My Most Favorite Food
“Its also kosher which is fantastic – however note that its dairy only as you can't mix dairy with meat meals as kosher.”
“Am a bit surprised by the negative reviews on Yelp related to food and service as the restaurant usually seems busy.”
“The only thing is the acoustics aren't so great by the front area and it's cold in the winter.”
My Most Favorite Food
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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When my boss from a previous job suggested that we meet for lunch, I was pretty floored, seeing as how I had tried to coordinate a catch up session for at least two years. He gave me the go ahead to pick the destination; his only request was that it be as far west and north in the city as possible. Being that I work in Soho and he was coming in from New Jersey, I offered an option in Chelsea so that I could ensure as much time as possible without leaving my cubicle scandalously vacant. His reply was a plea to meet in Midtown, even offering to venture to a more central location than 9th Avenue. I shot back an email suggesting a Greek restaurant in the requested area. This second attempt was also foiled by a newly stated need for Kosher food and the option of My Most Favorite Food. I had never heard of the place and was skeptical after such horrible Yelp reviews. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
I entered the sleek cafe and loved the floor-to-ceiling windows, duplex seating options, takeout dessert counter, and stylish furniture. I spotted my dining companion and claimed my empty seat at his small table. As I scanned the menu, a waiter came to the table with two Diet Cokes. He presented one to my ex-boss, but when he learned that I had not ordered the other one adorning his tray, he realized that they were for another table. He reclaimed the proffered beverage and retreated to a table across the dining room. We were left speechlessly gawking at the now vacant spot on the table.
Another waiter appeared to take our order, including a follow-up request for a diet soda. I settled on the MMF Chopped Chef Salad, which was packed with roasted peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, capers, flaked tuna, and eggs. The dish was supposed to include a homemade ranch dressing, but I went with balsamic instead. The salad was huge and full of fresh ingredients. Even the "flaked tuna", which was obviously from a can, tasted light and cool. It was a very refreshing dish that left me satisfied for the remainder of the afternoon. We were also given a basket of fresh breads, including pumpernickel, white, and walnut varieties. The artisan slices were doughy and sweet.
As we ate, we witnessed another mishap with the service. The diners at the next table had not received their salads as requested and needed to send them back to the kitchen. They were extremely irritated, since they were in a hurry to finish their food and return to the office.
Aside from the faulty service, this restaurant serves up fresh meals and some of my most favorite Kosher food.
I am so surprised this place has such negative reviews! I had my bridal shower at this place and the food is excellent. The service too – excellent. Also the desserts are exquisite and beautifully designed. You really cannot go wrong with anything except the price. The price is shocking and if this were not a kosher place, I would not consider eating here, because of how expensive the place is. However, given the expense in maintaining a high level of kasruth, including being closed Friday nights until Saturday nights (prime time for restaurants), you have to expect a restaurant like this will be more expensive. However, with all that said – the food still shines and is excellent. I have no complaints about the food quality, which is top notch.
I'm not a person who typically goes to kosher restaurants because I usually don't enjoy them for whatever reason, but as a lunch party with some of my religious coworkers, this is where we ended up based on one of their recommendations (he lives in the area, keeps kosher, etc).
We arrived around 1pm on a Friday afternoon. For such an awkward time, the restaurant was rather lively, not crowded, but not empty. We were seated in the back so we had to pass the bakery to get to our table. I glanced at the pastries and most looked really good, especially the cute cookies they had on the counter (it was also Valentine's Day so I'm not sure this is what the bakery normally looks like or if there were a lot of orders for the holiday).
I decided to keep it simple (I get frustrated when I cannot mix meat and dairy) so I ordered the Provençal Omelet, which had gruyere cheese, caramelized onions, and shiitake mushrooms, and came with a side salad. When the food arrived, the plate was too small for the meal they put on it and it was difficult to mind my manners as lettuce leaves were falling off my plate. The food was mediocre at best. The omelet lacked salt, the cheese had little flavor, there weren't enough onions nor were they really caramelized, and the mushrooms were watery. The eggs however, were really fluffy. The salad was okay, I didn't expect much, nor did it taste like much.
Other notes: My boss ordered the tomato soup as an appetizer and the bowl was HUGE. She was full once she finished it. The burgers (both veggie and salmon ones) looked really good but the fries (both sweet potato and regular) that they came with seemed a little dry. The fish tacos (two of my coworkers ordered this dish) looked really good, but again, the plate was way too small for a food that is pretty messy to eat. SERVICE IS REALLY SLOW, it took forever for the food to come out, but the waiters and busboys are really attentive and kept coming by to refill our water and get us more soda.
This place gets the hat trick of horrendousness; horrendous food, horrendous service, and horrendous value.
The Italian food here is so bad, you are seriously better off staying at home and eating a can of Chef Boy-R-Dee over 2 pieces of Wonder Bread. Not even kidding.
The service is, at best, thoughtless, and at worst, offensive.
As for the pricing, it came to about $40 for 2 plates of the saddest, most poorly cooked pasta/sauce I've ever seen.
If you wind up eating here because you are Kosher or go with someone that eats Kosher, I pity your taste buds.
We stopped in here after some Central Park exploring. I have to be honest I wasn't over impressed with what we got and what we paid for.
I felt the menu was on the pricy side for the portion sizes and the food just being 'ok'.
The servers we're fast but not the most attentive and it took a while for our drinks to come along, and a bit longer for them to be correct.
It was really busy though so they're doing something right for someone, just wouldn't be a place I'd rush to get back too and would probably look elsewhere if back in the area.
Our office is kosher so for our monthly birthday parties, this is where we order our cakes. They have a very good selection and are willing to make customized adjustments- I recommend switching the chocolate cake in the Sacher torte for vanilla (although I am a chocolate person, this is less heavy and more crowd pleasing). They do deliver these humongous cakes for an extra fee. They cakes are damn expensive- but if you need something kosher that actually tastes good, this is where you have to go.
I ordered a light late lunch between a doctor's appointment and getting my prescription filled. With foot that had recently been injured and not much to choose from other than a tired looking diner, I went with My Most Favorite Food. I didn't even stop to look at the menu before going in…just took my chances. Most people were eating salads and there were a lot of recent graduates there with about 3 generations of their family.
FOOD: ***
Nothing really grabbed my attention from the menu so I went with a half sandwich/soup option. I didn't think I would like the minestrone, which was the only soup that did not have milk/cream in it. I was right. I didn't like it. I LOVED it! It was like a hearty homemade soup that a maternal relative would make for you. That soup tasted like home. The sandwich was awkward and must have been intended to eat with with a fork and knife because the fresh bread was too thin to support that dryish egg salad. It was tasty nonetheless because I have found very few people who can successfully ruin an egg salad. Because the lunch was so light I decided to try their desserts since they were so prominently displayed upfront. I ordered an almond confection that I found out they did not have after I ordered it. I replaced it with a lemon tart/pie instead. It had been years since I had one and it was pretty good. Also had a lemonade. Didn't really taste homemade as it said in the menu. Each table was given a bottle water and bread and butter, which was great! Noticed they had a variety of fish options – salmon, tuna, snapper, tilapia, and sea bass but all were on the pricey side for a lunch menu.
AMBIANCE: **
Although it was a reasonable warm Friday when I went, the sidewalk seating was enclosed and it was a hot box. The back was a tad cooler, but not enough to be a reprieve from the oppressive heat of a typical NYC summer. Assuming they just didn't have the air on since it was a comfortable day.
SERVICE: **
No one greeted me when I walked and there was no sign telling me to seat myself. I found a seat and waited. Someone finally realized I didn't have a menu. Once I ordered the food came quickly and the staff was attentive. The first part of the experience can easily be tweaked by having a sign saying seat yourself, or having a hostess.
PRICES: *
High. My meal was reasonable, but many of the other options were overpriced. Dessert was $8 which is also a bit on the pricey side for lunch. The lemonade was $4.50 for an 8 ounce glass.
OVERALL: ***
Would try them again for the soup.
A decent kosher spot for lunch.
Entree:
Charmoula Marinated Grilled Snapper – Italian eggplant and sweet peppers over Moroccan cous cous
The fish was delicious, and the placement was great (see picture).
However the cous cous was bland and the eggplant was cold, its a bit expensive, however the desserts were spectacular (see picture).