Post Office Visited 7/30/2011 4 Forks

Post Office 188 Havemeyer St., (between 3rd St & 4th St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

I was a bit hesitant to review Post Office because it's more bar than restaurant but their food is not your ordinary bar food...in fact, it's way better than even most restaurant food that I had to review it. The space is pretty small and I would say most people are probably there for drinks and a few snacks but you can totally get full from trying a variety of dishes here and the good news is that they are all really affordable. 


Dan and I split half dozen beau soleil oysters ($12), heirloom tomato salad ($8), pulled pork sandwich ($7), and the chicken liver/bacon sandwich ($8).  The service there was great and they warned us in advance that the "kitchen" (it's literally a small corner in the bar that is sectioned off as a kitchen that can probably fit 1-2 people max) was slammed and that our food might take a while.  I appreciated that she told us in advance instead of us having to wait forever for our food and let us get angry about it.  The oysters came out and they were served with a side of tart vinaigrette and a side of cocktail sauce with fresh grated ginger on top.  The oysters were fresh, sweet and delicious.  We did wait a bit for the rest of our food but again after seeing the one guy in the kitchen work his butt off, I didn't really mind.  Next came the heirloom tomato salad and just looking at it made me want to cry.  I am completely obsessed with heirloom tomatoes and eat them in any form.  For $8, this was a really heft plate of gorgeous yellow, green, red, and orange tomatoes with thinly sliced caramelized onions, fresh basil and perfectly roasted croutons and covered in balsamic vinaigrette.  It was UN-F'ING-BELIEVABLE.  You could have had this at a fancy 5-star restaurant and they probably would have charged you at least $15 for it.  It was a bit heavy on the balsamic but I didn't care.  I would have ordered 3 more orders of it.  Strangely the croutons kind of filled me up and by the time our sandwiches came out I was kind of full.  But I had to at least take 1-2 bites of it.  The pork sandwich was extremely hearty and they were  more than generous with the pork filling inside of it.  The pork itself was pretty sweet and served with red cabbage cole slaw on top of it and all on a soft, sweet, toasted brioche bun.  It's definitely a sandwich that stands up to many of the actual BBQ places in the city.  Meanwhile, I have no idea why Dan ordered the chicken liver sandwich since he hates liver but I applaud him for trying something outside of his comfort zone. Turns out, he still doesn't like liver.  So we ended up switching sandwiches half way through.  Now, I'm not a huge liver fan either but I don't hate it like him and there have been occasions where I have enjoyed it.  This sandwich was also huge and served on a toasted baguette, pickled cucumber, carrots, shallots, frissee, and tossed with an apple vinaigrette.  I gotta say it was a great combination of flavors, most of which I don't like as stand alone ingredients but somehow all together they were really amazing.  The liver wasn't grainy or super livery tasting and all the other ingredients helped to mask what it was (although if you're like Dan and really hate liver I don't think you'll like this sandwich anyways).  I could barely eat my half of the sandwich and when I asked for it to be wrapped and taken home, they took a bunch of tin foil and made it into a swan. I don't know why but I thought that was cute. 

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience here (way more than I would at a regular Post Office) and the actual drink menu isn't too bad either (big focus on whiskey and bourbons).  The service was super friendly and they even brought us a free shot of bourbon at the end of the night as a thank you for waiting for our food...nice touch.   They also had a few other tasty sounding items on the menu that I would try such as deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, steak tartare and a grilled cheese.  Although I liked what they have on their menu, I hope that they expand into a more full blown menu.  Total bill was $66 without tip (includes 3 drinks).       

Lombardi's Pizza Visited 7/28/2011 3.5 Forks

Lombardi's Pizza 32 Spring St., (between Mott St & Mulberry St), New York, NY 10012

Lombardi's is one of those New York "institutions" that I have never been to and in all honesty, didn't really have all that interest in going.  Not because I didn't think it wouldn't be good, but I'm not a huge thin-crust pizza lover.  In general, I never really crave pizza but when I do have it, I usually enjoy it.

I ended up here when Dan's brother Steve and his friend Steve were in town for one night.  We got there pretty early on a weekday (6pm) and was surprised at how crowded it was already.  We had to wait about 20 minutes for a table and when we walked it, the place totally packed!  Who eats that early in NYC? Tourists.  But you know, that's ok.  The menu is fairly limited to thin crust pizza (small or large) with your choice of toppings, calzones, and then a couple of salads, that's it.  So ordering was pretty easy.  We split a large pizza with ricotta cheese and sausage ($28), a house salad ($7.50), and a carafe of red sangria ($28).  The salad was good but it was kind of shoved into a small bowl and made it hard to toss and mix the dressing.  It was mixed greens with some mushrooms, only 2-3 cherry tomatoes, and LOTS of onions.  The best part was the very garlicky dressing on top of it.

Unlike most pizza places that I've been to where the pizza takes for-ever to come out, the pizza came out fairly quickly after we finished our salad.  The pizza was huge (8 good sized portions) and I loved the fresh mozzarella as the cheese base instead of the shredded cheese kind.  The ricotta was piped on top of the pizza like frosting and it was a great addition to the pizza; soft and and it almost tasted like mashed potatoes.  There were some bits of basil and it would have been nice to have had more of it.  The sausage was thinly sliced and had great flavor.  The crust was thin and crunchy and unlike a lot of thin crust pizza, the sauce and cheese didn't make the bottom of the pizza soggy at all.

Overall, I liked the pizza and I can see how it's a big tourist "trap" with its very "Italian" decor and central location.  I still think Roberta's was by far better and really made me fall back in love with thin crust pizza, but Lombardi's is also a good choice if you're looking for a more traditional NY style pizza in the city.  One downfall: cash only.  Total bill was $24/pp including tax and tip.      

Cubana Social Visited 7/23/2011 3 Forks

Cubana Social 70 N 6th St., (between Wythe Ave & Kent Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11211

I give Cubana Social 5 forks for their air conditioning system.  I had brunch there on one of the hottest days in NYC and their a/c was on full blast and it was wonderful.  I give their decor 4.5 forks as it was a huge airy space that really transported you to a place that I envision what Cuba looks like.  Given that, I really wanted to give their overall rating higher than 3 forks but the service was just what brought it down.

Lav and I were really excited about the menu and had a hard time deciding what we wanted because a lot of it sounded amazing.  In the end, I got the the huevos cubanos ($11) and iced coffee while Lav got the  huevos sandwich ($8) and a cafe con leche and we split an order of rice and beans ($2.50).  Then we waited and waited and waited.  Finally, our coffee came and while I liked my coffee, Lav's coffee was a bit too sweet for her.  So we waited to tell the waitress that we wanted to send it back.  And we waited and waited and waited.  Finally I flagged down the hostess who said she would tell our waitress.  After another 10 minutes, a different waiter came and asked if something was wrong.  Lav explained that she didn't realize the coffee was so sweet and he was actually really nice in letting us order something else.  Then we waited and waited and... you get the point.  How long does it take to make coffee?!  But when it came Lav said that the new coffee was amazing.  The only thing left was our food.  Thank god for our coffee otherwise I might have gnawed my arm off.

When the food did come, it was pretty good.  My dish was 2 eggs over easy (perfectly done..meaning very runny) served with black beans, avocado, plantains, and tomatillo sauce (which was tangy and added great flavor).  Lav's sandwich had avocado, plantains, swiss cheese and eggs in between 2 large very toasted pieces of bread (provided great crunch).  It was a good Latin twist to a basic breakfast sandwich.  Overall, the food was tasty and I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it just came out earlier.  One other nice thing was that they didn't charge us for the cafe con leche that Lav sent back, which they totally didn't have to do.  I am totally willing to come back and try it out again but if the food wait is like what it was today, I don't know if I could go back.  Total bill $45 for 2 with tip.

Zabb Elee 2.5 Forks Visited 7/23/2011

Zabb Elee 75 2nd Ave., (between 4th St & 5th St), New York, NY 10003

On one hand, I feel bad for giving this place 2.5 Forks because I knew going into it that this place was not your typical Thai restaurant.  And chances are I probably didn't order what I was supposed to, but none the less I walked out of dinner just not loving my food and neither did Dan.

The place has had several incarnations and I have been to all of them.  For years it was SEA Thai, and then not to long ago it became Le Da Nang (which apparently was by the same owners as SEA but not as good) and now it's become Zabb Elee (different owners and the original branch is in Queens).  The food here is a Islan style Thai food, which is food from the Northeastern region of Thailand.  You won't find a pad thai or spring roll in sight.  While I was down with trying a new kind of Thai food, the menu made it a bit confusing as to what was what.  There was no clear delineation of what was an appetizer, main dish or side dish.  In the end, I decided to order the Kra Pao Moo Korb ($9) which is crispy pork, basil, onion and oyster sauce.  Dan got the Pla Dook Dad Daew ($9) which is crispy catfish with herbs and sweet tamarind sauce and we split the Pad Tua ($7) which is sauteed bean sprouts with crispy pork.  

The food came out and the portions were all fairly large (especially when we didn't really have an idea of whether or not we were ordering main dishes or appetizers).  The pork in the Kra Pao Moo Korb was too dry and hard for me and I wish that I had fully thought about what we were ordering because that same crispy pork was in the bean sprout dish.  It was like we got the exact same thing just one had basil leaves and the other had bean sprouts.  While the pork dishes were ok, it was the catfish dish that really was a let down.  The fish was very very thin fillets with the skin and bones and deep fried.  The sauce was on the side so when I just bit into the fish it was fairly dry tasting.  I've always known that fish served in Asian restaurants tend to keep the skin and bones on, but it was more of the over crispy-ness and lack of meat that got to me.  Even the bones were a bit too big and too imbedded within the fish for me to enjoy.  Dan and I both kind of left the restaurant feeling unsatisfied and under whelmed.   This is not to say that I'm not glad that I tried a different style of Thai food.  I will always be adventurous in my eating and try new things, but I think I will stick to my more preferred style of Southern, pad thai laced Thai food.  Although I will say that I ate the left over Kra Pao Moo Korb and it was a bit better and less hard the next day.  Total bill was $38 for 2 without tip.    

Kuma Inn Visited 7/21/11 3 Forks

Kuma Inn 113 Ludlow St., (between Delancey St & Rivington St), New York, NY 10002

Kuma Inn was one of the first restaurants that I went to in NYC that really blew my mind (if I had been blogging at that time I probably would have given it 4.5 to 5 forks).  But it's been many years since I have been back and sadly this time around it wasn't as amazing as it was before.  But I still think it's worth visiting.  Some of my displeasure might have to do with the fact that it was 1,000 degrees outside and the restaurant was about 800 degrees inside.  It's just never a pleasant experience to eat and sweat at the same time.

The style of food here is Asian tapas food, so I guess a bit like dim sum but without the plethora of dumplings and carts being pushed by screaming Asians.  All the food on the menu sounds amazing and I would suggest coming with a larger group of people to really get a variety of dishes.  Virginia and I ordered the tuna tartare ($10.50), pork buns, wasabi pork shumai ($7), eastern omelet ($9) and the rice crepes ($9.50).  The tuna tartare  came out first and was light, refreshing and the seasoned perfectly.  I could have eaten another 2 or 3 more plates of these. Next came the wasabi shumai and to be honest, they were good, but didn't seem like anything I probably couldn't have bought at a Asian super market.  The eastern omelet came out next and while it's just a simple omelet with chinese sausage, scallions and bean sprouts, it was flavorful and extremely filling.  By the time the pork buns I was a bit full already.  While I remember loving them before, this time the actual bun was a bit too heavy on the bread for me.  The pork itself could have been a bit more moist (although the buns did come with a side of peanut sauce), but I will give credit that there were TONS of pork in the bun.  We ended up ordering the rice crepe as an impulse decision.  Virginia and I both wanted another dish but something light.  We both thought that this dish was more of the Vietnamese type of crepe that looked like a  giant thin giant pancake.  Instead, this was similar to the chow fun noodles used in Chinese dishes, but rolled together and then fried and topped with spicy meat.  After we ordered it we waited and waited and waited.  By the time it came, one of the noodles was completely charred black and rock hard.  These are the type of noodles that you cannot leave on heat for every long before it gets hard.  It was clear that they left this in the pan for too long. I can't believe that a chef would actually plate something that was completely black and hard to the touch.  In my whole life, I've probably only sent back 1-2 dishes, but I could not let this one pass.

They brought another one out rather quickly which led me to believe that they totally just forgot about the other one and tried to serve it up. This one was better and not rock hard but the last dish just kind of put a bad taste in my mouth about this dish.  I think it has potential to be a good dish but I don't think it needed to be pan fried. 

One of the nice things about Kuma Inn is that it's BYOB, so it's a great way to save money.  One of the bad things about Kuma Inn is that it's cash only.  You can also visit Kuma Inn's sister restaurant Umi Nom in Clinton Hill if you happen to be in the 'hood (similar menu and concept). Total bill for 2 was $49 (not including tip).  

Shake Shack Visited 7/20/2011 4.5 Forks

Shake Shack Madison Square Park, E 23rd St & Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010

Ahhh, Shake Shack, how I love you.  I had my first taste of Shake Shack many years ago and never forgot it.  Funny enough, I've actually never had a beef burger from Shake Shack.  I've only had the 'Shroom Burger ($6.50) and can never get it out of my head.  One day, I will try a burger but for now the 'Shroom Burger has captured my heart.

The original Shake Shack is in Madison Square Park and for many years the lines would be beyond ridiculous.  It was to the point where on their website you can actually monitor the length of the line and make a decision if you wanted to wait in line.  Luckily now, several new branches of Shake Shack have opened which allow you to get your burger fix almost anywhere in NYC, but the original location is still one of the most popular branches.  I found myself by Madison Square Park this past Wednesday night and felt like I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab a bite to eat.  Even at 8:30 on a random weekday the line was still fairly long.  At one point, a tourist behind me asked me "Is it worth it? Should I wait in line?".  I told him it was pretty damn good but that it was up to him if he wanted to wait.  He eventually left but I wished he had tried to hold out.  Knowing that the line could take up to 30-40 minutes, I didn't want to held accountable for anyone dying of hunger while waiting for food.  In the end, it did take me 45 minutes from start to finish to get my food.

But when I got it...damn, the 'Shroom Burger is pretty damn amazing.  It's a portobello mushroom with cheese deep fried inside of it so that when you take a bite of it the cheese oozes out of it.  The bread is almost like a potato with its soft and buttery taste.  Just everything about the burger is glorious, but a warning that you do kind of feel a bit like a deep fried mess afterwards. The fries are also highly addictive.  They are of the crinkly cut kind and perfectly crisp.  Dan and I also split the concrete jungle ($6.00) which was vanilla custard, hot fudge, bananas, and peanut butter.  This was my first concrete at Shake Shack and while it was pretty good I wasn't completely blown away by it. Don't get me wrong, it definitely hit the spot but it's hard to enjoy it when it's half melted by the time you're done eating your burger and fries.  While the long lines are a definite bummer to the Shake Shack experience, I definitely recommend that everyone try a burger ('Shroom or regular) at least once in their life and hope that they don't get addicted.  

Dovetail Visited 7/18/2011 4 Forks

Dovetail 103 W 77th St., New York, NY 10079

What the hell am I doing on the UWS (in fact this is may first UWS posting)?! I was so confused that I ended up taking the A train to 125th street.  There's nothing worse than seeing you train go past your stop and then not stopping for another 5 stops.  But in any case, there are almost 0 reasons for me to ever go to the UWS, but Aarti had always wanted to try the Meatless Monday tasting menu at Dovetail.  So even though I won't go near the UWS with a ten foot pole, I was willing to make an exception for my best friend's birthday.  This place just proves to me that just because a restaurant is vegetarian focused doesn't mean you're doomed for a meal of boiled vegetables (other great veggie places: Dirt Candy and 4 Course Vegan).  


Dovetail only has this vegetarian tasting menu on Monday nights, so if you're interested don't forget that fact.  Luckily for meat loving folks, they also have a vegetarian focused section which includes meat and seafood.  My first impression of the restaurant was that it was super stuffy and for the older crowd.  It was pretty fancy, quiet and one of those places that had a wine list that was 50+ pages long and white table clothes.  We each ordered a round of cocktails and then waited and waited and WAITED to place our order.  I was almost so angry that I was going to get up and flag down our waiter. 

When he finally showed up, he was actually fairly helpful in giving his definitive opinion on the dishes on the menu.  It's usually a bit frustrating when you ask a waiter for their opinion on a dish and they hem and haw and don't give you a straight answer.  Aarti asked his opinion about the pasta or the seitan and he gave definitive firm answer that the seitan was better.  So between Aarti, Will, Dan and I, we all got different dishes on the vegetarian and vegetarian focused menu.  For the purposes of not writing a 5 page long entry, I'll focus just on my meal but note that everyone else gave high marks for their meal as well.  

The amuse bouche was some shredded radish which was ok but the absolute killer was the warm foccaccia bread served with the freshest olive oil I have ever had.  It was almost like they squeezed the olives right there and then.  This set the tone for the rest of the meal.  For my 1st course, I got the white gazpacho which was basically like a cold chowder.  While I generally don't like gazpacho, this one was really fresh tasting and not too boring (maybe it was because of the cream?).  My next course was the pea dumplings and it was amazing.  It consisted of the freshest peas I've ever had and stuffed in a beautifully thin skinned dumpling.  Sadly in a place like this, I wasn't surprised that there were only 3 dumplings as I surely could have had about 20 of them.  Aarti had also mentioned that her vegetables tasted like they were literally picked 30 seconds ago.  My next dish was the corn risotto with thinly sliced beef on top (it consisted of a slice of pure fat and then a slice of melt in your mouth meat on top of it).  It was simply amazing, no words for it really, just mouthful of joy and tears. 

The tasting menu is a 3 course meal at $46 but there were some choices on the menu that required you to pay extra.  Such as the gnudi (sweetbreads) which was $14 extra (no one got that) and the baked onion and truffles ($18 extra) which Will got and for dessert the chocolate souffle which is $6 more (Aarti got it).  The meal also came with your choice of dessert.  I got the bread pudding, Dan got the peanut butter ganache, Aarti got the souffle and Will got the carrot cake.  They were all really fabulous although I will say that even as a chocolate hater, Aarti's dessert was the best.  It was piping hot, soft and served with coffee ice cream and a side of carmel sauce.  F'ing Delicious.  My bread pudding was good and light but I've had better (I'm looking at you Blue Ribbon Bakery) and I took a bite of Dan's dessert and it was like eating peanut butter out of a jar. 

Overall, the quality of the food was beyond high quality.  But it's one of those places that you'd expect your parents or grandparents to love (or just what I imagine UWS-iders would enjoy), so just be prepared when you go.  Don't expect anything hop, cool, or trendy.  Expect mature, traditional, and quality.   Also, the service was a bit lacking in that it was painfully slow in the beginning but then evolved to being almost a bit too attentive.  The total bill with 2 rounds of cocktails and extra supplements was $346 without tip for 4 people. So clearly not an everyday meal but definitely worth it for a nice event.     

Ippudo Visited 7/17/2011 4 Forks

Ippudo 65 4th Ave., (between 9th St & 10th St), New York, NY 10003

 I've actually been to Ippudo twice before but that was before I had started this blog.  I wasn't really looking to eat at Ippudo today but given that the last 3 times I've tired to go there for dinner there were 2+ hour waits, I've been determined to re-visit it one more time.  This afternoon Dan and I just happen to be in the neighborhood and it was only 5pm on a Sunday, so I figured it was damn time we tried again and this time I couldn't imagine that it would be crowded at all. 

Well, I was wrong.  It was definitely crowded and there was still a wait, but luckily it was only a 10 minute wait.  When they walk you into the main dining room, it's like being in Japan where all the cooks and waitstaff yell/cheer things as you walk in. I have no idea what they are saying but it's kind of funny.  We were seated at the counter which I always like because then you get to see the inside of the kitchen.  We split the asparagus special ($9), which was asparagus wrapped in pork belly and then deep fried and served with aoli mayo.  I ordered the miso ramen ($15) and Dan got the modern ramen ($15) with pork belly ($4).  We also split the special cocktail of the day ($10) which was a ginger cocktail with sochu (it was incredibly ginger-y and refreshing for the summer).  The asparagus was thick and crunchy and the pork belly was nicely fried on the outside.  But of course I burned and cut the roof of my mouth, but the spicy mayo definitely made for a nice dipping sauce.   I wanted to get the famous pork buns but at $9, I really had a hard time justifying the price. 


It's been a long time since I've had really good ramen and this was amazing.  It wasn't the noodle that made it delicious it was the miso (soybean) broth.  It came with a big lump of fresh shredded ginger that I had to stir in with the broth and it really added tons of flavor.  The broth wasn't overly salty, which is usually the case with ramen, it was just pure goodness.  I ended up drinking up all the broth at the end of my meal if that gives you an indication of how good it was.  My ramen came with slices of pork, spinach, cabbage, and bamboo shoots that each absorbed the flavors of the broth really well.  Dan's broth was bit more spicy but light tasting and the pork belly that was added as essentially slices of heart-stopping fat.  The only reason I didn't give this place 4.5 forks was because frankly $15 for ramen is really kind of expensive and to charge an additional $4 for pork belly and $2 for egg (shouldn't all ramen come with an egg in it?!) is just kind of ridiculous.  But it really is the best ramen shop in town these days so I guess they can charge all they want.  Total bill: $34/pp with tip.   

John Dory Oyster Bar Visited 7/14/2011 3.5 Forks

John Dory Oyster Bar 1196 Broadway, (between 28th St & 29th St), New York, NY 10001

Yes, I know, I have been giving out a lot of 3.5 forks these days but so many restaurants that I've been to lately are good and borderline great but not quite complete stand-outs.  That's kind of how I felt about the John Dory Oyster Bar...good food overall and I would definitely come back but nothing was mind blowing. 


This is April Bloomfield's 2nd take at a seafood restaurant and it seems to be a big hit with the city because not only was Gail Simmons and Robert Verdi there, but it just seemed to have been filled with lots of "well to do" people.  As my friend Nancy pointed out, there was a woman sitting next to us clutching to her Berkin bag because she refused to put it on the floor or use the hooks that were provided under the tables. 


The decor is pretty funky and airy feeling.  I dug the brightly colored chairs and the general open vibe of the place, although there seemed to be more high stool/bar seats than actual tables.  The menu, while long looking, actually doesn't have a lot of entrees or big dishes on the menu.  It consists of a lot of crudo, snacks and small plates.  We started with the happy hour special of 6 oysters and 1 glass of wine for $15 (I took the wine since Nancy wasn't drinking).  We got the west coast fanny bay oysters and they were delicious and fresh.  Even though our waitress said that the east coast ones were bigger and plumper, these are just the right size.  I don't like oysters that are so tiny you barely can taste anything but the salty water but I also don't like the ones that are so big that you kind of almost need to chew it for fear you may choke on it.  These were served with a lemon and a nice light vinaigrette.  I really wish oysters weren't so damn expensive, otherwise I really could just sit there all day and eat endless amounts of them.  From the menu we got the chorizo stuffed calamari ($16) and the frika and mushroom salad ($14).  I was afraid this wasn't enough food so the waitress suggested the parker rolls ($4.50) which I kind of thought was nice of her not to "suggest" a really expensive dish on the menu.  I really did want to try the pan oyster roast since I had it at the Grand Central Oyster bar (and didn't really love it) but this one came with uni spread on a piece of bread to it sounded like it had potential.  Unfortunately, it's just too hard to split that among two people so we decided to skip it. 


The calamari and salad came out and they looked so small in size that I was sure I would still be hungry later.  But on the plus side they were both excellent small plates.  The calamari was the body part of the squid, not the tentacles, and then stuffed with a surprisingly very spicy chorizo and rice mixture and served with smoked tomato and beans.  It was basically 4-5 bites worth of food but those are 4-5 very tasty bites.  The salad came with mushrooms, frika (which is almost like a barley/brown grain) and arugala and onions.  It was very lightly but appropriately dressed with what tasted to just be olive oil and vinegar.  So simple yet so different from any salad I've seen before.  I felt super healthy eating this salad but for $14 it could have been a lot bigger.  What actually was kind of the star of the meal was the parker rolls.  They are home-made rolls but then just covered in butter and drizzled with salt and pipping hot.  I used them to sop up the smoked tomato and beans from the calamari  and then proceeded to eat another half roll just on its own.  These are dangerous rolls because I could just see myself sitting there and eating an entire basket without even knowing.

Overall, I really liked the vibe, decor and the service was pretty good.  While I did enjoy the quality of my food, the portions could have been bigger for what we were paying.  Although I do think that you really have to get a larger variety of plates (or at least more than 2 dishes) to really get the best meal here. I saw lot of people just ordering piles of oysters and other raw bar items, which do tend to add up on the bill if you're not careful, but they are also part of the reason why so many people come to a seafood place like this.  Total bill $51 for two (excluding tip).  

Aria Wine Bar Visited 7/6/2011 3.5 Forks

Aria 117 Perry St., (between Hudson St & Greenwich St), New York, NY 10014

Aria is one of those places in the West Village that is just painfully cute.  I've actually walked past this place a few times before and always commented on its cuteness.  So I was pleased when my friend Holly suggested that we grab a drink at this place last Wednesday night.  Even on a Wednesday, this place was packed.  We were lucky to grab two bar stools by the window. 


The decor here is rustic charm, but I generally am not a huge fan of communal seating mostly because it doesn't give you much privacy and it makes for just a much louder setting.  The place is a wine bar and they serve tapas as well.  Their wine was actually fairly reasonably priced as I was able to get a good tasting malbec for $6/glass (although I am no wine snob so who knows if it was really a fine wine or not).  They had a fairly good selection of tapas, cheeses and meats.  But when our waiter read us the specials, we were hooked.  From the specials list we ordered the mushroom crostini, the bufala cheese and the mussels.  We should have asked how much the specials were, but since all the tapas on the menu were listed at $9, we assumed they would be in the same ball park.  Big mistake but to be discussed later.  The wine there is served in your not so traditional wine glasses.  In fact, they are served in these almost jam jar like cups, which I think was weird considering it wasn't a quirky hipster type place that usually serves drinks in mason jars.  


The mushroom crostini and bufala came out first.  The crostinis were pretty huge and toasted well.  They were covered in a variety of mushrooms and melted cheese and it was delicious.  Meanwhile the bufala was totally not what I expected because the plate was huge and came with a tomatoes and lots of prosciutto.  The cheese was really soft and and if you've had buffalo mozzarella before, it's got a different consistency that your typical mozzarella.  It's much wetter and falls apart much easier.  Taste-wise, the cheese, tomatoes and meat all went really well.  Everything was going well with our 1st two dishes and we continued to order more wine.  Then our mussels came out and it was a disappointment compared to the first two dishes.  The mussels were tiny and dry and the only redeeming quality of the dish was the garlic, white wine oil it was simmering in.  That part was so good that I was sopping up bottom of it with my bread, but as I was dipping my bread, that's when I noticed that our table was totally slanted and a bunch of oil dripped all over me because my plate was so tilted.  

Overall, this place is a great place if you want to grab some wine and small plate and just be surrounded by rustic cuteness.  But I was a bit put back when we got the bill and discovered that our bufala was $16 and the mussels were $14!!  If I had known that, I'm not sure I would have gotten them as those prices are much higher than the prices of all the other tapas on the menu.  Total bill was $48/pp with tax and tip but includes 3 glasses of wine each.   

Coast Sushi Visited 7/3/2011 3.5 Forks

Coast Sushi 2045 N Damen Ave., Chicago, IL 60647

It has been years since I've been to a sushi restaurant in Chicago so I was pretty excited to give another sushi place a try.  Luckily, this place was within walking distance Deanna's place which was a nice plus.  Coast was definitely one of the more trendy fancy sushi places I've been to in a while...it's not your more local mom and pop place run by Japanese people. 


The inside was sleek and dark.  I almost felt like I wasn't dressed up enough.  Although it was pretty hot outside, it was almost too cold inside the restaurant.  I understand wanting to keep a sushi restaurant cold inside but this place felt like a meat locker.  It was also extremely dark that I felt like I could have fallen asleep at dinner at one point.  The restaurant is clearly more angled towards those on dates but that shouldn't deter you from going with your friends.  The menu had a nice variety of elegant sounding rolls and dishes.  The nice thing about the menu was that they had a specific vegetarian section which is great since it's already hard enough for vegetarians to find stuff to eat at a sushi restaurant.  I was this close to ordering my usual spicy salmon, spicy scallop and spicy tuna or yellowtail roll, but figured I should opt for something I usually don't get.  Deanna and I split the ginger salad ($5) for an appetizer.  While I got the chirashi ($23) and Deanna got 2 special vegetarian rolls.  Deanna also ordered a hot tea because it was so cold inside and you figured should come out pretty immediately.  But we waited and waited for it and the waitress made some comment how they were freshly brewing it.  Our salad came out before the hot tea, which is really just a bit ridiculous.  The salad was a basic mixed green salad with toasted sesame seeds with very very light dressing.  It was too light for me.  Normally I LOVE ginger dressing so I wished there was much more of it on the salad. 

When Deanna's tea finally did come out, it was lukewarm!  How is that possible? It was so baffling and instead Deanna just opted for a miso soup.  Miso soup came with my chirashi dish and the way they served it was in a large tea cup with no spoon.  I wished they had served it just with a bowl and spoon because it was a bit hard to sip the seaweed and tofu without a spoon.  Next the chirashi came out and it was quite lovely looking.  It had your usual line up of fish on a bed of tasty sushi grade rice.  The fish was definitely very fresh and clean tasting but my only complaint was that they pieces were a bit too small.  I know that the cuts of fish shouldn't be huge, but these could have been just a bit bigger to satisfy my hunger because at the end I was pouring soy sauce on my rice to fill me up.  Deanna's rolls were also pretty good and different than your standard cucumber avocado roll for vegetarians.  I can't remember what was in it exactly now, but they tried to make the rolls as fancy and exotic as possible without using fish.  Although one thing that did annoy me was that one of the rolls was gigantic..it was one of those type of rolls that unless you had Angelina Jolie's mouth, it just impossible to fit into 1 bite but then if you bit through it, the roll just ends up falling apart.    


Overall, it was a pleasant meal and it definitely felt like a nice night out on the town.  We did think that they would comp us for Deanna's miso soup since it took forever to get us her tea and then it was cold, but instead all they did was just charge us for the tea instead of the soup because it was cheaper.  Total bill $62 (including tax and tip).

Annapurna Visited 7/3/2011 4 Forks

Annapurna 2608 W Devon Ave., Chicago, IL 60659

 Now this is what I'm talking about.  At my core, I just love really good cheap ethnic food. For as many years I've been going to Chicago, I've never been to Devon Street, which is the heart of the Indian community.  I went with Aarti to get some sari blouses tailored and ended up just walking around the street.  After a long hot day, we had worked up an appetite, despite eating only 3 hours ago. 

Annapurna is one of Aarti's favorite places on Devon and I can see why.  The decor is basically a fast food restaurant type place, which is fine by me if you're going for cheap eats. We got samosas, chaat, and Pav Bhaji (all of which Aarti ordered for us).  The samosas were delicious...not too heavy on the dough and fairly moist on the inside.  The chaat was served with these small flaky chip like creations and it was served on top of yogurt, cilantro, chickpeas and a spicy/tangy mixture.  It was sweet, sour, spicy, crunchy and cooling all at once.  I had never had it before, but it was amazing and wanted to more of it.  It was also helpful as a cooling agent when I ate the pav bhaji.  Pav bhaji is basically an Indian version of a sloppy joe.  It's served with this spicy veggie mixture, cilantro, onion and then it's served on a buttery, toasted hamburger bun.  It was fabulous and addictive.  Simple design, complex flavors.  Despite being spicy, I couldn't stop eating the veggie mixture.  At one point, I just poured the yogurt chaat on top of the veggie mixture and ate them together, otherwise my mouth would have just died from the spiciness.  I was so glad that I finally got to try a cheap good eats place on Devon because I had heard so much about it.  And the other fabulous thing was that all our food (2 orders of samosas, 1 chaat and 2 orders of pav bhaji) was $14.  Holy crap that's some serious cheap eats.

Deleece Visited 7/3/2011 2.5 Forks

Deleece 4004 N Southport Ave., Chicago, IL 60613

 Deleece seems like one of those places that has a lot of potential but the food just needs to step it up.  We at a celebratory brunch there for my best friend's engagement.  The place looked like it would be a cute go-to neighborhood type place with cute outdoor seating and a large space indoors. 


The brunch menu had a lot of great sounding options including different kinds of benedict, a breakfast burrito, frittatas, french toast, sandwiches, burgers and salads.  They are also "famous" for their beignets so we started with two orders of those.  I've had great beignets in New Orleans before and they should be light and fluffy and addictive.  These were chewy, dense and really rich.  The carmel sauce on top of it was very sweet and sticky but it was the best part of the dish.

I got the breakfast burrito ($8) because who doesn't like eggs, cheese, guac and sour cream for breakfast? Unfortunately, the addition of the chorizo, which you think would be a positive addition, made the burrito really oily and greasy.  At one point, when I cut the burrito open, a bunch of oil came out.  I understand that when cooked chorizo releases lots of grease, but they could have done a better job of not transferring it into the tortilla.  The roasted potatoes that were served with it were just ok, nothing like the potatoes I had a Longman and Eagle.

I give them points for the nice outdoor seating and the fact everyone was able to find something they could eat on the menu and the prices are very reasonable.  The waitstaff was also really friendly which was also a redeeming quality of this place, but sadly the food just didn't help them earn any more forks.  

Topolobampo Visited 7/2/2011 3.5 Forks

Topolobampo 445 N Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654

I have been a fan of Rick Bayless for a while and have been bummed that every time I'm in Chicago, I can never get a reservation at any of his restaurants.  So when we decided to celebrate my friend's engagement/marriage in Chicago over the 4th of July in April, I immediately went on OpenTable and made a reservation.  Even 4 months out, the only reservation they had left on a Saturday was at 9pm.  


The restaurant is attached to Rick Bayless' other restaurant Frontera Grill, which is a bit confusing.  They are literally in the same space but just divided up into separate rooms.  As soon as we walked into the restaurant, I immediately wished that I had reserved Frontera Grill instead.  Of the two, it was the more lively, fun, and youthful part of the restaurant.  I didn't get to see the menu but from what I was seeing coming out of the kitchen, it looked to be more casual dinning.  Not that I didn't like my meal at Topolobampo, but it was definitely much more mature and stuffy environment.  There was no music and it was just much more formal (we had white table cloths and fine silverware for Christ sakes) and quiet.  Plus every one in there was over the age of 50.  


The menu is fine Mexican dining and the prices definitely reflect that.  They mainly focus on the tasting menu ($90 per person), but you can also order a la carte too which is what we did.  We ordered the quisdo fundido  ($13.50), the Ensalada Topolobampo ($9) and the Chayote ($13) to split for the table.  I then ordered the pork 3 ways ($38) as my main entree while Soph got the hen ($38) and Deanna and Aarti got the only vegetarian entree on the menu of eggplant ($25).  The waiter was definitely overly chatty and kept calling us senioritas and describing all the dishes in extremely detail.  Deanna and Soph thought that he was mocking us because he might have thought we were too young looking for the restaurant.  I can see what they were saying but I think his personality might just be that way.  But he definitely was much more friendly and ass-kissy to the other two tables next to us.


The appetizers came out and they were all pretty small but packed great flavors.  Usually when I get queso fundido, it comes out in this flaming hot bowl and the cheesy is super gooey.  Here the cheese was almost smoked/roasted and there wasn't a whole lot of it, but what was there was definitely flavorful.  The salad was fine, nothing really to write home about but it did have a fabulous creamy-lime dressing.  I didn't quite get what the chayote was all about.  It looked like a small pear with some sauce on top of it. It definitely was an interesting taste but I couldn't quite figure it out.  What I did figure out and love were the handmade tortillas.  They were soft and warm and delicious.  I actually ate 3 of them just during the appetizer section.  Next our entrees came out and I was exited for my dish since the gentleman next to me told me it was amazing and to ask for extra tortillas.  The pork came as a roasted loin,braised shoulder and belly and crispy chicharron with black rice and beans.  After they serve you the dish, they then poured a dark brown sauce all over it that was similar to a smoky chipotle like sauce.  I will agree and say that the pork was all excellent.  Strangely enough, even though the apps were small I was kind of full when my entree arrived (damn you mango mojito and all your sugar!).  I did manage to wrap most of the pork in several tortillas and I could see why the man told me to ask for more tortillas because I could have used them to sop up the rest of the sauce.  But I just couldn't do it, I was so full.  I almost wanted to cry when they took my plate away when it still had food on there.  I didn't try anyone else's dishes but everyone seemed really pleased with their food. 

For dessert, we go the torta de Chocolate y fresas ($10) and the mil hojas de fresa con jasmin ($10).  The table next to us was raving about the dessert, but honestly I wasn't all that blown away by it.  I thought the chocolate tort was way to rich and the mil hojas (a strawberry short-cake/napoleon type dessert) was definitely good but not really worth $10.  

Don't get me wrong, I had a great meal and I'm glad to have gone there.  But the entire meal took way too long (we were there for almost 3 hours) and the atmosphere was much more stuffy than I thought.  It kind of sucked to hear the loud music and fun atmosphere just inches away from us.  Meanwhile, we were partaking in very fine dining that cost us way too much money.  On the plus side, Rick Bayless did come out and he started talking to the table next to us, but he didn't stop to say hello to us.  Oh well.  

Longman and Eagle Visited 7/2/2011 4.5 Forks

Longman and Eagle 2657 N Kedzie Ave., Chicago, IL 60647

 Holy shit, this place caught me totally off guard.  Who knew this many hipsters could be found in one place in Chicago? And that this place also doubles as a hotel? But besides the ironic facial hair and tattoos, the food and whiskey selection here is top notch.  Deanna and I went for an early brunch (11 AMish on a Saturday) and there was already a 30 minute wait.  But luckily, 2 seats opened up at the bar and we decided to stay there and order food.  


Given that this is also a whiskey bar, the focus of the food is pretty Southern focused, so that means lots of pig dishes, hash, and grits.  But luckily for the vegetarians, they also have several delicious sounding vegetarian-only dishes.  I got the crab benedict ($13) and Deanna got the omelete with seasonal veggies (peas, ramps, and other fresh market veggies for $11).  The only downfall of sitting at the bar is that we didn't really have a dedicated waiter/waitress, we just had the bartender and he was too busy running around making drinks for others to be attentive.  Deanna wanted coffee and it took forever to get it served and they never really re-filled our water glasses.  But once the food came out, I could have cared less if we were just ignored for the rest of the meal.  The crab benedict was completely out of this world.  There was a good helping of fresh real crab meat (no filler) and it was covered in amazing hollandaise sauce with perfectly running poached eggs and soft english muffins.  It comes with crispy potatoes and these must have been some of the best potatoes I've had in a really long time.  They were crisp on the outside, but not burned and soft in the inside.  I have been trying to watch my cholesterol but screw that.  If licking my plate wasn't rude, I would have done that with this dish.  I recommend getting a fork full of everything in one bite to really get the best taste.  I had a small bite of Deanna's dish and it was also really well cooked and she raved about it as well...saying the veggies were really fresh tasting.  I saw other people's dishes and they also looked mouth-watering.  They really know how to cook an egg as I saw the duck egg hash and the eggs were the most picture perfect sunnyside eggs I have ever seen.  Next time, I will try sitting at an actual table to get more attentive service and I will most definitely be back for dinner and a whiskey flight. Total bill $50 for two.

Girodano's Pizza Visited 7/1/2011 3 Forks

Girodano's 5990 W Dempster St., Morton Grove, IL 60053

When I think Chicago, I think deep dish pizza.  And I mean the real stuff, not the Uno's version they have in New York.  Every time I go back to Chicago (which is usually at least once a year), my first meal is usually a deep dish place.  I've been to Girodano's, Gino's, and Lou Malnati's and they are all pretty damn good. 


We ended up going to the Girodano's in the 'burbs this time around because my friend Soph was pregnant and we didn't want to stray too far from her house and it was also in honor of my best friend Aarti's bachelorette party and we knew that she prefers Girodano's to the other pizza places.  The last couple of times I've been to Chicago we used to go to Lou's and I really loved their pizza but I was totally open to re-visiting Girodano's since it had been a while.  We all split a greek salad and a large pizza with half cheese and half spinach and mushrooms. A greek salad is pretty hard to get wrong and the base veggies were fine but I wasn't a huge fan of the dressing...it was a bit too oil and vinegar tasting without a lot of other spices mixed in.  The pizza came out about 45 minutes later, which is pretty typical when you get deep dish pizza.  It's something that I have to get used to when ordering deep dish because they make it to order and by nature, it just takes a long time to cook in the oven. 

The pizza came out and to me, it looked like it could have been stuffed a bit more (even though CLEARLY there was tons of cheese and sauce in it already).  I did like the mixture of spinach and mushroom (two of my favorite vegetables) but the one issue was that whenever you cook spinach, water comes out and the water kind of made the rest of the pizza a bit soggy.  Don't get me wrong, I would definitely give any original Chicago deep dish place 5 forks, but this one experience was a notch below what I've had before.  It was still delicious, cheesey and saucy, but I just didn't love that there was all this water around it.  I think the crust could have also been a bit more buttery and flakey, but hey, it's probably better for me that it wasn't.  Another thing that I love about Chicago and deep dish is the price, each person paid $13 (split 3 ways) due to a 20% coupon that we had (and apparently they give away like water over there....so jealous).