Blest Not Strest (NYC's Honest Perspective)
This is the first time I have ever visited the Prince. I recently started a new diet that is low-carb, high-protein, and high fat, cutting out as much sugar and gluten as humanly possible. I've been feeling much better, but as you can imagine, it's a bit hard to find what I need when I have to buy food outside. If it's not breaded, it's wrapped up in dough, full of dough, or comes with bread. It's usually coated in some kind of a sauce or some kind of dairy formulation, and as someone who's lactose intolerant, that is a definite No-No.
Before heading over, I looked at the menu on Google Maps, and they had some dishes with some promise. Google did not map it properly, but I was eventually able to locate it a couple of doors down from where Google sent me. It is a small, very clean looking restaurant with four tables lined up near the window, with a window seat and chairs on the opposite side of the tables. I really appreciated the simplicity of it, but I would strongly suggest adding some protection on the windows because, as someone who is incredibly pale, there is very little shade. If I had to sit in the sun, I would have easily burned myself.
I decided to go with the cobb salad, with extra avocado, and the blue cheese dressing on the side. If I have a minor amounts of dairy I'm generally okay, so I asked for an extra plate so I could move the salad around and only apply as much dressing as I absolutely needed so that it wouldn't be dry.
The lettuce is incredibly fresh. They use grape tomatoes cut in half, the avocado was absolutely fresh without any browning, and the dish comes with very large chunks of what appears to be white chicken breast. The bacon was about as crispy as it can be for pre-made bacon. I find that the longer that bacon sits out, the less crispy it becomes, but it is still crunchy and sufficiently salty. Everything tasted very clean and fresh. It was a clean and healthy meal, and I was grateful for it. That being said, I did have a couple of issues.
The biggest issue I had was that the chicken chunks were so huge that I would never naturally eat them like that in a salad. I had to take them apart and shred them within the salad so that every bite of salad would have a piece of chicken. I don't mind doing the extra work, but it was quite messy. I'm just glad that I had hand sanitizer with me.
Otherwise, my only issue is something that I have an issue with everywhere, and that is the bottled water. They provide Glacéau Smartwater, which I purchased because I needed water, but generally, I never drink this water. It is distilled water with electrolytes. I use distilled water in my humidifier. I use distilled water in my CPAP machine. I do not drink it because distilled water is dead water. In the process of distillation, it completely murders any benefit that you can have from water, so ultimately, you are just drinking liquid with no natural benefits - plus added electrolytes. The only water that I ever drink is spring water. There are multiple brands, some fancier than others, but Smartwater isn't actually meant to be ingested by humans.
I would definitely come back to The Prince in the future. There are very few restaurants that serve things that I can eat, and the food itself is quite tasty and fresh. I would probably bring my own water from outside, and I would absolutely not sit against the window unless it was overcast outside, but when you're trying to eat better, there isn't a lot available out there. The Prince has exactly what I need, and you get it with excellent service.
Accommodating Gluten-Free