Mandoo Bar Visited 3/27/2015 4 Forks

Mandoo Bar 2 W 32nd St., New York, NY 10001

I have a great love and appreciation for Korean food, so much so that Borami, Lisa and I actually decided to forgo free lunch at Lisa's new company (nice Internet company perk!) and go down the street and pay for food.  The crowd at Mandoo at 1pm was still crazy but they move quite fast there, so we sat down without much of a wait. 

The menu is overwhelming because I wanted to literally eat everything.  I couldn't make up my mind between bimbimbap, Japchae, Udon, or ramen.  I must have changed my mind a dozen times.  But first things first and we settled on sharing the pork mandoo ($11 for 10 pieces) and the kimchee mandoo ($11.50 for 10 pieces) to start.  Then we all opted to get the bulgogi dolsot bimbimbap ($16). The pork mandoos came out first and they were piping hot.  As you walk into the restaurant, you see a bunch of cute old Korean ladies hand making all the dumplings, so you know for sure that it's homemade and fresh.  The pork mandoos (they're basically dumplings) were juicy and quite tasty.  I liked how the skin wasn't too thick or chewy.  10 dumplings between the 3 of us was actually quite a lot of food and then I realized that we were getting another round of dumplings AND our main meal - all for lunch.   After we finished our pork dumplings things started to go a bit down hill with the service (although I will acknowledge that it was incredibly chaotic in there).  They only brought out 1 bimbimbap which confused us because we all ordered one and then our kimchee dumplings never arrived.  So we had to flag down our waiter and ask to re-confirm our order.  Finally after a few minutes, everything else arrived at once.   I immediately dove into the dumplings because our bimbimbap was 1,000 degrees and I needed it to cool off for a bit.  The kimchee dumplings were quite tasty as well - excellent thin skin with a spicy kimchee filling.  Although comparing the two dumplings, I still prefer a nice juicy pork dumping over any other kind of dumpling.  As for the bimbimbap, we actually should have just split that 1 order among the 3 of us because the individual order was huge.  It was still piping hot after letting it cool down and no matter how much I was eating it, I never felt like I was making a dent in the bowl.  The ingredients were great with the sizzling hot rice, hot sauce, marinated beef and vegetables but I was really missing the fried egg that usually goes with this dish.  I'm not sure why the cold version gets an egg and the hot one does not (maybe because they think it'll be overcooked with the hot sizzling rice?) but I did miss that part of the dish.   I eventually had to stop eating because I was so full and ended taking home what seemed like the entire bowl of rice. 

Overall, I'm super jealous that Lisa gets to work near such a great ethnic part of the city.  Korean food is not only delicious but it's super flavorful and our meal was actually quite affordable considering how much food we really ate.  I would definitely come back here in a heart beat and try out some of their noodle dishes and the baby mandoos instead.  Total bill:  $25/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

White Street Visited 3/24/2015 2.5 Forks

White Street 221 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013

This review makes me sad because I really did want to like this place and support the chef, Floyd Cardoz but it just wasn't that impressive and then on top of it the prices of some of the dishes were down right offensive - even for being in hoity toity Tribeca. 

I ended up here for a client dinner with a publishing friend and upon walking in I was impressed with the space.  It's quite large, spacious and felt very high brow.  It seemed like almost everyone else here was on a corporate account too (otherwise, I really don't know how else would come here and pay for it on their own).   We all started with cocktails and wanted to nosh on something while we reviewed the menu and tried to order the burrata flatbread to start.  But we were told that the chef prefers us to order everything at once, so he couldn't put our order in for us.  Um - ok, way to accommodate your customers.  I've never heard that before and we all looked at each other like "waaa?"   So fine then, we decided to order everything at once then so that we wouldn't keel over and starve.  We got the burrata flatbread ($23) to start and we also shared the duck fries ($14) and Brussels Sprouts ($15) for the table.  Yes, you did not mis-read those prices.  They charged almost $15 for a side of fries - that is borderline offensive.  As for my main dish, I got the glazed short ribs of beef ($37) and the rest of the table got the fish dish and Borami got the octopus and beet appetizers.    

We were all particularly excited for the burrata dish but when it came out it was nothing like what any of us thought.  When you hear burrata, what do you usually envision? A nice soft moist mozzarella-like cheese right?  What we got instead was a pizza with melted burrata cheese on it and then topped with arugula.  Totally underwhelming and by melting the burrata, they made it flavorless and bland.  We were all disappointed by this and at first I wondered if we mis-read the menu but nowhere on there does it say that it's warm or like a pizza.  Next came our main dishes.  The short rib was served with oat risotto, horseradish, and shoe string potatoes.  The meat was excellent and fell right apart with barely my fork touching.  This dish was really the only thing that kept me from giving this review anything lower.  The duck fries were ok - not $14 worth and I realized that they were actually the same fries that Floyd used to serve at North End Grill which kind of annoyed me for some reason.  The Brussels Sprouts were good but not better or worse than what I've had elsewhere.

We managed to still have room for dessert and got the sticky toffee pudding ($12) which came with creme fraiche sorbet, pecan macaroon and coconut tuille.   I usually find sticky toffee pudding too sweet and this one was no different.

Despite the uninspiring food experience, I do want to say that our server was excellent.  He was very kind, knowledgeable and made the experience quite pleasant.  All I can say is that if you aren't paying for dinner, this place may not be so bad, but if you're coming on your own, you're much better off going to some of the other places in the area that's just as good and more affordable.  Total bill:  ~$500 for 4 with tax, tip and lots of drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Market Table Visited 3/22/2015 2 Forks

Market Table  54 Carmine St., New York, NY 10014

Aarti and I ended up here on a Sunday afternoon because the wait at the new West Village outpost of Jack's Wife Freda next door was out of control.  The place was so crowded that people were literally standing on top of one another that it was border line claustrophobic in there.  Plus given that it was almost 1pm, we decided that we couldn't wait another hour for food and conveniently headed to Market Table which was right next door. 

Market Table is one of those places that's always on my list but just never quite makes the cut for me. But I was staving and impatient because I was dying to tell Aarti all my stories from the previous night out, so we decided to check it out.   While Market Table was also quite crowded they were able to seat us right away at a very small high top table behind the hostess.  As we were getting seated I saw one of the waitresses bring out a burger and even though I wasn't hung over from the night before I did drink quite a few glasses of wine that a thick juicy burger sounded amazing.

I did glance at the menu quickly before deciding on the burger.  The menu had an entire section dedicated to vegetables so for any vegetarians or people who just want a slightly healthier brunch, this place is be a good bet.  They also had a whole section where you could make your own brunch dish, which is what Aarti did - she did half an avocado ($4), toast ($3) and an egg ($3). Meanwhile I stuck with my original order of a cheeseburger ($17) medium rare because it just seemed like the right thing to do.  When the burger came out, it looked good - it was covered in caramelized onions, shredded cheddar cheese and served with fries.  When I cut the burger in half, I noticed that it wasn't quite as medium rare as I would have liked since it didn't have that super pink inside to it.  But I was so hungry that when the waitress asked if everyone was ok, I just said yes and ate it anyways.  While I do love a good serving of onions on my burger, there was just too much here.  It made the whole thing very difficult to eat - super slippery and messy.  As soon as I took my first bite, almost all the onions came out between the buns.  I just couldn't bother dealing with trying to re-construct my meal so I didn't bother eating them at all.  My other issue with the burger was that I wasn't a huge fan of the bun.  It wasn't some soft brioche type bun that you usually see with burgers these days instead it was kind of dry and blah.  It did hold up all the juices which was much appreciated but I wasn't a fan of the bread itself.  Lastly, I wasn't a fan of the shredded cheese on it.  When I think cheeseburger, I envision a thick gooey slice of cheese that just sticks to the meat all over.  But because this was shredded, it was really hard to get a sense of that oozy factor and for a cheddar cheese it wasn't very sharp.  The burger also came with fries that I thought were a bit overcooked and dry.

So yeah - I wasn't a huge fan of the burger and part of it was my fault for not saying anything when the waitress asked me if it was ok.  But I generally never send food back unless it's really awful or has a hair in it or something like that.   Given all the other great brunch places in the West Village, I wouldn't come back here again but for some reason I want to give it another shot based on all the positive Yelp reviews, so maybe a dinner here might change my mind.  Otherwise, I'd say just get up early and go to Jack's Wife Freda for brunch instead.  Total bill:  $40 for 2 with tax, tip and juice

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Colonie Visited 3/14/2015 4 Forks

Colonie 127 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11201

Colonie is a Brooklyn standby that I somehow have never gone to in all my years of living in Brooklyn.  So when Vinita and I were looking for a place to meet up in Brooklyn one rainy Saturday afternoon, this place popped into my head.  It's located on Atlantic Ave so it's a bit off all the crazy brunch places on Smith Street but it's still super crowded. 

We grabbed two seats at the bar which was actually the best idea ever because you can get the attention of the bartender much faster and not have to wait for a waiter to come around.  The brunch menu has a lot of good staples:  pancakes, shrimp and grits, scrambles, lox plate, eggs benedict, and a great looking burger.  Vinita and I both ended up getting the leek and gruyere scramble ($13) which comes with toast, potatoes and a salad and a choice of breakfast meat (I got the sausage). 

The scramble itself was great - soft, fluffy and moist.  The combination of the leek and cheese was great although I'll be honest that I'm not sure if I could really tell that there was a lot of leek flavor to it.  The potatoes were your basic but good brunch potatoes and helped to add some starch to the meal.  The sausage was super hearty and you could tell that they were homemade and not some defrosted frozen version.  It was more like a sausage patty rather than a link - which is actually how I prefer them.  The only thing that I would say was a disappointment about the dish would be the salad. It was a nice array of better lettuce and mixed greens but they were a bit heavy handed on the dressing, so that made it a bit too soggy and just overwhelming in general.  

While the food was delicious, so were the cocktails.  We ended up hanging out at the bar for over 3 hours chatting and of course that meant that we had to get a cocktail at some point.  We got a blood orange margarita ($12) and it was fantastic - a great way to kick start a blah grey afternoon.  While there wasn't any one thing that was particularly mind blowing, I did really enjoy being there.  It just felt homey and welcoming without a lot of douche bags, annoying screaming families or loud 20 something's that you generally find at brunch these days - I guess I should say that it just felt like nice adult place where you can get great drinks and food and be able to enjoy a 3+ hour conversation without feeling rushed.  Total bill:  $42/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Narcissa Visited 3/13/2015 5 Forks

Narcissa 25 Cooper Sq., New York, NY 10003

So it's been a long time since I've dropped 5 forks on a place, especially in NYC, so I figured it was about time I did it with Narcissa.  I was hesitant to try it out because it seemed like one of those super buzzy hotel restaurants but Lav raved about it, so I figured I should try it at least once.  I was able to snag an 8pm reservation on a Friday night and brought along Amy since the focus on the menu is quite veggie friendly. 

As I mentioned, this is on the ground floor of a hotel, The Standard in the East Village to be exact. Being associated with a hotel might have been a reason why the hospitality and service were so spot on.  They were kind and eager without being too in your face.  While I obviously eat meat, I greatly appreciate a really good vegetarian menu when done right.  Almost everything on this menu sounded so amazing that I actually ended up not getting any meat (but we did get seafood) dishes.  We decided to share everything and we got the Brussels Sprouts Leaves ($14), the beets ($15), the half size of the potato gnocchi ($15), the black sea bass ($26) and a side of cauliflower ($8).  If that sounded like a lot of food, that's because it was but it was all fantastic and I would have ordered any of them all over again.  In fact, if I could have, I would have also ordered the raw tuna and the charred octopus. 

We started with the Brussels Sprouts (ham on the side) and it was fabulous.  It was served with manchego cheese which is always a nice touch - there's just something about Brussels Sprouts that I have really just grown to love as an adult.  Next I tried the rotisserie-crisped beets which had bulgar salad, apples and the piece de resistance creamed horseradish on top.  The combination of beets and horseradish is one that I'm now really obsessed with.  The potato gnocchi was served with butternut squash, swiss chard and confit chestnut.  I'm usually on the fence with gnocchi because it can be an extremely heavy dish but this one was light and fluffy but still had that ting of denseness.  I'm glad we got the half size but I could easily see this being a wonderful entree.  Next came my 2 favorite dishes of the night:  steamed black sea bass and the Manchurian cauliflower.  Both amazing.  The sea bass was perfectly steamed and served with a delicious coconut curry sauce - it was flakey and firm and the curry added great flavor to the dish.  Simply wonderful.  The cauliflower dish really surprised me.  I thought it was going to be a basic steamed or roasted side dish but it almost like a vegetarian play on General Tsao's chicken - it had crispy fried batter on the outside with a tangy ginger sweet and sour sauce coating on the outside and served with scallions.  I was beyond obsessed with this dish and it's one of those dishes that really convinces me that there is excellent vegetarian food out there, so never settle for some lame steamed vegetable plate when you can have something like this. 

All in all, I really loved my meal and overall experience there.  I also have to give a shout out to the cocktail selection there - fantastic cocktails made with enough alcohol to really hit you when you get home.  A lot of people often ask me if I've been to any good places in NYC lately and this is my new go to suggestion for those who ask.  It is a bit pricey and not an everyday meal but if you are celebrating something or just want to treat yourself to a really excellent meal, Narcissa should definitely be on your list.  Total bill:  $91/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp  

Coppelia Visited 3/10/2015 4 Forks

Coppelia 207 W 14th St., New York, NY 10011

It always amazes me how one could have lived in NYC for years and never even notice half the places in the city.  I must have passed by this place a million times in all my years of living in NYC but never once did I notice it.   So I was shocked when Julia mentioned that this place had the best nachos in the city.   How have I never been to this place before when it's 1 block away from the L train?!?

Coppelia is a 24/7 Latin diner, which also serves breakfast all day, so this place is already in the running for best place ever.  Everything on the menu from the drinks to the food sounded amazing. We started with a large pitcher of sweet delicious red sangria ($34) and the nachos ($8.95).  Oh - did I mention that all the prices here were very reasonable as well?  The nachos, was advertised, were fantastic.  According to Julia, the key to the nachos is the secret layer of crema underneath all the toppings, which included gouda-munster cheese, black beans, jalapeno, guacamole and a side of the chopped beef short ribs.  The ribs were tender, juicy and super flavorful and I actually liked that it wasn't on top of the nachos because this way I was really able to get a good scoop of the ribs without hunting/pecking for it in the nachos.  This isn't the kind of nacho plate that comes with gooey orange cheese on it but instead it's the real deal with fresh real ingredients.   For the main course, we all decided to split the oxtail empanada ($4.75), a regular cheese empanada ($3.75), the pernil ($17.95), and the chile relleno ($16.95).  The oxtail empanada was mainly for me to try because I love oxtail but sadly these empanadas were a bit on the cold side, so I didn't really love them all that much.  I probably should have said something but there was so much other food that I didn't bother.  I was excited to try the pernil because I love a good roasted pork dish and this one did not disappoint.  The pork was tender and well apart when eating it.  It was paired nicely with a yummy side of mojo and the dish was given a serious kick with some mojo on top of it.  It was a tad on the salty side but that probably came from the chicharrons on the plate as well.  I was so full at this point that I actually didn't get around to trying the chili relleno at all which I was super bummed about because it sounded delicious -  it was served with quinoa, brussels sprouts, zucchini, salsa and a side of rice and beans.

By the time we left I was full and drunk.   I was surprised to see how constantly full this place was but after having a great time there and having great food, I really shouldn't be surprised.  I would absolutely come back here in a heart beat and try out everything else on the menu such as the ceviche, huevos rancheros, fish tacos, roasted chicken and cubano sandwich - in fact just writing about all these dishes is making my mouth water already.  Total bill:  ~$150 with tax, tip and drink

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Turquoise Restaurant Visited 3/8/2015 4 Forks

Turquoise Restaurant 2147 W Roscoe St., Chicago, IL 60618

If you had asked me to review this place after the first 30 minutes of sitting down, I might have given it 2 Forks because the service was horrible in the beginning, but after spending some time and re-thinking my entire experience, I have to say the food was good enough and the experience unique enough that I'm willing to go with 4 Forks (maybe closer to 3.75 Forks).  As long as you know what to expect with this place, you'll have a great time.

Nima, Deanna and I came for brunch on a Sunday morning and originally we didn't think anyone would be here.  But the place was actually packed and it took a while to get the host (I'm not sure if there really was a host, I think everyone who worked there had 5 different jobs) to seat us.  We sat all the way in the back and we could see how hurried and rushed all the waiter/waitresses were.  It's a pre-fixe meal of about 9 courses, but it was hard to really figure that out because they don't tell you anything or come to take your order.  We waited forever to flag someone down to ask what the deal was and they said the food just comes out. Ok, we must have waited 20 minutes before any food came out but when it did, boy did we get a lot of food.  In one fell swoop, 5 plates of food came out at once.  All the dishes are made for sharing and there's plenty of food on each dish for everyone.  We started with warm freshly baked bread with butter and honey and then there was also a green salad with a giant delicious piece of feta cheese, feta cheese pie, Turkish hash browns, a cheese plate with 4 different cheeses and olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  I really enjoyed the hash browns as they were jammed packed with flavor from the onion, peppers, and parsley.  Then came another round of food - gooey cheese omelet, sweet crepes with fruit, giant pieces of salami with sunny side eggs, and then these meatloaf balls with gravy and vegetables.   At this point, we were all so full but couldn't stop trying everything that was put in front of us.  The omelet and crepes were the big winners of this round of food.  At this point, we were all completely stuffed and couldn't eat anymore food.  They did bring out a fruit plate which was a nice refreshing finisher.

Despite this place starting off on the wrong foot service-wise, they did make up for it with the quality and quantity of food.  The waitress was very nice while were were being served and you could tell that they were just crazy busy and not intentionally ignoring you.  Serving a 9 course meal to a packed house all at once is not a fun job.  What's even more amazing about this place is that all this food was only $15.95 - a great deal, just don't come here if you are in a hurry!  Total bill:  $23 with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp