11.15.07
Posted in Bahamas, Italian, rated 7 to 7.5 at 23:56 by Dominique
Bank Lane behind Parliament Square and Supreme Court, Nassau, 242-356-7012
Great for: romantic dates, large parties, pasta tests
The Boyfriend and I were in the Bahamas for a friend’s wedding, and had a chance to try a restaurant on our own since we weren’t part of the rehearsal dinner. Jean-George’s place Dune was fully booked, and the bride and groom said Matisse is their favorite Italian on the island, so the choice was clear. We waited comfortably at the bar a few minutes for our reserved table with some fruity rum drinks.
When we sat down, we got bruschetta and a foccacia basket. I don’t eat bread, but I took a nibble of these and was really glad I did. Yum. Out of the immense pasta list, I ordered an appetizer portion of crab and leek tagliatelle, then the seafood platter; Boyfriend got the beef carpaccio and spaghetti with lobster. The starters were so good. The flavors were really subtle, which was startling at first, but then appreciated.
Our entrees were ok. The seafood wasn’t as fresh as you’d expect in a restaurant 5 minutes from the ocean. My plate was a bit overdone. I liked the seasoning a lot, though the execution as a whole seemed – careless? I wasn’t sure. It didn’t live up to the promise of our apps. I do really like that there weren’t any clams or oysters and just 1 mussel – I’m not big on the small shellfish. I wish they’d do seafood platters like that in the States.
The chocolate cake with ice cream redeemed the place in our eyes a bit, or maybe that was my Grey Goose kicking in. The service seemed a little hurried, though they were good about topping up our water. We saw a few young couples around and there were some loud hairy-chested men trying to not-so-subtly assert their alpha-ness at different tables but we had a good time. It was overall a very convivial, happy atmosphere.
Rating: 7 / 10
Noise level: the hairies were louder than the music, otherwise decent
Our cost: $130 (pretty high, considering our hotel room cost only slightly more per night)
Chance of walking in: Medium, we had no trouble getting a Friday night reservation but it was right after Hurricane Noel.
Permalink
Posted in Barbecue, Gramercy, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 20:50 by Dominique
116 E. 27th and Lexington/Park, 212-447-7733
Great for: self-medicating with comfort food, impressing Southern friends, inducing meat coma, seeing how down-to-earth your date is
Blue Smoke is the restaurateur Danny Meyer’s homage to American food and pit barbecue. The Boyfriend and I have stupidly tried to walk in several times – we’re a bit impulsive – and invariably got a courteous “the wait will be 45 minutes.” This time we put our names down at 5:30, went back at 6:30 and only had to wait 10 minutes. The Boyfriend’s company had Blue Smoke cater their Christmas party, and he’s been making me drool with loving descriptions of their macaroni and cheese ever since, so our expectations were pretty high.
We started with a nice Illinois Porch Swing (Tanqueray 10, prosecco and lemon juice) for me and a Heineken for him as we dove into the menu. We pretty much wanted to get everything, but limited ourselves to an appetizer of Peel ‘n’ Eat Shrimp, Rhapsody in ‘Cue for him, lean brisket for me, and sides of creamed spinach and of course mac and cheese. Oh my god. The shrimp were our first clue that this was no ordinary bbq joint. They’re seasoned and spiced to a high degree of deliciousness, not just boiled – we were sorely tempted to get another order before our entrees arrived.
When we saw his platter of St. Louis ribs, pulled pork, chicken and sausage and mine of piping hot beef with mashed potatoes and onion sticks, we just looked at each other in glee. and when our waitress set down the sides, we could restrain ourselves no longer. I can say, without a doubt, that that was the most amazing creamed spinach I have ever tasted. I tore myself away after several bites to try the mac and cheese, which was fully as good as the Boyfriend had said, plus it didn’t taste as heavy as I worried it would. I don’t have brisket that often and once I tasted mine, I really wasn’t sure why. It was as moist and juicy as I could hope. So was everything on the Boyfriend’s plate. We didn’t talk until we’d finished, except for “Mmmm” and “Wow.” I highly suggest using the sides as sauce on your meat. We pretty much cleaned our plates in about 15 minutes.
We meant to stop there, but were persuaded to have dessert. I’d gotten a decent Coltrane’s Resolution (sparkling wine, Lillet, and blood orange juice) after the shrimp and decided to continue drinking with the new sundae on the menu, I think it was called Granddad. It’s basically a yummy bourbon ice cream float. The Boyfriend had some but he’s not into brown liquors. I’m usually not either, but the strong cocktails made me think I was. Just kidding, it was quite yummy. Finally we waddled home.
All the staff were very good. The friendly hostess advised us on when to come back to minimize our wait time, and our waitress was cheerful and helpful without being too familiar. Someone accidentally put a nearby table’s desserts on our bill, but she took care of that right away. It looked like the people around us were happy with their service, too. It’s a fun, casual atmosphere there, definitely a place you’d want to go with a big group of friends if you can get a reservation. In fact, they have some large tables that look permanently set up, so a big party might actually have better luck. I can’t wait to go back.
Rating: 9 / 10
Noise level: happy-noisy but the kind where you can talk quietly to each other
Our cost: $140 (several drinks)
Chance of walking in: Very low, unless you want to eat at 5:30. Definitely make reservations a few days in advance.
Permalink
Posted in Flatiron, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, Steak, rated 9 to 10 at 20:39 by Dominique
111 E.22nd and Park/Broadway, 212-995-8500
Great for: medium parties, bacon satiety, civilized carnivores, healthy appetites
We had some friends visiting and thought this would be a quintessential hip New York steakhouse experience for them. We adore BLT Fish and loved Prime last time we went. I called up a week in advance and was pleasantly surprised to snag a table for 6 at 8:15. As it turned out, our friends changed their trips so we asked some other friends, only one of whom could make it. I called Thursday to update our party number and found out why I’d gotten such a good time. The reservationist had booked us for Sunday! Good thing we didn’t need a 6-top anymore. We ended up being 4 at the last minute, and were lucky that the table they’d earmarked for us was not one of the 3-tops on either side of it. It probably also helped that I’d called them 30 minutes ahead when we found out the other friend was coming.
It was a miserably cold, rainy night but we were instantly warmed by the atmosphere and bustle when we walked in (their heat may have had something to do with it too). We had been looking forward to our meal all week – we went 1.5 months ago and were very happy. In fact, it became our favorite steak restaurant in NYC. Don’t skip the bread. It comes with some amazing chicken paté. I don’t like liver by itself, but this is incredibly good. Nibble the big fluffy popovers as well, although you should only try a bit of one to save room.
For appetizers we shared baby spinach salad with bacon and Stilton, the crab cake, bacon and potato skins (from the sides column). The tuna tartare was good last time, too. The salad’s ingredients worked surprisingly well together. I love when a dish is so good that it makes me like something I usually don’t, as this did for the Stilton. There was some kind of vinaigrette with it that unobtrusively unified the whole thing. The crab cake is a very thick patty, for lack of a better word, full of crab and some vegetables. It’s really good, as is the creamy sauce it sits on. The bacon comes in traditional steakhouse-style slabs, almost as good (according to Boyfriend) as at Luger’s. The potato skins are not what you’d expect; they’re very thin rectangles similar to large flat pita chips, covered in cheddar, chives and bacon. They taste even better than the greasy TGI Friday’s kind.
Our table was split between 22 oz rib-eyes and 12 oz filets. Every steak has a pat of seasoned butter on top and comes in its own skillet, a nice touch I don’t remember seeing anywhere else. You have the option of maybe 10 different sauces with your steak – I got Béarnaise. Usually restaurants charge extra for sauce, so I like that it’s part of your order here. Especially since each cut is about $40 or more. There was no conversation for a good 10 minutes, as we were too busy devouring everything in sight. They do steak extremely well. It’s juicy and tender and generally the outside is perfectly crisp. One corner of my filet was a little charred this time but I ate around it. Boyfriend was also very happy with his filet, and the other guys tried heroically to finish their giant rib-eyes. Those come with the “eye” full of cooked marrow and a little spoon. My friends said one was a little overcooked and the other a bit under, but seemed pretty happy generally.
The sides come in cute little skillets too – we had leek hash browns, creamed spinach, mashed potatoes and the special artichoke hash browns with bacon. Didn’t really like the last (except the bacon, of course) and I think the leek version is maybe too big a portion for how heavy it is. The spinach was pretty good. The mashed potatoes were the star of the sides, though. They’re a little sweet, look kind of like polenta and are irresistible.
At this point we were completely stuffed with bacon, steak, potatoes and more steak, almost a pound of beef each. I had the Moscato d’Asti – sweet and lovely – and the guys had double espressos. They have some good cocktails as well. The pomegranate sidecar and caipirinha are very good. I found the grapefruit one slightly too citrusy.
The service is great. They’re warm and friendly, and happy to help even if you’re not in their section. They won’t push you to order more expensive things – I finished my Grey Goose soda when they cleared our steaks, and asked the waitress if I should get another one ($12) or the Moscato ($9). Without hesitation she said the Moscato, and she was right. The vodka wouldn’t have rounded out my meal the same way. We like the ambience a lot, too – it makes you feel happy and fun and of course well-fed. I like the giant meat room you can see through glass as you walk into the dining area. It’s good that it doesn’t feel too full of testosterone, the way some more traditional steakhouses do. You could have a lovely date, boys’ or girls’ night out, business dinner… Definitely one of my favorite places in all of Manhattan.
Rating: 9 / 10
Our cost (4 people, ~2 drinks each): $480
Noise level: Well controlled, especially with so many people. We had a pleasant four-way conversation without raising our voices much.
Chance of walking in: Medium, but it seems pretty easy to get a reservation a day or two in advance.
Permalink
Posted in Chelsea, Italian, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5 at 20:38 by Dominique
513 W.27 St and 10th/11th, 212-967-4392
Great for: eating before clubbing, planning an attempt on Bungalow 8, slutty outfit watching
We had tickets to the 8pm New York Philharmonic concert at Avery Fisher – we just wanted somewhere on the west side, not too far up so we could avoid the pre-theatre rush. I had Naima on my list from when it opened and off we went. It is eerie walking down “Club Street” when it’s so early. It could equally have been 5am or post-apocalypse. We saw several huge rats, which was yucky, but Naima itself was pretty. The bar was packed with what seemed like one group of people and maybe two other tables.
We shared the baked zucchini starter which was like a lasagna made with zucchini instead of pasta. I don’t like zucchini – for some reason I thought it’d be in fritters form which I do like, but it was really good. If you want to convince someone that squishy vegetables can be yummy, that dish would be a great introduction.
We went with the specials for our mains. The Boyfriend got the veal shank and I, pappardelle with crab. His came on a bed of creamy, cheesy risotto Milanese, in a sauce of cubed carroty goodness. I kept sneaking little bites as he tried to parry my fork. The bone seemed surprisingly large, although that could just be me because I rarely order osso buco and don’t know much about it. My pasta was in a light sauce of cherry tomatoes – a bit too light – with baby arugula on top. The crab was lovely and fresh, but it was somewhat bland overall. That may have been because I asked them to go easy on the actual tomatoes. I did say I like lots of sauce though.
Our waiter was very nice and attentive. He made sure our food came out quickly as we asked, and generally took good care of us. The space had kind of a warehouse/industrial vibe, probably partly to do with it being empty at such an early hour. If I’m in the area early again I’ll definitely try the much-vaunted cocktails.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Noise level: Quiet, but I imagine it gets somewhat noisy
Our cost: $80 (teetotaling)
Chance of walking in: Medium, depending on how late
Permalink
Posted in Gramercy, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, Spanish, rated 8 to 8.5, small plates at 20:38 by Dominique
37 E. 28th and Park/Madison, 212-213-2328 (closed now)
Great for: medium-size parties, romantic dinners, sharing 10 dishes between two people
I’ve had Ureña (the resto’s previous incarnation) on my list since it opened and kept meaning to go but Alex Ureña, the chef, recently changed it to Pamplona. I’m actually quite glad; molecular gastronomy sounds interesting, especially to a science geek like me, but I’ve yet to like anything that crazy. Tapas is more my speed. And wow, did Mr. Ureña do a great job. The Boyfriend and I tried 5 tapas, 3 entradas and 1 plata principal, 6 of which were amazing. We wanted to get the paella but after looking over the menu a couple times we decided to save that for next time.
We got the shrimp and chorizo skewers over goat cheese toast, meatballs with butternut squash, dates with bacon, mamitaco of tuna and bocadillo de jamon from the tapas column. The dates were almost as good as at Pipa, and everything else was unreservedly terrific. The goat cheese went really well with grilled shrimp and chorizo; I normally detest squash but couldn’t get enough of it here, plus we had to stop ourselves from licking the last drops of sauce out of the dish; the tuna was perfect cubes with yummy sauces; and bocadillo seem to be like panini, except thinner and better. They were all about 4 bites big.
From the entradas (slightly bigger) we got the snow crab, shrimp over manchego rice and the poached egg on asparagus salad. The crab was ground up with spicy sauce and looked kind of like spicy tuna at a sushi restaurant; it was good but a little sweet. We loved the other two. After all this we were still a bit hungry so we got the slow cooked cod entrée, which may have been a tad undercooked. The middle was a little chewier and more raw than we expected. The sauce and the rest of the dish were great though.
Considering this was a Sunday night around 9:30, the host and waiters were incredibly chipper. The host was very nice and our 2 waiters were just the right level of eager without being annoying. The only problem was they forgot our snow crab. We ordered just the 5 tapas and 2 entradas and added the snow crab as an afterthought, so it wasn’t entirely their fault. They handled it very professionally, not making a big deal out of it and just bringing it when it was ready. I wasn’t even sure it didn’t just take longer to make until I started writing this and thought about it.
The presentation of all the dishes was great. Not pretentious or fussy, just neatly and artistically arranged. We really liked the minimalist interior as well. It’s all dark colors, well coordinated, and understated in a very chic way. You could do a business dinner or a date here equally well. We saw a couple parties of about 5 or 6 people who seemed to be having a great time, as well as some couples who looked like they were on good dates. It’s not too expensive, the tapas is some of the best I’ve ever had and the service is great. We’ll definitely be back.
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Our cost: $100 (teetotaling)
Noise Level: probably not too loud even when it’s busy
Chance of walking in: Pretty high right now, but I expect that will change as people discover it. (Never mind – it’s closed. Very sad!)
Permalink
