a simple ordering counter, old school Coca-Cola branded menu board, and some booths.  The music was loud, the place had grit.  I liked it even more.

Cheeseburger.  $6.50.

The burger looked nearly identical to the one from the concession stand, slightly less scorch mark on the top of the bun, slightly less beef overhang, but, very close.  The bun did seem perhaps a bit softer, a bit more fresh.

Cheeseburger: Inside.

Inside was the real difference ... while it had all the expected cubes of grilled onions, it did not have any pickles!  I loved the pickles last time, and they should have been included.  Alas.

The onions were good, the cheese was perfectly melty, the sauce well distributed, the burger was nicely charred.  All just very nicely done for this style of burger.  3.5/5.

Visit #3: June 2026 - Flatiron Location

A week later, another visit, this time I picked the Flatiron location just to try somewhere new.  Also, yes, another freebie when the Knicks won again.

Spicy Jalapeño Burger. $7.

"Single patty, 100% fresh beef burger served with American cheese, grilled onions, jalapeños and ghost pepper sauce on a Martin's potato bun."

Next I tried the only other burger, the spicy jalapeño one.  Same basic burger, but this swaps in jalapeños for the pickles (a loss to me actually, I love the pickles) and uses ghost pepper sauce instead of their house sauce.  I got this mostly for completeness and curiosity, not because it sounded better to me than the basic cheeseburger.

I was a bit sad to see it seemed made with less care - the burger had part ripped off, and it wasn't warm, even though I had arrived ahead of my pickup time, it clearly was ready much earlier.  It seemed less juicy and less charred as well.  It did have the best bun toasting of any so far though.

Spicy Jalapeño: Inside.

I was also a bit sad to see the jalapeños were raw.  I somehow thought they'd be cooked and maybe chopped up like the onions.  They were just raw jalapeños.  I'd definitely go back to the pickles in the future.

As for the ghost pepper sauce, it was fine, a bit spicy, creamy, but there was only a pool of it in the middle of the bottom, so I found it didn't spread much onto the rest of the burger.

My least favorite burger so far, partially because I prefer pickles/house sauce over the jalapeños/ghost pepper sauce, partially because it was less fresh, partially because it just didn't seem as well made. 3/5.

Visit #4: June 2026 - Times Square Location

So I went back to the Times Square location, also wondering if location made a difference.

Spicy Jalapeño Burger ($7) + Extra Onions ($1).

Ok, this was the worst made one so far.

The bun had no toasted mark on top at all.  I ordered extra onions, and got the regular amount.  If anything, it had less than usual.  The cheese was barely melted.  The patty was dry.

Spicy Jalapeño Burger: SO MUCH JALAPENO!

The burger was loaded with jalapeños.  I ordered extra onions, regular jalapeños.  Did they just mix those up?  It had jalapeño under the top bun as well.  Way way too much raw jalapeño.  And where were my onions!

This was just not well prepared, on any level - the bun lack of toasting, the burger dryness and cheese not melted, the lack of customization followed ... if it was my first one from here, I never would have returned.  3/5, everything did taste good but wow, execution was off.

Visit #5: June 2026 - Times Square Location

Impossible Burger ($8)
w/ extra onions ($1), pickles ($0.50).

"Single Impossible patty served with American cheese, grilled onions, pickles and house sauce on a Martin's potato bun."

At first glance, the Impossible burger really did look exactly the same as the regular.  Same thin smashed patty, etc.  The patty had decent char on it.  The bun was lightly marked on top.  But closer examination showed the patty didn't crumble apart in quite the same way.  Still, this is the closest thing I've ever seen to a vegetarian smashburger.

This costs $1.50 more than the regular beef version.

Impossible Burger: Inside.

The patty was decent, it tasted like any other Impossible burger I've ever had, albeit more thin than I've had at other places.   It tastes vaguely meaty, with a slightly odd taste that makes you realize it isn't beef, but the texture and look are pretty close.  With enough cheese and special sauce, and my extra pickles and onions, it was pretty easy to nearly miss the fact it was a veggie burger.

Slight point miss though because the cheese was barely melted.  Overall though, good if you want a vegetarian option, or just aren't feeling like red meat.  I'd get it again if I was in the mood for that.  3.5/5.

Double Cheeseburger ($9.50).
w/ extra cheese ($1), extra onions ($1), extra pickles ($0.50).

"Double patty, 100% fresh beef burger served with American cheese, grilled onions, pickles and house sauce on a Martin's potato bun."

My next order I went big.  A double.

This guy weighed a lot!  Very noticeably heavier than my previous single burgers, as you'd expect since it is a double.  And was considerably more greasy than any previous burgers, likely due to the double cheese and beef?  The wrapper was totally saturated in oil.  It was also a bit mushed together and slightly hard to eat as it was bulging out of the bun.

I got this to compare the experience of the double to a single mostly, and because the single really is a kinda small burger compared to a standard burger elsewhere, so I thought this would be more like getting a quarter pounder or something, although I realize now that two of these patties are still much bigger than a regular McDonald's quarter pounder, as they are 3 ounces each (so, 6 ounces for double, quarter pounder is obviously 4 ounces).  

Anyway.  This was a tasty pile of meat and onions and cheese and pickles loosely held together by buns doing a valiant effort, but I wouldn't really recommend a double as it is just a bit hard to navigate (perhaps fork and knife would be better?).  Everything in it was good though, melty cheese, tasty onions, creamy sauce, nicely charred patties.  4/5.

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Joe's Pizza, NYC

Joe's Pizza is a known place in NYC.  If you've spent time there, you've likely walked by one of their locations, and seen a few folks on the sidewalk with relatively attractive looking slices in their hands, devouring on the spot.  The location near Times Square has ridiculous lines, and hoards of people, but the others don't tend to.  My impression is that locals don't hate it, but they don't consider it destination worthy.

Joe's started in Greenwich village in 1975, and now has a handful of locations in Manhattan and surrounding areas, including Boston, but also randomly Miami and Ann Arbor.  It is a very classic NY pizza joint.

Joe's has a no frills, basic menu.  This is not a place to get fancy toppings like burrata, prosciutto, or hot honey on your pizza, not a place to even get pineapple and/or ham if those are your thing.  Nope, this is a place to get the simple toppings: pepperoni, sausage, or meatballs for meat, peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, spinach, and, perhaps the most wild one, artichokes, for veggies.  And that is it.  Pizzas come with red sauce the majority of the time, although they have a white sauce option.  And that is it, no bbq sauce, no buffalo drizzle, etc.  You can upgrade to fresh mozzarella.  No vegan cheese.  Whole pizzas come in one size, cut into 8 large slices.  Round is the majority of their product, although they do a Sicilian style square as well.  Regular crust only, no gluten-free.

And that is the menu.  There is a house salad with all the pizza veggie toppings, and that is it for appetizers/sides.  Not even garlic knots.  No desserts.  No interesting drinks, just soda or Snapple.  Don't expect anything else.  And really, you don't need anything else.

Joe's Curb Appeal.

At the shop, slices are a main attraction, served on paper plates, eaten on the street out front where there are a few tables. I've still yet to have that experience, but instead had whole pies, delivered.

I was very pleased with my experience, and I understand the staying power.

Pepperoni. $32.

Here you have it.  Iconic NY Slice.  For good reason.  This isn't a fancy slice, but it is a good one for this style.

Right level of char.  Crust is chewy in a good way, holds up well to being held/folded.  Sauce is well distributed, not too thick, not too sweet, not overwhelming in any way.  Generic cheese that is not in excess, but not skimpy.  Each element plays a supporting, but necessary, role.  Generic pepperoni, not cupping style, just basic. Slightly haphazardly applied.

Like any 1-topping pizza, this is priced at $32 ($4 more than plain cheese).

I liked this about the same as my previous favorite basic NY slice, NY Pizza Suprema, 4/5.

Veggie Pie.  $35.

I also got to try the "veggie pie", even though the menu gives no description of what veggies it will be. The answer seems to be mushrooms, onion, peppers, black olive, broccoli.  Basically everything but the spinach and artichoke.  This is one of the three predefined options (along with supreme or meat lovers), no other curated selections are offered.

This pizza reminded me of my childhood.  My family always got green pepper and onion pizza, and if my mom was making it at home, she always put black olives and mushrooms on her side (my dad was strictly peppers and onions).  I used to love black olives.  At Subway, our frequent family dinner out splurge, I'd get extra black olives (and extra pickles!).  I used to be all in on the family favorite green peppers and onions.  And somehow, probably about 20 years ago at this point, I just simply stopped liking black olives and green peppers, in any application.  Not cooked, not raw, not in salads, etc.  I actively avoid bell peppers at this point, and pick around black olives.  And yet ... I was really drawn to this pizza.

And I kinda loved it.  It was part nostalgia for family pizza night, just, with a far superior base product that we ever had, and perhaps just a crazy mood I was in, but, I really enjoyed this slice.  The toppings were even less well distributed than the pepperoni, some bites were all black olive, others were all green pepper.  There were very few mushrooms, and not nearly enough onions.  And again, I still loved it.  I'm not sure about the broccoli on pizza, at least, not with these other basic veggies, but all the toppings were well cooked, and seemed fresh. 

The base product, the crust, the sauce, the cheese, were all the same as the previous, great char, great chew, no dominating elements.  Another 4/5, higher side, and I liked this one even more.

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United Polaris Lounge, EWR

The week before I took a flight from Newark to San Francisco, United changed the branding of the flight to ... Polaris.  No longer just considered a "premium transcon", this was full fledged Polaris now.  Which yes, meant Polaris lounge access.  I was of course thrilled by the opportunity to check out the Newark Polaris lounge for the first time.

My visit was from about 11am until 12:30pm on a Saturday.  It was not busy at all.  

The space was tranquil, and seemed nice enough, however I found myself actually liking the food, and the natural light, more in the much smaller UA Club near Gate C74.

Setting

The lounge is large, and was not crowded at all when I visited.  It had shower suites that I didn't check out, and large, nice individual bathrooms.

So Empty.

There were many styles of seating, and sooo much of it was vacant.

So much space!

The lounge really was expansive, with many different sections.  It felt very open, but had considerably less natural light than the smaller UA Club at C74.

Dining Area.

There was a large dining area for those who choose to eat from the buffet.

Soft Seating.

And soft seating large individual armchairs.  Most seats had power outlets including USB.

Dining Room.

A signature feature of Polaris lounges, the main dining room.  It was also not busy at all.

Dining Room Menu.

The dining room menu sounded great, for both breakfast and lunch. I wished I was hungry for a real meal, as there were not one, but two dishes featuring asparagus, which I was really craving at the time, and all three desserts sounded great to me.  But alas, it wasn't a meal time for me, so I didn't partake in any of it.

Breakfast

I caught the tail end of breakfast when I arrived.  I saw basic breakfast scrambled eggs and sausage, but narrowed in fast on the sweet carb offering, gleeful to have the chance to try it before the lunch swapover.

Maple Baked French Toast Casserole.

I was excited to snag the maple baked french toast casserole, but it wasn't actually very good.  Extremely aggressively spiced, and very dry.  Fruit was mediocre, syrup was unlikely to be real maple syrup.  2/5.

Lunch

The lunch swapover took a while, with different elements brought out in strange order (e.g. the toppings for the crostini bar were there for a really long time before the actual bread to use as a base).  The lineup seemed decent enough, but I didn't actually really like anything I tried.

Salad Bar.

The salad bar had mixed greens or arugula for a base.  The mixed greens were brown at all the stems and didn't seem very fresh.  There were two pre-made, pre-dressed, additional salads.  I plucked some toppings out of them as the rest of the salad bar was so meager. 

Salad Toppings.

The salad toppings were a bit of an odd assortment.  Other than raw red onion, no fresh veggies.  Instead, there was marinated beets, roasted tomatoes, roasted edamame, and mushy mushy mushy asparagus (I had hope! I was craving asparagus! But wow, so mushy).  The pickled radishes were fine.  

Salad Toppings: seeds/cheese/dressing.

The remaining salad toppings were pretty uninspiring to me: some seeds, cheese, and dressing.

Shrimp Cocktail / Gazpacho.

Poached shrimp with cocktail sauce (and random marinated artichokes?), and shots of gazpacho came next.  If I was hungry, I would have tried the shrimp, but, I wasn't, and had been nibbling on other things, so random shrimp at questionable temperature didn't really seem worth trying.

Cheese / Charcuterie.

Interestingly there were only two types of cheese offered (compared to more extensive lineup in the UA Club), and no grapes, in the cheese & charcuterie section.  And no crackers?

Crostini Toppings.

An interesting offering is a build-your-own crostini bar, with several different kinds of spreads.  I didn't try the fig jam nor green olive tapenade, but I wanted to try the brie + chive spread ... and couldn't tell which that was, and which was lemon herb goat cheese spread as items are not individually labelled.  So I took a tiny bit of both, and sadly picked wrong to start, blegh, goat cheese!  The brie spread was fine though, not memorable.

Shrimp & Chicken.

The two main dishes were chicken or shrimp, neither of which I tried.

Carrots & Green Beans.

For a hot veggie, they had a dish that was mostly carrots, with a few token green beans.

Couscous & Rigatoni.

There was a base cous ous for a grain, and pasta dish of rigatoni with mushrooms, peas, and a creamy tomato sauce that I tried, but truly did not like (mushy, not very complex flavor).

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

The "famous" chocolate chip cookies made an appearance in the buffet, presented in a bit more of a classy style than the UA Clubs where they are just laid out on a platter.  They were the thin crispy style everyone raves about.

I see why people like these cookies. They aren't really my style (I'm not a big cookie person anyway), but they were pleasantly crispy, had a nice buttery richness, and did seem a bit unique. The chocolate chips were regular size, and it wasn't loaded with them, but they were fine. I'm glad I tried this, and if I really wanted a sweet treat, I could imagine getting another.  3/5.

UA Club Cookie (Top) / Polaris Lounge Cookie (Bottom).

Interestingly, the ones here in the Polaris lounge were nearly twice the size (diameter) than the ones from the UA Club down the hall.   I didn't notice any real difference in taste despite the very different look.

Lemon Vanilla Budino.

I love all puddings (enough that my blog has a label for them on it after all!), so even though I'm not into lemon desserts, I still tried this.

It was way too lemon curd for me. Tangy in not a way I enjoy. Thick and gloopy. Just, not for me. And far too little whipped cream on top! No textural element like crumble or nuts. 1/5.

Berry Crumble Bar / Seasonal Berries / Golden Oat Streusel.

The dessert bar was slightly more inviting, but was also not enjoyable. It was extraordinarily dry. So dry. The base, the topping, all of it. Dry, dry, dry. 1/5.

Snacks

I'm a sucker for all snack mixes and candies, so I was happy to see the lounge did feature a few.

Snacks!

The Polaris lounge had far more snacks than the UA Clubs, with 5 offerings: yogurt covered cranberries, trail mix, wasabi peas, pineapple, and gummy bears.  I tried the yogurt cranberries, but wasn't really into them.  The rest were standard.

Below these were self serve soft drinks, basic Coke/Sprite/Ginger Ale.  No sparkling water.

Godiva Chocolates.

"GODIVA continues to reimagine chocolate with our NEW Gold Collection: the beating heart of our praline savoir-faire. Each piece in this iconic collection embodies Belgian craftsmanship. Enjoy delicate ganache, nutty pralines and smooth caramels.."

A relatively new (I think?) collaboration between Godiva and United meant there were self serve fancy chocolates, from the new Gold Collection, with little tongs to serve them that made it nearly impossible to pick them up without dropping.  I of course tried both and appreciated the relatively premium offering.

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Wayback Burger, NYC

I only eat a few burgers per year at this phase of my life.  I grew up with ground beef as really the only animal protein served in our household regularly.  My dad simply didn't eat any others, and he had no tolerance for the smell of seafood, so, for dinner, we had basically vegetarian food and ground beef in many forms - yes, lots of casseroles.  Lunchtime deli meats like bologna, summer cookout hotdogs, and occasional pepperoni on pizza basically rounded out my meat exposure until I went to college.  Fast forward to when I first moved to San Francisco post-grad school, and I ran a dining club where every Tuesday night we celebrated "B-night", which was usually going to get burgers (sometimes, burritos, it was SF after all).  I ate a lot of burgers in those years.  I think I OD'ed on them, and really just stopped ever seeking out burgers for quite a few years.  I've recovered from that era, but I still don't eat them very regularly.

"Wayback symbolizes the inner “rebel,” who might not eat their veggies, but holds the door for grandma EVERY TIME. Slightly irreverent towards those who don’t understand, but always reminded. Wayback is honest and straightforward, reflecting our guests: hardworking people who want simple, uncomplicated things. Coming here is a treat. It’s a place for everyone to feel comfortable, and no one is excluded. It feels revived – young and fresh with a nod to how things were “back in the day” but with a twist."

Anyway.  This is a review about a burger chain, Wayback Burger.  I was unfamiliar with the brand until I moved to New York, but I do like their charming brand mentality.  They have about 150 locations in the US, so I'm a bit surprised I had never encountered one before.

I didn't seek them out for a burger, given the above, although that is clearly their main product.  They also have chicken, garden burgers and Impossible burgers, hot dogs, salads, and a decent line up of fried sides (not just fries, but cheese curds, fried pickles, tots, and onion rings).  I wasn't there for any of that though, I was there for dessert of course.  And a freebie.  Ah yes, now this is more on brand!

Interior.

The interior isn't particularly nice, with an ordering counter (or kiosks on the side), Coke soda machine, and a few quasi-clean tables to sit at.

Interior.

The only interesting piece of decor is the subway tile wall, with a slightly actually welcoming "Welcome to Wayback" printed above.

Hand Dipped Milkshakes.

Shakes are available in one size only.  In addition to the standard vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry options, they also do more premium selections like brownie, banana cream pie, or Oreo cookie, with actual brownies, fresh bananas and Nilla wafers, etc mixed in.  They use Blue Bunny ice cream, so at least real ice cream and not shake mix, but, Blue Bunny is relatively average/not premium ice cream to begin with (as I've reviewed before).

Vanilla Shake. $6.99.

"These hand-dipped delights, crafted to order with Blue Bunny ice cream and milk, are the perfect complement to any meal you choose."

I visited on National Vanilla Milkshake day, where they were giving out free shakes.  Vanilla only.  So, that is what I got.

This really was a decent milkshake.  It was not fast food style, where it comes out of a soft serve-eque machine.  This was real scooped ice cream and milk, blended.  It was nicely thick, a bit watery around the sides, and had reasonable flavor.  A bit boring overall, but, exactly what you'd expect from a basic vanilla shake.  Far better than any fast food one, not on par with a real ice cream shop just because Blue Bunny isn't that great of ice cream to begin with.

3/5, acceptable, but not something I'd go running back for.

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