Pearl and Ash Visited 8/13/2013 3 Forks

Pearl and Ash 220 Bowery (between Spring St & Rivington St),  New York, NY 10012

I don't know when American small plates became all the rage, but I seem to keep ending up at places lately they are all about small shared plates.  In theory I do love the concept of sharing a bunch of plates with friends.  In fact, I used to say that if/when I ever got married, I just wanted to have lots of passed hors d'oeuvres instead of a sit down dinner.  I used to love tapas when I first moved to the city and they were all reasonably priced in the $6-8 but now it seems like restaurants have taken the liberty of charging $12-15 for what is essentially 1/4 size of an entree but at the same entree prices.  

I met up with Joaquin and Nancy there on a Tuesday night and even though it was a random weekday it was definitely packed and the crowd was a mix of young and old scensters.  I heard that the Bowery is one of the hipper streets these days and I could definitely get a sense of that up and coming vibe.  The waiter told us that it would be best to order 3-4 plates per person which if you did the math seemed a bit ridiculous to us.  Ordering 9-12 dishes just seemed extreme and expensive, so we stuck to 6 dishes and 1 dessert.  But in the end, I did wish we ordered more food.  We tried to order one dish from each section of the menu (raw, small, fish, meat, vegetables and sugar.  Note you can order full size entrees from the fish and meat section).  We opted for the octopus ($13), squid ($14), pork meatballs ($11), skirt steak ($17), potatoes ($8) and asparagus ($8).  It sounded like a lot of food so we thought we would be ok.  But upon looking at the dishes, they are really just big enough for 1-2 bites person - especially for our group of 3.  I can only imagine that if you had a larger group of people  you'd have to order 2 of everything just so that everyone could get a taste.  In any case, back to the food.  The octopus was served with sunflower seeds and shiso and I actually really enjoyed this dish.  The octopus was cooked just right so that it wasn't tough but still had a bit of chew and crunch to it.  The shiso added a nice flavor profile to the octopus, which on its own can be bland but this dish was definitely not.  Then we moved on to the pork meatballs (there were exactly 3 meatballs) - they came with shiitake mushrooms and then sprinkled with bonito flakes.  They were moist but I thought they could have used a bit more seasoning and seemed a bit cold (or that might have been because I got to them last?).   Next they brought out the skirt steak, potatoes and asparagus   The "steak" was tiny and for $17 that was probably the biggest let down of the meal.  However, taste-wise what we did get to eat was quite delicious.  It was served with tomatoes, basil, zucchini, and pine nuts and it was cooked medium rare.  It was a well-balanced dish and it made me wish that they offered up more of it for what we paid.  As for the vegetables, they were actually pretty tasty as well.  The potatoes were perfectly crispy on the outside and was topped with mayo and chorizo so it had some nice tang and heat to it.  It was very similar to a potatoes bravas you would get at a Spanish tapas restaurant.  The asparagus was served chilled with a light foam on top and they were nice and crunchy with the right amount of salt on them.  As we finished up dinner, I was still hungry so we decided to split the blueberry, milk, honey, creme fraiche dessert ($8).  So one of my biggest pet peeves about the latest food craze is "deconstructed" dishes.  I've never been a huge fan of them, especially when it comes to my dessert.  So I honestly wasn't a huge fan of this one nor did I think it was particular sweet or dessert like.  It had a bunch blueberries  on top of what was supposed to be a creme fraiche base and and then drizzled with foam milk and honey.  It just didn't work for me and the creativity of it was lost on me. 

All in all, the quality and taste of the food here was actually pretty good.  What prevents it from getting a much high rating are the portion size and price.  I get it, it's tapas, they are supposed to be small.  But if that's the case, then don't charge entree prices for them then.   If they were either 20% bigger in size or 25% cheaper in price, then I would have a different opinion about it.  But it is a pretty cool/hip space, so I get why it's the hot place of the day and I'm glad I tried it, but next time I need to go on a corporate account because I was still starving at the end.  Total bill: $50/pp with tax and tip. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Ippudo Westside Visited 8/8/2013 3 Forks

Ippoudo Westside  321 W 51st St., (between 9th Ave & 8th Ave), New York, NY 10019

I usually don't review other branches of previously reviewed restaurants unless things are materially different and so based on that I had to write this review for the new Westside opening of Ippudo.  Ippudo in the East Village is one of the most loved ramen places in the city.  The East Village branch consistently has 2+ hour waits but it's definitely worth the wait.  So I was super excited when they opened another branch in the city to give all of us another optioin.  I met Anuja, Amy and Kristen there on a rainy Thursday night and luckily there was no wait at 6:30pm.  Already a huge improvement!  The space was a bit bigger than the one in the East Village; there's a huge bar when you walk in and then a slightly larger open space behind there.  There's also a private upstairs room that is rumored to be a rotating pop-up space.  We were seated in the main open space and excited to order our ramen and pork buns.  All of us have been to the original one and already had our orders in mind.  But when we opened the menu this is where some of us were very disappointed.  You would think that the menu would be pretty similar to the other location but there were several items from the East Village menu that were missing from this menu.  Specifically, they were missing the only vegetarian ramen on the menu.  Both Amy and Anuja don't eat meat and were planning on ordering the wasabi shoyu ramen which is a soy and vegetable based broth.  We thought that maybe this was a mistake since the restaurant just opened so we asked our waiter about it.  He said that this branch's kitchen wasn't able to prepare the other kinds of ramen just yet. What?!?  That makes zero sense and of all the ramens you were not going to have the only vegetarian one seems like the wrong choice.  The waiter said "Well, you can have any of the other ramens, we can just not put the pork in there."  Umm - but the broth is still pork based sir.  Luckily both Anuja and Amy were trying to be flexible and agreed to go with the original version but with no pork.  Then when Anuja asked if she could get egg instead to make her meal a bit more robust the waiter said they can't do that and that she would still have to pay extra for it.  Umm - what again?  I get that restaurants have a P/L to adhere to and that's why they don't like substitutes.  But the fact that she's asking for a cheaper substitute, especially after they couldn't accommodate her original request just seemed like really bad customer service to me. 

The good news is that the actual food for meat lovers is still just as good and delicious.  Kristen and I split the pork buns ($9) which were the perfect combination of fat and meat and topped spicy sauce, mayo and lettuce.  Yum!  I got the Modern ramen ($14) with an egg ($2) which is the original broth topped with miso paste, slices of pork, cabbage, mushrooms, scallions and garlic oil.  It was salty goodness and I devoured not just the noodles but all of the broth too.  Comparing this experience to my recent take out one at Himawari, this has just confirmed my feeling that eating ramen hot and in the restaurant is the best way to do it.   

If you're a pork eater, you'll be totally fine here but if not, then I would recommend still visiting the East Village one for now.  While I usually focus more on the food than the service, their inability to be flexible and make the customers happy really irked me the wrong way.  There are so many places in the city that will bend over backwards to make their customers happy and I was surprised that they were not one of them.  By the time we left at 8pm, there was a substantial crowd waiting so if you are going to come here, still come early.  Total bill:  $43/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Mulberry and Vine Visited 8/8/2013 4 Forks

Mulberry and Vine  73 Warren St., (between Broadway & Greenwich St), New York, NY 10007

Unlike my recent experience at Saint Austere, I really wanted to dislike Mulberry and Vine because it's one of those expensive new age food shops in the middle of Tribeca that is gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, nut-free, allergy-free, raw, organic, free range, etc, etc - a place that I know is good for you but still drives me crazy with its slightly pretentious attitude.  But ever since our building shut down basically every lunch option within a 5 minute walking distance, I have started to actually venture out past the West Side Highway to get food.   I had walked past this a few weeks ago and made a mental note to stop by later.  

The general decor of this place is a very clean, Hamptons type aesthetic and it just oozes healthiness and mindfulness.   When you first walk in there is an open fridge to the right with a few grab and go type items:  small salads, yogurt, and sandwiches.  One of the things that I saw that made me cringe was a homemade fresh juice that cost $11.  WTF?  That is just ridiculous.  This isn't a sit down restaurant, but more of a cafeteria style place where you order and take the tray with you.  The main concept here is that you choose from a variety of hot and cold dishes.  For $12, you can get 3 cold dishes, for $13 you get 2 cold and 1 hot and for $15 you get 2 hot and 1 cold.   I went with the 2 cold and 1 hot option.  Even though I had kind of a bad attitude going in, I actually had a hard time deciding what to get because when I saw the food in person, it looked really good.  For the cold, they had dishes like beets, quinoa, kale, carrot slaw, farro salad, soba noodles, lentils, eggplant, summer succotash, etc.  I opted for the soba noodles and potato salad with wax beans and for my hot dish I got the chicken enchiladas.  When I first placed my order they asked what kind of greens I wanted and I said arugula but what I didn't know was that it was an extra $1 (of course it was on the menu, but I wish they had mentioned it when they asked me).  Despite that, the food looked really amazing and I was excited to try it.  The soba noodles were delicious with a nice sesame oil dressing, carrots and snow peas and the potato salad tasted as healthy as a mayo based potato salad could taste.  The red skin potatoes were extremely fresh and the wax beans were perfectly crispy with a nice crunch with each bite.  The chicken enchiladas were made with corn tortillas and served with a mildly spicy tomatillo poblano yogurt sauce.  Unlike the ones you get a Tex Mex places these enchiladas weren't oozing with cheese or covered in sauce - it almost tasted air baked.  Who knew that Mexican food could taste good without the oozing cheese or sauce?  Not me.  Even though I was annoyed by the extra charge for the arugula, there was a lot of it and was a healthy nice base for the enchiladas instead of heavy rice and beans.  

I was pleasantly surprised by my meal here and while it was great, it is still hard to justify $16 for lunch on a frequent basis.  But as it gets harder and harder to find good places to eat around work, sometimes a trip to a place like Mulberry and Vine is worth it.  Total bill:  $16

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Saint Austere Visited 8/5/2013 2 Forks

Saint Austere 613 Grand St., (between Lorimer St & Leonard St), Brooklyn, NY 11211

This is one of those reviews that really breaks my heart because I really wanted to like Saint Austere but it just didn't do it for me in the end.  I was originally supposed to go to The Lighthouse but when I discovered that it was closed on Monday I had to change plans at the last minute.  I remembered walking past this place a few weeks ago and seeing a sign that said $1 oysters from 6-8pm, so Dan and I were in. 

I got there at 7:30 and immediately ordered a dozen oysters before the happy hour ended.  But then after we placed our order things started to go down hill from there.  We waited forever before anyone paid any attention to us to place our real order.  What irritated me the most was that a table of 4 who came in after us got serviced before we did.  That to me is poor service.  When the host/waitress finally came over, we ordered the broccoli rabe ($9), creamy polenta ($10), citrus cured swordfish ($15) and the meatballs ($12).   Everything on the menu is tapas style and meant to be shared.  The waitress told us that she recommended between 2-3 dishes per person, but honestly I was plenty full with the 4 dishes we had and depending on what you order, I think you can get away with 1.5 dishes per person.  

The oysters came out and they mentioned something about them being from Virginia but I don't know exactly what kind they were.  They were pretty big and plump but as Dan mentioned to me later, they were kind of soaking in lots of salt water which was a bit of a turn off, but overall they were fine for $1. It's definitely no Maison Premiere but they were fine way to start a meal.  Next they brought out the meatballs, creamy polenta and broccoli rabe.  My initial impression was that the meatballs were a bit cold.  It felt like they had been sitting out for a while and they were lacking in salt or some other kind of seasoning.  Next I tried the polenta.  Good lord, it was super heavy on butter.  It almost felt like I was drinking heavy cream with hints of really spicy sausage scattered in between sips.  As for the broccoli rabe, the waitress mentioned that it was one of their signature dishes, so we figured we had to order it. I'm normally not a huge broccoli rabe fan and this dish didn't really do much to change my opinion on it.  It was served with crushed anchovies, parmigiano and lots of chopped hard boiled eggs.  For a green, it was a pretty heavy dish.  Normally when I order a side of a vegetable its because I want to eat something healthy, but this felt like of the opposite.  Lastly came the swordfish.  For some reason I thought it would be warm but the menu clearly said citrus cured, so that was my bad for setting erroneous expectations.  This version was more of a carpaccio style fish - cold raw slices of swordfish.  But to be honest, swordfish just isn't the kind of fish that tastes good in this kind of setting. It doesn't really have a strong flavor or taste to it normally and adding bits of citrus doesn't really help it. I just found it to be pretty bland and disappointing. 

In the end, I was super bummed about my experience here because I really wanted to like it.  I like the concept of American style small plates, its cute space and the fact that it's walking distance from my place.  But in the end I was left feeling just underwhelmed.  We should have stuck with The Lighthouse instead.  Total bill:  $55/pp with tax, tip and drinks.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sage Visited 8/4/2013 3 Forks

Sage 299-301 Graham Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11211

I first discovered Sage during Hurricane Sandy when I was going stir crazy and needed to take a walk around the neighborhood.  I normally don't cross over to the other side of Graham Ave, but during that week I decided to take a longer walk and saw this interesting new restaurant with lovely looking outdoor seating.  I noticed that the name was Sage and I kind of assumed that it was an American style bistro, so I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was actually a Thai place.  I was pretty excited by this since I love Thai food and the only place within walking distance is Cheers - which is fine but nothing mind blowing.  I made a mental note to come back and try this place out one day. 

Fast forward to 10 months later and I finally made my way there.   Full disclosure, I did take-out, so my experience is probably a bit different than what it would have been if I had eaten in.  I ordered the house salad ($5) and of course the pad thai with veggie and tofu ($9) - similar to how I judge a good brunch place on their ability to poach an egg properly I judge a Thai place on the most basic of Thai dishes, the pad thai.  My order was ready in 20 minutes which was great because I essentially hung up the phone, checked my email and then walked over and my food was ready.  I tried the salad first and it was actually a great salad for an Asian restaurant (meaning that most Asian countries don't really eat raw vegetables and therefore don't make salads).  The salad consisted of mixed greens, bean sprouts, red onions, and cherry tomatoes and served with sesame lime vinaigrette.  What I really loved was the dressing.  It was light but creamy and totally addictive.  There's really complicated about this salad but I was strangely in love with it.  I wish they offered it in a larger size and I would totally just order the salad on its own as a meal.  On to the pad thai.  I ordered veggie and tofu because I thought it would be healthier for me.  The tofu was the steamed kind which is actually the way I prefer my tofu (a lot of other places use fried tofu) in pad thai.  The downside was that the veggies were all a bit overcooked and a bit soggy.  None of them had that crunch to it.  There was a bunch of bok choy, peppers, onions, and broccoli.  It was nice that there was a lot of veggies but I got tired of them pretty quickly since I wasn't in love with the texture of them.  The pad thai sauce here was pretty subtle and not overwhelming.  I'll be honest, none of the food here was super authentic or of the unique caliber of a Pok Pok but for a quick and easy take out option within walking distance in my hood, it totally gets the job done.  Total bill:  $15

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Himawari Visited 7/26/2013 3.5 Forks

Himawari 202 2nd Ave., San Mateo, CA 94401

So this review is super delayed because I wasn't sure if I should review it since I had it as take-out and not in the restaurant, but I figured it's worth mentioning anyways.  I got in late to San Mateo on Friday night and since Levi and Neera are new parents, take-out seemed to be the best option for dinner.  Apparently the neighborhood that they live in is full of ramen places which I thought was interesting.  I know that there are tons of Asians in the San Fran area but I was still surprised at how many ramen places there were in such a small block radius.  We opted for Himawari mostly because they were one of the few ramen places that offered take-out.  I actually was surprised that any ramen place did take out given the soupy broth base and difficulty in transporting all the ingredients but I was open to trying it out.  I opted for the deluxe ramen ($10.50) and both Neera and Levi got the tan tan ramen ($8) and we also split an order of the fresh spring rolls ($4.50).  The rest of the menu looked great but it seemed a bit excessive to order 2 entrees for dinner but there were other things on the menu that I would definitely check out at another time. 

When we went to go pick up the order, the place was teeming with lots of Asian locals, which is always a great sign.  I was curious as to how they would do take out ramen and they did exactly what I thought they were going to do which was to put the broth in one container and then the noodles and toppings in another container so that it doesn't get soggy.  The deluxe miso came with steamed pork, egg, sliced pork, bamboo stems and green onions (I also ordered a side topping of bean sprouts for $1 extra) while the tan tan version came with spicy chili with ground pork.  Even though it made sense to give us all the ingredients separately, it was challenging to put it all together in a bowl one has at home. Ramen bowls in restaurants are generally very large and deep to accommodate the all the ingredients, but rarely do most people have ramen style bowls at home.  We had to kind of eat our meal piece meal by pouring half of the broth and noodles into the bowl at a time.  I really enjoyed the broth of my deluxe ramen as it was nice and salty as a ramen should be but not to the point where I thought I was sucking on a salt lick.  The egg was actually a bit undercooked, so it had almost a poached like texture which was fine with me because it gave the broth a bit of that yolky feel to it.  The sliced pork was nice and tasty but I really liked the steamed pork better.  The steamed pork was really just large hunks of pork belly and they were pretty heavy on the fat.  Of course that's not for everyone, but I totally love to eat that stuff up.  The noodles were slightly al dente but it didn't quite have the same fresh, right out of the boiling pot taste that you would get if you were eating at the restaurant.  I didn't try the tan tan noodle but it definitely looked spicy as the broth was bright red.  The spring rolls were your typical Vietnamese like spring rolls although it was a bit heavy on the veggies and not enough pork - but hey I got enough pork from my ramen.

All in all, for a soup based take out meal, it was a tasty experience.  But the challenges of transporting the soup and the slightly out too long noodles still doesn't make take out ramen ideal.  It's still much better to eat it fresh and pipping hot in the restaurant and if you live in the area, definitely give Himawari a shot.  Total bill:  $47 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Alana's Cafe Visted 7/27/2013 4 Forks

Alana's Cafe 1020 Main St., Redwood City, CA 94063

I hadn't seen Bharat and Cindy since Aarti's wedding, so I was excited that I was able to have brunch with them before I left SF on Sunday.  Since they lived 10 minutes from Neera, it was even more convenient although I was a bit sad that for the 1st time I've been to SF, I've actually stayed in the suburbs the whole time!  But if all the places in the 'burbs were like Alana's Cafe, I totally wouldn't mind not going into the city.  Talk about the cutest brunch place on earth.  It was the quintessential adorable brunch restaurant situated in an old Victorian looking house with a lovely garden outside.  We got there "early" at 10AM (there was a debate as to what time brunch actually is - apparently it's an East Coast vs. West Coast thing) but it was totally packed already.  Luckily the wait was only 15 minutes and we got a seat in the garden outside.  

The menu is the perfect traditional brunch menu:  yogurts, oatmeals, egg scrambles, more eggs type dishes, benedicts, french toast, pancakes and sides of every breakfast dish you can think of from sausage to coffee cake to homefries to fruit.  Heaven.  I had a really hard time deciding what I wanted.  As most of you know, I love a good benedict and I was on the verge of sticking with it but since I was in California, I felt the need to be a bit healthier.  So I opted for the California scramble ($11.50) which was 3 eggs lightly scrambled with broccoli, mushrooms, green onions, tomatoes, provolone and cheddar cheese served with herbed homfries and a choice of bread, coffee cake or scones (I got the papaya scones).  Bharat and Cindy both got the Farmer's Garden ($10.95) which had almost the same ingredients I had except the veggies were topped with 2 poached eggs instead.  Although the dish is a pretty basic egg dish, I was just so enamored with the overall vibe of the place, that I thought it was amazing.  My one issue with an egg scramble with so many ingredients is the presentation but short of it being an omelette, there isn't a way to make scrambled eggs look that nice.  But the ingredients were all very fresh and the eggs were cooked well (not too dry).  They are famous for their scones which is why I got the papaya one (they also had some coconut version too) and it was good and definitely unique but I'm just not a huge scone person, so I only had a few bites of it.   The best part of the dish was actually the homefries - ok, they were really roasted potatoes.  But they were awesome.  The herb and seasonings they used on it were spot on and made the potatoes incredibly addictive.  I didn't get a chance to try the Farmer's Garden but it looked great and they mentioned that they get it every time they come here.  I kind of wish we got an order of pancakes for the table because they looked delicious as well but I didn't want to go too overboard. 

This was a fantastic brunch spot in the middle of the 'burbs that doesn't really make you miss the city.  The decor, menu and wait staff were all great and it made me wish that I knew of more places like this in NYC (the closest thing I can think of decor wise is Friend of a Farmer - but the food there isn't that great).  I guess living in the 'burbs of California does have its perks sometimes.  

Photo Credit:  Yelp