08.25.09

Review of The Clerkenwell, Saturday May 2009

Posted in Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, Northern European, rated 6 to 6.5 at 04:11 by Dominique

49 Clinton & Stanton/Rivington Sts., 212-614-3234
Great for: good solid English food, a taste of home for Brit expats, late night food

I was trying very hard to qualify for the World Series of Poker through Pokerstars freerolls (obviously, I did not make it this year) but I couldn’t miss my friend L’s birthday either.  I made it through round 1 quickly and was puzzled to find myself sitting alone at a table with all the chips for round 2, but figured I’d lucked into a free pass to the final round.  It was also way past time to leave for dinner so I jumped into a cab.  This is why I forgot my BlackBerry and had to take notes with my camera.

May 2009

We were all delighted to see the eminently reasonable $28 3-course prix fixe menu including one glass of prosecco or rosé.  I didn’t actually love anything on it or want dessert, so I ordered from the regular menu, but it definitely helped to keep costs down.  Those Brits do love their vino!  (I was staying sober until I won the tournament.)

I tried most of the savory dishes on the prix fixe menu, since there were about 16 of us and we ended up getting everything.

chicken

The chicken from this walnut chicken salad with celery leaves, Granny Smith apples and mixed lettuce was a bit bland.  The greens are nice, though I’d prefer that it have no fruit.  The new season asparagus with poached egg and candied lemon as well as the rocket salad with manchego, pear and pine nuts looked good and reportedly tasted good as well.

Clerkenwell pâté

I really liked the rich country-style pâté with red onion marmalade and toasted bread.  There was a lot of bread and the onions were a little too sweet though.
Toad in the Hole

I found my main course of toad in the hole pretty good.  The sausage was a bit bland and the onions were way too sweet as in the marmalade, but I liked the bready stuff and mashed potatoes a lot.  I think the English Ex’s mother made it slightly better.

risotto

The butternut pumpkin risotto with basil pistou (French pesto) and parmesan would have been yummy if I liked any form of pumpkin.

burger

Unfortunately I didn’t get to try any of the well-received burger.  Looks nice, doesn’t it?  

mackerel

As did the pan-fried mackerel with green olives, celery and raisin.

The prosecco, rosé, Champagne and wines are reasonably priced and quite good.  They were working on their late-night liquor license (probably have it by now) and are open ’til about 2am on weekends.  The owner himself often helps wait tables and everyone is very nice.

It’s an unpretentious pub with decent food and a fun atmosphere.  We went soon after they opened, so I expect they have worked out some of the kinks.  It’s a lovely place to start the night and linger.  As for me, I had to dash the minute I finished my entrée but I certainly had ample wine to drown my sorrows when I came back later.

[When I got home an hour later the tournament said I'd been sitting out too long.  I tried to salvage the situation but they didn't know why I'd been alone in the first place so I was probably the victim of a computer glitch.  Terribly disappointing, that and the many other times I battled impossible odds to win a round, only to be eliminated eventually.  Once I had one small blind left against three other people - I trounced them all in thirty minutes. Didn't carry over to the next round.]

Rating: 6.5 / 10
My cost: $30 (no drinks)
Noise level: quite loud
Chance of walking in: it might get pretty slammed as people find out about it.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

08.23.09

Review of Shopsin’s, Thursday April 2009

Posted in American, eclectic, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 01:22 by Dominique

120 Essex St. Stall 16 & Delancey (enter from door on corner, next to cheese shop), 212-924-5160
Great for: quirky but delicious food, interesting conversation, après-shopping eats

I was terrified of eating here, as I’ve heard about Kenny’s legendary temper and read firsthand accounts of people being cursed or chucked out.  But as a fledgling restaurant critic it’s my duty to go and review food… so I plucked up my courage and ventured in one sunny day.   I’m not sure if I was wearing my sling (from the shoulder-shattering incident) – in fact, I don’t think I was – but Kenny and his son were lovely to me.  I even committed the idiotic faux pas of asking for suggestions from the bewilderingly enormous menu in 10-point font on double-sided legal paper and they scolded “WHAT?!” but laughed and said cute girls are allowed to ask questions.  I don’t know why I forgot you’re not supposed to.  I was so nervous I even dropped my phone.  Anyway, they quickly put me at ease and we chatted away for the next hour.

I got way too much food.  The sliders with cheese and pickles would have been enough by themselves, but then I wouldn’t have experienced the ecstasy that is the fried potato salad.  You know when meat is marinated and juicy and tender and you just want to keep on biting into it?  That’s how the burgers were, with a great contrast in the pickles.  I got mozzarella with the fried potato salad instead of the regular blue cheese and it was just wonderful.  The potato chunks were small enough that I didn’t tire of eating them, and crispy and flavorful to boot.  I ate sooo much.

I only wish I could eat there more often!  It’s a bit expensive, but definitely worth the money.  All the dishes are quite large, as well.  Most sandwiches are about $15 and the skillets are over $20.  It’s not a very big place (though I like how it feels like a homey kitchen), they stop accepting new orders around 2, and are only open weekdays and Saturdays, so it takes some determination to get there unless you’re technically jobless like me.  Plus, if you act fake or snobby or are ridiculously picky about food (vegans seem to be especially reviled) or annoy Kenny in some way, he’ll probably refuse to serve you.  So be real.  And nice-looking apparently helps.

Rating: 9 / 10
Cost: $20 (this is not a cheapie lunch place)
Noise level: however loud Kenny has to yell to the kitchen
Chance of walking in: might be ok after the lunch rush – they don’t do dinner any more.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

08.05.09

Review of An Choi, Tuesday April 2009

Posted in Asian, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 6 to 6.5, Southeast Asian at 02:10 by Dominique

85 Orchard & Broome/Grand Sts., 212-226-3700
Great for: upscale pho without weird cuts of meat, sandwich takeout (you can’t have the pho to go)

[Sorry for the hiatus.  Poker has been taking up most of my time when I'm actually on the computer, plus I've been taking classes and I'm in a soon-upcoming play. But in an effort at discipline, I've banned myself from online poker until I'm caught up here. Also I'm catching fuck-all for cards so this should save me some money and grief. At least I'm still winning in live games. And cooking is going well.]

I was sad Elyssa Dido closed, but this place is pretty good too. For some reason, the night before I had a craving for pho, but they aren’t open on Mondays. Fortunately for my readers I was able to wait until the next night.

I got the last dish of goi cuon, a salad roll with shrimp, greens, herbs and peanut sauce. It was light and pretty good, though the shrimp were a bit dry.  I liked the sauce, which is surprising because I usually hate peanut anything.  My pho bo with cinnamon cloves, star anise, brisket, eye round and optional meatballs was decent. The thin-sliced meat was very nice. I was happy that it was all meat I could eat – I know, I know, I’m a bad Chinese girl for hating tendon and other offal-type things, but it’s just so yucky to me.  I found the broth tasty and the noodles a little too thin.

It’s a really narrow space, so you’re pretty much guaranteed a wait at peak hours.  It’s also hot, and expensive for what it is (especially considering dirt-cheap fantastic Vietnamese places are a few blocks away in Chinatown), so even though it’s around the corner from me, I doubt I’ll become a regular.

Rating: 6.5 / 10
Cost: $20
Noise level: it’s a small space, so depends on the people
Chance of walking in: probably not good for now, since it’s new.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

07.14.09

Review of Brown, lunch Tuesday April 2009

Posted in American, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 6 to 6.5 at 02:04 by Dominique

61 Hester & Ludlow Sts., 212-477-2427
Great for: if you’re on the Lower East Side shopping and it’s an odd (non-peak) hour

My friend S is great.  The whole time I was recovering from my shoulder injury she checked on me almost every day and made time for lunch with me quite often.  This was one of those days.  We were lucky we both had stuff to do until about 3 pm, so we avoided the whole lunch rush.

Her big plate of tuna salad with greens and toast was pretty good.  My mac and fontina cheese with black forest ham was actually with penne and also decent.  I liked the lightness of the cheese, but I can’t call the dish very memorable.  The small size is definitely enough for one hungry person.

They’ve got a rustic wooden theme going on with the décor.  We had a nice waitress.  I hear they’re packed on weekends for brunch – not sure why, from the food we had, but it is a cute little place.

Rating: 6.5 / 10
Our cost: $30 (lunch, no drinks)
Noise level: probably not too bad
Chance of walking in: not good during brunch.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

04.19.09

Review of Café Katja, Tuesday March 2009

Posted in Lower East Side, New York City, Northern European, rated 7 to 7.5 at 16:02 by Dominique

79 Orchard & Broome/Grand Sts., 212-219-9545
Great for: Reuben sandwich, snacking

My very good friend S came over to take care of me, since I was essentially one-armed after my snowboarding accident. I guess all the Percocet made me dopey, because when I went to let her in, I closed my door and locked us out.  While we waited for another friend to bring my spare set of keys, we decided to get some food.  I vaguely remembered hearing about this fantastic little Austrian place near me and we managed to find it.

When I told the waitress I wanted to try their liptauer, she suggested getting the pretzel appetizer which came with that and some other spreads.  They were all delicious and the liptauer was lighter than I expected from something made of cheese.  The pretzel itself was lovely, too, and I have never previously liked any pretzels.

My “Katja’s Ruben” [sic] sandwich was fantastic, a combination of pork belly, cabbage, cheese, pickles and mustard.  The bread had been fried in butter and the whole thing was enormous.  I took half of it home!  The pork belly was very fatty with a rind, but it was easy to separate the meat out.  I loved the cabbage and pickles.  The only thing I disliked was the purple cole slaw, which seemed to have apple cubes in it.  I think if you like cole slaw it might be ok though.

S liked her broiled trout on spinach with fingerling potatoes, though she could have used more spinach to counteract the abundance of butter.  The decent side of brussels sprouts improved with liberal pepper and mustard.

We had a very nice waitress and the chef was friendly too.  The small narrow space is utilized very well and doesn’t feel cramped.  The décor is minimalist but homey.  They have many beers (which I don’t drink) and cocktails (which I was on too much Percocet to drink).  It’s kind of a hidden gem but that stretch of Orchard Street has a lot of other good restaurants.  Definitely go before everyone finds out about it.

Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $45 (1 app, 2 entrees, 1 side, no drinks)
Noise level: music loud, people pretty quiet
Chance of walking in: not too bad now but hurry, it’s small and the food is very tasty.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

04.02.09

Review of Jin, Monday March 2009

Posted in Asian, Japanese, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5 at 17:06 by Dominique

252 Broome & Orchard/Ludlow Sts., 212-979-0989
Great for: special rolls, tuna amazing roll, good sushi near Chinatown

My snowboarding friend M (from the Fat Hippo post) ended up asking me out.  Something about shared thrills, I guess. :)

He loves Jin and I live practically next door to it, so it was the obvious choice one cold Monday.  To start, we got the mini Japanese pizza, salmon slices, spicy sauce and jalapeño on a rice cake, which was enjoyable though I’d have liked a smaller rice cake.  It was a bit hard to share because they just cut the rice and then draped the salmon on top, but that gave me a good excuse to “accidentally” take extra sashimi.

The tuna amazing roll is everything its name suggests.  It’s a fantastic concoction of spicy tuna, white tuna tempura, black pepper tuna, avocado and scallion that I can only describe as genius.  The black pepper, especially, lifts it considerably above ordinary.   The tempura somehow integrates seamlessly – the whole thing just goes together wonderfully.  We kind of wanted to order another one but the waiter told us about a special tuna and yellowtail jalapeño roll that sounded great, and was.  I could have done with less avocado but then I always can.  I didn’t mind it, actually; I think it helped balance the spiciness of the peppers.  All the special rolls are generously sized and come eight pieces each, so we just got one more little thing.  The agedashi tofu with bonito flakes and scallions was super hot; the outside nice, though the inside needed a bit of flavor.

I’ve been here a couple other times, too.  The regular rolls are fine, not as big or delicious as the specials.  I like their selection of sakes; fiscally reasonable as well as tasty.  The staff are actually Chinese, but attentive and nice.  I think they did a good job with the décor, the music is always chill and fun and it’s rarely crowded.  Plus it’s open until 12 on Fridays and Saturdays (as of April 2009).  They’re definitely getting another visit soon.

Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $55 (1 tall beer, 2 apps, 2 special rolls)
Noise level: good
Chance of walking in: not too bad.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

03.30.09

Review of Fat Hippo, Saturday February 2009

Posted in American, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 8 to 8.5 at 22:38 by Dominique

71 Clinton & Rivington Sts., 212-228-0994 – I think they’ve closed, though.
Great for: sharing among piglets, comfort food until 4am (Friday & Saturday, else 2am)

[I shattered my clavicle snowboarding two weeks ago.  I just had surgery - Dominique v2.0, now part titanium! - and am recovering fairly well, but I have to work on my little brother's frustrating MacBook.  The good news is, there's not much else I can focus on through the pain and Percocets so I'll probably get caught up with reviews this week.  If I say something odd, blame the meds.]

After a long day of snowboarding with my friends M, V and A (and a late night of partying beforehand) I still wasn’t ready to call it quits.  M and some of his friends decided upon dinner here and I was happy to stumble the few blocks over to join them.  It’s a good thing Fat Hippo’s byob policy included bottles of vodka – our Stoli kept us reasonably happy as we waited for our table.  And waited.  And waited some more.  The host told N, who lives across the street, that she could put her name down and come back in 30 to 40 minutes.  When we all showed up 30 minutes later, we were told one of us should have stayed and it’d be another 20 minutes.  Ultimately we waited about an hour and a half from the time we all got there.  It was unenjoyable foreplay, but as it turned out, well worth it for the quality (and wonderfully low price) of the food.

It’s great if you have several people so you can try most of the menu.  We were absolutely starving – it was 10pm and the five of us had polished off most of the vodka, not to mention M and I had been riding all day – and ordered whatever caught our eyes.  We ended up with one app, five entrées and four sides, which was just about the perfect amount.  Our lone app, bite-size mozzarella balls with herb-roasted tomatoes and baby arugula, was well-executed.

We enjoyed the Maryland crab cake with mac and cheese, corn and succotash with roasted garlic caper sauce. It was crisp outside and tender inside with just enough breading. The accompanying vegetables were lovely and crunchy.  We had to load up on two of the burger fondue after reading its description, and that turned out to be a wise decision.  The dish itself reminds me of deconstructionist art.  You get six dollar coin-sized sliders per order; buns bracketing meat, lettuce and tomato, with bacon bits and diced pickles on the side.  The centerpiece is a small, generous cauldron of cheese. We found the best system was to get some cheese on a bun, sprinkle things to taste and then put it all together.  The sliders are surprisingly filling despite their tiny size.  The slender french fries were terrific too, both crunchy and chewy.  We were oddly delighted by the trailer park chicken sampler with sautéed collard greens, raisin sauce and corn bread.  We really liked the beer can-roasted breast and Southern fried drumstick, and then the smoked thigh meat which we discovered after some knifework.  All the meat was tender and I even liked the sauce.  The pork chop was the best of all the dishes.  Stuffed with pulled pork, it also came with bacon, sautéed brussels sprouts and maple jalapeño mustard sauce.  We fought over it a little bit.

The two sides of mac and cheese were definitely not overkill.  They had lovely crunchy spirals with just enough cheese and cream.  The green bean casserole, while not exactly what I was expecting because of the giant mushrooms, was still pretty good. I liked the sauce.  The green tomato gratin is nice if you like tomatoes.  I didn’t detest it despite my lifelong hatred of non-smushed-up tomatoes.

Fat Hippo now has a liquor license, so no more drinking from – I mean, bringing your own bottle.  It won’t be quite as cheap any more but the food at least is really worth it.  They were a bit slow about getting things out when we went, though that’s excusable since they’d officially been open only two weeks.  Our waitress wasn’t the friendliest I’ve ever met – in fact, she seemed to willfully mishear us quite often – but she eventually got the job done.  I liked the stripped-down décor. There was some weird off-putting artwork but it was made up for by the tasteful and unobtrusive strip of mirror and the comfy chairs and banquettes.  I’m excited to come back here soon and try the rest of the menu.

Rating: 8.5 / 10 – lost .5 for waiting but gained back for cheap goodness
Our cost: $115 for 5 people! (1 app, 5 entrees, 4 sides)
Noise level: loud
Chance of walking in: haha. Put your name down and check every 5 minutes and make sure one person is there holding your party’s place.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

03.04.09

Review of Casanis, Friday January 2009

Posted in French, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 7 to 7.5 at 05:08 by Dominique

81 Ludlow St. #2 & Broome Sts., 212-677-9383 (then Le Cubain, now Sebastián)
Great for: brasserie food late if you’re too far from Balthazar

This turned out to be the last time the now-ex-Boyfriend and I would have a dinner date.  (He was a great boyfriend for two months and then suddenly Mr. Hyde came out to wreck my life. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for another month, but ruining my birthday was the last straw. We’re friendly now though.)  At least we were happy with the food and each other this particular night.

I absolutely loved my duck confit with frisée and haricots verts. The generous portion of juicy, tender duck sat atop ridiculously good salad and dressing. I cleaned my plate and probably could have eaten three more!  B wanted the country pâté, which they were out of.  His shrimp cocktail in its stead had great sauce, while the shrimp were on the firm side but good.

Though I had a lot of surgery to do on my steak with béarnaise sauce, mesclun salad and french fries, it was enjoyable. The fries were crunchy and a bit bland, while the salad and slightly vinegary béarnaise were lovely. Overall, very satisfying.  Poor B was 0 for 2 ordering things that they actually had, as they’d run out of the burger.  It turned out to be just as well; his hangar steak topped wtih fried onions in brandy sauce and mashed potatoes was so perfectly great I was not allowed to try it. Of course, I made sure to snatch some bites when he went to the bathroom – I have a duty to my dear readers, after all.  I very much liked it too.

His glass of Côte du Rhône and my Champagne were both satisfactory as well.  I can’t say as much for our waitress, but she wasn’t awful and I suppose it was quite late.  It’s a nice-looking place, too.  I’m glad they’re open until midnight every day except Sunday (11pm).  It’ll definitely be a go-to spot in the area if I’m ever hungry late.  Plus, they’ve just opened a club 2 doors away downstairs called Chloe, supposedly the next Beatrice though I hear varying reports on that.

Rating: 7.5 / 10
Our cost: $95 (2 glasses wine)
Noise level: Euro party
Chance of walking in: better very late or very early. Sadly, it’s closed and has become Le Cubain, a sort of Cuban-French brasserie. It seems to have the same owners and décor. And now it’s Sebastian, back to French.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

Review of Grotto, Wednesday & Friday January 2009

Posted in Italian, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews, rated 9 to 10 at 03:56 by Dominique

100 Forsyth & Broome/Grand, 212-625-3444
Great for: dates, specials, upscale Italian, live jazz, ambience

Every day when I walked home from the train I passed this place.  I’d say to myself, I really ought to try that hideaway, but somehow I never remembered to put it on my list.  Finally one night, the Boyfriend and I walked past it and I thought to go in.  I am so glad.  That week we went twice more, it was so good.  It’s nowhere near as cheap as the dumpling places surrounding it but if you’ve got the money, it’s totally worth it.  And you can always stick to the cheap pastas, appetizers and burger if money’s tight.

It’s always a good idea to try the specials, although everything I had from the menu was fantastic too.  Of the apps, the carpaccio may have been my favorite, because it didn’t have anything I hate, but the other apps made me willing and happy to try tomatoes and and octopus.  The lovely scamorza was a slick of melted smoked mozzarella with a strip of prosciutto next to garlic bruschetta and very fresh large tomatoes, to be assembled as you see fit.  There was a generous amount of everything, too. The crostini are three bruschetta; one with mushrooms and red pepper, one with prosciutto and scallions, and the best with smoked mozzarella and marinara. They were fantastic texture and taste combinations. The prosciutto one could have used some sauce to help with the bread, though. I was brave one night and got the special grilled octopus with arugula, fingerling potatoes and sundried tomato aïoli in lemon vinaigrette.  I wish it didn’t look so scary because the tender yet firm octopus was amazing. But the tentacles were longer than my (admittedly tiny) pinky! I loved the sauce and potato slices too.  I just couldn’t forget that I was eating intelligent octopi – I almost tried blindfolding myself, it was that yummy.  The caprese di bufala is not quite as stellar as the scamorza though the cheese is light and fluffy and the tomato wedges are smaller. The paper-thin slices of carpaccio are accompanied by arugula, capers, fried shallors, lemon-olive oil and love, or something equally magical, because I just can’t have enough of them.

The shrimp risotto had creamy, firm, chopped-up shrimp over al dente rice with just a hint of sourness for balance.  The dainty quail risotto with asparagus is also great.  I’ve twice had the tonnarelli alla carbonara with crumbles of pancetta, egg, cream and Parmesan and not been able to finish it either time, but it is a lot of fun trying.  It’s quite heavy with creamy, cheesy sauce everywhere and a moat of grated Parm.

The burger, a steal at $15, comes with terrific fries and amazing chipotle mayo.  It’s one of the few burgers I’ve had whose meat is tasty all on its own – they clearly do the marinating part well.  And the mayo is addictive.  You don’t need ketchup for the fries, you’ll be scraping the bottom of the little sauce bowl.  The marinated NY strip steak topped with herb-tomato insalata was deliciously soft and it even made me like the very large accompanying tomato chunks. There were veins of fat on the sides but they were easily cut away.  The lovely oven-roasted herb-infused halibut with fingerling potatoes, asparagus, and tomato in a lemon aïoli was a nice balance of flavors.  The Berkshire black pork cutlet over roasted apples and mashed sweet potatoes in a red wine reduction was very sweet, which I normally hate, except it was so good. The onions alone are worth the price of admission.

The only dessert we ever had room for was the apple beignet with vanilla gelato. They were basically good apple pancakes with fantastic gelato.  The cocktails are all very speakeasy and tasty.  The Boyfriend, who barely drinks, ordered two hot toddys every time we came in: they pack quite a punch in the mouth, what with the Calvados, bourbon, allspice liqueur, and honey garnished with lemon (though the menu says orange) and cinnamon sticks.  They’re perfect for the current weather or just for getting hammered without realizing it.  I also enjoyed the Canton ginger smash, New York sour, lampone basilico and St. Gemainita.  They were all interesting and not too sweet.

The first three times I sat at the same table served by the same pretty, friendly waitress. (Hi, Slavica!)  Everyone else is very sociable as well, and though the drinks sometimes take a while, when you get them you’ll see they were worth the wait.  It’s a really cool little grotto with lots of flowers and simple, tasteful décor.  You can sit in what I call the date section or the noisier side with the live band on weekends.  I’m shocked that this place has been open for four years and I never knew about it.  But I’m making amends – I was just there yesterday again.

2010 update: it’s still terrific. They’ve changed the cocktail menu to equally tasty new concoctions.

Rating: 9 / 10
Our cost: the entrées are quite expensive, but you’ll want so many of the other things that it might end up being pricey even if you just get pasta and apps, which average around $15 each.  Cocktails are $10-11, secondi $15 (burger) – $32.
Noise level: sometimes live jazz, usually quietly romantic
Chance of walking in: not bad especially on weekdays.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

02.22.09

Review of Stanton Social, brunch Sunday January 2009

Posted in American, eclectic, Lower East Side, New York City, New York City Reviews at 00:04 by Dominique

99 Stanton St. & Rivington St., 212-995-0099
Great for: cocktails for large groups, romantic desserts, sophisticated brunch after a night of debauchery, sharing food

I finally got home from exile with my family and needed copious drinks.  Commodities Broker, now just a friend, said he’d be in the neighborhood and we agreed to grab brunch/lunch.  This was the only place I could think of.  It’s not the best place for food but it is nicer than most of the other little local spots.  Plus, lots of fun cocktails!

It’s the same menu all the time, so they don’t get any lunchtime reviewing mercy, not to mention they’re quite as busy at lunch as dinner.  We started with the excellent breakfast bruschetta, lots of soft eggs on chewy bread.  The chicken and waffles was an insane mix of sweet and savory - maple syrup and balsamic swirled together, especially.  It was sort of strangely good and I enjoyed the plethora of scallions, but overall it was just a little too weird for me.

The French onion soup dumplings were more my speed. They were extremely juicy and maybe a bit too salty.  I liked the Social mac and cheese, although I would have preferred no tomatoes.  To be fair, I hate tomatoes that are not in marinara form.  The meatballs in tomato sauce, good though a bit vinegary, were accompanied by an interesting and tasty lasagna sheet filled with ricotta and pesto.

I had no objections to my strong champagne julep or gin-lemon mojito.  CB found his mimosa a little flat and the pineapple 75 martini a bit weak.  We agreed favorably on the margarita and the friendly though somewhat absent-minded service.  In general, the food is pretty good but not really the focus of the place, I think.  It is just a very pretty bi-level hideaway on a trendy-ish stretch of the Lower East Side, expensive enough to keep out the undesirable and tastefully decorated to soothe hangovers.  Or nourish the beginning of one – I’ve been here once for dessert (I love the doughnut sauces) and once for many, many cocktails with a bunch of friends upstairs.  I’d stick to the booze if you have the choice.

Rating: 6.5 / 10
Our cost: $160 (5 small plates, 5 drinks)
Noise level: try to banish your hangover before you come in, although their bloody mary looks quite popular
Chance of walking in: not good, ever. Definitely call ahead. They take brunch reservations too.

drawn by Lucas Daniels, the Bibbling Prophet

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