Two Hands Visited 6/29/2016 3 Forks

Two Hands  251 Church St., New York, NY 10013

I have always been a huge fan of everything and anything Australian - how can you not??  There seems to have been an influx of cute trendy Australian coffee shops/bars that have popped up around the city and Two Hands is one of them.  They only recently opened up for dinner, so I was super excited to give it a whirl since it's within walking distance from my office. 

I'll give them props for design and decor - it's sleek, white and got beautiful pictures of the water in Australia.  Love it.  Next,  the staff and everyone who works there seems to be from Australia and were adorable with their cute accents.  Nice touch.  The menu is a nice line-up of simple farm-to-table type food. Laura and I were both starving and everything sounded good, so I was super happy when she agreed to try all the small plates AND split the burger with me.  Atta girl.  The small plates consisted of burrata ($17), octopus ($16), squash blossoms ($14), and shrimp sliders ($14).   For as long as I can remember, I've always been a big fan of Australian style burgers because they come with a fried egg and beets on them ($18) - I know, it may sound gross but it's awesome!

The small plates all came out around the same time and a few of them were indeed small.  There were only 2 squash blossoms on the whole dish, which seemed a bit ridiculous for $14. However, the 1 that I did have was quite tasty since it was stuffed with goat cheese - yum!  I just wished there were more of them.  Next I tried the burrata which was a beautifully plated dish - very Instagram worthy.  It was a large ball of burrata served with farro, asparagus, green puree, apple and coriander.  I will eat burrata in any way it's served to me and not really complain - the only comment I'll make here is that it definitely needed a pinch of salt to it because it was a bit bland otherwise.  The octopus was served a la plancha with chorizo, fennel and lemon puree.  What few bites of octopus I did get was pretty good but it was cut up into pretty small bites that I didn't feel like there was enough of it (like the squash blossom dish).  Next I tried the shrimp slider and this was actually my favorite dish of the night - it was 3 good sized whole pieces of shrimp on mini toasted brioche bread with lemon aioli and cucumber.  It was a bit messy to eat because the pieces of shrimp kept sliding out of the bun but it was seasoned really well and had a hint of heat to it as well with the spiced cucumber.

All of this whet my appetite for the burger which I was super excited for.  We asked for it medium rare and it was most definitely closer to medium - in fact it was cooked through way too much for my own liking.  That to me is the death of any burger.  Secondly, when I order a fried egg (on anything, not just a burger) I expect a fucking runny yoke - yes, I am a complete crazy person about this but it drives me up a wall when it is more like a hard boiled egg on the inside and that's sadly what it was like here.  Super bummer.  Plus the cheese wasn't super melty - it was kind of plopped on there as an after thought and not really incorporated on to the patty.  Lastly, I was just not down with the bread. It looked like some kind of multi-grain type of bread but I found it to be super dry and ended up going Atkins style and only eating the burger.  Waa waa - the meal definitely ended on a sad note.

On the positive end, the spritz drinks were delicious and the overall vibe very chill and cool.  It's worth coming here for drinks and coffee but I'm not 100% sold on the food, or at least the dinner menu, just yet.  The small plates are indeed small but the prices aren't - they seem more on point with big plates, so definitely stick with the happy hour meu for now.  Total bill:  $63/pp with tip, tax and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Dim Sum Bar Visited 6/25/2016 3 Forks

Dim Sum Bar 167 Grand St., Brooklyn, NY 11249

I came across this place when I was walking to Maison Premiere one day and was super excited and skeptical at the same time.  Dim sum in Williamsburg?!  If it was good, that would be a great thing for me to not have to go all the way into the city for it, but I'm always a bit dubious of dim sum outside of Chinatown. 

Mabel, Aarti and I had just finished watching a movie at Nitehawk and wandered around the area for a place to eat.  Mabel is usually my go to dim sum buddy so we figured we'd give this place a try. The setting and decor is more civilized than in Chinatown - it's sit down but you select your dim sum from a checklist - so no push carts or screaming waitresses here.  They have your usual line-up for shumai, hargow, baos, and sticky rice but the variety is most definitely not the same as you would get in Chinatown.  They also have vegetarian friendly dim sum but it is a bit of a challenge to get the good stuff without either pork or shrimp.  They also have a separate menu with more traditional Chinese entrees on there if you didn't want dim sum.   

We got a mix of things:  turnip cake, hargow, shumai, vegetarian sticky rice, steamed cabbage dumplings, vegetarian rice noodles, sauteed eggplant and chinese broccoli.  The prices here are higher than in Chinatown, ranging from $4-8 each.  The food came out pretty quickly with the turnip cake coming out first.  While it was fine, I missed having come right off the hot plate like they do in Chinatown - this one was missing a bit of crispy edge to it but overall it tasted similar to the ones I've had before.  Next came the hargow (shrimp dumplings) which were actually pretty good and on par with the ones in Chinatown.  We had gotten 2 orders which was the right move based on the rest of the food here.  The sticky rice was the kind wrapped in a lotus leaf but because it was vegetarian and didn't have the Chinese sausage or chicken in it, it felt like it was missing some well needed flavor and salt.  Next I tried the steamed cabbage dumplings and again, no real fault of theirs, but I'm just much more of a pork or shrimp dumpling kind of person and found it to be a bit bland. 

However, the next veggie dish I tried was the complete opposite and had way too much flavor to it. The rice noodles were steamed and covered in hoisin and peanut sauce.  I had actually envisioned a totally different dish (my favorite shrimp crepe in rice noodles) and was let down that this wasn't it.  The peanut sauce was way too heavy - it was super delicious at first but after eating a few bites you start to realize how overwhelming both hoisin and peanut sauce can be individually and together. The eggplant dish was your typical sauteed eggplant with bean curd in it but again, it felt like it needed a pinch of salt to it.  Lastly, I had the steamed Chinese broccoli and that's a dish that's really hard to get wrong and it was a crowd favorite - it helped to cleanse the palate of heavy peanut sauce and slightly oily eggplant. It was only at the end did I realize that we never got our shumai - even though I would have been the only one to eat it, and was pretty full at this point I was bummed because based on the hargow which was pretty good, I would have expected the shumai to be just as good. 

While it's most definitely nice to have this place in a pinch in the neighborhood, it most certainly isn't a substitute of going to Chinatown at all.  I appreciate what they are trying to do here and maybe the lack of salt is them trying to use less MSG, but when I want dim sum, I just want to go all out and have the push carts, screaming ladies, lots of variety, and lots of salty goodness.  Total bill:  $24/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Cookshop Visited 6/17/2016 4 Forks

Cookshop  156 10th Ave., New York, NY 10011

I was a bit dubious when I booked Cookshop for dinner on Friday because what kind of good restaurant in NYC has multiple openings on OpenTable for 8pm on Friday?  Don't let that fool you because my dinner at Cookshop was damn good AND it was totally crowded.  I had heard about Cookshop for years but primarily as a brunch place but it's a great dinner place too.  Holly and I were at Gallow Greens earlier for drinks (it's a wee bit douchy but also lovely at the same time) and were starving by the time we arrived at Cookshop.  

The menu is high brow Americana food - a pasta, scallops, burgers, roast chicken, duck and whole fish type of menu.  We started with the deviled egg tasting ($7), waygu beef skewers ($9), and the Vermont Burrata ($15) while for a main I got the beef ribeye tartare ($18) and a side of crispy potato chimichurri ($8).  I'll admit that I was drunk and hungry so everything might have tasted good to me, but in all honesty I think the food would have still been great if I wasn't 3 drinks deep. 

I started with the deviled egg tasting - I can't remember what the different kinds were (not pictured) but honestly who the hell doesn't love deviled eggs in any form??  I could have easily eaten another full tray of eggs on my own.  Next I moved on the the beef skewers and they were great - tender and delicious.  Also fantastic was the burrata.  While I'm not cutting out carbs, I try not to eat a lot of bread when I'm out and that went totally out the window with me slathering this creamy goodness all over buttery pieces of yummy sour dough bread.  Amazing - definitely get this dish.  Knowing that I was noshing on a lot of appetizers, I thought I would keep it "light" by getting the beef tartare for my main.  For those of you who know me well, know my love for a really good beef tartare.  This one was excellent.  It had an wonderful balance of beef to onion, shallots, salty capers and anchovy mixed in with a gorgeous guinea hen yolk and served again on the addictive sour dough bread.  The dish was perfectly executed and delicious on all dimensions.  Equally as addictive was the crispy potatoes - they were crisped to perfection and chimichurri just makes everything taste better.  I had a bite of Holly's Handkerchief pasta and it was lovely combination of pocket shaped pasta filled with leek ricotta and English peas.

Somehow we managed to save room for dessert and we got the ice cream sundae ($11) which was just screaming my name.  I normally don't do sundaes but this one was a classic with brownies, fudge and nuts covered with whipped cream.  It hit the dessert craving right on the nose.

The reason I don't give this place a slightly higher rating is that the service was pretty spotty.  Our waitress was nice enough but after our food came out, she was no where to be found.  Granted the place was packed to the gills but we had to practically chase her down on the way to the bathroom to pay the check.  Total bill:  $69/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Tapestry Visited 6/15/2016 3 Forks

Tapestry  60 Greenwich Ave., New York, NY 10011

It pains me to write this because Aarti had so kindly researched and booked a place for my birthday that she wanted to be "worthy" of my blog.  While the experience wasn't terrible, it was clear that they were still having growing pains as they have only been open a few weeks. 

We had a 8:30pm reservation on a random Wednesday night and they had informed us that it would be a little bit of wait while the people before us paid the check and they cleared the table.  This was totally fine and we just chilled out in the bar but then 35 mins went by and still no table.  Luckily the hostess felt really terrible and kindly offered to comp us any 2 cocktails which was a nice touch.  We tried to order our cocktails but that took forever also. We had put in our order with the bartender, only to watch him not get around to making it until 15 mins later.  By the time our drinks were ready, our table was ready.  The menu here is Indian but not in the traditional sense.  I wouldn't say it's fusion either but it's just got a different twist to it.  The waitress said that most everything was sharable, so e started with the brussels sprout chaat ($14), the avocado and cabbage slaw ($18) and I got the Tamarind chicken wings ($18) as a meat dish.  

The brussels sprout chaat was a huge dish of halved roasted sprouts topped with tamarind and mint chutney and yogurt.  While it was a tasty dish, it didn't wow me at all.  It tasted like a regular batch of roasted sprouts topped with yogurt that I could have made at home.  Next I tried the avocado and cabbage slaw - this was a delightful salad with cashews, chili jam, lime and cumin.  It was a great summer time salad that made me wish I eat or made more cabbage focused salads.  Next, sadly came the chicken wings.  I actually normally don't love chicken wings but this appetizer sounded really good and since I didn't have the room to finish an entire fried chicken entree on my own, this was the next best thing.  First, it was a large dish - 4 large full chicken wings on the plate.  The first bite I took was great - the sauce was fantastic and the skin was nice and crispy but once I took another bite I noticed that the chicken was totally raw on the inside.  Plus it was just really hard to eat the entire wing - it felt like there just wasn't enough meat on there.  After noticing that the 2nd wing was also highly undercooked, I had to say something, which I hate doing, because lord knows I didn't want to get salmonella on my birthday.  The waitress apologized and offered to bring out another asap.  Luckily this 2nd batch was much better - you could actually cut all the way through the chicken without any give or raw meat sightings.  But it was still super hard to eat and very messy.  I asked if they had any extra napkins or wet naps but they didn't - who serves wings with no extra napkins?!?  

We were both still hungry so we got the cauliflower pappardelle ($25) which was served with breadcrumbs, chili, garlic and sage.  So my usual beef with non-red sauce pasta kicked in again here. While the pasta itself was spot on and very homemade tasting, the dish overall tasted kind of plain without the red sauce.  Cauliflower on its own doesn't have enough flavor to really carry a dish and you can tell they tried to spice it up with the chili (no pun intended) and garlic but it kind of missed the mark flavor wise for me. 

I'm giving the restaurant the benefit of the doubt because I totally empathize with growing pains and they did try to make things right by comping us drinks and apologizing about the chicken.  My experience here re-enforces my continued belief that unless you are really dying to, you shouldn't go to a new restaurant within the first month of opening because they need that time to make mistakes.  I like what they were trying to do here, they just need to tightening things up a bit.  Total bill:  $120 for 2 with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Love Mamak Visited 6/11/2016 3.5 Forks

Love Mamak  174 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003

Love Mamak is one of those places that you've probably walked past a bunch of times on 2nd Ave but never actually went into.  I met up with Aarti, her brother and Will late on a Saturday night and Love Mamak was pretty crowded with the NYU kids.  It's smack in the middle of the East Village and is typical of the restaurants in the area where you can load up on quick, casual, tasty and cheap food. 

The menu is a mix of Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian food.  Normally I don't like places that mix and match cuisines and while I still don't love it, it works here because it wasn't all fused together but separate sections of the menu.  Plus they don't go deep into each cuisine - it's pretty much a line up of the basic standard hits of each region.  We got the Uncle Plumb's Dumplings ($6) from the Vietnamese appetizer section, the Roti Canai ($6) from the Malaysian appetizer section, a standard veggie Pad Thai ($10), Mee Goreng ($10), Cashew Smoked Chili ($11), and a Vegetarian Clay Pot ($11).  In true Asian style, everything comes out super fast.  Uncle Plump's dumpling was the only meat based dish we got and it was a yummy combination pork and chive but what was unique about it was that it was doused in smoked chili oil and peanut sauce.  Yum.  The roti was a nice fluffy dough that was easily used to sop up the dal lentil dipping sauce it came with.  As for the main dishes of pad thai, mee goreng and veggie clay pot, they were all your run of the mill, solid neighborhood Asian noodle dishes.  There was nothing flashy or fancy about our meal here but on a late hot summer night, all these dishes hit the spot.

If Love Mamak was in my neighborhood, I could see myself ordering take-out or delivery a lot from here.  It's one of those places that you need when you to satisfy your Asian food craving at a very affordable price point.  Total bill:  $25/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

La Pecora Bianca Visited 6/10/2016 4 Forks

La Pecora Bianca  1133 Broadway, New York, NY 10010

While I had a lovely pre-birthday celebration dinner at La Pecora Bianca, there were some service hiccups that sadly prevented them from getting a 4.5 Fork rating. The dinner started off great - it's a lovely space, bright and airy and really friendly waitstaff.  The menu looked great too - it's Italian focused with a nice antipasti selection, an entire vegetable section, pastas and and secondi dishes.  We started with the polpette ($10), the crab and avocado crostini ($14), the zucchini crostini ($9) and the primavera ($13) vegetable.  For my main entree, I couldn't resist the tagliatelle ($22).

The appetizers came out quickly and were wonderful.  The polpette (meatballs) were moist, juicy and made with short rib and brisket.  I could have definitely eaten the entire dish myself and understodd why the waiter suggested that we get 2 of them instead of 1.  The crab and avocado crostini was great as well - good serving of fresh lump crabmeat on a soft but still crispy crostini and balanced with a small piece of refreshing grapefruit and avocado.  As for the zucchini crostini, it was supposed to be served with ricotta cheese on it but since Richelle hates cheese, we asked for it on the side.  So it was a bit weird but once you spread the cheese on to the bread, it was totally delicious, just a bit unconventional.  But the best appetizer was actually the primavera - which was spring peas, shaved pecorino, parsley with a mint puree.  The spring peas were amazing - so incredibly fresh and crispy and combined with the mint, it was seriously like spring time in my mouth.  It's a definite must order if you like peas.

Then this is where the meal went a bit south.  It became painfully obvious at some point that they forgot our entrees because everyone around us was getting served except for us.  I will say that the waiter was very apologetic about it and offered us a free dessert for our wait which was a nice touch. Finally once the food came, everything looked and smelled great until Jill mentioned that her pasta was cold.  It sounds like they may have made her dish and then forgotten about the rest of ours and just left her dish sitting out in the kitchen.  The GM/host was mortified and offered to bring out another pasta free of charge - again a very nice gesture.  Unfortunately for Jill, we were all practically done with our dishes by the time her 2nd pasta came out but at least it was warm.  As for my tagliatelle, it was great - nice ribbon pasta with a hearty beef and pork bolognese.  It wasn't like the pasta in Bologna but it was still a really well constructed pasta dish that tasted homemade.

For our compted dessert, we got the nutella tart, which I'll be honest and say I actually don't like nutella but I didn't want to cause a fuss since everyone else seemed really into it. I did at least try the dish and it was as expected way too chocolately for me but I guess if you like that kind of thick, heavy, nut-y taste, you'll enjoy the dish.

By the time we left, it was almost 3 hours after we had been seated.  Luckily it was great company, good food and I loved having a spritz again since being in Italy (although they weren't $6 like they were in Italy).  The service issues were too bad but I definitely appreciated that they acknowledged their error and made up for it - that's a sign of great hospitality and despite those hiccups I would still definitely come back here again.   Total bill:  ~$80/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Taboonette Visited 6/10/2016 4 Forks

Taboonette  30 E 13th St., New York, NY 10003

I was meeting up with a colleague for lunch in Union Square and wanted something casual and easy but still tasty. Luckily, my favorite food blog, The Infatuation, has started putting together these "guides" or "listiscles" which seem to be all the rage these days with website (I'll be the first to admit that I'm a total sucker for them).  One of their top choices in the "Best Places to Eat around Union Square" guide was Taboonette - which I had never been to before, so I decided to check it out. 

It was indeed casual but it's less of a restaurant and more of a counter lunch place.  But that was actually totally fine because there are still a few communal tables for you to sit at.  The food here is Middle Eastern/Mediterranean - lots of kebabs, shawarma, and pitas.  There's a lot of variety and you can add on several extra delicious toppings like holoumi and hummus.  I went for the lamb kebab pan ($15) with avocado - a pan is basically the meal without the pita, like a burrito bowl at Chipotle.   We sat at the counter right by the kitchen which turned out to be a huge mistake because that's where people ended up waiting for their food and during the lunch time rush it got to be really annoying. But the food itself was great - the pan was stuffed to the brim with freshly chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, grilled eggplant with 3-4 nice sized lamb patties and covered in tahini sauce.  Yum. It was fresh tasting and incredibly filling.   I felt like I was eating something pretty healthy for lunch and it was nice to have it in a deconstructed way without the pita.  I love the idea of taking all the pita fillings and putting it in a "bowl" - I don't know why I haven't really seen this at other Mediterranean places since it's seems to easy and obvious. 

The place was super crowded from 12:30-1pm and I can see why.  If I worked near here or was just in the neighborhood looking for a quick but delicious bite to eat, I would definitely make this a top food pit stop.  Total bill:  $20 with extra avocado and a lemonade

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Saravana Bhavan Visited 6/4/2016 4 Forks

Saravana Bhavan  81 Lexington Ave., New York, NY 10016

As an honorary Indian, I've always had a soft spot for Indian food but in particular South Indian food. Normally when most people think of Indian food, they think of rich heavy North Indian food but South Indian food is just as great if you know what to order.  It's all super veggie friendly but you don't even miss not having meat because the spices and flavor really hit you in the face.  

Aarti, Mabel and I had a Saturday fun day that started in Chinatown, lead us to  The Met and ended in Curry Hill.   How can you not love living in New York when you get spend a day full of culture and delicious ethnic food?  Whenever I have Indian, I just have Aarti order for me since I trust her taste. We ordered idly, pav bhaji, ghee masala dosa, and the vegetable biriyani. We were on the fence about ordering the biriyani but the waiter told us that it was only served on the weekends, so we figured that we should take advantage and try it out. 

We started with the idly - which if you don't know is steamed rice and lentil patties served with a variety chutney dips and sambar.  Delicious.  It's amazing how much spice one can pack into one small dish.  The sambar was so yummy that I was pretty much drinking it directly from the bowl. The biriyani is their version of vegetable fried rice - it was an ok dish, probably the weakest dish of the night but it was worth trying out.  Next came the dosa - which is a huge thin rice crepe filled with delicious buttery mashed potato.  I could have eaten the entire thing myself and then ordered another one too.  I also wanted to slather that mashed potato filling all over everything and stuff my face with it.  Next we tried the pav bhaji which is what Aarti calls the Indian version of the sloppy joe.  It's a super buttery hamburger bun served with vegetables cooked in a tomato gravy and served with raw red onions.  Again - it's amazing how much intense flavor and spice is packed into a small bite like this.  So so yummy - it's one of my favorite Indian snacks. 

Apparently this place is a famous South Indian chain but there are only a few locations in the US.  If you're looking for something different from heavy paneers and curries, definitely check this and other South Indian places out.  What's even better is that the food is not only delicious but super cheap. Total bill:  $24/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Emily Visited 5/29/2016 3.5 Forks

Emily  919 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY 11238

Ok, let's get this out of the way first.  Emily makes a god damn good burger - it's super moist and juicy and packed with a ton of flavor.   Make no mistake - if you get the burger, you will love it.  So why the 3.5 fork review?  It's unfathomable to me that this burger is almost $30 - well, $26 to be exact but when you factor in tax and tip, you're over $30.  How did we get to this point in life where a freakin burger costs $30?!

But I digress.  Emily has long been on my list of places to try but the horror stories of waiting 2+ hours isn't something I felt like dealing with much these days.  Luckily, Anuja and I were both in town for Memorial Day weekend and one of the bonuses of not having a house in the Hamptons is that the city clears out and places that normally would have long lines are much shorter.  Emily opens at 5pm and we got there around 5:30pm - the place was already packed but we were able to get 2 seats at the bar.  The menu consists of mostly pizza - red ones, white ones, pink (vodka sauce) ones and green (tomatillo) ones and of course the famous burger.  Anuja got one of the white pizzas ($22) while I got the burger.  Apparently they do run out of burgers if you don't get there early enough, so be warned. 

The food came out rather quickly and the burger was glorious looking - it was dry aged beef on a pretzel bun and covered with their special sauce, tons of caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese.  It's served with what Anuja and I called high end McDonald's fries (we mean that as a big compliment as they were incredibly addictive).  The burger is quite messy but the flavor profile was spot on.  I'm definitely happy that I tried it and maybe if an out-of-towner really wanted to try it, I would go back again but it's one of those things where I am happy enough to check the box and say that I've tried it.  The fries were skinny salty and if not careful, you can eat the entire tray of it before you know what hits you.  

I had a bite of Anuja's pizza and we both agreed that while it was good - we've both had better, especially at Roberta's.  It's a very similar to Roberta's in that it's a thin brick oven Neapolitan style pizza with fresh artisanal toppings.  But there's something about Roberta's that had a more positive impression on us or maybe we're just over this whole hipster pizza thing.

Is this place worth a visit? Yes.  Is it worth waiting 2 hours?  That I'm not sure about but if you find yourself looking for a place to try out over the summer and don't mind eating like a grandma at 5:30pm, then give it a try.  Total bill:  $36/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

La Sirena Visited 5/22/2016 2.5 Forks

La Sirena  Maritime Hotel, 88 9th Ave, New York, NY 10011

This review may seem a bit harsh but in retrospect, I expect a lot more from a Mario Batali restaurant especially when Lupa and Babbo continue to be excellent mainstays of NYC.  It might be that the restaurant space at the Maritime Hotel just has bad ju-ju.  In my time of living in NYC, it's undergone so many changes that I could never keep up with it.  

The brunch menu has a mix of brunch-y food (re: egg dishes) and lunch-y food (re: pasta).  It's always a hard choice to pick between the two type of meals but I went with the Nonna's fried egg with bottarga and ricotta ($16) and a side of sausage ($6) while Lav got two eggs any style ($15) and Lisa got the Tonnarelli Primavera ($23).  Honestly, to have a standard "2 eggs any style" dish at a nice Italian restaurant like this seems like kind of a cop out.   That's something I expect at a diner or IHOP but to have it at a place like this and charege $15 for it (it only comes with potatoes and toast) makes it seem like they were trying to fill the menu with another egg dish but couldn't think of any.  

My meal started with a bug in my water so maybe that's what threw me off for the rest of the meal.  I didn't really know what to expect from my dish but when it came out it was kind of underwhelming. It was almost like a frittata-like dish with fish roe and ricotta cheese mixed in it.  Only I didn't feel like I tasted a lot of the ricotta - it felt like I was just eating a really flat somewhat boring omelette that didn't have a lot of ingredients in it. Thank god I had the side of sausage to fill me up because otherwise, I would have been super hungry afterwards.  The sausage itself was fine - they were in a small link formation and didn't quite taste like they were homemade but they weren't terrible either.  I didn't try anyone's food but it all looked very basic and less an impressive as well. 

I will say that the waiter was really nice and they let us sit at the table way past when we finished our meal to chat and catch up, but then again there wasn't a huge line of people trying to get it.  Perhaps dinner is a better choice but I can't whole heartedly endorse this place for brunch given all the other places in the city that do a much better job of it. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sadelle's Visited 5/25/2016 3.5 Forks

Sadelle's  463 W Broadway, New York, NY 10012

The Major Food Group team has really become an incredible power house in NYC.  I was devastated when they closed Torrisi Italian Specialities but they have since opened up a slew of other really amazing restaurants such as Carbone, Parm, Santina, and Dirty French.  So when they opened up Sadelle's I had to check it out.  I had heard that in true Major Food Group style that the food was good but overpriced.  What else is new in New York City? 

Knowing that they were famous for their lox, I should have really gone for brunch instead of dinner but you live and learn.  I was there with Virginia and Julie on a hot sweltering day and it was relatively empty on a Wednesday night.  I'll give them props and say that the space is very beautiful with the candles and kind of old antique feel to it.  The dinner menu is a bit sparse - it's got a list of caviar, a handful of starters and 7 main dishes.  We started with the lox (because you would be an idiot to if you didn't) and the tuna tartare.  For entrees, Julie and I got the mustard salmon and Virginia got the cheeseburger.

Yes, the lox is fucking amazing here. Sliced super super thin - it's incredibly moist and almost tasted like sashimi to me.  We asked for gluten free bread for Virginia and it actually turned out to be amazing (maybe because of all the butter on it?!).  If all gluten free bread tasted like this, I would devour it in a heart beat.  This really made me wish I came here for brunch to get the lox tower with bagels and capers and tomatoes.  This was the absolute star of the night.  The tuna tartare is good but not as outstanding as the lox.  I realized later that I was eating a whole meal of salmon that night but I guess there's worse things in life.  The mustard salmon was served as 3 very thin filets lightly covered with a mustard/horseradish sauce with a large pile of frisee and confit potatoes.  Similar to the lox, the salmon was delicious - although the portions were on the small side.  The mustard and horseradish paired nicely with the fish and combined with the potatoes, it made for a lovely combination.  What I didn't love about the dish was the overabundance of frisee.  Frisee is actually my least favorite green - it feels like I'm eating nothing of substance and the texture just weirds me out.  While the dish was nice, for $26 I would have liked much more of it - I left still feeling hungry and like I could have made a similar salmon dish at home - two feelings that I hate after leaving a restaurant.   Julie and I did leave room for dessert and got the chocolate babka because how can you come to a fancy Jewish deli place and not get the chocolate babka?  As expected, it was rich, buttery with a hint of sugary crunch to it.   It made me want to go out and buy a loaf for home.

I would say that you should skip dinner and just come here for brunch instead.  Yes, it'll still be overpriced but at least you'll feel more like you're getting your money's worth with the lox than with dinner.  Total bill:  $65/pp (which ordinarily would be fine but there was no alcohol consumed so that seems a bit ridiculous)

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Wagamama Visited 5/17/2016 3.5 Forks

Wagamama   Jubilee Place, 45 Bank Street, Canary Wharf E14 5NY, United Kingdom

Ahhh, Wagamama.  There are a few staple chain restaurants that will always work in a pinch if you need something and Wagamama is definitely on that list.  Unfortunately they don't have one in NYC (although I heard a rumor there is one coming soon) yet but I have had it in Sydney and London before and always knew that it was a solid go-to if you really couldn't think of any place else to go. It's like the Spice or Republic equivalent in NYC.  It's fast, relatively cheap Asian noodles of all varieties - ramen, udon, curry, donburi, with a bunch of Asian appetizers.  I generally don't love it when restaurants cobble things together and call it  "Pan Asian" but in a more of a casual setting, who cares? 

I had spotted a Wagamama when I was running around the shopping mall under Canary Wharf.  I was determined to eat there before I left London since I needed a decent place to have lunch and over my dead body was I going to Pret a Manager again (twice is more than enough).  I ran into Wagamama and told them that I need to be in and out in less than 45 mins to catch a plane and they were great about it.  The hostess whisked me to corner of a communal table and had the waiter come over in less than 5 minutes.  I got the chicken ginger udon (who doesn't love a good udon dish?!) and a ginger beer - apparently I was on a ginger kick.   The food came out quickly and it was as expected - nothing mind blowing or terribley unique but after all the really not-so great food I had been having in London, it really hit the spot. It was basically udon noodles stir fried with ginger chicken, egg, chilies, beansprouts, and red onion.  But it was such a comforting dish at that moment and I was so happy while I was eating it.  I finally was able to take-in the fact that I was in London for the first time since I had gotten there.   It was nice to see all the hustle and bustle of the workers coming in for lunch - the area is the financial district of town so there were lots of people milling around and I kind of felt like a local having lunch during work.  Sadly I had to bust a move to the airport but I was happy to have ended my trip on a pretty satisfying note and I can't wait for the first Wagamama to open in NYC.  Total bill:  14 GBP

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Rocket Canary Wharf Visited 5/16/2016 2 Forks

Rocket Canary Wharf   Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5RB, United Kingdom

Usually when I travel for work I get excited to try out some fun new restaurants in town that I ordinarily wouldn't get to try and put it on the corporate card.  Unfortunately this time, I was in London for such a short time and was visiting my new team that I let them pick a place.  To make things easy, we just went to a local restaurant across the street from the office.

The setting is lovely as they have a nice roof top with a view of the wharf.   Yelp categorized their food as "New American" and I guess it's 50% accurate - it's American with a British twist and I'm not saying that in a good way.  The menu was a random mish-mosh of things like lamb kofta, pizzas, surf and turf and of course fish and chips.  I started with the Thai Crab Cakes (7.5 GBP), which is hardly an American dish and settled on their "Famous" Rare Beef and Chip salad (18 GBP).  Please note this main dish was described as a salad - this will come into play later.

The crab cakes was definitely NOT up to my standards - it was mostly filler and not much of any real lump crab meat in it but to be fair it was described not as a MD crab cake but a make shift Thai version so I can't rag on them too much.  As for my entree - so remember how it was described as a salad?  Well I don't know how Brits categorize salads but this one was unlike any one I had seen before.   Granted it was described as having chips (aka fries) with it which I had assumed would be on the side of the salad but no, this had thick cut steak fries and thick cut medium well steak piled high on top of a teeny tiny bed of arugula and then drenched with a very heavy black bean dressing. It came with a side of mayo for the fries - how healthy.  I have no idea how this is considered a salad as it was possibly the most unhealthy thing I've ever seen.  If these were served individually (a steak with a side of salad and fries), it would have been a much better dish but put together and covered in what was essentially gravy was not doing it for me at all.  I ate most of the steak and some of fries but couldn't come close to finishing it.  I hate to say it but this meal totally re-enforced the stereotype of terrible British food.   It feels like their answer to everything is to throw "chips" on everything - good grief.

Luckily I was so jet lagged and tired that I didn't really care about dinner too much to be disappointed.  The culinary theme of this trip for me was to just eat so that I wouldn't pass out.  Total bill:  unknown since it was paid for by co-worker on corporate card

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Lokkanta Meze and Barbecue Visited 5/15/2016 4 Forks

Lokkanta Meze and Barbecue   31 Westbourne Grove, London W2 4UA, United Kingdom

I was in London for less than 48 hours for work but since I was there I wanted to squeeze in some social time and take advantage of my time there.  I hadn't seen my friend Ingrid in quite some time so it was quite lovely catching up with her while I was there.  I don't really have a great sense of London geography but apparently I was on one side of town and she was on another, so we met in a place in the middle at Notting Hill (yes, that Notting Hill) for a tasty Turkish meal. 

Despite trying to be open minded about different cultures, I find the food in London to be really quite bad - it's so shocking given how international and urban the city is but in all the years that I've been there, I have yet to find another city with less culinary appeal than London.  Luckily, Lokkanta stepped it up a notch.  Ingrid found it on TripAdvisor and while it's definitely nothing fancy (it could double as sharma take out place in NYC but it does have a few tables inside), the food is quite flavorful and good.   They had a nice variety of hummus, falafel dishes, and grilled meat plates.  I started with the soup of the day (lentil soup) and got the grilled lamb dish (12 GBP) for my main.  I was prepared for the lentil soup to be just ok but I was starving which is why I ordered it and it was actually quite delicious.  It had a tomato base which was surprising but brought some good acidity and flavor to it.  It almost seemed more like a tomato barely soup than lentil - in any case, it was simple but well balanced soup that was quite enjoyable.  The grilled plate had tender pieces of lamb grilled over the BBQ topped with a tomato based yogurt sauce and drizzled with butter.  (I'm sensing a trend with all the tomato bases here).  It was a fairly large portion and combined with the bread, it was quite filling.  The sauce had a bit of an Indian feel to it with the buttery tomato yogurt base but it was great to sop it all up with lots of warm pita bread and lamb.  My only complaint was there was too much sauce on the plate - the dish was practically swimming in it and no matter how much bread or lamb I used to soak it up, it was just all over the place.  

Despite it not being a real fancy sit-down place, it actually was the perfect set-up for us because it was super casual and they let us sit there for 2+ hours talking without really bothering us.  While I've always had a strong preference for ethnic food, my experience this time in London proves that if you really want to have any sort of digestible meal in England, stick with the Indian/Middle Eastern track as it'll have the most flavor of anything you'll have there.  Total bill: 15.75 GBP

Photo Credit:  Yelp