Locanda Verde Visited 4/9/2011 4.25 Forks

Locanda Verde 377 Greenwich St., (between Franklin St & Moore St), New York, NY 10013

There has been no other restaurant that I have wanted to try for brunch for the past couple of months than Locanda Verde.  But every time I call for a brunch reservation they don't have any openings.  However, this time Deanna was in town and they had told me that if we went really early (i.e. before 11AM), they usually can accommodate walk-ins.  So against every fiber of my body, I went to brunch in the city at 10:45AM.

I am always aghast at how many people are up and eating brunch at this hour, but Locanda Verde was definitely pretty full by then, but not too full that we had to wait for a table.  The decor of the place is gorgeous, similar to a huge, old, rustic Italian restaurant.  I had read that they were famous for their sheep's milk ricotta ($14), so we split that for the table.  I got the Uovo Modernese ($17), Deanna got the zucchini frittata ($16) and Aarti got the Al Forno ($16) and then as if we didn't have enough carbs on the table, we also split the garlic potatos ($7).  I was really torn over getting the Modernese and the Scampi and Grit because that came with polenta and I'm on such a huge polenta kick right now.  If I was with someone else who ate meat, it would have been great to get both and split them.  But since I wasn't with another meat eater, I decided to go with the dish that had hollandaise sauce.  Next time I'll bring another meat eater.

The ricotta came out first and it was an enormous amount of fresh ricotta with truffle honey and brunt orange toast. It was incredibly fresh and creamy.  I don't think we did a good job of mixing the honey with the ricotta because without the honey the ricotta was actually a bit too light.  I almost would have liked to have added a pinch of salt.  The orange toast was on its own was pretty amazing. It was toasted perfectly and you could taste the hint of orange but it wasn't overpowering.  Then out of the blue the bus boys bring out a basket of freakin delicious focaccia bread with caramelized onions in it.  It was so soft and tasty that I could have eaten the whole basket.
 
My Uovo Modernese was 2 poached eggs covered in a tomato and spinach hollandaise sauce, sitting on a bed of cotechino hash AND FREAKIN MORE BREAD.  The hash was god damn amazing and the eggs were perfectly runny.  Everything about it was simply delicious.  I used the focaccia bread to sop up all of the hash and runny egg.  I didn't try Deanna or Aarti's dish but I did notice that the frittata had fried zucchini blossoms on it which I love.  Aarti's dish looked like a baked casserole with brunt baked cheese in a round dish.  The one thing that was a slight disappointment was the garlic potatoes.  Dare I say that they were over garlic-y? They were nice and crispy but all you could taste was this over powering sense of garlic that you couldn't taste the potato.  All in all, I think I may have eaten an entire loaf of bread during the course of my meal.  I was so sad to see almost half of the ricotta left over, but it just didn't make sense to bring it home with us.  Next time I would definitely not order another side and I would try to maybe try to mix the ricotta in with my main dish.  I think it would have went pretty well with the hash and eggs.  The total bill was $35/pp which is a bit steep for brunch but in this case I actually think it was totally worth the bill.  I may finally be coming around to embracing Italian food in the city after this meal and Osteria Morini.  

Dirt Candy Visited 4/8/2011 4 Forks

Dirt Candy 430 E 9th St., (between 1st Ave & Avenue A), New York, NY 10009

When I made the reservation for Dirt Candy almost 2 weeks ago I was shocked that even at two weeks out the only slot available was at  5:45pm.  But after walking in, I realized why.  The place is TINY.  At it's max capacity, it only holds 18 people.  So if you want to get a seat there, plan on making reservations way in advance.

But making that reservation will be totally worth it.  Everything on the menu is vegetarian. I know, I know, it might sound slightly off-putting at first.  Believe me, especially as someone who loves meat and seafood, I was wondering how good just vegetables could be.  But this place was great.  They make you forget that there isn't any meat on the menu.  The menu is seasonal and there are about 4 choices of appetizers and 5 choices of entrees.  Aarti, Deanna and I split the mushroom and squash appetizer.  The mushroom came in a mousse form and a sauteed shitaake version with small slices of toast.  The mousse looked a bit weird because it just came in a grey solid cube but it tasted a lot like foie gras and even had a similar texture.  The sauteed shitaake had a really strong punch to it and was cooked just perfectly that it still had a little bit of crunch to bit.  The squash actually turned out to be a soup, so it was a bit hard to share.  It might have been a mistake to have eaten that one 2nd because by the time we ate it, it was pretty cold. To be honest, it was good but nothing to write home about.  For entrees, I got the zucchini, Aarti got the corn and Deanna got the cauliflower.  Obviously each of these dishes come in a more robust form, it's not like they just dump you a plate of zucchini.  My dish was zucchini cut up into the shape of pasta and it was covered in a yogurt mint sauce. It was absolutely delicious.  I had to take some of Deanna's waffle and sop up all the yogurt.  Deanna's dish was a play on fried chicken and waffles but instead it was fried cauliflower and waffles.  The cauliflower was fried perfectly but the waffle was kind of flat and could have been a bit more buttery.  Aarti's dish was a plate of creamed corn mixed with cilantro and watercress topped with a tempura egg.  The egg was nice and runny and the corn had a nice consistency and the flavors of the cilantro and watercress really popped in the dish.

We also got dessert, which was the pea mint ice cream bar.  It was a pea mint ice cream chunk on top of a thick cream base and chocolate cookie.  The best part was the cookie and cream, it tasted like you were eating icing on top of a cookie.  The ice cream was good and definitely tasted like pea mint but I would have rather just had a giant cookie with icing instead.  The waitress was super friendly and really really knowledgeable about the whole menu.  All the dishes were really delicious and didn't make me miss meat much.  I'm glad it wasn't vegan because I think some of the key components of the dishes had diary and eggs in them.  We also split a really unique bottle of dark red sparkling wine, something I've never seen before but it just tasted like champagne instead of wine.  Overall it's a unique place that will definitely make you think twice about how creative one can get with just vegetables.  The total bill was $56/pp with tip.

Sugar Beets Thai Visited 4/1/2011 3.25 Forks

Sugar Beets Thai 227 Roebling St., (between 2nd St & 3rd St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

 I was craving cheap Thai food but didn't want to go to Cheers Thai, which is the only barely respectable Thai place within walking distance to my apt.  There were a few other slightly further options that I was willing to try and Sugar Beets Thai was one of them (the other being Siam Orchard). 


It's really South Williamsburg and there is not near much it. When you walk in, you get this feeling that used to be some storefront and the current owners didn't really make good use of the space.  It's actually a pretty large space but there's only 10 tables at most and a completely unused upstairs.  The entire right hand side of the front part of the restaurant is totally empty, which was weird.  Ever since I've been back from Thailand I've been on this fried rice kick, although I have yet to find a good fried rice place here at home.  I usually feel like a loser for ordering fried rice, but this one had crab ($10), so I figured I would give it a go. Dan got the glass noodles with tofu ($8) and we split the steamed Thai dumplings ($5).  The dumplings came out and they looked like shumai on steroids  They were huge and while there were only 4 on the plate, it was the same amount of food as 6 dumplings.  Taste-wise it was actually pretty similar to a shumai and it had some good flavors to it.  The noodles and rice dishes were equally enormous in portion size (which did not stop me and Dan from completely over-eating and finishing our dishes).  My fried rice was good and there was definitely visible pieces of real crab meat, so that was refreshing.  But I was disappointed that it didn't have a fried egg on top of it and they added these huge slices of cold tomatoes and cucumbers which didn't really add anything to the dish. My other gripe was that the slices of onion were too big too, but I finished my entire meal, so clearly I must have liked it on some level.  It was pretty light tasting and not oily like some fried rice dishes you get in Chinese places.  I didn't try Dan's dish but it looked like your standard glass noodle fare and the tofu was fried, not steamed.

The service there was a bit touch and go.  I know that waitresses at many Asian places have a very quiet and soft spoken waitstaff, but this was beyond ridiculous.  I could barely hear her and I have super sonic hearing!  This is one of those typical, decent, cheap, neighborhood Thai joints and if it were closer I would definitely consider going here more often, but since it requires me to drive here I'm not sure how often I will be back.  Total bill was $15/pp.    

Porchetta Visited 3/30/2011 3 Forks

Porchetta 110 E 7th St., (between 1st Ave & Avenue A), New York, NY 10009

Since Porchetta is more of a take-out place, I have been hesitant to try it out because I'm never really been in a position to do take out  in Manhattan when I live in Brooklyn.  But now that the only thing in my fridge is literally a carton of soy milk and since BlackBoard Eats sent a 30% discount, I felt like this was the right time to give it a try.  The place fairly tiny with only about 5-6 stools, so definitely don't come here expecting to have a nice night out.   


The menu is fairly simple with really just the pork sandwich ($10) and pork plate ($14) as the main entrees and then a few side options.  I opted to the the sandwich, the pork plate (comes with a side of cooked greens and beans) and a side of brunt ends ($5) to go.  It was only after I paid that I noticed the specials which consisted of a lentil soup and asparagus both of which I would have totally tried. 

The smell of the pig nearly drove me insane on the subway ride home and even though Dan wasn't home yet, I couldn't wait to rip open the bag.  At first glance, I thought that I didn't get enough food.  But now as I sit here typing this, my heart is about to explode and I totally could have just split the plate and not gotten the sandwich.  While the smell of the food was great, the taste is a bit on the fence.  The pork for the pork plate was extremely salty/overly herb-y and parts of it were a bit overcooked.  The actual meat part was pretty tender but there was also lots of extremely crispy skin that it was so hard that I felt like my teeth were going to break off.  I had a similar feeling about the brunt ends, the parts of the potato that weren't cooked beyond recognition were flavorful and tasty but the overcooked parts were just basically black and hard.  The greens were also just ok.  They are essentially collard greens sauteed in lots of olive oil and garlic.  There's something about the way they looked that bothered me but taste wise they were fine.  Actually the best side was the beans.  I wish they had actually filled up my container because there was definitely room for more beans in there.  So by the time I got to the sandwich, I thought my heart was going to stop beating from all the fat and salt I had eaten.  The sandwich also looked a bit small at first, but if you combine it with some sides I think you'll be fine. The cibatta bread is pretty soft and it basically just has the chopped up pork inside.  It could have actually stood to use some sauce or something wet but overall I liked it better than the plate. 

My total bill was $22 which was totally acceptable but that was with the 30% discount.  I could see how if you didn't have the discount, it's probably a bit steep for just getting pork take-out. I would try owner Sarah Jenkin's other restaurant Porsena instead of this place if you're looking for a nice sit-down dinner with less salty food.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go drink a gallon of water now.        

Roberta's Visited 3/27/2011 4 Forks

Roberta's 261 Moore St., (between White St & Bogart St) Brooklyn, NY 11206

 Roberta's has been getting tons of buzz lately as a hipster haven.  To be honest, I didn't get that vibe at all when I went but maybe it's because I went for brunch.  The clientele was no more hipster than your typical Brooklyn restaurant.  Maybe it's a bit different during dinner?  The location of this restaurant is literally in the middle of nowhere.  Now I've been to Bushwick before but this is in a totally industrial area with almost nothing around it. It's really easy to completely drive/walk past it.  But once you walk in you're totally surprised by it.  It's a huge room with a bunch of communal tables and despite it's size it gave off this really warm feeling to it. 


The brunch menu has a few brunch-y items and then a few pizza selections.  Usually I like my brunch meal to include egg so I was really leaning towards the soft scrambled egg with hen of the woods mushroom, but this place is known of its pizza, so I felt like I really had to give a pizza a try.  So I got the bee sting pizza ($13) which came with tomato, mozzarella, sopressata, fresh basil and then topped with honey.  Dan got the pork belly ($13) which came on a bed of polenta, poached egg and pecorino.  We both got a coffee (mine was iced and Dan's was hot) and usually coffee is nothing to write about but here they don't give you sugar but a bottle of sugar water instead.  I don't know if it really made my coffee taste much differently but mentally it made me not love my coffee as much.


The pizza came out first and it was steaming HOT.  And of course I was so anxious to eat that I just grabbed a slice and the oil on the pizza dripped on my hand and it was incredibly painful.  My bad.  Now I usually don't love thin crust pizza, but this one I must say was pretty damn good.  You could just tell from looking at it that all the ingredients were super fresh and I think they do grow a lot of the herbs and stuff in their backyard.  There was lots of oozy fresh mozzarella and chopped tomato on it.  The sopressata on top of it is was thinly sliced and looked like pepperoni but with a definite spicy kick.  The honey was a nice touch and not very overpowering.  What was really great about the pizza was the dough/crust.  It was thin but still had a dough-y consistency.  I had the entire pizza, crust and all, which almost never happens unless I am drunk. As for Dan's dish,  I had one bite and I got a nice piece of pure fat and I thought the polenta had a nice creamy consistency.  I didn't get to taste the egg but it was poached perfectly and gave the polenta a very yolk-y topping.  Dan thought the dish was missing something but couldn't pin point what it was but judging by the fact that he ate the entire dish, I'm not so sure he didn't like it as much as he lead on.


I had looked at our table mates' food and they had the fried egg and duck hash dish and the pancake and they both looked tasty.  The eggs were fried with a nice running yolk and the pancake looked huge and fluffy, so it looks like even if you don't get the pizza there, you can still have a great meal there.  I would totally go back there for dinner and I heard that in the summer they open the outdoor patio, so look out for me there in a few months. Total bill $39 without tip.

Cuba Visited 3/26/2011 4 Forks

Cuba 222 Thompson St., (between 3rd St & Bleecker St), New York, NY 10012

 I've never been to Cuba (although if they ever lift the travel embargo it will most definitely be on my top ten travel destinations) but if this restaurant is any indication of how the food is there, I would totally love it there.  A bunch of girlfriends and I went there on a crowded Saturday night for a bachelorette party for my good friend Neera.  We were seated downstairs which was nice because the house band is upstairs and while it makes for a nice lively addition for the restaurant, it can be deafening loud.  But unfortunately, after being downstairs for a bit you start to realize it's still also ridiculously loud as well.  I only heard about every 4th word of the girls who were seated about an inch away from me. 

But on to the food...the menu has a great selection of upscale appetizers, seafood, meat, chicken, and paella.  Our table ordered a bunch of appetizer to start and I got the paella valenciana ($22) as an entree.  I saw the paella at another table and thought it was small enough portion for 1 person but given that I had been eating cupcakes and cheese all day, I would have been better suited to have shared it with someone else.  We started with the ceviche mixtoa ($11), croquetas ($8), montadito de chorizo ($8) and a variety of other appetizers that I didn't get to try.  The ceviche was delicious.  The fish and scallops were incredibly fresh and it had the perfect amount of cilantro and lime juice and red onion.  It was definitely one of the better ceviche dishes I've had in the city.  The croquetas were filled with ham and came with a tomato salsa.  They were fried just right and the filling was creamy and flavorful.  But I actually could have done without the tomato salsa.  It didn't really add any real value to the already delicious croqueta.  The chorizo dish was almost like a bruschetta type of dish.  It had bits of chopped up chorizo and chimichurri sauce on a small piece of soft bread.  It was good and the bread was super soft, but it didn't blow my mind.  What did blow my mind was their moojitos.  I loved that it came with actual raw sugar cane in the glass and it was the perfect mix of sugar, mint and rum.  The two best places I've ever had mojitos were in Mexico and Miami and now I can say at Cuba NYC.  Equally as delicious was my seafood paella.  Don't let the size of the dish fool you.  It looks like it's a perfect size for one person but if you get any appetizers before hand, you realize after that first bite that you will not be able to finish your dish.  There was a good number of clams, mussels and calamari and the rice was perfectly seasoned with saffron.  I was a huge fan of this dish and ended up taking half of it home with the intention of eating it for lunch the next day.  Instead, I ended up finishing it at 2AM that night because I had such a craving to finish the rest of it (ok and because I was drunk too). 

The only kind of bummer food wise was the dessert.  But to be honest, similar to Asian food, I don't think that Latin/South American food is really well known of great sweets.  We ordered the flan (I mean, you can't not order flan in a place like this), warm chocolate cake and tres leche de coco (each $7).  I actually liked the tres leche dish the best.  It was a nice light sponge cake with fruit topped on it.  It felt pretty refreshing after eating a pound of rice and seafood.    It wasn't very impressed with either the chocolate cake or flan, they were just ok. But to be honest, I was so full at that point that I probably had almost no capacity to really truly appreciate any kind of food. Overall, we had a great time and it was a super festive environment.  I totally recommend it for a fun night out.  But if you want to go to a place where you can have an actual conversation and to be able to hear your dinner companion, this probably isn't the place for you.

The Palm Tribeca Visited 3/21/2011 3 Forks

The Palm Tribeca 206 West St., New York, NY 10013

I've actually been to The Palm many times before and I'm only now getting around to writing a review about it because I just remembered to.  The only reason I've even been to The Palm at all is because it's within walking distance to my office so I've been here a few times for business lunches and once for a holiday dinner.

The inside is actually really fun because the walls are covered with paintings of celebrities, politicians, and of course since this is downtown, bankers and other high level executives.  The first time I had lunch here I sat next to Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.  I almost died.  I wanted to pull up a chair and start talking about the Real Housewives of Atlanta with them.  Unfortunately, each time I've been back I haven't seen any famous people.  I remember the food the first time I went to be pretty good. I got the kobe beef burger and it was juicy and delicious.  The 2nd time I went was for my group's holiday dinner.  Knowing the budget constraints we were under, I was surprised that The Palm would actually be able to accommodate us for dinner, but after tasting the food, I realized they just compensated by serving us lesser quality food.  The steaks were terrible and I think someone actually had said the dessert tasted like gasoline. Ouch.  So why, you ask, have I gone back since then? Because I work by the World Financial Center, where there are only 2 restaurants in the building: PJ Clarke's and Southwest, neither of which are amazing and both of which are expensive.

I will say most of the lunches I've had here have been pretty decent and for the same money as PJ Clarke's and Southwest, it's much less chaotic and dare I say better food (but not by too much but at least it's something different).  They have this business lunch special which is actually a great deal.  For $24, you can get their a soup or salad (lobster bisque is extra), a main entree (they have a steak, salmon, pasta or fish of the day), a side of half/half (which is basically a plate of fried onion rings and some other fried thing that I can't remember now) or veggie of the day, and either key lime pie or chocolate cake.  Each time I've gotten the business lunch, I get the same thing: salad, salmon, veggie of the day and key lime pie.  Or for the same amount of money, you can get a burger and fries and a soda a PJ Clarke's.  Unfortunately, the last time I had the lunch at The Palm my salmon was a bit overcooked (the waiter never asked me how I wanted it) and it was covered in this tomato sauce that clearly had tons of butter in it.  So it kind of ruined the "healthy" aspect of having fish.  The veggies of the day are usually just some kind of greens sauteed in olive oil and doesn't taste like anything I couldn't make at home.  The key lime pie was actually pretty tasty but so unnecessary because by that point you're so full that you just want to take a nap under your desk.

All in all, it's not an awesome place but it's definitely a better alternative to the two kind of boring places in the Tower.  It'll be interesting to see how business will do once Shake Shack and Blue Smoke open up by work.