Champs Visited 10/27/2013 4.5 Forks

Champs 176 Ainslie St., (between Lorimer St & Manhattan Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11211

Who would have thought that I would be in love with a total hipster vegan diner in the middle of Williamsburg?  But I am.  I found this place randomly while I was walking around the neighborhood and it totally reminded me of a place that I would find in Chicago.  It's got this great low-key neighborhood vibe and even though it's full of hipster vegans, it didn't bother me at all.  The menu here is typical diner type food - a giant menu full of salads, sandwiches, burgers, and breakfast bowls.  It was so overwhelming and I didn't know what to order because I wanted to order everything under the sun.  All the ingredients on the menu sounded fresh, organic and very healthy (lots of kale, quinoa, and tofu).  They take a lot of diner favorites like benedicts, buffalo chicken, reuben and cheesesteaks and made them vegan friendly which is really hard to do. 

Since it was brunch time, I opted for the breakfast burrito ($12) and we split an order of pancakes for the table ($5).  Aarti got the banh mi ($9) and Louise got the tofu rancheros ($10) and a kale salad side dish ($5).  As you can see from the prices, they are all super reasonable and affordable for the area.  We all ordered coffee and it was crazy strong and pretty bitter, so if you like sweet or weak coffee, definitely watch out here.  On to the food, usually what scares me about vegan places is the lack of flavor and seasoning (I'm looking at you Butcher's Daughter), but that was not the case here.  The food here definitely made me forget that it didn't have meat or fat in it.  The burrito was gigantic and came with tons of vegan chorizo (it tasted exactly like real chorizo and the texture wasn't too far off), tofu scramble, mixed bell peppers, garlic, rosemary potatoes, "cheese" in a whole wheat organic tortilla and drizzled with chipotle dressing.  It was a fantastic breakfast burrito, vegan or not.  It was flavorful, filling and the perfect diner food.  I didn't try Aarti or Louise's dish, but I don't think Aarti loved her banh mi too much because it was pretty heavy on the bread part and she left half of it on her plate untouched.  But we all did love the pancake stack - it was sweet, fluffy and served with a tasty berry compote.  I could have eaten the whole stack myself.   

The staff was really friendly and nice with a slight hipster edge to it.  The only downside is that it's cash only but luckily the prices aren't too high that you might be able to scrap together your bills together to pay the bill.  I'm so glad that I found this place and it really gives vegan food a good name.  I would totally come back here anytime and might even come on my own for lunch or dinner.  If you're coming here for brunch, definitely be prepared to wait.  We waited about 45 minutes on a Sunday but they do have chairs outside and you can order coffee to drink while you wait . Total bill:  $21/pp with tax and tip. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Baoburg Visited 10/24/2013 2.5 Forks

Baoburg 126 N 6th St., Brooklyn, NY 11249

It's been a week since I ate here and while I originally wasn't sure about what I was going to rate it, I was thinking in the 3 range when we first left the restaurant.  But after having a few days to stew on it, it's made realize how unmemorable the meal was.  It wasn't bad but nothing about it stuck out in my mind.  The one thing that did stick out was how incredibly tiny the place is.  In fact there are no tables in the entire place, instead there are only high tops and stools which were really uncomfortable to sit if you're planning on staying for more than 30 minutes.  What's really weird about this place is the menu.  It's not really clear what the vision is of the menu:  is it Thai? Is it French? Is it Japanese? Or is it American? The menu has mussels, octopus, hanger steak, ramen, french fries, roasted beets and guacamole.  Waa? 

Nancy and I decided to try a bunch of things, so we started with the gambas ($12), we wanted the roasted octopus legs but they didn't have any octopus that night and instead had it as a calamari dish ($14), the seared duck breast noodle ($16) and then topped off the meal with cheesy truffle fries ($7).  Yea - kind of a hodgepodge of food.  The fries came out first and they were the skinny salty kind covered in cheese, drizzled with truffle oil and then sprinkled with bites of bacon.   Obviously you can't have those kind of ingredients without it being delicious - it was good but the fries were kind of cold when they got to our table.  Then came the gambas dish - which was a lot like the Spanish tapas style dish of garlic shrimp poached in olive oil, chili, garlic with some lemongrass and kir limes and served with slices of bread.  The shrimp was poached really well and had this nice bite to it.  The garlic oil leftover was great for dipping the bread in (not that I needed to be eating more food).  Next came the calamari dish which was roasted calamari served with charred tomatoes, edamame, spiced pecans, and a bearnaise sauce.  The calamari was small in size and more of the body part of the squid vs. the legs/tentacles.  I don't know what it was, but I just didn't get this dish.  It totally tasted fine but I wasn't wow'd by it or really thought it was craveable.  It just seemed like a bunch of ingredients thrown together randomly.  The last dish of the night was the seared duck breast noodle which was basically a ramen dish with bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, in a duck broth.  I loved that they pre-divided the dish into 2 separate bowls for us vs. having to share 1 bowl between the two of us, very nice touch.  Nancy and I both thought that this was the best dish of the night.  The duck breast was seared nicely with just enough pink on the inside and the ramen was the right texture.  The broth was a bit too salty but that's kind of expected in a dish like ramen. 

All in all, the meal was ok, just not something that really had that wow factor.  The space is incredibly uncomfortable for parties bigger than 2, so be aware of that if you have a big party.  The menu needs to have more of a consistent theme to it - it just felt like it was all over the place.  The service was kind of hilarious with a really nice and enthusiastic guy but he kind of reminded me of Matthew McConaughey with his slow drawl and reaction to things.  Not sure how long this place will last given the plethora of restaurants on that drag but stranger things have happened.  Also another total pain, they are cash only.  Total bill:  $40/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken Visited 10/22/2013 3 Forks

Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken 28 E 1st St., (between Extra Pl & 2nd St), New York, NY 10003

I had been wanting to try this place since it opened this past summer but there were always such crazy long lines, but finally now that it's been about 3 months, the lines have died down and I figured it was worth a try.  Along with Jenn Y., I'm a big fan of fried chicken and there aren't a ton of places to get really good juicy crispy friend chicken but it's definitely starting to become more of a trend these days.  Blue Ribbon was always famous for its fried chicken at their regular spots, so it seems like they finally took all the glowing customer feedback and created a place focused around their famous chicken. 

I should caveat that the place isn't really a restaurant, but you order at the counter, they give you a number and you pick it up and seat yourself.  But they do have beer and wine, so you can make kind it out to be similar to a sit down meal experience.  The menu is full of exactly what you think: fried chicken dinner combos, individual fried chicken pieces, chicken burgers, chicken wings, and sides of fries, cole slaw, etc.  The weird thing was that they did not have any chicken nuggets/tenders/strips on the menu.  Even though they are for kids most of the time, I do like a good solid set of chicken nuggets from time to time.  Jenn, Krush and I started the night with a set of 10 wings (BBQ and hot) for $13.50.  They were pretty flavorful, although I thought there may have been a bit too much batter on the outside and I wished I tasted more of the actual chicken.  The hot version isn't very hot at all, so if you're looking for spicy wings, then I would recommend getting the fire version.  After our snack of wings, we went back for the main attraction.  We ended up splitting various pieces of chicken from the breast, thigh and drumstick and the dinner plates come with a side of fries already and then we ordered a separate order of griddled corn and bacon ($8).  The skin of the fried chicken isn't the kind of golden brown you find at a Popeye's or even at The Cardinal.  It looked and tasted like it had some curry powder or some kind of brown spice to it.  While the actual meat was juicy, there was something about the extra "dry rub" on the skin that I just wasn't a huge fan of.  It wasn't bad or un-flavorful, but I guess I am still used the the basic fried golden skin with not much else on it.  The skin didn't have that extra crunchy outside that I love most about fried chicken.   I did enjoy the corn side, which seemed less griddled and more like sauteed with LOTS of butter in it.  The fries were also your solid skinny salty variety and at this point, I was just ingesting so much fried food that I  just didn't even care anymore what I was eating.   

I liked the fact that you can order a bunch of individual pieces of chicken in addition to the dinner plates, to make your own plate but for some reason the fact that they didn't have tenders/strips really annoyed me for some reason  - sometimes you just want a good old fashion set of chicken nuggets.  While I would come back here if I was in the 'hood and hungry, I do think places like The Cardinal,  Bob White's Lunch Counter, and even the fried chicken at The Commodore bar have slightly better chicken because of the crispiness of the skin.  Total bill with 2 rounds of beers:  $33/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Abriya Raku Visited 10/23/2013 4 Forks

Abriya Raku 5030 W Spring Mountain Road, Las Vegas, NV

This is a Fun With Eating first...our first a guest blogger! My good friend Allison was in Las Vegas for work and I had lamented how last time I went to Vegas, I didn't get to try Raku, which came highly recommended, so she was totally up for trying it out on my behalf.  I didn't actually think she would do a full write up but she did, which was so sweet of her.  So without further adieu - please welcome my first guest blog entry from Allison - she did a great job!  PS.  if anyone else is up for a guest entry, I'm totally open to it.  Let me know.  

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This review is an homage to Jenny and her food blog.  Thanks to Jenny I had a good tip where to have dinner on my evening dining solo in Vegas.  I took a cab 10 minutes from the strip and headed out to “China Town”.  In Vegas, as you might expect, China Town is less of a bustling neighborhood and more of a series of strip malls with lots of different Asian restaurants and stores.   Among one of the non-descript strip malls is Raku, a Japanese Robata restaurant.  Since I was dining alone, I requested to sit at the sushi bar.  The hostess  was happy to seat me at the bar, which already had a few other customers, but she informed me that they didn’t serve sushi (oops).

The restaurant has 5-6 places at the bar, where you can watch food being prepared, and about 40 seats.  When I arrived at 6pm shortly after it opened, there were about 10 people total already there and as Jenny would note I was the only non-Asian which would be a good sign.  The menu consists of house made tofus, salads, cold items, grilled (robata) items and desserts.  I thought I’d sample one of each although I am not as adventurous an eater as Jenny.

I started with a half portion of the Raku Tofu, which was served cold with bonito, scallions and ginger.  There are several condiments options the bar including Raku’s green tea salt, soy sauce and custom made mixes of spicy sauce and flakes, which originate in Japan.  I was instructed to salt my tofu and use soy sauce if I liked.  Oh boy was this tofu good – it melted in your mouth.  The menu describes the tofu as “the freshest you will ever taste” which is a big claim but hard to debate after trying it. Next I had the sashimi salad which came with 9 slices of sashimi (3 salmon, 3 tuna, 3 yellowtail) on top of a bed of spinach finished with a soy dressing and a dollop of spicy sauce.  It was huge, which is not often something that describes Japanese portions, fresh and delicious.  I was excited for what was next although I was already pretty full.  I got the yellowtail with glazed soy based sauce.  It came from the grill on skewers and with a small ball of shaved daikon.  The fish was so light and flaky it was easy to eat off the skewer and was perfectly complimented by the sauce.  Also from the robata grill I ordered the flame grilled eggplant, which was a small skinned Japanese eggplant covered in bonito flakes.  It was certainly tasty, with the smokiness of the grill but not mind blowing.  To top it all off I had the sorbet of the day which was Asian pear.  It came in out in a small cup and was the consistency of a snow cone - small chunks of ice covered in pear syrup.  It was a perfect surprising, ending for someone like me, who is a huge fan of shave ice, and palate cleansing.  The service was quick and friendly, as I asked for recommendations and happily took any suggestions that they had for how to accessorize the items I’d ordered and endlessly refilled my green tea. There was a friendly welcome “irashaimase”  and  “arigatou gozaimasu” shouted to each person that left the restaurant 

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and was thrilled to leave the Strip with its large, noisy, chain restaurants.  Raku is authentic and reasonably priced - 2 words not usually used to describe Las Vegas.  I can only hope some day Jenny and I will be back to experience it together.

Total with tax and tip: $48

Photo Credit:  Allison Simon

Grano Trattoria Visited 10/19/2013 3 Forks

Grano Trattoria 21 Greenwich Ave., (between Charles St & 10th St), New York, NY 10014

I'm guessing that the majority of Grano's clientele comes from people who were not willing to wait the crazy wait at Rosemary's because that it what happened to us.  Rosemary quoted us a 2 hour wait on a Friday night and while I've totally waited that long before for a table, Aarti, Bharat and I were starving, so we immediately looked to see what our other options were on the block.  Grano is kitty corner to Rosemary and when we popped in to ask what the wait was, they told us 10 minutes.  Perfect.  Then all of a sudden it became 45 minutes, but we were able to sit at the bar and order drinks and snacks.  While Rosemary's also has a bar in the back, it's super super crowded and very loud.  We saddled up to the bar and got a baked eggplant ($9.50) appetizer and the pizza grano ($16.50) to nibble on while we waited for our table.  The eggplant was essentially a small portion of an eggplant parm.  It was small but tasty and covered in a nice tomato base and cheese.  We all agreed that we could have eaten the entire thing ourselves vs. splitting it 3 ways.  The Grano pizza consisted of bufala mozzarella, fresh tomato, and topped with arugula.  While I love all of these individual ingredients on their own and combined, this pizza didn't have enough cheese and had too much of the arugula.  As Aarti mentioned, it kind of felt like we were eating a pizza salad - heavy emphasis on the salad.  The crust had a nice chewy texture to it but it didn't really overcome the fact that there wasn't any sauce, not enough cheese and covered in a leafy green for my personal pizza taste. 

You'd think after eating that pizza and eggplant parm that we wouldn't have room for an actual meal, but you would be wrong.  Once we sat down we opted for the roasted artichoke ($12) appetizer and I got the special pasta of the day which came with pork belly ragu - but I learned that they were out of the actual pasta this dish was made with and instead the waitress recommended I go with the casarecci style pasta on it instead.  The artichoke dish originally had bacon in it, so we asked if they could make it vegetarian and they said they could substitute with brussels sprouts instead.  Perfect.  Except when the dish came out it was literally a plate of shredded brussels sprouts.  You could barely tell there were any artichokes in there.  We mentioned this to the waitress and she as like "oh, it's in there.  It's just really small."  umm, ok, I kind of didn't believe her, but she was so nice overall and the dish tasted fine, we didn't put up a stink.  Next came my pasta.  I had never heard of a casarecci pasta and honestly now when I look it up, I think I got a different kind of pasta - one that looks more like a celetani pasta in that it's kind of squiggly looking.  While the ragu sauce was good, it wasn't midblowing.  I couldn't actually tell that it was pork belly based (tasted like any other salty meat product) and it was a very rich and heavy pasta, so I had to take half of it home (which is something I rarely do).  The dish was satisfying and I had an enjoyable time with the company I was with, but the food here seemed more like your basic standard Italian vs. anything really special.  It was nice to not have to wait (about an hour and a half into our meal Rosemary's finally calls to say our table was ready) and I really appreciated how kind and warm the staff was.  They were seriously some of the nicest waitstaff I've encountered in a while.  

If you're dead set on having Italian in that 'hood, I'd still recommend Rosemary's (just be prepared to wait) and if you're not dead set on it, there are also other nice options such as Kingswood and Whitehall.  I wouldn't eliminate Grano Trattoria as an option but just know that it's not the only table on the block.  Total bill $56/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Lotus Blue Visited 10/17/2013 4 Forks

Lotus Blue 110 Reade St., (between Broadway & Church St), New York, NY 10013

While I was researching for places to go for my work lunch the other day, I had come across Lotus Blue and seriously thought about going.  Even though I opted for Landmarc, I had bookmarked this place in my head as a place to try soon because of the great reviews it got on Yelp and the fact that it seemed like a legit Chinese place in Tribeca.  Funnily enough, I had drinks with Virginia that night and she had mentioned walking by this place.  Since she's one of my go-to Asian food partners, I figured why not?  

This is definitely not your Chinatown-like Chinese place.  Of course, since it's Tribeca, it's got a bit of an upscale feel, but it's not too snotty or high brow.  The menu here is Yunnan style so similar to that of Yunnan Kitchen.  I was a bit overwhelmed with all the options, but ended up ordering the crispy scallion pancakes ($6), pork chive potstickers ($8), three delight cross-bridge noodles ($18) and the steamed whole sea bass with black bean sauce ($23).  Yes, it was a lot of food but we somehow managed to eat everything.  We actually started with the cross-bridge noodles first.  I'll be honest, I didn't read the description of the dish so when it came out, it was totally not what I expected.  For some reason I thought it would be a pan fried noodle, but it says directly on the menu that there is broth to it.  So it was a giant steaming bowl of noodle soup.  They give you a bowl of rice noodles, pork, chicken, and shrimp in a bowl and then a separate plate of vegetables and a raw quail egg.  Then the waiter comes over and pours the steaming hot pork bone broth into the noodle bowl.   Pretty unique.  It was fragrant (probably due to this large flower floating in it) and is the kind of dish that would be really soothing on a cold night.  It was definitely large enough to be an entree for 1 person.  The noodles were tender and hot broth cooked all the meat, egg and vegetables well.  There were some chili flakes floating around in there that gave it a kick, but it actually could have used just a bit more salt to it.  But overall, it was a solid noodle soup dish.  Next came the scallion pancake and dumplings.  These were also both great standard staple dishes.  The pancake was fried nicely and came with a honey or lime soy dipping sauce.  I could have used a bit more scallion in them, but overall it was your typical delicious crispy pancake.  The dumplings were also tasty.  They were pan seared and had a giant thin layer of dough crust on top of it.  I've seen other places do this too and I'm not sure why because that's really not that part that people want to eat.  They want to get to the juicy pork filling.  In any case, the dumplings were nicely filled and executed.  The dough wasn't too thick and the pork was flavored well.  Lastly came the whole steamed sea bass.  For those of you who have read my blog long enough, you'll know that I am obsessed with whole steamed fish.  I wish I ate it more often here and it's one of the dishes that I always make my mom make for me when I go home.  Not only is it good for you, but it's just plain delicious.  The sea bass here was steamed with ginger, scallion, and house made black bean sauce.  We (well mostly me!) pretty much destroyed it and left no piece of meat unturned.  It was a bit bonier than I would have liked it and I think it was due to it's slightly smaller size.  Even though I don't find steamed fish to be super filling, combined with all the other food we had, I was definitely full at the end.  I loved that the waiter automatically knew to bring a bowl of white rice for the fish.  One of my biggest pet peeves if having to order rice at a Asian restaurant.  It should always come with a meal and I shouldn't have to ask for it!

The waitstaff here was really nice, very enthusiastic and genuinely seemed happy that we were happy.  I was really glad that we tried this place and I noticed that they have some affordable lunch specials that I would totally be willing to try during the work week.  I was surprised at how much I liked this place since I traditionally favor more whole in the wall ethnic places, but sometimes you do want to be in a slightly nicer setting.  I'm just glad it's not too uber trendy like the rest of the neighborhood.  But yes, the prices to reflect where it is (I think everything was about $3-7 more than they needed to be) but I guess they have to make money somehow.  Total bill:  $44/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Landmarc 10/17/2013 3.5 Forks

Landmarc 179 W Broadway (between Worth St & Varick St), New York, NY 10013

Now that I've finally settled into my new job, Eric, Borami and I went for our first official team lunch and it was my pick!  My original choice was Locanda Verde  because I love that place and haven't been a while.  But I figured we could try some place I hadn't been to so that I could blog about it and since I didn't have to pay for it.  I opted for Landmarc since I had heard good things about it but probably would not go to unless it was a work lunch.  The more well-known Landmarc is located in Time Warner Center but this one in Tribeca is a nice unassuming restaurant tucked away on West Broadway. 

When we walked in at noon, there was no one else in there which would normally give me pause for concern but it was nice to be away from all the crowded, loud lunch places by work.  We could actually have a conversation, hear each other and not worry about running into other work people.  The menu here is American fine dining, which ranged from steak salads, burgers, pastas, sandwiches and grilled salmon.  I opted for the braised lamb sandwich ($18) and ordered a side of fries ($7) and brussels sprouts with bacon ($7) for the table.  The lamb sandwich was served on a ciabatta bread with pickles and aioli on top of shreds of braised lamb. The lamb was nice and moist and although I normally don't like pickles, they added a nice tang to each bite.  But I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the bread.  It was too thick and bready, so by the time I got to the 2nd half of the sandwich I just ate the inside of the it (probably healthier for me anyways).  I took a few bites of the salad but I thought it was a bit overdressed, so instead I just focused all my time on the fries.  These fries were amazing.  Some of the best, thick cut, salty fries I've had in a while.  They were perfectly crisp and very addictive.  The brussels sprouts were nicely roasted and complemented with these really fatty pieces of lardon. Delicious but probably not the healthiest thing to have in the middle of the day.  Eric got the grilled chicken sandwich ($17) and Borami the croque madam ($16).  While I didn't try their food (because that would be weird for a work lunch), they both seemed to enjoy their dishes. 

The service here was attentive but not intrusive.  It was a great work lunch spot because it's quiet, away from the ruckus, but still serves great fine dining food.  Plus the prices are totally T&E friendly.  While it is a 15 minute walk from the Tower, on a nice day, it's totally worth the accidental exercise to try something that's not PJ Clarke, Harry's or North End Grill.  Total bill:  $85 

Photo Credit:  Yelp    

Yuji Ramen + Dominique Ansel Bakery Visited 10/16/2013 4.5 Forks

Yuji Ramen 95 E Houston St., 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10002

Dominique Ansel Bakery 189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012

So this review is kind of unique in the sense that I usually don't re-review places nor do I put two places in one.  But if I had reviewed each of these places on its own it would have been really short and since I went to both places on the same day for an extended lunch field trip and would have rated both of them the same, I figured it was worth putting them together. 

I had been to the original pop-up Yuji Ramen before and liked it but its cold broth-less presentation just didn't make me think of it as ramen, so whenever I wanted ramen, it never really came to mind (plus it left the Williamsburg pop-up location a while ago).  My friend Neel had mentioned that he was dying to try it and we both had time to take a nice long lunch, so we hopped on the subway and gave it a try for lunch.  It's located inside the Whole Foods on Bowery street on the 2nd floor.  I hadn't been to this Whole Foods in a while so I was really impressed with how the 2nd floor has become a bit of a food market with different types of food stalls.  Yuji Ramen is a small bar with about 7-8 stools.  There are only about 4-5 ramens to choose from and I decided to get the special of the day the Uni (sea urchin) mazemen ($11).  Only in the past 5 or so years have I become a lover of uni but it's got to be fresh and from a place I trust. By the looks of this place (and the fact it was in a fancy Whole Foods), I was willing to take that bet.  One of the nice things about sitting at the bar is that you get to see how they cook and prepare the food.  Watching them put such love and care into the food made me want to quit my job and get back there with them.  But alas....the ramen came out pretty quickly mostly because they don't cook the noodles for very long.  Similar to my previous experience, the ramen here is still cold with no broth.  But this time it was covered in delicious, creamy uni and thin slices of seaweed.  It was heavenly.  The noodles were thick and chewy but not in an undercooked way, rather in a really delicious way.  The uni was this fantastic fresh taste of the ocean, which I know sounds like it might be fishy, but it wasn't.  The uni mixed with the noodles was really a stellar combination.  My one watch out with the food here is that the portions are small.  Yes, the noodles will expand and fill you up some, but if you're coming here expecting a full blown meal, you will be disappointed.  It's great for a quick lunch or snack, but don't come here thinking you'll be getting a giant bowl of noodles because you won't be....so this led Neel and I to get dessert and go to Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho

So yes, Dominique is most well known for the cronut - the half donut half croissant pastry that people have been waiting 3-4 hours in line for.  A co-worker of mine brought one in to work for us to share and while it was definitely a good pastry, I would have never wait in that long of a line for it.  I didn't know what else he was famous for and Neel mentioned that the must have was really the DKA ($5).  This is his version of the Kouign Amman, which is a crusty cake with layers of bread dough made with tons of sugar and butter folded into a puff pastry.  Holy Jesus, this pastry is amazing.  It had this amazing caramelized sugar on the outside and the softest, most buttery layer of dough on the inside.  It was seriously addictive.  I could have sat there and ate 5 of them (and then gone into diabetic shock).  I had actually gotten an almond croissant myself which which was also delicious and had a lot of sweet almond paste inside.  The bakery has this lovely outdoor garden where we sat with our pastries and coffee and it almost made me feel like I was in Paris for a while.  Much to my surprise, Dominique was in the garden as well with this team of bakers and while I didn't hear exactly what they were talking about they had a platter full of cronuts and other pastries that they looked like they were taste testing.   It was nice to see him actively participating in the success of his shop vs. just lending his name/brand and never being there.  I should also mention that my ice coffee was also excellent (it was a bit on the sweet side which is how I like my coffee).  I loved everything about this place and would come back here in a heartbeat to try any of this other pastries, just after the crowds have died down.

Photo Credit:  Yelp and OMGFoodie 

Bombay Duck Co. Visited 10/15/2013 4 Forks

Bombay Duck Co.  190 Bleecker St. (between Avenue Of The Americas & Downing St), New York, NY 10012

When Mabel said that she had a craving for Indian food, we both kind of thought of options in Curry Hill or East Village.  But I had read about this place on one of my favorite food blogs, Serious Eats, and thought that it was worth a try outside of the traditional Indian neighborhoods.  It's a very small unassuming place in the heart of NYU town.  It's pretty casual but there are a few sit down tables.  The menu here claims to be Mumbai home cooking and although I haven't been to Mumbai, if this is what their food is like, I'm totally down for a visit soon.  They have a variety of appetizers and curry entrees.  I was having a total indecision moment on what to order but opted for the lamb curry ($13.95), Mabel got the Lipti Shrimp ($13.95) and we split the spinach cutlets ($5.95).  

The spinach cutlet was a delicious pan fried spinach and potato patty which was marinated in ginger, garlic, onions, and spices.  I loved this dish and although it was pan fried, it was not very greasy or oily.  The spices really came through but not in an overwhelming way.  The potato did make it kind of heavy, so be aware of that if you plan on eating both of them.  Next came the curries.  The lamb curry was served with a fluffy brown basmati rice, LOTS of red onion and a cucumber salad.  I really enjoyed my curry and it was chock full of Indian spices, including a pretty big dash of spicy heat.  But that was easily cooled off with the rice and cucumber salad.  The lamb was tender and not tough or gamey and the actual curry, while very filling,  didn't have that heavy cream texture to it, which was nice.  I didn't try Mabel's shrimp but it also looked delicious.  Even though I was totally full, I couldn't stop by myself from finishing the entire dish.  The only thing that I didn't love about my meal was the garlic naan.  It was a bit too crispy and dry for my taste.  My one concern about the presentation of food was that it was served in this picnic paper bowl.  While I don't care that it's casual, serving wet curry in a paper vessel doesn't seem like the best idea.  I was definitely afraid that the bowl might just give out at some point, but luckily it never did. 

All in all, I enjoyed having a nice casual Indian meal here.  It was great to get some quality Indian food without having to trek to Murry Hill.  Although the menu here isn't as expansive as some of those typical Curry Hill places (you can't get a chicken tiki masala, tandoori chicken, or dishes like that), if you're looking for some filling, spicy and extremely flavorful curries, Bombay Duck Co. is a great option.  Total bill:  $22/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

 

The Butcher's Daughter Visited 10/11/2013 2.5 Forks

The Butcher's Daughter 19 Kenmare St., (between Bowery & Elizabeth St), New York, NY 10012

I had passed The Butcher's Daughter before while walking in Chinatown/Nolita and commented on how cute it was, so when Amy and Anuja mentioned they were going to dinner there last night, I couldn't help but crash their "Rabbit Habbit" dinner.  The theme here is all vegetarian and organic - most of it is actually vegan and gluten-free.  While I'm primarily a meat and seafood happy girl, I'm always willing to try new things and honestly I've been to some fantastic vegetarian only places (I'm looking at you Dirt Candy) so I know it can be good food.  Sadly, that wasn't really the case here. 

What I mainly liked about this place was the decor.  It's really clean and beautiful and it really draws you in.  The menu has potential and I wasn't turned off by how any of the dishes were described.  I had read in Yelp that the service was awful and while I've had worse, I can say it was severely lacking.  It took forever to place our order and I had to ask 3 times what the soup of the day was.  Granted, it looked like there was 1 poor waiter for the entire outside section but it just didn't make for a pleasant experience when you have to chase down your waiter 3 or 4 times to get an answer to something.  We decided to share a bunch of stuff for the table:  smashed avocado toast bites ($8), mushroom-walnut pate, white bean fennel sausage, and beet tartare (3 for $16) and the raw pesto linguine ($14).  They also have a long list of juices and elixir shots if you're into that kind of stuff.  The avocado toast came out and it was really guacamole without the tomato and cilantro.  It was mashed up avocado with curry, mustard seeds, and lime served with very soft pieces of 7-grain bread.  I love anything avocado, so there wasn't anything really to dislike about this dish, although it could have probably used a bit more salt.  Next I tried the white bean fennel sausage - which in case you haven't guessed, isn't really made out of meat.  It looked exactly like a sausage and had a similar taste to it but you could tell it was missing the fat and moisture of meat to it.  It was a bit dry but it was an adequate enough meat substitute in a pinch.  Just a warning that it is incredibly spicy.  The mushroom-walnut pate was also decent in taste if not a bit unmemorable.  It was just like a paste or spread put on a crostini and it seemed like a fine snack I would eat at home but not something I would necessarily want to eat out at a restaurant.  Next I tried the raw pesto linguine - this was made from ribbons of raw zucchini, walnut-basil pesto and topped with cashew ricotta and served with marinated mushrooms and tomato slices on the slide.  I was most excited for this dish but it just didn't really taste that good.  Maybe its because I'm not a huge raw food fan, but you could just taste the rawness of the dish and I don't mean that in a good way.  It was too earthy for me and this is where I draw the line and would want my food cooked - at least the zucchini ribbons.  The same can be said about the beet tartare.  It was thinly sliced strings of beets but it kind of tasted like it was just dug out of the ground.  I prefer my beets steamed or a bit softer in texture. 

In the end, I appreciate what they are trying to do here and I'm all for promoting a healthy lifestyle.  But at the same time there has got to be flavor in your food as well.  All the dishes really lacked some element of seasoning.  Even though I loved the decor and outdoor seating, I probably won't be back unless they did an overhaul of the menu and improved the service.  It's food like this that makes me want to go home and fire up a burger on the grill at home and top it with cheese.   Total bill:  $27/pp with tax and tip. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

David Burke Kitchen Visited 10/6/2013 3.5 Forks

David Burke Kitchen 23 Grand St., (between Thompson St & Avenue Of The Americas), New York, NY 10013

I had walked past David Burke Kitchen a few times but never been, so it was a nice treat to head over there for my friend Kristin's birthday this past weekend.  David Burke Kitchen is located inside the James Hotel in the basement area for what's kind of no man's land of not quite Tribeca but not quite Soho either.  I'm guessing they are banking on the allure of David's celebrity chef persona to draw people in?  Meanwhile, the space itself was really nice, spacious and perfect for a group dinner. 

While I will admit that it's hard to be a waiter to a slightly rowdy group of 11 people, the service really seemed off the mark.  We all started the afternoon with a round of drinks and it just took forever to get them served, even though there wasn't really anyone else in the restaurant.  Then a different waiter came to take our order, but when we asked for additional items like ketchup, we were directed to another person.  On top of that, the pace was just incredibly slow and disorganized.  So that was kind of a bummer.  But on to the food instead.  The menu is split between more brunch-y items like benedicts, omelets, and chicken and grits and lunch items such as burgers, crab cakes, and grilled salmon.  Having a split personality menu always makes for a difficult decision for me, but I finally opted for the Kitchen Eggs Benedict ($17) and a side of homefries ($7) - mostly because the menu didn't list any additional items that came with my eggs (although this turned out to be a mistake).  Other people at the table got a variety of other things such as the pretzel crab cake, legs and eggs, and kitchen omelet.  I did like the way they present the food in that they wheel out a cart with all our dishes and then distribute them that way.  I don't know what it is, but there's something about food that gets wheeled out in a fancy cart that I find fascinating.   My benedict came with Italian sausage polenta, spinach and tomato hollandaise AND unbeknownst to me, a side of homefries!  If I had known that, I would have totally ordered a different side like bacon (which Jill actually got, so I probably wouldn't have ordered it).  Instead, I was faced with 2 helpings of homefries.  Although I will say that they were well cooked and seasoned and let's be honest, there are definitely worst things in life than having too many potatoes and peppers.  The benedict itself was tasty, if not a bit mushy with the polenta and spinach.  The eggs were poached well with a super super runny yolk but at one point everything on my plate became a mixed mess with the yolk, polenta, spinach, and sauce.  The muffin at the bottom had no chance in holding it all together.  While it wasn't a traditional benedict, the flavor profile was good and the sauce was tart and sweet at the same time.  I must have really liked it because I cleaned my entire plate, including the two helpings of homefries that I had.  I nibbled on a piece of Jill's maple glazed bacon and it was awesome.  It's pretty heavy on the fat and it was on the less crispy side, but I didn't mind that at all.  I also had a sliver of the sticky bun, but wasn't too impressed with that.  By the time it got to me, it was pretty much destroyed and I didn't get much of the sweetness, more of the breaded part, which wasn't too impressive. 

All in all, most of us liked our food and the space was great.  They also have a great cocktail list to make for a nice afternoon boozy brunch.  My one gripe was the service.  It was sporadic, slow and disorganized.  Plus when we went to pay, we each put in our cards and only after 15 minutes did the waiter tell us that they only took 8 cards.  That just would have been something nice to know in the beginning.  There's not much else in the immediate area and the James Hotel does seem like a nice less "scene-y" hotel than The Standard or NoMad, so it's worth a look if you're down around that 'hood.  Total bill:  $63/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Serafina Osteria Visited 10/4/2013 3 Forks.

Serafina Osteria 38 E 58th St., (between Madison Ave & Park Ave), New York, NY 10022

I normally don't hang out in Midtown East ever except to go to Bloomingdales, but it is a convenient area to meet a friend of mine who lived in Roosevelt Island so I made an exception to have dinner up there.  I generally find this area too corporate, soul-less and not very interesting.  My opinion didn't change too much after visiting this area on Friday.  Serafina is located next to Tao and across the street from Lavo, if that gives you any indication of the types of restaurants and places in the area.  Luckily, Serafina is not one of these painfully trendy loud restaurants.  It's actually pretty small and has a cute, mom and pop feel to it.  The menu here is straight up traditional Italian ranging from a variety of antipasti to pasta to secondi dishes. 

Since we were with my friend's energetic 1-year old daughter, we kind of had to eat quickly and get in and out of there in record time.  If you've ever eaten with a toddler, you know what I mean.  While I would have loved to get an appetizer and have a leisurely meal, it wasn't really in the cards for us.  So we each ordered a pasta, I got the fettuccine casareccie alla bolognese ($16.75) and Lily got the bucatini alla matriciana ($16) and that was it (although I did have to indulge and get a glass of wine).  The pasta came our rather quickly and smelled delicious.  My pasta was a pretty standard fettuccine pasta with a hearty beef ragout.  The noodles were al dente and the sauce was pretty meaty and the right amount for the pasta size.  I wasn't overly impressed with the dish but it was pretty solid and hit the spot at the moment.  I didn't try the bucatini but it also looked quite tasty.  

While the food prices were fine, I found the prices for the wine to be rather expensive for the type of place it was.  Most of them were over $12, which is a bit high for the ambience and type of restaurant this is.  The service was also a bit slow and I got this feeling that they were kind of annoyed that we had a toddler with us.  They did try to be nice and had a high chair to accommodate us, but I think they picked up on the vibe that we weren't there to really hang out and order tons of food so they didn't really engage with us.  While I did find the food to be pretty decent, it wasn't enough to really overcome the awful location of it.  I would say that if you happen to be in the neighborhood, it's worth having a meal there but it's definitely not a place that you should go out of your way for as there are just too many other amazing Italian places around the city in much better locations.  Total bill:  $30/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

The NoMad Restaurant Visited 9/30/2013 4 Forks

The NoMad Restaurant 1170 Broadway (between 27th St &28th St), New York, NY 10001

The NoMad was THE hot restaurant about a year ago but it hasn't really seemed to die down by the looks of my visit last night.  It was still super crowded with a mix of tourists and beautiful people and Amy and I were only able to get a 6pm reservation.  In all honesty, I was ready to hate this place because I'm so not a fan of uber trendy places.  But I gotta say that this place really surprised me and I quite enjoyed my meal and even the scene there. 

When we first got seated, Amy and I were seating in their weird dark alcove of a room, away from the main atrium space.  We kindly asked to move and they were really nice about accommodating.  So I was immediately pleased with the service.  The menu is broken out into snacks (1 or 2 bites), appetizers and entrees.  Luckily, the menu had a lot of great veggie options which worked great for Amy.  There are so many great sounding options that we eventually just handed the reigns over to our waitress for her suggestions.  For appetizers, she recommended the snow peas ($15) and the egg ($17) and for the entree she convinced Amy of the eggplant ($24) and I opted for the scallops ($28).  Unfortunately, what The NoMad is famous for their whole roasted chicken for two but that'll have to wait until next time since there was no way I was going to eat it by myself!

The snow peas were cut into long thin strips and tossed with lemon juice and served with a sprinkle of pancetta, mint and pecorino cheese.  It was just barely cooked, so it had this great crunch to it.  I loved the simpleness of it.  Despite it being fall, it reminded me of a perfect spring dish.  I really enjoyed this dish a whole lot.  The egg dish was what the waitress said was a must have.  It was a poached egg with asparagus, brown butter, quinoa and enoki-like mushrooms.  The egg had this amazing almost raw yolk center and mixed with the brown butter, it was pretty delicious.  On to the entrees.  I usually don't get scallops at restaurants since you usually only get 3 if you're lucky and it never seems like a filling meal.  But I just had a craving for it and went for it.  The dish here had 5 giant scallops served with thin slices of green tomatoes, thin rolls and bits of cucumber and sprinkled with borage.  Like every scallop dish, these scallops were seared which is really the only way to cook scallops.  These were seared perfectly with just the right amount of give to each bite.  I love the pairing of it with the green tomatoes and cucumbers and for the first time in my life, I was actually full from a scallop dish.  I had a bite of Amy's eggplant and it was delicious as well.  It was roasted with soy beans, madeira, and black truffle.  It was a very meaty and hearty dish that was ideal for a vegetarian.  At this point, I was super full but I'm always a sucker for a good dessert.  Again, we asked our waitress to pick something for us and she was really enthusiastic about the milk and honey dessert ($13).  True to it's name, it tasted exactly like milk and honey. It was 3 scoops of milk ice cream drizzled with honey and served with shortbread and brittle.  While our waitress did a great job with all of the other recommendations, I wasn't a huge fan of this dessert.  It might of been because I was already full but I don't really associate milk and honey with dessert.  

In the end, I was really pleased with my experience at The NoMad.  I mean, don't get me wrong, the crowd and vibe isn't something that I would opt for normally, but since I live in New York, every now and then, I've got to indulge in the high maintenance scene every once in a while.  This would be a great place for a client dinner and if everyone wants to go and try the chicken for two with me, let me know!  Total bill:  $80/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp