The Little Beet Table Visited 1/9/2016 2.5 Forks

The Little Beet Table  333 Park Ave S.,  New York, NY 10010

I wanted to start the New Year off to a healthy start, so thought it would be good to try out this "veggie friendly" place that I had heard about from a few friends.  Any sensible person who comes to a place that focuses on vegetables would probably stick to vegetables on the menu, but of course I have no will power and ended up ordering items that had both fish and bacon in it,  neither of which were really great dishes. 

The brunch menu itself sounds nice and healthy although it's really more lunch focused than brunch.  Lav and I split the basket of breads ($14) to start which came with banana bread, multigrain toast and corn bread.  Of the 3, the banana bread was my favorite - soft, moist and full of banana flavor. The corn bread was a bit too try and crumbly for me and the multigrain toast, while good, was just basic toast to me (but I did like that it was very heavy on the grains).  It came with this delicious set of butter and jam that really added some sweetness to the breads.  For my main, I ordered the smoked salmon scramble ($18) and a side of bacon ($6) while Lav got the grits ($16).   While I know my scramble had salmon in it, $18 for a fairly small size of egg with no sides seemed overpriced to me.  I generally don't think salmon has a fishy smell but when this scramble came out, the smell of fish immediately hit my face.  I felt so bad eating in front of someone else, it's the worst smell to subject someone to (especially if they don't eat it).  Taste-wise, it didn't really hit the spot either.  In fact, I only ate half of it and stopped because it just wasn't doing it for me.  Meanwhile, the bacon was super super salty.  So salty that I could only eat 1 slice out of 5.  What a sad showing!  Lav mentioned that she wasn't super jazzed about her grits because it came with a helping for exotic mushrooms, which she wasn't a big fan of. 

I guess when you come to a veggie place, it's probably best to stick with the veggie dishes and not the ones that have fish and meat in it.  If the best dish you had is the bread basket, then something is not quite right.  I appreciate what they are trying to do and a lot of the nicer vegetarian places are very expensive (a la Dirt Candy and Semilla), so I like the idea of a more casual veggie friend place but The Beet Table still is slightly overpriced for what it's offering.  Total bill:  $42/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

The Heron Visited 1/1/2016 5 Forks

The Heron  40 Main St., Narrowsburg, NY 12764

Oh shit, did I just drop 5 Forks on my 1st review of 2016?  Yes, I did.  Maybe I'm feeling generous and wanted to start the year off on a good note, but the food at The Heron was truly outstanding and coupled with the fact that it's so freakin adorable and in the Catskills made it even more appealing. 

The Catskills/Hudson Valley area has definitely been getting tons and tons of buzz as being the new hot spot to get away for the weekend and I can see why.  It's still got this small town feel against a beautiful backdrop of the Delaware River and it's got tons of charming character that you just don't get in the city.  Each town has it's own Main Street and it's exactly what you would picture Main Street USA as.

We stopped by this place on the way back home from the city and the street screams artisanal hipster cuteness.  And you know what?  I ate it all up.  There are definitely still towns that have a very townie vibe, but the feeling here is that the locals have woken up to the flood of city folks flocking here and they have opened a bunch of cute and trendy shops, restaurants and cafes.   Walking into The Heron wasn't really that different from walking into a place in Brooklyn - in fact the crowd looked like it was entirely made up of people who came up from the city for the weekend.  The decor is farm-to-table chic complete with mason jars and distressed wood.  The menu is also what you would expect of a local sustainable restaurant with a Southern slant.  Even though the 5 of us had been consuming obscene amounts of food the past few days, we had no issue ordering half the menu at this place.  We started with the deviled eggs ($8) and the Southern style pimento cheese ($10).  I was incredibly torn between brunch and lunch but ended up going with the classic rueben ($14) because apparently corned beef is a big thing in the Catskills and I hadn't had any yet.  But I couldn't resist the nod to breakfast, so I also got a side of jalapeño cheddar grits ($5).  Aarti and Nat both got the breakfast burrito ($12) which the waitress said there is a "church" dedicated to this dish.  Will got the crispy eggs on the jalapeno cheddar grits ($12) and Kinney got the baked salmon with sirracha since he wanted to try something that he couldn't get in the city.  Nat, Kinney and Will all also wanted to each get a side of corned beef hash ($5) which seemed really aggressive, so when we asked the waitress how big the portions were, she made a tiny circle with her hands and said we should definitely get 3 - total mistake!  They were like the size of 3 giant circles made with your hand.

The deviled eggs came out as 3 halves, so we cut them in half but I honestly would have shoved every single one of them in my mouth if I was left alone with them.  They were amazing.  The yolks were perfect with the right amount of creaminess and they were mixed with goat cheese which made it even creamier and luscious.  Next the pimento cheese came out, in a mason jar of course, and it was also perfection.  The right amount of heat, cheese, mayo and garlic and spread over toast it was simply a fantastic combination on the tongue.  Such an excellent way to start the meal.  I should also mention at this point that Will got a homemade biscuit with honey butter to nibble on - jesus christ, that honey butter is like crack cocaine.  Sweet, creamy and buttery.  We had to have the waitress take it away because we would have eaten the entire pat of it.

On to the main dishes.  The rueben was a classic:  rye bread piled high with corned beef served with swiss, sauerkraut, and homemade Russian dressing.  I don't have corned beef very often but this made me really miss it.  Incredible sandwich - moist corned beef and the right amount of everything else.  I totally want to eat corned beef all the time now.  However, I could only finish half of it because of all the other food I had eaten over the weekend.  The jalapeño grits were super super cheesy, creamy and VERY spicy - if you don't like heat, don't order this because it will kick you in the mouth.  I didn't have room to try any of the other dishes but Nat and Aarti said that the breakfast burrito was amazing.  Pillow-ly soft eggs that tasted like it had a lot of sour cream mixed in it.  If there had to be one disappointment of the meal, it would probably be Kinney's salmon sandwich - he said it was good but tasted like a salmon wrap (which is basically what it was).

Overall, it was exciting to start off 2016 with such a wonderful experience.  At one point, it was snowing outside and it was just so picture perfect with the light snow, holiday lights and small town decor.  It might have been my joyful holiday spirit or that I haven't given out a 5 fork review in awhile, but the food here was truly excellent.  The service was friendly (a bit too friendly by telling us we needed 3 sides of hash) and everyone just seemed happy and calm.  It's a really nice change of pace from the city.  And even better is that all of this food was only $32/pp.  WTF?!?! This meal would have easily cost twice as much in the city.  It's totally worth the 2 1/2 hour trek to do a bit of sight seeing and incredible food.  Total bill:  $38/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Robin Hood Diner Visited 12/30/2015 3.5 Forks

Robin Hood Diner  Old Rt 17, Livingston Manor, NY 12758

A few friends and I have started this new tradition of heading up to the Catskills for New Year's Eve and locking ourselves in a cabin, making tons and tons of food and falling asleep early.  It's quite a blissful getaway from the city during that crazy time of the year.  On the way to the cabin, the boys usually stop at the Catskills Brewery for a bit of beer tasting and growler purchasing.  This year, we got off to a bit of a late start and by the time we ended up near the brewery, most of us were hungry. There weren't aren't a lot of options nearby so we narrowed down our food search to 2 places:  greasy diner food or local artisanal sandwiches.  We figured, what the heck, let's go greasy spoon diner. 

The moment I stepped into the empty diner I felt transported to the set of Twin Peaks.  The decor was super old school:  old retro furniture, 1 super friendly waitress and 1 very old guy working the grill. It couldn't be a more picture perfect diner setting if you had paid someone. We were the only ones in there except for a guy at the counter who sadly didn't seem to have enough money to eat but the kind waitress seem to let him nibble on some food for free.   It's kind of a dose of reality when you come to these local towns and see what most of rural America lives like which not the glitzy life of living in a big city.  

The menu there is classic diner food with a smattering of random German food like goulash and stuffed cabbage.  Aarti, Nat and I stuck with the diner staple of grilled cheese.  I got mine with tomato and bacon while they stuck to just cheese.  Kinney got the corned beef sandwich upon the recommendation of the waitress who said it was fresh and a very generous portion.  Will was adventurous and got the stuffed cabbage and we split an order of onion rings and fries for the table. Since we were the only ones there, the food came out lighting quick.  As expected from a diner, the grilled cheese was gooey and delicious - made from basic American cheese and wheat bread. Sometimes the most simple basic dishes like this really hit the spot and the combination of the tomato and bacon made me very warm and happy.   Nat thought that there was too much cheese in it but for me, you can never have too much cheese.  The corned beef sandwich was indeed a very full sandwich and the meat looked pink and delicious.  The stuffed cabbage was also a very large portion and came out piping hot with lots of cabbage, mashed potato and red sauce on it.  

Overall, we were happy with our meal and it's the kind of place where if you stick with the diner basics you can't really go wrong.  The waitress was super sweet and while it's obviously not a culinary wonderland, there's something to be said about a good local diner that always has a soft spot in my stomach.  Total bill:  $48 for 5 people including tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Kotobuki Visited 12/28/2015 4 Forks

Kotobuki  4822 MacArthur Blvd NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20007

Lately, every time I go home to MD, I get lunch at Sushi Yoshi in VA because their lunch specials and cuts of fish are amazing, fresh and plentiful.  So I was a bit hesitant to try something new but my old roommate had sent me a note a while back saying that she had heard that this secret sushi place near her house that was supposed to be amazing.  Now if there's anything I'm a sucker for, it's trying "secret" restaurants.  Turns out, this place isn't really super secret since there is a sign outside for it but it is upstairs from the main Japanese restaurant Makoto, which is supposedly super fancy and much more expensive.

My mom and I checked out Kotobuki on a lazy Monday afternoon for lunch and it was still super crowded.  It's pretty tiny with about 10 seats total and then maybe 5-6 seats at the bar.  It's not super fancy at all - it's basically the top floor of a slightly worn out townhouse that has a sushi bar shoved in it.  We sat at the sushi bar which was slightly cramped but manageable.  They have a fairly small lunch menu and the food leans towards more traditional fare of simple sushi, chirachi, sashimi dishes vs. crazy rolls with cream cheese, mango and other weird things in it.  We both got the sashimi lunch special ($14.95), and split a spicy scallop roll and a spicy tuna roll to round out the meal.  The sashimi comes with a miso soup which was your standard miso soup.  The rolls came out next and they looked fresh and well done.  The rice was a nice texture and the scallop was the whole piece kind not the chopped up kind, which was great.  Strangely, I don't mind when the fish is chopped up for spicy tuna or spicy salmon rolls, which is how it was prepared here.  The rolls were simple but well done - no complaints.  The lunch sashimi came with 3 pieces each of tuna, salmon, whitefish and mackerel. My only disappointment was that it came with mackerel instead of yellowtail...apparently the dinner sashimi comes with yellowtail but they charge $26.50 for that one - not sure if yellowtail is really worth $12 more.  In any case, all the cuts of fish were well cut and of good quality - even the mackerel, which I usually don't like but if it's fresh and good, I'm willing to eat it.  It was a satisfying meal even with the mackerel.

Overall, I'm glad that I branched out and tried out a new sushi place while I was home.  While I enjoyed it and it is definitely better than most of the MD suburb sushi I've had, it's not as mouth watering or delectable as my experiences at Sushi Yoshi or Tachibana in VA.  It's still worth a visit, especially at such relatively affordable lunch prices.  Total bill:  $50 for 2 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge Visited 12/27/2015 3 Forks

Clyde's Tower Oaks Lodge  2 Preserve Pkwy, Rockville, MD 20852

I have been to Clyde's years ago and didn't remember it to be too memorable but it's right across the street from my mom's house so when Jeana recommended it for brunch, it was easy enough to say yes and walk over.  

The place is huge and decorated like a old elk lodge - the whole place feels like you are in a log cabin lodge in Colorado vs. a restaurant in the suburbs of Maryland.  Since it was still the holidays, the place was even more dressed up with tons of holiday lights and tinsel - it was actually kind of cute in this super fake way.  The menu was both brunch and lunch focused which always gives me anxiety and stress.  I noticed on the lunch menu that their raw bar happy hour included Sundays from 11-1pm and even though it sounded kind of gross to get raw oysters or clams so early in the morning, I'm such a sucker for oyster HH that I couldn't pass it up.  I got 1/2 a dozen littleneck clams ($8.95 regular priced) to start and then because I'm in MD, I got the Chesapeake eggs benedict ($17.95) and Jeana got the corned beef hash ($13.95).  I wasn't expecting much from the clams but when they came out I was beyond shocked.  There was almost nothing in any of them - I mean, less than 1/2 bite in each half shell.  I was on the verge of sending them back because I couldn't believe that they could actually serve that in good faith but I decided to "eat" them anyways.  It makes me fully appreciate amazing raw bar places like Maison Premiere because this serving was beyond pitiful.  If I stopped my review here, I would actually give this place 1 fork.  But luckily, I had my real dish come out and while it didn't totally make up for it, it was a solid crab cake benedict.  The egg was very runny and the Old Bay hollandaise sauce was plentiful.  You can taste and see real lump crake meat in there. Each mixed bite of yolk, crab meat and hollandaise sauce was sinful.  The breakfast potatoes that came with it were fine - standard breakfast potatoes.  While I didn't try Jeana's dish, she commented that she was not that pleased with it as it seemed dry and not seasoned well. 

If I had stuck just to the benedict, this place would probably be a 3.5 fork place as it was good but not stellar.  The service was a bit confusing as first (the waitress didn't know if it was actually raw bar happy hour and couldn't confirm for Jeana if they had wheat toast in the kitchen) but I appreciated that they let us stay at the restaurant for over 3 hours to talk without shooing us out or giving us dirty looks.  Overall, I'd say it's a bit overpriced and overhyped for what it is but when you're trapped in the suburbs there really aren't that many places that serve brunch so I'll take what I can get.  Total bill:  $28/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Slash Run Visited 12/26/2016 3.5 Forks

Slash Run 201 Upshur St NW, Washington, DC 20011

I have always been a huge fan of solid burger joints especially ones that have a heavy metal theme to it (i.e. Kuma's Corner in Chicago).  I was home for the holidays and got to catch up with some long time friends from elementary-high school and we ended up at Slash Run since it was near my friend Martha's place.  Given that it was the day after Christmas, it was pretty quiet and low key but that was great because that's exactly what we wanted.  This place is a true local joint as judged by many patrons wearing Redskins jersey since the big game was on that night - even better! 

The decor is kitschy, rock n roll and comforting all at once.  The menu centers around bar food and lots of local beers on tap.  We got the fontina artichoke dip ($9) to start while we mulled over our burger choices.  They have a nice variety of burgers that range from basic (simple bacon cheese burger) to the random (one with pineapple relish and pork rinds).  I was torn but opted to get the Le Petite Mort ($11.95) which was a burger with blue cheese crumble, garlic aioli, arugula, and mushrooms sautéed in red wine.  Did I mention that all the burgers came with waffle fries - yum! The fontina dip was what you expected of an artichoke dip - gooey and cheesy.  Next came the burgers - they were a very generous portion and mine was cooked medium rare with a bit more emphasis on the medium but it wasn't so brown that I felt like I had to send it back.  I enjoyed the combination of the blue cheese and mushroom - in fact, I was actually a bit disappointed that there wasn't more toppings to the burger, although that's probably slightly healthier for me.  The patty was juicy and moist but it didn't necessarily have me wanting to drool over it like I did at Black Tap but if I lived nearby I can see why it would be a cool neighborhood joint to relax and chill out.  The waffle fries were a pleasant addition - other than steak fries, I am a total sucker for waffle fries and these were nice and crisp and really paired well with the burger and beer I had. 

Overall, the Slash Run is a nice rock n roll local joint that's unpretentious and chill.   It seems like a good Sunday Funday kind of place to go and have a few beers with friends.  While the food itself is basically bar food, I give them props for trying to be creative with it - especially in a up and coming part of DC (there's an artisanal pickle shop coming soon!).  The service was a bit slow despite it being not crowded at all but I guess, who really wants to work on the Saturday after Christmas anyways?  Total bill:  $36/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  The Washtingtonian 

Rosa Mexicano Visited 12/22/2015 3 Forks

Rosa Mexicano  9 E 18th St., New York, NY 10003

It's actually amazing how I've managed to live in NYC for 15 years and have never been to Rosa Mexicano before.  It's a staple of the New York Union Square scene due to its central location but I've just always heard mediocre things about it and with so many other places to try in the city, it just never made it to the top of my list. 

However, when the holiday season rolled in and Jenn and Eric were in town, we tried to find a fun place to go for dinner but it was almost impossible to get a reservation anywhere in the city for dinner for a large party, so this was the best option for a party of 12 in December.  This place is actually perfect for large parties because it's so freakin large.  The space is cavernous and it seemed like every table was at least a party of 5+.  We were seated in a huge circular table in the back - but it was so hard to hear that the only people I could talk to were the people seated immediately to my left and right. 

The menu is what you would expect in a place like this - very group friendly non-authentic Mexican food.   We started off with guacamole ($14) for the table because that's just what you do at a place like this - it's made table side, which honestly doesn't impress me but at least I can see them using fresh avocados and other ingredients.  For my main meal, I opted to get the ceviche ($15) and the fish tacos ($19).  Most of the other people at the table also seemed to get the fish tacos or fajitas.  While I knew that the ceviche was made with shrimp, I couldn't somehow still be a bit disappointed by it. Don't get me wrong, the shrimp in it was actually quite tasty and good but to me, true ceviche is made with fish in it and this didn't have any of it in the dish.  I also wasn't a huge fan of the tomatoes or cucumber in it.  To me, the perfect ceviche is simple fresh fish, red onion, lime juice and some cilantro - nothing fancy, just a few basic ingredients to really make the fish stand out.  This just tasted like a good cold shrimp dish.  Unfortunately, the fish taco didn't really make up for it.  It was 3 fairly decent sized tacos served with grilled mahi mahi, cabbage, and a spicy tartare sauce.  The fish was super bland and unseasoned.  The dish was pretty boring - by the end, I picked out just the fish and ate that part because the soft taco shell and cabbage wasn't doing much for me but the whole dish overall needed to be brought up a notch.   I wasn't expecting too much from a restaurant that is churning out thousands of dishes a night but it would have been nice to have had one last enjoyable meal with the group before the holiday season. 

Despite it all, the overall experience was pleasant enough because of the good company and the killer margaritas.  If you're in a tight bind for a place to go for a big group, this place isn't a terrible suggestion because clearly it isn't difficult to make a reservation.  But if you're looking for a culinary treat or something cozy and intimate, Rosa Mexicano isn't really your place.  Total bill:  $64/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp