Purbird Visited 1/19/2018 4 Forks

Purbird 82 Sixth Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217

Purbird is not a fancy restaurant, in fact it's really more of a casual take out place, but it's food is definitely worthy of 4 forks.  Allison and I originally wanted to go for their chicken bone broth (note, they only make a big batch in the morning and then they sell it as the day goes, so if you want it, go early.  And go to the other location because this location didn't have it).  But first we decided to try a little bit of everything on the menu.  We shared the half chicken ($10), chicken breast sandwich ($10), mac and cheese ($9), and jalapeño mashed potato ($6.50).  This may not sound like a lot of food but it was a ton of food for 2 people.  

The half chicken was de-boned, moist and delicious.  You can choose 1 sauce but we got a variety of sauces:  hot green sauce (it's not hot), zucchini raita, and lemon parley.  The hot green sauce reminded me of the super addictive green sauce at Sophie's Cuban, only it was not as spicy or addictive but the combination of habanero, avocado and tomatillo was still fantastic and I slathered it all over the juicy chicken.  The sandwich was huge and a spot on chicken sandwich.  It was a large piece of breast (ha!), mashed avocado, turkey bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on a soft brioche roll.  It's like a roasted chicken plate shoved into between two soft pieces of bread.  This is really where I should have stopped eating but who can say no to mac and cheese and mashed potato?  The mac and cheese was my favorite kind - super oooey, gooey and cheese-y.  It's not the fancy stuff with 5 different kinds of non-melted cheese, but this was 3 kinds of melty and creamy cheese with a crispy top.  The mashed potatoes weren't so bad themselves either - they were smooth and buttery and came with a topping of jalapeño puree.  The puree was a nice touch for sure, but it's definitely not as hot as I would have liked - it's like they were holding back the spice level with us for some reason. 

What's even better about this place is that it's within walking distance to Barclay's Center, so if you need a quick cheap bite to eat, you can be there within 5-10 mins walking.  If I lived near this place, I could 100% see myself ordering from here at least once a week.  The only bummer was that they didn't have the bone broth and we walked all the way to the other location over a mile away and it turned out they didn't have it either.  But it was good to walk it all off because I was definitely carrying too much food in my stomach after this meal.  I love a no frills, cheap, casual place and this place checks all the marks - I just wish they would take the heat/spice level up a few notches.  Total bill:  $44 for 2 people with tax, tip and soda

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Chez Ma Tante Visited 1/20/2018 4.5 Forks

Chez Ma Tante  90 Calyer St., Brooklyn, NY 11222

This place is one of THE hottest, most talked about restaurants this year so far.  It's in a random far corner of Greenpoint but it was still packed to the gills on a Saturday.  I got there right when it opened at 11:30 and they were nice enough to seat me before Aarti got there.  By the time she got there 10 mins later, the place was totally full.  So either make a reservation or go right when it opens. 

The food is described as French Canadian but there wasn't any foie gras in sight but apparently the old menu had an emphasis on organ meat and terrines.  But the main reason people come here for brunch is for the pancakes.  They were pretty damn good but so was everything else.  Aarti and I called this meal the meal of aioli because basically everything we had came with a healthy dose of aioli - but who doesn't love aioli?!  We started the meal with chips (fries) and aioli ($7), the pancakes ($9), I got the egg and sausage sandwich ($13) and Aarti got the Spanish Tortilla (with aioli).  The menu online is different than what they are serving (I'm always annoyed when restaurants do that) so just a heads up that what you see may not be offered.  What we ordered was definitely WAY too much food for 2 people but we felt like we had to just go balls to the wall and we hadn't seen each other in a few weeks and had a lot to catch up on. 

The chips were essentially large crispy potato wedges and they were cooked to perfection.  They were almost too large but you can just cut them up if you need.  They were seasoned well and quite addictive with the aioli - I'd recommend them if you have more than 2 people but it was a bit much for us.  The egg sandwich was divine - a fluffy egg base, thick cut homemade sausage patty on a soft delicious bun.  I could barely finish the whole thing because it was so filling but it was an extremely hearty and satisfying sandwich - even if there wasn't any cheese on it.  As for the main attraction, I wish I had more room for it.  The pancake comes with 2 huge flaps so it's more than enough for 2 people.  It's thick and fluffy yet somehow the outside is crunchy and crispy.  I don't know how they do it but it was unlike any type of pancake I've had before.  It was like a toasted pancake.  Sadly, neither of us could finish it and we had to leave an entire flap on the plate which broke my heart. 

Overall, the place has a lovely calming vibe and the waitstaff was super sweet.  I would definitely come back but scale back my order so that I could actually enjoy my experience - not that I didn't but we clearly ordered way to much for 2 people and we walked out of brunch feeling a bit heavy in tummy.  If I lived closer (it was about a 30 min walk for me), I could see myself here all the time and wanting to become a regular.  Or maybe I'll do it anyways.  Total bill:  $45/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

The Bistro at Grove Square Visited 1/15/2018 3 Forks

The Bistro at Grove Square  116 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07302

I am totally spending way too much time in Jersey City these days.  I blame it squarely on my job but I guess it could be worse.  After a super long day working on MLK Day and doing Escape the Room with a bunch of screaming teenagers, all the 8 of us from my team wanted to do was to grab a seat at a bar, down a couple of beers and maybe a burger. 

The Bistro is literally right off the PATH train and it's some weird combination of 5 restaurants all joined together.  Since it was right there, it was honestly the path of least resistance (no pun intended).  The Bistro is the center piece of these 5 restaurants and it's as you would imagine with the name "The Bistro" a very standard cafe.  On their website, they call it casual and classy.  I'll give them casual, not so sure about classy not that it's skanky or anything like that but it's not fancy by any stretch of the imagination.  The menu is extremely safe - fried calamari, mozzarella sticks, mac and cheese, burgers, pastas and pizzas.  It's nothing exciting but sometimes when you're tired and just need a bite to eat, this kind of food will suffice. 

They have a happy hour deal where you can get 1/2 off appetizers (limit 1 per person) so since we had 8 people, we got pretty much one of every appetizer and I went with a standard 1/2 roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans.   I won't go into all the appetizers but they were your garden variety bar apps  - there wasn't one that really stood out but we were so hungry that it honestly wouldn't have mattered.  My chicken was a pretty large portion (it seemed much bigger than 1/2 a chicken) and it was a super homey dish with the mashed potatoes.  They left off the green beans which was kind of annoying because I was trying to have some veggies with my meal but I was too tired to bring it up with the waitress.  I was super full when I left and had no real complaints about my meal in general. 

Overall, my experience here kind of re-enforced my continue impression that JC still isn't there when it comes to being a culinary destination.  One small note was  that the service was super slow but I felt bad for our waitress because she seemed to be the only one in the whole restaurant so I'll give her a pass.  One other note, don't get their cocktails, I'd stick to basic wine or beer.  I got an Old Fashion because it was on their specialty list and it was overly sweet and not very good.  This place was fine in a pinch but I was ready to get the hell out of JC as soon as we got the bill.  Total bill:  $400 for 8 people with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Banter Visited 1/13/2018 4.5 Forks

Banter  169 Sullivan St., New York, NY 10012

It seems like the hot trend these days are these cute Australian breakfast cafes.  There was Two Hands, Bluestone Lane and now there is Banter.  Although when I was in Australia, I didn't remember their breakfast being particularly memorable - in fact, none of the actual food there was memorable.  But who isn't a sucker for a cute Australian accent?  I met up with Anuja and Amy for our first Rabbit Habit of 2018 on a freezing Saturday and while almost every other restaurant in the Village was empty because of how cold it was, there was a line out the door at Banter.  In fact it was a 45 mins wait!  Luckily they had a covered place to wait but it's pretty much mayhem with all the other people waiting in the same area.  Finally after almost an hour,  we were seated and sadly it was right next to the bathroom.  Ugh.  Ordinarily I would have said something but it was so crowded and almost 2pm that we just sucked it up. 

The menu is full of instagram worthy dishes from avocado toast, chia pudding bowls, and beautiful salads.  We were all starving so we started with the sweet potato fries ($7) and the banana bread ($5) to start.  I got the golden folded eggs with sour dough toast ($16), Anuja got the avocado toast ($12) and Amy got the mushroom toast ($12).   The sweet potato fries came out quickly and this dish in it of itself is worth 4.5 forks.  They were so crispy and delicious and served with a large heaping of spicy mayo that it took a lot of self control for me to not eat the entire thing.  I'm usually weary of sweet potato fries because its very easy for them to be soggy but this one was perfect.  Be aware that it's a huge side order, so it's definitely worth sharing with lots of people.  We thought the banana bread would be a small slice since it was $5 and it was actually a huge thick cut served warm with sweet butter.  It was also fantastic.  

The components of my entree weren't anything special but they all worked really well together.  I actually commented to Amy and Anuja that I could easily make this dish at home as it was just scrambled eggs, smashed avocado, peas, slices of proscuitto, and a kale salad.  But food always tastes better when someone else makes it for you and this was the case here.  It needed a bit more salt on everything but overall it tasted fresh, healthy and it was super filling.  The sourdough bread was nice and soft and paired well with the avocado - it was a bit annoying to pay extra for bread but with so much other food on the plate I actually think that if I were to get this dish again (which I totally would), I wouldn't order it because you don't really need it.

Overall, I really loved this place but there are a few annoying things to keep in mind before you go:  as one would expect in a place that's got all this IG worthy food, the clientele is kind of annoying (it kind of felt like we were in Murray Hill if you catch my drift), the wait is long and they don't take reservation for brunch and most of the food could have used a pinch more salt.  BUT don't let those things stop you from going and none of them were truly deal breakers for me.  Plus they had fantastic coffee options and the portions are huge compared to the price, which is a nice change of pace in NYC.  Hopefully this craze will die down a bit and it can be more of a relaxing experience going forward.  Total bill:  $32/pp with tax, tip and yummy coffee drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Williamsburger Visited 1/12/2018 3 Forks

Williamsburger 373 Graham Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211

I had been tracking the progress of Williamsburger for a while because it was literally right across the street from me and because it took over this crazy old space in the 'hood that had been vacant for years.  The person who lived there was a hoarder who didn't take care of it and one day he had an "open house" and it was interesting to see such valuable real estate go to waste like that.  Fast forward several years later and this homey neighborhood joint opened up, much to my relief.  I'm glad it was something low key and not another hipster barber shop or tattoo parlor.

The bad news is that the day Paige and I went they didn't have their liquor license yet - they said were literally getting it the next day.  It's a bit of a bummer to have burgers with no beer but hopefully by the time you reading this  that has been resolved.  The menu is what you would expect from a place called Williamsburger - burgers, fries, sandwiches and other bar type food.   Although weirdly enough, we started with the potato and cheese pierogies ($7) since the waitress said they were delicious, I got the mushroom and swiss burger ($15) while Paige got the triple grilled cheese ($11).

The pierogies were pan fried and while they were fine, I wouldn't say they were amazing.  They tasted like any other pierogi I've had (gotta have it with sour cream) and I might even say that they were frozen and not homemade - not that it made it less tasty but it just didn't seem super special.   I would say the same for my burger.  I asked for it medium rare and it was close to the medium side but totally edible and not in a condition that I was going to make a stink about it.  They had a nice mix of crimini and shitake mushrooms but again there was nothing special about the mushroom they used or the way they were cooked (they were basically sautéed).   The dish came with a small side of diner-type fries.  Everything about this burger was absolutely just fine - it suited what we wanted (something quick, casual and easy) and it fits in with the neighborhood.  They don't proclaim to be anything fancy and sometimes I just don't need a $25+ burger (I'm looking at you Emily Loves Pizza).  I didn't try Paige's grilled cheese but it looked triple cheesey but then again, how hard is it to mess up grilled cheese?

If I didn't live less than 5 minutes away from this place, I would not make a trek out here but if I'm ever feeling lazy and want a simple beer and burger and want to roll out of my place in sweats, this place will do just fine.  Total bill:  $49 for 2 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Porta Visited 1/10/2018 3 Forks

Porta  135 Newark Ave., Jersey City, NJ 07302

Even though Jersey City isn't really that far from the city, I don't often find myself there unless it's for work and even then I'm kind of lazy about it and try to get out of any dinners.  But since I rarely get to see my work colleagues, I figured I should show my face and crossed my fingers that it would be a better experience than the last time we all got together.  

The space at Porta is spacious, nice and casual.  It seemed like it's a fun place to catch up with friends over some pizza and beers.  We started with a bunch of appetizers for the table since we were all starving but hadn't yet made up our minds about entrees.  We got the  kale salad ($14), house made mozzarella ($10), salumi e formaggi ($19), house made meatballs ($9), fried artichokes ($9) and calamari ($14).  They were all pretty solid appetizers - the salad was nicely dressed (it was served with tuscan kale which can be a bit tough but I don't mind it at all) and the mozzarella was tasty and paired well with the soft yet crunchy bread.  The housemade meatballs were also super moist and served in a tangy tomato sauce.  The meat and cheese plate was ok - they had a nice blue cheese that I devoured but I wasn't super impressed with the meat selections.  I didn't get to try the fried artichokes and the calamari was fine albeit a bit small and too friend.  If the meal had ended here, I might have given it a 3.5 fork because it was good but nothing mind blowing.  Unfortunately, it went downhill once we ordered our entrees. 

While they also have pastas here, it seemed like you shouldn't come to a place this like and not get their pizza.   They are small Neapolitan pizzas (about 6 small slices) but if you aren't hungry you can get away with 2 people splitting 1 pie.  I was hemming and hawing between getting the Carbonara ($16) or a red sauce pizza.  I normally prefer any of my Italian dishes, pasta or pizzas, with red sauce but I had seen a few pictures of the Carbonara pizza with the egg on top that looked delicious, so I decided to go with that choice.  Then things got a bit weird.  Two of my co-workers wanted to get a margherita pizza but  also wanted to add some greens like arugula to it but the waiter said they couldn't do it.  What the hell?  You can't dump a bunch of greens on top of a pizza?  He said, they could take items off a pizza but they couldn't add to it.  I can understand for certain dishes but this is pizza, it's not that hard to add something to it, especially if it's a topping.  Instead my co-worker was able to order the arugula pizza but without the garlic or truffle oil - essentially making it the exact same thing as a margherita pizza with arugula on it.  Go figure. 

As soon as I saw the Carbonara pizza I knew I should have stuck with my gut and gotten a red sauce pizza.  With no sauce or cheese, it just didn't look like a pizza at all to me but I take total responsibility for my decision.  It came with guanciale, parm, extra virgin olive oil, parsley and a roasted egg on top.   I took one bite and it was so salty I couldn't believe it.  When the waiter asked me how it was, I had to be honest and say it was unbelievably salty and his answer was "oh yeah, I probably should have told you that.  The guanciale makes it really salty".  The egg was overly cooked  - I thought it was going to be more of a runnier poached yolk version but this was closer to a dry hard boiled yolk.  I will say that the crust was chewy but good and the only thing I really liked about it.  I ended up only eating 3 slices and left the rest behind.  I felt like I was pretty much eating a salt lick and pounding water like it was my job.  Then they totally forgot one of my co-workers pizzas but luckily there was enough food leftover from everyone else that he didn't bother re-ordering and waiting for his food. 

While I don't want to sound like a total snob, I just don't see Jersey City as a culinary destination yet.  The few experiences that I've had there have been really average despite all the great press the city has been getting.  I really want to be open minded and enjoy places that aren't necessarily Manhattan or Brooklyn, but my experience at Porta hasn't really tipped me over the edge to this area just yet. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

36 Hours in Montreal Visited 12/30/2017-1/1/2018 4.5 - 2.5 Forks

Au Pied de Cochon  536 Avenue Duluth E, Montreal, QC H2L 1A9, Canada                         4.5 Forks

I have been wanting to go to Au Pied de Cochon for years.  I was in Montreal over 6 years ago but I wasn't able to get a reservation then and I've always had it on my mind since.  It was shockingly easy to get a reservation this time around and I was ready to royally indulge as they are famous for gluttony and excess.  Obviously the big thing here is foie gras and meat so if you're not interested in either, don't bother coming here but if you love both, you will be in for a treat. 

The decor was much more cozy than I expected - it had a very Quebecquois feel to it as it was heavy on the wood and even had flannel shirts hanging from the ceiling.   We ordered a bottle of wine and noodled over the menu - unfortunately, this is where is went downhill service wise.  Our original waiter said someone else would be with us shortly to review the specials since he seemed to be slammed with other table, so we waited and waited.  It took them 30 minutes to get someone to talk to us about the menu and then we waited again to place our order.  I knew service in Europe and the Caribbean was slow but apparently you've got to put Canada on that list too.  Luckily they redeemed themselves in a big way.  The GM (or so I assumed based on his behavior and interaction with everyone in the restaurant) came over and immediately gave us 2 expensive glasses of champagne and then also brought over these amazing freshly sliced pieces of saucisson that were moist yet still had the dry cured texture to it.  He said the pigs had been fed peanuts as their last meal and you could taste it in each bite which was so cool yet sad at the same time.  I was almost annoyed that we got it because it was so good but it was filling up space in my stomach for our actual meal.  As I mentioned the menu is extremely meat focused and the specials were no different.  Several of the specials sounded amazing but too much food for 2 people, so we settled on tartare temaki ($15 CAD), foie gras terrine ($25 CAD), duck in a can ($44 CAD) and mashed potatoes ($8.50 CAD).   The exchange rate was awesome, so everything was essential 20% cheaper when you converted it to USD.

The tartare was of the beef variety which was totally fine by me although it would have been nice to try a different meat since they have different versions sometimes.  It's served in a nori cone and an adorable raw quail egg that you pour into it.   Jesus, talk about melt in your mouth.  The nori was perfectly crisp and the tartare itself was fantastic.  I loved every bite of it and could have had 3 more cones.  This alone was worth the visit for me. 

Next came the foie gras terrine which was basically just a giant square of foie gras, complete with a huge layer of fat and toasted bread. But the best part of this dish was that it came with this out of control maple butter.  So sweet and delicious.  The combination of the sweet maple and foie gras on crunchy bread was truly decadent.  I was super bummed that we were in Montreal before sugar shack season (starts in Feb) and eating this maple butter made me even more sad because if the food in the sugar shack is anything like this butter,  I would die and go to heaven.   But as with any foie gras dish, it's really hard to eat too much of it without feeling a little bit guilty plus I was trying to save room for the duck in a can.  

The duck in a can is their most famous (and most gimmicky) dish.  I was on the fence if I wanted to order this because it felt like such a touristy thing to do but you know what? I'm a freakin tourist, so whatever.  It's essentially half a duck shoved in a can which they pour out in front of you table side on to a plate what has a smear of mashed potatoes and toast.  In addition to the duck, the can also includes foie gras (of course), cloves of roasted garlic, braised cabbage and some demi-glace.  Talk about gluttonous.  The presentation is eh but you're not really here for presentation.  We had also gotten a separate side of mashed potatoes which was genius and ridiculous at the same time.  The duck was nice and tender although it kind of felt like less than half a duck in there.  There was so much going on the plate that it was hard to really find the lobes of foie gras but after eating half a plate of it earlier, I wasn't too sad about it.  Now as for the mashed potatoes, they were amazing.  They were super buttery but it had this glue like texture which I'm not saying in a bad way just that it was thicker than a traditional mashed potato dish.  When the GM came by again to ask how we were doing, we asked what was in it and he said it's made with 25% cheese curd.   Well shit no wonder it was so good and gooey.  

At this point, I felt like I was going to burst and we had been drinking all day too, so there was no room for dessert which was a bummer.  While the night got off to a rocky start with the slow service, they definitely made up for it with the freebies, apologies and indulgent food.  I would say that if anyone wants to come here, it's worth going with a larger group so that you can try a bunch of different dishes or at least some of the larger format dishes that is really just impossible for 2 people.  This was definitely worth the 6 year wait but probably not much more than that! Total bill:  $94/pp with tax, tip and a nice bottle of wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Breizh Cafe  3991 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal, QC H2W 1Y4, Canada                         4 Forks

Kevin and I were all set to get poutine for lunch on New Year's Eve but lo and behold the 2 places we went to were both sadly closed.  Since it was literally -10 degrees outside, we couldn't walk any further and ducked into this warm creperie as our back up plan.   It was not a bad back up plan at all. 

One of the things I love about Montreal is that it's still got a lot of French influence from the language to the culture to the food.  And what could be more French than crepes?  Despite majorly overeating the night before, I was pretty hungry by the time lunch rolled around.  They had a good lunch special which included soup, 1 savory crepe and 1 dessert crepe for $24 CAD.  How perfect - no need to decided between the savory or sweet.  The soup of the day was a creamy carrot puree which hit the spot on such a cold day.  For my savory crepe, I got the Nordique crepe which came with smoked salmon, swiss cheese, spinach and dill cream, all on a buckwheat crepe.  It was a really hearty dish and everything about the crepe was done right.  The batter wasn't too thick and there was the perfect amount of filling to crepe ratio.  I wanted to get a more breakfast-y one with egg and cheese but after last night's meal, I had to get something green to eat and eating fish felt healthy too.  While this was a pretty filling meal, I was super excited for my sweet crepe.  I went basic and got it with homemade red fruit jam which was basically raspberry jam.  So yummy and a nice compliment to the salty crepe version.

The waitress was super sweet and nice.  This was just a comfy place to warm up after being on the brink of hypothermia for the last hour.  It's definitely nothing extravagant but it had a nice homey feel to it and if I lived in the neighborhood, I could see myself coming here often on the weekends to relax, eat some crepes and read the paper.  Total bill:  $32/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Maison Publique  4720 Rue Marquette, Montreal, QC H2J 3Y6, Canada                                2.5 Forks

This review hurts to write a bit because it was our New Year's Eve dinner and I had scoured the internet looking for a good place to go.  This place was written up in several blogs as a top 10 restaurant in Montreal which is a big compliment.  I didn't want to go to some fancy prix fixe place so going to a local gastropub ordering a la carte sounded great. 

It was slightly off the beaten path which I usually like but it was kind of not near anything else which was fine for us but if you wanted to make a night out of it, I'm not sure there is much else to check out.  I had made a 9pm reservation and when we walked in, I was expecting a bit of a wait since it was NYE, but we still ended up standing around for quite a while.  It wasn't because they were super packed, it was simply because there was no one there to tell that we were here.  We told the bartender that we had a reservation and he completely ignored us.  This was the sign of things to come.

The menu is simply a board on the wall and it's all in French, so Kevin and I had to pull out the google translate a few times.  The waiter came and took our drink order but we weren't ready to order food just yet and asked him to come back.  By the time we got our drinks and he came by to take our order, it was almost 10pm. WTF?!  While we weren't in a super hurry to go anywhere, we had thought about checking out the fireworks by the river, which started at midnight.  When I made the 9pm reservation, I figured 3 hours was plenty of time to eat but apparently not. 

I got the oyster appetizer and Kevin got the Welsh Rarebit to start and then we would share the gnudi with deer ragu and lamb.  The waiter asked how we wanted our meal to come out and we said it didn't really matter - they could bring out the oyster and Rarebit as appetizers and the other two dishes as entrees or whatever came first.

The oyster was one large oyster that was chopped and then baked.  Even though it was only 1 oyster, it was a pretty hearty dish although maybe not for $14 CAD.  I tried a bit of Kevin's Welsh Rarebit and it was ok - it was giant Texas style toast covered in cheese, Worcestershire sauce and mustard.  It was fine but nothing mind blowing at all.  Then this is when things went totally south. Kevin asked for a beer menu, which they didn't have and the waiter wouldn't/couldn't just tell him the beers they had and told him to go up to the bar and look at the fridge instead.  Then when we asked about our entrees because it was past 11pm, the waiter had said if we wanted it sooner, we should have said something to him and he could have tried to expedite it but really, we shouldn't have to do that. 

The food finally came it was shocking that what we saw took over an hour to make.  Gnudi is a gnocchi like pasta that's shaped like a fluffy ball and stuffed with ricotta and semolina.  It's usually denser and chewier than gnocchi which it definitely was here.  It wasn't really mixed in well with the deer ragu and without it, it tasted kind of plain. But with it, it was a nice mixture - there just wasn't enough of the ragu to gnudi.  The lamb was nicely cooked medium rare but there wasn't a lot of garnish to it to really accentuate the dish.  It was a totally fine piece of meat but probably not worth the $30+ CAD.

We had originally really wanted dessert but we were afraid didn't have enough time, so when the lamb dish came out,  I asked them to bring a clementine tart right afterwards.  I wish we had more time to savor it because it was actually quite good.  It had a nice tang to it and it's such a different flavor to the usual tart. 

I felt a little bad because the waiter was trying to appease us but honestly there was nothing he could have really done to make up for it.  They did comp us for the beer and dessert which was nice and I appreciated that but it was an overall let down for a New Year's Eve meal.  The good news is that we still made it in time for the fireworks downtown by 10 minutes!  Total bill:  $63/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp