Misi Visited October 2018 4 Forks

Misi  329 Kent Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11249

Ahh Misi.  So much controversy over this place.  It's by the same people as Lilia  so obviously this means getting a reservation here is also impossible.  I don't understand how certain places just consistently no have openings and/or only have 11pm slots available.  You basically have to log on to Resy as soon as they open up their reservation slots and book right away.  You thought you were buying tickets to see Radiohead, not get a table at an Italian restaurant. 

But the good news is that I liked this place much better than Lilia.  I don't know what it is about that place but I just could never get on the bandwagon like everyone else.  Don't get me wrong, it's not bad but people obsess over it.  So I was going in with slightly low expectations here and if I had to go through a painful reservation process, I would much rather do it for a table here instead. 

Lav and I went for her birthday and we started with the roasted tomatoes with chili and the charred peppers for appetizers.  The peppers were not what I was expecting at all.  While the menu did say that it was served with ricotta, what it doesn't mention is that it's served separately with a plate of way too crusty bread topped with almost foam like ricotta and then you get a plate of peppers.  I wasn't really sure how to eat it - I guess you put the peppers on the bread?  In any case, it was good, just very unexpected presentation.

But the stars of the show here are the pasta dishes.  It's so freakin hard to narrow it down but I ultimately went with the pork fettuccine but honestly after seeing all the other pasta dishes other tables were getting, I don't think I could have gone wrong with any other of the dishes.  The pasta was simply fantastic - perfectly al dente and really enjoyable. 

They are also known for their gelato so we got the chocolate one and while it's not like the ones I had in Italy, it was pretty damn good. 

Overall, I would say skip the appetizers so that you can leave room for most pastas and dessert.  It's definitely a step up from Lilia in my opinion but others probably feel differently.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Oxomoco Visited October 2018 4 Forks

Oxomoco  128 Greenpoint Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11222

Oxomoco has been part of the trend of super hot restaurants popping up in Greenpoint.  I've always loved Greenpoint but it's certainly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the dining scene.  I had been wanting to try this place out and met up with Paige there on a random weekday night.  It was packed but luckily we were still able to get a table there without much of a wait. 

The menu is high end but still relatable Mexican food.  Of course as with any Mexican meal, we had to get the guacamole ($15) - which by the way, when the hell did guacamole become so crazy expensive?? Thanks Trump.  Every time I get guacamole I feel the same way, it's good but never feels any better than the kind I can make at home myself.  But it just feels wrong to be eating Mexican food without smashed up avocados.  The tacos are the main stars here and we got the shrimp, pork cheek and barbacoa (you can get them in twos or threes ($15-$24) - since we were getting so many we opted for the two's version, which I think is the better way to go if you want some variety).  They were all excellent - the meats moist and juicy and all served with really fresh ingredients and salsa.  The tortillas tasted like the homemade ones I got in Mexico City and made with blue corn.   No sour cream or rice and beans to be found here (although don't get me wrong, I love them on the right kind of Mexican food).

It's no wonder this place is so popular.  I should also give a shout out to their cocktail list - my Paloma was excellent.  While Greenpoint isn't always the easiest place to get to, it's places like this that show why it's a great food destination to check out. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Speedy Romeo Visited October 2018 3.5 Forks

Speedy Romeo  63 Clinton St., New York, NY 10002

My friends and I were originally going to a Cuban place for brunch in Bed-Stuy but sadly they had been broken into the night before.  While I always tout how safe Brooklyn is and how bougie it has gotten, it was still a sign that you never know these days.

So we had to quickly pivot and luckily Speedy Romeo was not too far away and it was early enough that we could get a table for 6 super easily.  While I love pizza in all forms at any time, my experience here lead me to believe that maybe I don't like breakfast pizza as much as I do regular pizza.  But I love a good runny egg and I wanted to try something different.  The breakfast pizza ($21) reminded me a bit more like a white pie as it didn't have all the best parts of a red pizza pie - namely the cheese and red sauce.  Instead, it was kind of like a dry pizza crust with an egg baked on it with ham, provel and some hot sauce.  I was just missing the moist, gooey factor for me.  It was have also used a lot more hot sauce for me to make up for the lack of tomato flavor.

Even though we got there pretty much right when the doors opened the service was still super slow and the table we got was a high top and it was kind of uncomfortable.  All this being said, I would still come back - maybe more for dinner and try out a regular tomato based pizza instead.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Estancia 460 Visited October 2018 3.5 Forks

Estancia 460 460 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013

Estancia is a nice neighborhood type place and not a destination dining place.  But sometimes you just need good classic joint as not every meal needs to be some crazy fancy night out.  Since two of my friends live in the Tribeca area, I met up with a few of my B-school friends here for a long overdue catch up.   The place is perfect for a casual meet up as it's not too crowded and it's not very loud. 

The menu has got a little bit of everything - salads, sandwiches and several eggy dishes for brunch.   I got the Milanesa sandwich ($14), which was a breaded chicken breast, arugula, tomato, mayo on a toasted baguette.  Overall, it was pretty tasty but I felt like they could have used a bigger chicken cutlet.  But the best part of the meal were the french fries.  They were like your classic MacDonald-like fries - perfectly salted and nice and crunchy. 

Like I said, we came here because it was low key and allowed us to have some good food and cocktails while not having to deal with lines or crowds.   I don't see myself running back here if I wasn't in the area but if you need a solid casual place in the Tribeca area give it a look-see. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Industry Kitchen Visited October 2018 2.5 Forks

Industry Kitchen  70 South St., New York, NY 10005

I know it's been an extremely long delay in between posts but I've been traveling a done and it's been difficult to keep up with the blog now.  I've been thinking of scaling back or changing how often I update it, but I'm going to try my best to at least get as many reviews in now.  As a result, the next batch of reviews might be more on the minimalist side - sorry!

Randomly, I ended up going to Industry Kitchen twice in a week but totally by accident.  The first time, I picked it for a  team lunch and the 2nd time a work client picked it for a work dinner.  I guess I'll start with the good part is that the views are lovely and it's right by the water near the South Street Seaport.   The area has really come back to life post-Sandy.

On to the bad part, the menu looks great but the execution of the food was not good.  For lunch I got a calamari salad ($17), which turned out to be 2 pieces of grilled squid on a bed of quinoa with some avocado.  While it was a super healthy meal, I kind of expected more from a salad.  I just left me feeling super underwhelmed and still hungry.  I ended up nibbling on some garlic bread which was drenched in some kind of sauce and fried potatoes that were also drenched in garlic ketchup.

The lunch was a meh experience and I probably wouldn't have wanted to go back again until literally the next day our client picked this place too.  I couldn't say no but the dinner meal also re-affirmed by suspicions.  I got the steak ($26) and it was incredibly heavy handed on the garlic and salt.  Plus the potatoes were super soggy and soaking in the meat juice - in a very unappealing way.

It's such a bummer because the location and view are great here (which is really what's keeping this place from getting an even lower fork rating) but I can't say that I would come back anytime soon after 2 straight bad experiences.

Photo Credit: Yelp

James Hook and Co Visited 9/28/2018 4 Forks

James Hook and Co  15-17 Northern Ave., Boston, MA 02110

I was in Boston for a partner event and of course you can't go to Boston without getting a lobster roll.  It was a bit challenging because I was really only there for 24 hours and most of the time I was at a partner sponsored event so there wasn't much time to skip out to eat.  But Farzana and I managed to squeeze in 1 lobster roll in the morning before our 12pm flight.  Yes,  I had lobster at 10am but it was definitely worth it. 

We calculated that if we made it to James Hook right when it opened at 10am and ordered right away, we could still make it to the airport in time for our flight.  If I had more time (and if it wasn't before lunch time),  I would definitely have stayed longer and ordered a lot more food.  It's not really a restaurant but more of a seafood market that serves up a few eat-in dishes.  I could spend all day eating lobster, shrimp, chowder, clams and everything else they had there but I was on a mission for the lobster roll.  It's $20 and it's extremely  simple - huge chunks of lobster lightly dressed with mayo and nothing else.  It's served in a hot dog bun - not a potato bun which I docked .5 fork for (personal preference) but overall it was a really solid and tasty roll.   You could definitely taste the fresh lobster meat and it was a good mix of tail and claw. 

When we started to leave at 11am, it was already starting to get busy.  For this price point and for the other variety of food, I could definitely see myself coming here fairly often if I lived in the area. 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

1 Week in Amsterdam 9/15-9/22/2018 Part 3 - 4.5 Forks

Bird Thais  Zeedijk 72-74, 1012 BA Amsterdam                                                                      4.5 Forks

Who knew there would be delicious Thai food in the middle of the Red Light District?  But there is!  This place was super crowded with tourists and locals alike but it's definitely worth waiting for - especially if you've been eating kind of mediocre Dutch food for the past few days.   My usual go to food when I get home from any work or personal trip is a visit to my local Thai place, so this was a nice early detour to get some much needed Asian flavors and spices into my system.

The menu is extremely extensive and has all the usual suspects but they also have a lot of unique dishes too.  I opted to go for a red curry with squid (16 euros) and Farzana got a lychee curry.  We started with some fish cakes for the table, which were super tasty and some chicken thighs wrapped in bamboo leaves which were great too.  My squid curry was excellent - spicy but not to the point where you can't taste anything.  The squid was also prepared nicely and had a nice bite to it.  The usual blandness of the squid absorbed all the flavors of the red curry really well.  I tried the lychee curry and you know what?  It was actually really tasty - it was the perfect balance of sweetness and saltiness.  I wonder why more places don't play with these two flavors more?

Sadly the only bummer of the night was that they ran out of mango sticky rice for dessert.  I saw another table get it and it looked amazing.  Waa Waa.  This place was definitely a great find and highly recommended if you're looking for a reprise from the chicken and potatoes that you usually find in Dutch restaurants.

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Water and Brood  Nieuwe Kerkstraat 84, 1018 EC Amsterdam                                                3 Forks

I'll give this place props and say that it's super cute and very Instagram worthy - which seems to be very important to restaurants these days.  It looks like the kind of place where a lot of students go to hang out or study but it is tiny so I wouldn't recommend going relax and chill out with a cup of coffee.  The staff is incredibly sweet here so the only bummer is that the dish that I ordered wasn't especially delicious (although now I see that they have taken it off the menu on their website, so maybe they knew that too). 

The menu is a combination of sandwiches, burgers and all day brunch-y food like omelet's and breakfast burritos.  For some reason, the Philly Cheesesteak was calling my name. I know, how good could a traditional American sandwich be in Amsterdam but I had to try it out. 

The steak wasn't thin stripes like in a traditional Philly way, but more like chopped up cubes of meat  and there wasn't enough melted cheese to it.  On top of that, the bread was med and dry.  Overall, I took a risk and that risk didn't pay off.  I took a small bite out of Farzana's omelet and it was pretty tasty - so I guess the lesson to be learned here is that you should stick to the basics in a cafe in Amsterdam and leave the cheesesteaks to the guys in Philly.  Total bill:  30 euros

Photo Credit:  Yelp