Rabbithole Visited 1/5/2013 4 Forks

Rabbithole 352 Bedford Ave., (between 5th St & 4th St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

I had first heard of Rabbithole when I volunteered at the Williamsburg Food Festival over the summer and had tasted their banana cream pie that was amazingly delicious, so I had mentally put this place on my list of places to check out.  Fast forward almost 5 months later and I finally made it.

The decor is industrial French bistro type, so it's cute but not super pretentious.  I love the fact that they serve breakfast/brunch everyday from 9-5pm.  A lot of places in Williamsburg don't serve brunch until 11AM or even sometimes 1PM (lazy hipsters - kidding, kidding!), so it's nice that there is a place that caters to a slightly earlier crowd.  Believe me, I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination but I also can't sleep in until noon like I used to, so when I get up around 10 ish, I am ready for brunch.  I also loved the fact that they have a solid brunch menu, ranging from a variety of French style omelettes, frittats, french toast, 3 kinds of benedicts, pancakes, and a solid sounding egg sandwich.  I opted for the eggs Norwegian ($11) because I never say no to hollandaise sauce and smoked salmon.  I didn't actually read the description of the dish carefully but if I had, I would have noticed that it's served ON A BUTTERMILK BISCUIT instead of an English muffin.  How decadent is that?  Not only are you dealing with tons of runny yolk and butter in the hollandaise sauce but now you're dealing with more butter with the flaky biscuit.  It's a gluttonous but delicious touch.  So how was the yolk you may ask?  It was perfect.  Finally a place that got the egg right!  The mix of the yolk, salmon, sauce and biscuit was pure brunch goodness.  But honestly, after about 5 or 6 bites I started to feel my heart stop beating for a little bit.  On top of that, the dish is served with a helping of roasted potatoes, which were cooked nice and crispy.  To their credit, they do try to make the dish a bit healthier by also offering it with a side salad.  Honestly, by the time I got to the salad I just couldn't process anything that didn't have butter in it.  And of course, I also had a side order of bacon to really give myself a heart attack.  The bacon was coated with a nice dabble of honey.  The stripes of meat were crispy but still had a sweet chewiness to it. 

I didn't ask if they had the banana cream pie, which was the original reason why I came to here, because but I just didn't have room for it.  But I'm still dreaming of it and hope to come back to order it because it was really damn good.  Also - I'm not a huge coffee drinker but I was strangely really into their coffee here which is always a good thing for a place that serves breakfast all day.  Total bill: $19 with tax and tip.

Photo Credit: Yelp

The Marrow Visited 1/4/2013 3 Forks

The Marrow 99 Bank St., (between Hudson St & Greenwich St), New York, NY 10014

This entry marks my 400th entry!  It's so crazy to think that I've actually managed to keep this blog up for 4 years and I want to thank everyone who made this happen and I hope to keep this going for a while.  

I was thrilled to review The Marrow as my first review in 2013 and as my 400th review because I love love love Harold Dieterle and his other restaurants Kin Shop and Perilla. So it makes me a bit sad that I didn't really love his new restaurant.  The menu here has a German flare to it and let's be honest, with the exception of schnitzel, there's not a lot about German food that I love.  But I was going with an open mind and empty stomach.  Nancy and I showed up on a Friday night at 6:30 hoping that we were there early enough to snag a table and because Nancy had thought that they didn't take reservations.  Well lesson learned they do take reservations.  The hostess then told me that they couldn't seat us at all that night which I was shocked by.  I totally get that they are booked but to not have any tables reserved for walk-ins is a bit extreme.  She did soften the blow by telling us that they serve the full menu at the bar and she even pointed out which couple was just waiting for their friend to arrive so that we could strategically position ourselves near them when they got up.  So luckily we were able to snag two seats at the bar by 7pm.  The menu has a list of meat plates, starters, entrees, and sides and we asked the bartender how we should order.  He looked at us and said "The starters are appetizer sized and the entrees are entree sized.  So you can order how you like."  Umm - that wasn't super helpful.  It would have been more helpful if he suggested how many plates to order or even made some menu suggestions but I guess being the bartender isn't quite the same as the waiter.  So Nancy and I decided to order one of each section to try them out. From the meat plate section we got the housemade weisswurt with apple butter ($6), from the starter we got the bone marrow ($16), from the entree we got the pan fried duck schnitzel ($28) and from the sides we got the bamboo rice risotto ($14).  We were served a nice hot and delicious pretzel-like roll to start and it came with a side of olive oil and dijon mustard.  I loved the idea of a roll with the pretzel twist to bring out the German theme.  The weisswurt and marrow came out first.  To be honest, I didn't know exactly what to expect with the weisswurt but when it came out it was not what I thought.  I assumed it might be some kind of hot sausage type dish but this was 3 cold pale hot-dog like links with 3 dots of apple butter on it. It was fine and the apple butter was a nice sweet touch but it just felt like I was eating one of those mini cocktail party weiners.  On the other hand, I knew what to expect from the bone marrow and I was super excited about it because it was served with sea urchin, fried potatoes, lemon aioli, baby celery greens on top and a side of toasted bread.  I loved the idea of the sea urchin on top and there was a fairly decent helping of it but there just wasn't enough marrow in the bone to really make the dish work.  I know marrow is a delicacy but there was probably about 1 tablespoon of marrow tops in here tops and that was a bit disappointing, especially for $16.  I just didn't get the fatty gluttonous feel to it that I usually do when I eat marrow.  Then came the duck schnitzel and risotto.  I will give the restaurant big props for actually splitting the dish into two separate plates because they knew were were sharing.  To me that screams thoughtfulness and attention to detail.  The duck was beaten flat and then pan fried and served with spaetzle, hazelnuts, cucumber potato salad and stewed wolfberries.  The presentation was fine but there's just something about serving something that is fried that just makes the dish seem less fancy.  Of all the ingredients on the dish I strangely liked the cucumber potato salad the most.  The duck itself on its own wasn't really that interesting or flavorful but if you combined it with the cucumber potato salad or spaetzle in one bite, then it became a bit more interesting on the palate.  The risotto was served in this tiny casserole type pot and was made with leek puree and served with a steamed egg on top that was pretty much raw.  I liked this dish a lot and used it as a way to moisten the slightly dry duck.  To top off the night we ordered the ricotta cheesecake ($10).  And then we waited for it and waited for it to the point where we wanted to ask about it.  But soon it came and they immediately apologized for the wait and said that dessert would be on the house.  Now that's what I call excellent customer service.  The cheesecake was great, nice and soft but not too filling and the crust had just the right amount of crunch to it. 

All in all the meal itself was fine but given how much I really love his other two restaurants, I just wasn't really blown away by the meal here.  Maybe it's the German theme or because we went during the first few weeks of opening but to me, it's the weakest of the three restaurants Harold's opened.   But I was impressed with the level of customer service which can often at times make or break a meal.  I hope the restaurant does well for the sake of the owners but I think I'll stick to his other two places in the city for now.  Total bill: $52/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Village Voice

Dino Visited 1/1/2013 3.5 Forks

Dino 222 Dekalb Ave., (between Adelphi St & Clermont Ave), Brooklyn, NY 11205

Here's the first review of 2013 and it's a pretty good one.  I've never been a big fan of New Year but I'm feeling good about this year and really taking control of my life and doing things that just make me happy.  So starting off my New Year with a good meal with good friends was a nice step forward.  It was my good friend Cicily's birthday, so we celebrated her big day with a brunch at Dino.  Unfortunately I ran into some L and G train issues (worst train combination in NYC) and was a bit late.  When I got there Cicily and her friends had ordered the bufala mozzarella ($12) and had one bite left.  I scooped up the last bite and it was delicious.  The mozzarella was perfectly wet and soft and fresh tasting.  Paired with fresh tomato slices and basil made it a perfect first bite for the New Year.  I was excited to order my main entree after that.  The menu had a great sounding breakfast dishes such as frittatas, benedicts, eggs ragu, french toast, plus lots of lunch dishes such as burgers, pastas, skirt steak, and salads.  Everything sounded delicious and while I was tempted to get a pasta or a burger (it was after 1pm afterall), I opted for the eggs and polenta ($12) and a side of bacon ($4).  The rest of the table got the rigatoni with meatballs ($14), the burger ($14), the burrata special, and the frittata.

While the plating wasn't anything super special, everything was served in these classically simple and clean white bowls and plates.  The eggs and polenta came in this humongous white bowl and had a giant helping of polenta at the bottom, a layer of garlic sauteed kale and two poached eggs.  As soon as I cut into the eggs and saw the runny yolk, I knew it would be a great dish.  The combination of the runny yolk, poached egg white, creamy polenta and kale was fantastic.  It felt strangely healthy (even though I'm sure it wasn't) and I wish they had served up more given how big the bowl was.  The side of bacon was actually a really appropriate serving size and I was able to finish the whole thing without feeling like a glutton.  It was a bit burnt for my taste but it wasn't a huge deal breaker.  I didn't get a chance to try Cicily's rigatoni but it looked really good and the perfect hang over cure.  The burrata dish looked like a big plate of vanilla gelato and it was served with a nice tomato balsamic mixture.  I actually like the mozzarella better because it was a bit softer and creamier but I'm never one to dislike any cheese dish.

So if the food was great, why didn't I give it 4 forks or higher? Honestly, the service was incredibly slow and not super attentive.  While our waitress was nice, she missed my initial drink order and I had to ask twice for it.  Then our water glasses pretty much went unfilled for the majority of the lunch which is another pet peeve of mine.  Even though I do like it when the wait staff isn't crawling all over you and shoving you out the door, it would be nice if they came by to check on you every now and then.  I would most definitely come back to this place for brunch again and even dinner, but hopefully the L and G train aren't being so fussy.   Total bill: $180 with out tip.

Photo Credit: Yelp

Bar Louie Visited 12/26/2012 2 Forks

Bar Louie 111 Gibbs St., Rockville, MD 20850

I was first introduced to Bar Louie in college and actually never went but always thought that it as more of a college hang out rather than a formal dining place, so I was surprised to see it pop up in my hometown recently.  I guess it's positioned here as more of a casual bar restaurant instead of a college-like place.  For some strange reason I kind of thought that the food would be a step above college bar food here since it was in a nicer suburb area, but really the food seemed like it would be better suited for the college crowd instead.  I mean I get it's totally bar food but I've had some pretty decent bar food before and this place just wasn't it.

The menu consists of a bunch of overpriced "small plates" (let's just call them appetizers here shall we?), burgers, big salads, sandwiches and other bar favorite entrees such as mac and cheese and pasta and tacos.  Louise, Jeana and I split the nachos ($11) to start and I got the tuna sandwich ($14) medium rare.  The nachos came out and they just looked kind of sad and put together by a bunch of stoned high school kids.  The cheese was orange and only on one half of the nachos and the sour cream and guacamole looked like they came out of a can or jar.  Now I know that I shouldn't be expecting gourmet food here but something about seeing food so sloppily thrown get together kind of annoyed me.  I mean they could have at least presented the food a bit better (i.e. spread out all the ingredients evenly vs. plopping the sour cream in one corner, the cheese in another and the beans in another).  One of the reasons I ordered the tuna sandwich was because Bar Louie listed the calorie count on their menu and it was one of the few items that was less than 800 calories.  I know that eating out is fattening and unhealthy but the fact that 90% of the menu was over 800 calories was just frightening to see on paper.  I will give props in that the tuna was cooked medium rare as asked.  But the cut of fish was so huge that it didn't eve fit with the bun they gave me.  The fish was cut like a filet, so it was long and skinny that there was no way the circular bun could fit around it.  So I ditched the bun (it was hard and dry anyways) and just ate the tuna on it's own and adding the slices of avocado to each bite when I could.  The fish itself was marinated and seared with soy sauce and was actually totally fine.  Thankfully, it did make me feel like I was eating something healthy.  The sandwich came with fries that were overcooked and dry but of course, I ate the entire thing anyways because I am such a sucker for fries.  I didn't try Lou's salad or Jeana's BLT sandwich but judging by the looks of them, they were just eh too.

All in all, the food was your standard sub-par bar food but I did like the spacious atmosphere and the waitress was super friendly and nice about letting us hang out in our seat for 3 hours (granted there weren't a lot of people there anyways).  I realize that I can't judge every restaurant to a high quality, fancy pants standard that I probably do in NYC or even Chicago, but I don't think it's too hard to offer decent food using fresh ingredients is it?  Total bill: $50 total for 3 people w/out tip.

Photo Credit:  Segallgroup.com

Ngam Visited 12/18/2012 2.5 Forks

Ngam 99 3rd Ave., (between 13th St & 12th St), New York, NY 10003

Full disclosure is that I had take-out at Ngam and didn't sit down to eat.  Even though I don't think that necessarily should create a difference in the quality of the food, I do think that it sometimes does have an effect.  Although I stayed in the front of the take out area, I did notice that the decor inside was a funky open space with these cool light fixtures.  It seemed like a fun place of dinner with friends or a date. 

The menu had a note that it was seasonal and changed regularly which is something you don't normally see at a Thai place.  Also most Thai places don't offer a delicious sounding brunch featuring farm fresh eggs from an upstate farm.  So I was excited to see how unique the food could be.  I ordered the Thai Sweet Corn Chowder ($7) and the Pad Kee Mao ($14) with tofu and vegetables medium spicy.  Since they had an open kitchen, I watched them make my order in front of me.  Now I'm not under any illusions that kitchens aren't crazy, hectic and not always glamorous.  But it would be nice if the food was made with a little bit of love and care.  I watched as this guy just threw a bunch of vegetables and noodles in a wok, toss is around for 5 minutes and then plopped it into a take box.  It was only when I got home did I realize that there was absolutely no tofu in it and it wasn't spicy at all.  It tasted more like a pad see ew instead of a pad kee mao.   I did appreciate that there were a variety of vegetables that you normally don't find in pad kee mao such as Brussels sprouts and cauliflower but other than that there wasn't much else to the dish.  In fact when I think about it some more, I'm not even sure there was a ton of noodles in it either.  The square box that they serve the take out in was annoying and made it difficult to eat out of because the flaps kept getting in the way of eating directly from the container (yes, I realize I could have put it in a bowl but I was being that lazy at the time).  It was a bit counter intuitive, but I opted to have the soup last because it looked incredibly hot and I wanted it to cool down a bit.   The description of the soup made it sound wonderful and I loved all the ingredients that went into it.  It was made with fresh sweet corn, coconut milk, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, Thai chili oil, galangal, Thai basil, toasted coconut.  Unfortunately, the only thing I could taste was an overwhelming flavor of coconut milk.  Although I love coconut, I couldn't taste anything else but creamy coconut milk and it's just not something you want to drink in a large bowl of soup.  I was hoping that there would be bits of sweet corn kernels but I guess they were blended/pureed into the soup. because I didn't see any corn.  But honestly, the soup was borderline inedible for me.  I had to actually put it away for a while and came back to it later and sadly it didn't taste any better. 

Even though I didn't love my dinner take out meal, I am super curious about the rest of the dinner menu and the brunch menu and willing to give it another try.  But this time I will actually dine in and hopefully that will be a better experience.  Total bill: $22 for take out

Photo Credit: Yelp

North End Grill Visited 12/17/2012 3 Forks

North End Grill 104 N End Ave, (at Vesey St), NY 10282

It's pretty surprising that I hadn't been to North End Grill yet considering it's right across the street from my office.  I had been there once for drinks and immediately got the feeling that this place was much more of the Goldman Sachs crowded vs. the American Express crowd.  The decor is much classier than any of the other restaurants in the area and the prices also reflect it. 

Besides the fact that it's too pricey for a regular lunch, another reason I hadn't been here for lunch yet was that I had heard from a bunch of my co-workers that they had really bad experiences there.  Most of the things I heard was that the food was bad and the wait for food was too long.  Danny Meyer and Floyd Cardoz must have heard the comments because I didn't think the food was awful and they asked us up front before we ordered if we had a time constraint and needed the food by a certain time.
The lunch menu here is kind of all over the place.  They have fancy appetizers such as oyster and clam stew to egg dishes such as scrambled eggs with hen of the woods mushroom to main entrees such as seared scallop.  I couldn't really tell what direction they were trying to go with here.  Since I was here for lunch I opted for the chicken burger ($18) and an order of the thrice fried spice fries ($8).  You'd think for $18, you'd get the fries with the burger, but the clientele here is probably 90% corporate dining, so I guess you can get away without having fries included.  Despite all the bad reviews from my co-workers, I actually liked my chicken burger.  It was a pretty big patty flavored with lots of cilantro and pickled cucumbers served on a brioche bun and slathered with a sriacha mayo.  Who doesn't love sriacha mayo?!  My one complaint was that the patty kept slipping out of the bun and making a huge mess while I was eating.  Luckily I was just with my close co-workers so it didn't really matter but if I was with clients it would have been a bit embarrassing.  The burger was served with an Asian slaw that kind of tasted like a papaya salad.  I did find the slaw to be re-freshing and a nice touch but of course I would have preferred the fries instead.  But the one bummer of the meal was actually the fries.  They were over cooked and despite looking like it had been dipped in Old Bay Seasoning, incredibly bland.  This of course didn't stop me from eating the whole thing, but I've had better fries in my work cafeteria.   My co-worker also ordered a side of hashed Brussels sprouts ($9) and that was a much tastier side.  It was served with lentils and lightly dressed with olive oil.  While I liked the taste of it, it was a bit difficult to eat since it wasn't served whole but finely shaved instead.

I was glad that this was a paid for lunch outing because the thought of spending $30+ for a burger and fries at lunch would have given me a stomach ache.  By the time we left I had noticed that the place had really filled up with people.  The scene reminded me of Mad Men except for the smoking part.  Almost every guy there was dressed to the nines in a three piece suit and everyone looked very engrossed in business discussion.  Although there are a few new dining options in the neighborhood, this is really the only one that's uber fancy.   And while I kind of hate on the corporate environment, I do see a need for it.  But unless you're going on a corporate account, you are probably better off hitting up Danny Meyer's other place down the street: Shake Shack.  Total bill: $143 for 5 people without tip.

Photo Credit: Yelp

L'Apicio Visited 12/15/2012 4.5 Forks

L'Apicio 13 East 1st St., (between 2nd Ave & Extra Pl), New York, NY 10003

Dining out is not just about the food, but the service and decor can play just as big of a factor for a great meal.  Luckily my experience at L'Apicio was a fabulous combination of great food, great waitstaff and great decor.  Given that it's from the team behind L'Artusi and Dell'anima, it's no big surprise that it was a well run machine.  Despite them telling me that they only had a 5:30pm or 10:30pm opening on Saturday, they were kind enough to tell me that I could also order the entire menu from the lounge or bar area and that walk-ins were welcomed.  So Cicily and I met up at 7:30 and luckily we were able to snag two seats at the bar since there were no tables available.   I loved that fact that they let Cicily sit down first and save me a seat as many places won't even let you sit down anywhere until your entire group has arrived.

I don't know about you guys, but I sometimes really enjoy eating at the bar.  You don't have to worry about if the table is wobbly or if you aren't too far from the table and when you eat at the bar you get to sit close to your dinner mate and not have to scream across a loud table.  I loved that the bar was a beautiful marble top with ample space and room for you and your guest to have a complete meal without crowding the people next to you.   When the bartender asked me what I wanted to drink I noticed that Cicily was drinking a rose and she mentioned that the bartender actually encouraged her to get a rose even though it wasn't the summer because "you should be able to drink whatever you want, whenever you want."  I love that mentality and appreciated that the bartender didn't look down at us or shame us for our drink choice.  She was also very enthusiastic about the menu and told us that everything was great.  So we ordered the braised short rib polenta ($19) and I got the pappardelle with oxtail ragu ($18) and Cicily got the cavatelli with chili and pork sausage ($17).   Now I am not sure if they give everyone a salad on the house but within 10 minutes of ordering we were presented with a fancy salad compliments of the house and I just thought that it was a really nice touch.  The salad was a mix of fricassee, mixed greens and pistachios with a vinaigrette dressing.  It was a dish to wet the palate, although it have been a touch salty but overall it was a great starter salad.  Next came the polenta and for anyone who has read my blog for a while knows how much I love polenta so I was super super excited for this dish.   The polenta here was served on a board (it almost looked like a cheese board) and it's spread out across the board and served with amazingly tender short rib and sauce on top of it.  The combination of creamy polenta and mouthwatering meat is one of the best combinations ever and this one did not disappoint.  I could have made an entire meal out of trying all the other polentas on the menu (they had mushroom, meatball and shrimp varieties too).   As for the pasta dishes, I really loved the pappardelle.  It tasted homemade and fresh and it almost looked like it was one giant beautiful flat noodle.  The oxtail was plentiful and also super tender and cooked perfectly.  Cicily also mentioned that her pasta was delicious as well.  I was super tempted to order dessert but after 2 glasses of wine, polenta and pasta I was pleasantly happy and full.   While the food was definitely very satisfying, the fact that our bartender/waitress was so nice, we got a wonderful salad on the house and that the bar was so comfortable to eat at really made the entire experience so positive.  Other restaurants should take note her that it's not just the food that make people happy but the entire eating out experience that diners appreciate.   If I lived at the Avalon complex upstairs, I would totally eat here for dinner on a very frequent basis.  Total bill: $63/pp with tax and tip. 

Photo Credit: NY 1