05.18.08
Review of Tides, Tuesday April 2008
102 Norfolk & Delancey/Rivington Sts., 212-254-8855
Great for: an intimate date spot, calamari
Tides has been on my list for a long time. I figured now that I live a few blocks away, it’s high time I tried it. It had really good reviews online, in particular something about “the best lobster roll south of Maine.” Unfortunately I cannot agree with that recommendation. The food’s not bad. That’s about as highly as I can praise it.
The fried calamari was probably the best part of the meal. It was tender and we liked the creamy remoulade. The fried clams and oysters were good, not too rubbery or squishy. It came with a vegetable remoulade.
My lobster roll was drowned in mayonnaise and inexplicably inflicted with chopped-up cucumber. That’s fine when it’s celery (also present), but the cucumber plus the abundance of mayo made it taste weird. And I hate cucumbers anyway. I wish they’d said something on the menu about them. The sauce was a bit vinegary as well. The roll was so tiny, it probably would have dropped half the insides out if I’d picked it up to eat it. I was, though, pleasantly surprised to like the sweet potato chips that came with it. Considering everything it had going against it, the dish as a whole was decent, but mainly tasted of mayo.
The pan-fried crab cakes were very good for the first few bites. Then they started tasting like stuffing. The crispy outside was good but somewhat dry and too bready. The chickpea salad was bland and didn’t really go with anything else. I’m not sure why the chef put those two things together.
The ceiling’s pretty cool. It’s made out of satay sticks and reminds me of the ocean floor covered in sea grass. The place is tiny, with two cozy booths and five tables. We came in at just the right time to get the last table. Though it’s small, I never saw people waiting – I suppose the location is kind of out of the way. I liked our really hot male model-looking waiter. He was so friendly and competent. Plus he looked like he’d taste better than the food. I made sure to get my fill of staring at him, because I don’t think this restaurant is worth coming back to.
Rating: 5.5 / 10
Our cost: $90 (teetotaling)
Noise level: quiet
Chance of walking in: medium.
