Rating: 💋 💋 💋
New restaurant of the week: Mighty Quinn's Barbecue! This has been on my list since sophomore year of college when my fabulous foodie friend, Ciara, told me it was one of her favorite spots in the city. Ciara was (is) two years older, a leading figure on my service trip to Haiti, beautiful, smart, fashionable, funny, and so very very cool. Obviously I wanted to eat at a restaurant she was gushing about.
Well. It took me two and a half years to get there, but I made it eventually! My lovely pal Maura and I were overdue for a catch-up, and it turns out her family really enjoys barbecue, so Mighty Quinn's was the perfect choice.
It was also an easy spot to get away to on a Wednesday night, because you don't need to worry about reservations. Might Quinn's is quite casual, with a decoration level that matches that of Chipotle. I ran out of work at 7 pm (so hungry I could not even concentrate for the last two hours of my shift - fortunately, they were slower than escargot), raced down to Bryant Park, and skidded into the restaurant to find Maura already seated at a great table positioned against the back wall. No fancy dress or advanced planning required.
Let's eat!
I have to give the employees at this establishment five stars. They had personalities popping all over the place, were super friendly, and joked around with us while they slid down the counter, assembling our rice bowls. The cashier even agreed with me that it was not worth paying extra for the hard ginger ale over the soft. Good people.
For my part, I had looked ahead at the menu, so I knew I wanted the Mexi-Q rice bowl. It claimed to come with avocado but that was just a big, old lie. I sighed it off. There is so much false advertising when it comes to avocados these days, and I have grown weary of the whole thing. Still, I did snag a bowl of jasmine rice topped with spinach, corn, scallions, picked red onions, and salsa. All good things. Online, they recommended the bowl with pulled pork, but the people at the restaurant claimed pork belly was the way to go. I questioned whether this was just because pork belly was an added charge (of course, it turned out that it was) but I did not have enough time so I just agreed with their suggestion. Pork belly it was.
For her bowl, Maura did a build your own and got the jasmine rice with corn, macaroni and cheese, sweet potato salad, and brisket (slide the pic above to check it out!) I had a bite of the potato salad and it was fabulous. The perfect amount of sweet with a cinnamon kick and perfectly mashed texture - I was low-key jealous I didn't have any in my own bowl. Also, the bite of brisket I had melted in my mouth, so there ya go.
As for my bowl, the strongest word that comes to mind is okay. It was all okay. The vegetables, the medley of flavors when all mixed together, the meat itself - all okay. I think I would have preferred the brisket or, going back to my original order, I probably would have liked having the pulled pork over the pork belly. I failed to stick to my guns, and for that, I quite literally paid the price. Sad! Again, it was not at all bad. It was a good meal. It just was not an outstanding meal. I don't regret going, but if I'm gonna go to a casual type of restaurant for a meal, you'd sooner catch me at Panera or even Chipotle. I apologize if that seems blasphemous to you, I know Mighty Quinn's puts a lot care into preparing their meats just so, but I am just telling it like it is. I cannot betray my taste buds. Honestly, if the meal had cost anywhere from $14-17 I would probably review it better, but $23. Nah. No dice. It did not quite merit that level of expense.
It wouldn't really be New York if you weren't getting overcharged for stuff though, would it? I guess that's part of the charm...
Anyway, this is my date, the ever-lovely Maura, posing with the cute cupcake I got from a breast cancer awareness event at work (scrumptious cupcake btw, super thick and yummy frosting, had a fabulous experience splitting it with Maura). Isn't she so cute?! Chatting with her was definitely the best part of the meal, which is really how it should always go. We are very excited to welcome her to the food blog. Expect to see her again soon!
As a recent college graduate, I have yet to outgrow certain collegiate pastimes such as pouncing on free food whenever given the chance. Personally, I don't find this to be a bad thing. I'm licking my fingers right now after inhaling a hot and juicy empanada I got for free at work. Good stuff. With this barbecue dinner, Maura and I were there late enough that they started passing out their unsold items. This meant someone waved a to-go sauce cup with a piece of meat speared by a fork stuck in it, asking if I wanted a free bite of "brontosaurus rib." I mean, yeah, obviously. And, oh my God, yes, because not only was it free, it tasted really good. Again, like the brisket, it was juicy and melted in my mouth. Check yes, I'll do that again!
On the whole though, pretty average score. Mighty Quinn's had a lot of good qualities to it and I'd go again, but it didn't totally blow my mind. Ciara is still the coolest though, mad respect for her opinions and judgement.
Also, I'd like to apologize now because I am stupid, I had my friend over for dinner Friday night and made pasta I was really excited about, so looking forward to sharing, but then I got distracted with actually cooking and socializing and forgot to take photos. Big L on my part. I'll get another food post for you soon though!
Have a great week!
XX,
MK
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