Posts from the ‘What to Eat’ Category

Mar 22

Tony Luke’s

1/2

Pork, provolone, broccoli rabe. This sandwich is the shit. An Italian
sandwich, in their words. I've also enjoyed the version at Tommy DeNic's,
but there's something to be said for the ambience of the take out window and
picnic table style dining, a la Geno's and Pat's. Such a phenomenon. I've
never lived anywhere with this whole tradition of brusque, window service
sandwiches. (I've also never lived or visited anywhere where people can just
park in the middle of the street-it's totally bizarre to see cars sitting in
medians, facing all different directions.) The rabe has the tendency to make
the sandwich soggy and most un-dainty (but good) so I often refrain, but I
noticed what they call a "green sandwich," which I'm thinking must be
provolone and rabe. That even sounds good, and probably the only thing a
vegetarian could eat in this damn town of fatty fast food delights.

Tony Luke's * 39 E. Oregon
Ave., Philadelphia, PA

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Mar 22

Morimoto

With these name brand restaurants, I hem and haw over what to say, as if
seriousness of mission is ever reflected in my recounting. Whatever.
Morimoto was a spur of the moment birthday dinner choice. All I knew was
that New York City was not the place to be for James's 33rd birthday. Not
after the past few years of fiascos. I randomly made out of town
reservations. Perhaps not the brightest financial move, but hey, what's a
whole week's wages for a meal ($12/hour part time doesn't get you far when
it comes to high end dining)? That's right, the world is this library
clerk's oyster.

We ended up taking the middle ground, trying the $100 omakase (the
others being $80 or $120) and probably ordered a bad wine, the waiter seemed
curt and unimpressed with me. But that could've had more to do with how
every time we go to a restaurant that serves a Willamette Valley wine James
makes a big point of asking how to pronounce it because invariably they'll
say Willa Met as he also incorrectly says it. It's Wil
LAM ette, the correct way, my way. I'm from the Willamette Valley, for
crying out loud. Anyway, the ruse always alienates staff and pisses me off.

It's definitely a thrill to see the plates coming out, not knowing what
you'll get. The trouble is not having a menu to refer to, and only the
verbal descriptions. I tend to forget subtle ingredients, nuances and feel
self-conscious about scribbling in a notebook like an foodie who needs to be
put in his place. The first course was toro tartare with caviar wasabi and
what they called a Japanese peach (more like a pitted berry), then a palate
cleanser of wasabi-yuzu sorbet with a beignet (not a pillowy New Orleans
goodie, but a miniature, sweet breadstick), third was hamachi with
microgreens and a yuzu vinaigrette, fourth halibut steamed with sake in a
banana leaf, fifth Kobe beef with Japanese potatoes (sweet), and a final
sushi course served on a board (I don't remember the individual varieties,
there were about six in the style I think is called Nigiri-sushi). Dessert
was a long thin strip of yam cake with a postage stamp-size square of lime
gelatin, drizzles of balsamic vinegar and a thimble dollop of ice cream, the
flavor I can't recall.

Morimoto wasn't in the house, but I'm not one of those folks who goes to
celebrity-chef type restaurants looking for snapshots. I do fall for
over-the-top dcor, however. Sure, all that Stephen Starr plastic, glowing,
color-changing, space-age crap is gimmicky. But it works on me.

Morimoto* 723
Chestnut St., Philadelphia, PA

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Mar 16

Pie

1/2

Part of the great NYC pizza frenzy of 2002-03. Their shtick is pizza by the
pound. But as it's just around the corner from James', it was at least worth
a try. A small slice of potato-rosemary and egg and bacon were quite good.
My only issue might be the potato, which they also do at Sullivan St. Bakery
and though I've only sampled it once, if I'm correct the potatoes stay soft.
Here they reheat the potato slices and they become like potato chips, and
well, I don't care that much for potato chips. Heck, they'd make good
homemade potato chips, if you're into that sort of snack, but I'd like a
little chew to my thinly sliced tuber. Nonetheless, Pie beats other blah
pies nearby (no, I'm not referring to Otto).

Pie* 124 Fourth Ave., New York, NY

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Mar 7

Keen’s

I've declared Keens the fertile-making steak house. I'd always considered
myself more of a Luger (not Lugers, dammit, no extra Ss, just like it's not
Barnes & Nobles either) girl, and now I know why. James's college pal, Pat,
the recent transplant, got in his head that Luger was the place to impress,
the spot to take the ladies (nevermind that he didn't have a lady, and the
few dates he eventually scored were with a vegetarian).

Then another old college buddy that James isn't fond of took Pat to
Keens and that's when all hell broke loose. Keens took the place of Luger in
his mind as the chicks-dig-it restaurant (I don't know where he got the idea
girls are nuts for meat and potatoes from in the first place). His fate was
sealed when he took a mousey, classic meat and potatoes gal/coworker out to
Keens. Soon after, we don't know if it was actually that night, he knocked
her up.

There might be something to all this. I recall a beef council commercial
where the old stodgy guys get scared because their steakhouse has been
overrun by women, one very pregnant. What, is iron the latest aphrodisiac?
Beef might be what's for dinner, but you'd better think twice about what
you're going to get for dessert.

KeensSteakhousee * 72 W.
36th St., New York, NY

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Feb 22

La Maison du Couscous

Couscous, tagines, and bastilla, oh my. There's almost nothing finer than
that sweet/savory flavor combo you get from meat and sugar. Meat pies beat
all. This place has it all over Moustache (hmm…they're not Moroccan, are
they? You know what I mean). The staff is incredibly friendly and the food
is affordable, even to folks like me. If La Maison du Couscous was in a
hipper neighborhood than Bay Ridge, it'd be a crowded mess for sure.

LaMaison du
Couscous * 484 77th St., Brooklyn,NY

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Feb 21

Cafe Borobudur

I guess I eat, well at least I order, too much. A request for Nasi goreng, fish in chili sauce, sate, corn fritters and fried chicken caused the waitstaff to move us from a two-seater to a bigger table. Was I a pig? I started eavesdropping and people on one side of us were just eating soup, while the couple on the other side were only eating appetizers. What's wrong with these people?

Cafe Borobudur * 128 E. Fourth St., New York, NY

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Feb 14

Suba

I'm not sure what I'd expected for my Valentine's Day treat (though I'd
hinted at AZ) but I wouldn't have predicted Suba. I think I was just scared
because of their gimmicky dinner in the dark thing, and that I'd heard the
Valentine's dinner came with a blindfolded dessert tasting. Who needs all
that forced sensualness? All was fine, the duck with coriander (I usually
don't like whole coriander seeds), avocado, scallop, and potatoes was nice,
and thankfully, the dessert sampler came with an optional sans blindfold.
This is another one of those special occasion dinners where I drank enough
to make detailed food recall fuzzy.

Suba* 109 Ludlow St., New
York, NY

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Jan 31

Brick Lane Curry House

1/2

I think this non-sixth street style, sixth street Indian has potential, but
much of its charm was lost on a busy Friday night. The wait was double the
20 minutes quoted, pushy angry patrons filled the tiny bar area, and once we
finally got a table (and stupidly agreed to sit in the same cramped bar
area) a group of people leaving knocked our papadums and sauce on to the
floor. This was the first bit of food we'd received in almost an hour, so it
was irksome. Even more irksome was the way the staff gave us dirty looks and
acted put out in cleaning up the mess, as if we were the ones who'd
knocked the plate off the table.

The vindaloo and saag were perfectly acceptable, but the pissy waitstaff
and unpleasant patrons will likely keep me from returning.

Brick Lane Curry House * 342 E. Sixth St., New York, NY

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Jan 17

Master Grill

Master Grill is to rodizio as East Buffet is to Chinese. Over-the-top,
all-you-can-eat decadence with live entertainment, lights, neon, large
families. When it's a choice between quality or novelty, the latter tends to
win out with me.

I wanted meat, and I got it: beef, quail, bacon-wrapped turkey,
sausages, duck, lamb. Crab legs and salmon from the buffet rounded out my
low-carb frenzy.

It's not the sort of place you'd want to make a habit out of, and
located on that crazy industrial strip of Queens with a view of The Bronx,
it's unlikely you would unless you lived in the area.

MasterGrill * 3409 College
Point Blvd., Flushing,NY

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Jan 5

La Bonne Soupe

Perhaps my last night of carbohydrate freedom shouldn't have been devoted to French food and loads of cheese, but a fondue craving's a craving.

I'd always meant to make it to Rotelle A.G., but it went out of business before I had the chance. Artisanal is nice, but I wanted something more downscale. La Bonne Soupe is a slice of '70s, midtown New York that I never experience. It's sort of shabby (not shabby chic) in a red checked table cloth, woody, rustic chalet way, and on a random street I swear I've never walked down in my 4.5 years living here.

It was the 25th hour in there. You'd think I'd be gorging myself on dumplings, cake, pasta, pork buns, fried rice and the like, but no, I went for the Atkin's friendly pot of cheese and pate plate. Oh well. If I had a time machine I might rectify the situation. (1/5/03)

See my Time Out NY Eating & Drinking Guide review

Yikes, despite the cramped, harried, faded nature of this narrow Gallic holdout, I'd enjoyed my previous three meals there. It's the go to place for no frills fondue, an anti-Artisanal. But my recent visit was just a mess. I had decided to check out the MoMA store because they were having a 20% off day for members and corporate affiliates. I have some deal through work, as well as half the city, apparently. I didnt end up buying anything since the only thing I kind of wanted were these acrylic rings and I didnt know my size and didnt want to wait in the snaking line for a $10 purchase. I figured fondue two blocks north would be a nice treat since the sale was sort of a bust.

But its tricky because is fondue a meal? Is it an appetizer? I felt like we should order something not terribly huge for each of us in addition to the pot of melted cheese. James got one of those chopped hamburgers and I opted for a charcuterie plate with salad. But I got my food instantly and then that was it. I was trying to pick at my food until Jamess arrived. It never did. We finally flagged down our waiter (who was getting it from all sides because either no one was getting their food, getting their orders taken, getting their water glasses filled or were missing items are given the wrong dishes) and asked where the rest of our meal was, and apparently, hed been waiting for me to finish. So, I guess that answered my question–charcuterie is considered appetizer and fondue and hamburger is entrée.

Now James had food and I was finished and trying not to hog all the fondue while he attempted eating two things at once. And the fondue was grainy like it had been sitting around cooling to room temperature, separating. The whole thing raised my blood pressure and lowered my appetite. I havent tried Mont Blanc yet, maybe Ill head there for my next fondue fix. Or not…$39 for fondue? Artisanal is only $24. Unfortunately, La Bonne Soupes is still the cheapest at $17, but I'm not sure thats necessarily a bargain. (11/3/05)

La Bonne Soupe * 48 W. 55th St., New York, NY