Becky F.'s Profile

I finally make it into Union Market last weekend having been out of town for their grand opening. I am thoroughly impressed. Here are just a few of the things that are fabulous about Union Market:

1. Friendly staff. I almost couldn't believe how nice the man was who manned the check-out. It was like I was back in the Midwest.

2. Produce that hasn't all been shrink-wrapped in excessive amounts of plastic. This, in and of itself, is reason to shop here. There's really no need for a head of broccoli to be covered in plastic, and Union Market is clearly ahead of the game on this.

3. The source of all the produce is very clearly labelled, and most of it is from the UK.  

It's a little bit pricier than your standard grocery store, but I think for produce, it's worth it because the quality is much better. Maybe it's not worth it for grocery staples and dry goods, but if I can't make it to the farmer's market, I'll probably hit up Union Market rather than the other options in the area.

Just try to avoid the yuppies and hipsters who have stumbled in from the surrounding area, and you'll be bound to like Union Market too!

80 gazillion bonus points for serving warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies on their flights.

70 gazillion demerits for our flight that was delayed for 3+ hours leaving Milwaukee due to the lack of a crew to fly the plane. And I can now say, from personal experience, there isn't much to do for entertainment in the Milwaukee airport between 10pm and 1am. Yikes.

Still, those chocolate chip cookies almost made up for it.

Big Daddy's did a pretty good job of coping with our large and loud party of 11 for brunch a few weekends ago. As the site of a reunion for my friends who I haven't seen in ages, this could have been a train wreck with a long wait for a table and messed up orders. Miraculously, we only waited about 10 minutes for the big table, and aside from one mistake on a tater tot side dish, everything came to the table as ordered. Sure, nothing was remarkable, but it was all decent and I was pleased with my omelette. Best of all, they let us sit at that table for ages after we'd finished eating while we continued to catch up and reminisce. No complaints from this customer.

Considering you are in smalltown America, Chapati does a good job with the Indian food. I went while visiting family in the area, and was impressed by what we ate. Although the chutneys and papadoms that we ordered to start paled in comparison to what you receive at most Indian restaurants in the UK, many of the main dishes stacked up. Our Aloo Gobi had a very strong cardamom flavor which I enjoyed, and the Baigan Bharta was rich and smokey. The menu is pretty standard, so you can find all of your old favorites here, although I didn't see a ton of unusual or regional dishes on the menu. Overall, this seems like a pretty good option for ethnic food in Minnesota!

Really? Have I just been time-warped back to the 1960s? I can't believe how outdated this airport is. From start to finish, my experience here was pretty horrendous. The layout of the terminals is just idiotic. There's no way to pass through the corridor if a plane is boarding because there's nowhere for people to line up other than in the corridor. The whole place feels dirty and like it's about 3 seconds away from falling apart. The food options in the terminals are dire. I've flown through a LOT of airports in my day, and this is definitely one of the worst. I guess the only thing going for it is that it's somewhat closer to Manhattan than JFK and it's smaller so things may run a bit more smoothly.

I attended a wedding at Pier 60 last weekend and was really impressed by the venue and the whole affair. The view out over the water from the ceremony and reception room is just stunning. There is a huge patio that wraps around the venue and it's a lovely place for the cocktail hour to spill out onto. While the rooms themselves are sort of nothing special, the view really makes up for that. The food at this wedding was probably some of the best I've eaten at a wedding- tasty, plentiful, and interesting. Usually, you get the typical "stack o' veggies" if you eat a vegetarian entree at a wedding, but the vegetarian option here was a far more inventive and flavorful Indian-inspired dish. Major bonus points for that. Our friends said that if you have your wedding here, you have to chose from a short list of vendors who Chelsea Piers works with, but frankly, everything was so gorgeous at this wedding that I think that list is pretty top notch.  A memorable evening and a beautiful venue.

Stayed here for two nights while in New York for a wedding. Since we booked as part of the wedding group, we got a serious discount on our room. For the price we paid, this seemed like a pretty nice hotel for NYC. We paid $209/night, and the website quotes more like $250/night full price. If we had paid full price, I don't know how positive I would be overall.

Pros: relatively central location (39th and Lex); immaculate room; big, comfortable bed; nice freebie shampoos/conditioners in the bathroom; nice looking hotel bar if that's your thing (it's not mine).

Cons: bathroom had a slight smell of mildew, although none was actually visible; no free wifi in the rooms, which seems like a bit of a cheapie thing to do these days; service was fine if you know your way around Manhattan, but the front desk wasn't dying to help you or anything; none of the "Old Manhattan" charm you get at some of the other hotels in NY; while the surrounding neighborhood is central, it's sort of charmless (right by Grand Central); decor is somewhat outdated, and because it's so ostentatiously modern, it will rapidly look even more outdated very soon.

I wouldn't hesitate to return and stay here again because our experience was absolutely fine, but it's not a top recommendation for the city.

Brunch fail.

I fully accept the blame for going to brunch at a place that is clearly most comfortable as a bar, but give me a break. The service was horrible. They messed up two of our three orders and took FOREVER to get the food out to us (even before the mess up). And the food itself was mediocre, unremarkable at best. This place is way too yuppified for its own good, in my opinion. Blah, I won't be back.

My husband refuses to go to Chipotle with me because it is Mexican McDonalds.

So I dragged a girlfriend along with me for lunch the other day.

I gotta say: pretty solid stuff, London.  Well done.

I feel like I can't make a direct comparison to America's Chipotle, since I only ever had a few chicken burritos there. And now that I'm a newly minted veggie, I opted for the veggie burrito bol for lunch. First off, the few reviewers who griped about the skimpy guacamole portions were clearly NOT served by whoever made my lunch. There was enough guac to swim in on my plate. It was epic, and I clearly was not going to complain about that.

Other things that elevate Chipotle above the other usual suspects for me include salsa that actually tastes like salsa, rather than like BBQ sauce (c'mon folks, we've all been there with Mexican food in London before...), actual black beans, and friendly servers who have clearly been trained in America. Oh yes, I'll happily pay £7 for that, gracias.

I will shamelessly say that I am a big fan of the addition of Chipotle to London's burrito scene.

Love this Farmer's Market. We have been twice now, and the produce is excellent here. I disagree with the comment made by another reviewer that the food here is overpriced. In fact, we got two large punnets of beautiful British strawberries for £4. That's less than at our local grocery store, and they are much tastier than anything you can find at Sainsbury's (or even, gasp, your Waitrose). The eggs here are also less expensive than the free-range eggs you buy at the store, and just as good. The sellers here are friendly and knowledgeable, and there's just a really nice vibe here on a Saturday morning. It's mostly produce, but there are some speciality stalls selling delicious cheeses and jams.