La Isla Visited 10/24/2014 4 Forks

La Isla 104 Washington St.,  Hoboken, NJ 07030

I can't (and can) believe that this is my first Hoboken review!  While I do have some friends who live in Hoboken, I rarely find myself on the other side of the river.  But I thought it was worth checking out on a lazy Friday afternoon and shockingly it only took me 30 minutes to get there.  I met up with Borami and Lisa for a late afternoon lunch.  Lisa grew up in Hoboken before it was what it was now and she had mentioned that she and her family had been going to this place for a long time, so I was excited to check it out. 

When I got to La Isla I could see why her family loved it.  It's just got this great old school vibe to it and it was packed even at 1pm.  I love Cuban food and their menu was chock full of tons of delicious authentic sounding dishes.  Apparently it's also been on the Food Network a ton because they had an entire section on dishes "as seen on the Food Network."  That would honestly usually turn me off to a place like this but I trust Lisa's judgement, especially when it comes to food.  I love a good Cuban sandwich as well as any pork or chicken dish but I felt like I had to get something more authentic here.  Borami had mentioned that she had heard that the Bacalao ($13) was tasty so I figured I would give it a go.  We also split a papa rellena ($4) for the table - I was amused that it was listed as "As seen on the Food Network's Diners, Driveins and Dive" because to me that is totally not a selling point at all but to each their own.  The papa rellena came out first and it's this HUGE ball of mashed potato stuffed with ground beef, breaded and fried and served with a side of salsa ranchera.  Oh my, it was f*king delicious.  I mean seriously how can you get fried mashed potato and ground beef wrong? I could have totally eaten the whole thing myself but I was glad to have saved room for my main meal.  The bacalao is a codfish and potato stew served with yellow rice and I got a side of yuca.  The stew was simmering in a tomato based and served with tons of onions.  It was incredibly filling and flavorful.  There was a good amount of codfish in it and I was really pushing my limits in finishing it but I couldn't stop myself.  I had a few pieces of the yuca - they were dripping in garlic, so you can imagine how yummy they were but I was completely starched out at this point. 

The staff was super nice - although they did try to rush us a bit at the end of the meal, but I kind of get it when it's as small and busy as it was.  But what I really loved about this place was that it was BYOB - so we were able to  indulge in some Prosecco with our meal.  I was telling Lisa that it makes me happy that places like this still exist and haven't been torn down and made into luxury condos just yet.  I hope it stays around for another 20 years.  Total bill:  $22 with tip and tax

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Beronberon Visited 10/22/2014 1.5 Forks

Beronberon 245 E 10th St., New York, NY 10009

Beronberon opened where the old beloved East Village staple Sapporo East used to be.  I had walked past Sapporo East a million times and each time it was packed with people and I always told myself that I should check it out one day.  Alas, it shuttered back in January so I never got that chance, but I noticed that it had re-opened but under a different name and they had also re-done the interior so that it was  bit more fancy.  I wasn't in the mood for a sit down meal so I decided to get take out on the way home from work.  I know that sushi take out is generally more expensive than ordering Thai or Chinese but I was taken aback by how much I spent and sadly the quality of it didn't match up. 

I was scouring the menu for some kind of roll combo that came with soup/salad because it was a cold and rainy night and while their menu was certainly very extensive, I didn't see what I was looking for. So I opted for a spicy scallop roll ($7.50), a spicy tuna roll ($6.50), the moriawase appetizer ($12) and a miso soup ($2).  It honestly didn't sound like a lot of food and I know sashimi is pricier, but there's just something about getting a bill for $30+ for take out that just doesn't seem right.  But I knew the prices going into ordering, so I guess I shouldn't really have been that shocked. 

I'll start with the basics and say that the miso soup was your standard miso soup.  I mean, 9 times out of 10, most places are using the same miso package and hot water, so it's hard to mess that one up.  I tried the moriawase which was a sashimi appetizer that came with 1 piece of tuna, 2 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of octopus, and 2 pieces of white fish.  My question is, why is there only 1 piece of tuna when everything else is 2 pieces?!  The sashimi was not very impressive - it didn't taste fishy or not fresh but it didn't really taste like the melt in your mouth type of sashimi either.   It was very bleh, especially the octopus.  I would have preferred that they just stuck with tuna, salmon and white fish. Next I moved on to the rolls and again very unimpressed.  The spicy scallop was chunks of raw scallop with spicy mayo - which is the way I like it but it seems like the spicy mayo only made it to half of the pieces, not all of them, so the first few bites I had were just bits of scallop.  Plus there was way too much rice on the rolls and it just made for a very heavy roll.  Next I tried the spicy tuna and this is where I actually thought something tasted off - it tasted fishy and good sushi should never taste fishy.  It didn't smell bad and luckily I didn't feel sick afterwards, but something was just not right about it.

All in all, I was really disappointed by my food and I know take out is different from eating in the restaurant but it shouldn't be too different.  With so many other amazing Japanese options in the city (cheap and expensive), I just can't really justify going back here again.  Total bill:  $35

Photo Credit:  Bedfordandbowery.com

Saigon Market Visited 10/18/2014 3 Forks

Saigon Market 93 University Pl., New York, NY 10003

Mabel and I were looking for something quick and cheap near Union Square before heading out for the night and Saigon Market fill the bill.  It's one of those local places that caters mostly to the NYU crowd since it's 2 blocks from campus.  It was fairly crowded for 9:30pm on a Saturday night but we were still able to get a seat immediately.

The menu is fairly overwhelming.  It's probably 5 pages long with every kind of Asian food you can think of:  rolls, soups, curries, stir fry, noodles, fried rice, whole fish, etc.   We started with the shrimp summer rolls to start ($7.75) and I got the Pho Bo ($9.25) and Mabel got the Curry Tau Hu ($12.50).  The service is extremely quick and we got the summer rolls in a matter of minutes.  It was supposed to have been served with a peanut sauce but instead we got what looked like fish sauce and hoisin sauce which was kind of a bummer because I am a huge fan of peanut sauce and it just wasn't quite the same.  The rolls themselves were ok, a bit heavy on the lettuce and rice noodles and not so much on the shrimp.  In fact I only got a bite of shrimp on my last bite.  But I was more looking forward to the pho.  I had remembered coming here years ago when I was in B-school for lunch and not really loving the pho, but I was willing to give it one more chance.  This time around it was better than I remembered it and better than my last disastrous outing at Sao Mai.  The broth was much more flavorful than the one at Sao Mai and the noodles were cooked well.  I would have preferred the slices of meat to be a bit thinner and more on the rare/raw side rather than fully cooked.  It was an acceptable pho but not something that was overly impressive.  I tried a few bites of Mabel's dish which was bean curd, mushrooms, peppers, broccoli, etc in a coconut curry sauce but the sauce tasted more like a corn starchy brown sauce instead.  It was fine - a very basic stir fry kind of dish and it was also huge.  It was big enough for at least two people to eat.

All in all, the place suited what we were looking for:  cheap, quick and convenient to Union Square. I wouldn't make this a destination restaurant by any means but if you are in the area and have a Vietnamese fix, this place will do fine as long as you're not expecting truly authentic food.  Total bill:  $24/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Koi Soho Visited 10/10/2014 4 Forks

Koi Soho Trump SoHo Hotel, 246 Spring St., New York, NY 10013

When Virginia first mentioned getting dinner at Koi Soho, I was a bit hesitant.  Not because I don't trust her judgement but I usually steer away of restaurants that are attached to hotels (this one is attached to the Trump SoHo) and chain restaurants (there are several locations of Koi around the world including LA and Vegas).  But Virgina was craving their crispy rice dish and I had never been, so what the heck?

It's kind of located in their weird part of the city that is not quite Soho, Tribeca or the Village.  It's pretty much right near the Holland Tunnel but it's close enough to the subway that it's not totally hard to get to.  It's definitely got more of a Trump feel than a sushi feel to it - it feels more like a high end dining restaurant with little to no Japanese influence.   Luckily the menu is much more Japanese but it's still not super traditional.  We ordered a ton of food to split between the two of us:  Koi crispy rice ($16), rock shrimp tempura ($18), glazed string beans ($9), double tuna roll ($22), spicy scallop ($11), one more roll which unfortunately is escaping my memory right now and several pieces of sashimi including tuna, salmon and we had asked for amberjack but they unfortunately ran out of it. It was a bit annoying that they told us they had it and then when our order came out, our waiter just mentioned they ran out and that was it.  It would have been nice of him to have checked with the sushi bar before offering it up to us as an option and/or given us the opportunity to order something else instead of just not bringing it.  

The famous crispy rice came out first and it's rice that has been flash fried on the bottom and then topped with tuna tartare (or you can get yellowtail tartare).  As Virginia said, it's like crack - incredibly addictive and delicious.  There's something about the crispy crunchy rice mixed with delicious raw tuna that just really hits the spot.  There might have been a bit too much rice on the bottom but overall it was a tasty bite of heaven.  I moved on to the rock shrimp tempura and it was wonderful.  Rock shrimp tempura is one of my favorite types of tempura and this one did not disappoint.  The tempura outside was nice and crispy and the shrimp was firm but sweet on the inside.  I could have eaten this dish all day. 

Next I moved on to the sushi and sashimi.  The sashimi pieces were all spot on - fresh and clean tasting.  I was also a huge fan of the spicy scallop roll since you can really see and taste whole large pieces of scallop in there.  It wasn't the chopped up scallop but whole piece wrapped in the roll with a spot of spicy mayo on it.   My favorite.  The double tuna roll was a huge roll made with tuna sashimi on top of a spicy tuna roll - it was good but for $22 it didn't wow me very much.  I would have rather stuck to the more basic standard rolls or gotten more sashimi at that price.   We ordered the green beans in an attempt to have a vegetable dish and like all restaurant veggie dishes, it's really covered in oil and sauce anyways and takes away from most of the healthiness of the dish.  I would have preferred my beans to be a bit more blanched and snappy - these were a bit overcooked for my liking. 

Overall, I was impressed with experience since I came in with some doubts in my mind.  It's still not the most authentic/traditional sushi experience and yes, because it's associated with the Trump Hotel the prices are definitely inflated but it wasn't any worse than some of your other similar high end trendy restaurants in New York.   Total bill with tip and tax:  $75/pp

Photo Credit: Yelp

Pasar Malam Visited 10/11/2014 3 Forks

Pasar Malam 208 Grand St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

When I had first heard about Pasar Malam, I thought it was an actual night market complete with stalls and I got really excited.  So I was a bit disappointed when it turned out that it was just a Malaysian restaurant that was decorated to have the feeling of a night market.  So not quite the same thing.  But I was still excited to try it since there aren't a lot of Malaysian restaurants in the city and it's literally right across the street from the movie theater which was where I was going to end up for the night.

The restaurant is owned by the same people as Laut so it comes from some pretty legit SE Asian backers.  The menu is quite extensive with a full roti station, salads, appetizers, soups, entrees, fish market, soup noodles, fried rice dishes and noodle dishes.   It was extremely overwhelming and I had a really hard time deciding between the famous Malaysian dish of chicken rice, fish grilled in banana leaf,  or udon noodles.  I ended up going with the banana leaf dish ($18) and Aarti got the Char Kway Teow ($10) and we split the roti telur ($8).  The roti telur came with egg, hot pepper, onion and it was served with a spicy curry sauce.  I generally prefer my roti to be slightly crispy on the outside but the middle still a bit chewy.  I'm not sure if it was the egg but the roti itself was a bit soggy - which made it twice as hard to use it as a vehicle to soak up the curry sauce.  But no matter, Aarti and I ate all of it because the curry sauce was delicious and if we could have, we would have drank the whole thing with or without the roti.   Next came my banana leaf dish.  It was described as fish wrapped in a banana leaf, grilled and served with curry salsa and coconut rice.  Everything about it sounded great! They never really said what kind of fish they would be using but it turned out to be some basic white fish which makes sense given the curry salsa topping.  My first impression was that there was WAY too much curry salsa.  I could barely see and taste the fish - I really had to dig through the salsa.   The fish itself was cooked well but I generally prefer my fish to be a bit more simple and this was a bit too overdressed for me.  The coconut rice definitely had hints of coconut but it didn't have the stickiness to it that a coconut rice should.   While I polished off my entire dish, I kind of wished that I had chosen the chicken rice or udon noodles instead.  Although I did have a bite of Aarti's noodle dish which was a broad noodle with soy sauce, chili sauce and vegetables and it didn't have too much flavor to it.  Or actually what I should say is that you could only taste the soy sauce and not the chili flavor or anything else.   It was fairly heavy on the noodles and light on the vegetables.

All in all, my meal didn't wow me but I feel like there were so many other options on the menu that sounded good that I'm still willing and up for trying it out again.  The price points were reasonable and it's close enough to the movie theater that it's worth another pre-movie meal visit.  Total bill with tip, tax and a Thai ice tea:  $26/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Delaware and Hudson Visited 10/4/2014 3 Forks

Delaware and Hudson 135 N 5th St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

For the most part, when I review restaurants I focus very much on the food with a few call outs to service, decor and a few other things.  Most places have decent enough service and on a few occasions when I've experience exceptional service, I do make note of those experiences. Unfortunately, my service at Delaware and Hudson was so unacceptable that I had to dock it a full fork - which is really sad because the food is quite excellent and very tasty.

It's located where Egg used to be and it continues to be a very popular brunch spot.  They had coincidentally gotten a Michelin Star that week so I'm not sure if it made the place anymore crowded than it used to be.  Things started off well with us only having to wait for a table of 5 for 10 minutes or so.  They even allowed us to sit and order when our party wasn't complete, which is something I always appreciate.  Sadly, they don't have a liquor license so or brunch drinks they had mimosas and bloody mary's made with beer.  The menu looked amazing with a slight  Mid-Atlantic (hence the name)/Southern twist to it with items like beef hash, scrapple. and corn mush on there.  We ordered a side of the biscuits and scones ($8) to start and I got the crab cake benedict ($16) as my main and a side of potatoes ($5) for the table.  We had also ordered a round of mimosas to start.  We got our 1st round of mimosas and that's when it all started to go downhill.  We must have waited 20 minutes for our scones to come out and during that time we had tried to order more mimosas but that was taking just as long as our food to come out.  I was frustrated that I had to ask them repeatedly where my 2nd drink was for 30 minutes.

Finally the scones and biscuits came out and they were delicious!  Apparently they are some award winning scones and biscuits and they came with homemade butter and jam.  They were soft, addictive and I can totally see how they could be award winning.  You'd think that after getting our appetizers, our main entrees should be out not to long after that.  But no, we probably waited another 45 minutes for our entrees - which to me is just unacceptable.  It was so long that several of us were getting drunk from our mimosas - not because they were particularly strong but just because we were drinking so many on empty stomachs.  It got to the point where one of the hostess/waitress recognized how long we were waiting for our food and profusely apologized and offered to comp us the scones and the side of potatoes.  I will say that I really appreciated that gesture and it does go a long way when the staff acknowledges their mistakes and tries to do something about it (ehem  - Skal).  While it was a nice gesture, it didn't really help when half our table got their food and the other half didn't get theirs for another 20 minutes afterwards.  Richelle and I both got the crab cakes and watched in half tears as everyone else tore through their meals.  Luckily Jenn's funnel cake was huge, so we gorged on some of it.  It was super delicious and it wasn't too dense or heavy.  They had served us the side potatoes with this round of food, so I snacked on those while I waited for my entree.  The potatoes were also great - they were baby potatoes cooked just right and seasoned with just enough salt on them.  Thank god for them, otherwise I may have passed out from hunger.  Finally our crab cake benedicts came out, just as everyone else was done with their meal.  At least they were fantastic.  The crab cakes were very heavy on the crab and light on filler and they had two very nicely poached eggs on top with some capers on top.  I don't want to go as far as to say that it was worth the wait, but it was a really great dish and I was so happy that at least I had waited for something that tasted good.

Sadly, after we finished our food Richelle found a gigantic egg shell in her benedict.  She purposely put the shells out on the plate to see if they would say anything but they barely noticed.  In fact, they never actually came to busy our tables.  Once we were done eating, we just wanted to get the check and leave.  But of course, like everything else here it took at least 20-25 minutes for them to bring us the check and then split it on 4 cards.  There was practically no one else left in the restaurant and it still took them that long to run our checks.

I know that it's hard to run a restaurant and I definitely appreciated that they comped us for a few items, but having us wait that long for everything and then finding a giant eggshell in our dish is just not something that I can tolerate very much.  Luckily for them, the food is on point and excellent otherwise I would have put this in the 1-2 fork category.  While the wait staff was nice and apologetic about everything, I'm not sure if I can really handle that level of service again.   We ended up being at the restaurant for over 2 1/2 hours and it wasn't because we wanted to have a long boozy lunch.   Maybe it was a fluke experience but definitely be prepared to wait when you're here.  Total bill with tip, tax and lots of mimosas:  $48/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bar Primi Visited 10/3/2014 3 Forks

Bar Primi 325 Bowery, New York, NY 10003

Bar Primi is brought to you by the same people of The Dutch and Locanda Verde which means that it comes from a pretty good lineage of popular and much loved restaurants.  It occupies the space of what used to be Peels but honestly they didn't do much to change the space.  Lav and I met up here early on a Friday night (around 6:30pm) and it was pretty empty and easy to get a seat.  By the time we left around 8, it was definitely jam packed with people.  They don't take reservations, so definitely get there early. 

The menu here is a very manageable Italian line up of about 6 different kinds of appetizers, antipasti dishes, pastas and then 1-2 specials of the day.   I was very appreciative of the fact that the price point for the pastas was fairly reasonable - all under $20, which is crazy that I even have to say that but in the world of $25-30 pasta dishes, I did notice that right away and was very pleased with that.  We were both starving and based on the waiter's recommendation, we landed on the ricotta bruschetta ($8) and the rice balls ($7) to start and I got the bucatini ($18) and Lav got the linguini ($14).  I was dying to get the meatballs since it was apparently stuffed with cheese, but I didn't think that I could finish it on my own so I didn't order it. 

The ricotta bruschetta was served with honey drizzled on top and pieces of fig.  It was delicious - I've always loved the combination of ricotta and honey and it reminded me very much of the other fabulous ricotta dish at Andrew Carminelli's other restaurant but it wasn't quite as good as that one. The rice balls were also fabulous, probably my favorite dish of the night.  There were 4 fairly good sized pieces served with tomato mixed into rice mixture and then it came on a bed of basil pesto sauce.  It was a very addictive dish and if the rice balls were this good, I can only imagine what the meatballs were like.  Then we moved on to the pasta course.  My bucatini came with a lamb ragu sauce and while the pasta and sauce were done well I wasn't wow'd over by the dish.  The pasta was a smidge too al dente for me and the serving size was a bit on the smaller size (I guess that's why it's $18!).   While it wasn't a bad pasta dish, I was bit underwhelmed by the whole experience given all the buzz around the place.  Lav had also mentioned that her pasta that came with 4 cloves of garlic and breadcumbs was ok but not a wow dish.  So I think we were both a bit let down by the overall pasta experience. 

Luckily the restaurant did redeem itself a bit with dessert.  We got the tiramisu ($7) and it was heavenly.  Very light and fluffy -  the piece looked huge but we quickly finished rather quickly.  You could really taste the coffee flavor in the lady fingers and the mascarpone cheese was creamy and delicious.  Lav had mentioned that it was better than some of the tiramisu dishes she had in Italy.  

Overall, it wasn't a bad meal but the main dishes were just not as impressive as their pedigree lends. If you stick to a meal of a bunch of appetizers, antipasti and desserts, you'll most likely have a much more satisfying meal.   Total bill with tip, tax and wine:  $50/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sao Mai Visited 10/2/2014 2 Forks

Sao Mai   203 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003

It actually pains me to write a bad review for this place because it came so highly recommended by two of my favorite and most trusted food blogs:  Eater.com and theinfatuation.com.  They both raved about how much they loved this place and how great the pho is.  As someone who has been constantly in search of the best pho, I jumped at the opportunity to check this place out.  I mean how can both of my favorite sites be wrong about a place? 

Uh - so apparently they can.  I can't say how some of the other food tastes but the pho itself was no winner in my book and I've had plenty of other better experiences in Chinatown (i.e. Pho Grand). Aarti and I met up here on a Thursday night and I did appreciate that they let me actually sit at a table while waiting for her.  I immediately went for the Sao Mai house pho ($9.50) which came with brisket, beef eye round and beef balls and Aarti got the vegetarian version ($8.50) and we split the vegetarian summer roll ($5.50).  The summer roll came out first and the main reason we ordered it was because it came with peanut sauce.  But this peanut sauce was very thin and seemed to have more soy sauce than peanut flavoring.  The roll itself was basic and totally fine - stuffed with tofu instead of shrimp or pork - but for me it's always the sauce that makes the roll and this one just didn't hit the mark. 

The pho came out quickly and it looked pretty promising.  I will give credit in that there was lots of meat in it and the noodles were nice and soft.  But what MAKES an entire pho dish is the broth and this one was just severely lacking.  It tasted bland and it was just missing that punch of seasoning and meat bones flavor that makes pho so wonderful.  When I go to Pho 75 at home, I not only polish off the entire bowl of noodles and meat, but I slurp up every ounce of broth I can because it's just that good.  Here - I actually left behind a few pieces of meat and drank none of the broth.  You know you have a sad pho when that happens. Apparently, Aarti had the opposite experience where she said she enjoyed the broth but didn't really care for the noodles or vegetables.

Another bummer was my Vietnamese Ice Coffee ($3).  I like it when it's served to me in the drip form and into a cup of sweetened condensed milk and then I stir it up and pour it into a cup of ice. This was pre-made already and just didn't have that same feel to it and was a bit over sweet to me.

All in all, I was really disappointed by my experience here.  I'm usually very in sync and in agreement with my other fellow food bloggers, but this one left my head scratching.  Not sure if we just had two totally different experiences or they just don't know Vietnamese food very well, but the only good thing was the bill:  Total cost with tax and tip:  $17/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Greenpoint Fish and Lobster Co. Visited 9/27/2014 4 Forks

Greenpoint Fish and Lobster Co.  114 Nassau Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222

I always suspected that after Williamsburg, Greenpoint would be the next area to blow up and places like the Greenpoint Fish and Lobster Co. re-affirm that belief and it also makes me feel like I could live in Greenpoint despite its location.  There are actually a bunch of great places that are within a fairly reasonable walking distance from the Bedford stop on the L train including this place.  First thing you should know is that Greenpoint Fish and Lobster is part retail fish market and raw bar.  It's pretty small so don't go thinking it's a full fledged restaurant - it's pretty much a few bar stools and then 3 small two top tables.

The menu is reflective of what's fresh and available that day - so it's not a huge menu but there are good staple items of crudo, fish tacos, whole lobster and a variety of oysters.  Holly and I split the fluke crudo and we both got the fish tacos (you can ask for them grilled or battered).  The fluke crudo came thinly sliced and drizzled with a ton of olive oil and fresh lemon juice.  While the presentation could have used some work, the taste was fantastic.  It was extremely fresh and Holly and I both couldn't get enough of it.  I guess these are the perks of having a fish market literally inside your restaurant.  I'm usually a little weary of taco orders that only come out with two servings but these tacos were very filling and hefty.  They were served on two small soft flour tortillas, several pieces of grilled fish and then covered with a red cabbage slaw, chiptole mayo and sprigs of cilantro.   They were very solid fish tacos and while I did wish that I tried another dish where the freshness of the fish wasn't masked by a lot of other stuff on the plate, I definitely enjoyed my meal and would recommend it to others.  We finished off the meal with an order of both the key lime pie and the chocolate mousse pie - apparently they are both homemade by a friend of the owners.  I was a fan of the key lime - it had a nice hint of tartness and paired nicely with the graham cracker crust.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with my most recent foray into Greenpoint.  Our waitress was incredibly sweet and nice and even though the place was packed and there was a line forming, they never pressured us to leave, even when we had finished our food and were just sipping on our wine (did I mention that they have rose on tap?!).   If I lived a bit closer, I could definitely seem myself stopping by more often to satisfy my seafood craving.   I'm totally on a Greenpoint kick now, who's with me? Total bill with tip, tax and wine:  $50/pp

Photo Credit:  Yelp