Smorgasburg Visited 5/28 4 forks

Smorgasburg 27 North Sixth Street (between Kent Ave & the East River), Williamsburg, Brooklyn

So I am a big sucker for food markets.  I go to them even when I am on vacation in a new city, so I was thrilled when the founders of Brooklyn Flea opened up Smorgasburg in Williamsburg.  It features tons of food vendors in one place by the water.  They are open every Saturday from 9-5pm, but I would suggest getting there early as we got there by noon and there were tons of people there already.

Dan and I took a quick walk around and settled first on the BLT sandwich from Landhous.  They only have 1 thing on the menu, the BLT (duh).  It's 2 very thick cuts of bacon with seasoned lettuce, tomato, and herb mayo on toasted french bread ($5).  Just looking at the bacon made me hungry.  It was a delicious sandwich but very messy to eat.  I thought the bread was over toasted which made it a bit dry but the bacon and herb mayo more than made up for it.  Right next door to it was Kings Crumb, which sold biscuits, fried egg, and gravy ($9).  This was absolutely insane.  The gravy was amazing and the biscuit was warm and buttery.  It was a bit crumbly and the sandwich did kind of fall apart while I was eating but we ended up just taking a spoon and scooping up all the goodness that fell out. By then I was dying of thirst and got a fresh organic ginger tea at ThrisTea ($5).  Honestly, I thought it was super overpriced for just ginger water and tapioca balls.  After that we went for mini cupcakes at Kumquat cupcakes.  I got a red velvet and Dan got a chocolate one ($3 for both).  They were the perfect bite size cupcake but when they are that small, it's hard to really judge the taste.  When though by then we were totally full, I still wanted to get one more item.  There was Shorty Tang's cold sesame noodles, but given that I can make that at home, I couldn't justify paying money for it.  There was Red Hook Lobster Rolls, but I've had that many times before.  I was tempted by the tacos and pupusas but I've gotten them at the Ball Park before.  So I settled on the crepe ($11) at Queen's Dahn Tu.  Apparently the owner had a restaurant in Greenpoint and then took off and traveled to Vietnam and has now returned with re-newed vigor.  The crepe came with shrimp, pork, bean sprouts and you wrap it in lettuce with mint and basil and dip it in fish sauce.  It was a very refreshing taste especially with the mint and basil but the lettuce was a bit soggy and should have been bigger to help with the wrapping.  I thought that $11 was a bit too much (everything else in the market was $10 or less) and especially if she had traveled to Vietnam and eaten this food on the street, she should know that it shouldn't be sold for that much.  The market is a great new addition to the neighborhood.  I hope that they rotate the vendors more often so give it some more variety.  But even if they don't there are still lots of great eats to go around.

What Happens When Visited 5/23/2011 3 Forks

What Happens When  25 Cleveland Pl., (between Kenmare St & Spring St), Manhattan, NY 10012

 I had heard about What Happens When as part of the pop-up restaurant trend.  On this particular night, it seemed like it would be a great night because it was part of the Women Take Over concept featuring women chefs from Pearl Oyster Bar (one of my faves) and Peels (pretty decent place).  But unfortunately after we sat down for dinner, we found out that they had just lost their liquor license and they could only offer us mocktails (juice mixture).  We couldn't even bring in our own liquor or wine, so that was kind of a bust, especially since it was a friend's birthday and they didn't bother letting us know in advance of this problem. 


On to the food, the menu is a fixed menu for all the pop-up concepts (you usually get to pick 1 of 2 options per course) at $58.  We started with an amuse bouche of chicken liver on a small piece of bread.  I personally don't love chicken liver but thought it was fine.  It was fairly smooth which made it much more palatable since there's nothing more gross than grainy pate. Next came the appetizer (choice of their greens or spaetzle).  I chose the spaetzle which came with peas, smoked salmon and salmon roe.  It was pretty salty, most likely due to the roe, but it was really creamy and rich in butter.  Next we waited and waited for our main course.  The service was very slow and you'd think since they didn't offer wine, they could have at least re-filled our water glasses frequently.  Given that the restaurant was not very full, I'd expect much more attentive service in such a small place.  They weren't rude at all, just slow.  For our main course (choice of duck breast or crispy skate) I got the crispy skate and it was indeed crispy and not overly battered.  It was actually perfectly crispy, I just wished that it came with a bit more accompaniments.  There was a small side of asparagus and oyster and shiitake mushrooms, but there just wasn't enough of it.  I tried the duck breast and it was very nicely done, but came with some weird thing called "scrumpy sauce".  For dessert (choice of chocolate and lemon trifle or pot de creme), I got the trifle which came in a pretty large jam jar and you could definitely taste the sourness of the lemon.  It came topped with smooth chocolate mouse and crunchy chocolate bits...it took a couple of bites, but I started to get into it after each bit. The other dessert was a green tea flavored creme de pot, but the green tea flavor was very strong and overpowering and I don't think many of us liked it.  

The restaurant has potential and we might have gone on an off day, but I definitely did think it was overpriced based on other amazing fixed menu meals that I've had (I'm looking at you Torrisi - I love you!!).  Not sure if wine would have really helped with the over all service issue and value prop, but it probably wouldn't have hurt.

Hill Country Chicken Visited 5/21/2011 3 Forks

Hill Country Chicken 1123 Broadway, (between 25th St & 26th St), New York, NY 10010

I hadn't really planned on going to Hill Country Chicken for lunch today.  I had originally wanted to check out the food stalls at Madison Square Park but it was pretty crowded and there was no where to sit, so Dan and I decided to give this place a visit.  We both didn't like Hill Country BBQ, so we were a bit weary of going here, but how hard is it to get fried chicken wrong?

The inside of this place is sort of like a 50's style Southern kitchen, which was cute.  The place is not really a restaurant in the sense that you don't sit down and order.  You order your food at the counter and seat yourself, so it's a very informal place.  We ordered the Country Club ($10), 5 piece Texas Tenders ($12) and a small side of corn salad ($2.50).  The tenders were huge and very meaty, which was a pleasant surprise.  While it was fried, you could definitely taste the juicy chicken in it.  While the tenders were good, they weren't anything really to write home about.  It was like getting the chicken tenders at work but one notch above it in quality.  Meanwhile the country club sandwich was actually quite delicious.  It was a nice thick piece of juicy fried chicken in a square shape, with buttermilk ranch dressing, lots of guacamole, tomato and all on a soft potato bun.  I almost wished Dan and I weren't sharing this because I would have rather eaten the whole thing myself!  It's a combination of all the good things Southern.  On the other hand, the corn salad was a serious bust.  I am a huge huge fan of a good fresh corn salad (and can't wait for the farmers market to start selling corn again), but this corn tasted old and dry.  It didn't have any fresh crunch to it at all. It was such a disappointing side.

I definitely enjoyed my meal here more than my meal at Hill Country and really liked the sandwich.  The chicken tenders were enjoyable but for $12, I'm not sure if it was really worth my money.  And at  $10 for my sandwich,  I wished it came with a side instead of me having to order one.  But I'm glad I checked this place out and if I'm ever in the area again, I would consider it but only if Shake Shack and the food stalls nearby were totally crowded.  Total bill $28.  

Taim Visited 5/14/2011 4.5 Forks

Taim 222 Waverly Pl., (between 11th St & Perry St), New York, NY 10014

Could I actually give a gluten free, cash, and vegetarian only menu a rave review? Yes, I can.  Taim has gotten amazing reviews from almost every blog and they are totally right.  The place is tiny, probably only 5 stools and then maybe 3 benches outside.  It's really just a take out place and there are always long long lines, so just be prepared for it.


There are a variety of salads, sandwiches, and platter options and several side dishes. Everything sounds amazing and it was hard to narrow my choice down.  In the end I had to go with a classic falafel sandwich with green sauce($6.25), Aarti got the Mediterranean Platter ($11) with Beet salad, carrot salad, and eggplant salad, and Will got the falafel platter ($11.50).  We managed to get 3 of the 5 stools there but it's a bit weird because you're facing the street so everyone gets to watch you stuff yourself and end up with tons of hummus and sauce on your face.  The food was ready fairly quickly and it looked super fresh and healthy.  The falafel was delicious...not oily or greasy at all considering it is basically deep fried.  The cucumber, onions, and tomatoes were clean and fresh tasting and the hummus was AMAZING.  I don't know how they get it to be so smooth but it was completely addictive.  I tried a few bites of Aarti's food and it was equally yummy.  
I totally am coming back again and next time I want to try the eggplant sandwich.  

Mables Smokehouse and Banquet Visited 5/13/2011 3.5 Forks

Mables Smokehouse and Banquet 44 Berry St., (between 12th St & 11th St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

Inevitably, any BBQ place in NYC will be compared to Fette Sau, there's just no avoiding that.  So far I haven't found any place that compares and Mables is no exception.  Honestly, if Fette Sau didn't exist this place probably would have ranked better in my mind.  The nice thing about this place was that it's a slightly bigger space than Fette which means that there's less of a chance of eating and standing at the same time (which is what happened last time I went to Fette).  

The menu is a bit more limited than Fette.  While Fette has lots of different kinds of meat from ribs, brisket, pork belly, pulled pork, pastrami, sirloin tip, and sausages (and ordered by weight), there were only 3 kinds of meat at Mables: brisket, st. louis style ribs, and pulled pork (fixed order, not by weight).  The one thing that Mable does have going in its favor is that it has a 1-2 more sides than Fette Sau.  That was always my gripe with Fette was that their sides were limiting and quite honestly not that great.  Here you have choices of mac and cheese, potato salad, cornbread, baked beans, collard greens, and corn.  Dan and I sat at the bar and got the Deluxe Platter ($28) which comes with 3 meats, 3 sides, small cole slaw, wonder bread, and pickles.  For sides we chose, mac and cheese, potato salad and cornbread.  When the food came out, it just looked like a $hit ton of food.  There were 4 fairly large ribs, 3 slices of brisket, and pulled pork.  I immediately went for the mac and cheese and it tasted exactly the mac and cheese that comes out of a box, which taste-wise, isn't necessarily terrible, but I don't necessarily want to pay for it at a restaurant.  The potato salad was good, not too heavy on the mayo and I didn't taste a trace of celery.  The big let down sides-wise was the cornbread.  I don't know how it's possible to make cornbread taste bland but this had absolutely no taste to it.  But on the the more important stuff, the meat.  I actually thought the brisket was pretty good, not too fatty, but Dan seemed to have wanted it to just fall apart without using a knife.  The piece I had barely required a knife, but the piece Dan got was a pretty thick cut that I could see needed a little bit of knife work.  I then tried the pulled pork which was already covered in BBQ sauce (although they did give you a small cup of sauce on the side.  Whereas at Fette Sau they have a large variety of sauces in squeeze bottles at each table).  I thought the pork was totally fine although I would have preferred to have gotten it dry and mixed with my own proportion of sauce.  Next to the ribs.  The ribs that I usually like are the kinds that fall completely off the bone with nothing left after I'm done.  These ribs were not like that.  They were a bit tough to get through and I may have left some meat on the bones but I just didn't have the energy to get everything off cleanly.   But flavor-wise, it was saucy and tasty.

Unlike Fette Sau, they have a pretty basic whiskey selection.  Your typical Jamison, Jack Daniels, Buffalo Trace, and Wild Turkey.  At Fette Sau they have a lot more selection and whiskeys that I have never heard of or seen else where.  In a way, I feel bad about most of this review.  I don't want to rag on this place.  It's just really hard when there is such another great BBQ place so close by.  If you're in the mood for BBQ, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the food here and quite frankly it's nice to be able to actually sit down while you eat your food.    

Dos Caminos Visited 5/12/2011 3 Forks

Dos Caminos 475 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013

Years ago when Dos Caminos first burst on to the scene, it was one of the hottest places to be.  A few co-workers and I had gone and I had remembered that I didn't love it.  It's tagged as a mexican restaurant but really the food was much more high-brow than you local burrito place.  After that experience, I just never bothered going back again. 


But I met up with Aarti and Will after their city hall nuptials at Dos Caminos because Aarti had wanted to get guacamole in a downtown location afterward.  The one nice thing about the SoHo location is that they have a large patio and on slightly cold days they have big heat lamps to keep you warm.  By the time I got there after work, they had already ordered guacamole and salsa for the table.  The guacamole was pretty tasty, very smooth and not bland, which is easy to do when making guacamole.  The chips were nice and thin and salted, not like the thick corn chips you sometimes get in mexican places.    At any good mexican restaurant, it's necessary to order a tasty alcoholic drink.  Since I'm not a huge fan of tequilla, I ordered the mojito instead.  I've had some pretty amazing mojitos before in my life and this was definitely not one of them.  It was totally flat and instead of muddling the lime and mint, they just dumped them into the glass.  Will then ordered the trio of ceviche which was tuna, lobster with mango and red snapper.  I love love ceviche in general and was excited to give this a try.  The tuna was very simple but delicious tasting. I was most excited for the lobster but it was way too sweet.  It was served with chopped up mangoes, which was fine, but it was the coconut chili sauce that was so sweet and masked any taste of lobster.  The red snapper was so finally chopped that I could barely taste it but it was the most classic form of ceviche of the three.  It was served with lime juice and tomatoes and onions, I just would have loved to have had larger pieces of fish. 

For my next drink, I opted for the red sangria ($9), which I was a bit skeptical about given how flat the mojito was, but it was surprisingly good.  It could have been a touch stronger but compared to my first drink, I would have at least gotten another glass of this.  For dinner, I got the Dos Enchiladas ($19) which came with a side of rice and beans.  The enchiladas came in two forms: one with a more smokey mole sauce and another more tangy green sauce.  Even though they were both made the same (chicken inside and drizzled with a little bit of cheese), I really liked the green sauce side a lot more.  The portion was surprisingly large and I was super full after forcing myself to finish the whole thing.  The rice and beans were good but nothing to write home about.  For dessert, we got the white and dark chocolate fondue and even though I'm not a huge fan of chocolate, I surprisingly really loved this dessert.  The white chocolate didn't taste like white chocolate at all, it almost tasted like vanilla pudding instead. They had a nice array of bananas, churros, strawberries, passion fruit marshmallows, and coconut puffs. The one annoying thing was that there are more chocolate than dipping things.  We ended up having almost half of the fondue leftover with no dipping things left.  While the food was not amazing, the service was.  Our waiter was great, just very friendly and easy going.  I can see why the patio and certain dishes are a big draw, but with a sub-par menu of cocktails, I left a bit wanting more.

Slanted Door Visited 5/9/2011 4 Forks

Slanted Door 1 Ferry Bldg, San Francisco, CA 94111

I had heard so much about Slanted Door before I even got there. Its' one of those restaurants that's well known outside of its city.  After reading several reviews I was torn if I really wanted to go. On one hand, it's located in the Ferry Building, which is one of my favorite places in SF.  But on the other hand, I generally have an aversion to overpriced, fancy Asian food.  I came to SF thinking that if I ended up going that would be great but I wouldn't make a huge effort in trying to make it there.

We did the night tour of Alcatraz (which was AWESOME and I highly recommend) and it dropped us off at Pier 33 at 9pm on a Sunday. We were pretty exhausted by then and I really had no idea of what was open for dinner in that area.  So we just started walking down the Embarcadero with the intention of trying to catch a cab back to our hotel.  Since we were so tired, we wanted to head back to the hotel and just grab something around there.  Unlike NYC, where there is a cab on every corner, we didn't see a single cab.  So after walking for 15 minutes, we ended up at the Ferry Building, so I just had to check to see if they had room for us. 


Luckily they had a few tables open and we were seated immediately.  Everyone says that the view from the restaurant is great, but to be honest, it was so late that we didn't get to really see anything.  But the overall decor of the restaurant was very clean, sleek and modern.  So totally different than my preferred Asian decor. We got the cellophane noodles, imperial rolls, and chicken in clay pot.  There were a lot of other great sounding dishes, but it's hard to order a lot of food when it's just 2 people.  The imperial rolls ($10) were your typical shrimp and pork fried summer rolls served with lettuce, mint and rice noodles and a side of plum sauce.  They were perfectly crispy and not oily at all.  Great but nothing I haven't had before.  Next came the noodles ($19), which was a 7x7 recommendation.  Honestly I know it's probably not hard to make but it was really really delicious.  You could see the chunks of crab and it was just really fresh tasting.  I could have ordered another order just for myself.  The chicken claypot ($19) came out next and it was was chicken in this very strong, dark ginger caramel sauce.  We had to order a side of rice in order to really get the full experience.  The flavors really just hit you in the face.   We were pouring the sauce over rice even when we were done with the chicken.  In the end, I really did love my food.  But I will agree with all the comments that it's DEFINITELY overpriced and you could probably just as good food in a hole in the wall Asian place.  Maybe it's because I was on vacation or I'm just used to New York prices or maybe I was just too exhausted to care, but I wasn't that upset then the bill came ($98 with tip and tax for 2).