07.20.10
Posted in New York City Reviews at 02:32 by Dominique
17 Prince & Elizabeth Sts., 212-625-2001
Great for: corn, fish tacos, Cuban sandwich
I walk by this place on the way home from the gym and I always think about their corn. If they didn’t have such ridiculously long waits, I’d be eating it most of those times. So I guess I should be thankful they haven’t expanded and made me even more of a piglet with their divine, spicy, cheesy, crunchy, creamy ears of corn.
The Baja fish tacos are also wonderful. The fish is good and flaky, the batter light and crispy, and I love the tomatillo salsa so much I even ate some rice with it (I rarely eat rice). The white sauce is delicious too. It’s a toss-up which is better, the tacos or the terrific Cuban sandwich. Nothing wrong with crunchy fresh Parisi bread, thin-sliced ham, lots of pork and nice slender pickles.
The waitstaff are very nice even when they’re run off their feet. They’ve got a full bar with wine and a frozen margarita machine. It’s been a haven of consistently yummy good as long as I’ve lived in NYC and I hope it stays one for many years.
Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $35
Noise level: it’s a party
Chance of walking in: not good at all, and they close at 12am. Try their handy-dandy takeout counter around the corner.
On another trip, the huevos rancheros and grilled skirt steak were fine, nothing great, but a really good value for $12.50. The bacon cheeseburger is pretty good, though you can tell it’s not their specialty.
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07.12.10
Posted in Italian, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 6 to 6.5, SoHo at 02:19 by Dominique
231 Mott & Prince Sts., 212-966-1234
Great for: olives all’ascolano, possibly pizza (pending another visit)
The first couple times I tried to come here, they were closed, or doing a private party. Don’t you hate when that happens, and then you finally try the place and it’s not amazing?
I started with the four juicy olives all’ascolano, which are breaded olives with veal and sausage inside. They were a little oversalted, but satisfying and a nice size and number. P got grilled octopus with potatoes. It was chewy and quite tasty.
We both got the Yukon gold gnocchi with oxtail ragù. The gnocchi had kind of a weird taste and the meat was super fatty and gristly. I never had oxtail before, and when I researched it online later I learned that it’s supposed to be a bit fatty, but this really freaked me out. I didn’t even finish my dish. Now that I’ve had oxtail at Má Pêche I don’t think the meat was very good quality. P quite liked his, on the other hand, so I’m willing to give them another try.
To calm down my palate, I got an affogato gelato in an espresso shot that was pretty good. I felt there was a bit too much cocoa powder which made it very bitter. It sort of did the trick.
We had a nice waitress. I found the meat slicer prominently displayed behind the bar the most interesting thing in the restaurant. I literally couldn’t stop watching people slice things on it. Fortunately P thinks my nerdy tendencies are funny. It was less amusing that they misspelled “proscuitto” [sic] on the entire menu.
I suspect pizza is their best thing, since that’s what everyone else ordered. Each pie is really big, though, and I didn’t want to eat that much. Next time I will suck it up and get a pizza, and sit in the lovely back room with its skylight.
Rating: 6 / 10
Our cost: $90 (1 glass wine)
Noise level: not too bad
Chance of walking in: fine.
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07.11.10
Posted in East Village, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5 at 23:24 by Dominique
25 Cooper Square & 5th/6th St., 212-475-3400 (now closed, RIP)
Great for: large parties, ciabatta, scallops, lobster, tajarin
I seem to be having trouble finishing this review, so if it’s a little rough, sorry – I have let it sit for a couple months now, and there are many new things to write about. Like the amazing Beef 7 Ways feast at Má Pêche, the Meatball Shop (good but terribly overpriced), Pulino’s (good but it’s still just pizza, not crack), Steak Shoppe (wonderful! damn the landlord), Minetta Tavern (totally worth it), and Kampuchea‘s rapid decline. It’s a tribute to how good Faustina was that I’m not just skipping it.
For my birthday the (now ex-) Boyfriend took me out to a fancy new restaurant. We lucked into a reservation here because there was a crazy blizzard and a lot of people canceled. I’m a fan of Scott Conant’s from Scarpetta and this was similar, just with smaller plates.
We started with the grilled ciabatta with poached duck egg and fonduta, which was absolutely terrific. The charred thick bread is a good base for the creamy, lovely “sauce” – I actually used some to scoop up the last bits of egg yolk. We weren’t as fond of the stromboli with prosciutto and smoked mozzarella. Though nicely composed, it was pretty bland.
We really enjoyed the lobster susci with concentrated tomatoes. I’ve never had nearly raw lobster, and it was very tasty. I especially loved the tomatoes-turned-into-green sauce underneath. I just wished for more than six little bites. The seared diver scallops with farro, seafood and sunchoke purée were perfectly cooked and big. The purée and nearly crisp farro made a good salty offset. A small dish, it is deceptively filling. It was interesting with lots of flavors and textures.
From the larger dishes we got short ribs and spaetzle, which are little pasta twists, with cheese and vegetables. It was quite good and very rich. I was excited for the tajarin with tomato and ricci di mare (sea urchin). It’s maybe not “sex in a bowl” as some people have called it, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. I loved the perfectly-done tagliatelle and somehow creamy tomato sauce (I guess from the uni). We were quite happy despite the smallness of the dish.
Just in case all that wasn’t enough food, we also got a side of herbed fries. They were only fine, though better with their sauce. I was expecting better, as they seemed really popular. I suppose everyone else thought fries would be a safe bet for extra food too.
For dessert we got a chocolate carmellina with chocolate-caramel mousse, gianduja and mocha (or coffee) ice cream. It was almost as lovely as it looked, with nice little jolts of caffeine.
We had very nice service. The lovely, friendly hostess let me sit for a long while waiting for B, which was unusually kind. Our waiter worried that we hadn’t ordered enough food but it turned out to be enough even for a birthday piglet. I loved the sophisticated vibe, which is probably why it was packed even on a blizzard night – cool dark wood with light grey leather is nice. The place is sort of dim but a lot of strategically-placed lighting helps. It’s ridiculously confusing to get into the restaurant. I’m not sure if that’s temporary.
The menu is mostly raw bar and hot apps with some pastas and two mains. I appreciated the music at a decent volume level, and sexy but not silly selections (some restaurants really go overboard). It is mainly very good food; somewhat inconsistent, but a good time regardless.
Rating: 8 / 10
Our cost: $160 (3 small, 1 big plate, 1 pasta, 1 side, 1 dessert, 2 cocktails, 1 beer)
Noise level: not too loud
Chance of walking in: you definitely want to call. (Never mind, it’s closed now.)
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07.02.10
Posted in food-related musings at 21:33 by Dominique
I just finished Tony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential (I know, I know, I’m terribly late to that party) and he was so inspiring that I feel ready to devote time to blogging again. I also am pretty sure I never want to be a professional chef, although I would love to cook more correctly.
Things have been very busy chez Dominique. I’ve had lots of auditions, shoots and classes; I broke up with the latest Boyfriend, who just moved out; and there’s been a lot more cooking. Fortunately, I have many restaurants to write about from the last four months. Coming up: Faustina.
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