Samurai Mama Visited 2/26/2011 3.5 Forks

Samurai Mama  205 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

 Samauri Mama is by the same owners as Bozu in Williamsburg and you can definitely tell with one look at the menu.  It's got a similar feeling of some sushi but really its focus in on non-sushi Japanese food.  The main focus here is udon noodles, which I was excited about because I love a good hearty bowl of udon noodles. 


The decor is basically one giant communal table with a few booths along the edge of the wall.  We ordered a veggie gyoza to start ($6) and Dan got the special seafood curry udon ($14) and I got the pork belly and scallion udon ($9.50) with a side of mushroom topping ($2).  The gyoza came out and at first glance it didn't look like gyoza at all because it had this thin layer of a crepe-like batter on top of it. I guess it means that they make them fresh? I don't know the point of presenting it that way, but the gyoza's were good with a nice thin layer of skin and it was served with not only a light soy dipping sauce but this nice thick sesame oil sauce too.  Next came our noodles in these lovely large white bowls.  My mushroom topping actually wasn't put into the soup but in a small separate dish.  It was basically a small handful of enoki mushrooms which are my favorite but it was definitely not worth $2 as it was probably 2 mouthfuls of mushroom.  The broth of mine was nice and light and not too salty.  There were probably 3 pieces of pork belly and they were a bit on the small side.  The actual noodles were nice and thick and dough-y but I could have used some more noodles because I was done in about 10 minutes.  I prefer my noodle soup dishes to come with a bit more stuff in it than just the noodles and 1 topping.  Where was the egg or some veggies? I guess those are all separate charges, which is a bit ridiculous.  Dan's noodle came with much more stuff in it.  There were about 3-4 shrimp and 3-4 smallish mussels.  But the broth was insanely spicy.  I could barely finish one spoonful, but it was definitely packed full of curry flavor.  

The service was totally fine and they were very nice and attentive.  The total bill was $50 without tip but including 2 glasses of sake.  I like the concept of this place but feel like I needed a little a bit more for my money to really enjoy it.

Tacombi NYC Visited 2/25/2011 3.75 Forks

Tacombi 267 Elizabeth St., New York, NY 10012

 My initial impression of Tacombi was a bit rough.  Aarti and I walked in around 8:30pm on a Friday and they had the entire back section blocked off for a reserved party.  The manager told us that we could eat and stand or wait for a table.  When we saw a couple get up from a table, we immediately sat down only to have the waitress tell us that she needed it for a group of 21 who wasn't there yet.  I gave her this look and she immediately asked the manager who said it was ok to sit but to let them know when we were done so that they could squeeze it into the 21 top. 


The next part that was kind of weird was that you need to purchase tokens in advance of ordering.  But we didn't know that and tried to order and they asked for our tokens and we were a bit confused.  Apparently you order your tokens at another counter, it's $4 per token and 1 token buys you 1 dish at any of the trucks.  There are 2 trucks in the open space: 1 is a VW bus that has beef, chicken, pork, cactus, corn and other tacos and tamales.  The other truck in the back of the room and had breakfast and fish tacos, chicken soupa and taco ceviche.  I originally thought that 1 dish was 1 taco but it was actually 2 tacos per order.  So I originally got 4 tokens which turned out to be 1 too many tokens.  Luckily Aarti took one from me otherwise I would have ended up having 8 tacos.  I ordered the ground beef taco, chicken mole taco and fish taco (6 tacos total).  Aarti got the corn taco and an avocado tamale.  The tacos are on the small side but the ingredients are fresh and simply put together.  The mole sauce on the chicken was pretty smoky and the ground beef taco was flavored well.  The fish was a white fish and it was topped with a red salsa and avocado.  The fish was a bit over cooked and it was a bit dry but the salsa helped with it.  While I did like the simplicity of the food, it would have been nice if they came with a touch of sour cream and other toppings, although I know it's not how it's actually done in Mexico.  I thought it wasn't enough food at first, but I was definitely full by the time I left.  

It would have been great if we could have mixed and matched the tacos instead of getting 2 per order.  There were a lot of big groups there and I could see how it was a fun place for groups.  Although the groups that were there were definitely not my scene. Lots of tall, models with fur vests and their fabulous type of friends.  The place doesn't have a liquor license although it looks like you can bring your own booze.  While I liked the food I had, it would be great to see them expand their menu with more variety in types of food.   

Ajisen Noodle Restaurant Visited 2/21/2011 3.25 Forks

Ajisen Noodle Restaurant 14 Mott St., (between Chatham Sq & Worth St), New York, NY 10013

 Ramen places in NYC are becoming a dime a dozen.  Most of them are in the East Village but Aarti and I decided to try one out in Chinatown (there is another location in Queens and several hundred around the world).  This place is a slightly off the beaten path in Chinatown and is one of those places that has plastic food in a showcase outside.  To be clear here this place is not run by Japanese people but Chinese instead. Not sure if that really makes a difference in the food or not, but usually I tend to prefer ethnic restaurants run by people of the same ethnicity although I have definitely been to good places run by outsiders.

The menu is has a mish-mosh of ramen, rice bowls, appetizers and sushi.  I typically steer away from sushi at places like this so I stuck with the miso ramen ($9) and an order of gyoza ($5) and Aarti got the veggie curry ramen ($8) and seaweed salad ($5).  The prices are slightly higher than what I would expect from a Chinatown place where bowls of noodles can be as low as $4-7 a bowl.  The decor of the restaurant is slightly nicer than your typical grungy Chinatown place with nice wooden wall paneling and tables similar to a Japanese place, so that was a nice touch.  The food comes out relatively quickly and the service was attentive but not pushy. 

When I typically think of ramen I think of salt, lots of it...either in the college packaged form or the upscale nice place like Rai Rai Ken or Ippudo.  So when I tried this ramen I was shocked that it was actually a bit bland.  It was a bit low on the flavor level and I had to actually add salt to it. I mean what?!  My ramen came with half a hard boiled egg and several pieces of tender pork.  The meat and noodles were plentiful and cooked well, it just needed more flavor in the broth.  The gyzoa and seaweed salad were fine and frankly pretty standard.  Aarti's ramen had corn in it which you typically don't see in ramen and she liked the curry broth although she also said it needed more salt and flavoring.  I never ever thought that I would ever say that I needed more salt in a ramen dish, but maybe that's a good thing? Total bill was $28 for two without tip, which is a bit more than what I think a lunch meal in Chinatown should be but the good thing was that there wasn't a two hour wait like at Ippudo.     

Colicchio & Sons Visited 2/19/2011 3.5 Forks

Colicchio & Sons 85 10th Ave, New York, NY 10011

 I have always been a huge fan of Top Chef but yet never made it to any of Tom Colicchio's restaurants.  So when Colicchio and Sons came up for Restaurant Week I was excited to check it out.  But I forgot that Restaurant Week participants don't do Saturday or even sometimes Sunday meals.  But it turns out Lav and I decided to go for brunch so it really didn't matter if we had a Restaurant Week menu or not because the brunch dishes were generally cheaper and better than the $24 prix fixe deal.

My first reaction was that the decor was the restaurant was beautifully designed. There is the Tap Room in the front, which is where we sat, and then a more formal dinning room in the back for dinner.  The space is a very sleek open concept.  But at the same time it was a really comfortable place to have a meal. 


The menu had a bunch of items that were breakfast-y but with a more upscale twist.  I was deciding between the johnny cakes with duck confit, the goat cheese and squash omelet with truffle vinaigrette, or the BLT with pork belly.  In the end, I decided on the duck confit ($14) because it came with poached eggs and a side of cheddar grits ($6) while Lav got the Ricotta and wild mushroom frittata and a side of potatoes.  I wasn't really sure what a johnny cake was but when it came out it looked like a flat cornbread.  The dish came with 3 large pieces of johhny cake, smothered with duck confit, and 2 poached eggs.  As many of you know, I am a nazi when it comes to having my eggs poached correctly.  While most places overcook their eggs, the eggs here were too watery.  It felt like they were almost not fully cooked yet.  Tom Colicchio would not be happy with how they turned out.  The johnny cakes were a bit dry and 3 was too many, I could barely finish 2.  The duck confit was good but there wasn't enough of it on the plate but that makes sense.  The cheddar grits were fine but in all honesty the ones I get in Jimmy's Diner are better and half the price.  What has kept me from giving this place fewer Forks was that I tasted Lav's frittata and it was really good.  The mushrooms were delicious and there was tons of ricotta spread on top of it with a nice helping of arugula on it.  The frittata was actually pretty big and it can almost be too much egg for 1 person.  Lav's potatoes were also salted just right with a nice topping of caramelized onions.  So this made me realize that the other dishes could probably be really good too.  The service was very attentive but not overbearing.  Total bill was $40 without tip.    

Kanoyama Visited 2/16/2011 3.75 Forks

Kanoyama 175 2nd Ave., (between 11th St & 12th St), New York, NY 10003

 Interestingly enough, I was craving sushi when I got back from California.  You'd think there would be lots of good sushi there, but Vivi was telling me that she and Erik hadn't found a place they like as much as those in NYC.  So a good sushi meal was definitely number one on my list of places to go when I got back, plus it was Dan and mine's postponed Valentine's Day dinner. 

There are tons and tons of sushi places that I haven't been to in NYC, especially the higher tier, pricier places. I was thinking we could try Sushi Yasuda or Sushi Abuzu or 15 East, but for some reason I just can't pull the trigger on places where you could easily drop $100 a person on a few (but I'm sure supremely fresh) pieces of sushi.  So after researching forever, Kanoyama came up as a good compromise.  It's not a dingy low budget place but it was didn't seem like it would break the bank either.  I think I've actually been there before years ago but have no recollection of my meal there. 

Even though this place is in the city, it's fairly quick for us to get there from Williamsburg.  We arrived at 8pm on a Wednesday and it was surprisingly packed but we were able to get a table all the way in the back.  The menu has a nice selection of specials in the front and I had heard the omakase is one of the best deals in town. But Dan and I wanted to share a bunch of stuff so we ended up getting the East Coast Oyster Sampler ($15), the sashimi deluxe ($28), a spicy scallop roll ($11), a lobster tempura roll ($14) and a rainbow roll ($15).  The waitress was extremely soft spoken and had a major accent so it's a miracle that we were able to communicate well and that we understood her when she asked questions.  

They had 2 oyster samplers on the menu: the East Coast or West Coast and they each came with 6 oysters (3 of 2 different kinds).  If I wanted to ball it up, I would have ordered both coasts to try and see the difference.  But we stuck with East Coast and they were fairly good.  The oysters  came with ginger, scallions and a light soy-like sauce.  The first kind I tried was a bit too fishy but the other two were good but not plump enough for me.  Sorry that I can't remember the exact kinds they were.  The sashimi deluxe came with 3 pieces of salmon, 3 pieces tuna, 3 pieces yellowtail, 3 pieces red snapper, 3 pieces white fish and 3 pieces octopus.  They were all very fresh tasting and the pieces were cut to the right size (although I'd always appreciate bigger pieces I know that's just not the sushi way).  Of the 3 rolls we got, the rainbow and spicy scallop were good and the lobster tempura was a bit of a disappointment.  The spicy scallop came with fresh large chunks of scallop  but it wasn't very spicy which was a bit of a bummer.  The rainbow roll was done right with no complaints here.  Unfortunately the lobster tempura seemed a bit soggy and Dan got a piece where is was basically all shell and he was kind of freaked out by it.  I generally don't like any kind of tempura roll but I was open to trying something new, especially if it had lobster in it! Next time I should stick with my gut.  The overall atmosphere was nice and intimate but without feeling too snooty.  Our total bill was $100 without tip (includes a bottle of sake).  So it was a pretty hefty bill for just a night out, but for good sushi, it's hard to not spend crazy money.  Maybe for our anniversary I will finally suck it up and go to Sushi Yasuda or Sushi of Gari and treat myself, but meanwhile Kanoyama will do just fine for those mildly special occasions. 

In-N-Out Burger Visited 2/15/2011 3.75 Forks

In-N-Out Burger Glendale Galleria, 119 S Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91209

When I told people that I was going to California, one of the first things that people told me was "OMG, you have to go to In-N-Out!".  I actually have been trying to go for the past few years every time I've been in California, but somehow I never end up going.  So this time, I made it a point to get my fat ass over to an In-N-Out burger even if I have to go on the way to the airport. 


Vivi and I ended up going to one that was supposedly in the Galleria Mall.  We saw all these signs for it in the mall directory but yet somehow we ended up in the mall parking lot with no In-N-Out to be seen. Finally we find it...inside the bottom level of the parking garage (but there is an actual street entrance that we completely missed).  When I looked at the menu there wasn't much on the menu.  It's basically a single burger or double burger and fries.  I was told to get the double burger but after looking at it, I just really couldn't go there. So I went with the single patty cheeseburger ($2.15) and fries.  I was also told to go Animal style but I didn't see it on the menu and only now do I know that it's on the "secret menu".  Now I know and knowing is half the battle...next time.  Unfortunately, I had just had the breakfast sandwich from Village Bakery about 2 hours before and I wasn't really hungry at all.  So I ended up taking my food to go and had plans to eat it at the airport.  I knew that the food would probably taste better warm but I just wasn't hungry.  I wasn't going to miss out on it again so I just decided to wait to eat it until I was on the plane.


I did end up eating the fries on the car ride home and honestly it wasn't that amazing.  Even though it was definitely salty, there was something amiss about it.  I prefer McDonald's fries to these.  So far I was a bit underwhelmed.  By the time I got to the airport my burger was definitely cold, which was kind of a bummer.  It was funny that while I was waiting in line to board I could see people staring at my In-N-Out bag and boring holes through it.  About 20 minutes into the flight I finally gave in.  I will say that the burger was really good...it reminded me a bit of a Shake Shack burger.  The patty was soft and the meat had flavor and wasn't flimsy.  What made it taste good was the spread and fresh toppings.  It was definitely way better than McDonald's and Burger King and any other fast food place I've been to.  But my mind wasn't blown away at the same time either.  If there was an In-N-Out in NYC, it would definitely be my go to fast food place, but I don't know if I am necessarily craving it like everyone said I would.  Another thing that was annoying about it was that they didn't take AXP...what kind of large establishment like this doesn't take AXP?!

Village Bakery and Cafe Visited 2/15/2011 4 Forks

Village Bakery and Cafe 3119 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039

 Another cute find not too far from Vivi's place in LA.  It's on a pretty busy street, so it might be easy to drive by it, but it's definitely worth a stop.  When you walk in, you are faced with an entire case of fresh pastries, breads, and other things that I should probably stay away from.  Vivi got a croissant, which she said was one of her favorite items there.  I was tempted to get a muffin because they were pretty fluffy and soft looking, but it probably had about 500 calories/50 grams of carbs in it.  They also had a good variety of gluten-free products, which I don't really get but I guess this is California right?


They also have a nice selection of sandwiches, breakfast scrambles and heartier food than just muffins and scones.  I had to get the breakfast sandwich with avocado ($6.50) because I could never get a breakfast sandwich with avocado in February in NYC.  The sandwich comes out on a very soft baguette (which kind of seems like an oxymoron since baguettes are usually hard and crusty) with a perfectly fried egg, cheddar cheese and delicious slices of avocado.  It was a great filling breakfast sandwich with a slight twist to it. 

There were lots of people who were in there on their laptops and just hanging out.  I would totally prefer to hang out here than to hang out in a Starbucks or plain Jane coffeeshop.  Plus I would also just come here for a regular meal rather than just a quick muffin and coffee stop.  

Alcove Cafe and Bakery Visited 2/14/2011 4 Forks

Alcove Cafe and Bakery 1929 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

 The Alcove is what I envision the quintessential LA cafe to look like.  It looks a lot like many of the super trendy places in LA with lots of outdoor patio seating filled with people in sunglasses.  I wasn't sure if the food would be good at a place like this, but I really loved my dish and similar to my other California eating experiences the food had a more healthy focus. 

The menu is pretty expansive and has lots and lots of big salads, sandwiches, melts, burgers, paninis as well as breakfast items such as omelets and pancakes and a very large variety of baked goods.  I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted...I had envisioned myself getting a healthy salad and eating it outside in the fresh Cali air (like most of the struggling actors, screenwriters, etc surrounding us), but instead I got swayed by the Blackened Salmon Sandwich with a house salad ($14) and Vivi got the special southwest chicken quesadilla.  You pay for your food inside and then they give you a number on stamd and they come by to drop off your food.  The food came out relatively quickly and I was very impressed with the size of my salmon sandwich.  It was huge, but it wasn't just because the bun was large but because there was actually a lot of salmon inside.  It was perfectly cooked and it came with arugula and a side of chipotle mayo (it wasn't very spicy) and the house salad was pretty hefty as well (with the vinaigrette dressing already on the side).  But the best part was that it came with an entire half of an avocado.  I love that everything in LA had avocado because I could just live off of avocado dishes for the rest of my life.  Meanwhile Vivi's dish was bursting at the seams with chicken.  It looked like they stuffed an entire cut up chicken in her dish.

I wish they had more of these places in NYC, but I get that since the weather sucks for 3-4 months a year here, it's not really an option.  But this meal definitely made me feel like I was part of the "in crowd" in Cali.  

Osteria Mozza Visited 2/13/2011 4.5 Forks

Osteria Mozza 6602 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038

 This was my one "fancy" meal in LA and it was a fabulous choice by Vivi.  Apparently it took her 3 weeks to make a reservation and the only slot she could get was 9:30pm on a Sunday, so it had to be good right? Plus it's a Mario Batali backed restaurant so how could it not be great? Well, upon our first 10 minutes I almost had to deduct a few forks: they don't have cranberry juice (why?), forgot Erik's lime in his juice, ran out of polenta but didn't tell us until we tried to order it and didn't give us any butter or olive oil with our bread. But when the food came out, it totally redeemed all the silly initial mis-steps.


We started with the Ribollita ($12) which is basically minestrone soup but then soaked with bread and served in almost a cake-like formation.  It was like tasting solid soup but in a really good way.  It tasted exactly like a warm hearty minestrone soup without the liquid.  Amazing.  The restaurant is also famous for its mozzarella bar...how the world doesn't have more bars focused on mozzarella is beyond me.  We got the mozzarella with bacon ($15) and it was a bit salty but it's got very thick cuts of bacon on it, so salt is kind of unavoidable.  For our main meals, Erik got the lamp chop and Vivi got the butternut squash.  I got the squid ink pasta with Dungeness crab, sea urchin, and jalapeno ($19).  The waitress had warned me in advance that the pasta would be cold and was basically a fist full of pasta.  I was kind of hesitant to have a cold, seemingly small pasta dish but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have crab, squid ink and sea urchin mixed into one dish.  When it came out, it did look a bit small but after having had the two other appetizers, I was a bit fuller than expected.  I had one bite of my pasta and I would have paid twice as much for it.  It was one of the best pasta dishes I've had in a while...if you read my review of the squid ink pasta at Mercat, you'll notice I loved that dish too, so apparently I am a huge squid ink pasta lover.  But this dish with the crab and sea urchin literally makes me want to call them up and pay them any amount of money to ship it over to NYC.  The jalapeno was very subtle but provided the right amount of heat.  Erik and Vivi both really liked their dish and we all agreed that it was a great pre-Valentine's Day meal for us.  We were so full by the end of meal, we actually had to pass on dessert (I know, it's sacrilege in a Italian restaurant).

The difference between eating in LA and NYC is that in NYC half your bill is dedicated to booze because you don't have to drive anywhere.  But in LA, you have to drive everywhere and also since Vivi and Erik have a baby, we weren't really in the mood to get hammered.  The total bill was $60 with tax and tip per person.  A great deal for wonderful, high quality food.   

The Trails Visited 2/13/2011 3.5 Forks

The Trails  2333 Fern Dell Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90068

 The Trails is the type of place that reeks of hippie Californians.  It's near the entrance of Griffith Park and it's really just a shack-like establishment that offers a few picnic type food. All the food there is vegan and veggie friendly...I actually don't think there is any meat-products or unhealthy food there.  I was scanning the menu for something like chips or fries, but alas there were none.  Although there wasn't really much to pick from, the avocado sandwich actually sounded pretty delicious and very healthy.  It comes with tomato, red onion, alfalfa sprouts, soy cheese, soy bacon bits, and large heaps of avocado ($6.50).  While this is a fairly basic sandwich, it was really good and I felt like I had just come from a health retreat.  The sandwich was also very filling and definitely did not need chips or fries.  I guess these Californians know what they are doing!  Vivi got the chili ($6.75) and grilled cheese and said they were good but could have used more salt/flavor. 

This isn't really a restaurant or going out place, it's definitely a good place to stop by before heading into the park.  While I enjoyed my sandwich, it would have been good if they did offer more varieties of food and some tasty side dishes.  Total bill for 2 avocado sandwiches, 1 chili, 1 grilled cheese, 1 scone, and 3 Diet Cokes was $33.  

Jitlada Thai Restaurant Visited 2/12/2011 4 Forks

Jitlada Thai Restaurant 5233 W Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90027

 Jitlada is the type of place that I typically love.  It's an authentic Thai place with almost no personality but great food.  So when we pulled into this place which is in Thai-town in a strip mall I got really excited. We got there really early (6pm) because we had Leela with us and we had to eat before her nap time.  But from what we heard the place gets incredibly crowded after 7:30, so it was a good thing we got there when we did.  


The place is covered in magazine and newspaper articles mentioning their greatness (from LA Times, Food Network: Best Thing I Ever Ate, Rachel Ray Magazine, Travel and Leisure, Time Out, etc), so you almost had to expect amazing food.  I loved the fact that they have a sign that says "please be patient if your food takes a long time, but it will be worth it."  The menu there is beyond anything I have ever seen before in my life.  The front half of the menu has your more typical thai dishes: curries, pad thais, rice dishes, etc.  But the back half of the menu is the "special" authentic southern style food and there must be about 50+ choices.  Luckily, at the table there is a list of the "best dishes" and we basically ordered off of that.  We had the fried morning glory with shrimp, the steam New Zealand mussels, crying tiger with beef, spring rolls, spicy chicken in a curry dry rub, and spicy brown rice with chicken.  It took all my will power not to order a pad thai or crab fried rice.  As mentioned by other Yelpers, the service is not great.  We basically had to flag down our waitress after sitting for 10-15 minutes to order our food.   


The morning glory was a common veggie I saw while I was in Thailand and Cambodia and it was deep fried and tossed with fresh shrimp and red onion.  It was pretty good but I thought that best part was the shrimp and not the morning glory.  The spring rolls were your typical spring rolls and not much to write home about.  The crying tiger dish came out next and was very tender but not as spicy as I thought.  But apparently the dipping sauce was the killer, so I was glad that I didn't get into it.  The absolute best dish of the night was the steamed mussels.  Seriously Freakin AMAZING.  The mussels were ginormous and incredibly plump...they were almost the size of my fist.  I wanted to eat the entire meal and not share it with Erik. Meanwhile the broth was doused in red chilis but enough that the burn didn't kill your tastebuds.  The one dish that was kind of a disappointment was the chicken rubbed in curry powder...it had a very distinct fishy taste to it, which was a bit off putting.  We were all pretty excited about it since it was from the "authentic" side of the menu but it was our least favorite.  I was so full from trying the first few dishes that I never got around to trying the fried rice dish.  Boo.  This is totally the type of place to go with a large group of people and order tons of different dishes.  We tried to do that, but it's hard with only 3 people and 1 who doesn't really eat seafood.  I don't know how much the total bill was since Vivi and Erik paid but I suspect it was probably around $100.  By the time we left around 7ish, the place was totally packed, so get there early unless you want to wait outside for a while.     

Best Fish Taco in Ensenada Visited 2/12/11 3.5 Forks

Best Fish Taco in Ensenada  1650 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

 This was my first meal in LA and for what I paid, it was pretty good.  The place is literally in the parking lot of a car wash, so it's very easily missed.  I didn't know what I was expecting but the menu literally has 2 things on a chalkboard: Fish Taco ($1.50) and Shrimp Taco ($2).  That's it.  At that price, you what's not to love? 


You can see the workers make the tacos right in front of you so you know it's fresh.  They take white fish and then dip it in batter and fry it.  The tacos come out plain in mini soft shells with no toppings.  They have a full service salsa and toppings bar to help you customize your taco.  There is a bowl of shredded cabbage and then about 5-6 different kinds of salsa : avocado, mango, pineapple, etc and they range in mild to really spicy.  There's also a sour cream pump for you to add to the taco.  


It's hard to go wrong with deep fried fish and your own salsa bar.  The only reason I don't give this place a higher rating is because I've had really great fish tacos elsewhere and I didn't have to make it myself. And it would be nice to have some other types of tacos for those who don't eat fish (although yes, I know, the place is called Best Fish Tacos).  But Vivi and I were able to get an entire lunch for $9 for both of us and I would totally go here again.

Porsena Visited 2/9/2011 3.75 Forks

Porsena 21 E 7th St., (between Cooper Sq & Taras Shevchenko Pl), New York, NY 10003

Porchetta has been on my list for a while but somehow I never made it there. So why when the chef opened a pasta restaurant I decided to go before it, is still a bit of a mystery to me. Apparently I seem to be on an Italian kick because this is the 2nd Italian restaurant I've been to in 2 months, which is quite a streak for me.  This 2nd Italian outing was good but not quite as good as my meal at Osteria Morini.  

Nancy and I were able to snag a reservation at 6:45pm on a Wednesday,  which is a bit on the early side but surprisingly the restaurant was pretty packed by then.  The menu is actually fairly simple: about 8 appetizers, 8 different pastas, and 3 main entrees.  Nancy and I decided to share everything since we both didn't think we could polish off one bowl of one type of pasta ourselves.  We got the crostini with mozzarella ($8), the lamb sausage pasta ($17) and the roasted roasted cauliflower pasta ($15).  At first I didn't think this would be enough food, but now that it's been a few hours later, it was totally enough food.  The crostini comes out and it's basically large piece of soft on the inside, crusty on the outside bread covered in melted, bubbly mozzarella.  It was pretty good but kind of looked like something I could have made at home.  Next came the 2 different pastas...I personally don't like my pasta too al dente, which is know is probably sacrilege.  I thought the pasta could have been cooked a bit more but Nancy thought the texture was just right.  The spicy lamb dish came with large ring/tube shaped pasta and it was indeed spicy! But my lessons in Thailand have better equipped in these situations.  But the sauce was very creamy super flavorful and was nicely combined with wilted greens.  The roasted cauliflower dish came with penne pasta, small cut up cauliflower, capers, olives, and toasted breadcrumbs.  I normally don't like olives and capers but I didn't hate this dish...it felt "healthy" even though the bowl was definitely a bit oily at the bottom.  By the end, we were both so full that we couldn't even consider dessert. 

The service was good and attentive.  The waitress was pretty knowledgeable and didn't make us feel bad when we didn't order wine or dessert and sat after we paid the bill for a bit longer than we should.  Total bill was $21 per person without tip.

Nam Son Visited 2/8/2011 3.75 Forks

Nam Son 245 Grand St., (between Bowery & Chrystie St), New York, NY 10002

 As many of you know, I am obsessed with pho.  I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday for the rest of the year.  Virginia and I have gone to a bunch of pho places around the city and we have a hard time keeping track of where we have gone already.  Sometimes we walk into a "new" place and then realize that one of us or both of us have already been there.  She had first suggested Xe Lua as a new place to try, but the name sounded so familiar and lo and behold we of course have already been there!  So when she suggested Nam Son, I knew I definitely hadn't been there based on the name.  The place is tucked away on Grand Street, a bit away from the busier streets of Chinatown.  

My initial impression of the place was that it was pretty big and fairly clean but there was a slight strange smell going on which I kind of attribute it to it just being in Chinatown.  The menu is fairly extensive with over 140 items on the menu...and if I could I would have ordered 50 of them.  Instead, we ordered the summer rolls ($4), spring roll ($4.25), I got the regular tai pho ($6) and Virginia got the same with meatballs in it and a fresh lemonade ($2.25).  The summer roll (2 to an order) was nice and soft and had a decent filling although it was slightly heavy on the vermicelli noodles and of course we needed to balance the "healthy" roll with a nice  dose of deep fried spring roll (4 to an order but they were fairly small in size).  They were also really tasty and had the right combo of pork and vegetables.  The pho came out and I liked what I saw.  The meat was nice raw on top and there was a good serving of noodles.  Of course I would have loved more meat, but after downing all those rolls, it's probably better that there wasn't an overload of meat.  The serving size of the overall bowl was just right and it had nice flavor overall.  It could have stand to have a bit more cilantro and spring onion in it, but the intention of the flavor was there. 

The waitstaff was pretty friendly and the over atmosphere was very comfortable and laid back.  It was great that they took credit card because most Asian places (especially places that run on the cheap side) don't take plastic.  The total bill was $26 for two (not including tip).    

Ocean Jewel Seafood Restaurant Visited 2/5/2011 4 Forks

Ocean Jewel Seafood Restaurant  13330 39th Ave., Flushing, NY 11354

I am a bad Asian and didn't celebrate Chinese New Year properly.  So Dan and I decided we would make up for it with a meal in Flushing over the weekend.  I was originally thinking of having a whole fish type of meal but when we decided to go for lunch with our friends Prior and Jes, we switched gears and went for dim sum instead.  Whole fish is a bit aggressive first thing in the morning and dim sum is always a bit more fun with more people.  I had heard about Ocean Jewel from a friend of mine and when we got there it was the restaurant that I had seen the last time I was in Flushing and said I wanted to try. 

The one thing to note about this place is that it is CRAZY crowded on the weekend.  We probably waited 40 minutes for a table.  The inside of the place is your typical large Chinese banquet hall...it's huge with lots of tables and people screaming constantly.  The carts come around immediately and I was impressed at how fresh all the food was.  You could tell it came straight from the kitchen and hadn't been circulating around constantly (although some dishes did come around at some point).  We had a little bit of everything: shrimp balls, beef balls, shumai, shrimp crepes, sticky rice with chicken, pork buns, shrimp wrapped with bacon, turnip cake, sliced chicken and mushroom, a bunch of other types of dumplings and sesame balls.  There was a good variety of food, although after 30 minutes we were definitely seeing the same carts come around.  They didn't have the clams in black bean sauce that I like and the turnip cake was a bit overcooked.  The shrimp wrapped in bacon was also a bit dry but it's hard to not like anything wrapped in bacon.  All the food was very piping hot when it arrived to our table, which is great because I've definitely been to some places where the food is already cold when you get it.  The shrimp crepe was still my favorite but I really honestly enjoyed everything on the table. I do wish my mom was there to help kind of decipher what the other dishes were.  

The service was good for a Chinese place (they constantly took away our empty plates and re-filled our water whenever they were empty) and it was pretty clean.  The total bill for 10+ dishes was $74 without tip for 4 people.  The nice thing about this place is that they take credit card, which many Chinese places don't.   By the time we left at 2:45pm there was absolutely not wait and the place was 1/2 empty.  So I would say come super early (they open at 8AM on the weekends) or have a snack if you intend on coming from 10am-1:30pm or wait til after 2pm.