Pergola Visited 6/7/2018 3 Forks

Pergola  36 W 28th St., New York, NY 10001

I'll keep this review quick because it's not really like Pergola is a true restaurant - it's really more a hookah bar/club for the Murray Hill crowd.  My good friend Vivi was in town visiting with her daughter and it was a rare opportunity to have a girls night out with her, Maggie and Lav.  The location was kind of random, it's in a weird side street in the Flower District and in all my years of living in NYC, I would have never stumbled upon this place. 

When I arrived, it immediately reminded me of the kinds of places you go when you first move to NYC.  Everyone was dressed up like they were ready to party even though it was a random Thursday night.  Maggie and I got there early and the hostess said that we could wait in the back until our friends came. We asked if we could get a drink and she never really answered our question and then when we grabbed a table behind the bar no one came to take our drink order.  Finally our host came back and said our table was ready upstairs.  The upstairs is a really weird layout, it's like a square but only with tables along the side of the wall so the middle was empty.  There was less eating from the crowd and mostly smoking.  The hookah part didn't bother me at all, but it was just a weird environment to be in.  

As for the food, it's got a Middle Eastern flare to it.  I wasn't super hungry for some reason and ended up ordering a kale salad with shrimp (I know, how lame).  The salad came with baby kale, grilled corn, feta and walnuts.  It was a totally fine salad but nothing super inspiring or mind blowing.  I felt like we should have ordered bottle service instead of food here.  In the end, it was the company here that was more fun to me and if you're still in your 20's or 30's and want the hookah experience, I would recommend this place but if you're looking for a quiet night out with the girls and catching up over good food and drinks, there are plenty of other places in NYC that would better suit your needs.  The bill was graciously covered by my friends for my birthday.  

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Cleo Visited May 29, 2018 4 Forks

Cleo 444 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10016

Anuja, Amy and I had been wanting to go to Nur (another hot Middle Eastern restaurant) but they were all full, so we decided to check out Cleo instead which is inside the Mondrian Hotel.  If you've never been to a Mondrian Hotel, you're missing out - they've got a beautiful, funky, boutique vibe that I really appreciate. 

I generally am not a huge fan of hotel restaurants but they are slowing getting to be much better and if I were traveling to NYC and staying at the Mondrian, having dinner at Cleo would not be a bad thing at all.   As with most Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurants there was a bunch of dips, kebabs, octopus, lamb and they also had tagines which is more of a Moroccan dish but it fit well with the rest of the menu.   We got the prerequisite dips of greek yogurt ($9) and babaganoush ($10), salt and pepper fries ($8) because I'm obsessed with fries, lamb sliders for me ($13), zucchini chips ($14) and shrimp kabab ($16).   The dips were great and served with soft pita and we used the left over dips with the zucchini chips - which on their own, I wasn't a huge of fan of.  It might have been an overkill to get zucchini chips and fries since they're both fried and easy vehicles to get to dip.  Plus the fries were definitely much better so it made the zucchini chips feel inferior and unnecessary.  Of the 3 of us, only I eat meat so I ate all 3 lamb slides myself which is definitely a meal on it's own.  They were pretty juicy and served on soft challah bread with feta, harissa aioli, pickled shallots and peppers.  The feta made it a bit hard to eat but overall, really solid sliders but a bit much for one person to eat on their own.  Since I was so full, I didn't get to try the shrimp kababs  but they looked like they were grilled nicely and seasoned well. 

The service was friendly and nice but a bit confusing as there were multiple people helping us and it wasn't clear who we should be going to for things but it wasn't as annoying as it sounds.  While I had a lovely meal there and it was nice to be in a restaurant that wasn't super crowded, I'm not sure I would exactly say it's a destination restaurant in NYC yet.  The area is also not my favorite - it's kind of in their weird cross section of NoMad, Murray Hill and Kips Bay (in fact I don't even really have a tag for this area and kind of shoved it into Midtown which I know it isn't) but if you're in the area, check it out and definitely get the lamb sliders!  Total bill:  $60/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Miznon Visited 4/6/2018 4 Forks

Miznon  435 W 15th St., New York, NY 10011

Even though I know Chelsea Market is such a tourist trap, I still love going there and trying all the stalls as they've got some really great ones there.  So when I heard that another amazing Mediterranean places that wasn't Dizengoff opened up in Chelsea Market, Allison and I made a bee line for it.

It's tucked away toward the back of the market and when we got there, there was already a huge line.  Like most of the other places in Chelsea Market, this is much more of a fast casual chain vs. a sit down restaurant.  Apparently this place is a super famous chain in Tel Aviv and it's chef is a celebrity in his home country of Israel.  Now I can see why.  When I heard that it was a pita place, I assumed it was all about the hummus but I couldn't be more wrong.  There is zero hummus to be found on the menu - which was actually kind of a bummer.  The menu consists of pitas filled with delicious and amazing stuffing - both veggie friendly and meat friendly options.    I really wanted to get the ribeye roast beef but alas they were out of it.  Why, it was only 6:30pm???  The cashier was very apologetic about it and suggested I get the cow stew ($12) instead.  I went with his suggestion but I could have very easily ordered anything off the menu and I probably would have still been excited for it.  They are also famous for their whole cauliflower ($9) which Allison and I split. 

Like all the other places in Chelsea Market, seating is limited and you gotta push your way to get a table but I highly recommend sitting down to eat this because it's one messy but delicious meal.  First off, the pita itself is freaking out of this world.  It was soft and pillowy but strong enough to hold all the ingredients without falling apart on you.  I could have just eaten the pita plain and been a happy person.  Allison and I commented how the perfect combination might be the hummus from Dizengoff and the pita from here.  The actual stew stuffed pita was also excellent - it tasted exactly like a beef stew stuffed in a pita.  I don't know how they do it but it's got juicy thick cubes of beef, root vegetables, tahini, onion, pickles and chili.  It was incredibly filling and super messy - definitely don't order this if you're on a date.  The whole roasted cauliflower was pretty damn good too.  It was a whole head cooked just right where it was soft but not too mushy with a bit of char on the outside to it.   

The only reason I didn't give it a higher rating was because there wasn't hummus or any side dishes (besides the cauliflower or potato).  The pita is fabulous and maybe it's just my hungry hippo way, but I feel like it there needs to be some side offerings like all the yummy options at Taim to really round out the total meal experience.  However, that would never stop me from not coming back here.  In fact, I'm already plotting when I can go back and get that damn roast beef pita.  Total bill:  $13 with tax 

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Miss Paradis Visited 5/30/2017 3.5 Forks

Miss Paradis  47 Prince St., New York, NY 10012

The first thing you notice about Miss Paradis is the beautiful decor - it's got floor to ceiling windows which is lovely during the spring/summer time.  Unfortunately, we were there on a chilly night, so the windows were closed but they had mentioned that when it's nice outside, they open up the windows. I can see it being a great summer time brunch spot. 

The menu here is described as healthy French Mediterranean.  It's mostly tapas style and the majority of the dishes are veggie friendly which was perfect for celebrating Amy's birthday.  They also have a great line-up for yummy sounding cocktails - especially the ones that had infused rose in it!  We ordered a bunch of items to share: beets ($10), brussels sprouts ($10), eggplant ($10), black pizza ($19), spicy shrimp ($15), and Chilean sea bass miso ($34).  With the exception of the sea bass, everything else was tapas/small plates.  I found these prices to be a bit high for what we were getting but I guess that's what you get for dining in prime Soho.  In short, everything was good but not great. So while I enjoyed most of the dishes and found no real fault, nothing wow'd me or felt like a must have.  I will say that the black pizza was very unique though - it was made with activated charcoal, which I guess it is all the rage these days because it supposedly helps your body get rid of unwanted toxins (although to me, it kind of seems like a marketing gimmick).  It makes for a very interesting dish visually but it doesn't actually taste any different than regular pizza dough. Given the small sizes of the dishes, we (or mostly me) were still hungry and ordered the local burrata ($18) which came with cherry tomatoes, pea tendrils and covered in a tomatillo dressing.  This was the highlight dish to me and again, while it wasn't anything new, there's nothing more delicious and screams summer time than fresh burrta and tomatoes.

In the end, I left satisfied with my meal and it was a lovely place to have a veggie friendly birthday, complete with great drinks.  The staff was great and entertaining as well.  But despite all of that, it wasn't a super memorable place food wise and the prices were too high for what they were serving. One of the pluses to this place though is that it's a good option for vegetarians and pescatarians alike as there isn't anything with meat on the menu.  I'd definitely say if you're in the neighborhood, it's a nice place to sit, have a cocktail and a few bites with the windows open but I wouldn't necessarily call it destination dining.   Total bill $121 with tax and tip split between 2 people for 3

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Ravagh Persian Grill 4/14/2017 4 Forks

Ravagh Persian  125 1st Ave., New York, NY 10003

When my friend Mabel first mentioned getting Persian food, I poo poo'd her.  I was feeling Thai food but couldn't come up with any good places to go in the neighborhood so I decided to give this a go. And I was really glad I did because it was just what we needed.  It's an assuming quiet neighborhood restaurant with good food, big portions and really nice waitstaff.  Who knew Persian food was so tasty? 

The menu is very similar to Greek or Mediterranean food with lots of grilled meats, vegetables and seafood plates as well as spreads and stews.  We started with a chopped salad ($8) and I got the lamb shish kebob ($17) and Mabel got the shrimp kebob ($21).  The chopped salad was a huge portion and delicious - it was chopped lettuce, steak tomato, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese and tossed with a lot of tasty vinaigrette.  It was pretty much a classic Greek salad - I could have eaten the entire thing and it's definitely big enough to me an entree.  But luckily I left room for my main entree - again it was a huge portion.  It was a heaping plate of cut up tender pieces of lamb served with a basmati type white and yellow rice and a grilled tomato and onion.  The meat had been marinated and was cooked to just the right temperature.   The combination of tomato, lamb and rice with some of the green sauce they give you is a great mouthful.  Normally I have a huge appetite and clean my plate no matter what but even here I couldn't finish all my food.  These days in New York, it's hard to find a place where they give you enough food that you can't finish it.   I didn't try the shrimp but it looked like it was cooked well and tasty too.

The clientele is a lot of locals and the atmosphere is pretty low key, which was perfect for two friends to catch up and have a conversation without having to yell at each other from across the table.  The one con would be that I had ordered an eggplant appetizer to start but they totally forgot about it but it was really ok in the end because of the portion size of everything else and it wasn't on the check, so we were probably better off that we didn't get it.  Persian food definitely doesn't get the hype of Greek food but if you're looking for a no frills, casual place with good grill plates in the East Village, Ravagh should be on your radar screen.  Total bill:  $31/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Dizengoff Visited 12/22/2016 4.5 Forks

Dizengoff  75 9th Avenue, New York, NY 10011

Who knew that I would give 4.5 forks to a freakin hummus stand in Chelsea Market?!?  But the food here is simply amazing and goes to show you that you don't have to be a fancy Michelin star place to pump out great food.  This place has a cult following in Philly and they recently opened up a stall in the Chelsea Market.   They have actually started having a pre-fix $50 sit down dinners Thursday-Saturday but they sell-out almost immediately.  Luckily, even on those days you can still grab take out and find a seat in the market, which is what Allison and I did.  But I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for the next pre-fix seating (they open up on the 1st of each month for the following month).

The menu is basically all hummus - which you wouldn't think would make for a full meal but it definitely does here.  Allison and I split a chicken hummus ($13) and a brussels sprouts hummus ($12) and a side of potato ($3).   We grabbed our food and headed to a table in the market.  The size of each hummus is a lot, it's basically the size of an entire take out Thai container.  Basically, each of the "flavors" of the hummus are tossed in as toppings to the base hummus - so there was shredded chicken and roasted Brussels Sprout leaves tossed in each of the respective dishes.   They give you one giant warm pita with each hummus and the first bite is heavenly.  It's incredibly smooth, rich and creamy and I couldn't help but want to shove it into my mouth at a voracious speed because it was that delicious.  At first I was bummed they only gave us 1 pita per person but honestly you don't even need the entire one because it's so filling and eventually Allison and I were just eating it by the spoonful.  With the hummus, they give you a side of pickles and chopped Israeli type salad of marinated cucumbers and tomatoes.  Very refreshing.   I also want to give a shout out to the potatoes too which were a last minute add-on.  They were mixed in with sumac and cooked to perfection.  It was like a potato salad without the mayo and unhealthiness.

I wasn't really expecting much when I came here except that it would be a solid meal but I didn't realize how fantastic it would really be.  It's a very solid and hearty meal at a very affordable price.  It made me even more excited and determined to get a ticket to their pre-fix meal.  Total bill:  $33 for 2 with tax, tip and soda

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Samesa Visited 12/12/2016 4.5 Forks

Samesa  495 Lorimer St., Brooklyn, NY 11211

I was beyond devastated when Meat Hook Sandwich closed down.  They served amazing sandwiches and despite the fact that the actual Meat Hook market opened up literally across the street from me, they weren't really serving many sandwiches there.  But luckily the new place that opened up in its place is equally as fantastic. 

The food here comes from the Sussman brothers - one worked at The Cleveland and the other at Mile End but the focus here is Middle Eastern food which is great because I LOVE Middle Eastern food and there isn't enough of it in the 'hood.  The menu includes pita wraps, plates and salads.  Everything sounded fantastic - I was having a really really hard time deciding between getting a grilled meat plate or a salad.  I was feeling healthy so I opted for the special crunchy salad + chicken ($13 for a large, which was REALLY large) - this was made with dinosaur kale, purple cabbage, sprouts, chickpeas, onion, and this amazingly delicious green goddess like dressing.  I got it as a take-out and the chicken shawarma was served in a separate container, so you can mix in as little or as much as you'd like - of course I mixed in all of it but there is so much chicken that you can save some and use it for another dish.  The chicken was amazing - it was juicy, tender with a bit of char on the outside (it was mostly dark meat) and had this mind blowing yogurt dressing on top of it.  When you mixed it in with the actual salad, it was heaven. I was getting so full but I couldn't stop myself from eating it.  I usually am not a fan of raw cabbage but there was something in the way this was shredded and mixed with the dressing that made it really tasty.   The only thing I would probably change would be the pita chips - I've never been a fan of croutons or things like that in my salad and the cabbage and onions were "crunch" enough to carry on the namesake.   There was so much food that I was able to split it into 2 meals which makes this a really great deal. 

The actual space of the place hasn't change much from when it was the Meat Hook Sandwich shop, the only difference is that they have pretty cool branding and the overall vibe is more relaxing and chill.  I am definitely super super excited to try out the rest of the dishes there - in fact, I am going to make my mission to go back and try at least 3 more dishes.  Hopefully they will stick around for while because the prices are super reasonable for such delicious take out food.  Total bill:  $13

Photo Credit:  Yelp

City Kitchen Visited 11/2/2016 4 Forks

City Kitchen  700 8th Ave., New York, NY 10036

I am a total sucker for food courts - I know they are kind of touristy and cheesy but I just love them. So I was pleasantly surprised when my friend Amy suggested that we meet up at City Kitchen before seeing our Broadway show and I discovered that it wasn't some terrible Times Square deli but an adorable food court with really solid food stalls.  Of course since it's in Times Square it's on the smaller side - there are about 7 food stalls:  Dough, a Mexican place, a Mediterranean place, a burger place, Luke's Lobster, a ramen place and a sushi joint.  All foods that I love so I was so confused as to what to get.  I really had a hard time deciding but this girl was eating this really good looking chicken and rice bowl, so it swayed me to try Ilili Box.

The menu consists of shawarma and falafel in either wrap or rice form.  They have a really great combo deal of a wrap or rice box, brussels sprout or fries and a lemonade for $18.  When you see how much food you get, you'll realize what a great deal it is.   I got the lamb rice with brussels sprouts.  The dishes were huge - like Chipotle size.  It was so much food that I had to take it with me to the theater and let's just say that I was horribly paranoid that my brussels sprouts stunk up the joint. The lamb and rice was great - it came with a ton of shredded spiced lamb and tahini sauce.  It was very filling and I kind of wish it had some more veggie in it like cucumbers or tomatoes just to cut some of the heaviness of the dish.  I was so full that I didn't even get to the brussels sprouts until the next day at home.  I'm sure they were probably better when they were warm but brussels sprouts probably aren't the best veggies to save as left overs.  They were slightly overcooked and sauced and mixed with grapes and walnuts.  I took a couple of bites and they were ok but again, not the best left overs.  

Amy went with the Mexican place and got the shrimp tacos which looked pretty good too.   I could have spent so much more time eating my face off  (I was this close to getting a donut and Amy was eyeing the shaved ice/ice cream stall) but we had a show to get to.  The one big downside is that the place is tiny and we couldn't find a place to sit down, so we had to eat standing up, which was kind of annoying.  It's tough finding a good place to eat in the area, especially one that isn't a sit down place or one that offers expensive mediocre food.  City Kitchen is a great option since it gives you lots of variety and it's cheap and fast - we met at 7pm, ordered and ate our food and were in our seats by 7:40pm.  Total bill:  $18

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Taboonette Visited 6/10/2016 4 Forks

Taboonette  30 E 13th St., New York, NY 10003

I was meeting up with a colleague for lunch in Union Square and wanted something casual and easy but still tasty. Luckily, my favorite food blog, The Infatuation, has started putting together these "guides" or "listiscles" which seem to be all the rage these days with website (I'll be the first to admit that I'm a total sucker for them).  One of their top choices in the "Best Places to Eat around Union Square" guide was Taboonette - which I had never been to before, so I decided to check it out. 

It was indeed casual but it's less of a restaurant and more of a counter lunch place.  But that was actually totally fine because there are still a few communal tables for you to sit at.  The food here is Middle Eastern/Mediterranean - lots of kebabs, shawarma, and pitas.  There's a lot of variety and you can add on several extra delicious toppings like holoumi and hummus.  I went for the lamb kebab pan ($15) with avocado - a pan is basically the meal without the pita, like a burrito bowl at Chipotle.   We sat at the counter right by the kitchen which turned out to be a huge mistake because that's where people ended up waiting for their food and during the lunch time rush it got to be really annoying. But the food itself was great - the pan was stuffed to the brim with freshly chopped cucumbers, tomatoes, herbs, grilled eggplant with 3-4 nice sized lamb patties and covered in tahini sauce.  Yum. It was fresh tasting and incredibly filling.   I felt like I was eating something pretty healthy for lunch and it was nice to have it in a deconstructed way without the pita.  I love the idea of taking all the pita fillings and putting it in a "bowl" - I don't know why I haven't really seen this at other Mediterranean places since it's seems to easy and obvious. 

The place was super crowded from 12:30-1pm and I can see why.  If I worked near here or was just in the neighborhood looking for a quick but delicious bite to eat, I would definitely make this a top food pit stop.  Total bill:  $20 with extra avocado and a lemonade

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Lokkanta Meze and Barbecue Visited 5/15/2016 4 Forks

Lokkanta Meze and Barbecue   31 Westbourne Grove, London W2 4UA, United Kingdom

I was in London for less than 48 hours for work but since I was there I wanted to squeeze in some social time and take advantage of my time there.  I hadn't seen my friend Ingrid in quite some time so it was quite lovely catching up with her while I was there.  I don't really have a great sense of London geography but apparently I was on one side of town and she was on another, so we met in a place in the middle at Notting Hill (yes, that Notting Hill) for a tasty Turkish meal. 

Despite trying to be open minded about different cultures, I find the food in London to be really quite bad - it's so shocking given how international and urban the city is but in all the years that I've been there, I have yet to find another city with less culinary appeal than London.  Luckily, Lokkanta stepped it up a notch.  Ingrid found it on TripAdvisor and while it's definitely nothing fancy (it could double as sharma take out place in NYC but it does have a few tables inside), the food is quite flavorful and good.   They had a nice variety of hummus, falafel dishes, and grilled meat plates.  I started with the soup of the day (lentil soup) and got the grilled lamb dish (12 GBP) for my main.  I was prepared for the lentil soup to be just ok but I was starving which is why I ordered it and it was actually quite delicious.  It had a tomato base which was surprising but brought some good acidity and flavor to it.  It almost seemed more like a tomato barely soup than lentil - in any case, it was simple but well balanced soup that was quite enjoyable.  The grilled plate had tender pieces of lamb grilled over the BBQ topped with a tomato based yogurt sauce and drizzled with butter.  (I'm sensing a trend with all the tomato bases here).  It was a fairly large portion and combined with the bread, it was quite filling.  The sauce had a bit of an Indian feel to it with the buttery tomato yogurt base but it was great to sop it all up with lots of warm pita bread and lamb.  My only complaint was there was too much sauce on the plate - the dish was practically swimming in it and no matter how much bread or lamb I used to soak it up, it was just all over the place.  

Despite it not being a real fancy sit-down place, it actually was the perfect set-up for us because it was super casual and they let us sit there for 2+ hours talking without really bothering us.  While I've always had a strong preference for ethnic food, my experience this time in London proves that if you really want to have any sort of digestible meal in England, stick with the Indian/Middle Eastern track as it'll have the most flavor of anything you'll have there.  Total bill: 15.75 GBP

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Montenegro Part 2 Visited 9/9-9/13 3-4 Forks

Ella's Restaurant Dobrota 85    3 Forks

In our last night in the Kotor/Dobrota area, we went to a local restaurant that our Airbnb host had mentioned to us.  It was a 5 mins walk and like many restaurants here, had a pretty waterfront view.   We got to sit in the lovely terrace upstairs where there weren't a lot of people, so it was nice and quiet (although a large group did file in after us). 

At this point, we knew the drill in terms of what to expect food wise - so I went with my standard seafood salad to start but then got the fish fillet which the waiter said was sole fish.  There was no mention of how it was prepared except that it was prepared "house style" but I'm not picky so I just rolled with it.  The seafood salad was similar to the other seafood salads I had been eating on the trip - fresh, simple and delicious.  As for my entree, what came out with a gigantic filet of fish that was breaded and covered in a heavy white cream sauce.  It was served with the favorite local side of sauteed spinach and boiled potatoes. The fish was actually quite tasty even with the sauce but at some point, the sauce was so heavy and filling that I had to scrap it off.  It was a bit like eating a large slightly healthier fish fillet sandwich at McDonald's but without the bread and cheese on it.  April had gotten another local dish that had been described as beef but what came out was a gigantic pork roll stuffed with prosciutto and cheese inside.   It was truly a unique dish that we hadn't really seen elsewhere on the trip. 

We hadn't had much dessert on this trip and we had been dying for some good baklava, so when this place said that they actually had it, we were so happy.  Unfortunately, the baklava wasn't very good here.  Even the waiter was like "it's a very sweet dessert" - which was an understatement because it was dripping in sugar water and was way too sweet for us.  Waa Waa. 

The food here wasn't spectacular but it definitely had a nice local feel to it and I left feeling overly full from my food.  Our waiter was nice enough but nothing stand outish.  Total bill with tip and wine:  $148 USD for 5 people

Photo Credit:  TripAdvisor

Il Brodetto Przno Obala 24, Przno 85315, Montenegro   3.5 Forks

After Kotor, we spent a night camping at Kamp Grab and while I'm not going to do a separate blog entry for them, I do want to give a big shout because we had a fantastic time white water rafting there and surprisingly the food was also really good.  It was made by the local camp chef and it was super hearty and very homemade.  Unlike most of the meals we had been having, the food leaned more towards heavy stews and meat but you could tell that it was all baked from scratch and made with love.  They actually had this homemade bread that was awesome and so good that I found myself carbo loading on it during our 1 night stay there. 

After our stay there, we made our way to our final stop on our trip which was the town of Przno - the beach part of our trip!  It was close to the party town of Budva, but still outside enough that we were on a quieter more sophisticated area.  After we checked into our Airbnb, we made our way to the main beach outside our apt.   There is a cute adorable strip of restaurants by the beach that lined the short path.  The vibe on the street felt very seaside Mediterrean and I loved it.   This place also came recommended by our host and it looked to be the most busy on the street. 

The atmosphere here was a bit nicer than the places in Kotor but not super stuffy.  The restaurant had a Greek feel to it with the stone streets and old world charm.  Instead of getting a seafood salad, I decided to opt for a straight octopus salad (12.50 euros).  I saw that they also had a sea urchin pasta  (16.50 euros) and I just had to get that because I hadn't really seen sea urchin on any of the menus so far and I love a good sea urchin dish.  

The octopus salad was enormous - it really is more of a sharing plate.  But I devoured the whole thing it was probably one of my favorite dishes on the trip.  It was just so fresh and simple and cooked perfectly well - it's something that I've been really craving since I've been back in the States and really miss.  Unfortunately, the sea urchin pasta wasn't quite as mind blowing.  I was excited because it was listed as a specialty of the house, but it was heavy spaghetti with more of a sea urchin paste/sauce.  There weren't any visual or obvious tongues of sea urchin in there.  I was a bit let down after the amazing octopus salad that this dish didn't knock it out of the park too.  Overall, it was still a lovely meal in a lively and adorable beach side town that I would recommend to others visiting this town.  Total bill with tip and wine:  $173 USD for 5 people


Aman Sveti Stefan  Sveti Stefan, Montenegro  4 Forks

Holy Jesus, if there was ever a more luxurious place in Croatia/Montenegro, then I don't know where else it could be.  This Aman Hotel is the epitome of exclusivity and elegance.  It's so private that the hotel sits on an island away from the main land and you are not allowed on the grounds unless you are a guest or make a reservation at the restaurant - you can't just randomly stroll in and take a look around.  To give you a sense of the how opulent it is there, we looked up the nightly rate here and it was $2,000/night - so even if we wanted to go all out and stay here for even 1 night, that was still way to much money.  

They have 2 restaurants but only 1 is open for lunch, The Piazza, so we made a 1pm reservation there.  You have to get escorted everywhere but for good reason, as the place is quite sprawling. When you walk in, your breath is taken away at how stunning it is - I might be overly gushy about this place because most of the Airbnbs that we stayed at, while nice, were definitely not luxurious.  

As you can imagine, the restaurant was gorgeous.  It was in this beautiful outdoor garden surrounded by the water.  The service was super attentive (almost too attentive) and helped guide us through the menu.  As expected in a place like this, the prices are exorbitant and quite shocking after all the relatively cheap meals we had been having.  To give you a point of reference, we got a bottle of wine that was 60 euros, which even by US standards, is more than I would usually pay for a bottle of wine at dinner at home.  Most of the wine we had been getting was closer to 12 euros.  But given how cheap most of this trip was, we felt justified in having one baller meal and if it was going to be anywhere in Croatia/Montenegro, it would be here. 

I got with lamb suvlaki and everyone else got these amazing looking pizzas - I know, it sounds kind of strange to go to a 5 star hotel and get pizza but they were delicious and much higher quality than the pizza we had been getting on our trip.  Most of the pizza we had been eating was like a solid high school cafeteria pizza (and I say that in the nicest way but I have a soft spot for it) but the one here was like going to an artisanal wood oven place in Brooklyn.  As for my lamb, it was presented beautifully on 2 hanging metal skewers and served with a yogurt dipping sauce and a Greek salad.  The lamb skewers were good although I wished that my meat was a bit more medium rare - it was closer to a medium/well done.  The Greek salad was super fresh - I just wished there was more of it as it was just a few bites.   The cucumber yogurt was good but a bit thin for me - I would have, ironically, liked a thicker Greek yogurt dipping sauce.  I had a bite of Jenn's pizza and it had a great thin crust to it and felt very high quality. 

Overall, this place is just stunning.  I've been lucky enough in my life to have traveled to a few luxury properties and this one has got to be in the top 5 in terms of physical beauty.  However, the downside of being in such a high end establishment is that the prices are downright ridiculous.  This was by far the most expensive meal we had on the entire trip at $390 USD with tip and wine for 5 people.  I've obviously spent way more in the States (in fact in the first week I came home, I was sadly dropping $70-80/pp on dinner for no good reason) but knowing how cheap the rest of the country is, it's still quite a shock to the system to be paying NYC type prices when you're in Eastern Europe. 

Blanche Obala 11, Przno Beach   3 Forks

Sniffle, last meal of the trip!  We ended at Blanche which was located towards the end of the sea/beachside street and it had stunning views that overlooked the beach.  It's was a beautiful walk over during sunset.   I could see this place being a super romantic place for a couple. 

Since it was our last meal of the trip and I hadn't actually gotten a whole fish, I felt like it was time to do it up.  Unfortunately, something was lost in translation because he showed us the whole fish (it was a branzino aka European sea bass) before serving it and I had told him I wanted him to keep the head on and leave it as is, but it was fileted by the time it got to the table.  The actual fish meat part was fine - nothing spectacular - but there were a ton of small bones in it.  It was to the point where I just accepted that I was going to be swallowing fish bones all night.  Luckily I was with the girls, so I wasn't too embarrassed to be pulling out bones from my mouth but it was starting to get really annoying.  I wished they had just given me the whole fish so that I could just maneuver it myself and find some pockets of goodness in the head of the fish. The fish was also served with grilled vegetables which were also just ok.  

Jenn had asked the waiter if they could linguine and clams and they said yes and again, something must have been lost in translation because she got mussels and pasta and she said it wasn't all that great.   We had thought about getting dessert but our waiter just never showed up.  Since we had to get up at 4AM the next day to catch our flight, we finally flagged him down to get a cheesecake to go, but it took forever.  The service was most definitely very "European" here - aka too slow for this New Yorker.   

Overall, this wasn't my favorite meal of the trip but it was just nice to spend time with the girls in a pretty setting on our last night out.  I'll have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by my food adventure in Croatia/Montenegro - I loved that it was very seafood and Mediterranean focused and that most of our food tasted fresh with no preservatives (in fact I felt like I lost weight on the trip with all the walking and healthy food).  My only comment would be that I wished that there was a bit more variety and spice to the food (I came home and immediately ordered Thai food) but in general it was a fantastic trip that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for something a bit off the beaten path. 

 Photo Credit:  TripAdvisor

Montenegro Part 1 Visited 9/8-9/9 3-4 Forks

Hotel Admiral Restoran Obala Marka Martinovića 82, Perast 85336, Montenegro    4 Forks

We left Dubrovnik early Tuesday and had a guide drive us into Montenegro and give us a very quick tour on our way to pick up our rental car in Tivat.  We stopped in the Bay of Kotor which was lovely and beautiful - very calming and peaceful compared to the hustle of Dubrovnik.   Our driver dropped us off in the small charming down of Perast which is right near the Bay.  The whole town can take you about 15-20 minutes to walk around but it was just such a nice departure from what we had been used to that we took our time walking around.  Don't get me wrong, there were tour groups there as well but they literally came and stopped by for 5 minutes and then were on their way.  We spent a good 2 hours here just relaxing (mostly drinking and eating) and taking in the beautiful scene.  

We stopped at the Hotel Admiral for what we thought was going to be some drinks but we ended up staying for more.  We sat right by the water soaked it all in.  The waiter was super kind (he told us he was Serbian and thanked the US for our help), much like the service in Croatia.  We had been told that people in Montenegro were not as nice as those in Croatia and so far that wasn't true (although it did prove true later).  Again, the menu is your standard seafood and pasta line up.  April and I inquired about the fresh fish (I mean, we were literally right on the water) but the waiter brought out this scary looking fish with angry teeth that even I, a pretty adventurous eater, had to take a pass on.  

Instead I opted for the seafood salad and a tomato soup.  Even though much of the food on the trip was the same, I loved that everywhere you went you could always get a fresh seafood or octopus salad and eat it as a main course - it's just not something you find very often in NYC.  

The tomato soup was just ok - it had a bit less flavor than the one Amy had in Taverna Otto and didn't taste quite as fresh.   However, I did love the seafood salad despite there being bits of the fake crab meat, which is something I usually don't love.  They made up for it with TONS of pieces of fresh octopus and mussels doused in red onions, garlic and lemon juice - very simple yet delicious.   Krush got the octopus salad and it looked amazing and April got a squid ink risotto that she really enjoyed.   Even though it's not a fancy place and the food on it's own wasn't unique or Michelin star worthy, there was just something about the combination of the physical beauty, kind service and simple food that I really enjoyed and savored at the moment.  Plus compared to some of the other meals we had in Montenegro, this was definitely a highlight.  

I'll be the first to say that when my friends suggested Montenegro as a destination I was a bit skeptical, but if you do the proper research, you'll find a some true gems in this country.  Total bill with wine and tip:  $130 USD for 4 people


Stari Mlini Ljuta b.b., Kotor 85330, Montenegro     3 Forks

There aren't a ton of "fancy" restaurants in Kotor but Stari Mlini seems to be the most well known. It used to be a 16th century water mill, so the scenery and surrounding decor is quite beautiful.  Even though we went at night, you could tell that it was a pretty and unique setting.  We sat near the water and it was a tad bit chilly.  Unlike at Panorama, where they already had blankets waiting for you, we had to ask if they had anything for us to wrap ourselves in, which luckily they did. 

Unlike our experience at the Hotel Admiral, the waitstaff here just wasn't as effusive or outgoing. April had asked about the fresh fish of the day and the waiter left in a huff and brought out the sad plate of fish and then proceeded to put his hand all over every single one of them.  There were 2 huge ones and then a pile of smaller ones, none of which seemed right for a single entree but he didn't say or explain what any of them were which was a bit frustrating.  Again, the menu here is similar to every other place we've been to with fresh local seafood from the Adriatic Sea being the main focus. We split the Greek Salad for the table and I got the squid stuffed with giant prawns.  Everyone else got some kind of seafood pasta or grilled seafood.  

The Greek Salad was fine although we all commented on how their version of feta cheese seems much closer to cream cheese than feta.  My dish was fairly large in size and as were the actual pieces of squid and it was jammed packed with lots of shrimp on the inside.  It was a pretty unique dish that I hadn't really had before and it was quite tasty from that stand point.  While I enjoyed my dish, I don't think most of the other girls really did.  Most of them found their dish to be mediocre at best. I'm giving this place 3 forks because I liked my actual dish and because the surrounding area is lovely but there are definitely improvements that can be made to make it a nicer experience when you're visiting Kotor.  Total bill with tip and wine:  162 Euros for 5 people

Photo Credit:  Kotor.Montenegro.Travel.com

Jet Ski  Somewhere along the water in Dobrota  3 Forks

I wasn't sure if I was actually going to write a review on this place since it was the most random meal we had on our trip but I figured it was worth a mention.  April, Krush, Amy and I were getting ready for our big hike up the fort and we knew we needed to get some breakfast before hand.  There aren't a lot of breakfast/brunch places like we have in the States, but we were totally fine with ducking into a local cafe and eating whatever they had on the menu. 

On the walk from our Airbnb to the Old Town, there are many waterfront cafes that line the streets. We picked one randomly and sat down.  It was mostly locals sitting around drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.  We noticed that no one was eating but they did have a breakfast menu so we ordered food anyways.  There isn't much on their breakfast menu - Amy and I both got the omelette (mine had ham it in and Amy's didn't) and Krush and April got the Jet Ski breakfast which had 3 large fried eggs, bacon and potatoes.  Throughout the morning, we were still literally the only people who ordered food and it felt like they must have gone out and farmed the eggs themselves because it must have taken over 40 minutes for our food to come out.  I did feel bad for our waitress since she was the only one working the entire space but we were dying of hunger at the end.  

We were all shocked at how legit and tasty our breakfast was.  The omelette was huge and had lots of cheese, ham and veggies inside - with veggies hat you would not think of to put in an omelette like zucchini and another kind of squash like veggies.  It was also served with sour cream - which turned out to be a delicious combination with the eggs.  It also came with a side of juicy, red, ripe sliced tomatoes.  I loved how fresh the tomatoes are in this country and love that it was served everywhere. While I enjoyed my dish, I longly looked at Krush and April's dish because their "bacon" looked aaaamazing.  It was closer to Canadian bacon in that it looked was super thick and fatty - it was much heftier than regular crispy bacon.  

Overall, the food hit the spot and definitely fueled us for our long hike up the fort.  If you do ever find yourself here, please do yourself a favor and check out the inside of the restaurant.  The place is apparently also a club/lounge at night and it's got this crazy spaceship like interior that you have to check out yourself to believe.  Total bill with tax:  $17 USD for 4 people

Photo Credit:  Facebook

Croatia Part 2 Visited 9/6-9/7 3-4 Forks

Lokrum Island - 3 Forks

Lokrum is a small island that is a 15 minute ferry ride away from Dubrovnik.  It's a nice half day trip to experience some peace and quiet and to get away from the crowds.  There isn't too much to do there except to walk around and hike up to a fort and maybe take a quick dip in the water (although be warned, there are no real beaches, it's all very rocky).  A cute fact about the island is that it is full of peacocks running around, so it's fun trying to catch a photo of them with their wings out.  After a fairly hot and strenuous hike, we decided we to have lunch on the island.  As you can imagine, there aren't many options - it's basically 1 "fancy" restaurant, 1 cafe/rest area and 1 casual pizza type place.  We opted for the casual pizza place which I sadly can't remember the name of - it might have been something as basic as A La Carte but that doesn't really sound right.  In any case, it's a lovely outdoor cafe amongst the peacocks - they can get a bit aggressive so watch out.  The menu was the typical line up for our trip:  pizza, pastas and some seafood.  I opted for the seafood tagliatelle and most of the girls got pizza.  Besides the peacocks, there were swarms of bees.  Bees, bees, bees.  It was becoming incredibly annoying and our adorable waiter tried to put burned coffee down to try to keep them away.  It didn't really work but we appreciated the sentiment.

As for the food, the pasta was what you expected.  A nice tomato base with some mussels, small shrimp and squid.  It was a perfectly fine dish and quite a lot of food but it definitely didn't rival any kind of pasta I had in Italy or even in some finer restaurants in NYC.  But the combination of sitting outside on an island with a chilled bottle of rose made it the right meal at the time.  Total bill with wine: 200 kn = ~$28/pp

Lokanda Peskarija Na ponti bb, 20000, Dubrovnik, Croatia  3.5 Forks

After spending the afternoon walking the walls in the Old Town, we decided to stick around the same area for dinner.  Unfortunately we weren't starving but what's good about being in a seafood heavy town is that for the most part, eating seafood won't weigh you down.  We had seen several restaurants that were serving giant pots of mussels and we decided that that's what we wanted.  There are several restaurants right by the port that have beautiful outside seating for groups of people, so we decided to saddle up to the one that looked the most busy. 

The menu here is almost 100% seafood, so if you aren't into it you're out of luck.  We split a pot of mussels (77 kn = ~$11 USD), shrimp (111 kn = ~$16 USD), a seafood risotto (88 kn = ~$12 USD), and a small salad (35 kn = ~$5 USD).  The small salad was fairly large and their salad are pretty similar to Greek salads in that they have lots of juicy red ripe tomatoes, red onion, olives and sometimes blocks of feta cheese.  I love that most of the salads here are dressed only with simple olive oil and red wine vinegar - none of that heavy creamed based dressing.  The pots of mussels were what you expected - steamed with garlic, lemon and some white wine.  They weren't all that big but there were a lot of them which made up for the size.  The shrimp came with the head on and were quite flavorful and juicy.  They were medium sized so there was enough meat to make peeling them worth while.  It was nice to have the risotto to help fill us up a bit and it had some more shrimp and squid in it.   The risotto itself was a bit on the runny side for me and had more sauce than I would have liked but it was good to have some carbs in the meal.

In addition to visions of having cute dinners on cobble stone streets, I also had dreams of seaside dining while eating fresh seafood and drinking chilled wine, so mission accomplished for both dreams.  It's these small things in life that make me happy,  I just wish there were more options like this in NYC.  Total bill with wine:  $84 for 4 people

Photo Credit:  TripAdvisor

Panorama Restaurant Cable Car Station, Dubrovnik 20000, Croatia  4 Forks

While we had several lovely meals in Dubrovnik, this one was my favorite which I was totally surprised by.  When we had checked into our Airbnb our host had left us coupons for this place (and it's sister restaurant) which I usually take as a bad sign.  There's just something slightly touristy and tacky about leaving coupons to entice customers to your restaurant.  But I couldn't have been so wrong.  

We tried to call the restaurant multiple times for a reservation but they kept telling us that they were full.  Undeterred, we decided to go anyways because we were going to go up the cable car anyways that night. The trip up the cable car is totally worth it - it's lovely and beautiful views, especially during sunset.  You get full spectacular views of the entire Old Town and the surrounding neighborhoods.  It's pretty romantic and a couple even got engaged up there while we were there. 

With Jenn's persistence, we were able to get on the waitlist and got a table within 30 minutes.  The first thing we noticed while we were there was that it was super windy and cold.  None of us were really that prepared but luckily the restaurant was prepared and had warm fleece blankets waiting for us at the table.  How cute is that?!   Our waiter was so adorable and sweet, we all took to him immediately.  I know it's primarily a tourist town but I've been really impressed at how kind everyone was to us there.  The menu had a meat and fish focus and I went with the meat special of the day,  the rib eye.  For starters, we got the grilled calamari and burrata to share.  Both were fantastic, especially the burrata which was very creamy and moist.  I ordered my steak medium rare and they did an awesome job of making it as close to rare was possible (it was pretty pink).  It was tender and sliced well.  It came with mashed potatoes and portobello mushrooms.  It was great mixing the combination of meat, buttery potatoes and mushroom with the juices of the meat.  We all still had room for dessert and got the cheesecake and chocolate cake which were both sweet and satisfying.  We also had two fantastic bottles of local red merlot that were fairly light in taste but went well with my steak. 

Overall, the menu was probably more American than most but that was fine given how much we enjoyed the food.  The stunning views and sincere service made it worth the trek up the cable car.  It was a lovely way to end our time in Dubrovnik.  While I'm glad I finally made it to Dubrovnik, I was surprised at how incredibly touristy it was.   Maybe it's the Game of Thrones effect but I'm not sure that I really need to come back to this part of Croatia again.  I would definitely be up for checking out the Northern part which I heard was stunning and beautiful as well.  Total bill with wine and our 10% discount:  1,535 kn = ~$219 USD for 4 people

Photo Credit:  TripAdvisor