Augustine Visited 10/27/2017 3.5 Forks

Augustine  5 Beekman St., New York, NY 10038

I was excited to try Augustine since it's located in one of my new favorite hotels in NYC, The Beekman.  If you haven't been to The Beekman yet, I'd highly recommend it for a drink as it has a gorgeous lobby and especially during the holiday time, they decorate it beautifully. 

There are 2 high profile restaurants in the hotel from 2 famous chefs, one is Temple Court by Tom Colicchio and the other being Augustine by Keith McNally.  Anuja and I decided to check out Augustine to help Van celebrate her recent wedding.  I got there a bit early and as the host was pulling out my chair, he accidentally knocked over a glass that shattered on to the table next to us and broken glass fell into this couple's steak and fries.  To the restaurant's credit, they were mortified and apologized profusely and tried to bring out all new food to the couple.  But they were almost done with their meal and asked instead to get more wine (smart couple).  I could tell from this interaction that this would be an experience with a very attentive staff.

The menu leans towards a French Brasserie, so you'll see items like steak frites, duck a l'orange, and tuna nicoise salad.  We started with the steak tartare ($19) and split the sea urchin spaghetti ($33) to start.  Yes,  as you can see from the prices, you are definitely eating at a hotel restaurant.  For my main, Van and I split the leg of lamb ($29) and all 3 of us split the special of the day which was bouillabaisse ($31).  The steak tartare was lovely and hand cut with nori and a quail egg.  The sea urchin pasta was also tasty with a creamy heaping of crab and pickled jalapeño.  It was delicious but I'm also glad we split it as it could be a bit too heavy for 1 person.  At this point I was excited for the rest of the meal but this is where it peaked.

For some reason in my mind, I envisioned the leg of lamb to be on the bone but this was served sliced and on a bed of uninspiring beans and escarole.  It didn't really have the juiciness or tastiness that I was looking for in lamb.  As for the bouillabaisse, that dish was an even more let down.  The presentation was also lacking and kind of a brown blobby mess.  Again, I had a really different vision of what this dish would be.  When I hear bouillabaisse, I think of a hearty stew like dish with lots of shell fish and and fish.  While this had a good amount of seafood, the dish didn't feel hearty and was very thin and soupy not stewy.  In good news is that the fries for the table were on point and extremely addictive and a good dipping vehicle for the sauce of the bouillabaisse.

Overall, it was a nice experience but as with any hotel restaurant, definitely overpriced.  The staff was very nice and while the appetizers were winners, the entrees left a bit to the imagination.  I would come back for the fries though :)   Total bill: $216 for 3 people including tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Vamos! Tacos and Tequilla Visited 10/22/2017 3 Forks

Vamos!  Tacos and Tequilla  348 1st Ave., New York, NY 10010

Vamos reminds me of the type of place a bunch of hungover 20-somethings go to on a Sunday afternoon.   While I wasn't super hungover, I was out until 3am the night before so honestly having Mexican breakfast food was right up my alley.  It's a fairly generic Mexican place in a also fairly generic street (1st Ave) but it probably suits the needs of the area well.  I was visiting Lily who moved to Stuytown a few months ago and since she had her adorable new cute puppy with her, we had to stick with a place that was nearby and had outdoor seating so that we could keep the dog close with us.

For that reason Vamos was the perfect choice.  As I mentioned, it's your classic post-college Mexican hangout with colorful banners and tons of drink specials.  The waitress tried to get us to commit to getting 5 margaritas and then the entree would be free.  Since we're old ladies (and I was already dealing with too many drinks the night before) the thought of having 5 margaritas on a Sunday afternoon was not the most enticing offer, so we passed on it.  But I could see how if you wanted to have a Sunday funday that would be a great deal.

The menu is as expected with standard Mexican fare - breakfast burritos, quesadillas, chorizo scramble, etc.  I opted for my usual Mexican breakfast choice of huevos rancheros.  In reality, most Mexican breakfast dishes are some yummy combination of eggs, guacamole, cheese, beans, salsa and rice and beans, so it's hard to really go wrong with any dish.  This one was fine - nothing good nothing bad.  It was what you would think you'd get at a place like this - kind of underwhelming but also gets the job done if you're looking for something to soak up any post-previous night activity.

1st Ave is kind of a no man's land but if you live nearby and need a quick Mexican fix, this place is fine.  It was nice that they had outdoor seating but other than that, you can definitely find more inventive and exciting Mexican places in the city.  Total bill:  $22/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Paowalla Visited 10/20/2017 4 Forks

Paowalla  195 Spring St., New York, NY 10012

I've always been a fan of Floyd Cardoz so I was excited when he opened up a new Indian restaurant in Soho (I was not a huge fan of the previous restaurant he was at North End Grill).  The food here isn't straight up traditional Indian food but a combination of Portuguese and Indian food.  Paowalla is a term that is a Portuguese/Indian hybrid term for a person who sells bread, which seems appropriate for this place.   Usually I'm not a huge fan of "fusion" food, especially when it comes to Asian cuisine but several friends liked the food here, so I was open to trying it out. 

As one would expect from the origin of the name, bread is a big focus on the menu.  They have a whole section breads and chutneys.  We got the cheddar cheese kulcha ($11) to start as well as the chaat ($14) and egg kejriwal ($14).  For mains, Lav got the kichidi ($23) and got the "saag paneer" ($25) - they put that last dish in quotes on the menu, which I didn't really understand.  I had never had kulcha before but Lav was raving about it.  Essentially it's kind of like flatbread meets nan.  This one had cheddar cheese stuffed in between it making it like a quesadilla.  In any case, it was warm, gooey and delicious.  Anything that has soft bread and cheese is a winner in my book and this one was no exception.

One of my favorite Indian appetizers is chaat, which is a sweet and savory snack served in Southeast Asia.  This one had roasted green chickpeas, sweet onions, chilies and tamarind.  The chilies definitely added some heat to it and when I combined the bite with the chilled sweetness of the chaat, it was a delightful taste of sweet, salty and spicy.  Next we tried the egg kejriwal, which had cheddar cheese and coconut chili chutney.  I've never had this type of dish before and to compare it to something I know, it's kind of like a grilled cheese with a sunny side up egg on the toast smothered in green chutney.  It was delicious but I was glad we were splitting it for health reasons.

Lastly came the entrees, which I thought lagged behind the appetizers.  While I know saag paneer is kind of a basic standard Indian dish, I was craving rice so I thought this was a good combination to it.  Usually when I get saag paneer, it's got a thick creamy texture to it but this one was practically steamed spinach with a few cubes of paneer tossed it.  There was no creaminess to it at all.  While it's probably better for my health and frankly it tasted fine, it just didn't feel like I was eating a real authentic paneer dish.  I was originally thinking of getting the sea bream wrapped in banana leaf with coconut rice but decided to get something more "traditional" and now I really wished I had gotten that dish instead.  I guess that's why the saag dish was written in quotation marks on the menu?

As the name implies, get everything and anything bread related here.  They were all excellent and addictive.  While the mains weren't bad, they lacked behind the starters here and it made me wish I was eating more traditional Indian food.  But as fusion food goes, this one is a winner and I'm happy to see Floyd back on the scene with what he knows best.  Total bill: $169 for 2 people with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Auntie Guan's Kitchen 108 Visited 10/16/2017 3.5 Forks

Auntie Guan's Kitchen 108 108 W 14th St., New York, NY 10011

I usually don't get Chinese food out of Chinatown or Queens but Aarti and I were in the New School/Union Square area and had just seen Ai Wei Wei speak, so we figured we'd keep with the Chinese theme going.  We were scrolling what was nearby and this place got decent reviews and was in walking distance - how I haven't noticed it before is so beyond me.  From the outside (and frankly inside), it's totally non-descript and it could fit in with any run of the mill Chinese place in Chinatown.  It was complete with a bunch of Chinese waiters and waitress who ignored you and could care less about you (I say this with total love and affection). 

Similar to a restaurant in Chinatown, the menu is about 10 pages long, has a bunch of pictures and has some questionable English translation.  They apparently specialize in Northern Chinese food and dumplings but you can pretty much find anything and everything on this menu.  Usually when Aarti and I come to a place like this we have our usual suspects:  vegetarian mao pao tofu ($10.99), sauteed pea shoot tops (an offensively priced $19.99) and a cold noodle dish, usually dan dan noodles ($9.99).  This is exactly what we got this time.  It's really hard to go wrong with sauteed pea shoots - all you do is throw a bucket of veggies with garlic and olive oil and you're done.  This is the first time I felt like this dish was missing something - this one actually needed more salt to it.  The dan dan noodles were also just ok but I felt like the noodles could have been chewier and now that I'm thinking about it, we probably should have gotten something like the cold sesame noodle instead.  As for the mao pao tofu, it's a classic comfort staple food and it hit the spot here.  There's just something about soft tofu in a spicy mix with white rice that's so delicious.  The menu had a bunch of other classic traditional Chinese dishes that I would have loved to try, but when food like this is served family style, it's really hard to go to crazy with two people.  

The service was pretty non existent - the food does come out super fast, you just never see your waiter again, despite the fact there was only 1 other couple dining the restaurant.  We had to flag our waiter down at every turn and they weren't the friendliest of the bunch, so I tried to whip out some Chinese every now and then.  This was definitely not the worst Chinese I've had nor was it the best.  Honestly, if I lived in the neighborhood, I could actually see myself coming here because it's a notch above those scary looking Chinese places on the street corner but it's not  Mr. Chow fancy - it's comforting and hits the spot if you've got a take out craving - just don't expect your mind to be blown.  Total bill:  $26/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Maman Visited 10/15/2017 4 Forks

Maman 80 Kent St., Brooklyn, NY 11222

I'm not sure if there is honestly a more Instagram worthy restaurant in all of NYC.  This place is made for social media - it's rustic, adorable, they have great branding and design and the food is beautiful.  Plus it doesn't taste too bad either.  The downsides of the Greenpoint location is that the restaurant is on the top floor of a small cafe, there are only 2 actual tables upstairs and they are only open on Saturday and Sunday.  Oh and the service is quite slow but I'll let it pass because it was one poor gal working the whole area.  It's also super hot upstairs, so even though it was the middle of October, it was one of those freakish warm days where it was almost 80 degrees and the place has no air conditioning.   While the restaurant is only open Saturday and Sunday, you can go to the cafe most days and they have a take-out menu of mostly sandwiches and salads that you can partake in.

The theme here is rustic French - the menu has croissants, tartines and quiches to name a few.  I really wanted to get the deconstructed avocado toast with a fried egg but I had been making that a lot at home so I opted for the waffle-iron hashbrowns ($16) and Aarti got the quiche of the day ($12).  The rest of the menu had great sounding healthy stuff like grilled chicken couscous, Mediterranean quinoa salad but also unhealthy but delicious stuff like matcha waffles and croque maman.

My hasbrown dish was actually more of a salad than a true hasbrown dish.  It was a big bowl of mixed greens, smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber, dill, a small handful of crunchy hashbrowns and then a "perfect" egg - which was really just a very well hard boiled egg.  It was a great healthy lunch alternative and all the ingredients were fresh and tasty.  And yes, the egg was perfect.  I actually could have done without the actual hashbrowns but they did add a nice crunch to it. This place is well known for their desserts and baked goods, but I opted out of it in the spirit of trying to be better about my food choices.  But definitely consider it when you're there.

In an idyllic world, I could see myself coming here with a good book, ordering a cup of coffee and some croissants and sitting at one of their antique tables and swing seats acting all hipster and cool.  While that won't happen in the real world, I can see myself coming here more often, especially since it's a bit off the beaten path and a much quieter brunch scene than any place I've been to in the city.  Total bill:  $23/pp with tax, tip and juice

Photo Credit:  Yelp

JeJu Noodle Bar Visited 10/11/2017 3.5 Forks

JeJu Noodle Bar   679 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10014

JeJu has been getting a ton of press lately mostly because the chef is a Per Se and Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare alum.  Plus they been touting that they are one of the few Korean style ramen places in the city.   I hadn't really hard of Korean style ramen before but I was eager to give it a shot on a gross rainy day with Borami. 

My first impression of the place was that it was very sparely designed.  It was kind of empty and soul-less feeling but I will say that the bar area was beautiful.  The menu itself is also very sparse - there are only 3 types of ramen, none of which are vegetarian but one is fish based.  There were more appetizers but the only one that was really calling our names of the ssam bun ($9), which at this point is kind of a must have for any ramen shop.  Borami and I split the 2 non-fish based ramens:  the Gochu ramen ($16) and the So-Ramyun ($17.50) and we both got an extra egg ($2).  When the hell did ramen start to creep into the $20 range?!?  The ssam bun was good but what irritated me was that they didn't give us extra plates so we had to hover one this one small dish.  I give them props for trying something different with this bun by adding corn and jalapeno but I still much prefer the Ippudo one instead.  Why fuck with the traditional version when it's so delicious?  Next came the ramen bowls and the portions were fairly big.  The gochu ramen is a spicy pork broth and probably closer to a traditional ramen version.  It came with pork belly, kimchi, and charred scallion.  It was ok - nothing about it really blew my mind away.  Like many ramen dishes it was salty AF.  I didn't really realize it until Borami mentioned that she was craving a cold beer and she was right, it hit the spot.  The so-ramyun came in a veal broth instead of a pork broth but to be honest, it didn't taste all that different from the other ramen.  Both were good but not anything that I felt warranted so much buzz.

By the time we left, it was pretty crowded so definitely make a reservation unless you wanted to eat at 6pm like we did.   There are a ton of ramen places in the city and while this place wasn't the worst, it certainly wasn't the best either.   Total bill:  $38/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Casa Publica Visited 10/10/2017 4.5 Forks

Casa Publica  594 Union Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211

Despite living in the greatest city in the world, I often think how few really decent Mexican places there are in NYC.  Sometimes I want Mexican food that isn't Dos Toros but not at the Cosme level either.  Enter Casa Publica - it's the perfect balance of Mexican food that doesn't have burritos the size of my head or ants in my food.  The best news is that's in my neighborhood too. 

Paige and I met up right as they were ending happy hour and the waitress was nice enough to push in two drinks for us even though she had said technically we had to be finished with one before ordering another.  Score 1 for our waitress.  She said that pretty much everything on the menu was delicious and that we couldn't go wrong and she was right on point.  It was really hard to narrow down our taco choices because they all sounded awesome so we did what any foodie does and over ordered. We netted out with the aguachile ($16) and queso fundido ($14) to start and split the flank steak taco ($12), octopus taco ($14) and squash blossom taco ($14).  

The aguachile is a ceviche with shrimp, octopus, tomatillo, cucumber, chile, jicama, and lime.  It was refreshing and tart - I still prefer a fish based ceviche but this one was just as tasty.  Next came our tacos and while there were only 2 per order and they looked small at first glance, they all packed a punch and were piled high with really delicious ingredients.  The steak taco came with flank steak, poblano peppers, melted cheese and a tomato and habanero salsa.  The steak was cooked perfectly and the small tortillas tasted homemade and delicious.  The octopus taco was equally fantastic and honestly it's not a typical taco you usually see on the menu.  The octopus was tender and cooked a la plancha with red chile adobo, sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and pickled red onion.  I was a huge fan of this and it made me wish more places at octopus tacos on the menu.  Lastly, we got the squash blossom taco because who doesn't love squash blossoms?  While they aren't the most exotic dishes, you still don't see them very often on menus, so when I do see it, I have to get it.  This one was stuffed with cheese and herbs and topped with swiss chard.  Yummy.  In the midst of all this, we (and the waitress) realized they forgot our queso fundido.  In all honesty, I was so full that I would have been ok if they skipped it but they were nice enough to bring it out anyways and I'm glad they did (although I'm sure my waist line was not happy).  There's nothing more comforting than melted cheese with chorizo with fresh warm corn tortillas.  

Despite all of this, we still ordered flan for dessert because that's what you do when you go to a Mexican restaurant.  It was creamy and lovely and a great way to end the night.  I left the night super full and really happy with everything about the meal.  Our waitress was incredibly nice which also made the experience even more enjoyable.  This is such a great addition to the neighborhood and while I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a destination restaurant, it is definitely one of the better authentic Mexican restaurants in all of NYC.  Total bill: $52/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp