Landmarc 10/17/2013 3.5 Forks

Landmarc 179 W Broadway (between Worth St & Varick St), New York, NY 10013

Now that I've finally settled into my new job, Eric, Borami and I went for our first official team lunch and it was my pick!  My original choice was Locanda Verde  because I love that place and haven't been a while.  But I figured we could try some place I hadn't been to so that I could blog about it and since I didn't have to pay for it.  I opted for Landmarc since I had heard good things about it but probably would not go to unless it was a work lunch.  The more well-known Landmarc is located in Time Warner Center but this one in Tribeca is a nice unassuming restaurant tucked away on West Broadway. 

When we walked in at noon, there was no one else in there which would normally give me pause for concern but it was nice to be away from all the crowded, loud lunch places by work.  We could actually have a conversation, hear each other and not worry about running into other work people.  The menu here is American fine dining, which ranged from steak salads, burgers, pastas, sandwiches and grilled salmon.  I opted for the braised lamb sandwich ($18) and ordered a side of fries ($7) and brussels sprouts with bacon ($7) for the table.  The lamb sandwich was served on a ciabatta bread with pickles and aioli on top of shreds of braised lamb. The lamb was nice and moist and although I normally don't like pickles, they added a nice tang to each bite.  But I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the bread.  It was too thick and bready, so by the time I got to the 2nd half of the sandwich I just ate the inside of the it (probably healthier for me anyways).  I took a few bites of the salad but I thought it was a bit overdressed, so instead I just focused all my time on the fries.  These fries were amazing.  Some of the best, thick cut, salty fries I've had in a while.  They were perfectly crisp and very addictive.  The brussels sprouts were nicely roasted and complemented with these really fatty pieces of lardon. Delicious but probably not the healthiest thing to have in the middle of the day.  Eric got the grilled chicken sandwich ($17) and Borami the croque madam ($16).  While I didn't try their food (because that would be weird for a work lunch), they both seemed to enjoy their dishes. 

The service here was attentive but not intrusive.  It was a great work lunch spot because it's quiet, away from the ruckus, but still serves great fine dining food.  Plus the prices are totally T&E friendly.  While it is a 15 minute walk from the Tower, on a nice day, it's totally worth the accidental exercise to try something that's not PJ Clarke, Harry's or North End Grill.  Total bill:  $85 

Photo Credit:  Yelp    

Yuji Ramen + Dominique Ansel Bakery Visited 10/16/2013 4.5 Forks

Yuji Ramen 95 E Houston St., 2nd Fl., New York, NY 10002

Dominique Ansel Bakery 189 Spring St, New York, NY 10012

So this review is kind of unique in the sense that I usually don't re-review places nor do I put two places in one.  But if I had reviewed each of these places on its own it would have been really short and since I went to both places on the same day for an extended lunch field trip and would have rated both of them the same, I figured it was worth putting them together. 

I had been to the original pop-up Yuji Ramen before and liked it but its cold broth-less presentation just didn't make me think of it as ramen, so whenever I wanted ramen, it never really came to mind (plus it left the Williamsburg pop-up location a while ago).  My friend Neel had mentioned that he was dying to try it and we both had time to take a nice long lunch, so we hopped on the subway and gave it a try for lunch.  It's located inside the Whole Foods on Bowery street on the 2nd floor.  I hadn't been to this Whole Foods in a while so I was really impressed with how the 2nd floor has become a bit of a food market with different types of food stalls.  Yuji Ramen is a small bar with about 7-8 stools.  There are only about 4-5 ramens to choose from and I decided to get the special of the day the Uni (sea urchin) mazemen ($11).  Only in the past 5 or so years have I become a lover of uni but it's got to be fresh and from a place I trust. By the looks of this place (and the fact it was in a fancy Whole Foods), I was willing to take that bet.  One of the nice things about sitting at the bar is that you get to see how they cook and prepare the food.  Watching them put such love and care into the food made me want to quit my job and get back there with them.  But alas....the ramen came out pretty quickly mostly because they don't cook the noodles for very long.  Similar to my previous experience, the ramen here is still cold with no broth.  But this time it was covered in delicious, creamy uni and thin slices of seaweed.  It was heavenly.  The noodles were thick and chewy but not in an undercooked way, rather in a really delicious way.  The uni was this fantastic fresh taste of the ocean, which I know sounds like it might be fishy, but it wasn't.  The uni mixed with the noodles was really a stellar combination.  My one watch out with the food here is that the portions are small.  Yes, the noodles will expand and fill you up some, but if you're coming here expecting a full blown meal, you will be disappointed.  It's great for a quick lunch or snack, but don't come here thinking you'll be getting a giant bowl of noodles because you won't be....so this led Neel and I to get dessert and go to Dominique Ansel Bakery in Soho

So yes, Dominique is most well known for the cronut - the half donut half croissant pastry that people have been waiting 3-4 hours in line for.  A co-worker of mine brought one in to work for us to share and while it was definitely a good pastry, I would have never wait in that long of a line for it.  I didn't know what else he was famous for and Neel mentioned that the must have was really the DKA ($5).  This is his version of the Kouign Amman, which is a crusty cake with layers of bread dough made with tons of sugar and butter folded into a puff pastry.  Holy Jesus, this pastry is amazing.  It had this amazing caramelized sugar on the outside and the softest, most buttery layer of dough on the inside.  It was seriously addictive.  I could have sat there and ate 5 of them (and then gone into diabetic shock).  I had actually gotten an almond croissant myself which which was also delicious and had a lot of sweet almond paste inside.  The bakery has this lovely outdoor garden where we sat with our pastries and coffee and it almost made me feel like I was in Paris for a while.  Much to my surprise, Dominique was in the garden as well with this team of bakers and while I didn't hear exactly what they were talking about they had a platter full of cronuts and other pastries that they looked like they were taste testing.   It was nice to see him actively participating in the success of his shop vs. just lending his name/brand and never being there.  I should also mention that my ice coffee was also excellent (it was a bit on the sweet side which is how I like my coffee).  I loved everything about this place and would come back here in a heartbeat to try any of this other pastries, just after the crowds have died down.

Photo Credit:  Yelp and OMGFoodie 

Bombay Duck Co. Visited 10/15/2013 4 Forks

Bombay Duck Co.  190 Bleecker St. (between Avenue Of The Americas & Downing St), New York, NY 10012

When Mabel said that she had a craving for Indian food, we both kind of thought of options in Curry Hill or East Village.  But I had read about this place on one of my favorite food blogs, Serious Eats, and thought that it was worth a try outside of the traditional Indian neighborhoods.  It's a very small unassuming place in the heart of NYU town.  It's pretty casual but there are a few sit down tables.  The menu here claims to be Mumbai home cooking and although I haven't been to Mumbai, if this is what their food is like, I'm totally down for a visit soon.  They have a variety of appetizers and curry entrees.  I was having a total indecision moment on what to order but opted for the lamb curry ($13.95), Mabel got the Lipti Shrimp ($13.95) and we split the spinach cutlets ($5.95).  

The spinach cutlet was a delicious pan fried spinach and potato patty which was marinated in ginger, garlic, onions, and spices.  I loved this dish and although it was pan fried, it was not very greasy or oily.  The spices really came through but not in an overwhelming way.  The potato did make it kind of heavy, so be aware of that if you plan on eating both of them.  Next came the curries.  The lamb curry was served with a fluffy brown basmati rice, LOTS of red onion and a cucumber salad.  I really enjoyed my curry and it was chock full of Indian spices, including a pretty big dash of spicy heat.  But that was easily cooled off with the rice and cucumber salad.  The lamb was tender and not tough or gamey and the actual curry, while very filling,  didn't have that heavy cream texture to it, which was nice.  I didn't try Mabel's shrimp but it also looked delicious.  Even though I was totally full, I couldn't stop by myself from finishing the entire dish.  The only thing that I didn't love about my meal was the garlic naan.  It was a bit too crispy and dry for my taste.  My one concern about the presentation of food was that it was served in this picnic paper bowl.  While I don't care that it's casual, serving wet curry in a paper vessel doesn't seem like the best idea.  I was definitely afraid that the bowl might just give out at some point, but luckily it never did. 

All in all, I enjoyed having a nice casual Indian meal here.  It was great to get some quality Indian food without having to trek to Murry Hill.  Although the menu here isn't as expansive as some of those typical Curry Hill places (you can't get a chicken tiki masala, tandoori chicken, or dishes like that), if you're looking for some filling, spicy and extremely flavorful curries, Bombay Duck Co. is a great option.  Total bill:  $22/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

 

The Butcher's Daughter Visited 10/11/2013 2.5 Forks

The Butcher's Daughter 19 Kenmare St., (between Bowery & Elizabeth St), New York, NY 10012

I had passed The Butcher's Daughter before while walking in Chinatown/Nolita and commented on how cute it was, so when Amy and Anuja mentioned they were going to dinner there last night, I couldn't help but crash their "Rabbit Habbit" dinner.  The theme here is all vegetarian and organic - most of it is actually vegan and gluten-free.  While I'm primarily a meat and seafood happy girl, I'm always willing to try new things and honestly I've been to some fantastic vegetarian only places (I'm looking at you Dirt Candy) so I know it can be good food.  Sadly, that wasn't really the case here. 

What I mainly liked about this place was the decor.  It's really clean and beautiful and it really draws you in.  The menu has potential and I wasn't turned off by how any of the dishes were described.  I had read in Yelp that the service was awful and while I've had worse, I can say it was severely lacking.  It took forever to place our order and I had to ask 3 times what the soup of the day was.  Granted, it looked like there was 1 poor waiter for the entire outside section but it just didn't make for a pleasant experience when you have to chase down your waiter 3 or 4 times to get an answer to something.  We decided to share a bunch of stuff for the table:  smashed avocado toast bites ($8), mushroom-walnut pate, white bean fennel sausage, and beet tartare (3 for $16) and the raw pesto linguine ($14).  They also have a long list of juices and elixir shots if you're into that kind of stuff.  The avocado toast came out and it was really guacamole without the tomato and cilantro.  It was mashed up avocado with curry, mustard seeds, and lime served with very soft pieces of 7-grain bread.  I love anything avocado, so there wasn't anything really to dislike about this dish, although it could have probably used a bit more salt.  Next I tried the white bean fennel sausage - which in case you haven't guessed, isn't really made out of meat.  It looked exactly like a sausage and had a similar taste to it but you could tell it was missing the fat and moisture of meat to it.  It was a bit dry but it was an adequate enough meat substitute in a pinch.  Just a warning that it is incredibly spicy.  The mushroom-walnut pate was also decent in taste if not a bit unmemorable.  It was just like a paste or spread put on a crostini and it seemed like a fine snack I would eat at home but not something I would necessarily want to eat out at a restaurant.  Next I tried the raw pesto linguine - this was made from ribbons of raw zucchini, walnut-basil pesto and topped with cashew ricotta and served with marinated mushrooms and tomato slices on the slide.  I was most excited for this dish but it just didn't really taste that good.  Maybe its because I'm not a huge raw food fan, but you could just taste the rawness of the dish and I don't mean that in a good way.  It was too earthy for me and this is where I draw the line and would want my food cooked - at least the zucchini ribbons.  The same can be said about the beet tartare.  It was thinly sliced strings of beets but it kind of tasted like it was just dug out of the ground.  I prefer my beets steamed or a bit softer in texture. 

In the end, I appreciate what they are trying to do here and I'm all for promoting a healthy lifestyle.  But at the same time there has got to be flavor in your food as well.  All the dishes really lacked some element of seasoning.  Even though I loved the decor and outdoor seating, I probably won't be back unless they did an overhaul of the menu and improved the service.  It's food like this that makes me want to go home and fire up a burger on the grill at home and top it with cheese.   Total bill:  $27/pp with tax and tip. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

David Burke Kitchen Visited 10/6/2013 3.5 Forks

David Burke Kitchen 23 Grand St., (between Thompson St & Avenue Of The Americas), New York, NY 10013

I had walked past David Burke Kitchen a few times but never been, so it was a nice treat to head over there for my friend Kristin's birthday this past weekend.  David Burke Kitchen is located inside the James Hotel in the basement area for what's kind of no man's land of not quite Tribeca but not quite Soho either.  I'm guessing they are banking on the allure of David's celebrity chef persona to draw people in?  Meanwhile, the space itself was really nice, spacious and perfect for a group dinner. 

While I will admit that it's hard to be a waiter to a slightly rowdy group of 11 people, the service really seemed off the mark.  We all started the afternoon with a round of drinks and it just took forever to get them served, even though there wasn't really anyone else in the restaurant.  Then a different waiter came to take our order, but when we asked for additional items like ketchup, we were directed to another person.  On top of that, the pace was just incredibly slow and disorganized.  So that was kind of a bummer.  But on to the food instead.  The menu is split between more brunch-y items like benedicts, omelets, and chicken and grits and lunch items such as burgers, crab cakes, and grilled salmon.  Having a split personality menu always makes for a difficult decision for me, but I finally opted for the Kitchen Eggs Benedict ($17) and a side of homefries ($7) - mostly because the menu didn't list any additional items that came with my eggs (although this turned out to be a mistake).  Other people at the table got a variety of other things such as the pretzel crab cake, legs and eggs, and kitchen omelet.  I did like the way they present the food in that they wheel out a cart with all our dishes and then distribute them that way.  I don't know what it is, but there's something about food that gets wheeled out in a fancy cart that I find fascinating.   My benedict came with Italian sausage polenta, spinach and tomato hollandaise AND unbeknownst to me, a side of homefries!  If I had known that, I would have totally ordered a different side like bacon (which Jill actually got, so I probably wouldn't have ordered it).  Instead, I was faced with 2 helpings of homefries.  Although I will say that they were well cooked and seasoned and let's be honest, there are definitely worst things in life than having too many potatoes and peppers.  The benedict itself was tasty, if not a bit mushy with the polenta and spinach.  The eggs were poached well with a super super runny yolk but at one point everything on my plate became a mixed mess with the yolk, polenta, spinach, and sauce.  The muffin at the bottom had no chance in holding it all together.  While it wasn't a traditional benedict, the flavor profile was good and the sauce was tart and sweet at the same time.  I must have really liked it because I cleaned my entire plate, including the two helpings of homefries that I had.  I nibbled on a piece of Jill's maple glazed bacon and it was awesome.  It's pretty heavy on the fat and it was on the less crispy side, but I didn't mind that at all.  I also had a sliver of the sticky bun, but wasn't too impressed with that.  By the time it got to me, it was pretty much destroyed and I didn't get much of the sweetness, more of the breaded part, which wasn't too impressive. 

All in all, most of us liked our food and the space was great.  They also have a great cocktail list to make for a nice afternoon boozy brunch.  My one gripe was the service.  It was sporadic, slow and disorganized.  Plus when we went to pay, we each put in our cards and only after 15 minutes did the waiter tell us that they only took 8 cards.  That just would have been something nice to know in the beginning.  There's not much else in the immediate area and the James Hotel does seem like a nice less "scene-y" hotel than The Standard or NoMad, so it's worth a look if you're down around that 'hood.  Total bill:  $63/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Serafina Osteria Visited 10/4/2013 3 Forks.

Serafina Osteria 38 E 58th St., (between Madison Ave & Park Ave), New York, NY 10022

I normally don't hang out in Midtown East ever except to go to Bloomingdales, but it is a convenient area to meet a friend of mine who lived in Roosevelt Island so I made an exception to have dinner up there.  I generally find this area too corporate, soul-less and not very interesting.  My opinion didn't change too much after visiting this area on Friday.  Serafina is located next to Tao and across the street from Lavo, if that gives you any indication of the types of restaurants and places in the area.  Luckily, Serafina is not one of these painfully trendy loud restaurants.  It's actually pretty small and has a cute, mom and pop feel to it.  The menu here is straight up traditional Italian ranging from a variety of antipasti to pasta to secondi dishes. 

Since we were with my friend's energetic 1-year old daughter, we kind of had to eat quickly and get in and out of there in record time.  If you've ever eaten with a toddler, you know what I mean.  While I would have loved to get an appetizer and have a leisurely meal, it wasn't really in the cards for us.  So we each ordered a pasta, I got the fettuccine casareccie alla bolognese ($16.75) and Lily got the bucatini alla matriciana ($16) and that was it (although I did have to indulge and get a glass of wine).  The pasta came our rather quickly and smelled delicious.  My pasta was a pretty standard fettuccine pasta with a hearty beef ragout.  The noodles were al dente and the sauce was pretty meaty and the right amount for the pasta size.  I wasn't overly impressed with the dish but it was pretty solid and hit the spot at the moment.  I didn't try the bucatini but it also looked quite tasty.  

While the food prices were fine, I found the prices for the wine to be rather expensive for the type of place it was.  Most of them were over $12, which is a bit high for the ambience and type of restaurant this is.  The service was also a bit slow and I got this feeling that they were kind of annoyed that we had a toddler with us.  They did try to be nice and had a high chair to accommodate us, but I think they picked up on the vibe that we weren't there to really hang out and order tons of food so they didn't really engage with us.  While I did find the food to be pretty decent, it wasn't enough to really overcome the awful location of it.  I would say that if you happen to be in the neighborhood, it's worth having a meal there but it's definitely not a place that you should go out of your way for as there are just too many other amazing Italian places around the city in much better locations.  Total bill:  $30/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

The NoMad Restaurant Visited 9/30/2013 4 Forks

The NoMad Restaurant 1170 Broadway (between 27th St &28th St), New York, NY 10001

The NoMad was THE hot restaurant about a year ago but it hasn't really seemed to die down by the looks of my visit last night.  It was still super crowded with a mix of tourists and beautiful people and Amy and I were only able to get a 6pm reservation.  In all honesty, I was ready to hate this place because I'm so not a fan of uber trendy places.  But I gotta say that this place really surprised me and I quite enjoyed my meal and even the scene there. 

When we first got seated, Amy and I were seating in their weird dark alcove of a room, away from the main atrium space.  We kindly asked to move and they were really nice about accommodating.  So I was immediately pleased with the service.  The menu is broken out into snacks (1 or 2 bites), appetizers and entrees.  Luckily, the menu had a lot of great veggie options which worked great for Amy.  There are so many great sounding options that we eventually just handed the reigns over to our waitress for her suggestions.  For appetizers, she recommended the snow peas ($15) and the egg ($17) and for the entree she convinced Amy of the eggplant ($24) and I opted for the scallops ($28).  Unfortunately, what The NoMad is famous for their whole roasted chicken for two but that'll have to wait until next time since there was no way I was going to eat it by myself!

The snow peas were cut into long thin strips and tossed with lemon juice and served with a sprinkle of pancetta, mint and pecorino cheese.  It was just barely cooked, so it had this great crunch to it.  I loved the simpleness of it.  Despite it being fall, it reminded me of a perfect spring dish.  I really enjoyed this dish a whole lot.  The egg dish was what the waitress said was a must have.  It was a poached egg with asparagus, brown butter, quinoa and enoki-like mushrooms.  The egg had this amazing almost raw yolk center and mixed with the brown butter, it was pretty delicious.  On to the entrees.  I usually don't get scallops at restaurants since you usually only get 3 if you're lucky and it never seems like a filling meal.  But I just had a craving for it and went for it.  The dish here had 5 giant scallops served with thin slices of green tomatoes, thin rolls and bits of cucumber and sprinkled with borage.  Like every scallop dish, these scallops were seared which is really the only way to cook scallops.  These were seared perfectly with just the right amount of give to each bite.  I love the pairing of it with the green tomatoes and cucumbers and for the first time in my life, I was actually full from a scallop dish.  I had a bite of Amy's eggplant and it was delicious as well.  It was roasted with soy beans, madeira, and black truffle.  It was a very meaty and hearty dish that was ideal for a vegetarian.  At this point, I was super full but I'm always a sucker for a good dessert.  Again, we asked our waitress to pick something for us and she was really enthusiastic about the milk and honey dessert ($13).  True to it's name, it tasted exactly like milk and honey. It was 3 scoops of milk ice cream drizzled with honey and served with shortbread and brittle.  While our waitress did a great job with all of the other recommendations, I wasn't a huge fan of this dessert.  It might of been because I was already full but I don't really associate milk and honey with dessert.  

In the end, I was really pleased with my experience at The NoMad.  I mean, don't get me wrong, the crowd and vibe isn't something that I would opt for normally, but since I live in New York, every now and then, I've got to indulge in the high maintenance scene every once in a while.  This would be a great place for a client dinner and if everyone wants to go and try the chicken for two with me, let me know!  Total bill:  $80/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp