Mandoo Bar Visited 3/27/2015 4 Forks

Mandoo Bar 2 W 32nd St., New York, NY 10001

I have a great love and appreciation for Korean food, so much so that Borami, Lisa and I actually decided to forgo free lunch at Lisa's new company (nice Internet company perk!) and go down the street and pay for food.  The crowd at Mandoo at 1pm was still crazy but they move quite fast there, so we sat down without much of a wait. 

The menu is overwhelming because I wanted to literally eat everything.  I couldn't make up my mind between bimbimbap, Japchae, Udon, or ramen.  I must have changed my mind a dozen times.  But first things first and we settled on sharing the pork mandoo ($11 for 10 pieces) and the kimchee mandoo ($11.50 for 10 pieces) to start.  Then we all opted to get the bulgogi dolsot bimbimbap ($16). The pork mandoos came out first and they were piping hot.  As you walk into the restaurant, you see a bunch of cute old Korean ladies hand making all the dumplings, so you know for sure that it's homemade and fresh.  The pork mandoos (they're basically dumplings) were juicy and quite tasty.  I liked how the skin wasn't too thick or chewy.  10 dumplings between the 3 of us was actually quite a lot of food and then I realized that we were getting another round of dumplings AND our main meal - all for lunch.   After we finished our pork dumplings things started to go a bit down hill with the service (although I will acknowledge that it was incredibly chaotic in there).  They only brought out 1 bimbimbap which confused us because we all ordered one and then our kimchee dumplings never arrived.  So we had to flag down our waiter and ask to re-confirm our order.  Finally after a few minutes, everything else arrived at once.   I immediately dove into the dumplings because our bimbimbap was 1,000 degrees and I needed it to cool off for a bit.  The kimchee dumplings were quite tasty as well - excellent thin skin with a spicy kimchee filling.  Although comparing the two dumplings, I still prefer a nice juicy pork dumping over any other kind of dumpling.  As for the bimbimbap, we actually should have just split that 1 order among the 3 of us because the individual order was huge.  It was still piping hot after letting it cool down and no matter how much I was eating it, I never felt like I was making a dent in the bowl.  The ingredients were great with the sizzling hot rice, hot sauce, marinated beef and vegetables but I was really missing the fried egg that usually goes with this dish.  I'm not sure why the cold version gets an egg and the hot one does not (maybe because they think it'll be overcooked with the hot sizzling rice?) but I did miss that part of the dish.   I eventually had to stop eating because I was so full and ended taking home what seemed like the entire bowl of rice. 

Overall, I'm super jealous that Lisa gets to work near such a great ethnic part of the city.  Korean food is not only delicious but it's super flavorful and our meal was actually quite affordable considering how much food we really ate.  I would definitely come back here in a heart beat and try out some of their noodle dishes and the baby mandoos instead.  Total bill:  $25/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

White Street Visited 3/24/2015 2.5 Forks

White Street 221 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013

This review makes me sad because I really did want to like this place and support the chef, Floyd Cardoz but it just wasn't that impressive and then on top of it the prices of some of the dishes were down right offensive - even for being in hoity toity Tribeca. 

I ended up here for a client dinner with a publishing friend and upon walking in I was impressed with the space.  It's quite large, spacious and felt very high brow.  It seemed like almost everyone else here was on a corporate account too (otherwise, I really don't know how else would come here and pay for it on their own).   We all started with cocktails and wanted to nosh on something while we reviewed the menu and tried to order the burrata flatbread to start.  But we were told that the chef prefers us to order everything at once, so he couldn't put our order in for us.  Um - ok, way to accommodate your customers.  I've never heard that before and we all looked at each other like "waaa?"   So fine then, we decided to order everything at once then so that we wouldn't keel over and starve.  We got the burrata flatbread ($23) to start and we also shared the duck fries ($14) and Brussels Sprouts ($15) for the table.  Yes, you did not mis-read those prices.  They charged almost $15 for a side of fries - that is borderline offensive.  As for my main dish, I got the glazed short ribs of beef ($37) and the rest of the table got the fish dish and Borami got the octopus and beet appetizers.    

We were all particularly excited for the burrata dish but when it came out it was nothing like what any of us thought.  When you hear burrata, what do you usually envision? A nice soft moist mozzarella-like cheese right?  What we got instead was a pizza with melted burrata cheese on it and then topped with arugula.  Totally underwhelming and by melting the burrata, they made it flavorless and bland.  We were all disappointed by this and at first I wondered if we mis-read the menu but nowhere on there does it say that it's warm or like a pizza.  Next came our main dishes.  The short rib was served with oat risotto, horseradish, and shoe string potatoes.  The meat was excellent and fell right apart with barely my fork touching.  This dish was really the only thing that kept me from giving this review anything lower.  The duck fries were ok - not $14 worth and I realized that they were actually the same fries that Floyd used to serve at North End Grill which kind of annoyed me for some reason.  The Brussels Sprouts were good but not better or worse than what I've had elsewhere.

We managed to still have room for dessert and got the sticky toffee pudding ($12) which came with creme fraiche sorbet, pecan macaroon and coconut tuille.   I usually find sticky toffee pudding too sweet and this one was no different.

Despite the uninspiring food experience, I do want to say that our server was excellent.  He was very kind, knowledgeable and made the experience quite pleasant.  All I can say is that if you aren't paying for dinner, this place may not be so bad, but if you're coming on your own, you're much better off going to some of the other places in the area that's just as good and more affordable.  Total bill:  ~$500 for 4 with tax, tip and lots of drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Market Table Visited 3/22/2015 2 Forks

Market Table  54 Carmine St., New York, NY 10014

Aarti and I ended up here on a Sunday afternoon because the wait at the new West Village outpost of Jack's Wife Freda next door was out of control.  The place was so crowded that people were literally standing on top of one another that it was border line claustrophobic in there.  Plus given that it was almost 1pm, we decided that we couldn't wait another hour for food and conveniently headed to Market Table which was right next door. 

Market Table is one of those places that's always on my list but just never quite makes the cut for me. But I was staving and impatient because I was dying to tell Aarti all my stories from the previous night out, so we decided to check it out.   While Market Table was also quite crowded they were able to seat us right away at a very small high top table behind the hostess.  As we were getting seated I saw one of the waitresses bring out a burger and even though I wasn't hung over from the night before I did drink quite a few glasses of wine that a thick juicy burger sounded amazing.

I did glance at the menu quickly before deciding on the burger.  The menu had an entire section dedicated to vegetables so for any vegetarians or people who just want a slightly healthier brunch, this place is be a good bet.  They also had a whole section where you could make your own brunch dish, which is what Aarti did - she did half an avocado ($4), toast ($3) and an egg ($3). Meanwhile I stuck with my original order of a cheeseburger ($17) medium rare because it just seemed like the right thing to do.  When the burger came out, it looked good - it was covered in caramelized onions, shredded cheddar cheese and served with fries.  When I cut the burger in half, I noticed that it wasn't quite as medium rare as I would have liked since it didn't have that super pink inside to it.  But I was so hungry that when the waitress asked if everyone was ok, I just said yes and ate it anyways.  While I do love a good serving of onions on my burger, there was just too much here.  It made the whole thing very difficult to eat - super slippery and messy.  As soon as I took my first bite, almost all the onions came out between the buns.  I just couldn't bother dealing with trying to re-construct my meal so I didn't bother eating them at all.  My other issue with the burger was that I wasn't a huge fan of the bun.  It wasn't some soft brioche type bun that you usually see with burgers these days instead it was kind of dry and blah.  It did hold up all the juices which was much appreciated but I wasn't a fan of the bread itself.  Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the shredded cheese on it.  When I think cheeseburger, I envision a thick gooey slice of cheese that just sticks to the meat all over.  But because this was shredded, it was really hard to get a sense of that oozy factor and for a cheddar cheese it wasn't very sharp.  The burger also came with fries that I thought were a bit overcooked and dry.

So yeah - I wasn't a huge fan of the burger and part of it was my fault for not saying anything when the waitress asked me if it was ok.  But I generally never send food back unless it's really awful or has a hair in it or something like that.   Given all the other great brunch places in the West Village, I wouldn't come back here again but for some reason I want to give it another shot based on all the positive Yelp reviews, so maybe a dinner here might change my mind.  Otherwise, I'd say just get up early and go to Jack's Wife Freda for brunch instead.  Total bill:  $40 for 2 with tax, tip and juice

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Colonie Visited 3/14/2015 4 Forks

Colonie 127 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201

Colonie is a Brooklyn standby that I somehow have never gone to in all my years of living in Brooklyn.  So when Vinita and I were looking for a place to meet up in Brooklyn one rainy Saturday afternoon, this place popped into my head.  It's located on Atlantic Ave so it's a bit off all the crazy brunch places on Smith Street but it's still super crowded. 

We grabbed two seats at the bar which was actually the best idea ever because you can get the attention of the bartender much faster and not have to wait for a waiter to come around.  The brunch menu has a lot of good staples:  pancakes, shrimp and grits, scrambles, lox plate, eggs benedict, and a great looking burger.  Vinita and I both ended up getting the leek and gruyere scramble ($13) which comes with toast, potatoes and a salad and a choice of breakfast meat (I got the sausage). 

The scramble itself was great - soft, fluffy and moist.  The combination of the leek and cheese was great although I'll be honest that I'm not sure if I could really tell that there was a lot of leek flavor to it.  The potatoes were your basic but good brunch potatoes and helped to add some starch to the meal.  The sausage was super hearty and you could tell that they were homemade and not some defrosted frozen version.  It was more like a sausage patty rather than a link - which is actually how I prefer them.  The only thing that I would say was a disappointment about the dish would be the salad. It was a nice array of better lettuce and mixed greens but they were a bit heavy handed on the dressing, so that made it a bit too soggy and just overwhelming in general.  

While the food was delicious, so were the cocktails.  We ended up hanging out at the bar for over 3 hours chatting and of course that meant that we had to get a cocktail at some point.  We got a blood orange margarita ($12) and it was fantastic - a great way to kick start a blah grey afternoon.  While there wasn't any one thing that was particularly mind blowing, I did really enjoy being there.  It just felt homey and welcoming without a lot of douche bags, annoying screaming families or loud 20 something's that you generally find at brunch these days - I guess I should say that it just felt like nice adult place where you can get great drinks and food and be able to enjoy a 3+ hour conversation without feeling rushed.  Total bill:  $42/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Narcissa Visited 3/13/2015 5 Forks

Narcissa 25 Cooper Sq., New York, NY 10003

So it's been a long time since I've dropped 5 forks on a place, especially in NYC, so I figured it was about time I did it with Narcissa.  I was hesitant to try it out because it seemed like one of those super buzzy hotel restaurants but Lav raved about it, so I figured I should try it at least once.  I was able to snag an 8pm reservation on a Friday night and brought along Amy since the focus on the menu is quite veggie friendly. 

As I mentioned, this is on the ground floor of a hotel, The Standard in the East Village to be exact. Being associated with a hotel might have been a reason why the hospitality and service were so spot on.  They were kind and eager without being too in your face.  While I obviously eat meat, I greatly appreciate a really good vegetarian menu when done right.  Almost everything on this menu sounded so amazing that I actually ended up not getting any meat (but we did get seafood) dishes.  We decided to share everything and we got the Brussels Sprouts Leaves ($14), the beets ($15), the half size of the potato gnocchi ($15), the black sea bass ($26) and a side of cauliflower ($8).  If that sounded like a lot of food, that's because it was but it was all fantastic and I would have ordered any of them all over again.  In fact, if I could have, I would have also ordered the raw tuna and the charred octopus. 

We started with the Brussels Sprouts (ham on the side) and it was fabulous.  It was served with manchego cheese which is always a nice touch - there's just something about Brussels Sprouts that I have really just grown to love as an adult.  Next I tried the rotisserie-crisped beets which had bulgar salad, apples and the piece de resistance creamed horseradish on top.  The combination of beets and horseradish is one that I'm now really obsessed with.  The potato gnocchi was served with butternut squash, swiss chard and confit chestnut.  I'm usually on the fence with gnocchi because it can be an extremely heavy dish but this one was light and fluffy but still had that ting of denseness.  I'm glad we got the half size but I could easily see this being a wonderful entree.  Next came my 2 favorite dishes of the night:  steamed black sea bass and the Manchurian cauliflower.  Both amazing.  The sea bass was perfectly steamed and served with a delicious coconut curry sauce - it was flakey and firm and the curry added great flavor to the dish.  Simply wonderful.  The cauliflower dish really surprised me.  I thought it was going to be a basic steamed or roasted side dish but it almost like a vegetarian play on General Tsao's chicken - it had crispy fried batter on the outside with a tangy ginger sweet and sour sauce coating on the outside and served with scallions.  I was beyond obsessed with this dish and it's one of those dishes that really convinces me that there is excellent vegetarian food out there, so never settle for some lame steamed vegetable plate when you can have something like this. 

All in all, I really loved my meal and overall experience there.  I also have to give a shout out to the cocktail selection there - fantastic cocktails made with enough alcohol to really hit you when you get home.  A lot of people often ask me if I've been to any good places in NYC lately and this is my new go to suggestion for those who ask.  It is a bit pricey and not an everyday meal but if you are celebrating something or just want to treat yourself to a really excellent meal, Narcissa should definitely be on your list.  Total bill:  $91/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Coppelia Visited 3/10/2015 4 Forks

Coppelia 207 W 14th St., New York, NY 10011

It always amazes me how one could have lived in NYC for years and never even notice half the places in the city.  I must have passed by this place a million times in all my years of living in NYC but never once did I notice it.   So I was shocked when Julia mentioned that this place had the best nachos in the city.   How have I never been to this place before when it's 1 block away from the L train?!?

Coppelia is a 24/7 Latin diner, which also serves breakfast all day, so this place is already in the running for best place ever.  Everything on the menu from the drinks to the food sounded amazing. We started with a large pitcher of sweet delicious red sangria ($34) and the nachos ($8.95).  Oh - did I mention that all the prices here were very reasonable as well?  The nachos, was advertised, were fantastic.  According to Julia, the key to the nachos is the secret layer of crema underneath all the toppings, which included gouda-munster cheese, black beans, jalapeno, guacamole and a side of the chopped beef short ribs.  The ribs were tender, juicy and super flavorful and I actually liked that it wasn't on top of the nachos because this way I was really able to get a good scoop of the ribs without hunting/pecking for it in the nachos.  This isn't the kind of nacho plate that comes with gooey orange cheese on it but instead it's the real deal with fresh real ingredients.   For the main course, we all decided to split the oxtail empanada ($4.75), a regular cheese empanada ($3.75), the pernil ($17.95), and the chile relleno ($16.95).  The oxtail empanada was mainly for me to try because I love oxtail but sadly these empanadas were a bit on the cold side, so I didn't really love them all that much.  I probably should have said something but there was so much other food that I didn't bother.  I was excited to try the pernil because I love a good roasted pork dish and this one did not disappoint.  The pork was tender and well apart when eating it.  It was paired nicely with a yummy side of mojo and the dish was given a serious kick with some mojo on top of it.  It was a tad on the salty side but that probably came from the chicharrons on the plate as well.  I was so full at this point that I actually didn't get around to trying the chili relleno at all which I was super bummed about because it sounded delicious -  it was served with quinoa, brussels sprouts, zucchini, salsa and a side of rice and beans.

By the time we left I was full and drunk.   I was surprised to see how constantly full this place was but after having a great time there and having great food, I really shouldn't be surprised.  I would absolutely come back here in a heart beat and try out everything else on the menu such as the ceviche, huevos rancheros, fish tacos, roasted chicken and cubano sandwich - in fact just writing about all these dishes is making my mouth water already.  Total bill:  ~$150 with tax, tip and drink

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Turquoise Restaurant Visited 3/8/2015 4 Forks

Turquoise Restaurant 2147 W Roscoe St., Chicago, IL 60618

If you had asked me to review this place after the first 30 minutes of sitting down, I might have given it 2 Forks because the service was horrible in the beginning, but after spending some time and re-thinking my entire experience, I have to say the food was good enough and the experience unique enough that I'm willing to go with 4 Forks (maybe closer to 3.75 Forks).  As long as you know what to expect with this place, you'll have a great time.

Nima, Deanna and I came for brunch on a Sunday morning and originally we didn't think anyone would be here.  But the place was actually packed and it took a while to get the host (I'm not sure if there really was a host, I think everyone who worked there had 5 different jobs) to seat us.  We sat all the way in the back and we could see how hurried and rushed all the waiter/waitresses were.  It's a pre-fixe meal of about 9 courses, but it was hard to really figure that out because they don't tell you anything or come to take your order.  We waited forever to flag someone down to ask what the deal was and they said the food just comes out. Ok, we must have waited 20 minutes before any food came out but when it did, boy did we get a lot of food.  In one fell swoop, 5 plates of food came out at once.  All the dishes are made for sharing and there's plenty of food on each dish for everyone.  We started with warm freshly baked bread with butter and honey and then there was also a green salad with a giant delicious piece of feta cheese, feta cheese pie, Turkish hash browns, a cheese plate with 4 different cheeses and olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  I really enjoyed the hash browns as they were jammed packed with flavor from the onion, peppers, and parsley.  Then came another round of food - gooey cheese omelet, sweet crepes with fruit, giant pieces of salami with sunny side eggs, and then these meatloaf balls with gravy and vegetables.   At this point, we were all so full but couldn't stop trying everything that was put in front of us.  The omelet and crepes were the big winners of this round of food.  At this point, we were all completely stuffed and couldn't eat anymore food.  They did bring out a fruit plate which was a nice refreshing finisher.

Despite this place starting off on the wrong foot service-wise, they did make up for it with the quality and quantity of food.  The waitress was very nice while were were being served and you could tell that they were just crazy busy and not intentionally ignoring you.  Serving a 9 course meal to a packed house all at once is not a fun job.  What's even more amazing about this place is that all this food was only $15.95 - a great deal, just don't come here if you are in a hurry!  Total bill:  $23 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Charlatan Visited 3/7/2015 3 Forks

Charlatan 1329 W Chicago Ave., Chicago, IL 60642

Charlatan is well known as being a nose to tail restaurant - and I mean that literally.   You can get either a whole pig's head ($60) or whole oxtail ($63) if you are one of the first few people ordering for the night.  Deanna and I got there for what we thought was the early bird dinner (6pm on a Saturday) but when the table next to us ordered the pig head the waiter said that they had gotten the last order!

Obviously I wasn't going to get either of these options while dining with a vegetarian, but I was quite intrigued by the oxtail option since it's one of my favorite meats.  But regardless, we moved on to the rest of the menu.  The rest of the menu is a weird potpourri of items - it's mostly small plates and a few main pasta entrees and then a few seafood dishes.  It's not a very big menu, so it was actually kind of challenging to find things for us to share.  We opted to start with the cheese plate ($15) and I got the black pepper rigatoni ($17) and we also got a side order of focaccia ($5).  I was originally skeptical of getting the focaccia because I was trying to steer away from eating carbs but the waiter told us that it was amazing and on Time Out's list of must eats in Chicago.  All the pasta dishes come in a half size order as well but the waiter said that it was a very small portion which I why I got the full size, but that turned out to be totally unnecessary. 

First, the cheese plate.  It was a delicious selection of 3 raw cheeses - I can't remember what their names were but I did remember there was a fantastic blue cheese option.  I would definitely recommend it as a starter if there's nothing else that strikes your fancy.  Next we got our main entrees and my first impression was that the full pasta portion was huge!  I mean I am a pretty big eater, but even I had a really hard time finishing it (and yes, I know that I didn't have to).  The rigatoni came with wild boar ragu, parmesan, and brussels leaves - all good things for a pasta.  Even though I knew going in that it would have a heavy hand of black pepper (I mean, it's called black pepper rigatoni), I was having a hard time with the strong black pepper flavoring.  While it was a good dish, I wouldn't say that I was blown away by it.  In fact, I thought that the pasta at Tocco the night before we more authentic and tastier.  This place struck me as being more of a hipster Italian place while Tocco was more old school (despite the weird decor).  But the one dish that did totally kick ass was the focaccia. Yes, the waiter was totally right about it.  It was out of this world warm and delicious, complete with roasted garlic butter on the side.  I originally told myself to only eat one piece but Deanna and I ended up devouring the entire thing because it was that good.   I didn't try Deanna's black kale spaghettini but she mentioned that it was a bit on the cold side and that it was ok, but not mind blowing either.  

We were thinking of getting dessert elsewhere but ended up getting gelato here because the gelato place we were thinking of going to was closed and because we were lazy.  We ended up getting the sweet milk version ($6) and again, t was a huge portion, about 3 scoops worth, but it was a nice refreshing way to end the meal.  

While my meal here wasn't awful, I was expecting a lot more from it given how talked about it was from a few food blogs and articles.  Granted, we probably didn't order the star dish of the menu but to me a sign of a good restaurant is that you can order anything and it'll still be a great meal.  I will give them kudos on the focaccia and they also made some pretty solid cocktails as well.  It's worth a visit for those 2 things alone.   Total bill:  $60 with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bang Bang Pie Shop Visited 3/7/2015 3.5 Forks

Bang Bang Pie Shop 2051 N California Ave., Chicago, IL 60647

I had originally heard of Bang Bang Pie Shop because they supplied the pies for Parson's Chicken and Fish, so when Deanna mentioned that Bang Bang had their own stand alone shop, I figured it was worth visiting.  When you walk in, you realize it's not really a restaurant but more of a order at the counter type place.  They give you a number and then someone will deliver the food to you so there isn't really a waitstaff here.

The brunch menu consists of a variety of biscuit dishes, some pot pies and of course sweet dessert pies.  So don't come here looking for a healthy brunch.  I was a bit bummed that the biscuit dishes didn't come with any side dishes (you can order them separately), but once you actually finish a whole biscuit you realize that you don't really need more food.  I opted for the sausage biscuit ($5.50), Deanna got the gravy biscuit with an egg ($7.50) and we split a slice of the lemon cream pie ($5).

The design of the place is a bit unwieldy - it's super crowded and very hard to maneuver around.  It can actually feel quite claustrophobic in there at times because there's really nowhere for people to stand and wait (I think when it's nice outside and they open up the outside patio, it's not as bad). Having people order at the counter seems like a mistake here because everyone was asking questions about the menu (what's the best pie?  What's in the grits du jour?) and/or mulling over their options that it causes a long line to build up.

But once you order, the food came pretty quickly.  One look at the biscuit and I knew it was quite a dozy. On top of the ginger sage sausage patty was a melted slice of cheddar cheese and the biscuit came with a raspberry bourbon jam.  The salty sweetness of it all with the flakey buttery biscuit was delicious.  I wasn't hungover at all, but I could see this being an amazing hang over breakfast sandwich.  My only regret was that I didn't order the fried egg on top.  Although it was a great breakfast sandwich, it somehow didn't feel like I was really having brunch or enjoying a meal.  It was kind of like high end fast food because I was done eating in about 10 minutes.  While the price was right for it, I would have appreciated more of a full meal option or something that was more conducive to leisure eating.   As for the lemon cream pie, it tasted a bit more like a key lime pie but that's ok because I love key lime pies.  It was tart and sweet and crust was a very thick layer of Graham cracker crust.  The crust was actually a bit too much for me and I ended up just eating the filling and forgoing the crust.  It's a bit overpriced for $5 but I mean, how can you go to a pie shop and not order pie?!?

All in all, it's a cute place - just be prepared to wait in line and then fight the crowds for a table.  Oh and make sure you're wearing elastic waist band pants since you won't find a healthy or green vegetable in sight here.  Total bill:  $26 with tax, tip, coffee and juice

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Tocco Visited 3/6/2015 4 Forks

Tocco 1266 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60622

Tocco was just an unexpected experience - my review really won't do it justice, so just trust me and go check it out.  Deanna had mentioned that the food was amazing but the the decor was weird, yet you also felt like you were in Italy at the same time.  I didn't know what she was talking about but after eating here that's exactly the correct description of this place. 

You walk in and it's kind of got their weird modern space age feel to it.  The restaurant is very white and against one portion of the wall is a glass case with bizarre mannequins wearing what must be the latest in Italian fashion.  Then the other wall has a movie about Italian tourism projected against the wall and playing on repeat throughout the night (they did a good job b/c I totally wanted to go back to Italy after watching over and over again).  The menu has a large pizza section but it also had pastas, salads and meats as well.  We got the fried calamari ($14) and the insalata di bosco ($9) to start and I opted for the lasagna ($16) for my entree.  The calamari was lightly battered and really fantastic.  You could still taste the squid on the inside but it had just enough batter and crunch on the outside to give it a nice salty finish.  The key to its deliciousness was that it wasn't too greasy or oily.  It was one of the better fried calamari dishes I've had in a while.  The salad was with arugula, mushrooms, and shaved parmigiano - incredibly fresh ingredients and it was very lightly dressed so as to not overwhelm the basic but tasty vegetables.  

As for my main entree, I'm not sure if it's because I haven't had lasagna in a while or what but I thought it was spectacular.  It was a very layered lasagna made with a beef ragu and mozzarella cheese.  The pasta was fantastic - very light and clearly home made.  It's easy for a lasagna to taste really heavy and filling but this one was light but still incredibly tasty at the same time.  It reignited my love for pasta and specifically lasagna.  I had a bite of Soph's pizza and it was also quite good - it was a thin crust kind (weird for Chicago) with a heavy hand of prosciutto and mozzarella.   For dessert we split, what else, a tiramisu ($8) and it was light, fluffy and perfect. 

While I don't associate Chicago with a lot of old school Italians (like I would with Brooklyn), when I looked around the restaurant there were clearly a good handful native Italians (ordering in Italian) eating there and the waitstaff there was also clearly very Italian.  There was a table behind us laughing and chatting it up with the chef/owner all in Italian.  It was the most oddly non-authentic authentic place I've been to.  Given that, you just have to go and experience this place for yourself and luckily you will also get a fantastic meal out of it as well.  Total bill:  $51/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Bandera Visited 3/5/2015 3 Forks

Bandera 535 N Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611

When I'm in Chicago I rarely eat on Michigan Ave.  It's kind of like going to NYC and saying that you're going to eat in Times Square - it's the most touristy part of the city.  But we were meeting up with an old work colleague who recommend this place for dinner plus the fact that it was within walking distance of our hotel made it an easy decision to give it a try.  If I hadn't known about this place before hand, I would have never found it.  There's no signage on the outside of the place and it's on the 2nd floor of a weird Men's Warehouse store but on the other side of it.  Very bizarre.

When we walked into the restaurant, it kind of reeked of of American chain restaurant (which I later found out it is).  It just had this boring, non-descript dark decor that didn't really wow me.  It was surprisingly very busy but we were able to get a reservation for 6 people at 7pm on a Thursday night, so they clearly weren't that busy.  We were seated in large circular table in the back corner, which was actually nice so that we could have our privacy without a lot of other tables nearby.

The menu is American with a mix of other random items like Tune Poke, Enchilada, and a lamb sandwich.  While the waitress was quick to take our drink order, we had to flag her down a few times to take our appetizer order which was kind of annoying.  We started with the spinach and artichoke dip ($13) and french fries ($5) to start.  They were perfectly fine dishes, nothing really to write home about.  The artichoke dip tasted like something you could make at home and the fries were the thinner less crispy version.  For my main entree I ordered the lamb sandwich ($18) which coincidentally also came with fries as well.  The rest of the table ordered the famous rotisserie chicken ($23) and one other person got the chicken and rib combo ($27).  The lamb sandwich was served with roasted red peppers and arugula on soft bread and served with a au jus-like dipping sauce - which I thought was a bit weird because I've never really seen lamb sandwiches served with dipping sauces before.  The first bite was pretty good - good flavor profiles and the meat was very thinly sliced and tender.  But after a few bites the sandwich fell apart with the roasted peppers just kind of sliding out and the au jus making it difficult to hold everything in.  I ended up just taking the bread off and eating the slices of lamb instead - so much for a sandwich!  Since I had fries before, I didn't really go nuts on the ones on my plate.  While the sandwich itself was fine, I didn't really feel like I was eating in fine dining establishment - it was just underwhelming for a restaurant on Michigan Ave.  I would have preferred it with a cucumber yogurt or taziki sauce similar to how it's made in Greek restaurants just to give it a bit more authentic flavoring to it.   To be honest, I felt like my meal was more like a good lunch time option and it's my fault for ordering a sandwich at dinner when there clearly were other options to choose from.  I didn't try the chicken but everyone at the table said that it was delicious and very juicy - and judging by the looks of it, I believed them.

We all left some room for dessert and this is where it went a bit down hill from here.  We waited forever to get our waitress' attention again but when we did we ordered the banana cream pie ($8) and the house made Oreo ice cream sandwich ($8).   When they set the desserts down, they looked amazing!  But the waitress didn't give us any plates, so we had to sit there and stare at them painfully when we waited another 15 mins to flag her down for some plates.  Comparing this service to the fantastic one we had the night before we like night and day.  It really made me realize how important spot on service can be.  Luckily these desserts were really the stars of the night - especially the Oreo ice cream sandwich - it was kind of like an ice box cake with Oreos but in sandwich form.  It was a delicious sugar overload.  The banana cream pie was also quite sweet and pleasing on the palate. They definitely saved this review from going below 3 forks.

Overall, it was a fine experience for dinner although the service really could have been stepped up a notch.  It was nice that they could accommodate so many of us at the last minute, but given all the other really fantastic restaurants in Chicago, I'm not sure if this would be on my repeat list.  Total bill: Unknown - I didn't get a chance to see the bill

Photo Credit:  Yelp

GT Fish and Oyster Visited 3/4/2015 4 Forks

GT Fish and Oyster  531 N Wells St., Chicago, IL 60654

One of the few good things about work travel is the opportunity to try out some nicer restaurants that you otherwise wouldn't normally try.  Unfortunately my plan to try Bavette's in Chicago was foiled by VP, so I had to switch gears and find another place for dinner.  I had heard about GT Fish and Oyster in a few food blogs and articles and luckily the price point and location were both fairly reasonable.  

We walked in around 6pm on a random Tuesday and the place was fairly empty.  They asked if we had a reservation, which we didn't.  The hostess then proceeded to tell us that they couldn't seat us but that we could sit at the bar.  One of my biggest pet peeves is when a restaurant is totally empty but they tell you that they can't seat you.  We didn't feel like sitting at the bar, so we turned to leave and the manager stopped us and said that she could figure something out for us, which was very nice of her.  I appreciate it when management takes the extra step to find out a way to accommodate their customers - I do understand when a place is fully committed but clearly they had tables that they could have seated us at but didn't initially.  

As you can tell from the name of the restaurant, the menu is strictly seafood focused.  Almost every single dish has some kind of seafood component to it, although there are 3 meat dishes at the bottom of the menu, but if you are a vegetarian/vegan, this is not the place for you.  The menu is actually small plate style which is unusual for seafood but it actually worked out really well because there were a bunch of dishes that I wanted to try.   Once we found  out it was tapas style we went to town with the ordering:  shrimp bruschetta ($11), tuna poke ($15), clam chowder ($11), oyster po'boy sliders ($4/each), fish tacos ($13), grilled octopus ($16), the mac and cheese ($17) and since I was the only one at the table who liked oysters, I got an order of each of the 3 West Coast Oysters ($2.50/each).   I won't go into painstaking detail on each one but overall all of them were solid dishes with my favorites being the mac and cheese (although fair warning, it's sprinkled with lump crab meat on top - so if you don't like that fishy taste with your mac and cheese, this might not be your thing) and the oyster po'boy sliders were great as it came with a nice kick of kimchi in it.  I was also a huge fan of their raw oyster selection - they had one in particular that I thought was fantastic, really creamy and filling.   I didn't have the clam chowder but it was served in this adorable mason jar (yes, it's quite kitchy and a bit cliched to still be using mason jars but whatever) and Eric was raving about it during dinner.  My least favorite dish was the grilled octopus - it was lacking in flavor and I've just had much better octopus before, especially in Greek restaurants.  As for dessert, we opted for the key lime pie with gin and tonic sorbet ($9).  It was a refreshing tart dessert and surprisingly you could really taste the gin in the sorbet!

I do have to really call out the fantastic and superior service that we had here.  The waiter was probably one of the best waiters I've ever had - super friendly, very knowledgable and really made us feel at home and helped guide us through the menu without being too pushy.  It really made me realize how important good service is to a restaurant. 

Overall, it was a great experience and there were definitely still more things on the menu I would have liked to have tried (I'm looking at you hamachi collar and lobster roll).  My initial annoyance with them was quickly washed away by the great manager and waitstaff service, so if you find yourself in the River North part of Chicago, check it out, although it's probably best to make a reservation first.  Total bill:  $260 including tax, tip and 2 bottles of wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Concord Hill Visited 3/1/2015 3 Forks

Concord Hill  374 Graham Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211

While I was a bit bummed when Sel de Mer closed a few months ago (I had a love/hate relationship with that place but I did love their tuna burger), I was excited to have a new restaurant 1 block down the street from me.   When this place originally opened it was by the same people as Westville and The Pines, which only added to my excitement.  Unfortunately,  there was a parting of the ways after only a month with the original chef, but it sounded like the menu didn't change all that much, so it was still worth checking out.

When I walked in, I noticed how the interior hadn't changed much from its Sel de Mer days.  In fact, I'm not even sure how much they really did change but that's actually fine because the space is relatively small so there's not much you can really do with it.  The menu here is American with a cozy farm feel to it.  Luckily, it's also pretty veggie friendly as well, so it was pretty easy for Aarti to order.  We started with the sorrel salad and the fried yuca ($6), and I got the hanger steak medium rare ($19) and Aarti got the Mushroom entree ($18).  For some reason, we both thought the sorrel salad was going to be a mushroom salad - turns out a sorrel is a leafy green that's actually more herb than vegetable.  Once we got over our confusion, we enjoyed the salad, especially the pomegranate seeds, and the light dressing that came with it.  It was a pretty basic but good starter salad.   I loved the fried yuca appetizer too - perfectly fried pieces of yuca served with a delicious creamy avocado, jalapeño, queso fresco cream.  Aarti and I were practically licking the bowl at the end.

As for my hanger steak, upon first glance, it looked perfect.  It was extremely medium rare - much more on the rare side than medium.  It came with a tasty chimichurri sauce and well cooked fingerling potatoes.  It was your classic meat and potatoes dish.  The first several bites of my steak were delicious and juicy.  But sadly there were some bites towards the end that had the vein still in it - or at least what I thought was the center vein because it was practically impossible to cut the steak at that point.  Even Aarti who is a great sport when it comes to watching me eat meat commented at how weird and kind of unsettling it was to watch me struggle to cut my meat.  Eventually I just gave up and couldn't eat that part of the steak anymore which was a bummer because I really did enjoy the soft juicy parts of the meat and it also kind of grossed me out thinking about why it was so hard to cut the meat.  I didn't try Aarti's mushroom dish but she did mention that it was extremely buttery and hearty at the same time.  It was essentially a giant bowl of different kinds of sauteed mushrooms tossed with some fregula pasta, which is kind of like an Isreali cous cous.   Even though we were both pretty full, we did end up getting dessert but unfortunately my memory is a bit fuzzy at this point and I can't remember what it was  but I do remember enjoying it!

All in all, it's a cute addition to the neighborhood but it didn't really knock me off my feet.  I probably would give it another shot with brunch and maybe dinner again, but it's always nice to have options like this within walking distance of my apt.  Total bill:  $44/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp