taj mahal

Entries Tagged as 'taj mahal'

Back in New York

June 7th, 2007 · 5 Comments

Musicians at Taj Restaurant, East Village, Manhattan

Not to confuse you because I still have photos from my Memorial Day weekend trip to New York, but I’m back in New York again, this time on business. Monday afternoon and night we all came together at Taj Restaurant on 6th Street, right in the heart of Indian Restaurant Row, which is on 6th between 1st and 2nd Avenues. The music was great but the service and ambiance was questionable. They did keep the Taj Mahal and Flying Horse beer flowing though, which was a good thing. The food was reasonably priced and was pretty tasty if you could break through the language barrier to get your order in!

Don at Bar 82
Don, Bar 82, East Village, Manhattan

Afterwards we had a few drinks at Bar 82 and then made the long walk back to our hotel, the craptacular Radisson on 48th/Lex. It’s not that bad, it’s just so random. Like the wallpaper is peeling in my room and there are only hooks and stains where the artwork used to be above the bed, yet my room has a flat screen TV and a Herman Miller Aeron chair.

Vietnamese Coffee Granite with Vanilla Meringue, Spice Market, Meatpacking District, Manhattan

Tuesday was our first day at Google and was completely overwhelming with all of the information to take in. It’s really exciting to be working there officially. I think everyone is psyched. .. if only we can get our heads around everything. We had dinner at Spice Market, which I’d read so much about and was excited to try. It was about 100% fancier than the Indian restaurant that we’d been to the night before. The interior was really beautiful, if not over the top, and sort of Middle Eastern looking, while the cuisine was kind of Vietnamese/Thai/Indian. The Onion and Chili Crusted Short Ribs Egg Noodles and Pea Shoots was absolutely the standout dish of the night. I was expecting something like kalbi ribs, but it was the most tender bone-free beef I’ve ever eaten, I think. So delicious. For some reason I only took a photo of our desert. It was Vietnamese Coffee Granite with Vanilla Meringue. That night some people went out to the bar at the W, but I was so tired. I just stayed in and went to bed.

Tiny Beers
Mini Beers, Bar 82, East Village, Manhattan

This is turning into a food blog of the week, but Wednesday night we had pizza at John’s on Bleecker. Later on we had a couple beers at some generic Irish pub in Midtown. Everyone was too tired to really put any effort into staying out, so I hit up Duane Reade for some shampoo because the stuff at the hotel stinks and then headed in for the night.

Everything is so overwhelming this week. I’m waiting for Friday and looking forward to nothing on Saturday. Sunday I’m flying back out here.

Coney Island + Las Vegas = Atlantic City

February 17th, 2004 · 11 Comments

With nothing better to do on our President’s Day off, Mark and I hopped in the car and drove down to Atlantic City and found it to be so much like Coney Island with Las Vegas casinos. I had a lot of fun but found it to be a little sad knowing that this was one of our last adventures together for quite a while.. Mark has a new baby on the way and I’ll be moving off to Chicago.

We have arrived.

We parked the car at Bally’s and then made our way towards the boardwalk that all the casinos face out towards. On the way there we passed by the New Jersey Korean War Memorial which felt terribly out of place.

Another statue in the war memorial. No disrespect, but he reminded me of Paul Bunyan.

Along one side of the Coney Island-style boardwalk are entrances to the casinos (like Trump Plaza), stores, and restaurants. Along the other side is the beach.

Some parts of the beach were getting worked on. I think they were dredging and adding more sand, but I’m not exactly sure what all was going on.

Most of the shells on the beach were clam shells.

Strolling along the beach for a bit. I miss living by a beach a lot.

“Comfort Station” must have been the polite way to say “Restroom” in the old days. This Comfort Station didn’t look nearly as inviting as the Women’s Comfort Station I saw in Central Park a couple years ago. That was the first Comfort Station I’d ever seen.

We ate at the Virginia City Buffet inside Bally’s Wild Wild West Casino. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet, of course. Atlantic City is all the cheesiness from Coney Island and Las Vegas and is missing any of the grittiness from either place. It’s filled with elderly people and Jersey/Long Island types.

A fake tree strung with lights inside the buffet. A couple from Long Island chatted us up in the buffet. Especially the wife. She would not stop talking about Vegas vs. Atlantic City vs. Reno vs. Tahoe. Even when we said “thanks” and turned completely around about 5 times.

Next we hit up some slot machines. Mark & I both agreed that we would spend no more than $20. While I quickly lost all of my money, Mark won $40.

Back out on the boardwalk. It’s time to go home but we walk down to see Trump’s Taj Mahal casino before leaving. The boardwalk is filled with these guys with pushcars that you can hire to take you back to your hotel/casino.