Rue 57 Visited 3/20/2016 3 Forks

Rue 57  60 W 57th St., New York, NY 10019

In all my years of living in NYC, I have actually never been to Carnegie Hall.  So when my friend Amy invited me to a show (never mind what the actual show was - it wasn't that good but that's not the point) I thought it would be a fun thing to cross off my NYC bucket list.  Unfortunately, Carnegie Hall is located right smack in the middle of Midtown and tourist land.  I don't know of any good places to eat around there and luckily Amy had thought before hand and made a reservation at Rue 57 which was right around the corner. 

The place is hopping with tourists (it is near Central Park) and locals trying to get a meal in before a show.  The space is pretty large and it's got a very classic French bistro feel to it.  They do a really good job of creating a cozy feel in the middle of a bustling city.  Even though we had accidentally canceled our reservation (we thought we were going to eat elsewhere), they were kind enough to still squeeze us in when we came crawling back.  The menu here is what you would expect of a French Bistro at brunch - lots of brunchy options as well as sandwiches, salads and steak frites.  They also strangely had a full sushi menu too - not sure why.  I decided to stick to egg options and got the Country Omelette ($16.25).  I wasn't sure if the dish came with anything on the side but when I read that it came with roasted fingerling potatoes, bacon and gruyere, I figured it would be a lot of food. So I guess I just read the menu wrong because instead of the potatoes and bacon coming on the side, the actual omelette was stuffed with these ingredients which was totally unexpected (even though as I re-read the menu now, that's clearly what it meant).  The portion size was HUGE - enough for 2 people and to be honest, stuffing an omelette with potatoes isn't really all that great.  Plus there was waaay to much bacon (gasp, I can't believe I'm saying that) and it tasted more like bacon bits rather than fresh cut bacon.  While I was very full at the end, I definitely felt like I forced myself to eat more than I should of a mediocre dish.  

The location and speed of service makes this place a logical choice if you are going to catch a show at Carnegie Hall or anything in the area.  It's definitely not a place I would voluntarily go to on my own but it did get the job done.  Just expect tons of tourists and basic brunch food.  Total bill:  $25/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp   

Llama Inn Visited 3/19/2016 4 Forks

Llama Inn  50 Withers St. Williamsburg, NY 11211

While I have never been to Peru before, I have been a fan of their food for a while, starting with ceviche and obviously their roast chicken.  But you actually don't see a lot of Peruvian restaurants around town - so I was intrigued when I read about this place which was a  <10 -="" and="" apt.="" decor="" from="" gorgeous="" huge="" in.="" is="" light="" lots="" min="" modern="" my="" nbsp="" of="" pouring="" space="" span="" the="" very="" walk="" windows="" with="">

It is one of the hotter restaurants on the scene now, so it took me over 2 weeks to get a reservation on a weekend that was at a decent time - ok, it was 6pm on a Saturday but that's better than 10pm or 5pm.   Even though I knew it was hard to get a reservation, I was still shocked by how incredibly crowded it was at 6pm - almost every table was taken already.   The menu is all shareable and is broken out veggies, fish, meat and large format dishes (there were only 2 options, either the whole roasted chicken or the beef tenderloin) as well as some anticucho which are basically skewers.  Paige and I opted to get the pork belly anticucho ($5), the ceviche ($18) and the large format beef tenderloin ($48).  As you can see from the prices, they are a wee bit high for what they are.  The pork belly skewers were as what you would expect - fatty, meaty and juicy.  There were 3 skewers that came with pickled chilis and spicy mayo.  They were a nice start to the meal.  The ceviche was a corvina fish (similar to a croaker or mild white fish) served thin with plantains, habanero, red onion and cilantro.  There was tons of acid and sourness to this dish, which I actually don't mind but it was very prominent.  I usually like my ceviche with cubes of fish - these were sliced very thin and was more like a carpaccio dish then ceviche but not a real deal breaker to the overall dish.  

As for the star attraction - the beef tenderloin dish came out and Paige and I were both like WTF did we just order?  I had read about it on The Infatuation, so I was prepared that it would be this crazy dish but it didn't really prepare me for it when I saw it in person.  It is basically a heaping sizzling plate full of cuts of beef tenderloin marinated in soy sauce topped with freakin FRENCH FRIES and covered in a spicy mayo type sauce and then served with scallion pancakes on the side so that you can wrap them all into a mini taco of sorts.  They they also serve fresh sliced avocado and pickled chilis for you to garnish the dish with.  It was all sorts of crazy - who tops a dish with french fries?  But you know what? It was heart stoppingly deliciousness and apparently it's some kind of national dish in Peru.  I mean, you feel terrible afterwards when you've realized what you've eaten but the combination of sizzling beef, french fries with spicy sauce wrapped in a scallion pancake is kind genius.  I was really pushing it at the end, but you can get 3 tacos each per person out of this and you'll still be left with french fries on the plate. 

Despite this monstrosity of food, Paige and I still managed to order bread pudding for dessert and it was a very solid moist bread pudding.   The only reason why I didn't give this place a higher review is that the service was super super slow.  We waited forever on every aspect of our meal - getting our drinks ordered, ordering our main meal, to getting more drinks and getting the bill.  The waiter was very nice but the meal just took way longer than it needed to.  It's definitely a lovely addition to the Williamsburg neighborhood, hopefully they can get their service in check a bit!  Total bill: $100/pp with tax, tip and lots of wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Akiko's Restaurant 3/16/2016 5 Forks

Akiko's Restaurant  431 Bush St., San Francisco, CA 94108

Fuck me.  This place is seared in my brain as one of the best sushi experiences I've had in a while.  It might be because I went on a super casual Wednesday for lunch, so it wasn't crowded at all and the weather in SF was absolutely perfect, so I was in an unusually good mood.  I had read about this place based on the review in The Infatuation (they almost never steer me wrong) and it was luckily a 7 min walk from my hotel.  Perfect!  The place is a bit hard to find - it has literally no sign on the outside.  It's right on the corner of Bush Street and this cute alley way that has an Irish pub in it.  I got there right when it opened and got an excellent seat at the sushi bar.  The decor was simple but still upscale with full floor to ceiling windows and the sun shining right through. 

I was a bit nervous at first when I noticed that all the sushi chefs were not Japanese but as soon as they started talking to me about sushi, I knew they were legit.  Soon this guy sits next to me at the bar and he clearly knew the chef and I found out he was a sushi chef at another restaurant and it was just his off day.  He started shooting the shit with the chef here and it was like nothing I had ever heard before.  The intense passion they had for the culture and food was very inspiring and it was literally all they talked about for 1 1/2 hours.  Their knowledge and love for sushi had me very enamored with both of them and made me kind of sad to not have a job that I felt that strongly about (although they both claimed to be making no money).  The chef here told me that making salmon avocado roll is his worst nightmare, so you can imagine the level of food here.  It's all stripped down, basic, authentic sushi.  No California rolls or Philly rolls in sight.  I was dying to get the omakase but I restrained myself.  Instead I got uni sushi to start ($12 for 2 pieces) and the sashimi/tempura lunch ($19).  I saw the uni come out of the box and the chef told me it was Santa Barbara uni - amazing!!  This is the kind of stuff I live for and since it was from right down the coast, it just seemed fresher than ever.   The sashimi/tempura lunch comes with a very small but elegant sashimi starter - basic cuts of yellowtail, salmon, tuna, and white tuna. They were all melt in your mouth high quality fish. Incredible.  

The tempura came out next and it's a VERY large serving of veggies and shrimp.  The tempura batter was a bit on the thick side but nothing too terrible.  While it was a very good and filling tempura meal, I couldn't help but wish that I had stuck to just fish instead.  Everything the chef was making for other people looked mind blowing.  I watched him serve up all sorts of unique types of fish to his friend, using the blow torch and other tools to really do it up.  I ended up striking up a nice conversation with the guy sitting next to me and asked what he liked best (he had about 10 pieces of sushi).  He had said that the monkfish liver was really good and I was a bit skeptical, so the chef kindly gave me a free tasting.  It was creamy and quite smooth - I can absolutely see why they call it froie gras of the sea  - totally spot on description of what it was.  I was torn between getting scallop or sweet shrimp sushi but the chef swayed me on to barracuda.  I couldn't remember if I had it or not before but it was a really lovely smooth mild fish.  It was gorgeous in presentation and I loved that I tried a few different things that I normally wouldn't get.  I could have literally sat there for 3 more hours talking to that guy and trying different types of fish and been happy as a clam. 

By the time I left, I was full and happy.  I don't know if it was the sun or the intense passion that the 2 chefs (ok, it can border on being a bit snobby but I was ok with it) had but it was all around such a joyful meal for me.  My only big regret is not going full on sushi/sashimi and not splurging more (even if it meant paying out of pocket for it).  This will definitely be my go-to sushi place whenever I am in town again.  Trust me, sit at the bar and do the omakase.  Your mouth and soul will thank you for it.  Tip:  Don't mix this up with Akiko Sushi which is around the corner from it.  I don't know what it's like there but definitely make sure to make a reservation at the right place.  Total bill:  $50 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Hog Island Oyster Co Visited 3/15/2016 4.5 Forks

Hog Island Oyster Co  1 Ferry Bldg, San Francisco, CA 94111

Oh, Hog Island, how I love thee.  I've been here a few times before and I'm not sure why I've never blogged about it before.  While I know the Ferry Building is a bit touristy, it's still very popular with locals and it's still one of my go-to spots when I'm in SF.  It's just such a calming place for me and it's right by the water with gorgeous views of the Bay.  Hog Island might be my 2nd favorite oyster place behind Maison Premiere and it's a very close second.  

I stopped by the restaurant after the conference was over on Tuesday and got there right before the crowds really started to settle in.  I got a nice seat at the bar and was immediately torn about what to order.  I wasn't super hungry even though I could have easily eaten everything on the menu.  Even though I was on a corporate card, I couldn't really bring myself to go too crazy with the ordering.  I settled on 1/2 dozen bar mix of oysters ($20) and the steamers ($15).  I've always preferred West Coast oysters over East Coast oysters and this definitely confirmed my love for them.  I don't remember the exact types but they were all amazing - hearty, briny and delicious.  If they weren't so expensive here, I would have ordered another 2 dozen of them.  I was a bit surprised that they didn't have a Happy Hour special but I guess they get such great business that they don't really need it to bring in a crowd.  If you are in to oysters, definitely get the bar mix so that you can try a little bit of everything.  The steamers were also great - piled high with Manila clams, corona beans, fennel sausage, and leeks in a buttery white wine broth.   I was pleased with the amount of food in it given that I had opted not to get it with pasta.  The broth was such buttery goodness that I was sopping it all up with the crusty delicious bread that I was trying to stay away from but couldn't (it comes from next door - Acme Bread). 

Overall, this is the kind of place that has a spot place in my heart because it's super casual but serves amazingly fresh seafood at a price that isn't too hard to swallow.  Everyone there was super friendly and tourist place, be damned, it's totally worth it no matter if you are a local or a visitor.  Total bill:  $45 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Sushiritto Visited 3/15/2016 3 Forks

Sushiritto  388 Market St., Ste 107, San Francisco, CA 94111

I stumbled upon Sushiritto totally by accident.  I was walking around downtown SF on my way to another poke stand when I noticed a long line of people on Market Street.  Now I am a total sucker for long lines and peered around the line to see what everyone was waiting for and the sign said Sushiritto.  I had vague recollections of reading about this place and I thought to myself "Why Not?" - I'm only in SF for a limited amount of time and I had already had delicious poke the day before at Bowl'd Acai, so why not try something unexpected.  I had gathered from the name of the place that it was a sushi + burrito.  Honestly, it did sound kind of gross but a long line 10 people deep couldn't be wrong right? 

The menu is actually mostly cooked fish burritos with the exception of the Satori and the Geisha's Kiss.  All the other burritos had either cooked fish, tempura or some other kind of warm food in it, so it's actually not all a combination of sushi and burrito. I had wanted to try the Santori because it was yellowtail focused but by the time I got up to the counter around 12:30, they were already sold out of it!  Bummer.  So I opted for the Geisha's Kiss which was made with raw tuna, tamago (Japanese omelette), piquillo peppers, lotus chips, cucumber, lettuce, ginger guac, yuzu tobkiko and sesame white soya all wrapped in rice and seaweed.  

At first glance, I was relieved that it wasn't full of rice.  I was afraid that it would be super rice heavy with not much else.  But I was bummed that it wasn't also big on the tuna but instead full of the other ingredients.  It was definitely not as weird of a dish as it sounded - in fact, it tasted exactly like what you would think - a giant tuna hand roll.  The seaweed needed a bit of re-enforcement since as soon as I took a bite of it, it completely fell apart in my hands.  I will say that it was a pretty filling meal and was probably not all that terrible for you since it was light on the white rice.  It was definitely a fun SF novelty (although I heard there is a place in NYC that has it now too) which I'm glad to cross off my list but I'm not sure if it's something I really need to do again.  Total bill:  $15 with tax and drink 

Bowl'd Acai Visited 3/14/2016 4.5 Forks

Bowl'd Acai  14 Mint Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94103

Oh my, this is the kind of stuff I LOVE about California.  It's so freaking hippie dippie but so awesome at the same time.  I totally stumbled upon this place by accident.  I was having breakfast at one of my other favorite places in SF, Blue Bottle, when I saw this acai food truck pull up into Mint Plaza.  I've had acai a few times in Brazil and while I didn't love it, I am still fascinated by it's super food status.  I quickly googled this truck and discovered that they also have a poke bowl option too! Perfect.  I made a beeline for this place during lunch time and was pleasantly happy to see that there were only a few people in line.  

The acai bowls all sounded great and looked delicious but I was here for one thing and one thing only, poke.  They only have 1 poke option which is brown rice with fresh cubes of tuna (marinated in what tasted like a soy/sesame oil/ginger mixture), macadamia nuts, scallions and black sesame.  You can also add hot sauce to it - I got it medium which was the right amount of heat for me.  The guy who ran the truck was super friendly and nice and he reminded me why CA can be so great sometimes.  He was just really happy and positive to all the customers who came to the truck.  I didn't wait too long for my food and when I got it, it was a beautiful sight - lots of fresh fish piled high on a bed of brown rice.  It just reeks of healthiness and it was delicious to boot.  It's such a simple and easy dish and a great nutritious lunch time option.  I was super tempted to come back the next day and get an acai bowl for breakfast but there were so many other places to try in SF that I didn't come back but I would most definitely come back here in a heart beat and if they ever need a NYC extension, I'm totally here to help!  My only complaint about it was that there isn't a whole lot of seating in the plaza and the outdoor seating that did have tables were for customers of those cafes and restaurants, so if you wan to sit, they have a few chairs but you might be better off taking it to go and sitting somewhere else. Total bill:  $15 with tax and tip

Dojima Ann Visited 3/13/2016 3 Forks

Dojima Ann  219 O'Farrell St., San Francisco, CA 94102

I was staying downtown in the Union Square area which was great because the area is full of Japanese restaurants (unsurprising given that it's SF).  I was exhausted from the day and ducked into this place not too far from my hotel. This seemed like it would be a good place judging from the crowdedness and homey feel to it.  It had a similar waiting model to Ramen Parlor where you put your name on a list by the door and wait to get seated.  Luckily, since I was only 1, so I got seated right away.  I sat at the very small sushi "bar" - it was really just a ledge that had 3 small stools and it didn't face a sushi bar but the bustling kitchen instead.  The menu is HUGE and had a bunch of Japanese comfort food like donburi, udon, soba, bento boxes, and of course sushi - they also had a lot of specials written on the walls as well.  I wasn't starving so I wanted to get some sashimi and ended up getting the sashimi platter, which came with soup and salad. 

The miso soup came with fried bit of tofu instead of the usual silken kind.  While I know that almost all miso soup from a restaurant is usually made from a powder or mix - this kind of too real for me because it just looked too packaged.  The salad was your standard salad except it wasn't a carrot ginger dressing but some other kind of vinaigrette which was totally fine.  Then I waited for my sashimi...it was a bit weird to be sitting at a sushi bar and not see the fish they use for the sushi. The sashimi came out and it was quite a large portion.  Similar to Yama in NYC, the cuts of fish were enormous - multi-bite pieces.  They were definitely not your delicate fine cuts that you see in more traditional places or even like at Yuba.  The salmon, tuna and yellowtail were all fine but my true test if the fish is really spot on is when I eat the mackerel or octopus.  Unfortunately, neither of these cuts of fish were very good here - it's kind of what makes people not want to eat raw fish.  The mackerel pieces were also huge and super super fishy tasting.  It didn't taste like I was eating something that was made with care or high quality.  I ate 1 piece and couldn't eat the 2nd one.  Same with the octopus.  I've had good octopus before and I could just tell from looking at it that it would be super chewy and not pleasant on the tongue.  Again, I ate the 1st one but not the 2nd piece.

The guy next to me got a donburi dish that looked pretty good - so maybe this is the kind of place where you should stick to the non-sushi (or at least non-sashimi) stuff?  The cuts of "normal" fish were totally edible and fine, if not, just cut too large.  This place is totally passable if you are tired and in a pinch but I will review another sushi place not too far from it that was fucking out of this world in term of quality, presentation, authenticity and well, price too.  Total bill:  $30/pp with tax, tip and hot tea

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Farmer Brown Visited 3/13/2016 3.5 Forks

Farmer Brown  25 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94102

Ahhh, San Francisco.  I have such a love/hate relationship with this city.  It's a great city with the views of the water and a great food scene but slowly the city has become a total cliche right out of the show Silicon Valley.  Literally the city is full of socially awkward, hoodie/back pack wearing engineers who only want to start about the start-up or app they are working on.  It's a bit overwhelming.  But there are still pockets of hippie bohemians still flocking around the city.  The hippie Southern rockers all seemed to be hanging out at Farmer Brown - a soul food place in the middle of the Tenderloin area, which is quite unique as SF is generally filled with either Mexican or Japanese food.  

Louise had gotten us a reservation for 1:30 for brunch which sounded great.  The place was packed when we got there.  While they have a full brunch menu, the star of the show is their Southern-Soul food packed buffet ($25.95).  It's got fried chicken, waffles, biscuit, gravy, scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, catfish, cajun potatoes, succotash veggies, brownies, banana bread, fruit salad and house salad. But when we sat down the waiter told us that they would stop filling the buffet at 2pm, which was 15 mins from when we sat down.  WTF?! Who stops brunch smack in the middle of the afternoon - especially on a lazy Sunday?  So we rushed over to the buffet to pile on everything that we could on our plate.  They still had a little bit of everything but you could tell that it was definitely down to it's last bits.  We were also disappointed that they were out of the biscuits and gravy - how can you have soul food with no biscuits and gravy?!  Luckily, the waiter was nice enough to sneak into the kitchen and get us a few extra.  The food was all pretty filling and I was a big fan of the cornmeal catfish - it was flakey and not too heavy on the cornmeal.  The fried chicken was nice and crispy although I would have liked to have gotten a few thigh or drumsticks, as by the time we got there, all they had left were the wings which was a bit thin on meat.  

Our friend May got there 45 mins late, so we asked to move to a larger table but it took forever for the waitstaff to figure out what to do with us and when they did find us a table it was smack in front of the live band that was there.  Maybe I am just an old lady and despite the guys being kind of cute, I was so not in the mood to have an electric guitar blaring in my right ear during brunch.  We quickly packed up our things and asked for the check but apparently that was a pain for them and that took forever too.  While I like the idea of live music, it just wasn't what I was in the mood for.  If you do want to come here for the buffet, definitely come here early so that you aren't eating the dregs of the pan and/or forced to sit next to the band.  Total bill:  $30/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Ramen Parlor Visited 3/12/2016 3.5 Forks

Ramen Parlor  901 S B St., San Mateo, CA 94401

When I had to go to SF for a work conference, I jumped at the chance to go early and visit several of my good friends.  First stop, San Mateo to visit Neera and Levi and their adorable daughters.  San Mateo is about 15 minutes from the airport, so it's a convenient first stop before heading into the city. It's a cute town with its own downtown area but it's definitely doesn't have the same vibe as being in the city. 

 I've stayed with Neera and Levi before and have always found good eating options there.  I mean, this is California after all.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain on Saturday night and we were going to try for Ramen Dojo, which is apparently the best ramen in town, but even with all the rain, people were still standing in line outside.  No thank you.  So we went to Ramen Parlor right across the street where at least they have an awning you can stand underneath.  I like the system here (and in many parts of SF) of putting your name on a list on the door, so that you can see exactly where you stand and how many people are in front of you.  But the system is a bit weird here where they will call your name first to say that you're table is coming up and they will hand you a menu.  You then have to quickly make a decision on what you want to eat and place your order while you're still waiting in line.  So by the time you sit down, your food arrives within minutes.  I can't decide if that's genius or really stress inducing.  But in any case, I got a basic miso ramen with nappa cabbage, Neera got a spicy pork ramen with corn and we split the fried oysters to start.  

It is kind of nice to not have to wait for your food and I guess in a place like there where there aren't that many options to choose from, it's not so bad.  The fried oysters were nice and plump but steaming hot inside.  Be careful!  My ramen was your standard ramen with pork, seaweed and an egg.  The egg was done well, the noodles chewy but good, however the broth was a tad bit on the mild side.  I wish it had a bit more heat or kick to it (or maybe MSG?).  It was definitely good and I inhaled the whole thing but it didn't draw me in like the ramen at Ippudo does.  They did have a special lobster oil broth that is apparently their signature dish, so maybe I should have gotten that but for me, I like to keep my ramen more traditional and stick with a pork based broth.  Overall, it's a nice casual place that hit the spot on a cold rainy night although if I had to wait in line and order while standing every time I came here, I might be a bit annoyed.  Total bill for 2 people with tax and tip:  $61

Photo Credit:  Yelp 

Yuba Visited 3/11/2016 4.5 Forks

Yuba 105 E 9th St., New York, NY 10003

This is a Fun with Eating blog first.  I have always said that I don't re-review places unless the place is drastically different - and for the most part, many places that I eat at multiple times are generally the same each time.  But this time when I went back to Yuba, I was so much more impressed than when I went 4 years ago and gave it 3 stars, that I had to give it justice and bump it up several notches.   I'll keep this short and sweet but I'll just say that if you read my first review of this place, it's definitely worth another visit - especially if you sit at the sushi bar. 

I met up with my friend Nicole and it turns out she's kind of a regular here (or at least several of the waitstaff recognized her), so we got some pretty loving treatment.  We sat at the bar which was great because we got to talk to the sushi chef, Jack (he used to work at Masa), and he took care of us.  We got a fabulous yellowtail carpaccio dish and then split a sashimi plate where he gave us several extra cuts of fish and a few rolls.  The quality of the fish was excellent and impressive.  It was much more high quality than I remember and much more traditional in presentation.  But what was really fantastic was the uni sushi we both got.  Amazing - so much so that we got another order of it before we finished up our meal.  It was creamy and delicious.  The place is famous for their uni risotto and we did see someone get it but we opted to stick with it in its purest form.  We did see a group next to us get the omakase (there is a $65, $85 and $105 option - all not bad considering the quality of the fish) which looked great and I would definitely try that next time I'm here. 

The only downside is that decor-wise, this place is kind of eh and the sushi bar only seats 7 people but none of that are deal breakers when getting good uni! I'm glad Nicole re-introduced me to this place because it's still kind of a hidden gem since it's not one of the super famous places and it's located on a random side street.  Total bill:  $74/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Hakata Tonton Visited 3/9/2016 3.5 Forks

Hakata Tonton  61 Grove St., New York, NY 10014

This place had been on mine and Holly's list for a long time and every time either of us tried to make a reservation on OpenTable, they were booked for weeks on end, especially on the weekend.  Finally, we decided to try going on a school night and lo and behold, they had several openings after work on a random Wednesday night. 

After walking in and seeing how small it is, I get why it's so hard to get a reservation.  Unfortunately for us, we made a reservation for a place that's famous of their hot pot on one of the warmest days in recent months.  Oh well.  The place is incredibly authentic - from the staff to the decor to the food. During our entire meal there, everyone at the restaurant was Asian (mostly Japanese with some Chinese folks), so that's always a good sign of a great place.  They are famous for their pig's feet dishes.  Yes, you heard me right.  Pig's feet.  It's in many of the dishes on the menu.  I've had it before and honestly, I can't remember if I was into it or not but I remember gelatinous?  In any case, while both Holly and I are adventurous eaters, neither of us were really in the mood for hot pot or pig's feet. So we stuck to ordering a bunch of small plates.  We started with the sashimi salad ($13), spicy tuna carpaccio ($12), grilled miso black cod ($12), crispy scallion pancake ($6), and deep fried chicken ($8).  We got the sashimi salad with salmon and while it was a large salad, it was very heavy on the greens and not so heavy on the sashimi.  It paled in comparison to the sashimi salad I got at Izakaya Mita in Chicago - that one was out-of-this-world amazing, this one good but not great.   Luckily the spicy tuna carpaccio was great.  It was slice pieces of fresh tuna with scallions, fried garlic chips, and a dollop of spicy mayo on top of each bite.  Fantastic and lots of flavor with each bite.  This was definitely both of our favorite dish of the night.  Our 2nd favorite dish was the black miso cod - this dish is usually always a crowd favorite and it was not different here.  The obvious compliant is that the portion is too small - it always is.  But it was flaky, buttery and delicious.   I was also a fan of the crispy scallion pancake - although it was not how I imagined it.  I was thinking it would be like the Korean version but it was almost more like a roti with ground pork and a spicy sauce in it.  Good but unexpected.  Lastly, the fried chicken.  I was very excited for this dish but it was kind of a bummer compared to the one I also had at Izakaya Mita.  The batter was a bit too thick and fried for me.  Once I did get to the meat, it was juicy and flavorful but it was just too heavy handed on the coating. 

Even though it was 70 degrees outside, most people here still got the hotpot and I would definitely come back to try it out since it did look really good.  I enjoyed the authenticity and fun atmosphere of this place and there were several solid dishes, but I was kind of disappointed by a few key dishes that I know can be better.  However, this place has definite 4+ fork potential, maybe I just need to wait for it to get cold again soon so that I can have the hot pot - pig's feet and all.  One thing to note, they will give you a 5% discount for paying with cash - obviously I get what they are trying to do but their credit card fees are no where close to that percentage although I did see a lot of people paying with cash. Total bill:  $60/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Surya Visited 3/6/2016 4 Forks

Surya 154 Bleecker St., New York, NY 10012

I had first heard of Surya when Aarti used to mention that she loved to order Seamless from there since it was close to her place in the West Village but then it sadly closed before I could try it out myself.  Luckily it reappeared not too far from it's old location recently, so we decided to give it a try in person.  

The decor is super casual and informal like most of the places on Bleecker Street but don't let that fool you.  The food is excellent and packed with lots of traditional flavors.  The menu has your standard Indian line-up of samosas, tandoori meats, and paneers.  It's so hard to order just one or two things so we ordered a lot knowing that we would end up taking some stuff home.  We started with the cauliflower chili fry ($7) and the baby lamp chops ($12) for me - it was the only meat dish we got for the night (that's the great thing about Indian food is that you can order a TON of great veggie friendly food). For entrees we got the spiced okra ($13), mutter paneer ($13) and the daal tadka ($13).  The cauliflower chili fry were bits of crispy cauliflower coated in a spicy tomato sauce.  Super super addictive.  Perfect combination of crunch, tang and heat.  It reminds of how great of a substitute cauliflower can be - this dish was sort of like a fake buffalo chicken.  I also really enjoyed my one meat dish of the night, the baby lamp chops.   They were indeed baby, as they are pretty small but they were tender and spiced well.   It would make for an excellent entree if they had larger chops.  As for the entrees, they were all wonderful and packed with spice.  The okra dish was huge - lots and lots of chopped okra with tomato, onion, garlic and cumin.  There was no gooeyness at all which can sometimes happen when making okra.  The mutter paneer was a bowl of delicious peas and cheese. We had originally wanted to get the paneer makhani which was a similar version with tomato gravy but when they listed butter as one of their key ingredients, we switched to the mutter paneer to be "healthier" but honestly it's probably not all that much better for you.  Lastly the daal was an excellent use of yellow lentils mixed with ginger, onion, tomatoes and cumin.  Despite eating several rounds of food, we still had a ton of leftovers and I can attest to the fact that it was all still awesome the next day. 

I also want to give a shout out on their mango lassi.  Fucking amazing.  Thick, sweet and full fat deliciousness.  I could have had a whole pitcher of it, but really 1 glass is probably all anyone should have in one sitting.  While the food was great, the service was a bit on the slow side although I'm mindful that there were only 2 guys working the floor of a pretty packed restaurant.  I've always loved Indian food and while this place is kind of in the middle of NYU-land, it still offers really quality Indian food in a low key atmosphere.  Total bill:  $45/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp