Bristol Visited 5/17/2014 2.5 Forks

Bristol 152 N Damen Ave., Chicago, IL 60647

Bristol had been listed on Zagat's new brunch places to check out and since it was within walking distance from Deanna's it was a no brainer to check it out.  It's your classic American hipster farm to table type place - so very Brooklyn and I felt right at home.  The brunch menu has a nice variety of dishes from whole wheat pancakes, ham benedicts, to a hangover breakfast with pork belly and noodles.   But they had a chilaquiles ($12) on the menu and I'm always a huge fan of that dish, so I ordered that along with a side of breakfast potatoes ($4) while Deanna got the quiche ($11).  

The best chilaquiles I've had are usually at mom and pop Mexican joints so I am a bit weary of fancy ones like this but this one had braised pork, so how bad could it be?  Well - it wasn't bad but I wasn't all too impressed by it either.  It came with braised pork, 1 fried egg, cilantro, queso fresco as well as the usual base layer of tortillas on the bottom.  My problem with the dish was that it was too dry - there was too much tortilla, only 1 fried egg which lent to a lack of runny yolk for all that pork and the pork itself was on the dry side.  It really needed a good helping of salsa verde or crema to add moisture to the whole dish.  I will say that the egg was perfectly fried and the presentation of the dish was visually stunning.  It just felt like I was eating a bunch of dried out tortilla pieces at one point.  While I was rather disappointed by my main dish, but the breakfast potatoes were quite good that it helped to make up for some of the lack of disappointment.  They weren't as addictive as the sweet potatoes at BellyQ but they were nice and crispy.  Basically they were whole baby potatoes that were roasted to the point of them being brunt but all in a good way.  I tried a small bite of Deanna's quiche and it was a very pleasant bite with mushroom and fontina cheese.  

Overall, the experience was fine but I just wasn't feeling my chilaquiles.  I felt full but it was probably because I was just eating a lot of carbs but I wasn't super satisfied.  Apparently this place gets a lot of rave reviews and they are well known for the hand crafted cocktails, so perhaps I would come back for a post-dinner cocktail but not sure if I would come back from brunch.  Total bill:  $42 for 2 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Minetta Tavern Visited 5/11/2014 3 Forks

Minetta Tavern 113 Macdougal St., New York, NY 10012

So it's never really a good sign when you have to be reminded by a friend  to write a review of a place from 2 weeks ago...it's not that my experience at Minetta Tavern was awful but it just completely slipped my mind to put it on my blog.  That never happens to me!  In any case, I'm embarrassed to say that as a long time resident of NYC, food lover and burger lover that I had never been to Minetta Tavern before.  How could that be?!  Dinner reservations are still pretty hard to come by but brunch ones easier.  Lav and I were meeting for brunch on Mother's Day so I was sure that we would never be able to get a table but sure enough they had a bunch of openings right when they opened at 11AM.

Minetta Tavern is famous not just for their burger but for being a classic old school NYC establishment. Indeed when you walk in, it's covered in wood paneling and has this old timey feel to it (not to mention most people who eat there are also just plain old in general).  I didn't really need to look at the menu because even though I am so against paying a lot of money for a good burger, there was no question that I was getting the Black Label Burger ($26 - yes, that's right it was an almost $30 burger).  Lav got the latkes ($22) but instead of salmon she was able to get it with spinach.  Yes - as you can see the prices here are most definitely outrageous but still manageable if you don't come here that often.  The burger was served with tons of caramelized onions and fries.  Alright - yes it's a good burger...it's moist, juicy and pretty damn delicious.  But is it worth $30?  The answer no.  It's worth having at least once in your life but I'm not sure it's really all that better than the burger at Corner Bistro or even Shack Shake. I do want to call out the fries as well - they were quite addictive, salty and they were the perfect compliment to the burger (it's the least they can offer with a $26 burger).   If the price point was around the $15-20 mark, I could see myself coming back again but at $26, it's just a bit too rich for my blood.   I didn't get to try the Latkes but it looked like your usual satisfying brunch latkes with 2 nicely poached eggs and dill hollandaise sauce.

I'm glad that I can cross Minetta Taver off my NYC restaurant bucket list and while I would never discourage people from going there, as it is a good burger, it's definitely not a place that I would see myself returning to frequently - especially given the price point.  Total bill:  $43/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Cumin Visited 5/16/2014 4.5 Forks

Cumin 1414 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622

I've walked past Cumin several times before but never been there before, so when I was back in Chicago and wanted to go somewhere within walking distance of Deanna's place, we settled on Cumin.  While they are mostly an Indian restaurant, they also offer a few Nepalese dishes as well - which was pretty exciting since I've never had food from Nepal before.

I would definitely recommend making reservations here because it was definitely consistently packed the whole night and there is not really a big waiting area.  I was starving when I got there, so everything sounded amazing.  The thing with Indian food is that it's more fun to get lots of different dishes to share and it's a bit hard with only 1 other person but we made due.  We started with the chaat samosa ($6) and then we split the palak paneer ($13) and the bhindi masala ($13) and then I felt like I had to get something from the Nepalese side and a meat dish, so I got the chicken choela ($10) appetizer.  I honestly wanted to order a lamb dish, a cauliflower dish and a fish dish because they all sounded fantastic but clearly that was not happening.  The chaat samosa came out first and it's a deconstructed vegetable samosa served with chickpeas, onions, yogurt, chaat masala, and tamarind-mint chutney.   Delicious.  The thing that I love most about Indian food is the intense flavor it packs.  But I also love that it's also got "cooling" spices such as yogurt to offset it.  Shortly after the chaat samosa, my chicken choela appetizer came out. It's essentially diced and boneless chicken marinated with Nepalese spices and then you get a side of flatten rice.  In all honesty, it tasted just like tandoori chicken - which is fine because I love tandoori chicken - and the flatten crispy rice was an interesting touch because I had never had it before and it added a fun texture to it.  If this is what Nepalese food is, then sign me up. We then had to wait a bit for the rest of our meal to come out but it was well worth it.  Palak paneer is your typical paneer served with spinach, home made cottage cheese, Indian spices, tomato curry sauce and heavy cream.  Luckily, they give you rice with this dish - which is an absolute must because you definitely need it for the sauce.  We thought about getting naan but it seemed like too much carbs for one meal.  The paneer packed quite a flavor punch and the cream/sauce was addictive with the rice.  I could have eaten the entire bowl on my own.  The only downside is that the cream does make it a bit of a heavy dish so you definitely should not eat the entire thing on your own.  Next I tried the bhindi masala, which is baby okra sauteed with cumin, onion, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, dried mango powder, and other indian spices.  There's no heavy cream or sauce to it, so it's a nice compliment to the rich paneer dish.  While there's no sauce, it still has tons of flavor and heat to it and they did a nice job of cooking the okra so that it's not too mushy.  By the end of the meal, I was so happy but super full that I couldn't wait to walk the 20 minutes back.  If I lived near here, I would most definitely be a loyal repeat customer.  Total bill:  $43/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp

BellyQ Visited 5/15/2014 3 Forks

BellyQ 1400 W Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60607

A few years ago I had gone to Belly Shack with Deanna and really enjoyed my meal there.  While I'm not a huge fan of the Asian fusion craze, I thought the food there was really flavorful and fun.  So I was excited when Deanna mentioned that we should check out BellyQ which is a higher end version of Belly Shack with a BBQ twist to it - and it's located on the uber trendy Randolph Street.

We got there super early (6:15pm on a Thursday) so there was hardly anyone in the restaurant.  I was immediately taken by how huge the space was and I liked the industrial look and feel of the place. Since there was literally only 2 other people there, you'd think that it wouldn't be a problem getting served.  Apparently I was wrong.  We literally sat there for almost 15-20 mins before anyone came to take our order.  There were 2 different servers there and both thought the other person had our table, so as a result no one served us.  Finally one of the servers came to take my drink order but then the other waitress came and apologized for not realizing we fell under her section.  As I mentioned earlier, the food here is Asian fusion with a focus on BBQ.  I was torn between all the rib options:  pork ribs, beef ribs, short ribs and duck breast.  I finally decided to get the Smoke Beef Short Ribs ($23) because it came on a bed of braised mustard greens and brunt ends - it was really the brunt ends that sold me.  Deanna got the vegetarian hot pot ($17) and we also got a side of the smashed baby sweet potatoes ($7).    After we ordered, I realized I never got my cocktail, so I waited and waited and waited for it.  By the time our food came out, it still hadn't arrived but I was kind of over it so it didn't really matter too much.  But then all of a sudden our waitress was like "oh wait, the other waiter just told me you had ordered a drink! Sorry, it's coming now."  I mean there were like less than 10 people in the whole restaurant, so I don't understand how they could be this confused about our order.

Even so, I was still very excited for our meal.  When the ribs came out, they looked amazing and enough food for 2 people.  There were 4 very large ribs and I dove right in.  My first bite was...well disappointing.  So here is where I would like to caveat that I didn't say it was bad just not up to my (high) expectation.  To me there is a big difference between food that is disappointing and food that is just plain bad - these ribs fall into the 1st camp.  In retrospect, I probably should have ordered the pork ribs because when I think ribs, I usually envision meat falling off the bone easily and leaving a clean bone afterwards.  The meat did not fall off the bone at all here and I really had to work hard to get the meat off.  But as Deanna had mentioned to me, this is kind of what you get with beef ribs in general - it's just not the same experience as pork ribs.  Now the glaze and sauce on it was quite flavorful and was a nice mixture of Korean spices and BBQ sauce.  I was also a fan of the mustard greens it came with as well.  But after 2 ribs I couldn't eat anymore and had to take the rest home.  As for Deanna's dish, it sounded good on the menu:  soft tofu, root vegetables and a poached egg.  The waitress also commented on how delicious the rice pasta was on the bottom of the dish - which would have been great except they weren't in the dish.  We were wondering if it was missing something because at first look, it seemed like a giant bowl of soup with pieces of tofu and vegetables floating in it.  But it was missing the starch component, so it was a good thing that Deanna asked about the rice pasta.  The waitress apologized again and went back to the kitchen to have them bring out a side of it.  Once they were mixed into the dish everything was better, but it was just kind of ridiculous that they forgot one of the most important ingredients to the dish, especially after the waitress raved about it.  But what really saved this place from a bad review were the sweet potatoes.  OMG, they were like crack.  They were served with a sake maple glaze and they were just slightly overcooked/brunt with a crispy skin outside and they were amazing.  This dish totally saved the night.

By the end, I was pretty full and ready to call it a night.  But then the host/manager comes up to us and apologizes for the delayed cocktail and wanted to offer us complimentary dessert to make up for it.  Ok, I'll have to admit that was a nice touch but let's be honest there was a lot more wrong with our experience than just the late cocktail but I wasn't going to push my luck.  We couldn't decide which dessert to get so they graciously offered to give us both the vietnamese cinnamon donuts and a small taste of the peanut butter and jelly soft serve (usually $8 and $6).  The donuts were fantastic - perfectly fried balls of dough with just the right amount of cinnamon and sugar and served with a sweet vanilla soft serve.  Delicious.  I didn't quite "get" the peanut butter and jelly dessert because it was literally a bowl of crunchy peanut butter (although it was quite good) and a bowl of huckleberry jam.  It was a great combination but it just seemed weird getting them with nothing else.

All in all, I'm still glad I came to check this place out and I appreciate their attempt at "guest recovery" (that's what they listed on the receipt) but all the service mis-steps and the less than impressive ribs would make me think twice about coming back - especially on a street that it riddled with other options - although I might come back for the sweet potatoes.  Total bill:  $80 for 2 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Little Goat Visited 5/14/2014 4 Forks

Little Goat 820 W Randolph St., Chicago, IL 60607

I consider Chicago my 2nd home after having spent time there in college and going back almost every year since I graduated to see friends.  Now that one of my main work clients is based there, I find myself there several times a year.  So I'm always on the hunt for great restaurant recommendations in Chicago.

A few years ago I finally made it to Girl and the Goat and was blown away by it  (in fact it's one of my few 5 star reviews).  I had heard about the spin off Little Goat but just never made it over there since it's kind of in an industrial area that's not really all that walkable from most places.  But after finding myself at a loss of where to go for a late night dinner, I quickly checked opentable and was surprised to find that they had several openings that night.  I knew it was more of a diner-like place that I've always been ok with breakfast for dinner.  The food here is most definitely more upscale food than your typical diner - everything has got a funky high end twist to it all.   My mind was totally swimming with all the options but since it was past 9pm, I felt like I should have something "healthier" so I opted for the Greek town Chicken salad and a small side of grits to fill my breakfast craving.  I'm a sucker for a good greek salad and this one did not disappoint. It was served on a naan base and then topped with griddled chicken, hummus, cucumber, arugula, pickled red onion, red peppers, tzatziki, and then sheep's feta.  While it wasn't the purist greek salad, the combination of all the ingredients were delicious and it still felt mildly healthy.  The naan was a nice different touch and helped make the salad taste more filling.  As for the grits, it was nice, creamy with a nice hint of cheese to it.  Since I was the only one eating it, I could only manage to fit 3-5 bites before calling it a day but it was a good breakfast injection at 10pm at night.  I was surprised at how many people were there so late at night considering it's not your typical greasy diner.  While it's not as mind blowing as the food as Girl and the Goat, it was still quite a pleasant experience.  I could see it being a really fun place for brunch or lunch, but I guess that will have to wait until next time.  Total bill:  $120 for 3 people with tax and tip.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

99 Favor Taste Visited 5/9/2014 4 Forks

99 Favor Taste 285 Grand St., New York, NY 10002

I have no idea why this place is called Favor Taste vs. Flavor Taste but that doesn't really matter here. What matters is that it's an awesome, all you can eat, and clean hot pot establishment in Chinatown.  While it's not on the level of the kind of hot pot places I've had in Asia, it's definitely the best one I've been to so far in NYC.  For $22, you can get unlimited 2 hour hot pot or for $26 you can get unlimited Korean BBQ or for $31 you can get both.  Since Janet and I are gluttons for good food, we went with the hot pot and Korean BBQ combination.  The menu is pretty extensive in terms of ingredients that you can order - they do have other more expensive ingredients that you can pay extra for, but you can order more than enough good stuff from the inclusive menu to make a filling meal.  We went a bit crazy and ended up ordering over 20 different items which included:  beef, shrimp, squid, spinach, white cabbage, enoki mushrooms, tofu, fish balls, fish tofu, silken tofu, rice noodles, fillet beef, beef with pepper, mussels, steak ribs, and the seafood pancake.  You get a choice of broth and we opted for the pig bone broth (the pot is split into 2, so you can each order different kinds).

The food comes out almost immediately and you get to work cooking everything immediately.   There is an extensive sauce station where you can mix and match your own sauces - they have everything you would need:  soy sauce, chili sauce, hoisin sauce, sesame oil, garlic, scallions, cilantro, etc.  The ingredients were pretty decent quality - I wouldn't say there were of the highest quality a la Kobe beef but they totally got the job done.   I did think that the thin slices of beef for the hot pot was a bit fattier than I would like, so that was my one compliant.  The waitress kindly cooks your BBQ stuff for you, cuts it up for you and puts it on a plate.  We gorged on the hot pot and even ordered seconds of some of the ingredients (although in retrospect - there really is no reason to order 2 of anything there because you'll just get super stuffed and regret it later) but my favorites were the enoki mushrooms, the rice noodles (although I wish they had the wider rice noodles instead of the thin kind) and the fish balls. What I love about hot pot are all the flavors that mix together in the broth.  I wasn't a huge fan of the squid but as Janet pointed out, I probably shouldn't have let it sit in the pot for so long as it started to get old and too chewy.  As for the Korean BBQ, the meat was tender and had some great marinate on there.  I really loved the mussels, they are the plumb green New Zealand kind - although they only give you 4 per order.  In all honesty, while I did enjoy the BBQ, next time I go, I would probably skip it and focus on the hot pot unless I was with a large group.  If you're only going with 1 or 2 other people, it's just way too much food to deal with when you order both options.  Also if you are a vegetarian, there do have a pretty long list of vegetables you can either grill on the BBQ or cook in the hot pot.  The only thing I would say is that it's usually the fat of the meat or the flavor in the seafood that really brings out the flavor in the broth, so if you did a strictly vegetable order, it may not be as flavorful but it's still do-able.

The service was quite pleasant and they were very nice (if a bit slow - we had to ask for our Diet Cokes a few times and to get my credit card back) for a Chinatown place.  If you check in, you get free ice cream, but I just couldn't even go there.  Also, apparently if it's your birthday, you eat for free.  Sweet! I definitely enjoyed my experience there and if you have a big group of people, this would be a great fun activity to do.  Total bill:  $88 for 2 people including tax, tip and 10 Diet Cokes

Photo Credit:  Yelp

El Vez Visited 5/7/2014 2.5 Forks

El Vez 259 Vesey St. New York, NY 10281

If you work or live near my office downtown, you know how awful the food selection has been lately. Ever since they decided to do a multi-million dollar renovation to the World Financial Center and thereby closing down almost every eating establishment while they renovate, it's been quite a brutal few months.   The only other options besides the cafeteria are the overpriced and not so great places in the Goldman corridor like Harry's, Wei West and North End Grill.  When trying to have a work related lunch, all those places are just swarming with busy corporate folks trying to get in and out of lunch in under an hour.  So I was beyond thrilled when they finally opened a new place next to Blue Smoke and it was from the prolific restauranteur Stephen Starr.  In case you couldn't tell El Vez is Mexican fare which is a nice since the last Mexican place, Southwest, moved a bit further from work. 

I went to El Vez for lunch with some work people and my first impression was that the place was huge! It almost wrapped around the block and they had some nice outdoor space too in front of the restaurant. The inside had a fairly large bar section and then very spacious dining rooms past the open kitchen.  So far so good.  The menu has your usual selection of guacamole, quesadillas, tacos, nachos, tortas, and enchiladas.  We ordered the classic guacamole ($14)  and queso fundido con carne ($10) for the table to start.  For my entree, I was torn between the oxtail enchilada or the mahi mahi tacos - the fish tacos won out mostly because I just had to give it a try and it seemed less heavy for lunch.  Borami got the chicken torta and the rest of the table got chicken enchiladas.  The guacamole comes in a giant motar and my initial thought was that it was fine although a bit on the bland side.  It could have used some more salt and heat to it.  The queso was served with chorizo and while the first couple of bites were good because they were warm and soft after a while it just started to coagulate and had this greasy topping from the chorizo.  I've definitely had better queso elsewhere and think they could have put it on a warmer just to keep the cheese from cooling down. 

On to the entrees.  When I hear tacos, I envision the traditional small flour tortillas that you fold in half. But when my "taco" came out, it was really more like a mini burrito instead of tacos because they were completely folded over (see picture).  The mahi mahi was deep fried and served with red cabbage, avocado and a spicy mayo.  I personally prefer my fish to either be grilled or tempura battered.  I don't like fried fish like I do my chicken.  The chipotle mayo was good but (and I can't believe I'm saying this) there was way too much of it - just overkill.  Also - there was too much red cabbage shoved into the burrito/taco.  As much as I sometimes complain about fancy tacos that are too small and delicate, I've come to realize that I probably now prefer a higher quality taco than to have lots of ingredients shoved into a tortilla.  I had a small bite of Borami's torta and the chicken was cooked well but it was definitely a very large sandwich and I can only imagine how sleep inducing finishing a meal like that would be.  

All in all, I wasn't that impressed with my first meal at El Vez but I would come back for post-work drinks/snacks and even possibly lunch again only because of its connivence.  But I probably would only come back until all the really great places open up in the Tower.  Total bill:  unknown since someone else paid for it.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Max Visited 5/2/2014 4 Forks

Max 740 Driggs Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211

One of my earliest memories of eating in the East Village was eating at Max and remembering how amazing the food was.  It was a long standing staple of the area until it recently closed and luckily for me has re-opened in Williamsburg.  I remember it being homey but satisfying comfort Italian food - not the snazzy high brow kind you find at L'Artusi or Scarpetta (which by the way, I both enjoyed as well). It looks like they kept the spirit of the old place alive because I really enjoyed the food at Max and it still had this comforting feel to the food. 

The menu is fairly standard and basic -  Paige and I started with the caprese salad ($11) and then we were both torn between 2 different pasta dishes, so we decided to split the spaghetti alla chitarra ($14) and the spaghetti del marinaio ($14).  As you can see from the prices, they are probably half the price of the pastas that you'd find else where but they were probably twice the amount of food and just as good.  But I'm jumping ahead of myself.  The caprese was actually just ok - it was four small lumps of fresh mozzarella but the plum tomatoes they served with it weren't all the juicy and they could have used more olive oil and salt to the whole dish.  So my initial impression of the place was a bit eh.  But then the pasta came out and my entire mind changed.  First, the size of the pasta was out of control.  One bowl is actually probably enough for 2 people, so the fact that we got 2 bowls was a bit overkill.  Plus they really pack in the amount of pasta in each bowl - they were full and brimming to the top with yummy goodness in them.  I tried the spaghetti alla chitarra first - which was spaghetti with lamb ragu and pecorino.  The pasta was thick and a bit on the chewy side but I really didn't mind that at all.  The ragu was good but heavy and I should note that there was a bunch of actual ragu but not a whole lot of actual sauce.  It was much more of a meaty thick sauce which is probably why I found the dish so filling.  Next I tried the spaghetti de marinaio - which is spaghetti made with squid ink and then topped with spicy tomato sauce and shrimp.  I was impressed with how many pieces of shrimp were served with this dish and they were of fairly decent and healthy size.  I was also a huge fan of this dish and really enjoyed the combination of the spicy tomato sauce with the squid ink pasta. 

Just when I thought I couldn't eat anymore, Paige and I decided that we had to get the tiramisu ($8) since Paige was on a mission to survey as many different tiramisu dishes as possible.  This one was served in a glass sundae cup instead of in a square but that didn't matter.  It was sweet, creamy and delicious.  It was the perfect way to end a great Italian meal.  I'm so excited that this place is in my 'hood and I hope to be a regular there in the future.  Total bill:  $60/pp with tax, tip and lots of wine

Photo Credit:  bedfordandbowery.com

China Blue Visited 5/2/2014 3.5 Forks

China Blue 135 Watts St, New York, NY 10013

Since Neel and I both love trying new restaurants, we try to make an effort to carve out fun 2 hour lunches on slow days at work every now and then.  A few months ago it was a fun outing to Yuji Ramen and this time we managed to sneak out to try China Blue - the new sister restaurant to Cafe China.  It's about a 20-25 minute walk from our building and luckily his lovely wife Sarah was able to join us too since she worked downtown too.  

It's in this very off-the-grid street in Tribeca and it's definitely not a place you would randomly stumble upon while walking around.  The decor inside is very much in line with the more industrial look and feel of Tribeca vs. the more home style decor of the one in Midtown.  Despite it being a random Friday, the place was packed because there was a office party in the main room, but they do have a separate room to the side.  The menu is focused more on Shanghai-nese style food.  One of the best reasons to go out to eat for lunch is that most places have a lunch menu that is much more affordable but still with great variety.  Neel, Sarah and I decided to split 3 different lunch specials (each special comes with choice of hot and sour soup, egg drop soup or an egg roll).  We opted for the spicy pork noodle ($11), the eggplant in garlic sauce ($11) and then we debated between the chicken and chive flower or the three cup chicken, so we asked the waiter which he would recommend.  He told us that the chicken and chive flower dish had no sauce or flavor - um, ok then why is that on the menu then? So clearly we went with the three cup chicken ($11).   We ended up trying out both soups and the egg roll since we got 3 individual lunch specials.  The soups were you standard Chinese style soups but still good and soothing.  The egg roll had a nice crispy and flaky outside and they gave us a dipping sauce that was very heavy on the vinegar but I didn't mind that at all.  They then brought out all of the lunch specials at once and I was so happy that we decided to split all of them so that we could all get a nice variety of dishes.  Each dish was actually pretty big for a lunch size so I definitely encourage going family style. The pork noodles was a very thick chewy noodle base with a spicy ground pork sauce.  I loved it even though it was a bit dense.  I definitely would not recommend someone eat the entire bowl by themselves unless they want to take a deep sleep nap afterwards.  The eggplant dish was also your typical eggplant dish - it was sauteed to the point where it was pretty mushy but in a good way and then covered in a heavy garlic sauce.  The three cup chicken was served with chunks of chicken rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, tons and tons of garlic and basil.  I was expecting it to pack in a bunch of flavor based on what the waiter told me and while it was definitely tasty, it didn't hit me in the face with any overwhelming bite of flavor.  It actually could have used a bit more something (maybe spice?) to it.  

All in all, it was a lovely extended lunch experience and while I could see that the dinner prices might be a bit high for Chinese food, the lunch specials were a pretty good deal considering that I easily spend more money at other places nearby (i.e. I had spent $21 for lunch at Wei West the day before).   I would definitely come back if I had time and try out some of the other lunch specials on the menu.  Total bill:  $15/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Taverna Kyclades Visited 4/30/2014 4.5 Forks

Taverna Kyclades  228 1st Ave., New York, NY 10009

Do you like octopus? No? Well it doesn't really matter because you should order here no matter what because it was seriously one of the best octopus dishes I've had ever.   In fact, everything here was top notch and incredibly authentic.  I have always been a huge lover of Greek food so when Taverna Kyclades - an Astoria staple - opened up in the East Village I was all over checking it out.

The decor of the place is kind of blah but the food more than makes up for it.  Everything on the menu sounded amazing - especially so if you like seafood.  Nancy and I decided to split a bunch of appetizers and started with the grilled octopus  ($18), spanakopita ($8), a variety of dips/spreads ($10) and a small Greek salad ($9).   Our food came out literally in under 5 minutes.  I'm not joking, it was kind of scary and that usually makes me question the food quality.  But I guess nothing that we ordered really takes a whole lot of preparation.  But it doesn't matter because everything was fantastic.  The "small" Greek salad was huge and could be a full meal on its own.  It had very little lettuce but TONS of red ripe beautiful wedges of tomato and a giant square of delicious feta cheese covered in olive oil.  Delicious. The dips they had (the only one I really knew what it was was the Tzatziki but there were 5 different kinds) were all fabulous but extremely heavy on the garlic and salt. It's served with a plate of nice and warm pita triangles and this also could have easily been a meal on its own as well.  The spanakopita was huge and delicious with a yummy mixture of spinach, leeks and feta in between flaky phylo layers.  The addition of the leeks was perfection and really made it stand out as opposed to it just being spinach.  But the star of the night was the grilled octopus.  I don't care if you don't like octopus or think it's gross, you must get it here.  First, they give you 2 huge pieces and when you bite into it, it's unlike any octopus you've ever had.  It's perfectly grilled and beyond tender and juicy.  When was the last time you could describe octopus like that?  We were so full at this point and had tons of leftovers but the restaurant offers everyone complimentary pieces of this flan/cake dessert - which was the perfect way to end the meal here. 

While I like the atmosphere at Pylos a bit more (it's gorgeous inside), the food here is just as good if not better.  Besides the food, the prices are extremely reasonable for the quality and quantity of the food. It's in a very convenient location for me (right off the L train) and if I find out that they do carry-out, I am pretty sure I know where I will be getting my dinner from now on a very frequent basis going forward.  Total bill:  $33/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp