Grill Room Visited 4/27/2011 2.75 Forks

Grill Room World Financial Ctr, 225 Liberty St., New York, NY 10281

If you happen to work in the World Financial Center, you know that there is a serious dearth of good food.  Hopefully that will all change soon as the weather gets nicer, there are more food carts moving in outside and there are rumors of a Shake Shack and Blue Smoke opening across the street.  But in the meantime, if you want to have a "nice" sit down meal your choices are limited to the Grill Room or PJ Clarke's.  Strangely enough, I've never eaten at the Grill Room before.

I will give high scores of the setting and ambiance.  It has almost floor to ceiling windows that over look the river and on a nice day it's really a gorgeous view.  I went there for a client lunch, so I was excited to not feel restricted budget wise.  The menu is your usual American style food but that's slightly higher end.  They have soups, burgers, and sandwiches but then they also have pork chops, steak, fish fillets and fancy pastas. A friend of mine had told me that the fish was good (and in the end I probably should have listened to her) but I'm always a sucker for a good sandwich during lunch so I opted for the salmon sandwich ($16).  They didn't ask me how I liked my fish but I had assumed that any good restaurant would serve it medium rare.  I usually love fish sandwiches and the best ones I've had involve thick cuts of fish (almost steak-like).  So when this sandwich came out I was disappointed.  The actual piece of salmon was extremely thin and overcooked.  It came on a focaccia bread that was nice and soft but it was way too big for the piece of fish.  I felt like I barely had any fish and in the end was eating something that was closer to a tomato and lettuce sandwich.  There was a nice basil spread inside the bread and I would have liked more of it.  Given that the fillet of fish was pretty thin, there was no need to put 2 giant leaves of lettuce the size of my head on top of the fish.  The fries were just ok, they were cooked with the skin on it and had that overcooked style to it that I'm not a huge fan of.  The girl next to me had gotten the tuna steak and it was definitely thick cut and looked pretty decent.  All in all, I wasn't thrilled with my food but when you consider what the other dining options are in the WFC it's not that terrible of a place.  But if it wasn't for the business they get from the employees in the building I'm not sure that they would last very long.

Bar Stuzzichini Visted3/22/2011 2.75 Forks

Bar Stuzzichini  928 Broadway, (between 21st St & 22nd St), New York, NY 10010

 So I didn't really have plans to end up at Bar Stuzzichini on a random Tuesday night but I happened to be visiting my friend Lav and it was right around her apartment.  I had heard about this place but had never really had a huge desire to try it out since I generally never really love going out for Italian (although some of the places I've been to lately have been changing my mind). 


We were both pretty exhausted and weren't looking for a huge meal, so I got the Orecchiette pasta ($17) and Lav got the fried artichokes ($8) and the eggplant croquettes ($8).  Our waiter kind of gave us this look of "Are you seriously not ordering more food?" and he kind of also gave us a similar look when we wanted to split a small carafe of wine ($13).  So I was kind of annoyed by that, mostly because the restaurant was kind of empty so he shouldn't have been so irritated considering he was still getting business from us on a slow day.  The food actually came out shockingly fast.  Probably less than 10 minutes after we ordered. 

The two appetizers that Lav got were tiny.  Now I know they are just appetizers, but there were only 2 small croquettes and there couldn't have been more than 5 tiny artichokes.  But despite that, both of these dishes were quite tasty and have a lot of flavor to them.  Meanwhile, my pasta dish was actually a pretty decent size  considering how small the appetizers were.  I was excited to get the orecchiette because I had it at Porsena and it was pretty good there.  This pasta dish could not compare to that one at all.  The pasta kind of tasted dry and it could have come from a box.  It didn't taste home made or fresh.  Even though I know this type of pasta doesn't come with sauce, there was definitely something missing from this dish.  I will say that the cauliflower was actually really good in this dish and I almost would have preferred to just have a bowl full of it instead. After our meal, our waiter kept telling us how amazing their dessert special was.  It was a cheesecake made with ricotta cheese and he said everyone was ordering it.  At first we were leaning towards the tiramisu but opted for this instead.  That was a mistake.  While it was good, it really tasted like a sweet egg omelet and not a creamy cheesecake.  So that move definitely put our waiter in the doghouse.  Something about him just made me feel like he was looking down at us because we didn't get a ton of food.  But lo and behold, for at little amount of food our total till was $78!  How the hell did that happen (well, the 2 carafes of white wine is what happened)  Next time, we are going to Shack Shake across the street.   

Eataly Visited 12/9/10 2.75 Forks

Eataly  200 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

Ah, Eataly.  It has probably been one of the most talked and blogged about openings this year.  I decided to wait a while before going since I had heard that it gets pretty crowded.  Nancy and I decided to get there early so that we could avoid standing and get a seat at one of the restaurants.  There are 4 restaurants in the complex: a seafood restaurant, a veggie restaurant, a pizza and pasta restaurant.  But the confusing thing is there are a bunch of other standing room only eating places.  This place tries to do too much in the space it's given, even though the space is pretty huge.  It's got a market, coffee bar, dessert area, and then shove in a bunch of restaurants and stands and you are really at a loss of where to go. 

We had originally decided to go to the seafood restaurant, but after reading the menu I wasn't really feeling it.  So we went to the veggie place, Le Verdure instead.  The menu was a bunch of cold and hot dishes that were entirely made of vegetables.  We split the special bruchetta (it had king, oyster and other types of mushrooms for $15), the eggplant salad ($14) and the acorn squash ($17).  The bruchetta were pretty large pieces and it came topped with the mushroom mix and sauteed onions.  The was pretty good, but I thought some of the mushrooms were a bit overcooked and could have been more tender.  The eggplant salad came with a arugula salad and capers.  The eggplant was pretty skinny and not very meaty.  I've had much better and fattier eggplant in thai restaurants.  But I did really like the arugula salad, it was seasoned and dressed very well.  Next came the warm acorn squash with black lentils and balsamic vinegar. This dish was described as hearty and I would agreed.  I've never had acorn squash and it while it tasted like squash, it did have a very meaty fall feel to it.  The lentils were small and looked exactly like the capers on the other dish, but they were a good compliment to the squash.  All in all, the meal was fine but when you think about how I spent $30 on 3 dishes of vegetables.  We then stopped to get some dessert and split a run/chocolate cake ($5.80).  It was good, but could have used more rum and for $6, should have been much bigger.  Eataly is definitely a beautiful space and I'm sure if I was a connoisseur of specialty Italian produce, I might like it more but in general I got the feeling that it's all about being unnecessarily expensive.  I'm glad to cross it off my list, but will unlikely come back to the sit down restaurants.  Some of the standing only places looked fun, but if the prices are as outrageous as the sit down restaurants, I'd rather get my Italian food in old school Williamsburg.  

Wildwood BBQ Visited 5/29/10 2.75 Forks

Wildwood BBQ

225 Park Ave S (between 18th St & 19th St), New York, NY 10003

I've been to Wildwood before and normally wouldn't really think that I would need to go again, but I had a $25 BR Guest Gift card and didn't want to spend crazy amounts of money, so I thought I would give it another try.

The place is a giant room with large screen tvs and a general bbq feel. They have your traditional "jam jar" glasses and a large collection of sauces on your table. I was torn over getting a sandwich or a BBQ platter but I figured I should "splurge" on a platter. I got the pulled pork platter ($14.50) which came with 2 pieces of white toast and a choice of 1 side. I, of course, got the mac and cheese side. Dan got the brisket platter which came with corn bread and a side of creamed spinach ($15.50). Drink wise I got the Kentucky Cooler ($11) which was Makers, Firefly Ice Tea Vodka, peach, and lemonade. The drink was very heavy on the makers, so I had to wait for it to water down before I could have more of it. Dan got a pint of the Cold Ass Beer ($6), which tasted like regular beer and he got High West Rendez Vous ($12) whiskey. I assume that the pour was a regular 2 oz pour but it looked huge, almost like a 4 oz pour. The initial taste was pretty good but Dan wasn't a huge fan of it in the end.

The food came our very quickly. I had a small, but probably good size helping of pulled pork and the vinegar sauce came on the side. Pieces of it were juicy and good but other parts were just fine. I really did like my mac and cheese, it was extremely cheesy but maybe a bit too "grainy". I had a taste of Dan's brisket that I thought it was pretty good...they had asked him if he wanted it lean or wet and he asked for a combo but I wasn't sure if there was a huge difference. The cream spinach was good but when is creamed spinach not good?

I think what made me put this a shy under 3 stars was b/c I can't get Fette Sau out of my mind as a comparison when I eat BBQ and when we came home we were both incredibly de-hydrated.

Silver Cloud Visited 5/23/10 2.75 Forks

Silver Cloud 1700 N Damen Ave(between Wabansia Ave & St Paul Ave), Chicago, IL

It was the night of the Lost Finale, so we were all looking for a quick place to eat in the neighborhood. Our original idea was to go to Feast for some summer time salads, but by the time we finished the previews, it was 9:15pm on Sunday. So in the essence of time, we just back tracked down the street and ended up at Silver Cloud.

On first glance, it seemed more like a bar than a place to eat. But they did have a decent slightly more higher level food menu. I got the blackened tuna burger ($7.95) which came with TATER TOTS! I haven't had tater tots since elementary school and it was such a nice addition. I don't know why other places don't offer it more. I had asked for my sandwich to be very rare and they did a great job of making it as rare as possible. The sandwich was pretty tasty but I could have done without the "cole slaw" that came on top of it. It had zucchini in it which was different but it didn't really add any value. In fact, the waitress had mentioned that the cole slaw was a bit oily. It didn't have any mayo in it, which I thought was weird. Dan got the brie burger which was basically a burger with TONS of brie melted on it. It looked quite tasty. Deanna and Aarti both got the grilled cheese and Erin got the Stuffed Turkey sandwich(which was basically Thanksgiving day in between 2 pieces of bread).

While the food was basic but generally good, the execution turned out to be a bit off. Erin had asked for her tater tots to be extra crispy and hers turned out to be soggier than any of everyone else's tots. Then Dan had asked for cole slaw as a side but got tater tots instead and when the bill came they had overcharged us on the grilled cheese. BUT they totally redeemed themselves when the waitress came and gave us the "friends and family" discount b/c of the charge error (which was only $.50, but thanks to Deanna for hooking us up!). The discount was pretty substantial...I think it was around 20-25%. Total bill came out to be $47 instead of $61, so that was really nice of them.

Franny's, Visited 2/14/10, 2.75 Forks

Franny's 295 Flatbush Ave
(between Prospect Pl & St Marks Ave) Brooklyn, NY 11217

I had heard and read about Franny's for a long time as being one of the better restaurants in the 'hood, but never been. It took about 15-20 minutes to walk there from our apt but it was a really interesting walk since there were tons of great looking places to eat on Flatbush. It's definitely a street worth checking out when the weather gets nicer.

The wait was about 15 minutes, which wasn't bad considering it was Valentine's Day. I appreciated that they didn't have a prix-fixe menu like many restaurants. We all started with a round of drinks ($10-13 for cocktails, $7 for beer). I had a ketel one and fresh grapefruit juice, aarti had a bloody mary, will a glass of red wine and dan had a pint of kelso pilsner. My drink was pretty good and a decent size.

The menu at Franny's is mostly wood-oven thin crust pizza and they have a real focus on using seasonal ingredients. The seasonal ingredients were mainly used on the appetizers. We ordered the beet salad with peccorino cheese, roast fennel and a cristino with proccuito and egg and bean. You could definitely tell that they used fresh ingredients and took care in preparing the food. I was a bit disappointed that the cristino was only 1 piece...for $9, I would expect at least 2 pieces, but the 1 piece was pretty tasty. The egg was used as a spread on the bottom. Dan and I ordered the tomato, buff mozz and sausage pizza ($17) and aarti and will ordered the same thing with no sausage ($16). I was a bit annoyed that the waitress was trying to up sell us by saying "well, you ordered kind of light for 4 people. The pizzas are really for 1." I had seen the pizzas before ordering and they are definitely enough for 2 if you had apps before hand.

In general, I'm not a huge pizza lover. I mean, I like pizza and would never be adverse to eating it but to me, it's really hard to make a bad pizza if you use the right ingredients. Our pizza was good, light and fluffy. I even ate the crust, which I normally don't do. We had left room for dessert but when we looked at the dessert menu, it was pretty disappointing. There was nothing any of us really wanted, which is pretty hard to do and I think a bad sign for a restaurant when people actually left room in their stomach for dessert. The total bill for the 4 of us was $132. While I don't think there was anything wrong with the food, I think it's a bit expensive for what you get.

Veselka Visited 2/6/10 2.75 Forks

Veselka 144 2nd Ave New York, NY 10003

This is one of those restaurants that I have seen a million times while living in nyc, but never have eaten at. I had heard that it was a New York landmark of sorts, so I was curious as to what the food was actually like. Dan and I had originally decided to get ramen but Ippudo had an hour 1/2 wait at 10pm on a Saturday (only in New York folks). After walking around a bit, we settled on Veselka b/c it was close by. The inside was like a basic dinner with counter-top and table service. We were seated within 15 minutes. The menu was quite overwhelming with lots of Ukrainian and other ethnic choices. I figured, since I am in a Ukrainian restaurant, I should eat what they specialize in. While I was tempted to order pierogis, I opted for the meat stuffed cabbage ($12.95) which came with 2 sides (I chose mashed potato and a garden salad). Dan order the special pierogi of the day (short ribs - he got them fried with apple sauce. Personally, I like them boiled with a side of sour cream) ($11.95). The garden salad was actually really good. It came with this delicious sweet dill dressing.

When the meat stuffed cabbage came, i thought it could have fed 2. There were 2 big pieces covered in a very flavorful mushroom sauce (tasted very much like thanksgiving gravy). The potatoes could have used a bit more salt or butter, but it's probably better that they didn't. The meat was mixed with rice, which made the meal even more filling. I finished 1 1/2 pieces and had to call it a day. I thought Dan's pierogis were ok...making them fried was just too much, but they were definitely filled the the brim with meat. Next time I go, I would be interested in trying their goat cheese or cheddar pierogis. Total bill came out to $28 for the 2 of us. Not bad considering how random and last minute it was.

Pacificana - Visited 1/10/10 2.75 Forks

Pacificana 813 55th Street Brooklyn, NY 11230

I have always been a fan of Dim Sum but I usually go to Chinatown in the city since it's easier to get to. I had been to Pacificana for dinner once when a friend had a Red Egg party there about a year ago. My hairdresser had mentioned that she went there for dim sum and I had started seeing this place pop up in blogs recently, so I thought it was worth a try for dim sum. It's in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, which is easy to get to, but a PAIN for parking. Not only is there just not enough parking but it's just very congested. After circling around for a while, we finally found a spot on 7th ave and 60th street. When we got there, there were tons of asians milling around the front and I was afraid that the wait would take an hour. Luckily, we got seated after 15 mins. It's hard to get a ton of dim sum with only 2 people, so we did the best we could. We got shumai, which was pretty big in size but it could have been a bit warmer. 2 orders of the crystal shrimp crepes, some sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, radish cake, and pork buns. There was a pretty big selection of food and it came very rapidly. I think all the dishes could have been warmer...except for the tea, which was 100 degrees. I can see how this place could be pretty intimidating for non-asians as they don't really speak english there and they are kind of pushy. But it worked out fine for me. What I loved even more was the total bill, $22! For good cheap eats, chinatown is definitely the way to go!