Jan 15
1/2
This is a place I've only visited twice, which coincides with my sister's
past two visits to America. She may be vegan, but she loves her junk food in
the way only a Garcia girl can. I suggested Angelica Kitchen this time
'round (though only halfheartedly), and even she wasn't keen on the earthy
prospect. Give me the grease and fakery, right?
Kate's Joint * 58 Ave. B, New York, NY
1/2
First off, I should state that I'm not a big fan of hot dogs. Even at
Nathan's I opt for the cheese fries (love the little plastic red spear). But
since I see hot dogs as one of 2002's big culinary trends, it was my duty to
try at least one of the new kids on the block (Criff Dogs, around the
corner, will have to wait).
The sweet and sour dog with sauerkraut and a tangy onion relish seemed
good enough. We also got a side of cheese fries, not realizing that the
special dogs come with a side of fries anyway. Oh well, a girl can never
have too much starch. Satisfactory, though not stellar. But once again, this
is coming from a non-connoisseur of hot dogs.
Dawgs on Park * 178 7th St., New York, NY
I used to imagine there was an impossibly shaped shared back kitchen between
the cafe and restaurant, but I know it can't be true. It strikes me as
strange that there'd be two versions of the same eatery on the same curving
street, but that's Chinatown for you.
When I'm not in the mood for Noodletown, dim sum or S.E. Asian food (my
three favorites), Sweet 'n' Tart is where to turn. Actually, they serve dim
sum type snacks to order and that's part of their beauty. Seeing the
numerous choices in print rather than passing by on a cart, gets the mind
reeling. You could spend countless visits working your way through their
three(!) menus, sampling oddities like the Malaysian sweet roll or Italian
spring roll. Me, I'm addicted to the turnip cakes.
I've yet to try the congee, tong shui or mysterious bowl of inky black
goo I've seen others downing…there's always next time. (1/11/02)
The latest in my Tues. night, kill time before class, Chinatown solo
ventures. Dim sum type items are always more fun with larger groups, as you
get to sample more varieties. I restrained myself with three choices:
stuffed eggplant, turnip cakes and fried pork vegetable buns. The buns had
the sort of filling you'd see in a noodle type dumpling rather than roast
pork like I'd expected. I think I prefer the dumpling to the bun. I'm also
still curious about the Malaysian sweet roll, but that'll have to wait.
(7/23/02)
It seems classic, but I've never done the Chinatown Christmas dinner. In
fact, I don't usually do anything except mope around the apartment on
Christmas day eating junk food. This year I managed to rustle up one in-town
friend and two friends of hers for Mott St. fun. While Carroll Gardens was a
ghost town, the restaurants below Canal St. were bustling, lines out the
doors, dueling parallel parkers. Luckily, S&T wasn't too bad.
Not to be a control freak, but I do have strong ideas about dining in
groups that I never voice so its not surprising when they go unheeded. I
have a fantasy that one day Ill befriend a dream team to share dining
excursions with. I'deally, four people would get four things (or more) and
everyone could share and have variety. But with vegetarian and/or picky
eaters this becomes impossibility.
No one really wanted what I'd ordered: turnip cakes, salt and pepper
shrimp (all had shrimp issues, exacerbated by the head on presentation) and
scallion pancake. Then two of the party ordered the exact same thing (pet
peeve—and not only mine, it was mentioned in a recent Time Out
NY article about how to annoy waiters), a bean curd and vegetable mix.
To be fair, the fourth member went on a limb and ordered an expensive random
dish of seafood and what seemed like egg or custard in a thick clear sauce
that barely even got eaten. It was a little oddball, I didnt understand the
extreme egginess, and I was already full since I ordered more dishes than
anyone else. I'm not complaining, it sure beat sitting alone in
Brooklyn. (12/25/04)
Sweet'n' Tart Restaurant * 20 Mott St., New York,NY
I don't know when they closed since I'm rarely in the East Village anymore.
(11/05)
I've stared at this place's facade what feels like a million times. It's
directly across the street from one of my regular haunts, the creatively
named Bar on A. Even though the word kitchen is in its title, for some
reason it never quite clicked that it was a dining establishment. It's right
next to Brownies and used to be…I'm not sure what it used to be, but I
don't think it was a restaurant.
So, it never occurred to me to check it out until I heard they did a
good, non-mobbed brunch. I still haven't gone for breakfast, but it popped
into my head for dinner recently. It turns out that the cuisine is Spanish,
which certainly put James at ease since that's one of his favorites. More
often than not, I'm dragging him to random Asian places with varying degrees
of success.
A (shared) pitcher of sangria and tapas like grilled squid, crab and
shrimp stuffed eggrolls (getting all fusion on me), mussels, clams and
chorizo were good choices. The tapas are available in small and larger
sizes, and entrees like braised lamb and paella are also on the menu.
Now I've got to see about that brunch. (12/20/01)
Never sit in a back garden in 90 degree weather, no matter how pretty it
looks, no matter that nary a single person is sitting inside. We attempted a
brunch in the blistering heat, and while the food was fine, the seating
arrangement may have not been the wisest. I'll never understand all those al
fresco dining fanatics. (6/30/02)
My first low carb meal in public. What with the bread basket and free
flowing wine, it was tough to sit empty handed drinking tap water. I was
able to survive on chorizo, mussels, endive and machengo cheese. It didn't
kill me. (1/9/03)
Alphabet Kitchen * 171 Ave. A, New York, NY
It was another one of those cranky, can't-get-it-together Friday nights.
This time it was James' company Christmas party that put me in a mood. I
don't know why things always have to be a trauma. Instead of the usual
venue, their easily accessible Wall St. office, the party had been moved
uptown to the Children's Museum. Post-dinner festivities were to be held at
some frat bar called the Gin Mill.
My plan was just to show up at the bar for the free drinks part. But
I've never been up to the 80s and tried some random B train that never came
and. By the time I eventually made it uptown, it was midnight, 1 1/2 hours
later, just in time to miss the free drink cut off and be a part of the lame
12:30 last call. I hadn't eaten dinner either, hoping there's be snacks at
least. And believe you me late night dining in this area was a joke. You
don't even want to know how I mad I was.
James tried to save the day by getting his car (the parking lot is
relatively near the neighborhood) and driving me to Florent for mussels and
fries. They did perk me up a bit. I've always been partial to the Belgian
combo at Diner, but Florent's are pretty darn good too. It all depends upon
what borough you're in when the mood strikes. The evening was semi-salvaged.
And like they say you shouldn't go to bed angry, so I didn't. (12/14/01)
Florent * 69 Gansevoort St. New York, NY
Sometimes you just feel like you're eating a meal with another person, and
sometimes you feel like you're on a date. With its teetering on hip,
bistro-but-not, relaxed vibe, Euzkadi certainly ventures into date
territory.
Things started off well with the complimentary olive (and anchovy?)
tapenade with crusty bread (that's replenished without asking. Why are
restaurants so sparing with the starches these days? If I were counting
carbs, I wouldn't be dining out in the first place). A mussel appetizer,
stuffed, bacon-wrapped trout and rabbit with roasted potatoes, prunes, the
odd lardon and a red wine sauce soon followed. Everything was much to my
liking: rich flavors, sweet and savory, autumnal to a tee. With a shared
quince tart and bottle of wine, the meal was rounded out satisfyingly.
The evening was a happy accident. I was originally looking for the
Indonesian a few doors down when I got waylaid by this place. Sometimes
ignoring my usual single-mindedness pays off.
Euzkadi* 108 E. Fourth St., New York, NY
I've been all obsessed with Singapore lately so I really wanted to try out
this new Chinatown restaurant and I really wanted to like it. But it was
just one of those bad Friday nights where time gets away, no one can decide
what to do and moods sour. By the time I met James for dinner it was already
10:30pm, fine for some places, but not this particular one. A serious pet
peeve of mine is going to a restaurant that's closing in half an hour. If
possible, I'd prefer to be seated at least one hour before closing. But this
isn't James's way so he doesn't understand my annoyance with being the last
ones in an establishment. Not to get all Meyers-Briggs on you, but it's a J
vs. P thing.
The first strike came when I was told it was too late to order the
laksa, the one thing on the menu I definitely wanted. Fine. The roti canai,
chow kueh teow and jumbo hot & spicy shrimp sufficed, but the overall vibe
was dour. And when the waitress asked for a different $20 bill because the
print was too pale, James nearly lost his shit. I'd be willing to give the
place another try, possibly during lunch time, but there's no way I'll be
able to convince James to accompany me. (12/8/01)
When staff at an Asian restaurant tries steering you away from menu
items, you usually suspect it's a rare delicacy they're afraid to offer to
fussy Americans. At least I used to believe so. I also used to proclaim my
love of laksa. I know there's two breeds: Singapore (which I like) and Asam
(which apparently I'd never had). This was Asam, I was warned and I paid the
price. I have an extremely high tolerance for pungent, strong flavors, but
this was too much. It was like murky swamp water filled with twigs, stiff
leaves, fish bits, beef? and an underlying liver taste offset with sour,
minty notes. I hate to admit defeat, but my stomach honestly couldn't handle
it. I took half home to try the next night, and could only down a few
spoonfuls. The only other flavor I haven't been able to deal with is malta.
Those beverages are completely intolerable.
SingaporeCafe * 69 Mott St., New York, NY
This Paramount-owned, sci-fi "eatertainment" establishment scares me a bit.
Back in the day, well '98 when I first moved here, a zine-friend visited
from S.F. and wanted to check out Mars 2112. She reported that it looked all
slick, mysterious and intimidating at first glance. But upon further
inspection it turned out to be an intergalactic, kiddy theme restaurant. We
were not deterred. This was in my tightwad, no-money-to-spare days (funny,
sounds just like these days) so I was a little nervous about throwing money
away on overpriced pizzas and "marstinis," but you've got to throw caution
to the wind in the name of novelty sometimes.
Mom and the stepdude saw an ad and wanted to visit. It's the king of
out-of-towner restaurants. Really. I don't think they knew what they were in
for. An immediate tip off is the warning posted about high blood pressure
and pregnancy near the interactive ride to the dining area. I got a little
nervous (last time we went through a back way). If you make it through the
simulated ride to Mars, you'll be treated to roaming aliens in the dining
room and piped in Dead or Alive tunes. Ack, scary. Rosie O'Donnell
reportedly loves the place, and if it's good enough for Rosie
O'Donnell–hold on–that's the scary part.
Mars 2112 * 1633
Broadway, New York, NY
Maybe it was because I wasn't in the highest of spirits the day of my visit,
but the prospect of a theme restaurant didn't give me the rush I've come to
expect. It was a concession to the stepdude, husband of my mother. I'm all
for keeping him quiet and happy, and besides, he paid. It's food, food, you
know. Burgers, sandwiches and pastas priced about $3-$4 over their true
worth. It's all about atmosphere, right? The funny thing is that I've never
really associated D2's "New Moon on Monday" with bikers. You live and you
learn.
Closed: who knows when?
Harley-DavidsonCafe *
1370 Avenue of the Americas, NewYork, NY
1/2
I think that this is one of those big in the '80 places, not that I would
know first hand, as I was a youngster back then, and nowhere involved with
the NYC dining scene or any scene, for that matter. This was a James
suggestion, something about the $30.01 restaurant week deal, and as we're
supposed to be supporting Tribeca and all that, it seemed fitting enough.
Actually, I wanted to go to Le Zinc so we put our names on both lists.
Unfortunately for me, the half vs. one hour wait at Odeon got James his
wish.
Not that anything was wrong with the meal. It was perfectly pleasant, I
didn't even mind waiting in the bar, there were even seats. Who needs the
crammed Le Zinc and their ungodly wait. A passed-out girl was being revived
by paramedics when we arrived. Probably overexertion from standing and
waiting so long. I went all simple and got the 1/2 roast chicken with mashed
potatoes and spinach, started with a frisee salad (can't resist anything
with lardons in it) and all was good and well.
Earlier James had been going on about wanting apple pie, and I didn't
figure Odeon would serve it. But when the dessert menu came 'round it just
happened to be on the list, immediately followed by the waitress warning
they were out of the apple pie. What were the odds? I went all-American
(well, not quite as American as apple pie) and split the hot fudge sundae.
Odeon * 145 W. Broadway, New York, NY
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