Aqualis Grill
773 Fulton St.
Brooklyn, NY 718-797-3494
Food 6
Ambiance 6
Service 5
Overall 17
Good for basic Greek inspired seafood in the heart of Fort Green
Now since I live in Queens, not far from the bastion of the best Greek cooking in the city, Astoria, I pondered more than thrice the wiseness of trying Greek anywhere else. But curiosity ,proximity to BAM and a string of good reviews, made me venture forth. Aqualis Grill sits in one of the hippest strips of Fort Green, in a space that has had poor luck maintaining any restaurant for longer than 2 years. The interior has not changed much from its former incarnation as an Italian restaurant, and is fairly nondescript. Tame yellow walls, wood accents, a large undivided dining room. The decor is standard, uninspiring, but adequate. We arrived at 6 pm on a Tuesday and were lucky to find that there is a $25 prix fixe from 5- 7 :30 pm. The place was fairly empty,although by 7:30 pm it had slowly begun to fill up. My husband opted for the prix fixe option, which includes a glass of wine. I opted for the whole dorado and my sister ordered the appetizer mussels with a side of fries. One problem with this place is it is fairly slow in service. Although the place was empty, our waiter took his time getting our orders and our food took its time getting to the table.
The prix fixe appetizer we chose was an eggplant mash, which was served almost ice cold with tasty toasted pita points. Flavorful, it was marred by the ice cold temperature. My main dorado was a generous portion of fresh flaky fish. Under charred and under seasoned, it was no match for some of the best Astoria seafood places. Served with a side of wild greens , I also ordered a $4 side of the beet salad. The greens were delicately sauteed in garlic and olive oil. The red beet salad was one of my favorites of the meal, a combination of yellow and red beets tossed in a light vinaigrette with red onions. Perfect for summer with grilled meats. My husband's main was a grilled salmon filet, which was perfectly cooked and in contrast to my dorado well spiced. My sister's $10 appetizer mussels portion was fairly small with an interesting unexpected flavoring of feta, saffron and the anised sweetness of the ouzo. The $4 side of fries was disappointing not only in size but lacking in proper crispness. My husband's prix fixe ended with a small serving of creamy greek yougurt sprinkled with nuts and honey. Although tasty, fairly uninventive as far as a dessert offering.
Overall, this is not by any means on par with most of the excellent greek restaurants in Astoria.
However, the prix fixe is an excellent deal and if you are craving Greek in Brooklyn , Aqualis is a good substitute.
The Quest continues......
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Convivium Osteria
Convivium Osteria
68 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217-2021
(718) 857-1833
Food 7
Ambiance 7
Service 6
Overall 20
Good for well made and priced home cooked italian specialities in romantic Old World decor
So I have been intrigued by this place for some time as it advertises itself as serving Portuguese and Italian food. Aside from the odd combination, it has been a neighborhood favorite for some time, although because of its miniscule size, the wait is generally very long. Luckily, I attempted the outing on a Sunday night and was easily able to sit a party of 4 for 7 pm. We arrived there and from the minute we stepped in I felt we had taken our TAP flight right into Lisbon. Having traveled to Portugal frequently for the last 10 years, the place gets high marks for authenticity in decor. Beautiful blue and white tiles. Rustic wood tables. Cozy simple charm. I can only imagine how lovely it must be when they have their Fado set on Saturdays.This place however is beyond tiny. Maybe 5 tables at most in the entire space. It is amazing they can get enough mileage put of those few settings. Be prepared to get close to your neighbor diners.
Now while the decor is a definate ode to all things Portuguese, the food from my estimation was straight up Italian. Lots of pasta,polenta and preparations that recall nothing in Portugal that I have seen.The wine list is an extensive mix of primarily Italian ,Spanish and Portuguese wines, with a good range of pricing. We opted for a $40 bottle of Spanish Cava- a nice refreshing complement to everything we ordered. We started with the $13 grilled octopus served with a white bean celery and tomatoe salad, a sizeable appetizer portion. The octopus was perfectly grilled, tender and subtly seasoned. The salad, although a fresh summery combination was marred by the undercooked beans. I opted for the $24 whole seabass, my mother had a special linguine with half lobster, my sister had rabbit with polenta and my husband had the $22 dollar pork ribs with polenta. The star of all the dishes in my opinion were thoseb featuring seafood. My mother's linguine was perfectly cooked and delicately spiced with garlic and herbs with a generous portion of half lobster. My whole seabass was perfectly cooked and super fresh. I could have handled more ample seasoning and char but for the price, the fish is beyond ample for one. The sides of asparagus and potatoes were good choices,especially the charred delicious asparagus. Both my sister's and husband's meals were underflavored for my tastes. While both meals were not bad, they did not merit the price, as their portions were at least half of the seafood dishes with half of the taste. Though full, we finished of the meal with a "a panna cotta flan" which was an essentially very delectable,creamy flan and the italian house speciality- a crumbly moderately sweet chocalate hazelnut fig cake which was decadently good.
Overall , if you stick to seafood dishes , this place is a great ambiance filled trip to Portugual by way of Italian flavors for a reasonable price. Service was appropriately attentive throughout.
The Quest continues.....
68 5th Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11217-2021
(718) 857-1833
Food 7
Ambiance 7
Service 6
Overall 20
Good for well made and priced home cooked italian specialities in romantic Old World decor
So I have been intrigued by this place for some time as it advertises itself as serving Portuguese and Italian food. Aside from the odd combination, it has been a neighborhood favorite for some time, although because of its miniscule size, the wait is generally very long. Luckily, I attempted the outing on a Sunday night and was easily able to sit a party of 4 for 7 pm. We arrived there and from the minute we stepped in I felt we had taken our TAP flight right into Lisbon. Having traveled to Portugal frequently for the last 10 years, the place gets high marks for authenticity in decor. Beautiful blue and white tiles. Rustic wood tables. Cozy simple charm. I can only imagine how lovely it must be when they have their Fado set on Saturdays.This place however is beyond tiny. Maybe 5 tables at most in the entire space. It is amazing they can get enough mileage put of those few settings. Be prepared to get close to your neighbor diners.
Now while the decor is a definate ode to all things Portuguese, the food from my estimation was straight up Italian. Lots of pasta,polenta and preparations that recall nothing in Portugal that I have seen.The wine list is an extensive mix of primarily Italian ,Spanish and Portuguese wines, with a good range of pricing. We opted for a $40 bottle of Spanish Cava- a nice refreshing complement to everything we ordered. We started with the $13 grilled octopus served with a white bean celery and tomatoe salad, a sizeable appetizer portion. The octopus was perfectly grilled, tender and subtly seasoned. The salad, although a fresh summery combination was marred by the undercooked beans. I opted for the $24 whole seabass, my mother had a special linguine with half lobster, my sister had rabbit with polenta and my husband had the $22 dollar pork ribs with polenta. The star of all the dishes in my opinion were thoseb featuring seafood. My mother's linguine was perfectly cooked and delicately spiced with garlic and herbs with a generous portion of half lobster. My whole seabass was perfectly cooked and super fresh. I could have handled more ample seasoning and char but for the price, the fish is beyond ample for one. The sides of asparagus and potatoes were good choices,especially the charred delicious asparagus. Both my sister's and husband's meals were underflavored for my tastes. While both meals were not bad, they did not merit the price, as their portions were at least half of the seafood dishes with half of the taste. Though full, we finished of the meal with a "a panna cotta flan" which was an essentially very delectable,creamy flan and the italian house speciality- a crumbly moderately sweet chocalate hazelnut fig cake which was decadently good.
Overall , if you stick to seafood dishes , this place is a great ambiance filled trip to Portugual by way of Italian flavors for a reasonable price. Service was appropriately attentive throughout.
The Quest continues.....
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Kitchenette
Kitchenette
156 Chambers St, New York 10007
212 267 6740
Food 4
Ambiance 4
Service 4
Overall 12
Good for heavy greasy leaden diner inspired brunch
So I realized when arriving here last Sunday, that I have visited the Morningside Heights branch of this establishment many times before. However, the Morningside heights branch has never left me so sorely disappointed. We arrived there fairly late, my husband, sister and my mother around 3 pm. We were quickly seated at a small corner table ,with a window to the super cramped kitchen. When you enter this place you are reminded of country diners gone awry. To your left, is glass area of baked goods , cakes, cupcakes and cookies that look fresh and delicious. The rest of the decor is a mishmosh of garage finds and colors. Pinks,red,yellow and greens. Well battered and used kitchen items. The menu is fairly priced, most brunch items starting in the ten dollar range with some in the early teens. The food is basic with some attempted creativity thrown in. Plates come heavily loaded and and the food is just plain heavy. My sister had the $11.50 sweet potatoe waffle, my mom the $12 chicken cobb salad, my husband $11.50 blackberry and cherry pancakes , and I had the $10.25 Turkey sausage, cheddar and potatoe omelet. All of our food came out within about 15 minutes, which made me a little suspicious as to how fresh everything was. The plates looked large and potentially appetizing, though clearly this kitchen is not about finesse. Food was just plopped on the plate, diner style. Where to begin on this journey of sublime disappointment. I will start with my mother's skimpy Cobb salad. The thing about Cobb salad is it should be very hard to screw up. Load up the plate with onion, bacon, cheese, tomatoe, avocado and chicken. And voila you have salad. However, when my mom's salad arrived all ingredients were barely there. 4 pieces of tiny chicken, a few tomatoes, smattering of onion, no celery and very little blue cheese . It was amazing that compared to all other brunch items they were so pathetic in the salad. Aside from the general paucity of ingredients, the dressing and taste just were plain not too good. On to my omelet. Greasy and heavy. Like coal landing in my stomach. Some foods are greasy bits of heaven. This wasn't one of them. Barely seasoned, poor quality cheddar. The biscuit was even worse. I knew there was a problem when I picked it up and could sense its weight. Problem No 1. Problem No2 is it tasted as leaden as it looked. My husband's pancakes continued the theme of leaden food. No air or fluffiness is these pancakes. Just wood. My sister fared almost worse than all of us. The waffle, which had not taste of sweet potatoe just the orange color, was denser than both of our brunch entrees. Service was barely present most of the brunch. I noted that when were leaving we were the last in this place and the waitstaff looked ready to go with us.
Needless to say we left with all of our plates half full. Our stomach's questioning the wiseness of the decision to eat even that amount.
I would definantly caution anyone searching for a satisfying brunch to avoid this place.
The Quest continues.....
156 Chambers St, New York 10007
212 267 6740
Food 4
Ambiance 4
Service 4
Overall 12
Good for heavy greasy leaden diner inspired brunch
So I realized when arriving here last Sunday, that I have visited the Morningside Heights branch of this establishment many times before. However, the Morningside heights branch has never left me so sorely disappointed. We arrived there fairly late, my husband, sister and my mother around 3 pm. We were quickly seated at a small corner table ,with a window to the super cramped kitchen. When you enter this place you are reminded of country diners gone awry. To your left, is glass area of baked goods , cakes, cupcakes and cookies that look fresh and delicious. The rest of the decor is a mishmosh of garage finds and colors. Pinks,red,yellow and greens. Well battered and used kitchen items. The menu is fairly priced, most brunch items starting in the ten dollar range with some in the early teens. The food is basic with some attempted creativity thrown in. Plates come heavily loaded and and the food is just plain heavy. My sister had the $11.50 sweet potatoe waffle, my mom the $12 chicken cobb salad, my husband $11.50 blackberry and cherry pancakes , and I had the $10.25 Turkey sausage, cheddar and potatoe omelet. All of our food came out within about 15 minutes, which made me a little suspicious as to how fresh everything was. The plates looked large and potentially appetizing, though clearly this kitchen is not about finesse. Food was just plopped on the plate, diner style. Where to begin on this journey of sublime disappointment. I will start with my mother's skimpy Cobb salad. The thing about Cobb salad is it should be very hard to screw up. Load up the plate with onion, bacon, cheese, tomatoe, avocado and chicken. And voila you have salad. However, when my mom's salad arrived all ingredients were barely there. 4 pieces of tiny chicken, a few tomatoes, smattering of onion, no celery and very little blue cheese . It was amazing that compared to all other brunch items they were so pathetic in the salad. Aside from the general paucity of ingredients, the dressing and taste just were plain not too good. On to my omelet. Greasy and heavy. Like coal landing in my stomach. Some foods are greasy bits of heaven. This wasn't one of them. Barely seasoned, poor quality cheddar. The biscuit was even worse. I knew there was a problem when I picked it up and could sense its weight. Problem No 1. Problem No2 is it tasted as leaden as it looked. My husband's pancakes continued the theme of leaden food. No air or fluffiness is these pancakes. Just wood. My sister fared almost worse than all of us. The waffle, which had not taste of sweet potatoe just the orange color, was denser than both of our brunch entrees. Service was barely present most of the brunch. I noted that when were leaving we were the last in this place and the waitstaff looked ready to go with us.
Needless to say we left with all of our plates half full. Our stomach's questioning the wiseness of the decision to eat even that amount.
I would definantly caution anyone searching for a satisfying brunch to avoid this place.
The Quest continues.....
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Craftbar
Craftbar
900 Broadway St
NY,NY
212 461 4300
Food 7
Ambiance 7
Service 6
Overall 19
Good for trendy tasty enough dining in Union Square for couples or groups, no Top Chef here though!
I promise a Brooklyn review soon. I have somehow been hanging out in Manhattan more than usual these days. Anyways we went to Craftbar super early last Friday on our way to a wine class through NYC wine class at 7 pm. Our dinner reservation was for the ungodly hour of 5:30 pm and apparently 3 people called my husband to confirm our open table reservation. With this kind of annoying followup, we expected the place to be packed on our entry and where surprised there was only 1 other table with clients. Now of course I went here to sample the famed cuisine of Tom Collichio, now also know for his co judge role on Top Chef. He owns 2 other places in NYC, Craft steak and Craft, and Craftbar is described as the most casual of all 3. I must say if this is casual cuisine I am very intrigued to find out what his other restaurants look like. When you enter, the space is decidely modern. A little too much for my taste..large red canvases distributed throughout the sleek wood and metal interior with a few pops of green. I think the place is an homage to nature and the waitstaff were dressed in casual teeshirts and pants in brick red and green. Dimly light . Well cushioned faux leather banquet seating. We were quickly seated and perused the fairly small menu .
Prices are average for this level of Manhattan cuisine. Appetizers ranged $9-13 and mains $18-24. The menu leans towards Mediterranean, focus on French and Italian cuisines. Although they have a fairly large wine bottle menu with a good price range, the wines by the glass were more limited although a good range of a few varietals in both red and white categories. We decided to share a half portion of the beet casunzei as our appetizer. I started with a $9.75 glass of the Muscadet white and my husband had $14 Crozes Hermitage white. I later had a $9.75 Manchuela red. The wines were fine, nothing spectacular but ok for simple dinner accompaniments. The Casunzei was essentially beet ravioli. The half moon shaped dough was a little undercooked, beyond al dente firm. It had the suspicious taste of wonton wrappers- often substituted for fresh made pasta. The half portion came out to 4 fairly small ravioli. Not bad for an appetizer portion but for a pasta main, doubling that, would still be puny. The filling was a lovely sweet fresh tasting mix of beet and ground lamb served with a light butter sauce. I found the taste subtle but not as simple or great as the best Italian pastas I have had. I am not sure why American chefs have to make all pasta so complicated. Seems to me the rule of three, or 3 ingrediants maximum which works so well in Italy should work here. On to the mains. I had the toro tuna , essentially a nicoise salad and my husband had the branzino. Both were fairly small portions and not exquisitely fresh. My toro was perfectly cooked but the presentation and taste were very boring and basic. I have had tuna nicoise raised a notch before, and unfortunately for 20 plus dollars a pop this was not that. My husband's branzino was over cooked, not to the point of dehyrdration luckily. His dish was better flavored with more complex spice combinations. But this was definantly no Top Chef moment. For the buzz of this chef, I must say overall I was unimpressed. Its not that the food was bad, it just wasn't top notch by any means. We continued on to the desserts, because we were both still hungry after our puny meal. The dessert selction is skimpy. I am hoping there is no dessert chef with these pathetic dessert options. I opted for an olive cake with ice cream and my husband had the brownie with ice cream. Both came out looking like unkempt messes. My olive honey cake looked strangely like a tiny dunkin donuts muffin. Unfortunately it was half as good as one. Very disappointing. Not very moist or tasty. The brownie was an average brownie with a chocalate sauce that tasted too similar to Herschey's chocalate sauce. The star of both was definantly the ice cream. And would definantly recommend if here getting their trio of icecreams.
I have to say the level of cuisine at this place is not making me want to rush out and spend more dough at Craft or Craftsteak anytime soon.
If you are in Union Square and are dying to sample Collichio cuisine for not outrageous prices in a cool enough atmosphere, check this place out.
The Quest continues.....
900 Broadway St
NY,NY
212 461 4300
Food 7
Ambiance 7
Service 6
Overall 19
Good for trendy tasty enough dining in Union Square for couples or groups, no Top Chef here though!
I promise a Brooklyn review soon. I have somehow been hanging out in Manhattan more than usual these days. Anyways we went to Craftbar super early last Friday on our way to a wine class through NYC wine class at 7 pm. Our dinner reservation was for the ungodly hour of 5:30 pm and apparently 3 people called my husband to confirm our open table reservation. With this kind of annoying followup, we expected the place to be packed on our entry and where surprised there was only 1 other table with clients. Now of course I went here to sample the famed cuisine of Tom Collichio, now also know for his co judge role on Top Chef. He owns 2 other places in NYC, Craft steak and Craft, and Craftbar is described as the most casual of all 3. I must say if this is casual cuisine I am very intrigued to find out what his other restaurants look like. When you enter, the space is decidely modern. A little too much for my taste..large red canvases distributed throughout the sleek wood and metal interior with a few pops of green. I think the place is an homage to nature and the waitstaff were dressed in casual teeshirts and pants in brick red and green. Dimly light . Well cushioned faux leather banquet seating. We were quickly seated and perused the fairly small menu .
Prices are average for this level of Manhattan cuisine. Appetizers ranged $9-13 and mains $18-24. The menu leans towards Mediterranean, focus on French and Italian cuisines. Although they have a fairly large wine bottle menu with a good price range, the wines by the glass were more limited although a good range of a few varietals in both red and white categories. We decided to share a half portion of the beet casunzei as our appetizer. I started with a $9.75 glass of the Muscadet white and my husband had $14 Crozes Hermitage white. I later had a $9.75 Manchuela red. The wines were fine, nothing spectacular but ok for simple dinner accompaniments. The Casunzei was essentially beet ravioli. The half moon shaped dough was a little undercooked, beyond al dente firm. It had the suspicious taste of wonton wrappers- often substituted for fresh made pasta. The half portion came out to 4 fairly small ravioli. Not bad for an appetizer portion but for a pasta main, doubling that, would still be puny. The filling was a lovely sweet fresh tasting mix of beet and ground lamb served with a light butter sauce. I found the taste subtle but not as simple or great as the best Italian pastas I have had. I am not sure why American chefs have to make all pasta so complicated. Seems to me the rule of three, or 3 ingrediants maximum which works so well in Italy should work here. On to the mains. I had the toro tuna , essentially a nicoise salad and my husband had the branzino. Both were fairly small portions and not exquisitely fresh. My toro was perfectly cooked but the presentation and taste were very boring and basic. I have had tuna nicoise raised a notch before, and unfortunately for 20 plus dollars a pop this was not that. My husband's branzino was over cooked, not to the point of dehyrdration luckily. His dish was better flavored with more complex spice combinations. But this was definantly no Top Chef moment. For the buzz of this chef, I must say overall I was unimpressed. Its not that the food was bad, it just wasn't top notch by any means. We continued on to the desserts, because we were both still hungry after our puny meal. The dessert selction is skimpy. I am hoping there is no dessert chef with these pathetic dessert options. I opted for an olive cake with ice cream and my husband had the brownie with ice cream. Both came out looking like unkempt messes. My olive honey cake looked strangely like a tiny dunkin donuts muffin. Unfortunately it was half as good as one. Very disappointing. Not very moist or tasty. The brownie was an average brownie with a chocalate sauce that tasted too similar to Herschey's chocalate sauce. The star of both was definantly the ice cream. And would definantly recommend if here getting their trio of icecreams.
I have to say the level of cuisine at this place is not making me want to rush out and spend more dough at Craft or Craftsteak anytime soon.
If you are in Union Square and are dying to sample Collichio cuisine for not outrageous prices in a cool enough atmosphere, check this place out.
The Quest continues.....
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Lady Mendl's Tea Salon
Lady Mendl's
56 Irving Pl, New York, NY
(212) 533-4466
Food 6
Ambiance 8
Service 4
Overall 18
Good for half way authentic pricey tea in a proper British setting
So one thing you will learn from reading my blog is that there are certain foods I am ,one might say, obsessed about. All things cue, as in bbq, fall in that catetgory as well as all things pork . Another area of intense obsession is English tea and anything that involves clotted cream. For those who have never tasted clotted cream, I am sure the word clotted and cream do not sound appetizing. In fact, writing this, I must confess it conjures up the image of a rotten dairy product. But clotted cream is like the sinful marriage of butter and whipped cream. Cousins that should not mate but wickedly do. The result in my opinion is one of the few food treasures the British have given humanity. I wonder if the Queen has knighted clotted cream's first maker.Bizarre to say I cannot even recall the first time I tasted clotted cream or sat at my first English tea. All I know is , that despite the fact that I have never experianced love with a man at first site , I am much easier when it comes to food. Love at first bite, sights, whiff- I fell hook line and sinker for the pomp ,circumstance and sheer food delight of my first English tea. Ever since then I have roamed the world in the search for a tea experiance that will sweep me off my feet again. On occasion, I have been know to throw a tea party myself. And while I can make a mean scone and some tasty sandwiches, my personal take is that half of the love affair of high tea is being waited upon, properly and obviously. What girl can resist that!
Lady Mendl's is a lovely historic inn in a brownstone off of Union Square. The entrance is discreetly marked with a golden address plaque with only the words Lady Mendl's. Definantly not a place to be recognized unless you are in the know. Be forewarned that since they have two tea services at 3 and 5 pm in a fairly small room, reservations are definantly needed. When you enter, you feel immediately that you are visiting the home of your well off British aunt. It is a well preserved, dimly lit brownstone with ornate wood molding, period furniture, elegant gold flowered wallpaper and lovely wood floors. Certainly the first impression is that the door magically transports you into your own private English oasis . Our reservation was confirmed by the host and after a short bit of waiting, we were led to the Tea Salon. The Tea Salon consists of 2 fairly small rooms set up with small tables covered in white tablecloths. Most can fit very tightly two people although there are a few larger tables. Each room can hold about 15 people at most.
The tea is a set five courses for 35 dollars. After sitting, they offered us the option of a glass of champagne for an additional $10 which we declined. The tea menu is varied and offers many options- black to green teas and many herbal flavors as well. I decided on a Lavender Tea and my mother opted for an Black tea with rose petals. Of note, the tea is served in teabags which in my mind is a major no no. Loose leaf measured tea make for a much more delectable tea experaince. Our table was set with lovely gold rimmed china plates and silver plated utensils. Although service was present, throughout the tea there were significant lapses for a place that is cultivating the air of gentility. The wait between each course was fairly long and we were missing simple things like cream or lemon on the table when our teas were brought out or clotted cream and jam when our scones were served. Also the place is somewhat on the cheap side. After I finished my first round of tea which I did not love, I asked to switch to the Lord Mendl, a lapsang souchong tea. At first my waiter hastily told me that it is not permitted to switch teas. When I asked why not, he did end up changing my tea. .As we were leaving, I heard the table next to me complaining that they had been charged for additional scones they had asked for although noone had told them this would be the case. Nickel and diming is not very highbrown in my book.
In any case, back to the tea itself. All tea services I have attended tend to serve the core part of the tea in a tiered serving platter so you can sample the different parts of the tea at will. Typically most teas offer an assortment of tea sandwiches, fresh baked scones and sweet pastries. Some who want to increase the number of courses will add a salad or another savory treat which can be served separate to the core tier. At Lady Mendl's everything is served in sequential order. Once you are done with sanwiches, no going back. I found this lost alot of the charm of a typical service for me.
We started off our tea with a vegetable samosa wrapped in filo dough with a little lettuce. Tasty although mildy undercooked, I would venture that this was not made in house. Then we continued to the sandwiches- 4 choices of an openfaced salmon on pumpernickel or rye bread with butter, cream cheese and cucumber on white bread , turkey on wheat bread, and egg salad on white bread. Your first round you are given 4 portions of your sandwich of choice. All were tasty,although I was surprised at the poor quality of smoked salmon used. You then have the option of one other go around with the sandwiches. Then we had scones, a plain and one with cranberry, served with berry jam and clotted cream. Fairly moist but super tiny. Each was maybe an inch in size. After this ,we were served a mutiple layer crepe cakes, crepes with a lightly flavored whipped cream interspersed. The final course were a few cookies and a chocalate covered strawberry. Overall most of the food was well prepared and tasty, although not the most generous of portions . But that is fairly typical for most teas. Despite some drawbacks, I would say Lady Mendl's is a good bet if you are looking for a unique and historical setting with fairly well prepared tea snacks in the heart of New York City.
The Quest continues
56 Irving Pl, New York, NY
(212) 533-4466
Food 6
Ambiance 8
Service 4
Overall 18
Good for half way authentic pricey tea in a proper British setting
So one thing you will learn from reading my blog is that there are certain foods I am ,one might say, obsessed about. All things cue, as in bbq, fall in that catetgory as well as all things pork . Another area of intense obsession is English tea and anything that involves clotted cream. For those who have never tasted clotted cream, I am sure the word clotted and cream do not sound appetizing. In fact, writing this, I must confess it conjures up the image of a rotten dairy product. But clotted cream is like the sinful marriage of butter and whipped cream. Cousins that should not mate but wickedly do. The result in my opinion is one of the few food treasures the British have given humanity. I wonder if the Queen has knighted clotted cream's first maker.Bizarre to say I cannot even recall the first time I tasted clotted cream or sat at my first English tea. All I know is , that despite the fact that I have never experianced love with a man at first site , I am much easier when it comes to food. Love at first bite, sights, whiff- I fell hook line and sinker for the pomp ,circumstance and sheer food delight of my first English tea. Ever since then I have roamed the world in the search for a tea experiance that will sweep me off my feet again. On occasion, I have been know to throw a tea party myself. And while I can make a mean scone and some tasty sandwiches, my personal take is that half of the love affair of high tea is being waited upon, properly and obviously. What girl can resist that!
Lady Mendl's is a lovely historic inn in a brownstone off of Union Square. The entrance is discreetly marked with a golden address plaque with only the words Lady Mendl's. Definantly not a place to be recognized unless you are in the know. Be forewarned that since they have two tea services at 3 and 5 pm in a fairly small room, reservations are definantly needed. When you enter, you feel immediately that you are visiting the home of your well off British aunt. It is a well preserved, dimly lit brownstone with ornate wood molding, period furniture, elegant gold flowered wallpaper and lovely wood floors. Certainly the first impression is that the door magically transports you into your own private English oasis . Our reservation was confirmed by the host and after a short bit of waiting, we were led to the Tea Salon. The Tea Salon consists of 2 fairly small rooms set up with small tables covered in white tablecloths. Most can fit very tightly two people although there are a few larger tables. Each room can hold about 15 people at most.
The tea is a set five courses for 35 dollars. After sitting, they offered us the option of a glass of champagne for an additional $10 which we declined. The tea menu is varied and offers many options- black to green teas and many herbal flavors as well. I decided on a Lavender Tea and my mother opted for an Black tea with rose petals. Of note, the tea is served in teabags which in my mind is a major no no. Loose leaf measured tea make for a much more delectable tea experaince. Our table was set with lovely gold rimmed china plates and silver plated utensils. Although service was present, throughout the tea there were significant lapses for a place that is cultivating the air of gentility. The wait between each course was fairly long and we were missing simple things like cream or lemon on the table when our teas were brought out or clotted cream and jam when our scones were served. Also the place is somewhat on the cheap side. After I finished my first round of tea which I did not love, I asked to switch to the Lord Mendl, a lapsang souchong tea. At first my waiter hastily told me that it is not permitted to switch teas. When I asked why not, he did end up changing my tea. .As we were leaving, I heard the table next to me complaining that they had been charged for additional scones they had asked for although noone had told them this would be the case. Nickel and diming is not very highbrown in my book.
In any case, back to the tea itself. All tea services I have attended tend to serve the core part of the tea in a tiered serving platter so you can sample the different parts of the tea at will. Typically most teas offer an assortment of tea sandwiches, fresh baked scones and sweet pastries. Some who want to increase the number of courses will add a salad or another savory treat which can be served separate to the core tier. At Lady Mendl's everything is served in sequential order. Once you are done with sanwiches, no going back. I found this lost alot of the charm of a typical service for me.
We started off our tea with a vegetable samosa wrapped in filo dough with a little lettuce. Tasty although mildy undercooked, I would venture that this was not made in house. Then we continued to the sandwiches- 4 choices of an openfaced salmon on pumpernickel or rye bread with butter, cream cheese and cucumber on white bread , turkey on wheat bread, and egg salad on white bread. Your first round you are given 4 portions of your sandwich of choice. All were tasty,although I was surprised at the poor quality of smoked salmon used. You then have the option of one other go around with the sandwiches. Then we had scones, a plain and one with cranberry, served with berry jam and clotted cream. Fairly moist but super tiny. Each was maybe an inch in size. After this ,we were served a mutiple layer crepe cakes, crepes with a lightly flavored whipped cream interspersed. The final course were a few cookies and a chocalate covered strawberry. Overall most of the food was well prepared and tasty, although not the most generous of portions . But that is fairly typical for most teas. Despite some drawbacks, I would say Lady Mendl's is a good bet if you are looking for a unique and historical setting with fairly well prepared tea snacks in the heart of New York City.
The Quest continues
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Les Sans Culottes
Les Sans Culottes
1085 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10022-2004
(212) 838-6660
Food 2
Ambiance 6
Service 4
Overall 12
Good for spending your money on some of the worst food the city has to offer
Although I ate there only this past Monday, writing this review makes me feel like I am a tragedy survivor.
There is just a singular word to describe my experiance at this french cuisine travesty: disgusting. The word is neither original or memorable. But it is just. There are few things worse than bad food and bad wine. Les Sans Culottes is a master in both.
Let me back track by saying I had walked by this genteel looking french establishment many times. It always had a good amount of patrons and showcased 3 separate prix fixe meals starting at their basic $25. The menu has many French bistro staples so I figured it was a safe bet. Midtown east and french. Usually a good pairing.
We made a reservation for Monday at 8:30 and arrived slightly early.
Two other tables were there but otherwise the place was deserted. The place has the feel of ghosts. A place whose better days are long past but noone has told them yet they are off the most wanted list. Dingy and dusty. A forgotten attic of treasures. The ambiance must have been charming some years ago I think. The wallpaper and posters. Bright red and black. Small tables nestled closely together. The place was dark and silent. I remarked on entering it felt like we were no longer in NY. At the time, I thought this could be a good thing. By the end of my meal, I wanted my visa burned and revoked.
We settled for the 25 dollar prix fixe.
This started with a appetizer of crudites, terrine and sausages. The terrine was old and crumbly although not horrific in taste, served with cornichons and an off tasting mustard based sauce. 3 types of massive sausages were brought to the table hanging from a 6 inch contraption. We were to take each and slice at will. The sausages were neither french nor good. Some poor deli version of salami. The piece de resistance was their wild crudite platter. Whole vegetable and fruit, not cut or prepared, just tossed into a large basket. The whole thing had the feel of those bad movies showcasing barbarian lords eating big boned meat with their bare hands. I paused fearing my main course would require me to depluck a chicken.
We had ordered wine with our meal. A chardonnay for myself and a cabernet for my husband. My husband took 2 sips of his vinegared wine and stopped, seeking refuge in the stale bread served. My chardonnay was unmemorable but drinkable.
I ordered the trout meuniere. A filet of trout came out, fresh but pan dehydrated beyond compare,served with a lemon acid congealed sauce coating , insipid grey potatoe mash and a tablespoon of fresh vegetables. Looking at the meal, it did not inspire confidance of any tasty revelations. It tasted worse than it looked or smell. After 4 bites I was done and thankful we had feasted elsewhere on a plentiful bar appetizer 1 hour before. My husbands entree was another altitude of problematic. He ordered the chicken cordon bleu, which was served with the same sad sides as my trout. His was also laced with some off white congealed sauce. Both also had been served with an additional side of fries and rice. My husband attempted to eat a third of his chicken and I fancied a taste. What happened next is almost too disturbing to write let alone remember. I reflexively spit it out. The taste was so nauseatingly awful, a strange unfresh melange of chicken,ham and cheese that had gone terribly wrong. Thankfully, my reflexes were good enough to have the offending food hit the plate and not the diners next to me. After recovering from the shock of what had just happened, I wanted to leave. I figured the desserts would be as awful as everything else. My husband reminded me that since I was planning on reviewing this place, I should sample it all. So we continued our feeding torture with chocalate mousse and creme caramel. More revelations of badness.
As I left the restaurant dazed and appalled, I wondered how does a place at this magnitude of incompetance at these prices on the Eastside manage to stay in business. Can it really only be tourists who dine here or uninformed NY customers? Writing this review I was shocked to see so many positive reviews ,recent as well, on menupages and tripadvisor about this place. Sometimes a place can have a bad night and be off its game. But the complete lack of anything approaching decent for all three courses leaves me convinced that nothing good can come out of this place. Maybe a new owner and a facelift can reinvent the place and bring it back into its hey day. Until then, book your trip to France with another restaurant.
The Quest continues..................
1085 2nd Ave
New York, NY 10022-2004
(212) 838-6660
Food 2
Ambiance 6
Service 4
Overall 12
Good for spending your money on some of the worst food the city has to offer
Although I ate there only this past Monday, writing this review makes me feel like I am a tragedy survivor.
There is just a singular word to describe my experiance at this french cuisine travesty: disgusting. The word is neither original or memorable. But it is just. There are few things worse than bad food and bad wine. Les Sans Culottes is a master in both.
Let me back track by saying I had walked by this genteel looking french establishment many times. It always had a good amount of patrons and showcased 3 separate prix fixe meals starting at their basic $25. The menu has many French bistro staples so I figured it was a safe bet. Midtown east and french. Usually a good pairing.
We made a reservation for Monday at 8:30 and arrived slightly early.
Two other tables were there but otherwise the place was deserted. The place has the feel of ghosts. A place whose better days are long past but noone has told them yet they are off the most wanted list. Dingy and dusty. A forgotten attic of treasures. The ambiance must have been charming some years ago I think. The wallpaper and posters. Bright red and black. Small tables nestled closely together. The place was dark and silent. I remarked on entering it felt like we were no longer in NY. At the time, I thought this could be a good thing. By the end of my meal, I wanted my visa burned and revoked.
We settled for the 25 dollar prix fixe.
This started with a appetizer of crudites, terrine and sausages. The terrine was old and crumbly although not horrific in taste, served with cornichons and an off tasting mustard based sauce. 3 types of massive sausages were brought to the table hanging from a 6 inch contraption. We were to take each and slice at will. The sausages were neither french nor good. Some poor deli version of salami. The piece de resistance was their wild crudite platter. Whole vegetable and fruit, not cut or prepared, just tossed into a large basket. The whole thing had the feel of those bad movies showcasing barbarian lords eating big boned meat with their bare hands. I paused fearing my main course would require me to depluck a chicken.
We had ordered wine with our meal. A chardonnay for myself and a cabernet for my husband. My husband took 2 sips of his vinegared wine and stopped, seeking refuge in the stale bread served. My chardonnay was unmemorable but drinkable.
I ordered the trout meuniere. A filet of trout came out, fresh but pan dehydrated beyond compare,served with a lemon acid congealed sauce coating , insipid grey potatoe mash and a tablespoon of fresh vegetables. Looking at the meal, it did not inspire confidance of any tasty revelations. It tasted worse than it looked or smell. After 4 bites I was done and thankful we had feasted elsewhere on a plentiful bar appetizer 1 hour before. My husbands entree was another altitude of problematic. He ordered the chicken cordon bleu, which was served with the same sad sides as my trout. His was also laced with some off white congealed sauce. Both also had been served with an additional side of fries and rice. My husband attempted to eat a third of his chicken and I fancied a taste. What happened next is almost too disturbing to write let alone remember. I reflexively spit it out. The taste was so nauseatingly awful, a strange unfresh melange of chicken,ham and cheese that had gone terribly wrong. Thankfully, my reflexes were good enough to have the offending food hit the plate and not the diners next to me. After recovering from the shock of what had just happened, I wanted to leave. I figured the desserts would be as awful as everything else. My husband reminded me that since I was planning on reviewing this place, I should sample it all. So we continued our feeding torture with chocalate mousse and creme caramel. More revelations of badness.
As I left the restaurant dazed and appalled, I wondered how does a place at this magnitude of incompetance at these prices on the Eastside manage to stay in business. Can it really only be tourists who dine here or uninformed NY customers? Writing this review I was shocked to see so many positive reviews ,recent as well, on menupages and tripadvisor about this place. Sometimes a place can have a bad night and be off its game. But the complete lack of anything approaching decent for all three courses leaves me convinced that nothing good can come out of this place. Maybe a new owner and a facelift can reinvent the place and bring it back into its hey day. Until then, book your trip to France with another restaurant.
The Quest continues..................
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
La Rioja
La Rioja
3305 Broadway
Astoria,NY 11106
718 932 0101
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 6
Overall 19
Good for tasty cheap tapas for a couple or a small group of friends
So I must confess that my main reason for going to La rioja is they advertised serving the famous iberico jamon de bellota, this black pig found only in a specific part of Spain whose diets is primarily acorns. I had just seen a few weeks ago a Gourmet Foodie TV special about the jamon and saw it featured in another magazine article where everyone was raving about the exceptional and unusual taste of this jamon. So one thing to know about me is that I love all things pork and all things rarified. I will eat anything once. And eat it again if its tasty, whatever it is. Plus I love the idea of tapas because you really get a nibble of so many dishes and get a real idea of what a kitchen can do.
So we arrived on last Thursday night around 8 pm without reservations. The place was fairly empty when we arrived although it filled up by the time of our departure at 9:30 pm. The restaurant is small, maybe 10 tables total tops. Standard unoriginal decor. Yellow walls, wood molding, ikea looking wood chair/tables. Nothing inspires you to think you are in Spain except you have a nice view of the little deli area in the back which showcases the jamon hanging from the ceiling and a pantry filled with a variety of resonably priced Spanish stapels from cheeses to chorizo, paprika to canned pimenton. In any case, I came to eat ,not to shop, so we quickly set down to the business of ordering tapas. I glanced at the main entrees, which were standard grilled meat entrees and a few paella. Nothing tempted enough to deter me from the tapas agenda. Before launching into our tapas forray, I must note this place is still awaiting a liquor license. Knowing this beforehand we came with a tasty Calfornia Merlot and were not charged a corkage fee. Throughout our tapas, the waitstafff was very good at keeping our wine glasses full.
Now back to the tapas. We started of course with the 20 dollar plate of jamon Iberico de Bellota. Now I was a little askance at the price and was expecting a few slices of the pricey jamon as my reward. Instead we were served a heaping plate of about 20 thin slices of the ham. It was interesting and different, sweet somewhat nutty flavor that melted easily in the mouth. The consistency reminded me of delicate smoked salmon. Now sometimes things are so hyped up that they can never reach the expectation created in the mind. This was unfortunately my experiance with this jamon. Very tasty but not something to fly to Spain for. Upfront I must say that we loved all the tapas with the exception of the $7.95 shrimp in garlic sauce. This was well spiced garlic olive oil goodness save the rubbery shrimp. They tasted previously frozen and were just not good quality,surprising given the quality of everything else.
We continued with $7.95 white anchovies with avocado, which were simple and unexpected. The white anchovies were marinated in a light vinegar sauce and were served on a bed of diced tomatoes with a squiggle of avocado sauce in top. The combination of the subtle sweetness and tartness of the tomatoes with the smoothness of the avocado highlighted the slight saltiness and creamy texture of the anchovies. We also had the $7.95 spicy chorizo with potatoes, which although it sounded like it might be very basic and boring turned out to be basic but definantly not boring. The chorizo was soft and spicy with its paprika soaked orange juices seeping into the potatoe mash underneath. At first bite, I though they had used sweet potatoe,because the mash became that sweet orange color and taste of the yam. The combination of the light mash with the spicy chorizo was simplicity at its best. Another tapas that was delectable was the $7.95 grilled squid, a la plancha. Super fresh and tender, with just enough hint of garlic and olive oil to add to the tasty char. I have only 2 complaints about this tapas. One was the pathetic bread they were served with. Although it was warmed, it was essentially somewhat stale basic dinner rolls. Second, although I am not a vegetarian, I do like my veggies, and the tapas selection is devoid of anything strictly veggie. After the quantities of food enjoyed, we were absolutely stuffed, but I decided to soldier on and taste a dessert. The waiter steered me to the crema catalana, which was an unimpressive creme brulee. Not bad, just nothing to get ecstatic about.
Service throughout friendly and attentive.
Although the tapas are not super inventive and creative, they are without question some of the best tapas I have had in some time. Simple, fresh, well cooked and seasoned with generous portions for the price, there are alot of reasons why I will certainly be coming back to this space. Hopefully, they will soon get a liquor license and charm up the ambiance but in the meantime I will return with a good rioja and baguette ready to sample more tapas.
The Quest continues........
3305 Broadway
Astoria,NY 11106
718 932 0101
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 6
Overall 19
Good for tasty cheap tapas for a couple or a small group of friends
So I must confess that my main reason for going to La rioja is they advertised serving the famous iberico jamon de bellota, this black pig found only in a specific part of Spain whose diets is primarily acorns. I had just seen a few weeks ago a Gourmet Foodie TV special about the jamon and saw it featured in another magazine article where everyone was raving about the exceptional and unusual taste of this jamon. So one thing to know about me is that I love all things pork and all things rarified. I will eat anything once. And eat it again if its tasty, whatever it is. Plus I love the idea of tapas because you really get a nibble of so many dishes and get a real idea of what a kitchen can do.
So we arrived on last Thursday night around 8 pm without reservations. The place was fairly empty when we arrived although it filled up by the time of our departure at 9:30 pm. The restaurant is small, maybe 10 tables total tops. Standard unoriginal decor. Yellow walls, wood molding, ikea looking wood chair/tables. Nothing inspires you to think you are in Spain except you have a nice view of the little deli area in the back which showcases the jamon hanging from the ceiling and a pantry filled with a variety of resonably priced Spanish stapels from cheeses to chorizo, paprika to canned pimenton. In any case, I came to eat ,not to shop, so we quickly set down to the business of ordering tapas. I glanced at the main entrees, which were standard grilled meat entrees and a few paella. Nothing tempted enough to deter me from the tapas agenda. Before launching into our tapas forray, I must note this place is still awaiting a liquor license. Knowing this beforehand we came with a tasty Calfornia Merlot and were not charged a corkage fee. Throughout our tapas, the waitstafff was very good at keeping our wine glasses full.
Now back to the tapas. We started of course with the 20 dollar plate of jamon Iberico de Bellota. Now I was a little askance at the price and was expecting a few slices of the pricey jamon as my reward. Instead we were served a heaping plate of about 20 thin slices of the ham. It was interesting and different, sweet somewhat nutty flavor that melted easily in the mouth. The consistency reminded me of delicate smoked salmon. Now sometimes things are so hyped up that they can never reach the expectation created in the mind. This was unfortunately my experiance with this jamon. Very tasty but not something to fly to Spain for. Upfront I must say that we loved all the tapas with the exception of the $7.95 shrimp in garlic sauce. This was well spiced garlic olive oil goodness save the rubbery shrimp. They tasted previously frozen and were just not good quality,surprising given the quality of everything else.
We continued with $7.95 white anchovies with avocado, which were simple and unexpected. The white anchovies were marinated in a light vinegar sauce and were served on a bed of diced tomatoes with a squiggle of avocado sauce in top. The combination of the subtle sweetness and tartness of the tomatoes with the smoothness of the avocado highlighted the slight saltiness and creamy texture of the anchovies. We also had the $7.95 spicy chorizo with potatoes, which although it sounded like it might be very basic and boring turned out to be basic but definantly not boring. The chorizo was soft and spicy with its paprika soaked orange juices seeping into the potatoe mash underneath. At first bite, I though they had used sweet potatoe,because the mash became that sweet orange color and taste of the yam. The combination of the light mash with the spicy chorizo was simplicity at its best. Another tapas that was delectable was the $7.95 grilled squid, a la plancha. Super fresh and tender, with just enough hint of garlic and olive oil to add to the tasty char. I have only 2 complaints about this tapas. One was the pathetic bread they were served with. Although it was warmed, it was essentially somewhat stale basic dinner rolls. Second, although I am not a vegetarian, I do like my veggies, and the tapas selection is devoid of anything strictly veggie. After the quantities of food enjoyed, we were absolutely stuffed, but I decided to soldier on and taste a dessert. The waiter steered me to the crema catalana, which was an unimpressive creme brulee. Not bad, just nothing to get ecstatic about.
Service throughout friendly and attentive.
Although the tapas are not super inventive and creative, they are without question some of the best tapas I have had in some time. Simple, fresh, well cooked and seasoned with generous portions for the price, there are alot of reasons why I will certainly be coming back to this space. Hopefully, they will soon get a liquor license and charm up the ambiance but in the meantime I will return with a good rioja and baguette ready to sample more tapas.
The Quest continues........
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Spot
The Spot
417 Prospect Place
Brooklyn,NY
718 638 1733
Food 6
Ambiance 7
Service 6
Overall 20
Good for drinks and appetizers, if needed a basic cheap dinner
I went to the Spot this past Halloween Saturday for dinner with my mother and husband to check out this fairly new American Bistro in Prospect Heights. It is a really sweet small cozy space with touches of red and brown highlighted by candelit tables. There are odd artistic touches thrown in as well, like a withered brown tree painted on a white main wall. We got there at almost 10 pm and the place was almost empty, although this is a part of Prospect Heights that is just developing its restaurant row. We were seated promptly and since we were real hungry eagerly perused the menu which had a American Deli feel because of the abundace of so many cuisines represented. Appetizer ranged from lots of fried seafood to ceviches in Mexican or Peruvian style while mains included various pastas and basic grilled meats and fishes. They have an fairly small wine menu and focus more on potent cocktail combinations. We settled on sharing the $9 Mexican ceviche as a starter. My husband opted for the $11.95 grilled pork chop with mashed potatoes and asparagus, I had the $14.95 short ribs with spinach and rice and my mother had the $15.95 grilled shrimp with plantains and spianch. My husband and I both opted for 2 strong cocktails ,both of which were cheap, sweet ,strong and tasty- in other words my kind of drink! Our ceviche came out a heaping portion of fresh seafood - a mix of shrimp, squid, scallops, and fish swimming in a spicy tomatoe sauce peppered with cilantro, lime and tobasco sauce. I was surprised at the size of the ceviche and was thankful we had not ordered another appetizer. This single serving gave us each an ample well flavored appetizer portion. Although the ceviche was a bit vinegary to my taste and the sauce was a bit too ample, it had nice taste and overall flavor for the pricepoint. Our mains were less impressive. My husband's pork was seasoned with simple salt and pepper. Though moist, it was a bit overcooked and looked more fried than grilled. His asparagus were nicely sauted with basic flavorings although a very skimpy portion of only 4 asparagus. The mashed potatoes were pasty and unappetizing, reminding me of store bought box rehyrdated potatoes. My short ribs were tender with moderate seasoning of a little garlic, maybe some parsley and salt and pepper. I found them too tomatoey in taste and stringey in texture. The rice was basic diner rice. The spinach was lightly seasoned and beautifully cooked. Probably the best part of the meal. Which is not faint praise since many places know how to kill some lovely spinach. Of all the mains, my mother's was the best. Her grilled shrimp were seasoned with a distant taste of cajun with nice even char. They were moist and not over cooked. The plantatins were not too greasy , and were nich thick chunks of sweetness. By the time dessert rolled around, we were just too full and a bit tipsy to order anything more.
Throughout, our waitresses were very attentive and helpful.
For the price, its not a bad deal. Nothing extraordinary but a good place for cheap good drinks and maybe seafood appetizers. If you must get a cheap dinner here. But there are so many places so close that can give you a great dinner experiance, really why bother
The Quest continues.................
417 Prospect Place
Brooklyn,NY
718 638 1733
Food 6
Ambiance 7
Service 6
Overall 20
Good for drinks and appetizers, if needed a basic cheap dinner
I went to the Spot this past Halloween Saturday for dinner with my mother and husband to check out this fairly new American Bistro in Prospect Heights. It is a really sweet small cozy space with touches of red and brown highlighted by candelit tables. There are odd artistic touches thrown in as well, like a withered brown tree painted on a white main wall. We got there at almost 10 pm and the place was almost empty, although this is a part of Prospect Heights that is just developing its restaurant row. We were seated promptly and since we were real hungry eagerly perused the menu which had a American Deli feel because of the abundace of so many cuisines represented. Appetizer ranged from lots of fried seafood to ceviches in Mexican or Peruvian style while mains included various pastas and basic grilled meats and fishes. They have an fairly small wine menu and focus more on potent cocktail combinations. We settled on sharing the $9 Mexican ceviche as a starter. My husband opted for the $11.95 grilled pork chop with mashed potatoes and asparagus, I had the $14.95 short ribs with spinach and rice and my mother had the $15.95 grilled shrimp with plantains and spianch. My husband and I both opted for 2 strong cocktails ,both of which were cheap, sweet ,strong and tasty- in other words my kind of drink! Our ceviche came out a heaping portion of fresh seafood - a mix of shrimp, squid, scallops, and fish swimming in a spicy tomatoe sauce peppered with cilantro, lime and tobasco sauce. I was surprised at the size of the ceviche and was thankful we had not ordered another appetizer. This single serving gave us each an ample well flavored appetizer portion. Although the ceviche was a bit vinegary to my taste and the sauce was a bit too ample, it had nice taste and overall flavor for the pricepoint. Our mains were less impressive. My husband's pork was seasoned with simple salt and pepper. Though moist, it was a bit overcooked and looked more fried than grilled. His asparagus were nicely sauted with basic flavorings although a very skimpy portion of only 4 asparagus. The mashed potatoes were pasty and unappetizing, reminding me of store bought box rehyrdated potatoes. My short ribs were tender with moderate seasoning of a little garlic, maybe some parsley and salt and pepper. I found them too tomatoey in taste and stringey in texture. The rice was basic diner rice. The spinach was lightly seasoned and beautifully cooked. Probably the best part of the meal. Which is not faint praise since many places know how to kill some lovely spinach. Of all the mains, my mother's was the best. Her grilled shrimp were seasoned with a distant taste of cajun with nice even char. They were moist and not over cooked. The plantatins were not too greasy , and were nich thick chunks of sweetness. By the time dessert rolled around, we were just too full and a bit tipsy to order anything more.
Throughout, our waitresses were very attentive and helpful.
For the price, its not a bad deal. Nothing extraordinary but a good place for cheap good drinks and maybe seafood appetizers. If you must get a cheap dinner here. But there are so many places so close that can give you a great dinner experiance, really why bother
The Quest continues.................
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Shangri La
Shangri La Restaurant
7415 Roosevelt Ave
Jackson Heights, NY 11372-6529
(718) 424-8900
Food 6
Ambiance 4
Service 6
Overall 16
Good for a casual cheap weekday meal for small group of friends or a couple
So my husband and I checked out this place last week Wednesday for some authentic Tibetan cuisine. Although it has a selection of Chinese,Nepalese Indian and Tibetan food, I am assuming it is owned by Tibetans as Dali Lama pictures were prominently displaced. I have only had Tibetan food once before at another Jackson Heights restaurant and was underwhelmed. I figured for these prices, most meals under 10 dollars, I would give it another whirl. Shangri La is a medium size restaurant with another smaller area for takeout orders. Wednesday night our meal was accompanied by a live singer. I am not sure where he was from although the music reminded me of some Indian songs I have heard performed. A little loud for the space, but I always enjoy live entertainment with my food. The restaurant is nothing fancy. Simple tables and chairs with a few decorations on the wall. The ceiling needs serious repair and the floor is basic bathroom brown tile. Not quite a hole in the wall but certainly not the place to go to if you are looking for ambiance.
The menu, serving a variety of dishes from 4 countries is extensive but not overwhelming. Each country gets its own page of about 12 dishes. They also offer, surprisingly, some cheap wine by the glass(5 dollar) and really cheap beer (3.50 Heinekan!). We decided to experiment with the Tibetan Butter tea- which thankfully before serving us 2 whole portions our waitress suggested we try a small amount first. It tasted like a buttery soup. Good for warming the belly in cold weather. Not particularly good for my tastebuds as a meal accompaniment. We opted for the sweet tea, a basic black tea with milk.
We started our meal with pan fried Tibetan chicken dumpling. Half moons of fresh thin dough stuffed with fragrant chive garlic seasoned ground chicken ,expertly fried. They reminded me of really good Chinese dumplings, except fresher and better seasoned. This first dish defiantly left us anticipating the rest of our meal. Most of the Tibetan dishes were beef heavy, very few chicken , seafood or vegetarian options.We opted for a classic Tibetan house made noodle with beef, spinach and mushroom and a beef stew with daikon and spinach served with rice. We also sampled a Tibetan steam roll- tingo. I was surprised to find my noodle dish essentially a soup- which was not described on the menu. Contrary to the well spiced dumplings, I found the soup very light on flavor, even after adding hefty doses of soy and chili sauce. Also when my soup arrived, it was missing mushroom and spinach. When I asked our smiling waitress if maybe the wrong order had been brought out, she informed me that the kitchen was out of spinach and had substituted small bok choy instead. She was happy to get extra mushrooms to supplement in the soup. While it was a little annoying she did not inform us of the spinach substitution and that my dish was a soup, she was very helpful throughout. She ended up giving me an ample side portion of nicely seasoned mushrooms. My husband's dish was more to my liking,although again it could have benefited from greater seasoning. Both were ample portions. We also both loved their version of Tingo. The one other time I had this , I was really unimpressed because it tasted like unseasoned dough. I had initially not wanted to order the tingo because of my prior experience. Thank goodness we did. Their tingo was a light airy dough subtly salted and truly delicious. I was tempted to get it to go and experiment with it as a breakfast bread.
While the space and the food were not perfect, I appreciated the kind service, excellent prices and overall tasty food. Check this place out if you are in the neighborhood and looking for a cheap meal deal.
The Quest continues.......
7415 Roosevelt Ave
Jackson Heights, NY 11372-6529
(718) 424-8900
Food 6
Ambiance 4
Service 6
Overall 16
Good for a casual cheap weekday meal for small group of friends or a couple
So my husband and I checked out this place last week Wednesday for some authentic Tibetan cuisine. Although it has a selection of Chinese,Nepalese Indian and Tibetan food, I am assuming it is owned by Tibetans as Dali Lama pictures were prominently displaced. I have only had Tibetan food once before at another Jackson Heights restaurant and was underwhelmed. I figured for these prices, most meals under 10 dollars, I would give it another whirl. Shangri La is a medium size restaurant with another smaller area for takeout orders. Wednesday night our meal was accompanied by a live singer. I am not sure where he was from although the music reminded me of some Indian songs I have heard performed. A little loud for the space, but I always enjoy live entertainment with my food. The restaurant is nothing fancy. Simple tables and chairs with a few decorations on the wall. The ceiling needs serious repair and the floor is basic bathroom brown tile. Not quite a hole in the wall but certainly not the place to go to if you are looking for ambiance.
The menu, serving a variety of dishes from 4 countries is extensive but not overwhelming. Each country gets its own page of about 12 dishes. They also offer, surprisingly, some cheap wine by the glass(5 dollar) and really cheap beer (3.50 Heinekan!). We decided to experiment with the Tibetan Butter tea- which thankfully before serving us 2 whole portions our waitress suggested we try a small amount first. It tasted like a buttery soup. Good for warming the belly in cold weather. Not particularly good for my tastebuds as a meal accompaniment. We opted for the sweet tea, a basic black tea with milk.
We started our meal with pan fried Tibetan chicken dumpling. Half moons of fresh thin dough stuffed with fragrant chive garlic seasoned ground chicken ,expertly fried. They reminded me of really good Chinese dumplings, except fresher and better seasoned. This first dish defiantly left us anticipating the rest of our meal. Most of the Tibetan dishes were beef heavy, very few chicken , seafood or vegetarian options.We opted for a classic Tibetan house made noodle with beef, spinach and mushroom and a beef stew with daikon and spinach served with rice. We also sampled a Tibetan steam roll- tingo. I was surprised to find my noodle dish essentially a soup- which was not described on the menu. Contrary to the well spiced dumplings, I found the soup very light on flavor, even after adding hefty doses of soy and chili sauce. Also when my soup arrived, it was missing mushroom and spinach. When I asked our smiling waitress if maybe the wrong order had been brought out, she informed me that the kitchen was out of spinach and had substituted small bok choy instead. She was happy to get extra mushrooms to supplement in the soup. While it was a little annoying she did not inform us of the spinach substitution and that my dish was a soup, she was very helpful throughout. She ended up giving me an ample side portion of nicely seasoned mushrooms. My husband's dish was more to my liking,although again it could have benefited from greater seasoning. Both were ample portions. We also both loved their version of Tingo. The one other time I had this , I was really unimpressed because it tasted like unseasoned dough. I had initially not wanted to order the tingo because of my prior experience. Thank goodness we did. Their tingo was a light airy dough subtly salted and truly delicious. I was tempted to get it to go and experiment with it as a breakfast bread.
While the space and the food were not perfect, I appreciated the kind service, excellent prices and overall tasty food. Check this place out if you are in the neighborhood and looking for a cheap meal deal.
The Quest continues.......
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Jade Eatery and Lounge
Jade Eatery and Lounge
1 Station Sq., Queens, NY 11375
at Continental Ave.
718-793-2203
Food 7
Ambiance 7
Service 5
Overall 19
Good for groups and pairs who like cool vibes and asian tapas and cheap sushi
So my husband found Jade when we were looking for a cool lounge in Queens to hang in. We ended up going to another place that night but wound up here for dinner last week Saturday night with a 7 pm reservation. Jade is in the pricey Forest Hills Gardens area of Queens. It boasts a large restaurant with a separate Morrocan lounge and focuses on pain asian cuisine. The interior is modern and sleek with a dash of Asian provided by the multiple Buddha statues throughout. Low white chairs and wooden banquets. Dim lights and clubby music combine to make it a funky place for groups. When we arrived the place was virtually empty and quiet.As the night progressed and more people arrived, the heavily windowed space maintained a quiet noise level. We were seated promptly and were somewhat overwhelmed by the expansive menu which was everywhere in terms of price.
Tapas start at 6 and go up to 15. Mains were usually starting at 12-20 dollars. Sushi was generally 3 dollars a piece with rolls only 4 dollars, except for signature rolls which were 20 dollars. The menu is primarily chinese and japanese, with a few indian and thai inspired entrees. They also have a good size dselection of sakes , white and red wines at reasonable prices. We decided to chow on tapas and cheap sushi, as the main entrees sounded fairly standard , without any compelling taste combiantions. We sampled 3 sakes, the ozeki unfiltered , a asian pear flavored one, and a more basic clear sake. All were pretty tasty and complemented our foods very well.They also have a standard martini menu but surprisingly NO sake inspired cocktails which I though was very odd and a missed opportunity for some creative bartending.
For tapas, we had scallion pancakes, red snapper tacos, tuna tataki, grilled shrimp skewers, dim sum dumplings and a special broiled scallop appetizer. We also ordered salmon and yellowtail sushi, a shrimp tempura roll and a crunchy spicy tuna roll. Of the tapas menu, the stars were the tuna tataki , the dim sum dumplings and the shrimp. Although the tataki was a very small portion and somewhat drowing in the sauce it was served with, it was perfectly cooked and seasoned with an interesting combination of soy, ginger, sugar and maybe cilantro. The dim sum dumplings were my husband's favorite, thin doughed dumplings filled with a ginger garlic mash of chicken or beef. I found them tasty but not extremely original in flavoring or presentation. My favorite of the tapas was the grilled shrimp, a lovingly charred sizable order of 5 mildy spicy sweet shrimp .The scallion pancakes were of the unfortunate greasy and doughy variety.The red snapper won for the worst tapas award,with virtually no snapper they were overfilled with a peculiarly flavored avocado mash layered in stale tasting corn taco shells. The broiled scallops were a surprisingly good portion of 8-10 medium sized scallops flavored with orange, light soy and some spice. Well cooked but not ultrafresh. As you can tell none of the tapas were very inventive or jaw dropping in taste. When you look at the tapas menu it is basically standard appetizers from many Asian cuisines with a few variations throw in for dramatic effect.
The undisputed star of the meal was really the sushi, which came ultra fresh with fairly sizable portions for the price. At the price point and for the ambiance of the space, it is an excellent deal..
Service was very attentive througout. My only issue with the service is that after being seated at our table, I noticed our chair backs were crazy low providing no back support . Since I have a bad back, I asked our waitress if we could switch to the banquet sitting. At this point the restaurant was still very empty. She looked at me blankly and just kept repeating "but that is not my section". I persisted and she with an exasperated look stated she needed to speak to the manager for his royal ok. When he comes over, he starts repeating the same mantra that this is not her section but finally relented. It was weird because after we finally moved she stayed on as our waitress.
So skip the tapas, get your mains at a cheaper authentic Asian restuarant and focus on good bargain price sushi with tasty sake in a chill atmosphere.
The Quest continues.....
1 Station Sq., Queens, NY 11375
at Continental Ave.
718-793-2203
Food 7
Ambiance 7
Service 5
Overall 19
Good for groups and pairs who like cool vibes and asian tapas and cheap sushi
So my husband found Jade when we were looking for a cool lounge in Queens to hang in. We ended up going to another place that night but wound up here for dinner last week Saturday night with a 7 pm reservation. Jade is in the pricey Forest Hills Gardens area of Queens. It boasts a large restaurant with a separate Morrocan lounge and focuses on pain asian cuisine. The interior is modern and sleek with a dash of Asian provided by the multiple Buddha statues throughout. Low white chairs and wooden banquets. Dim lights and clubby music combine to make it a funky place for groups. When we arrived the place was virtually empty and quiet.As the night progressed and more people arrived, the heavily windowed space maintained a quiet noise level. We were seated promptly and were somewhat overwhelmed by the expansive menu which was everywhere in terms of price.
Tapas start at 6 and go up to 15. Mains were usually starting at 12-20 dollars. Sushi was generally 3 dollars a piece with rolls only 4 dollars, except for signature rolls which were 20 dollars. The menu is primarily chinese and japanese, with a few indian and thai inspired entrees. They also have a good size dselection of sakes , white and red wines at reasonable prices. We decided to chow on tapas and cheap sushi, as the main entrees sounded fairly standard , without any compelling taste combiantions. We sampled 3 sakes, the ozeki unfiltered , a asian pear flavored one, and a more basic clear sake. All were pretty tasty and complemented our foods very well.They also have a standard martini menu but surprisingly NO sake inspired cocktails which I though was very odd and a missed opportunity for some creative bartending.
For tapas, we had scallion pancakes, red snapper tacos, tuna tataki, grilled shrimp skewers, dim sum dumplings and a special broiled scallop appetizer. We also ordered salmon and yellowtail sushi, a shrimp tempura roll and a crunchy spicy tuna roll. Of the tapas menu, the stars were the tuna tataki , the dim sum dumplings and the shrimp. Although the tataki was a very small portion and somewhat drowing in the sauce it was served with, it was perfectly cooked and seasoned with an interesting combination of soy, ginger, sugar and maybe cilantro. The dim sum dumplings were my husband's favorite, thin doughed dumplings filled with a ginger garlic mash of chicken or beef. I found them tasty but not extremely original in flavoring or presentation. My favorite of the tapas was the grilled shrimp, a lovingly charred sizable order of 5 mildy spicy sweet shrimp .The scallion pancakes were of the unfortunate greasy and doughy variety.The red snapper won for the worst tapas award,with virtually no snapper they were overfilled with a peculiarly flavored avocado mash layered in stale tasting corn taco shells. The broiled scallops were a surprisingly good portion of 8-10 medium sized scallops flavored with orange, light soy and some spice. Well cooked but not ultrafresh. As you can tell none of the tapas were very inventive or jaw dropping in taste. When you look at the tapas menu it is basically standard appetizers from many Asian cuisines with a few variations throw in for dramatic effect.
The undisputed star of the meal was really the sushi, which came ultra fresh with fairly sizable portions for the price. At the price point and for the ambiance of the space, it is an excellent deal..
Service was very attentive througout. My only issue with the service is that after being seated at our table, I noticed our chair backs were crazy low providing no back support . Since I have a bad back, I asked our waitress if we could switch to the banquet sitting. At this point the restaurant was still very empty. She looked at me blankly and just kept repeating "but that is not my section". I persisted and she with an exasperated look stated she needed to speak to the manager for his royal ok. When he comes over, he starts repeating the same mantra that this is not her section but finally relented. It was weird because after we finally moved she stayed on as our waitress.
So skip the tapas, get your mains at a cheaper authentic Asian restuarant and focus on good bargain price sushi with tasty sake in a chill atmosphere.
The Quest continues.....
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
La Mangeoire
La Mangeoire
1008 2 Ave
New York, NY 10022-4966
(212) 759-7086
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 5
Overall 18
Good for Pricier than average Lunch ,average priced dinner for pairs or small groups of friends in small cozy french bistro setting
My mom and I ,after visiting Saint Patrick's cathedral ,were hungry for some good home cooked french food.
We walked around ,surprised we had to walk all the way here to find a reasonable French restaurant in the midtown east area, since the Upper East has usually loads of well priced places French finds. Their menu showcased a prix fixe lunch menu for $19.75 and dinner menu of $28 and reasonable a la carte prices so we decided to give it a go. When you enter this medium size cozy restaurant, it reminds you of a funky French aunt's country house. Shabby french chic country cottage. Yellow roughly plastered walls with heavy wood moldings. Copper Pots , brightly colored paintings and antique appearing lighting with brightly colored scarves thrown on as original shades.
We were seated promptly next to what turned out to be either the manager or owner's table, a loud group of French men who were enjoying a later afternoon leisurely lunch. I must confess I am always more confidant in any restaurant owned by a native of the country. While unfortunately I have been to many a NYC French restaurant with this distintion that still served sub par food, it always leaves me surprised. In France, no matter how small or cheap, I have usually found most of the restaurants pretty good, especially when it comes to dishing typical casual favorites. I never understand why these same classics across the Atlantic somehow become mangled.
In any case, the lunch menu is mildy pricey. Appetizers ranged from $10-14 . Mains, are offered in two sizes with a small price reduction for the smaller size and range in price from $13-33.
We were unimpressed by the lunch prix fixe as mains consisted primarily of salads. They also have many moules frites varieties that are $18.50, which I found a bit pricey for mussels.
I opted for the $16.50 calf liver with ratatouille and my mother had the $19.50 striped bass with sweet potatoe mash. Both were the smaller portion size which turned out to be a perfectly sized lunch or dinner size. Both dishes were well seasoned and perfectly cooked. My liver was served with a sweet onion compote and bacon which provided an interesting taste dimension. My mother's bass was nicely seared with the fresh flavor of thyme singing through. Both meals reminded me of some French mother's cooking. Simple,fresh well prepared with attention to seasoning and cooking. Nothing fancy but good home-style country cooking. Although we skipped appetizer and dessert, I would love to try this spot for a dinner.
I recommend this place if you are in the Midtown East area or even as a destination for the well priced cozy French dinner prix fixe.
The Quest continues......
1008 2 Ave
New York, NY 10022-4966
(212) 759-7086
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 5
Overall 18
Good for Pricier than average Lunch ,average priced dinner for pairs or small groups of friends in small cozy french bistro setting
My mom and I ,after visiting Saint Patrick's cathedral ,were hungry for some good home cooked french food.
We walked around ,surprised we had to walk all the way here to find a reasonable French restaurant in the midtown east area, since the Upper East has usually loads of well priced places French finds. Their menu showcased a prix fixe lunch menu for $19.75 and dinner menu of $28 and reasonable a la carte prices so we decided to give it a go. When you enter this medium size cozy restaurant, it reminds you of a funky French aunt's country house. Shabby french chic country cottage. Yellow roughly plastered walls with heavy wood moldings. Copper Pots , brightly colored paintings and antique appearing lighting with brightly colored scarves thrown on as original shades.
We were seated promptly next to what turned out to be either the manager or owner's table, a loud group of French men who were enjoying a later afternoon leisurely lunch. I must confess I am always more confidant in any restaurant owned by a native of the country. While unfortunately I have been to many a NYC French restaurant with this distintion that still served sub par food, it always leaves me surprised. In France, no matter how small or cheap, I have usually found most of the restaurants pretty good, especially when it comes to dishing typical casual favorites. I never understand why these same classics across the Atlantic somehow become mangled.
In any case, the lunch menu is mildy pricey. Appetizers ranged from $10-14 . Mains, are offered in two sizes with a small price reduction for the smaller size and range in price from $13-33.
We were unimpressed by the lunch prix fixe as mains consisted primarily of salads. They also have many moules frites varieties that are $18.50, which I found a bit pricey for mussels.
I opted for the $16.50 calf liver with ratatouille and my mother had the $19.50 striped bass with sweet potatoe mash. Both were the smaller portion size which turned out to be a perfectly sized lunch or dinner size. Both dishes were well seasoned and perfectly cooked. My liver was served with a sweet onion compote and bacon which provided an interesting taste dimension. My mother's bass was nicely seared with the fresh flavor of thyme singing through. Both meals reminded me of some French mother's cooking. Simple,fresh well prepared with attention to seasoning and cooking. Nothing fancy but good home-style country cooking. Although we skipped appetizer and dessert, I would love to try this spot for a dinner.
I recommend this place if you are in the Midtown East area or even as a destination for the well priced cozy French dinner prix fixe.
The Quest continues......
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Sanford's
Sanford's
3013 Broadway
Astoria, NY 11106-2610
(718) 932-9569
Food 4
Service 5
Ambiance 6
Overall 15
Good for burgers and drinks - pairs or small groups, skip the brunch or pricey dinner
So I have passed by Sanford's several times and have always been intrigued by the very cool sleek interior of this place on a street which houses mainly a goodly amount of greek and brazilian restaurants in Astoria. Today, after checking out their 13 dollar prix fixe brunch menu online and some good reviews I decided to take the plunge.
When we arrived at 1:30 pm, there was line of about 8 people waiting. I got to the front to ask the hostess how long a wait for party of two could be. Before I even started speaking, the hostess, who was finalizing a takeout bill, imperially informed me to wait in a harsh tone. After several minutes, she looked up at the rest of the crowd, apparently having already forgotten me, although I was right in front of her, and asked who is next for a table. I then approached her again to ask for the wait time, and she informed with much dramatic disdain, that the wait would be at least 20 minutes. After all of this, we ended up eating here because we were too hungry and too tired to figure out an alternative. We walked in the neighborhoood for a little while and returned to the restaurant 10-15 minutes later, to find, surprise surprise several free tables and no more line.
Anyways, our hostess seats us initially at this center table, very close to the door, although there were several other open tables and booths further away. After 10 minutes at this table with the breeze blowing in my face every time a new customer came in, we asked to be relocated to a less wind accesible table.
SO you can probably tell that by this point I am not very impressed by this place, the hostess having left a rather poor impression on me. Our waiter, however, did make up for some of her annoying behavior and was attentive and helpful throughout our brunch.
Let me back track to the decor of this place. It is actually a fairly well thought out and executed space. Funky green and orange glass tiles on the walls, cool modern lamps, sleek floors and world music in the background. Very cool space except the noise level was problematic. We almost had to shout facing each other for most of the meal .
Anyways, our waiter arrives at our new location and takes our order. Although we ordered from the breakfast and brunch menu, this place has an extensive regular menu which looked interesting- especially their 8 versions of burgers. The brunch menu as mentioned is a 13 dollar prixe fixe which includes coffee or tea and one alcholic drink. The breakfast mains are fairly cheap. They focus as per the menu on organic free range eggs and local produce when possible. I ordered a Croque Madame(which they call Monsieur) for $7.95 and my husband had the $9.95 big boy breakfast - a combo of eggs, homefries, bacon and a waffle)
We also had a $5.95 side of fresh fruit. For drinks, I had a cup of revolution earl grey lavender tea while my husband opted for a cup of the hot chocalate.
Now before I speak much about the food, let me provide a neccessary detail. Apparently Sanford's has been around since 1922, as a corner diner. Recently, in response to the changing neighborhood they decided to revamp the place and expand the menu. Unfortunately for us, they still retain diner breakfast standards, and not the good kind either. My husband's Big Boy breakfast arrived with the standard cardboard tasting diner waffle straddled by unseasoned scrambled eggs, dried out over cooked bacon and watery tasteless spatula flattened homefries. The menu also publicizes their use of real maple syrup. However, our waiter initially brought out breakfast syrup and when we asked for the real maple syrup, which was quickly brought out, our final bill showed we were charged an extra dollar for the real deal. My croque Madame arrived a three layer grilled ham and cheese sandwhich made from Wonder White bread and not an ounce of bechamel. After this and Cafe Henri, I am starting to belive that I will not find a proper Croque Madame in Queens. Dense and overly stuffed with ham and unmelted cheese, I forced myself to stumble through half of it before my stomach hurled revolt. I focused my energies on the fairly fresh and bountiful side of fruit, which aside from my tea was the best thing as far as food in this place. My husband did not fare as well with his hot chocalate as I did with my tea. His had the undeniable smell and taste of Swiss Miss.
Overall, the brunch left me sorely disappointed and hungry. Because of the cuteness of the space, price and since these owners own a burger joint (Petey's Burger Joint) as well, I might venture again to try some strong drinks and big burgers.
The Quest continues......
3013 Broadway
Astoria, NY 11106-2610
(718) 932-9569
Food 4
Service 5
Ambiance 6
Overall 15
Good for burgers and drinks - pairs or small groups, skip the brunch or pricey dinner
So I have passed by Sanford's several times and have always been intrigued by the very cool sleek interior of this place on a street which houses mainly a goodly amount of greek and brazilian restaurants in Astoria. Today, after checking out their 13 dollar prix fixe brunch menu online and some good reviews I decided to take the plunge.
When we arrived at 1:30 pm, there was line of about 8 people waiting. I got to the front to ask the hostess how long a wait for party of two could be. Before I even started speaking, the hostess, who was finalizing a takeout bill, imperially informed me to wait in a harsh tone. After several minutes, she looked up at the rest of the crowd, apparently having already forgotten me, although I was right in front of her, and asked who is next for a table. I then approached her again to ask for the wait time, and she informed with much dramatic disdain, that the wait would be at least 20 minutes. After all of this, we ended up eating here because we were too hungry and too tired to figure out an alternative. We walked in the neighborhoood for a little while and returned to the restaurant 10-15 minutes later, to find, surprise surprise several free tables and no more line.
Anyways, our hostess seats us initially at this center table, very close to the door, although there were several other open tables and booths further away. After 10 minutes at this table with the breeze blowing in my face every time a new customer came in, we asked to be relocated to a less wind accesible table.
SO you can probably tell that by this point I am not very impressed by this place, the hostess having left a rather poor impression on me. Our waiter, however, did make up for some of her annoying behavior and was attentive and helpful throughout our brunch.
Let me back track to the decor of this place. It is actually a fairly well thought out and executed space. Funky green and orange glass tiles on the walls, cool modern lamps, sleek floors and world music in the background. Very cool space except the noise level was problematic. We almost had to shout facing each other for most of the meal .
Anyways, our waiter arrives at our new location and takes our order. Although we ordered from the breakfast and brunch menu, this place has an extensive regular menu which looked interesting- especially their 8 versions of burgers. The brunch menu as mentioned is a 13 dollar prixe fixe which includes coffee or tea and one alcholic drink. The breakfast mains are fairly cheap. They focus as per the menu on organic free range eggs and local produce when possible. I ordered a Croque Madame(which they call Monsieur) for $7.95 and my husband had the $9.95 big boy breakfast - a combo of eggs, homefries, bacon and a waffle)
We also had a $5.95 side of fresh fruit. For drinks, I had a cup of revolution earl grey lavender tea while my husband opted for a cup of the hot chocalate.
Now before I speak much about the food, let me provide a neccessary detail. Apparently Sanford's has been around since 1922, as a corner diner. Recently, in response to the changing neighborhood they decided to revamp the place and expand the menu. Unfortunately for us, they still retain diner breakfast standards, and not the good kind either. My husband's Big Boy breakfast arrived with the standard cardboard tasting diner waffle straddled by unseasoned scrambled eggs, dried out over cooked bacon and watery tasteless spatula flattened homefries. The menu also publicizes their use of real maple syrup. However, our waiter initially brought out breakfast syrup and when we asked for the real maple syrup, which was quickly brought out, our final bill showed we were charged an extra dollar for the real deal. My croque Madame arrived a three layer grilled ham and cheese sandwhich made from Wonder White bread and not an ounce of bechamel. After this and Cafe Henri, I am starting to belive that I will not find a proper Croque Madame in Queens. Dense and overly stuffed with ham and unmelted cheese, I forced myself to stumble through half of it before my stomach hurled revolt. I focused my energies on the fairly fresh and bountiful side of fruit, which aside from my tea was the best thing as far as food in this place. My husband did not fare as well with his hot chocalate as I did with my tea. His had the undeniable smell and taste of Swiss Miss.
Overall, the brunch left me sorely disappointed and hungry. Because of the cuteness of the space, price and since these owners own a burger joint (Petey's Burger Joint) as well, I might venture again to try some strong drinks and big burgers.
The Quest continues......
Pomme de Terre
Pomme de Terre
1301 Newkirk Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 284-0005
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 6
Overall 19
Good for cozy casual tasty dinner with a small group of friends
So last night, we were driving my cousin to his Midwood apartment and I asked him about restaurants in the area as it was getting close to dinner time. He recommended two places: The Farm - which has had a lot of buzz for some time, and Pomme de Terre, both owned by the same people. After attempting to get seated at Farm which was packed with 45 minute wait for a table at 9 pm, we headed to Pomme when they told us they had a table for us. I am so glad I did. Although I did not eat at Farm, the space is super loud and the decor more sleek Manhattan than homey Brooklyn for my taste. The menu is more Nouvelle American and was not overly intriguing to my palate. In any case, we drove to Pomme, just 5 minutes away and before we entered I was glad we had not found a table at Farm. It is a truly small and quiet intimate space- one room with a tiny kitchen. Not cramped though, I actually had the feeling of being in someone's dining room. The decor is typically french bistro country: Some red paint on the wall, lots of old french newspapers as wallpaper and paintings. Nothing unusual or original, but a quaint neighborhood feel. The only thing I hated was the funky blue and white floor tiles, some of which were broken, which made no sense with the rest of the decor.
Our waitress was friendly and appropriately present throughout most of the meal. We were seated promptly and handed our menu which featured an assortment of french american bistro afforadable favorites. Most appetizers were in the 8 -10 dollar price range while mains were in the high teens with only the steak frites a high 28 dollars. The well priced wine menu was fairly small with not many available by the glass. Most were french wines but the varieties represented could have been more well rounded. We shared a bottle of a $29 dollar french white, which was a nice citrusy flavored simple fruit forward choice. I also ordered a glass of Spanish temparanillo with my steak , which was an approachable mildy interesting red.
We started off with a $8.50 pissaladiere for appetizer, a french savory tart . It arrived a generous serving of 4 perfectly baked flaky puff pastry squares topped with a well harmonized mix of diced tomatoes, basil and anchovies. Fresh,simple and tasty, each ingrediant lent its own note to bring th overall flavor together.
For mains, I opted for the $19 strip steak with twice baked potatoe and spinach, my husband went for the $17 onion crusted salmon and my cousin for the $17 roast chicken. I ordered my steak "bloody", which I felt underlined my need for truly rare steak. Unfortunately it arrived medium with parts medium rare. Despite that, the steak was bloody good. Beautifully seared exterior with light but well thought out seasoning, the meat was tender and juicy despite being cooked beyond my desire. The side of the twice baked potatoe and spinach were both well cooked and seasoned. While there was nothing original in presentation or flavor spectrum, this is the kind of food a good neighborhood joint should deliver. Fresh well prepared simple ingrediants that make you feel like a good friend has worked hard to make you a good meal. My husband's salmon , which he ordered medium, arrived a shriveled onion coated sliver . Although it looked extermely overdone, somehow they managed to retain moistness and flavor. My steak was a truly generous portion of food, so it was a bit surprising how skimpy the salmon portion was. I did not taste my cousin's chicken although it also looked a tad overcooked but was undeniably juicy appearing.
For dessert, we ventured for the warm chocolate cake and I had a glass of the white port. The cake was also overcooked with a tangy mango sauce that laced the plate and a large serving of vanilla icecream.
My white port was simply a well aged chenin french wine, which was a bit too light to call porto and would have served better as a appetizer drink.
Overall, if I lived in Midwood or were in the area, I am sure this would be one of my go to places for a lazy dinner on weekdays. The price ,portions,taste spectrum and friendly decor and service make it a good neighborhood joint. While the kitchen needs help in not overcooking all food, somehow whats left is still tasty cuisine.
The Quest continues.......
1301 Newkirk Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11230
(718) 284-0005
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 6
Overall 19
Good for cozy casual tasty dinner with a small group of friends
So last night, we were driving my cousin to his Midwood apartment and I asked him about restaurants in the area as it was getting close to dinner time. He recommended two places: The Farm - which has had a lot of buzz for some time, and Pomme de Terre, both owned by the same people. After attempting to get seated at Farm which was packed with 45 minute wait for a table at 9 pm, we headed to Pomme when they told us they had a table for us. I am so glad I did. Although I did not eat at Farm, the space is super loud and the decor more sleek Manhattan than homey Brooklyn for my taste. The menu is more Nouvelle American and was not overly intriguing to my palate. In any case, we drove to Pomme, just 5 minutes away and before we entered I was glad we had not found a table at Farm. It is a truly small and quiet intimate space- one room with a tiny kitchen. Not cramped though, I actually had the feeling of being in someone's dining room. The decor is typically french bistro country: Some red paint on the wall, lots of old french newspapers as wallpaper and paintings. Nothing unusual or original, but a quaint neighborhood feel. The only thing I hated was the funky blue and white floor tiles, some of which were broken, which made no sense with the rest of the decor.
Our waitress was friendly and appropriately present throughout most of the meal. We were seated promptly and handed our menu which featured an assortment of french american bistro afforadable favorites. Most appetizers were in the 8 -10 dollar price range while mains were in the high teens with only the steak frites a high 28 dollars. The well priced wine menu was fairly small with not many available by the glass. Most were french wines but the varieties represented could have been more well rounded. We shared a bottle of a $29 dollar french white, which was a nice citrusy flavored simple fruit forward choice. I also ordered a glass of Spanish temparanillo with my steak , which was an approachable mildy interesting red.
We started off with a $8.50 pissaladiere for appetizer, a french savory tart . It arrived a generous serving of 4 perfectly baked flaky puff pastry squares topped with a well harmonized mix of diced tomatoes, basil and anchovies. Fresh,simple and tasty, each ingrediant lent its own note to bring th overall flavor together.
For mains, I opted for the $19 strip steak with twice baked potatoe and spinach, my husband went for the $17 onion crusted salmon and my cousin for the $17 roast chicken. I ordered my steak "bloody", which I felt underlined my need for truly rare steak. Unfortunately it arrived medium with parts medium rare. Despite that, the steak was bloody good. Beautifully seared exterior with light but well thought out seasoning, the meat was tender and juicy despite being cooked beyond my desire. The side of the twice baked potatoe and spinach were both well cooked and seasoned. While there was nothing original in presentation or flavor spectrum, this is the kind of food a good neighborhood joint should deliver. Fresh well prepared simple ingrediants that make you feel like a good friend has worked hard to make you a good meal. My husband's salmon , which he ordered medium, arrived a shriveled onion coated sliver . Although it looked extermely overdone, somehow they managed to retain moistness and flavor. My steak was a truly generous portion of food, so it was a bit surprising how skimpy the salmon portion was. I did not taste my cousin's chicken although it also looked a tad overcooked but was undeniably juicy appearing.
For dessert, we ventured for the warm chocolate cake and I had a glass of the white port. The cake was also overcooked with a tangy mango sauce that laced the plate and a large serving of vanilla icecream.
My white port was simply a well aged chenin french wine, which was a bit too light to call porto and would have served better as a appetizer drink.
Overall, if I lived in Midwood or were in the area, I am sure this would be one of my go to places for a lazy dinner on weekdays. The price ,portions,taste spectrum and friendly decor and service make it a good neighborhood joint. While the kitchen needs help in not overcooking all food, somehow whats left is still tasty cuisine.
The Quest continues.......
Cafe Henri
Cafe Henri
1010 50th Ave.
Long Island City, NY 11109
Food 5
Ambiance 5
Service 4
Overall 14
Good for tea and dessert, skip the brunch
So I decided to continue the Queens borough sampling and headed to LIC for a Sunday brunch with my cousin. Having passed Chez Henri many a time, mainly on my way to Tournesol or Domaine wine bar, I had always pegged it from its exterior vibe and menu as a good brunch option. We arrived around 12:30 ish and the small cozy space was packed. Luckily for us ,there was an empty table which we were promptly seated at. The decor is a mismash of antiques with a country french charm. Neutral hues with a pop of color here and there. The kind of place that if the food were fantastic would be your favorite neighborhood joint. Most tables seat 2 tightly. The menu focuses on standard french bistro options with a heavy focus on all things crepes. all at reasonable low prices 8-12 dollars for most things on the menu. I ended up going for a Croque Madame sandwich and my cousin had an eggplant crepe.
Both were served with a side salad. My sandwich arrived and I was immediately sorely disappointed. For those who don't know, a croque Madame is essentially a croque monsieur with an egg on top. The best start with some lovely crusty french bread into which a health serving of good ham and gruyere cheese are ladled with a creamy milk based bechamel . The sandwich is pan toasted in butter and then usually more of the heavenly bechamel is ladeled on top with a dusting of cheese and broiled to a melting golden brown . When perfectly done, it is one of those guilty pleasures which leaves you well fed and lip smacking for more although your stomach cannot handle another bite. Cafe Henri's version arrived with a hard helmet of unbrowned cheese congealed on its top. Most of the sandwhich was lukewarm and I don't think any of the interior had any bechamel. The bread used was also hard-possible day old. I was certainly neither guility nor lip smacking at the end of this sandwich- just wondering what kind of place can mess up what is basically a jazzed up grilled ham and cheese sandwich that most corner delis can nail.The side salad was a nicely dressed small serving of greens, a good counterpoint to the heaviness of my sandwich. Although I did not taste my cousin's crepe, which she stated was ok, it looked not eggy enough for my taste and fairly small for almost the same price as my sandwich.
Service was helpful when present.
Overall, I would not recommend for brunch and although I have never been there for dinner,I will certainly not venture there for that. Its very cute for a cup of coffee or tea and maybe a dessert for you and maybe one friend.
The Quest continues.......
1010 50th Ave.
Long Island City, NY 11109
Food 5
Ambiance 5
Service 4
Overall 14
Good for tea and dessert, skip the brunch
So I decided to continue the Queens borough sampling and headed to LIC for a Sunday brunch with my cousin. Having passed Chez Henri many a time, mainly on my way to Tournesol or Domaine wine bar, I had always pegged it from its exterior vibe and menu as a good brunch option. We arrived around 12:30 ish and the small cozy space was packed. Luckily for us ,there was an empty table which we were promptly seated at. The decor is a mismash of antiques with a country french charm. Neutral hues with a pop of color here and there. The kind of place that if the food were fantastic would be your favorite neighborhood joint. Most tables seat 2 tightly. The menu focuses on standard french bistro options with a heavy focus on all things crepes. all at reasonable low prices 8-12 dollars for most things on the menu. I ended up going for a Croque Madame sandwich and my cousin had an eggplant crepe.
Both were served with a side salad. My sandwich arrived and I was immediately sorely disappointed. For those who don't know, a croque Madame is essentially a croque monsieur with an egg on top. The best start with some lovely crusty french bread into which a health serving of good ham and gruyere cheese are ladled with a creamy milk based bechamel . The sandwich is pan toasted in butter and then usually more of the heavenly bechamel is ladeled on top with a dusting of cheese and broiled to a melting golden brown . When perfectly done, it is one of those guilty pleasures which leaves you well fed and lip smacking for more although your stomach cannot handle another bite. Cafe Henri's version arrived with a hard helmet of unbrowned cheese congealed on its top. Most of the sandwhich was lukewarm and I don't think any of the interior had any bechamel. The bread used was also hard-possible day old. I was certainly neither guility nor lip smacking at the end of this sandwich- just wondering what kind of place can mess up what is basically a jazzed up grilled ham and cheese sandwich that most corner delis can nail.The side salad was a nicely dressed small serving of greens, a good counterpoint to the heaviness of my sandwich. Although I did not taste my cousin's crepe, which she stated was ok, it looked not eggy enough for my taste and fairly small for almost the same price as my sandwich.
Service was helpful when present.
Overall, I would not recommend for brunch and although I have never been there for dinner,I will certainly not venture there for that. Its very cute for a cup of coffee or tea and maybe a dessert for you and maybe one friend.
The Quest continues.......
Friday, October 16, 2009
Trattoria L'Incontro
Trattoria L'Incontro
2176 31 st Avenue
Astoria,NY
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 7
Overall 20
Good for small to large groups ready for a loud time with fresh well made pastas and well portioned mains
So I finally decided last night I must dine in Queens. I figured enough with the focus on all things not in my borough. The problem is that there is not a plethora of cool or interesting spots. The list is fairly small with many options having been sampled prior. And unlike Brooklyn or Manhattan, I find there are not new restaurants popping up every week. Many tried and true favorites. However, running through my head restaurant file, I remembered Trattoria L'incontro, which has often received uniformly good reviews. I was in the mood for good Italian, less Italian American and more new Italian ,so it seemed like a possible good match. I must confess that what sealed my fate for coming here was a review on yelp which talked about there many daily specials with unusual combinations like pear Gorgonzola ravioli. I am partial to the point of mild lunacy to that particular combination because on my honeymoon in Italy, my first afternoon in Florence ,I had the distinct pleasure of being forced heaven bound by eating just such a ravioli. They melted in my mouth ,a succulent lush combination of fragrant ripe pear dotted with creamy Gorgonzola enveloped in a pillow of the thinnest and freshest pasta in a butter sauce dotted with hazelnuts. Yes, I digress. But if only I could just bite into them one more time....
So obviously there was no chance in hell we weren't going to Trattoria after I read that review.
We arrived on Saturday a little after 7 pm without reservations. The exterior decor is beige brick- that is unassuming and fairly boring. We entered the restaurant and were immediately overwhelmed by the noise level. This is a fairly large restaurant and it caters more to small groups than the romantic pair. The decor is standard attempted charm. Annoying "bathroom-kitchen" looking floor tile with large village scenery paintings on the wall. As soon as we entered, we were greeted warmly by the host and promptly seated at our table. Within seconds our server arrived, dressed in a black suit with an earpiece in his ear. I paused briefly to verify there was no President in the house, as our server looked suspiciously like an political bodyguard. Trattoria ,as I was soon to learn, is all about the show. Our waiter paused to greet us briefly before launching into a litany of specials.And when I say litany I mean litany. All we needed was a few Hail Marys and we would have all been blessed.The standard menu, in case you are wondering, is not by any measure small to begin with. A decent selection of antipasti, pasta and mains to choose from. The specials easily double that menu. Our waiter,apparently having the specials fed to him on the earpiece, paused infrequently, only enough it seemed for requisite breathing and my necessary questions. Honestly I cannot remember most of what was shared. I strategized once I got the gist of the game to pay attention to ingredients that sounded tasty to my ear. While I enjoyed the extensiveness of the specials and the show of the delivery, it would help for those not graced with incredible audible memory to have a board listing the specials. In any case after several questions of clarification, my husband and I decided for an "only specials" meal. We opened with the ravioli with apple and mascarpone cheese ($19) to share and I would continue with a whole grilled branzino ($29) and my husband with a grilled double Berkshire pork chop ($28). Both mains were served with a standard roast potatoes and green beans. While pondering our menu, we surveyed the wine list which featured a well priced selection of primarily Italian wines with a few other options thrown in. As I am a big lover of Amarone, we though about getting an 80 dollar bottle until the host came to whisper in my ear that they had two wine specials, a 200 dollar Brunello going for 60 dollars and and Amraone/Brunello mix. We went for the Brunello, which I have never had but heard much about and which is usually very for my budget both here and Italy. Our Brunello arrived, an average tasting wine which paired better with my husbands pork than my branzino, certainly not enough complexity for the prior price tag of 200 dollars but not too bad for the 60 we paid.
Back to the food forray. Our apple ravioli on separate places, a nice accommodating touch. The ravioli looked fresh- 3 each with a subtle truffle perfumed cream sauce laced across . The ravioli were tasty and fresh but unfortunately the apple was lost in the cheese. Every so often I had a faint whiff of sweetness but not enough to know there was apple in there. A shame, I had pictured small chunks of faintly sweet apple juxtaposed with the creamy cheese. Now that would have been spectacular.
My branzino arrived a well sized whole fish nicely browned with perfectly cooked and seasoned sauteed green beans and under salted white potatoes. The branzino was incredibly fresh but could have been seasoned more assertively with a bit more char flavor. My husbands pork was a tad over cooked but very well seasoned with beautiful caramelization on its exterior.
We continued to dessert where I had the house made tiramisu and my husband had the lemon tart. The tiramisu was light, not enough cream ng or coffee flavoring for my taste. The lemon tart was nicely tart but oddly capped off with a blueberry glaze which was overly sweet.
Disappointingly, they do not serve many after dinner drinks by the glass, most by the bottle.Again, the restaurant is very group friendly. I was considering getting vin santo or passito, but the waiter informed me they were out of both that night. Even though they are not my preferred post dinner drinks, I was surprised at the lack of grappas on the menu.
Over all, I would recommend this restaurant for a memorable friends night out on the pricey side with theatrical flair with friends if you are in Queens. If you are trekking from Brooklyn or Manhattan, there are many more memorable places to spend your money on. I did enjoy the sense that if I became a regular here I would soon be on a first name basis with the chef(who did make table rounds) and the the staff. As you may have guessed from the review so far, the service was very attentive and friendly.
2176 31 st Avenue
Astoria,NY
Food 7
Ambiance 6
Service 7
Overall 20
Good for small to large groups ready for a loud time with fresh well made pastas and well portioned mains
So I finally decided last night I must dine in Queens. I figured enough with the focus on all things not in my borough. The problem is that there is not a plethora of cool or interesting spots. The list is fairly small with many options having been sampled prior. And unlike Brooklyn or Manhattan, I find there are not new restaurants popping up every week. Many tried and true favorites. However, running through my head restaurant file, I remembered Trattoria L'incontro, which has often received uniformly good reviews. I was in the mood for good Italian, less Italian American and more new Italian ,so it seemed like a possible good match. I must confess that what sealed my fate for coming here was a review on yelp which talked about there many daily specials with unusual combinations like pear Gorgonzola ravioli. I am partial to the point of mild lunacy to that particular combination because on my honeymoon in Italy, my first afternoon in Florence ,I had the distinct pleasure of being forced heaven bound by eating just such a ravioli. They melted in my mouth ,a succulent lush combination of fragrant ripe pear dotted with creamy Gorgonzola enveloped in a pillow of the thinnest and freshest pasta in a butter sauce dotted with hazelnuts. Yes, I digress. But if only I could just bite into them one more time....
So obviously there was no chance in hell we weren't going to Trattoria after I read that review.
We arrived on Saturday a little after 7 pm without reservations. The exterior decor is beige brick- that is unassuming and fairly boring. We entered the restaurant and were immediately overwhelmed by the noise level. This is a fairly large restaurant and it caters more to small groups than the romantic pair. The decor is standard attempted charm. Annoying "bathroom-kitchen" looking floor tile with large village scenery paintings on the wall. As soon as we entered, we were greeted warmly by the host and promptly seated at our table. Within seconds our server arrived, dressed in a black suit with an earpiece in his ear. I paused briefly to verify there was no President in the house, as our server looked suspiciously like an political bodyguard. Trattoria ,as I was soon to learn, is all about the show. Our waiter paused to greet us briefly before launching into a litany of specials.And when I say litany I mean litany. All we needed was a few Hail Marys and we would have all been blessed.The standard menu, in case you are wondering, is not by any measure small to begin with. A decent selection of antipasti, pasta and mains to choose from. The specials easily double that menu. Our waiter,apparently having the specials fed to him on the earpiece, paused infrequently, only enough it seemed for requisite breathing and my necessary questions. Honestly I cannot remember most of what was shared. I strategized once I got the gist of the game to pay attention to ingredients that sounded tasty to my ear. While I enjoyed the extensiveness of the specials and the show of the delivery, it would help for those not graced with incredible audible memory to have a board listing the specials. In any case after several questions of clarification, my husband and I decided for an "only specials" meal. We opened with the ravioli with apple and mascarpone cheese ($19) to share and I would continue with a whole grilled branzino ($29) and my husband with a grilled double Berkshire pork chop ($28). Both mains were served with a standard roast potatoes and green beans. While pondering our menu, we surveyed the wine list which featured a well priced selection of primarily Italian wines with a few other options thrown in. As I am a big lover of Amarone, we though about getting an 80 dollar bottle until the host came to whisper in my ear that they had two wine specials, a 200 dollar Brunello going for 60 dollars and and Amraone/Brunello mix. We went for the Brunello, which I have never had but heard much about and which is usually very for my budget both here and Italy. Our Brunello arrived, an average tasting wine which paired better with my husbands pork than my branzino, certainly not enough complexity for the prior price tag of 200 dollars but not too bad for the 60 we paid.
Back to the food forray. Our apple ravioli on separate places, a nice accommodating touch. The ravioli looked fresh- 3 each with a subtle truffle perfumed cream sauce laced across . The ravioli were tasty and fresh but unfortunately the apple was lost in the cheese. Every so often I had a faint whiff of sweetness but not enough to know there was apple in there. A shame, I had pictured small chunks of faintly sweet apple juxtaposed with the creamy cheese. Now that would have been spectacular.
My branzino arrived a well sized whole fish nicely browned with perfectly cooked and seasoned sauteed green beans and under salted white potatoes. The branzino was incredibly fresh but could have been seasoned more assertively with a bit more char flavor. My husbands pork was a tad over cooked but very well seasoned with beautiful caramelization on its exterior.
We continued to dessert where I had the house made tiramisu and my husband had the lemon tart. The tiramisu was light, not enough cream ng or coffee flavoring for my taste. The lemon tart was nicely tart but oddly capped off with a blueberry glaze which was overly sweet.
Disappointingly, they do not serve many after dinner drinks by the glass, most by the bottle.Again, the restaurant is very group friendly. I was considering getting vin santo or passito, but the waiter informed me they were out of both that night. Even though they are not my preferred post dinner drinks, I was surprised at the lack of grappas on the menu.
Over all, I would recommend this restaurant for a memorable friends night out on the pricey side with theatrical flair with friends if you are in Queens. If you are trekking from Brooklyn or Manhattan, there are many more memorable places to spend your money on. I did enjoy the sense that if I became a regular here I would soon be on a first name basis with the chef(who did make table rounds) and the the staff. As you may have guessed from the review so far, the service was very attentive and friendly.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Mary Ann's
Mary Ann's
107 West Broadway
NY,NY 10013
Food 7
Ambiance5
Service 3
Overall 15
Good For Strong drinks and stick to your ribs foods and small groups getting ready to party!
So I must straight off confess, I learned that this was a NYC chain when writing this review. Despite my suspicion of chains, I must admit that Mary Ann's delivers in two important categories where groups are concerned: strong tasty drinks and hearty well seasoned food portions.
We arrived around 9 pm, without reservation on a Friday night, to find the main restaurant well crowded. Our hostess, who spent a good several minutes ignoring us while speaking with another client on the phone, finally hung up and hurriedly seated us at a table in the bar area.
The place is typical pseudo Mexican decor. Entertaining and soothing colors.Tile and terra cotta splashed around strategically. The main dining room seemed cozy but unfortunately the bar was less attractive with a central large TV, showing a sports game, being the unfortunate focal point.
Perusing the food menu, I was happy to find a Tribeca restaurant with reasonable pricing (everything under 17 dollars) and somewhat shocking newflash -original Mexican ingrediants:actual cotija cheese!. They certainly offer many nontraditional jazzed up options- like a chicken roast eggplant quesadilla or whole wheat burritio- but I steered clear of these options. To be frank I was not expected anything close to authenticity in this area ,but looking at the food options ,you can be sure my heart yelled for some good ole mariachi music to dance to. I settled on the pork enchilidas and shared with my sister ,a chicken fajita. I also ordered a 8 dollar caipirina and and later a 12 dollar cadillac martini. Both were well balanced flavorful strong drinks, although the margherita was pulled off better.
Prior to our mains arriving, we busied ourselves with some fresh tasting tortillas and a mild salsa. I would have liked a little more zip in my salsa but it was , as you may note the theme, well flavored with an interesting medley of spices. My enchilidas arrived, a fairly small serving of two enchilidas with a sprinkling of cotija cheese and some red rice with beans. Although the serving could have been a little more generous, the pork was tender and fragrant. The rice and beans were substantial and made me wonder if the kitchen did not in fact hold someone's Mexican grandmother. The food tasted of home, not your commercial variety of Mexican food so often peddled here and elsewhere. My sister's fajitas were however miles above my enchilidas. Well marinated prior with a pungent mix of garlic and a variety of fresh spices which even included in an original move rosemary, their odor wafted invitingly as soon as they danced to our tables. The tortillas, guacomole and onions they were served with were also good but the star was the delicate chicken morsels. My only complaint was the fajitas had no grill taste which would have elevated them to beyond memorable status. I do believe these were truly among the best fajitas I have ever devoured, both at a restaurant or made by my own little hands.
The main problem with this restaurant was the service which was barely existant. When present, they were very helpful and attentive. Unfortunately, we spent too much of our dinner attempting to track down any waitstaff, although they huddled inexplicably at the bar, only a few feet away from us.
I heartily recommend this place for a group of friends looking for some authentic tasting well priced Mexican food and party invoking drinks in a cool part of town.
The Quest continues....
107 West Broadway
NY,NY 10013
Food 7
Ambiance5
Service 3
Overall 15
Good For Strong drinks and stick to your ribs foods and small groups getting ready to party!
So I must straight off confess, I learned that this was a NYC chain when writing this review. Despite my suspicion of chains, I must admit that Mary Ann's delivers in two important categories where groups are concerned: strong tasty drinks and hearty well seasoned food portions.
We arrived around 9 pm, without reservation on a Friday night, to find the main restaurant well crowded. Our hostess, who spent a good several minutes ignoring us while speaking with another client on the phone, finally hung up and hurriedly seated us at a table in the bar area.
The place is typical pseudo Mexican decor. Entertaining and soothing colors.Tile and terra cotta splashed around strategically. The main dining room seemed cozy but unfortunately the bar was less attractive with a central large TV, showing a sports game, being the unfortunate focal point.
Perusing the food menu, I was happy to find a Tribeca restaurant with reasonable pricing (everything under 17 dollars) and somewhat shocking newflash -original Mexican ingrediants:actual cotija cheese!. They certainly offer many nontraditional jazzed up options- like a chicken roast eggplant quesadilla or whole wheat burritio- but I steered clear of these options. To be frank I was not expected anything close to authenticity in this area ,but looking at the food options ,you can be sure my heart yelled for some good ole mariachi music to dance to. I settled on the pork enchilidas and shared with my sister ,a chicken fajita. I also ordered a 8 dollar caipirina and and later a 12 dollar cadillac martini. Both were well balanced flavorful strong drinks, although the margherita was pulled off better.
Prior to our mains arriving, we busied ourselves with some fresh tasting tortillas and a mild salsa. I would have liked a little more zip in my salsa but it was , as you may note the theme, well flavored with an interesting medley of spices. My enchilidas arrived, a fairly small serving of two enchilidas with a sprinkling of cotija cheese and some red rice with beans. Although the serving could have been a little more generous, the pork was tender and fragrant. The rice and beans were substantial and made me wonder if the kitchen did not in fact hold someone's Mexican grandmother. The food tasted of home, not your commercial variety of Mexican food so often peddled here and elsewhere. My sister's fajitas were however miles above my enchilidas. Well marinated prior with a pungent mix of garlic and a variety of fresh spices which even included in an original move rosemary, their odor wafted invitingly as soon as they danced to our tables. The tortillas, guacomole and onions they were served with were also good but the star was the delicate chicken morsels. My only complaint was the fajitas had no grill taste which would have elevated them to beyond memorable status. I do believe these were truly among the best fajitas I have ever devoured, both at a restaurant or made by my own little hands.
The main problem with this restaurant was the service which was barely existant. When present, they were very helpful and attentive. Unfortunately, we spent too much of our dinner attempting to track down any waitstaff, although they huddled inexplicably at the bar, only a few feet away from us.
I heartily recommend this place for a group of friends looking for some authentic tasting well priced Mexican food and party invoking drinks in a cool part of town.
The Quest continues....
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Elderberry Pond Restaruant
Elderberry Pond Restaurant
3728 Center St
Auburn,NY 13021
Food 5
Service 5
Ambiance 7
Overall 17
Good For romantic lunch
I admit I am a true sucker for this local and organic food movement. If a restaurant advertises as such I have fantasies of seeing my pork slaughtered before me and them masterfully cooked on an open flame, while some rugged women tears fresh salad and root vegetables from the ground to pair with the finely grilled meat. What can I say- Michael Pollen inspired the quest for hog hunting in me. In any case, Elderberry Pond Restuarant is on a small working farm and advertises much of the food and wine on the menu as coming directly from them. So although I have yet to taste the marvel that is Blue Hill Stone Farms, I imagined this might be in the same vein.
It is out of the main drag, nestled among other farms and residences in deep country Auburn. Driving there at 7:30 pm at night, few street lights shining our way, even with the GPS we got lost twice. Finally, we arrive upon a charming country farmhouse- the interior an interesting mix of understated modern accesories and original wood detailing. The dining room is small and cozy. I wished I had come for lunch because the windows hints lovely exterior views which in sunlight might be all the more heart warming.
After being seated and perusing the menu, I was troubled to find very little"local or organic" on the menu. The wine list had maybe 2 or 3 wines from the region and the food menu had about the same in ingrediants from the farm. The farm apparently harvest produce as well as chickens and pork. The wine list was small and well priced with an interesting sampling of wines from around the world.
For appetizer I opted for the farm heirloom tomatoe ,mozzarella and basil salad while my husband had a potatoe leek soup. My salad was crisp and refreshing while his soup was underseasoned and lacking in the expected creaminess common to this soup type. For main, I ordered the duck breast while he went for their farm organic chicken. I had ordered my breast rare, and it arrived medium. My breast, while well seasoned was served with an unappetizing potatoe mash. I was quite hungry by the time my breast arrived, owing to an unusually long wait between main and appetizers , and I was in no mood to return it. However, I did let the waitress know that the duck had been overcooked. Imagine my surprise when she stated she had not heard me ask for my duck breast as rare. Our waitress,aside from this gaffe, was inexplicably absent for most of our meal. We were puzzled by this as the restaurant is very small and did not have a full clientele that night. Back to the food, my husbands chicken was bland , its meat was tender enough but the skin was soggy. Desperate for some food maginificance, we trodded to dessert. We opted for a blueberry lemon curd tart which was refreshing in its simplicity and taste.
Overall, the food was adequate but for the pricing, our bill including 3 glasses of wine left near to 120 dollars, left much to be desired in regards service and quality. Their lunch menu seemed more reasonable in price and given the lovely ambiance of the grounds might entice me to try them one more time. The restaurant is a destination- as it is away from the main Finger Lake area and any main town. However, they do have farm tours and if you are truly into the organic local movement might be worth a quick trip. Certainly of our three restaurants, this was one of the best. However, overall the food sampled in these parts was pricey and subpar for the quality. If I return to these region, I will try my hand at the more numerous and well reviewed restaurants of the Ithaca area.
The Quest continues.....
3728 Center St
Auburn,NY 13021
Food 5
Service 5
Ambiance 7
Overall 17
Good For romantic lunch
I admit I am a true sucker for this local and organic food movement. If a restaurant advertises as such I have fantasies of seeing my pork slaughtered before me and them masterfully cooked on an open flame, while some rugged women tears fresh salad and root vegetables from the ground to pair with the finely grilled meat. What can I say- Michael Pollen inspired the quest for hog hunting in me. In any case, Elderberry Pond Restuarant is on a small working farm and advertises much of the food and wine on the menu as coming directly from them. So although I have yet to taste the marvel that is Blue Hill Stone Farms, I imagined this might be in the same vein.
It is out of the main drag, nestled among other farms and residences in deep country Auburn. Driving there at 7:30 pm at night, few street lights shining our way, even with the GPS we got lost twice. Finally, we arrive upon a charming country farmhouse- the interior an interesting mix of understated modern accesories and original wood detailing. The dining room is small and cozy. I wished I had come for lunch because the windows hints lovely exterior views which in sunlight might be all the more heart warming.
After being seated and perusing the menu, I was troubled to find very little"local or organic" on the menu. The wine list had maybe 2 or 3 wines from the region and the food menu had about the same in ingrediants from the farm. The farm apparently harvest produce as well as chickens and pork. The wine list was small and well priced with an interesting sampling of wines from around the world.
For appetizer I opted for the farm heirloom tomatoe ,mozzarella and basil salad while my husband had a potatoe leek soup. My salad was crisp and refreshing while his soup was underseasoned and lacking in the expected creaminess common to this soup type. For main, I ordered the duck breast while he went for their farm organic chicken. I had ordered my breast rare, and it arrived medium. My breast, while well seasoned was served with an unappetizing potatoe mash. I was quite hungry by the time my breast arrived, owing to an unusually long wait between main and appetizers , and I was in no mood to return it. However, I did let the waitress know that the duck had been overcooked. Imagine my surprise when she stated she had not heard me ask for my duck breast as rare. Our waitress,aside from this gaffe, was inexplicably absent for most of our meal. We were puzzled by this as the restaurant is very small and did not have a full clientele that night. Back to the food, my husbands chicken was bland , its meat was tender enough but the skin was soggy. Desperate for some food maginificance, we trodded to dessert. We opted for a blueberry lemon curd tart which was refreshing in its simplicity and taste.
Overall, the food was adequate but for the pricing, our bill including 3 glasses of wine left near to 120 dollars, left much to be desired in regards service and quality. Their lunch menu seemed more reasonable in price and given the lovely ambiance of the grounds might entice me to try them one more time. The restaurant is a destination- as it is away from the main Finger Lake area and any main town. However, they do have farm tours and if you are truly into the organic local movement might be worth a quick trip. Certainly of our three restaurants, this was one of the best. However, overall the food sampled in these parts was pricey and subpar for the quality. If I return to these region, I will try my hand at the more numerous and well reviewed restaurants of the Ithaca area.
The Quest continues.....
Quinto Quarto
Quinto Quarto
14 Bedford St
NY,NY 10014
Food 4
Ambiance 6
Service 5
Overall 15
Good For...pastas and some well priced wine
I must say that ever since my three trips to Italy, I have become convinced that I will never find pasta or pizza that compares to the magnificent examples I sampled so frequently there. However, as I am a woman on a quest, hope springs eternal and I had vague hope that this restaurant which advertises as an Osteria Roma might be the differance I was looking for. I must admit that the fact that they were advertising as a Roman Osteria might have given me pause. Although the food I had in Rome was good, it was easily dwarfed by the food in so many other more rural places. But I digress.
The restaurant is located in the heart of the West Village, sharing the street with many other well know favorites like Chez Henri and Blue Ribbon. The decor certainly reminded me of many an osteria in Italy. Small ,wood paneling with random signs in Italian. Large open windows with a view to the street. Real candles on the small tables. Its price point was suspiciously low,6 dollar appetizers or desserts, 11 dollars pastas and 19 dollars mains. But when choosing the restaurant, I assumed the price point was an easy way to get customers in the door of this new establishment. The wine list is exclusively Italian, with a well priced selection of a few sections of the country. We opted for a 30 dollar bottle of Valpollicella, which ended up being the highpoint of our meal.
My husband and I started with the fennel orange salad. A small portion of very ripe and juicy oranges and underipe sliced fennel with an overgenerous dousing of olive oil. Certainly good for a 6 dollar entree.
I then ordered the housemade tonnerelli pasta with sausage and porcini mushrooms while my husband opted for the rabbit cooked in tomatoes and anchovy sauce served with potatoes and peas. The pasta came out in a insipid millky sauce dotted with crumbled sausage meat and a few porcini. Although the noodles, twice the size of spaghetti noodles, were fresh and tasty the sauce was unappetizing to look ,smell and unfortunately even eat. There was no hint of the porcini taste in the sauce and the sausage meat was somehow also falvorless. The rabbit arrived a bony 3 fragments of 2 inch pieces of overcooked and underseasoned meat laying next to a few slivers of old potatoes. Now when I mean old, I mean, OLD, potatoes roasted several days prior to their being served. The peas were grey in color, so I did not even venture near these.Now while Italian portions are certainly not the mammoth food quanties of Italian American fame, they are more generous than their French counters. The rabbit portions wre truly shocking given the cost. When we informed our waiter,after he asked, about the subpar potatoes and rabbit, he did give us a gratis sampling of a whole sausage and swiss chard side . While a nice gesture, unfortunately both complementary items, were not much better than the original. Determined to have the full Roman Osteria experiance, we ordered a 10 dollar trifecta of desserts -- ricotta cheesecake, panna cotta and apple chocalate cake with a shot of limoncello. The panna cotta was in indelicate gelatinous mess, the cheesecake a tasty light dessert while the chocalate apple was a intense sweet indulgence. The limoncello was heavy and a bit too sweet with not enough lemon tang for my tastebuds.
Quinto Quarto left me hungering for some true Roman treats. However given the pricepoint, location and ambiance, I would attempt another pasta only forray before completely writing it off. In addition, I appreciated their gesture to try and satisfy us and will take it as proof that some of the subpar food was due to growing pains in this new establishment.
The Quest continues.....
14 Bedford St
NY,NY 10014
Food 4
Ambiance 6
Service 5
Overall 15
Good For...pastas and some well priced wine
I must say that ever since my three trips to Italy, I have become convinced that I will never find pasta or pizza that compares to the magnificent examples I sampled so frequently there. However, as I am a woman on a quest, hope springs eternal and I had vague hope that this restaurant which advertises as an Osteria Roma might be the differance I was looking for. I must admit that the fact that they were advertising as a Roman Osteria might have given me pause. Although the food I had in Rome was good, it was easily dwarfed by the food in so many other more rural places. But I digress.
The restaurant is located in the heart of the West Village, sharing the street with many other well know favorites like Chez Henri and Blue Ribbon. The decor certainly reminded me of many an osteria in Italy. Small ,wood paneling with random signs in Italian. Large open windows with a view to the street. Real candles on the small tables. Its price point was suspiciously low,6 dollar appetizers or desserts, 11 dollars pastas and 19 dollars mains. But when choosing the restaurant, I assumed the price point was an easy way to get customers in the door of this new establishment. The wine list is exclusively Italian, with a well priced selection of a few sections of the country. We opted for a 30 dollar bottle of Valpollicella, which ended up being the highpoint of our meal.
My husband and I started with the fennel orange salad. A small portion of very ripe and juicy oranges and underipe sliced fennel with an overgenerous dousing of olive oil. Certainly good for a 6 dollar entree.
I then ordered the housemade tonnerelli pasta with sausage and porcini mushrooms while my husband opted for the rabbit cooked in tomatoes and anchovy sauce served with potatoes and peas. The pasta came out in a insipid millky sauce dotted with crumbled sausage meat and a few porcini. Although the noodles, twice the size of spaghetti noodles, were fresh and tasty the sauce was unappetizing to look ,smell and unfortunately even eat. There was no hint of the porcini taste in the sauce and the sausage meat was somehow also falvorless. The rabbit arrived a bony 3 fragments of 2 inch pieces of overcooked and underseasoned meat laying next to a few slivers of old potatoes. Now when I mean old, I mean, OLD, potatoes roasted several days prior to their being served. The peas were grey in color, so I did not even venture near these.Now while Italian portions are certainly not the mammoth food quanties of Italian American fame, they are more generous than their French counters. The rabbit portions wre truly shocking given the cost. When we informed our waiter,after he asked, about the subpar potatoes and rabbit, he did give us a gratis sampling of a whole sausage and swiss chard side . While a nice gesture, unfortunately both complementary items, were not much better than the original. Determined to have the full Roman Osteria experiance, we ordered a 10 dollar trifecta of desserts -- ricotta cheesecake, panna cotta and apple chocalate cake with a shot of limoncello. The panna cotta was in indelicate gelatinous mess, the cheesecake a tasty light dessert while the chocalate apple was a intense sweet indulgence. The limoncello was heavy and a bit too sweet with not enough lemon tang for my tastebuds.
Quinto Quarto left me hungering for some true Roman treats. However given the pricepoint, location and ambiance, I would attempt another pasta only forray before completely writing it off. In addition, I appreciated their gesture to try and satisfy us and will take it as proof that some of the subpar food was due to growing pains in this new establishment.
The Quest continues.....
Friday, September 25, 2009
Marrakesh
Marrakesh
235 E53
NY,NY 10022
Food 3
Ambiance 4
Service2
Overall 9
Good for I'm thinking.......
So the first thing that should have tipped me off that there might be something odd about this place is that when I sat at my table I noticed that the table next to me had ordered Mexican and Morrocan plates and that both were coming out of the same kitchen. When I had entered the restaurant , I had noticed a sign for a Mexican restaurant next door. What I did not realize is that it is all one happy restaurant. The Moroccan menu has a spattering of typical Meditteranean ingrediants and throws in a bevy of Italian American foods as well. The restaurant itself is a cozy Moroccan tiled basement. Nothing grand but also not ridiculously basic.
The kind of space where if the food is fantastic would rapidly become a well cherished gem.
Unfortunately .....what Marrakesh wins awards for is great cheap food at hefty portions...the most expensive thing on the menu was 15 dollars ,which for an restuarant in the bowels of the eastside is a feat.
We started with a mix of hummus and baba served with whole wheat pita and some morrocan mint tea. The tea was perfumed sweetness . Thankfully,it helped wash down the horrid aftertaste of tahini loaded hummus, tasteless baba and storebought and unheated wheat pita. My main was the chicken couscous while my sister had the lamb kebab. The couscous was a well seasoned mash of seasonal vegetables on a bed of couscous with diced grilled chicken on top. Although it was tasty, it was odd they took the time to stew their vegetable but not their meat. The lamb kebab was standard street fare,a bit gamey, but edible nonetheless. We did not try dessert as the place looked ready to close. In fact they had looked ready to close from our entrance at 8:30 that night. The waitresses seemed to enjoy hanging out in the kitchen,as far away as possible from the spares number of patrons and peeked out every half hour or so to see if we had finally vacated the premise.
That night my sister and I suffered the consequences of our exotic travel abroad.
Apparently the world is just not ready for Moroccan-Mex cuisine.
The Quest continues....
235 E53
NY,NY 10022
Food 3
Ambiance 4
Service2
Overall 9
Good for I'm thinking.......
So the first thing that should have tipped me off that there might be something odd about this place is that when I sat at my table I noticed that the table next to me had ordered Mexican and Morrocan plates and that both were coming out of the same kitchen. When I had entered the restaurant , I had noticed a sign for a Mexican restaurant next door. What I did not realize is that it is all one happy restaurant. The Moroccan menu has a spattering of typical Meditteranean ingrediants and throws in a bevy of Italian American foods as well. The restaurant itself is a cozy Moroccan tiled basement. Nothing grand but also not ridiculously basic.
The kind of space where if the food is fantastic would rapidly become a well cherished gem.
Unfortunately .....what Marrakesh wins awards for is great cheap food at hefty portions...the most expensive thing on the menu was 15 dollars ,which for an restuarant in the bowels of the eastside is a feat.
We started with a mix of hummus and baba served with whole wheat pita and some morrocan mint tea. The tea was perfumed sweetness . Thankfully,it helped wash down the horrid aftertaste of tahini loaded hummus, tasteless baba and storebought and unheated wheat pita. My main was the chicken couscous while my sister had the lamb kebab. The couscous was a well seasoned mash of seasonal vegetables on a bed of couscous with diced grilled chicken on top. Although it was tasty, it was odd they took the time to stew their vegetable but not their meat. The lamb kebab was standard street fare,a bit gamey, but edible nonetheless. We did not try dessert as the place looked ready to close. In fact they had looked ready to close from our entrance at 8:30 that night. The waitresses seemed to enjoy hanging out in the kitchen,as far away as possible from the spares number of patrons and peeked out every half hour or so to see if we had finally vacated the premise.
That night my sister and I suffered the consequences of our exotic travel abroad.
Apparently the world is just not ready for Moroccan-Mex cuisine.
The Quest continues....
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Bistro 1
Bistro 1
1 E Gennese St
Auburn,NY
Scaled 1 to 10, 1 being repulsive and 10 being orgasmic (of course!)
Food 5
Ambiance 4
Service 6
Overall Rating 15
Good for drinks and quick lunch
I booked Bistro One primarily because of a few good reviews and its proximity to our hotel. It was a short 5 minute walk away and was touted as the only fine dining in the heart of Auburn. We initially passed by the understated entrance and when we finally entered the restaurant were warmly welcomed and promptly seated in the half empty restaurant by our cheery hostess. The interior decor was standard and unoriginal, a mishmosh of neutral warm toned orange sponged walls and mahogony colored furniture, very Jennifer Convertibles and not at all Bistro. The tile floor screamed bathroom or kitchen tile and the ceiling screamed 1970s outdated white cheap cork like tile. But as I said ambiance is a small part of what I look for.
The menu was surprisingly small and again a mish mosh assortment of American bar food a appetizers with attempts at inventive Nouvelle Inspired mains. Underwhelmed by the appetizer options, we settled for a lobster risotto to share. It arrived a large mass of overcooked rice and minimal amounts of fishy tasting lobster on a bed of salad. No creaminess or cheesiness in this risotto, rather it tasted like a heavy ricecake.
As we prepared for our mains, we reviewed the wine list which showcased a variety of well priced wines, although surprisingly very few local wines. As we pondered on our red choices, our waitress informed us that in fact,because of a party the night prior, they only had TWO bottles of red wines varieties to choose from. Now although this is the weirdest thing I have ever heard, thankfully of the two there was pretty decent 40 dollar Russian River valley pinot noir.
Prior to the mains, we were served a complementary salad, laced with balsamic vinegarette. This was a very ordinary garden salad,although I was surpised at the addition of what look suspiciously like iceberg.
For mains, I opted for the intriguing pork shank confit , especially when my waitress informed me there was only one left . My husband opted for the New York shell steak with roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables. My husband's steak arrived well seasoned and grilled, a healthy portion of meat served with a well sized portion of undercooked roast potatoes and well charred eggplant. The steak was overcooked as it was served medium although it had been ordered medium rare.
My pork confit arrived a small fried smoked ham hock next to a lovely potatoe mashcake and grilled vegetables. My pork was not confit at all. Primarily bone with a 2 inch sliver of meat it was reduced to a sad inedible hunk of meat. I love a good ham hock as well as well braised pork so I was disappointed to find neither of these in the dish. I returned my poor pork in exchange for chimichurri lamb chops. These fortunately were perfectly cooked as ordered,rare, but lacked seasoning. The chimichurri sauce served with these was watery and lacking in flavor. The star of my dish was the potatoe mash and grilled vegetables. Our waitress throughout was attentive and apolgetic and entertaining, truly the best thing about Bistro One.
We finished with a banana bread pudding, which also suffered from the dry hunk syndrome of my pork confit. Well flavored, it had likely been cooked the night before and left congealing in the refrigerator.
Bistro One suffered from the same syndrome as Simply Red( check out my earlier review). Truly not Bistro standard, but better in flavor profiles for price than the Simply Red.
The Quest continues....
1 E Gennese St
Auburn,NY
Scaled 1 to 10, 1 being repulsive and 10 being orgasmic (of course!)
Food 5
Ambiance 4
Service 6
Overall Rating 15
Good for drinks and quick lunch
I booked Bistro One primarily because of a few good reviews and its proximity to our hotel. It was a short 5 minute walk away and was touted as the only fine dining in the heart of Auburn. We initially passed by the understated entrance and when we finally entered the restaurant were warmly welcomed and promptly seated in the half empty restaurant by our cheery hostess. The interior decor was standard and unoriginal, a mishmosh of neutral warm toned orange sponged walls and mahogony colored furniture, very Jennifer Convertibles and not at all Bistro. The tile floor screamed bathroom or kitchen tile and the ceiling screamed 1970s outdated white cheap cork like tile. But as I said ambiance is a small part of what I look for.
The menu was surprisingly small and again a mish mosh assortment of American bar food a appetizers with attempts at inventive Nouvelle Inspired mains. Underwhelmed by the appetizer options, we settled for a lobster risotto to share. It arrived a large mass of overcooked rice and minimal amounts of fishy tasting lobster on a bed of salad. No creaminess or cheesiness in this risotto, rather it tasted like a heavy ricecake.
As we prepared for our mains, we reviewed the wine list which showcased a variety of well priced wines, although surprisingly very few local wines. As we pondered on our red choices, our waitress informed us that in fact,because of a party the night prior, they only had TWO bottles of red wines varieties to choose from. Now although this is the weirdest thing I have ever heard, thankfully of the two there was pretty decent 40 dollar Russian River valley pinot noir.
Prior to the mains, we were served a complementary salad, laced with balsamic vinegarette. This was a very ordinary garden salad,although I was surpised at the addition of what look suspiciously like iceberg.
For mains, I opted for the intriguing pork shank confit , especially when my waitress informed me there was only one left . My husband opted for the New York shell steak with roasted potatoes and grilled vegetables. My husband's steak arrived well seasoned and grilled, a healthy portion of meat served with a well sized portion of undercooked roast potatoes and well charred eggplant. The steak was overcooked as it was served medium although it had been ordered medium rare.
My pork confit arrived a small fried smoked ham hock next to a lovely potatoe mashcake and grilled vegetables. My pork was not confit at all. Primarily bone with a 2 inch sliver of meat it was reduced to a sad inedible hunk of meat. I love a good ham hock as well as well braised pork so I was disappointed to find neither of these in the dish. I returned my poor pork in exchange for chimichurri lamb chops. These fortunately were perfectly cooked as ordered,rare, but lacked seasoning. The chimichurri sauce served with these was watery and lacking in flavor. The star of my dish was the potatoe mash and grilled vegetables. Our waitress throughout was attentive and apolgetic and entertaining, truly the best thing about Bistro One.
We finished with a banana bread pudding, which also suffered from the dry hunk syndrome of my pork confit. Well flavored, it had likely been cooked the night before and left congealing in the refrigerator.
Bistro One suffered from the same syndrome as Simply Red( check out my earlier review). Truly not Bistro standard, but better in flavor profiles for price than the Simply Red.
The Quest continues....
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Simply Red Bistro
Simply Red Bistro
Scaled 1 to 10, 1 being repulsive and 10 being orgasmic (of course!)
Food 3
Ambiance 5
Service 4
Overall Rating 13
Good For the view , a glass of wine and a straigh foward cheese plate
7448 County Rd. 153 Ovid, NY 14521
Tel 607-532-9401
Well I must confess that the biggest reason why I decided to stop here for lunch is that this restaurant is at the Sheldrake Point Vineyard , whose reisling has drawn great reviews as a bargain jewel. As many of the Cayuga reislings, I didn't love it much especially for the price point. The menu seemed inventive with a supposed focus on local ingredients. Lunch, was outside in a nicely landscaped garden with unfortunately obstructed views of Cayuga Lake. It might have been a sign that those running this establishment are not the brightest kids on the block that they would hire a landscaper that would block what is the place's greatest asset. The food I would soon learn was not in this category.
We arrived before the lunch rush at 12:30 pm. Although the place only had 4 tables seated, it took about 10 minutes for us to be seated. Our waiter, a fresh faced teen, fumbled through the specials while we pondered the overpriced and all over the place lunch menu. There were only three appetizers to choose from none of which made our mouths water so we opted to go straight to mains. 10 dollar chicken sandwich to a 22 dollar roast half chicken.. I settled upon a 14 dollar 4 cheese pizza which my waiter stated was his favorite and truly filling. My husband opted for the 10 dollar free range chicken sandwich. Both were served with a side salad.
My pizza arrived, appearing suspiciously like a 6 inch thin crust frozen pizza jazzed up with dressed salad greens placed on top. Aside from the odd placement of seasoned greens in the middle of a pizza, the greens were quite good and fresh, with an interesting mix of fennel fronds,arugula and others. Unfortunately, the pizza tastes as uninspired as it looked. Because I was so hungry and after seeing the sandwich my husband got, I calculated that the kitchen was fundamentally flawed and suffered through my frozen pizza main. My husbands sandwich tasted a little worse than a Au Bon pain sandwhich, heavy on the mayonaisse, with fennel oddly strewn in, on a tasteless whole grain bun. After the disappointment of our mains, we decided against dessert as we were not willing to waste any time or money in this place.
To call this place Bistro is a decided slap in the face to any halfway decent bistro out there. I have to say that even as I write this review, the memory of that pizza, leaves me sad and partially embarrased. After having tasted the amazing simplicity and flavor profile of pizzas in Italy, I am always confused when American high end restaurants have such problems rendering a good pizza. A good pizza is after all predicated on 3 things: dough, sauce and cheese. I might venture to say the same about a good chicken sandwich: chicken, bread, tasty vegetables. That this restaurant could not get right the simplest of fare makes me shudder at what dinner here would taste like. Never mind the cost.
The Quest continues....
Scaled 1 to 10, 1 being repulsive and 10 being orgasmic (of course!)
Food 3
Ambiance 5
Service 4
Overall Rating 13
Good For the view , a glass of wine and a straigh foward cheese plate
7448 County Rd. 153 Ovid, NY 14521
Tel 607-532-9401
Well I must confess that the biggest reason why I decided to stop here for lunch is that this restaurant is at the Sheldrake Point Vineyard , whose reisling has drawn great reviews as a bargain jewel. As many of the Cayuga reislings, I didn't love it much especially for the price point. The menu seemed inventive with a supposed focus on local ingredients. Lunch, was outside in a nicely landscaped garden with unfortunately obstructed views of Cayuga Lake. It might have been a sign that those running this establishment are not the brightest kids on the block that they would hire a landscaper that would block what is the place's greatest asset. The food I would soon learn was not in this category.
We arrived before the lunch rush at 12:30 pm. Although the place only had 4 tables seated, it took about 10 minutes for us to be seated. Our waiter, a fresh faced teen, fumbled through the specials while we pondered the overpriced and all over the place lunch menu. There were only three appetizers to choose from none of which made our mouths water so we opted to go straight to mains. 10 dollar chicken sandwich to a 22 dollar roast half chicken.. I settled upon a 14 dollar 4 cheese pizza which my waiter stated was his favorite and truly filling. My husband opted for the 10 dollar free range chicken sandwich. Both were served with a side salad.
My pizza arrived, appearing suspiciously like a 6 inch thin crust frozen pizza jazzed up with dressed salad greens placed on top. Aside from the odd placement of seasoned greens in the middle of a pizza, the greens were quite good and fresh, with an interesting mix of fennel fronds,arugula and others. Unfortunately, the pizza tastes as uninspired as it looked. Because I was so hungry and after seeing the sandwich my husband got, I calculated that the kitchen was fundamentally flawed and suffered through my frozen pizza main. My husbands sandwich tasted a little worse than a Au Bon pain sandwhich, heavy on the mayonaisse, with fennel oddly strewn in, on a tasteless whole grain bun. After the disappointment of our mains, we decided against dessert as we were not willing to waste any time or money in this place.
To call this place Bistro is a decided slap in the face to any halfway decent bistro out there. I have to say that even as I write this review, the memory of that pizza, leaves me sad and partially embarrased. After having tasted the amazing simplicity and flavor profile of pizzas in Italy, I am always confused when American high end restaurants have such problems rendering a good pizza. A good pizza is after all predicated on 3 things: dough, sauce and cheese. I might venture to say the same about a good chicken sandwich: chicken, bread, tasty vegetables. That this restaurant could not get right the simplest of fare makes me shudder at what dinner here would taste like. Never mind the cost.
The Quest continues....
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Finger Lakes Wine Trails
Finger Lakes Wine Trails
9:08 am
So although this blog focuses on NYC eateries, I do travel. So I figured that since you NYC foodies travel too ,you might be interested in my humble food reviews outside of our great metropolis as well. Especially when they are near wine terroir. So I am presenting three reviews of restaurants visited this past Labor day in Auburn, NY in the Finger Lakes region.
It was an amazing time to visit. Weather was spectacular and for those of you who love wine trails, the Seneca and Cayuga wine trails are very accesible with well designed tasting rooms, many with spectacular views. Most charge a nominal fee, so bring cash. I found charging for tastings a bit annoying but the upside is that most allow you to taste their premium wines and a large selection overall. I have only tasted one or two wines in NYC restaurants from this region but have heard many great things about their reisling and cabernet franc productions. I don't actually understand why NYC restaurants don't have more Finger Lakes and North Fork wines on their menus, especially those touting the regional local food movement.
I have to say that overall I was not impressed. Most of the wines were not bad table wines, but the prices usually above 13 dollars were not justifiable when I can find a better European alternative for that price or less. Also, almost all the wineries made a full selection of red and whites, although almost all the red wines were truly unimpressive and even pricier, usually 15-25 dollar range. I am not sure why they just don't stick to a few grape varieties and perfect them. Overall, the Seneca Lake wineries were more impressive in view and taste. One wine that was definantlyworth the trip for ,which I did not see much write up about prior, was the champagne and sparking wines produced here. These were almost uniformly tasty and reasonable in price for the quality. Bruts varieties tended towards sweeter than what I generally have tasted but these were a great chmpagne alternative. My favorite was from the Knapp winery, http://http://www.knappwine.com/
Although the quality of the wines of this region are still evolving, I would definantly recommend the trip for the scenery and a close wine trail experiance. We stayed in Auburn, where we ate primarily, although if I visit again would base myself in Ithaca were they have several well reviewed restaurants which I did not have the opportunity to check out including the Heights Cafe and Grill, http://www.heightscafe.com/, and Taverna Banfi , http://www.tavernabanfi.com/.
Overall my food experiance was disappointing and prices were equivalent or pricier than the city. Again, it appears that the culinary destination is Ithaca, so I won'd damn the whole area based on this trip,just stay away from Auburn for dining.
9:08 am
So although this blog focuses on NYC eateries, I do travel. So I figured that since you NYC foodies travel too ,you might be interested in my humble food reviews outside of our great metropolis as well. Especially when they are near wine terroir. So I am presenting three reviews of restaurants visited this past Labor day in Auburn, NY in the Finger Lakes region.
It was an amazing time to visit. Weather was spectacular and for those of you who love wine trails, the Seneca and Cayuga wine trails are very accesible with well designed tasting rooms, many with spectacular views. Most charge a nominal fee, so bring cash. I found charging for tastings a bit annoying but the upside is that most allow you to taste their premium wines and a large selection overall. I have only tasted one or two wines in NYC restaurants from this region but have heard many great things about their reisling and cabernet franc productions. I don't actually understand why NYC restaurants don't have more Finger Lakes and North Fork wines on their menus, especially those touting the regional local food movement.
I have to say that overall I was not impressed. Most of the wines were not bad table wines, but the prices usually above 13 dollars were not justifiable when I can find a better European alternative for that price or less. Also, almost all the wineries made a full selection of red and whites, although almost all the red wines were truly unimpressive and even pricier, usually 15-25 dollar range. I am not sure why they just don't stick to a few grape varieties and perfect them. Overall, the Seneca Lake wineries were more impressive in view and taste. One wine that was definantlyworth the trip for ,which I did not see much write up about prior, was the champagne and sparking wines produced here. These were almost uniformly tasty and reasonable in price for the quality. Bruts varieties tended towards sweeter than what I generally have tasted but these were a great chmpagne alternative. My favorite was from the Knapp winery, http://http://www.knappwine.com/
Although the quality of the wines of this region are still evolving, I would definantly recommend the trip for the scenery and a close wine trail experiance. We stayed in Auburn, where we ate primarily, although if I visit again would base myself in Ithaca were they have several well reviewed restaurants which I did not have the opportunity to check out including the Heights Cafe and Grill, http://www.heightscafe.com/, and Taverna Banfi , http://www.tavernabanfi.com/.
Overall my food experiance was disappointing and prices were equivalent or pricier than the city. Again, it appears that the culinary destination is Ithaca, so I won'd damn the whole area based on this trip,just stay away from Auburn for dining.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Walter Foods
Walter Foods
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
253 Grand St
between Driggs Ave & Roebling St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 387-8783
Scaled 1 to 10, 1 being repulsive and 10 being orgasmic (of course!)
Food 4
Ambiance 4
Service 4
Overall Rating 12
Good For spending your hard earned money on mediocre drinks and food but looking cool doing it in your own 'hood with your Billyburg buddies
Review
The first thing you notice as you enter Walter Foods is the noise level.
Between the crashing din of loud clubby music playing and the people talking, you feel like you are walking into a bar rather than a casual restaurant. And in fact you are, as almost half of the indoor area of the place is devoted to the bar area and that is your first port of entry. The second thing you notice is the wood. And lots of it. The décor seems to harken back to an earlier age of old style saloon with some extra Brooklyn cool thrown in. What give its away are the deep green plush sofed back seating for cubicles and the artful wall placement of sepia and black and white drawings.
The menu ,matching the size of the establishment, is on the small side. Entrees ranged wildly in price from a 13 dollar short rib burgar to 44 dollars for their version of surf and turf, a half lobster and filet mignon. Food flavors might be described as leaning towards diner casual with some Brooklyn creativity thrown in, or what I like to call chef identity confusion. Their cocktail list is as extensive as the food menu, which might suggest this is where their true strengths lie. An interesting selection of tequilia, rum, bourbon or gin- based drinks with many classics thrown in. The wine list has a small but adequate selection of bottles, with a even smaller selection of wines by the glass. The bottles tended towards pricey for the casual style of the place,most in the 50 or 60 dollar range, maxing out at a 100 dollar pricepoint. (I never understand the placement of a 100 dollar wine bottle in a place like this. If you are spending 100 dollar on a bottle the quality of the meal should match the expense of the wine. I love fried chicken as much as if I was true southerner, but eating it with a 100 dollar bottle of wine is either sheer stupidity or sheer pretention. ) I opted for an 11 dollar rum based apricot sidecar. Light on the alcohol, very apricot in taste, a little too sweet for my taste. As far as cocktails go, pricey for what you get in the alchohol and taste spectrum. My husband opted for glass of an Austrian white, Gruner veltliner, which the waiter had a hard time describing. Not crisp or sweet, with a yeasty unusual aftertaste, my husband found it a good match for our first course.
We started with the oysters ,as they advertise prominently that they have a raw bar. In fact, there was only one raw option on the menu,”oysters”, with a selection of 4 to choose from. The price was standard, 2.5 to 3.5 per oyster, no Brooklyn deals here. We went for the Long Island Bluepoints and Beausoleil from Prince Edwards Island, which were good and fresh, although nothing spectacular. We also opted to try the lollipop wings which I had read much about. I was sorely disappointed to find them nothing but buffalo wings with less meat on them, albeit less messy to eat. In short neither unusual or an exceptionally good version of these bar standards. Served with a blue cheese sauce laced with cilantro which though tasty on its own, I did not find complementary to the wings. The wings were saucy but tended towards rubbery, perhaps having been simmered in their sauce for some time.
For our second course, I opted for a glass of the Austrian pinot noir and my husband, tried the German beer, bitburger. We found both uninteresting and not particularly good.
For my entree, I followed with the pork, which that night was not the typical menu selection with apple compote and braised escarole but served with broccoli rabe and sauted red and green peppers with garlic. When I was ordering this pork version it did cross my mind that the pairing of broccoli rabe with green peppers did not sound particurlary appetizing, but nothing else on their menu appealed. As expected, my pork came out a jumbled mess of overcooked rabe and peppers dripping with grease and too much garlic. The pork chop was a thin standard supermarket chop, not as I had expected a double rib chop. Although the pork was well seasoned and not over cooked, it,following the wings demise, had been left simmering too long in its sauce. The result was a watery meat, somewhere between braised and boiled, fully unappetizing. My husband chose the whole roasted trout with a warm vegetable side salad. It arrived charred and dried, served on a confused array of snow peas,raddichio,endives and presumably any other leftover vegetable available in the kitchen that night. It tasted as dry as it looked and was flavored with another mix of confusing and unsavory herbs. We ended the meal with the peach cobbler, which arrived suspiciously quickly after our order.A generous portion, drowned in a thick haze of confectioner sugar, filled with barely ripe peaches and laced with an overly enthusiastic layer of firm dough. Sad to say, it was the highpoint of the meal.
We found service was adequate and polite.
In short, Walter Foods should merit a visit if you live in this Williamsburg block and want a few pricey drinks in a loud bar atmosphere followed by some expensive nibbles of mediocre food.
The Quest continues. .......
Neighborhood: Williamsburg - South Side
253 Grand St
between Driggs Ave & Roebling St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 387-8783
Scaled 1 to 10, 1 being repulsive and 10 being orgasmic (of course!)
Food 4
Ambiance 4
Service 4
Overall Rating 12
Good For spending your hard earned money on mediocre drinks and food but looking cool doing it in your own 'hood with your Billyburg buddies
Review
The first thing you notice as you enter Walter Foods is the noise level.
Between the crashing din of loud clubby music playing and the people talking, you feel like you are walking into a bar rather than a casual restaurant. And in fact you are, as almost half of the indoor area of the place is devoted to the bar area and that is your first port of entry. The second thing you notice is the wood. And lots of it. The décor seems to harken back to an earlier age of old style saloon with some extra Brooklyn cool thrown in. What give its away are the deep green plush sofed back seating for cubicles and the artful wall placement of sepia and black and white drawings.
The menu ,matching the size of the establishment, is on the small side. Entrees ranged wildly in price from a 13 dollar short rib burgar to 44 dollars for their version of surf and turf, a half lobster and filet mignon. Food flavors might be described as leaning towards diner casual with some Brooklyn creativity thrown in, or what I like to call chef identity confusion. Their cocktail list is as extensive as the food menu, which might suggest this is where their true strengths lie. An interesting selection of tequilia, rum, bourbon or gin- based drinks with many classics thrown in. The wine list has a small but adequate selection of bottles, with a even smaller selection of wines by the glass. The bottles tended towards pricey for the casual style of the place,most in the 50 or 60 dollar range, maxing out at a 100 dollar pricepoint. (I never understand the placement of a 100 dollar wine bottle in a place like this. If you are spending 100 dollar on a bottle the quality of the meal should match the expense of the wine. I love fried chicken as much as if I was true southerner, but eating it with a 100 dollar bottle of wine is either sheer stupidity or sheer pretention. ) I opted for an 11 dollar rum based apricot sidecar. Light on the alcohol, very apricot in taste, a little too sweet for my taste. As far as cocktails go, pricey for what you get in the alchohol and taste spectrum. My husband opted for glass of an Austrian white, Gruner veltliner, which the waiter had a hard time describing. Not crisp or sweet, with a yeasty unusual aftertaste, my husband found it a good match for our first course.
We started with the oysters ,as they advertise prominently that they have a raw bar. In fact, there was only one raw option on the menu,”oysters”, with a selection of 4 to choose from. The price was standard, 2.5 to 3.5 per oyster, no Brooklyn deals here. We went for the Long Island Bluepoints and Beausoleil from Prince Edwards Island, which were good and fresh, although nothing spectacular. We also opted to try the lollipop wings which I had read much about. I was sorely disappointed to find them nothing but buffalo wings with less meat on them, albeit less messy to eat. In short neither unusual or an exceptionally good version of these bar standards. Served with a blue cheese sauce laced with cilantro which though tasty on its own, I did not find complementary to the wings. The wings were saucy but tended towards rubbery, perhaps having been simmered in their sauce for some time.
For our second course, I opted for a glass of the Austrian pinot noir and my husband, tried the German beer, bitburger. We found both uninteresting and not particularly good.
For my entree, I followed with the pork, which that night was not the typical menu selection with apple compote and braised escarole but served with broccoli rabe and sauted red and green peppers with garlic. When I was ordering this pork version it did cross my mind that the pairing of broccoli rabe with green peppers did not sound particurlary appetizing, but nothing else on their menu appealed. As expected, my pork came out a jumbled mess of overcooked rabe and peppers dripping with grease and too much garlic. The pork chop was a thin standard supermarket chop, not as I had expected a double rib chop. Although the pork was well seasoned and not over cooked, it,following the wings demise, had been left simmering too long in its sauce. The result was a watery meat, somewhere between braised and boiled, fully unappetizing. My husband chose the whole roasted trout with a warm vegetable side salad. It arrived charred and dried, served on a confused array of snow peas,raddichio,endives and presumably any other leftover vegetable available in the kitchen that night. It tasted as dry as it looked and was flavored with another mix of confusing and unsavory herbs. We ended the meal with the peach cobbler, which arrived suspiciously quickly after our order.A generous portion, drowned in a thick haze of confectioner sugar, filled with barely ripe peaches and laced with an overly enthusiastic layer of firm dough. Sad to say, it was the highpoint of the meal.
We found service was adequate and polite.
In short, Walter Foods should merit a visit if you live in this Williamsburg block and want a few pricey drinks in a loud bar atmosphere followed by some expensive nibbles of mediocre food.
The Quest continues. .......
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