Walter's Cottage by Tony Ferber and Noel Foley Inaugural Review Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
Steak Quesadillas hit the spot!
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There are an awful lot of things you can find in Manhattan, but cottages are not one of them. Until now! Meet Walter's Cottage, a new hot spot that began in September 2015 that we noticed first because it has both a United States Marines Flag and an Ireland Flag outside. You don't see too many places that have both of those and in Manhattan we don't know another, and if you see the pioneers of dining out in the Deegan Family you will see one Deegan girl, immensely proud of being Irish, who married one U.S. Marine 3rd Division Purple Heart award WWII veteran (and eventually they had a firstborn grandchild. You all know her. Guess who is really familiar with these two flags together, growing up.)
Walter's Cottage is located in Hell's Kitchen, home of the greatest American hockey player, Joey Mullen. (Mike Milbury if you are reading we look forward to hearing from you!)
This is our first visit, and Walter's Cottage is owned by Tony Ferber, a Marine, and Noel Foley, who hails from County Carlow, Ireland.
Someone else in Peachy's family calls English Muffins Irish Muffins because this person is Irish and not English. Peachy is both. Here, Onion Soup is called Irish Onion Soup! We feel it is the same concept although in general we do like both English Muffins and French Onion Soup.
The terrific Irish Onion Soup at Walter's Cottage arrives properly piping hot. The onions are chopped well and are caramelized; the bubbling crust of aged German gruyere is in good proportion to the other ingredients.
It is perfect weather for this soup right now.
Our favorite edible of the Walter's Cottage experience was unexpectedly the Quesadillas.
There are different ingredient options for the inside, and we chose steak.
They brilliantly source the steak from uberpopular Pat LaFrieda which does make all the difference. This is the kind of detail that sets better casual spots apart from ordinary casual spots. We do not consider the ordinary; this is Manhattan, land of extraordinary where you can have anything you want whenever you want it, generally speaking. Everything except a great beach.
The flavor of these little wonders make them ideal game food, and if you don't like games certainly you eat. The delicious, neatly filled quesadillas can cannonball into pico de gallo (red), guacamole (we don't need to tell you this is green?!! it is obviously Irish guac.) and sour cream.
The potato skins are what you'd expect and arranged nicely. Three potatoes are halved and melted cheddar, scallions and bacon come to the party on a plate. The sour cream quality here and in the above dish is rich and wonderful.
Look at that salad. This is another detail that would never escape us. Many casual spots either have no vegetables on their menu or if they do, they look like yesterday's news. If you are a new reader, you should know we never ever edit the pictures. We publish the truth and it is always Peachy taking the pictures always with the same camera so the only variable is the restaurant owner and the choices they make.
The House Salad truly does have crisp mesclun. Fresh tomato and onion announce less is more, and we'd quite concur. It's a good size and the components are well cut. The plain balsamic was placed on the side per Ms. Pretty Picky's request.
What makes a burger extraordinary?
Obviously, Pat LaFrieda Heavy Brisket Blend, which Walter's Cottage crafts their burgers with. What else? KERRYGOLD. This brand should be in every American's vocabulary and if you know Kerrygold, you would never eat American butter again. Peachy doesn't and is horrified when her supply runs low. She really does have nightmares about running out of Kerrygold. Walter's Cottage uses cheddar Kerrygold which also makes this burger a winner. Onion, lettuce, and tomato classically contribute to this carnivorous endeavor.
If you are eating American bacon, again, this is a big mistake because Irish bacon trumps it. The Grilled Cheese is total deliciousness filled with Kerrygold aged cheddar and Irish bacon on griddled texas toast.
We look forward to seeing what Walter's Cottage does next.
