Hasaki Visited 6/20/2015 4 Forks

Hasaki  210 E 9th St. Basement, New York, NY 10003

There are tons of sushi places on E. 9th street that if you don't look carefully, you'll walk right past. Hasaki is one of those places since it's on the basement level of a building and the only way you can tell that it's there is by the small menu that hung outside. I love the feeling of "hidden" restaurants, it makes you feel like you're in the know about something that no one else is.  But this place was super crowded on a Saturday night, so I'm guessing the cat is out of the bag. 

Despite walking in on a Saturday around 8pm, my mom and I only had to wait 15 minutes for a table. The place is relatively small and narrow but it did have a really nice sushi counter for those who want to sit there.  The menu is on the authentic Japanese side - they don't have large crazy rolls with mango, cream cheese or any of the sort.  It's all very classic basic sushi rolls.  My mom and I had wanted to start with the fish head appetizer but sadly they had already run out for the night, so we went with a standard veggie and shrimp tempura appetizer ($10).  For our entree, we went with the sushi and sashimi for 2 ($56) because I loved everything that the waitress had described was in the combination.  The tempura was great - light, crispy and not too oily.  My only compliant is that there was no sweet potato in the veggie selection.  What I thought was a sweet potato was actually a carrot. Boo!  On to the actual sushi.  The combination had a great selection of the "greatest hits" of sashimi - salmon, tuna, white tuna, and yellowtail.  For sushi they had ebi, toro, salmon roe and eel and then they also give each person a full california roll and spicy tuna roll.  I was actually pretty impressed with the amount of food per person and I really liked that they equally split everything so that you're not fighting with the other person for the last piece of your favorite fish.  I found all the fish to be very fresh and of great quality - I mean, it's not at the level of Tanoshi but it's also a step up from a place like Loop.  It just felt very authentic and simple - just the way good sushi should be.  I liked how the sushi and the rolls were not super heavy on the rice - it was just the right amount to fill you up but you also didn't feel like you were carbo-loading at the same time. 

What I also like about this place is that it's very affordable but you still felt like you were having a very quality meal.  Since I just had a blow-out omakase the night before, I wasn't going to do it again, but they start at a very reasonable $48 for sushi or $55 for sashimi here and it's something I would totally do here and sit at the counter for.  I'm a big fan of this place and would put it on my rotation of East Village sushi visits - especially if you are looking for something that's a bit fancier than the usual East Village noisy sushi place but that's not uber fancy or expensive like Sushi of Gari.  Total bill:  $80 for 2 people with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Juliana's Pizza Visited 6/17/2015 4.5 Forks

Juliana's Pizza  19 Old Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

Despite living in NYC and having lived in Chicago before, pizza has never been a food that I've craved.  Don't get me wrong, I love a great slice, especially if I've had a couple of beers in me but I've always been more drawn to more ethnically inspired food.  However, every once in a while I have a really great pizza experience and it reminds me of how great pizza can be (I'm looking at you Roberta's).   I've got to say that I'm putting Juliana's right up there. 

I had heard about Juliana's from multiple people at how great it is and how much better it is compared to it's more famous next door neighbor Grimaldi's.  So when Vinita and I found ourselves in DUMBO for opera in the park without any food or snacks, we knew our first stop afterwards was to get pizza stat.  Although Juliana's is also pretty well known, it just never seems to draw the lines of Grimaldi's. While it was crowded, we were lucky enough to be able to get a seat right away.  In true New York style, the pizza here is all thin crust fire brick oven style.  Vinita, Meeta and I were literally about to gnaw our arms off so we ended up getting 1 large No.1 pizza ($30) and 1 small classic Margherita with pepperoni ($19) and a spinach salad with avocado and chickpeas ($14).   

The salad was a solid mixed green salad with a good tasty olive oil, reg wine vinegar and Dijon dressing.  It was just the healthy start that we needed before we completely gorged ourselves on pizza.  The special No. 1 pizza came with mozzarella, smoked cheese, pancetta, scallions, and white truffles in truffle oil.  Dear god - it was a stunning pizza.  While I usually prefer a red tomato sauce base, this was a truly fantastic white pizza.  The combination of all the ingredients was heavenly and it's rare to see scallions on pizza but I really loved the addition of it.  The pancetta was amazing salty goodness with the right balance of fat and meat on it.  I probably had about 3 slices in about a time span of 30 minutes.  I usually don't like nor eat the crust of pizza but this one was really quite tasty. It was thin but with a perfect crunch on the outside and soft on the inside.   It was quite possibly a perfect crust.  The classic margherita was also lip smacking delicious and the pepperoni was another kind of salty meaty goodness.  There's just something about a classic pepperoni pizza after a few glasses of wine that just feels so right.   In true Brooklyn fashion, we ended the night with homemade cannolis that was the perfect ending to the night.    

I rarely rave about pizza but there was just something about this night and the food here that just made me swoon.  I took the leftover pizza home and they were even great the next day.  I've always loved DUMBO, but knowing that I could hit up Juliana's as well the next time I'm here makes me even happier.  Total bill:  $49/pp with tax and tip and wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Momofuku Ssam Visited 6/17/2015 4 Forks

Momofuku Ssam 207 2nd Ave., New York, NY 10003

I'll be the first to say that I'm generally not a huge fan of David Chang.  I thought Momofuku Noodle bar (and it's fried chicken special) was overrated and I just find him generally to be over-hyped.  But my friend Neel has been raving about the lunch at Momokufu Ssam and I totally trust his judgement on food, so I was willing to let go of my bias and give it a shot. 

I have always been a big proponent of going to a hotspot during lunch time because it's usually less crowded and you can get the same food for a better deal.  This rule clearly applies here as I have walked past this place a million times for dinner and it's always been super crowded and unmanageable.  Neel and I went for lunch at exactly 11:30 and we were the 1st people there - it did start to get a bit crowded by noon but it was never jammed packed. 

Apparently one of Neel's favorite dishes ever is their spicy pork sausage and rice cakes, so we decided to split that as well as the broccoli salad and of course any meal at Momofuku isn't complete without getting the steamed buns.  As much as I hate to admit it, nobody except maybe Ippudo, does as good of a pork belly steamed bun as Momofuku.  It really is a work of art - the bun is soft and fluffy, the pork belly deliciously fatty and meaty and then it's topped with hoisin sauce, cucumbers and scallions.  It really is fantastic.  Next we tried the broccoli salad which was a chilled salad with smoked bluefish vinaigrette and crispy duck skin.  You could definitely taste the tang of the vinaigrette which was a very unique flavor.  It was a good dish to cut the heat of the next dish which was the spicy pork sausage with rice cakes.  It's a pretty generous portion so it's definitely shareable among 2 people.  I could tell without even tasting it that it was going to be incredibly spicy - you can see the it dripping with red hot sichuan peppercorns.  Somehow I managed to tolerate the heat and still enjoy the dish.  It was a little bit oily but overall it had really strong bold hit-you-in-the-face flavors.  I'm always a fan of a good rice cake and while Neel mentioned that they are usually more crispy on the outside, I still enjoyed their texture and chewiness.  I could see how any extra toasted-ness on the outside would have increased the dish by a few notches but overall I was impressed with how it turned out.

While I'm still not 100% convinced that I love all things Momofuku-related now, I do have to admit that I enjoyed my meal here greatly.  It might have been because it wasn't noisy and crowded and it was just an overall more pleasant experience than waiting in line for 2 hours, but the food was also pretty enjoyable too.  Although Neel did mention that he felt like the place may have been getting a bit too comfortable with themselves as they used to great offer off-menu specials but they didn't have any this time around and they kind of pared the menu down to their greatest hits.  In any case, their greatest hits were pretty damn great and I would say if you insist of hitting up a Momofuku establishment, lunch is definitely the way to go.  Total bill:  $39/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Meadowsweet Visited 6/15/2015 4.5 Forks

Meadowsweet  149 Broadway, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Although I live in Williamsburg, there are definitely certain parts of the neighborhood that I don't spend as much time in as I would like to.  One section is South Williamsburg which is kind of home to the original Williamsburg food scene, such as Peter Luger's, Diner and Dressler.  Sadly, Dressler closed a while ago when the owner killed himself and the space has been re-born as Meadowsweet. Luckily, Meadowsweet continues the tradition of really classic but solid food.

I was lucky enough to go for my birthday -  although the place was generally pretty quiet even for a Monday night.   I met up with Virginia and we were both starving and decided to split a bunch of dishes even though this place isn't really a tapas small plate kind of place but so many things sounded so good to both of us that we just wanted to try it all.  We split the burrata wrapped in prosciutto, crispy baby artichokes, squid ink pasta, and the st. louis ribs.  It's a pretty random diverse menu but I would say the style is modern American.  The burrata wrapped in prosciutto sounds as amazing and delicious as it sounds.   The burrata was super fresh and creamy and was perfectly combined with the thinly sliced prosciutto as it added the hint of saltiness that any fresh cheese really needs.  It was seriously one of the best burrata dishes I've had in a while.  Next I tried the crispy baby artichokes which was supposed to be our "healthy" vegetable of the night.  It was served with shaved parmesan, and a creamy garlic dressing, so I wouldn't say it was really healthy as itt was tasty.  Next I moved on to the small portion of squid ink pasta - you could tell that it was very heavy on the butter in the sauce but that's what made it fantastic.  It came with bit of fresh crab meat in it which made it even more wonderful.  Lastly, I had the ribs.  You would think that a nice classy place like this wouldn't have great fall off the bone ribs but it did.  They had bourbon BBQ sauce on them but it was just the right about to make it moist but not too messy.  The meat literally fell clean off the bone - amazing.  It really rivaled most ribs I've had in a lot of more traditional BBQ places.  After these 4 dishes, we were still a little bit hungry so we topped our meal off with the smoked trout crepe.  I know, it's not a desert but it sounded different and interesting that we wanted to try it.  It was essentially smoked trout with apple, beet, frisee and horseradish wrapped in a very thin soft crepe.  I actually really enjoyed this dish and it had kind of this French feel to it with the smoked fish and crepe aspect to it.  I can see how it's not a dish that everyone would love but I felt like it was very well executed. 

Overall, my meal at Meadowsweet didn't disappoint - in fact I have to say that it really surprised me in how much I really enjoyed all the food there.  It was understated but really solid food - well seasoned, balanced and executed beautifully.  This was the same thing for their cocktails too - I had a negroni that was incredibly tasty and well done.  While this place has gotten tons of accolades, I feel like it's still a little bit of a hidden gem given all the hot spots that Williamsburg produces.  I would definitely add it to the list of places to check out if you are looking for something that is delicious but not hipster.  Total bill:  it was a birthday gift to me, so I didn't get to see the total bill

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Tanoreen Visited 6/13/2015 4 Forks

Tanoreen 7523 3rd Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11209

Tanoreen has been on my list of places to try for seriously over 5 years.  I've heard nothing but great things about it (it's frequently touted as one of the best Middle Eastern places in the city) but what kept me from going there was the fact that it was in Bay Ridge and a good 45 mins -1 hour away.  So finally when I had a free Saturday, Aarti and I made the long trek on the R train to Bay Ridge to try it out.  It is a legit hour from the city, so definitely be prepared for that.  But once you're off the train, it's a quick 5 mins walk to the restaurant.

It was definitely much bigger than I expected and even though I know it's a well known restaurant, I was still surprised at how crowded it was.  Practically every table was taken by 7pm on a Saturday. Everything on the menu sounded great - it had all the classic staple Middle Eastern dishes and then some.  This would be a great place to go with a large group because there are so many great dishes to try that it's really hard to do with only 1 or 2 other people.  Aarti and I settled on hummus ($7), feta cheese salad ($9), and the cauliflower side ($8) while I opted for the grilled combo ($21) and Aarti got the vegetarian combo ($21).  While hummus may seem kind of boring to get in a restaurant, there really is nothing more delicious than a solid hummus with soft warm pita to start a meal.  This one was great - very creamy with the right mix of tahini, chick pea and olive oil.  Next I tried the feta salad which was a refreshing combination of feta, tomato, red onion, cucumber, lemon and olive oil. All the ingredients were super fresh and healthy tasting, although it almost seemed like a garnish dish rather than a salad.  But the star of the appetizers was the grilled cauliflower with tahini on it.  There's just something about grilled cauliflower that I really love, especially when it's slightly burned/charcoaled on the outside.  It was tender but still had a slight crunch to it.  Sadly, we were pretty full by this point even though we still hadn't touched or seen our entrees.

When our entrees did come out, we were both totally overwhelmed by it.  They were both literally the size of 2 giant plates.  One combo dish would have been enough to feed 2 people but the fact that we got 2 combo plates was just ridiculous.  We each took about 3-4 bites and really just couldn't eat any more.  For the record, my grilled combo came with kabob (ground lamb), chicken kabob, and shish kabob (marinated lamb) and a side of rice and salad.   Of the few bites that I took of the meat, it was fantastic and very well cooked.  I asked for most of it to be medium rare which is was and of the 3 meats, I was the biggest fan of the shish kabob.  As I mentioned I ended up taking 3/4 of it home and even the next day, it was a pretty hefty leftover meal and while the meat wasn't as tender as when it was served warm, it was still tasty.  At the end of the meal, even though it was my birthday, neither of us really had any room for dessert.

Overall, I'm super happy that I finally made it here.  While they do have sign outside their restaurant that says that it's the #1 Middle Eastern Restaurant in all of NYC, I'm not sure if it's truly #1 but it does came pretty darn close.  I just wish it was a bit closer to the city but I guess that part of their charm and how they keep their prices relatively affordable.  Total bill:  ~$120 with tax, tip and 2 drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Santina Visited 6/8/2015 4 Forks

Santina 820 Washington St., New York, NY 10014

Santina has been getting a lot of buzz lately - it's no wonder because it's from the guys at Torrisi and Carbone.  I had been wanting to check it out since it opened but it's been impossible to get a reservation that wasn't crazy early or late.  But when Louise mentioned that she was coming to town and that we should get dinner on a Monday, I figured it was easy enough to go for the early bird dinner (5:45pm) on a school night and not look too lame.

As Louise told me, this place is definitely full of "well groomed" people - I mean, it is in the Meatpacking District and in a prime location next to the new Whitney Museum.  It's got a very summer time/Miami feel to it, which is perfect for now but I wonder how it will fare once it starts to get colder.  Regardless, it's a bright, sunny and cheerful spot.  The menu is new school Italian and instead of them having descriptions of what the dishes are on the menu, the poor waiter proceeded to spend 15-20 minutes with us describing every single dish.  I'm not kidding, every single dish.  And he did this with every table.  I'm not sure why they just don't add a few words to dish on the menu.

We started off with the tuna cecina and the squash carpaccio and then we split the rigatoni verde and the spaghetti blue crab.  The cecina is like a very thin pancake/buckwheat crepe and then they give you this delicious mild/hot green sauce and a side bowl of raw poke-like tuna to fill the pancake with. I loved the flavor of the tuna with the green sauce and the thinness of the pancake was just right where you didn't feel like you were eating something greasy or bad for you.  Next was the squash carpaccio and it was freaking amazing.  It was paper thin slices of delicious yellow/orange squash, drizzled with a sweet honey-like sauce and topped with ricotta cheese and herbs.  It was a perfect summer time dish.  On to the pastas. I was excited for them because they have this outrageous spicy vodka rigatoni at Carbone that is amazing.  The waiter did warn us before hand that the blue crab pasta could be very polarizing because its fishy but since Lou and I are from MD, we figured it wouldn't be an issue for us.  And it wasn't - in fact I loved this dish.  I can see how someone who isn't a fan of crab would find this dish fishy - they cook the sauce with the crab meat in it, so it's really infused in the whole dish.  But I was a huge fan of this dish and the pasta itself was nicely done done and definitely tasted fresh and homemade.  The rigatoni verde was also good but not as tasty as the crab one.  It came with a green basil-like sauce to it and was a nice summer pasta that wasn't too heavy.

Of course, we had to end the night with dessert and got the most popular one on the menu the lemon meringa which was very similar to a lemon meringue pie only they serve you a large meringue top and then press down a lemon cream filling on top of it with a spoon.  It was a great, tangy dessert and seemed fitting for the theme of the summer time theme here.

Overall, I really enjoyed the food here - even if it was a bit pricey and I'm generally not a huge fan of the MeatPacking scene in general.  But it's a nice addition to the Major Food Group family of restaurants and their outdoor patio is definitely a great place to spend some down time in the summer time.  Total bill:  $108/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Mission Rock Resort Visited 5/31/2015 3 Forks

Mission Rock Resort 817 Terry Francois Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94158

When we first pulled up to Mission Rock, I was like where the hell are we?  It's located in a rather isolated part of SF but once you walk in and go upstairs, you get some killer views and you come to appreciate it's slightly remote location.  Jenn, April, Krush and I got there on the early side, just in time for happy hour.  We sat outside on the upper deck and even though it was a bit chilly, it was still just really nice to sit outside by the water and enjoy the views. 

Happy hour (3-7pm) consisted of $1 oysters and drink specials.  But the rest of the menu sounded great as well - it was all seafood, which is obviously my favorite.  Unfortunately, I was still pretty full from gorging on breakfast at The Pork Store, so I wasn't all that hungry.  We started with a dozen oysters ($12) and the mussels and fries ($17).  Unlike my all time favorite oyster place, Maison Premiere, this place doesn't have a selection of oysters to choose from for happy hour - there was just 1 kind and unfortunately I didn't catch what kind they were.  I usually prefer West Coast oysters since they are more plumb and meaty but sadly these were the opposite - smaller and very thin.  They also didn't do a fab job of shucking them as I found a bunch of shell bits in a few of my oysters.  They weren't the worst  oysters I've had before but given how spoiled and slightly snobby I've become, I didn't feel compelled to order more of them even though they were only $1.  Moving on to the mussels, they also seemed a bit thin and skinny as well which was disappointing.  But the great thing about this dish was that it was cooked in a very buttery bacon, onion, Dijon cream sauce.  It was delicious with the fries.  After a few more rounds of drinks, we started to get a bit hungrier, so we ordered the Ahi Tuna Tartare ($18).  It was served with avocado, soy sauce, scallions, sriracha and wonton chips.  This dish redeemed this place a bit as it was a really solid fresh tuna dish.  This was a dish that I would have ordered more of. 

Overall, the Mission Rock was a really great place to relax, have a few happy hour drinks and some snacks.  While the food wasn't the best I've had in terms of either in SF or in the seafood realm, the general atmosphere and vibe was lovely and worth the trip, which is rather high praise for a 3 fork place.  Total bill:  $40/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp