02.28.08
Posted in Stowe, VT, rated 6 to 6.5 at 19:57 by Dominique
18 Main St., Green Mountain Inn, Stowe, VT, 800-253-7302
Great for: New England experience, après-ski
The Boyfriend has recently gotten me into snowboarding in a big way. We took advantage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. long weekend to go up to Stowe with a friend. We squeezed in a couple hours on the slopes Saturday afternoon and then looked for food. The Green Mountain Inn looked empty from the outside, but was actually quite busy downstairs in the restaurant. I guess it’s just too cold to stay close to windows when outside is 15° F.
We enjoyed a drink in the lounge while waiting about 20 minutes for our table. It seems like a really popular place with people of all ages. They have an extensive and interesting collection of whips, crops and horse-related things. It kind of looks like a really nice, large pub inside, with an adjoining dining room.
The boys liked but I wasn’t so much a fan of the honey oatmeal bread that we got first. It was very sweet. We shared the crab cakes in citrus fennel, basil aioli and lemon vinaigrette to start. They were quite good; a tiny bit lemony but that cleaned our palates. I liked the proportion of breading to crab and peppers.
The Boyfriend did not like his pan-seared scallops. They came in lobster-cognac sauce with warm smoked bacon, baby spinach salad, wild rice pilaf and beans, carrots and spinach. All of the accompaniment was pretty good, actually; the most important part, though, was not. It was a real pity because The Whip is very generous with their scallops. I find in New York restaurants tend to give maybe five or six scallops in an entrée and expect us to be satisfied, which I suppose is reasonable if your stomach is used to starvation rations (mine is certainly not). There were lots and lots of large scallops, except all of them were a bit fishy-tasting and just wildly oversalted. There were so many scallops, we kept trying bits of them to see if they’d magically improved. Alas, no.
My steak au poivre was much better. It came with mushroom gravy sauce, which I asked them to change to something else. Our waiter went above and beyond to make me happy. He suggested turkey gravy instead, which I enthusiastically accepted, and even brought a little bit out for me to taste to make sure I wanted it. It was very tasty, and made the mashed potatoes, carrots and beans yummy as well. Although it was a bit fatty without much poivre, I liked my meat pretty well.
Our friend’s pan-seared tenderloin medallions with cherries and thyme, sage, port wine and cherry reduction, caramelized onions, prosciutto, mashed potatoes and fresh beans and carrots were quite good as well. The cherries were too sweet for me but I liked the rest, and I could tell it was a good dish for people who enjoy sweets with their savory things.
I liked the laid-back, slightly rustic atmosphere of the place. The service was very attentive, and it was a pretty good experience overall except for the scallops. We realized how spoiled we are in NYC, though, with good, even exceptional, food in almost every restaurant and on nearly every corner.
Rating: 6 / 10
Our cost: $130 for 3 people with 3 drinks total
Noise level: each table had privacy if they wanted to be quiet
Chance of walking in: medium on a weekend
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02.23.08
Posted in American, Lower East Side, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 17:44 by Dominique
115 Allen St. & Delancey St., 212-253-5400
Great for: high-end pub atmosphere, fantastic food, impressing a foodie date, beer lovers
I try to follow foodie news and chef gossip, so I was very excited to hear that Gordon Ramsay’s ex-number two, Neil Ferguson, had opened his own place. I’ve been to the London Hotel, which Mr. Ferguson helmed until his departure, and it was very good but not worth the stratospheric prices. I didn’t know what to expect – the Boyfriend and I pretty much came in with open minds.
We were impressed by the bread, to start with. The bacon and sage roll was salty goodness. We got really excited, expecting that our ordered food would also be exceptional, and we were not disappointed. My scallops with celery root cream, braised cipollini onions and verjus were fantastic. I was sorely tempted to pick up the plate and lick it clean. The Boyfriend felt similarly about his leeks vinaigrette with truffled fingerling potatoes and prosciutto shavings. It was cold, yummy and salty. We wondered if we’d done anything particularly praiseworthy recently to deserve such blissfully good food. However, we were a little nervous that the entrées wouldn’t live up to the appetizers’ promise.
We needn’t have worried. I think pretty much all we could say was “Omigod” for a while. The Boyfriend’s fluke in cauliflower cream with parsley root and trompettes was great. We couldn’t find the trompettes, but I hate mushrooms so that wasn’t a problem. My lamb chop persillade with braised middle neck and potato purée was even better; so good I forgot to drink my cocktail. I don’t think I’ve ever had such tender lamb. It was like an orgy in my mouth.
Of course, after such delights we had to try dessert as well; purely for review purposes, you understand. We got the chocolate peanut butter tart with malted milk sorbet and whiskey vanilla shake and Gianduja chocolate terrine with milk chocolate sorbet and blood oranges. Generally neither of us like peanut butter combined with chocolate but our excellent waiter said it was a specialty of the house so we said what the hell. And what a specialty it was! We couldn’t help exclaiming “Mmmm!” between every bite. The terrine was equally fantastic, consisting of flourless chocolate cake, hazelnut millefeuille and Gianduja panna cotta.
Happily, they seem to put as much care into their cocktails as their food. We had to try the signature “Allen” and “Delancey” cocktails, of course. The former is Charbay green tea vodka, sake and jasmine citrus – good, very subtle and tea-y; the latter is prosecco, pomegranate and St. Germain elderflower liqueur, which is yummy and not too sweet. The Boyfriend next went for the Dogfish Head 90 minutes IPA Rehoboth, which is a dark beer of higher-than-normal proof. He said it was good. They also have a ton more beers – I never drink beer so you will have to discover how good the other ones are yourself. The Gibson, a proper gin martini with Noilly Prat (the Rolls-Royce of vermouths, according to Wikipedia), was good but very strong and a little bit burning on the way down. On the rare occasions I’ve had gin martinis straight up, though, they burned too so I wouldn’t say that’s a defect of the martini here as much as of me.
I love the ambience of this place. You duck through a curtained doorway into what looks at first like a very upscale, small bar. There are handsome men shaking cocktails and lots of dark blond wood. Then, if you’re lucky enough to have a reservation, you look around for tables and realize there’s another room. You walk through a little hallway and then emerge into the dining room, where you finally find the hostess. It all feels so grown-up and sophisticated; the furniture looked a bit rustic to me, but in an English ducal estate we’ve-had-this-for-300-years kind of way. It’s cozy without being too casual.
We had lovely service from our waiter, who patiently put up with my dithering over the menu (I have to pretend to take a long time and need second looks, so as to type everything into my phone – it doesn’t help that the Boyfriend frequently doesn’t know what he wants until he’s ordering!) and the Boyfriend’s many questions about the beer. He also steered us well in our food choices. Our courses took a little longer than I would expect, but the restaurant is pretty new and I’m sure that will be ironed out soon. I am really happy that this place is right by my new apartment and will have to stop myself from eating here too much, or I’ll be fat.
Rating: 9 / 10
Our cost: $210
Noise level: pockets of hubbub, but the tables are spaced far enough apart to not feel noisy
Chance of walking in: Low.
Neil Ferguson left around the end of 2008, but the place is still packed. They now do a Tuesday happy hour with half-off special cocktails. The new drinks menu has ten complicated, very strong drinks that are all terrific (yup, I’ve had all of them. In only two sittings.) There are a few different dishes offered now and a 7-course tasting menu for $78 that looks really tempting. On Tuesdays they also do a special bar menu that I can’t wait to try more of – the Cuban sandwich was the best I’ve ever had. And the fries… they just seem to toss them off but they’re perfect. If the place weren’t so expensive I’d definitely be here all the time.
They are now on chef #3, but the food is still fantastic. The special (very cheap) Tuesday bar food menu is gone. There is a new list of ten or so special cocktails, which are still half off on Tuesdays, and you can order most of the dining room menu. We tried the tagliolini with shrimp (lovely), “bologna” with cheese (fun and tasty), short ribs (heavenly) and skate (terrific). The cocktails were great too.
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02.21.08
Posted in Asian, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, SoHo, Southeast Asian, fusion, rated 7 to 7.5 at 20:43 by Dominique
60 Thompson St. & Spring/Broome St., 212-219-2000
Great for: large parties, romantic trysts, lovely drinks, a great introduction to Thai food
Our friend decided to do her birthday dinner here, and got a special prix fixe deal for the 14 of us. They gave us 3 appetizers; 2 fish, 2 meat and a vegetarian entrée; and 2 desserts to share. It was a really generous menu, I was surprised that they’d give us so much. Especially since they brought 4 plates of everything.
The first course was Kittichai fish cakes with cucumber and red onion chutney; Grade A “Meing” tuna tartare, limestone tartlets, peanut, ginger and lime; and Northern Thai beef salad, Chinese long beans and roasted sticky rice powder. The Boyfriend didn’t love the fish cakes, but he generally hates all fish-type things that aren’t actually fish – I liked them a lot. The tuna tartare was great and so was the beef salad, all of which we wished there was more of. The limestone tartlets just seemed to be little chips, not rocks, and they were quite yummy.
The next course was crispy whole fish in lesser ginger curry; pan-roasted line-caught fish fillet, holy basil, wild ginger and green peppercorn; and sautéed gai-lan with garlic and ginger. We were in raptures over the whole fish, which was something white, fresh and fork-flakable. The odd-sounding sauce was also fantastic and not too gingery. I remember my Chinese mother forcing me to eat gai-lan, aka Chinese broccoli, when I was younger, and hating it because it was always giant, bitter and hard to chew. At Kittichai, they make it so crisp and flavorful that I loved it. Luckily for me, everyone else was a bit puzzled by what the hell it was, so I got to eat most of it. The pan-roasted fish and its spicy sauce were pretty good but a bit disappointing next to the excellent whole fish.
Next, we had the lemongrass chicken hot pot with kabocha and black mushroom in black pepper sauce and pineapple braised short ribs in green curry, Thai eggplant and sweet basil accompanied by steamed jasmine rice. The short ribs were all right, a bit sweet for my taste, not really anything special. The chicken, on the other hand, was great – tender, tasty, it made a chicken-hater like me tempted to steal the last piece. (I usually only like chicken in fried or wing form.)
We were stuffed full of yummy food at this point, but when they brought dessert we ended up finishing both the flourless Valrhona chocolate cake with fresh cream and the banana spring rolls with burnt honey ice cream. I detest bananas, so didn’t try the “spring rolls”, but the other people told me they were ok. The chocolate cake completely made up for it though; it was really good. I liked the way they presented it as well.
The drinks here are well-mixed. I had or tried the muddled grapes, strawberry pear margarita, gin saketini, pear-almond martini and blackberry cognac. They were all quite good, although I did not like the cucumber slices in the saketini. The muddled grapes and the strawberry pear margarita were the most popular at our table.
The decor of the place is lovely. It looks kind of pan-Asian/New York downtown sexy, and I told Boyfriend I’d love to come back for a date. The waiters are quite hot and much friendlier than you’d expect them to be. They took good care of us. Sometimes I’ve found that service when I’m in a big party is inattentive, which I think is because they know big mixed parties tend to be bad tippers. The waiters made sure we all had drinks and cleared our small individual plates whenever they were too dirty. Overall it was a great experience, and definitely a good choice for large parties so you can try lots of different dishes.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $115 per 14 people with about 3 cocktails for prix fixe large party menu
Noise level: good, we didn’t have trouble hearing each other
Chance of walking in: medium.
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02.20.08
Posted in Asian, East Village, Japanese, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, Union Square, rated 4 to 5.5, small plates at 03:23 by Dominique
810 Broadway & 11/12th St., 212-388-1884
Great for: gyu-tataki, lovely Japanese decor, cheap food
It was a ridiculously cold night, and the Boyfriend and I were in Union Square at Barnes and Noble. We wanted to go somewhere low-key for dinner, and when we stepped outside we instantly decided it had to be very, very close by. We tried to go to Republic, which is basically kitty corner, but it was too packed. So we walked a bit farther through the freezing wind to Ariyoshi. I’m a big fan of tapas and related dishes in other cultures’ foods, so izakayas, which basically serve Japanese tapas and bar food, are right up my alley.
The menu is enormous. It’s like a diner menu, it’s so huge. They offer appetizers, sushi, teriyaki, yakitori, udon, rice bowls, etc. It’s a little overwhelming. We started with edamame and pork gyoza, which were impressively yummy. The gyu-tataki was seared beef slices topped by scallions – delicious, spicy and salty. Unfortunately, the meal went downhill from there. Next up was the yakitori combo. The menu doesn’t say, nor did the waitress know, what the skewers were going to be – pretty annoying. They turned out to be chicken meatballs, liver, pork fat (?), kidneys and chicken hearts. The only good one that we could even eat was the meatballs. Neither of us are much for non-muscle meats, but we can still tell when things are good even if we don’t like them and these were nothing to write home about.
The kalbi don with kimchi was tasty though the meat was clearly low-quality. There’s something about searching out little scraps of meat that is usually very satisfying in such dishes – chicken wings and spare ribs come to mind. Here there was just too much fat and gristle to go through. The kamo udon with duck, tofu, crunchies and scallions would have been good if the duck hadn’t been tough and strangely liver-tasting. The rest of the soup was pretty good, though.
Our favorite part of the meal may have been the decor of the restaurant. It’s really Japanese-looking, very soothing and zen, with blonde wood and what looks like rice paper. The Boyfriend said it reminded him strongly of Tokyo, where he lived for two months. Our service was ok, a bit slow and inattentive, but she got the job done. Basically the big dishes were uneven at best, while some of the appetizers were good. We were fairly disappointed. I am wondering if other people were too, because when I looked up “Ariyoshi” to find the exact address, I kept getting listings for an Ariyoshi in midtown. I called in mid-May 2008, though, and they still seem to be open.
Rating: 5.5 / 10
Our cost: $70 (no drinks or dessert)
Noise level: quiet
Chance of walking in: high.
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02.19.08
Posted in American, Lower East Side, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5 at 20:44 by Dominique
85 Orchard St. & Broome St., 212-226-5047
Great for: chic LES dining, getting over claustrophobia, good simple food
The Boyfriend used to live in DUMBO and no one would visit him there so he’d come hang out on the Lower East Side, and that was when he first discovered Little Giant. After hearing him talk about it for a year, finally we went. It seems to be part of the same building as Elyssa Dido, with the interesting wavy brick ceiling. The exposed brick walls and slightly uneven floors also contribute to the cozy feel.
We were lucky to get a table almost right away. The waitress/hostess helped us squeeze into a deuce by the window just as two other parties walked in. We enjoyed the bread and notably yummy butter as we waited for her to come back. I’m not entirely sure, but it seemed as though she was the only waitress for the whole place. Sometimes we saw the bartender carrying a drink or two, but generally she looked completely overworked. She was really good if that was the case, because it didn’t feel any slower than leisurely service.
We started off with chicken liver mousse for the Boyfriend and spinach dip for me. The mousse was sweet but creamy and surprisingly tasty for liver. I loved the very cheesy dip – probably not the healthiest dish I could have picked, but I felt like cheesy spinachy scrumptiousness. I was glad it came in such a small bowl, because I probably would have finished whatever size they put in front of me.
Next up was cod and short ribs. My Bourbon-molasses braised short ribs came with Rockland plantation stone-ground grits and roasted tuscan kale with grana padano, pine nuts and macerated raisins. The grits were creamy and delicious, while the kale was a bit sweet but also good, which went really well with the moist, tender and very yummy ribs. I could have done without the raisins though. The Boyfriend’s pan-roasted cod with fresh and shell bean ragout, toasted Israeli couscous, mustard greens and lemon gremolata looked a lot simpler than it sounds, and was tasty. Our side of macaroni & cheese with bacon and crunchy bread crumbs was good too, albeit quite unnecessary. We would have been pretty full with just our entrées.
The two house cocktails I tried, the sugar plum and the almond horchata, were quite yummy. The Boyfriend contented himself with beer. I really liked the cozy feel of the place, even though I couldn’t go to the bathroom until we left. We were so squished together, we actually got into a conversation about Buttercup’s motivations in the Princess Bride with the couple sitting next to us. We’d listened to them for about 10 minutes until I couldn’t help myself and had to rebut the guy’s assertion that Buttercup was a heartless bitch. Anyway, there are some larger tables as well, and it’s nice to look out the windows at the Lower East Side. It’s a young-feeling, hip kind of place without being precious. And since I live a few blocks away, we’re definitely going back soon.
Rating: 7.5 / 10 (2 cocktails and 2 beers)
Our cost: $140
Noise level: good
Chance of walking in: medium
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Posted in African, Lower East Side, Mediterranean, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5 at 19:19 by Dominique
85 Orchard & Broome/Grand St., 212-991-9880 (now closed)
Great for: cozy dining, an easy introduction to French North African food, teetotalers
The Boyfriend and I were wandering around the Lower East Side in the rain quite late one Saturday night and this place looked yummy and warm. Luckily for us, it was. It’s close to the corner of what seems to be all one old building at Orchard and Broome – we subsequently went to the two restaurants next to it and noticed the same wavy brick ceiling (and same building number). It looks like how children draw waves, except upside down and executed in brick; I suppose that’s how the first settlers in the area got the ceiling to stay up without many supporting columns. They’ve done it up beautifully in harem style, with lots of pillows, Moroccan-looking sconces and inlaid mosaic tables. It is BYOB, though, because it’s pretty new, so bring your own liquor.
We started with the walnut, pear and goat cheese salad with vinaigrette and the shrimp ajja in tomato cumin sauce with a poached egg on top. The salad was sweet but good, with the flavors nicely balanced. I loved the shrimp, which was so tasty I actually used some bread to mop up the remaining sauce. Something about poached eggs is very complimentary to dishes like that – I think the richness of the yolk brings out the spices.
Next I had the vegetable couscous with chicken, lamb and merguez sausage. The vegetables include zucchini, cabbage, onion, carrot, chickpea and pumpkin (which I asked them not to put in). Everything comes in large chunks, and I found the broth on the side essential to the dish’s tastiness. It’s a subtle, fresh flavor that took a bit of getting used to but was enjoyable. I’d say it’s only for hearty appetites, unless you get the couscous by itself.
The Boyfriend’s seafood risotto with tiger shrimp, calamari, scallops and mussels in tiger shrimp saffron sauce was fantastic. The seafood was wonderfully fresh and the sauce was creamy and delicious without being too rich. The garlickiness worked really well with the other flavors too. Definitely the best thing we had.
We wrapped up with a delectable chocolate mousse cheesecake that we couldn’t stop eating. It was a wonderful meal all around. Our waitress was very friendly (and hot) and the place just gave us a warm fuzzy feeling. Even with about 350 restaurants on my list to try, I want to come here again soon.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $80 (no drinks, BYOB)
Noise level: subdued hum
Chance of walking in: medium, depending on night
I was very excited to discover that Elyssa Dido linked to my review on their own website! (Scroll down a bit.) But very sad to see that they’ve closed (January 2009). Damn the bad economy.
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Posted in French, Meatpacking District, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5 at 18:40 by Dominique
8 Little W. 12th St. & 9th Ave., 212-463-8345
Great for: very drunken brunches, awesome burger, dirty bingo, yummy Champagne cocktails, Gallic accents without the attitude
A friend topped off her boyfriend’s birthday celebration weekend with Sunday brunch here, which only the two of them plus the Boyfriend and me were still capable of attending. Everyone else had been felled by alcohol on top of more alcohol. Brunch is $25 for entrée plus all the Champagne you want… We figured our livers could handle unlimited Champagne cocktails, and they did, although our sobriety didn’t do as well.
We thought we’d share the charcuterie plate, but they forgot to bring it. It turned out for the best though, since we were very full after our entrées. I got the wake & bake, which is two eggs sunny-side up over polenta and andouille sausage covered in Gruyère cheese. It tastes even better than it sounds! Scrumptious runny egg yolk, creamy polenta, thin slices of perfectly salted sausage, and cheese cooked enough to be crispy is a wonderful combination. The other three got variations on the burger, which according to the menu makes “all the burgers at all the fancy-pants places [...] taste like dookie”. I can’t call all the other burgers dookie but the Paradou one sure is good. It comes on what look like baguette slices, except they’re soft and fluffy. The meat is juicy and tasty – maybe they marinate it in something? – and the fingerling potatoes on the side are also great. The sandwich is pretty huge, too; no one at the table was able to finish theirs.
I’d definitely recommend trying all the cocktails. The Paradou X is a kir royale plus a special ingredient, and the Chaperon Rouge is Champagne plus muddled strawberries. They also have bellinis, mimosas and kir royales. My favorite is the Chaperon Rouge. They’re all great, especially after you’ve had a few. The waiters are really friendly, and we usually get to sit in the garden, which is covered in winter. It’s a great little place with consistently good food, drinks and service. We’ve been back for brunch about 4 times already.
Rating: 8.5 / 10
Our cost: $72 per 4 people
Noise level: happy noisy
Chance of walking in: medium
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02.15.08
Posted in American, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, Upper East Side, rated 4 to 5.5, seafood at 19:46 by Dominique
1341 3rd Ave. & 76th/77th St., 212-988-9200
Great for: bread, pineapple juice, watching Upper East Side bitches (I used to be one so I can call them that)
I used to live in the 70s on the UES, which was cool because I had a large rent-stabilized apartment, but sucked in almost all other ways. One of the few saving graces was the plethora of restaurants I could choose from that were within a 10-block radius. Sushi of Gari, Sushi Seki, Hacienda de Argentina, Daniel… Atlantic Grill was one of the few that I hadn’t tried. For some reason the Boyfriend and I decided to have brunch uptown, and I remembered that I’d always wanted to go here.
We had high hopes for the place, since Boyfriend likes its sister B.R. Guest places Dos Caminos and Vento, I like Blue Water Grill and Isabella’s, and we both loved Primehouse. We were sorely disappointed. The only good thing we had was the crab cake appetizer, which came with corn salsa and whole grain mustard remoulade. The Boyfriend’s lobster bisque was not good, we couldn’t taste the lobster, and the only yummy part was the crab profiteroles on top. Some might call the flavoring delicate – we called it blah. It was a very 4 out of 10 soup.
For a main I ordered the seafood Cobb salad with scallop, shrimp, crab, bacon and asparagus but no avocado or tomato. They brought the tomatoes anyhow, and the dressing was too citrusy. I am not a seafood expert but I didn’t feel that the shellfish tasted as plump and fresh as it should have – it certainly hadn’t gone bad, I’m not saying that at all, but everything was a little too cold and didn’t have that crisp texture that I find in the freshest seafood. Maybe it had been frozen? Anyway, the best part was the bacon. I always finish the seafood in whatever I’m eating, a holdover from when my parents would make me eat my meals in the most economically efficient way, but I didn’t finish it here.
The Boyfriend’s shrimp and scallop skewers were way too citrusy and the seafood, again, was not very good quality. We said, only half-jokingly, that his pineapple juice tasted better. We are really puzzled as to why this place is packed all the time when everything we had was so mediocre. It’s a lovely-looking restaurant, for sure, and the waiters are quite nice, but the food was really not very good, especially at such sophisticated prices. $25 for two skewers of crappy seafood? No thank you.
Now, in Atlantic Grill’s defense, we went back for dinner one time when we were going to a concert at the 92nd Street Y and the Boyfriend craved shrimp cocktail. This time was a bit better. The yellowtail and salmon tartare appetizer I got was pretty good. Our pound of shrimp was somewhat bland, though, with the same probably-frozen texture, and we didn’t like the sauces except for the standard cocktail sauce. Everything seems to just be varying levels of bland. No matter how much Boyfriend wants shrimp, we are not coming here again.
Rating: 4 / 10
Our cost: $80
Noise level: fine
Chance of walking in: low
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02.10.08
Posted in African, Lower East Side, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5 at 00:27 by Dominique
37 Canal St. & Ludlow, 212-777-7518
Great for: rubbing up on strangers, overhearing hipster conversations, experimenting with interesting and unpronounceable food
I’d heard lots about this place for ages, but never got that far downtown and east. The Boyfriend and I were in the area after looking at my prospective new apartment and took advantage of the chance to finally try it. It is definitely not for the claustrophobic. We got a table by a wall, so at least we only had one couple next to us, but it was still a squeeze. I like the vivacious atmosphere. Frequently good restaurants are very expensive, so only older people or bankers can afford to go, which is kind of a boring crowd. Here the bar is in the middle of the room with tables surrounding it, and it’s quite popular so it livens things up.
We started with the tassili shepherd and bolinhos de rio appetizers. Tassili shepherd is green and yellow zucchini, tomato with garlic and red pepper, over a gratinée of basil- and mint-flavored goat cheese. I like zero of those vegetables and actually, it was really good. I would definitely suggest it if you’ve got a veggie hater friend whose horizons you want to expand. The bolinhos were delectable ball-shaped fritters of fish and meat, very crispy and tender inside. I could eat a whole meal of those.
For a main I got the koroghhofefemugu, which is grilled steak in a marinade of special Ivory Coast spices with fried kasava and salad. I asked for medium and they overcooked it a bit, but it was quite good. Kasava is a yam/sweet potato kind of thing, which I didn’t particularly care for, since I don’t like sweet things in savory food and particularly detest yams and sweet potatoes. However, I liked the salad and its dressing very much. The Boyfriend got the bozo-bozo – potato-crusted cod with spinach, artichoke, fennel confit, in a light saffron ginger and lemongrass seafood broth. It was quite good.
I thought the place was a bit loud, but I enjoyed how it felt lively and young, and definitely like a neighborhood joint. Our very French waiter was pretty good, and overall we had a good experience. Although it wasn’t as amazing as I’d been led to believe, I liked it.
Rating: 7 / 10
Our cost: $95 (one drink)
Noise level: noisy
Chance of walking in: low to medium, depending on the day and time.
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02.09.08
Posted in Asian, French, Midtown East, Murray Hill, New York City Neighborhoods, New York City Reviews, Southeast Asian, fusion, rated 8 to 8.5 at 17:40 by Dominique
200 E. 54th St. & 3rd Ave., 212-486-9592 (now closed, sadly)
Great for: small intimate parties, converting people who think Asian fusion is over, wallet-friendlier Jean-Georges
The Boyfriend and I went snowboarding in the Poconos one weekend, and after much exertion (and aprés-ski drinking), felt that we’d earned a nice dinner out. Vong has been on my list for a while, and we were in the mood for a nice, grown-up, sophisticated place, so uptown we went.
It was pouring outside, so the restaurant wasn’t that busy and we were lucky enough to get one of the little alcoves. They’re upholstered in leather and very romantic. I liked the tables as well, which seemed to be topped with granite. I wasn’t much a fan of the sesame rice cakes with spicy peanut sauce, but then I don’t like sesame or peanut sauce. The Boyfriend does, and says they were very good.
We opted for the tasting plate to start. It comes with four yummy dipping sauces of lemon ginger rosemary, tamarind, ginger garlic and sweet chili, and two each of five appetizers. We thought the lobster daikon roll and the tuna, avocado, carrot and cucumber roll were not bad, light and refreshing. The lobster roll is very gingery though. The breaded and fried shrimp satay was pretty good. We especially liked the crab spring roll, and the spiced quail on watercress salad was definitely our favorite. The meat was delicately and perfectly flavored, while the greens were tart and delicious.
For entrées, I had the duck and Boyfriend had the sea bass. My Muscovy duck breast came medium rare in tamarind sauce with baby bok choy and a spring roll of duck confit. It was so good. The duck slices were succulent and tender, the vegetables were too and the spring roll was scrumptious. I’ve never tasted duck in that form, but I hope I will again soon. I love the way it was presented too, like two fans; the top half of the plate a fan of duck slices, while the bottom half a fan of bok choy. The Boyfriend’s black sea bass was a white island in a shallow lake of coconut lime juice with sandbars of parsnip purée. I’m not sure either of us had ever had parsnips before – I just had a vague idea that they were nasty root vegetables – and I almost don’t want to eat them again, except at Vong, because they could only be worse. What an interesting and unique pairing, too. The purée was very light, which was perfect for the lovely texture and taste of the fish. Boyfriend’s only quibble was with the sauce, which was good initially but got a bit sweet after he had a lot of it.
They brought us jade tea while we waited for our fantastic passion fruit soufflé. We had a mini-joust with our spoons over every bite, it was that good. It was a fluffy wonder. The complimentary chocolate petit-fours with mint sorbet at the center were also yummy.
The service at this place is as good as the food. Our waiter never rushed us, but kept a keen eye on whatever we might want. He was unobtrusive yet attentive. The whole place feels welcoming without being overbearing. Everyone is helpful and very friendly, but only when you need them. I love that kind of service. The decor is very stereotypically Asian, done so tastefully it still brought a smile to my face. I like the funny red temple door or whatever that they have close to the entrance. Everything just feels sophisticated and zen, without being precious or pretentious. It’s great. We love it, and are definitely going back once we’ve crossed a few more places off my list.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $165 (no drinks)
Noise level: nicely quiet
Chance of walking in: medium (the NYC location is now closed, though there is one in Chicago).
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