Take a trip to mexico without leaving the city

I caught up with two of my girl friends in NYC and we went to café frida, a Mexican restaurant on the upper west side. The atmosphere and décor is fantastic. We sat upstairs and they had an indoor authentic-looking fake roof. It's a very young, fun scene. We had chips and guacamole to start – excellent, you can never go wrong with chips and guac. I had a mojito to begin the night, it's a drink for special occasions, since I usually drink white wine or vodka soda. They add tons of mint leaves, it was a great drink choice! Since I am kosher, I eat vegetarian when I go out. I ordered the chile relleno – roasted poblano pepper stuffed with sweet potato, wild mushrooms, toasted pumpkin seeds, ricotta, fresco and cotija cheese. It sounded delicious but lets just say I was very surprised when they brought my dish out. It was one green pepper stuffed with what looked like pink mush. Much to my dismay, they pureed all of the vegetables. I would have loved for the vegetables to have been chunky and it seemed from the description they would cube the vegetables and cook it together. I would go back to the restaurant but I can guarantee you I will not order that dish again.

Screwdrivers and mimosas

I have been to Isabella's on the upper west side in NYC twice for brunch - once on a Saturday and the other on a Sunday. The only difference is drinks are included on Sunday beginning at noon. Isabella's is in a great location- they have outdoor seating and the decor is rustic. The portions are a good size, the price is right and the food is great. You can't make reservations for brunch but I have not waited more than 15-20 minutes and it is so worth the wait. There is a food market on the next street you can walk around to kill some time. The wait staff is great, they can alter things on the menu an  they certainly do not rush you to finish eating. The first time there, I ordered the French toast stuffed with caramelized bananas; it was fantastic! I can picture it now, two pieces of what seemed like cinnamon raisin bread cooked well done with caramelized bananas in between. It comes with grand mariner strawberries (I asked for fresh) and warm syrup. It was delicious and filling. This past weekend I went back for Brunch and ordered the farmers egg white omelet. I got it without turkey bacon and salsa. It was delicious - the vegetables were cooked perfectly and had a very light and tasty seasoning. It wasn't an omlete per se because the veggies were not cooked in the omelet, it was more like the eggs were a tent over the vegetables. It was a very large portion. I also got well done potatoes - it had a rosemary seasoning - mmhm yum. My only complaint was that the egg were not hot. I also would suggest they try cooking the vegetables in the egg. The way it is now you have I fish under the egg to eat the veggies. Overall though the taste was certainly there and the food was fantastic. Everything looked great as well. I would say 4.25 stars - I highly recommend this restaurant!