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Archive for the ‘Manhattan Restaurants’ Category

Brick Lane Curry House Phall Challenge

May 20th, 2011 by moffett

Goat Phall Brick Lane Curry House

empty bowl of Phall

Last week I went with my friend Eva (who came for moral support) to Brick Lane Curry House on Curry Row  (6th st) for the sole purpose of taking the infamous Phall Challenge, supposedly the hottest curry in the world!  As you can see by the pictures I won the challenge (this was the same challenge that Adam Richman did on Man vs. Food), but boy did I suffer!  First of all I thought that rice and naan and dal would help…NOT!  Ok well the rice helped with the meat (I chose goat because I thought that the bones would enable me to not have to get through as much meat as other choices) but the naan was a hindrance and the dal was irrelevant.  What helped was mango lassi and raita (lots of it).  It wasn’t the meat that was brutal it was the sauce.  I got through the meat in less than 10 minutes with barely breaking a sweat, yes it was hot but very manageable.  But in order to win the challenge I had to eat all of the sauce.  BRUTAL!!!!  This made my homemade habanero hotsauce that I serve at Catskill Maison Bed and Breakfast seem like ketchup!  About half way through the sauce I realized I was in big trouble, my nose was runing, I was sweating like a suckling pig and my stomach felt like the seventh circle of hell in Dante’s Inferno!  So I started taking tablespoons full of sauce with half the tablespoon dipped in raita to cool it off and I was sucking down those mango lassi’s like I was in a desert.  Problem was that all the liquids were making me full, and the lassi’s were really really thick.  No matter how I tried to dilute those lassis it was like drinking a stream of lead!  After 3 mango lassi’s and a container of raita I managed to get down all of the sauce, but right after that my stomach churned and I raced to the bathroom and the rest was history…(I will spare the TMI gory details but you can insert your imagination here).  After some pepcid AC (courtesy of my awesome boyfriend Hector who was afraid that it was going to be a long and painful night for him, if he didn’t do an intervention for me to be well) I fully recovered from the experience.

Long and short of it, the trick is to get a mango lassi diluted before it comes to the table with 1/3 water, and to use raita, not to fill on bread at all and leave the dal in the kitchen.  I finished the dish and will be on the “wall of fame” in short order, but ask whether I’d do it again?  Not a snowballs chance in hell!

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Fish Tag Upper West Side is worth the hype

February 3rd, 2011 by moffett

Branzino with head cheese

I just had dinner at Celebrity Chef Michael Psilakis’ Fish Tag, and I can attest to the fact that it’s worth the hype!  The food is fresh, whimsical, and expertly prepared.  The wine list is equally playful, affordable and extremely approachable.  Overall this was an incredible experience that I must repeat as soon as possible.  

My parents and I learned about Fish Tag from co-owner Gus Panopoulos who also is a co-owner of Day Boat Cafe, one of our regular haunts in Irvington (Westchester County).  He encouraged us to go and said that chef Psilakis was at the helm, and doing some really creative stuff.  Gus is an amazing owner, he’s incredibly friendly and approachable and really appreciates his customers! We were at Dayboat this past weekend and Gus made a reservation for us for tonight. We have been exposed to Chef Psilakis’ food in the past, we really likedKefi with it’s homestyle and non pretentious Greek food so we were eager to try Fish Tag.

Gus was at Fish Tag tonight and dined with us, which was a real treat.  Chef Psilakis sent out so many dishes for us to sample that I’m in serious food coma right now, but I need to give a synopsis of what I’ve tried and I really hope that I do it justice.

Ok so here it goes in no particular order:

Sea Urchin Crudo in Ocean Water – so fresh and silky and perfectly prepared.  The presentation was lovely and the pink peppercorns gave it just that little kick, an incredibly refreshing dish and I would highly recommend ordering it.

Scallop Crudo – this was the perfect one bite appetizer, it comes as 4 thinly sliced discs of raw scallop, again super fresh, with very small diced pickled beets and bone marrow and pistachio jus, really a flavor burst!  Amazing.

Grilled Sardines – perfectly executed and the flavors melded really well, original maybe not, but if you like sardines a true winner.

Grilled Prawn, Feta and Spicy Chili Bruschetta- BRILLIANT!  OMG this was an INCREDIBLE dish, I would order it  again and again.  The prawns were cooked perfectly (no rubber balls here), the feta was creamy and spicy and salty and tangy all at the same time and there was the crunch of the veggies on the grilled crunchy bread.  Really my head was spinning and a party in my mouth!

Sheeps Milk Dumpling – RIDICULOUS! ok so imagine perfectly pillowy homemade gnocchi with this creamy sea urchin sauce with crab and scallops (perfectly cooked of course) folded through and finished with aji amarillo peppers for just that amount of kick!  I almost died and went to heaven.

Grilled Branzino with head cheese – ok so I was expecting a whole fish and pork head cheese (I’m from the low country and New Orleans)…I think the head cheese was lamb, extremely tasty but not southern, and it wasn’t a whole fish (Mike I forgive you, the upper west side isn’t ready for the head and tail) but this dish would’ve been elevated if the head cheese were stuffed into the whole fish and I was able to decapitate the cheeks and head!  Never the less, super tasty and very very creative…a must order!

Smoked Octopus – this dish was delicious, but possibly one of the least innovative.  It was paired with chorizo (and with pork how could you go wrong) and the radish gave a great fresh balance and a good crunch, a delicious and perfectly executed dish (octopus not chewy at all) but not as creative as some of the others.

Saganaki – this dish was really innovative, because in most greek restaurants it’s in flames with a little lemon for garnish but just the plain Greek cheese grilled on fire (more presentation that anything else, but it’s cheese so how could cheese ever be bad)…but chef Psilakis really takes it to a different level.  There were almonds for that crunchy texture, honey for sweet, cheese for salty and smooth and it was hot and creamy and served with crusty bread.  This dish should be highlighted and it’s almost an afterthought because it’s at the bottom of the menu, what a shame…a keeper.

Rabbit pasta special – then lastly there was the pasta special, a homestyle rabbit ragu with homemade flat (almost tagliatelle like) pasta…so yummy, as if you could order it from a grandma in the Greek countryside.

Overall this was a wonderful dining experience, and Fish Tag is a real gem!  I will be back soon…Thank you Gus and Mike for an absolutely wonderful dining experience!

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Dinosaur BBQ – why commercialized BBQ doesn’t work!

November 10th, 2010 by moffett

Mixed Appetizer Sampler Dinosaur BBQ

Chicken and Pulled Pork combo with mac and cheese and greens

Let me start this post by stating that I’m a southern girl at heart, most of my family is from South Carolina, and in SC we take our BBQ very seriously.  I grew up eating pulled pork and ribs and chicken covered in a mustard/vinegar based BBQ sauce on a regular basis, so the sweet sauce that is available up here in NYC often isn’t the one that I grew up with (Kansas/Memphis style with tomato base and WAY too sweet for my standards).  I’m not bashing Dinosaur BBQ based on their sweet tomato BBQ sauce (which I’m not a fan of), most NYers would be fine with the sauce, and in all reality I’m hard pressed to find the type of sauce that I’m used to.  I’m bashing Dinosaur BBQ because they have officially sold out to simply attempt to appeal to the masses.  A BBQ joint should be just that, about great BBQ, at Dinosaur they have at least 10 chicken sandwiches (none BBQ), 3 fish dishes (none BBQ) Korean ribs, skirt steak with chimichurri and the WORST offender of all vegetarian collard greens which are disgusting, they are slow braised and the only way that slow braised greens taste good is to put either a piece of smoked pork or turkey in them, instead they try to compensate with the lack of pork by adding a ton of vinegar; newsflash, if you want to do vegetarian collards then just slice them really thin, saute diced onion and garlic in a pan with olive oil and then add the greens for less than 5 minutes!  In the attempt to appease the folks in NYC who are vegetarian or non BBQ aficionados they have truly steered away from creating good BBQ, and keeping authentic flavors for the side dishes that accompany BBQ.  If you are a vegetarian then don’t go to a BBQ joint!  BBQ means meat and alot of it, Dinosaur shouldn’t make excuses for being a BBQ spot and serving mostly meat.  Their appetizers are good, but their BBQ falls way short, the ribs are under cooked, chicken tastes like wood, brisket is sometimes tender and sometimes like leather.  The only saving grace was the pulled pork and with a ton of fat how can you really screw up cooking a boston butt????  A fun place with mediocre food just doesn’t cut it for me, Dinosaur BBQ is really overrated!

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Eataly

November 1st, 2010 by moffett

Manzo Eataly Lamb Heart

Manzo Arista

Eataly Pastries

Eataly Shellfish

Eataly Shellfish

Living in NYC there is always a new food shop, restaurant, bar opening that is all the rave and hype.  Sometimes I cave into the hype and sometimes I just really can’t be bothered because it can be foodie sensory overload!  The latest craze in the city is the opening of Eataly, Mario Batali , Lidia and Joe Bastianich’s newest brainchild in their restaurant/food empire.  Eataly is really hard to explain, it’s an experience to say the least and is an Italian superstore, mini mall, market and restaurant all in one.  Let me first say that when I’m not upstate running Catskill Maison Bed and Breakfast I live in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.  Riverdale is less than 10 minutes away from the Bronx Little Italy’s Arthur Ave, now that being stated I have daily access to some of the best Italian ingredients this side of the Atlantic (and it’s not expensive either).  At Casa de Mozzarella you can get a pound of bocconcini for about $7 or $8 and it’s still warm, and you can eat a million samples while you order your salumi as well…Eataly the bocconcini is $14.  A loaf of bread at the Madonia bakery is $3, Eataly $5. The cured meat and cheese selection is really large and quite good albeit you are paying 200 5th Ave prices; capiche?  So the pastry is very very pretty but I’m missing the cannoli atmosphere (I like my 187th Street pastry shops), and the coffee selection is also large, but very overpriced.  The fish and vegetables are very expensive and not very fresh, you can definitely get a fresher product at Whole Foods…Meat looked good, but $8.80 a lb for ground turkey?  Are they losing their minds?????  So for the shopping experience, this place is good for 3 categories of people.  1.  The tourist who doesn’t know any better, there were lots of those even on a Monday. 2. Those who work in the area and need a quick ingredient or two for dinner. 3. Those who live in the area and are tired of Whole Foods or are too lazy to take a trip to the outer-boroughs to stock up on the same ingredients for 1/2 the price.  For the rest of us mortals in the tri-state area, don’t bother to shop for food stuff there.

Now onto the dining experience – this is where it gets interesting.  There are 2 casual/no reservation dining areas that resemble a suburban mall food court (but I’m sure with better food).  In one area you can order fish or vegetables (God forbid you want pasta because you ain’t getting it at the fish/veggie section, so if you want fish and the person you are with wants a pizza you are SOL).  The other area is for pizza/pasta.  Pizza looked good (not as good as Zero Otto Nove on Arthur ave but good)…pasta looked uninspired (from the menu as I didn’t eat at either of these food court places).  You can also get cheese and salumi at a stand up bar in the piazza (and the wine flows freely from everywhere…remember Joe is a vintner).  This is not a fun dining experience (seriously it resembles a bad food court and on the weekend we heard it’s a madhouse, but there was an hour wait for pizza at 2pm on a Monday, so just imagine the 3 hour wait on a Saturday).

We chose to go to Manzo, the one restaurant that takes reservations (which are very difficult to get).  We lucked up and got two seats right away at the bar, and were able to watch the food prep to boot!  Major SCORE!  The food is incredible here, its really really good…and the wines are fairly priced and great too.  My mother and I shared the lamb heart (perfectly cooked and super tender) and the Arista (pork with fennel) was wonderful.  For lunch I had the Fettuccine with tripe and castelmagno EXCELLENT!  and my mother had the Agnolotti Del Plin with brown butter and parmigiano, and the depth of flavor in that dish was incredible, I wanted to lick the plate.  The only downside of Manzo is the ambiance.  There is none…its on the side of all of the madness and it isn’t sectioned off.  So you are eating in what seems like the great hall of the Natural History Museum with the little kids running around the side of you…not what I would call a romantic, or rested dining experience.  You are really just going for the food.

All in all, I’m glad I went, to say I’ve been, but I don’t think I will be returning anytime soon.

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Wild Salmon vs. Farmed Salmon? How restaurants deceive

October 24th, 2010 by moffett

Today I went to brunch at Cuba Cafe in Chelsea with one of my closest friends.  She ordered a dish described as “Huevos benedict over arepa with Serrano ham”.  It sounded delish, so when the dish came out I took a bite, and low and behold the ham wasn’t Serrano, it wasn’t  even baked Virginia ham, it was deli cooked and boiled ham that would get sliced for a sandwich. Though the overall dish was tasty,  I was less than pleased, it infuriates me when a restaurant touts one ingredient and then when the dish arrives a much less expensive and bad substitute is featured on the plate.  It’s insulting and makes me feel as though the restaurant assumes that we, the consumer simply don’t know any better.

An example of this situation is when restaurants state that they are serving “Wild Alaskan Salmon” and a piece of farmed salmon shows up on my plate.  Think about it, how often do you go into a restaurant, look at the menu and see a description of “Wild Salmon” as an entrée.  It seems as though restaurants are getting hip to the idea that we as diners are more into “sustainable” seafood…problem is that they don’t offer what they advertise.  Wild salmon has a very distinct flavor, texture and color, It’s richer, and sturdier and more “red/orange” than the farmed salmon…it’s impossible to mistake wild salmon for its farmed counterpart.  The fish is completely different; yet I can’t tell you how many times I go into a restaurant where they have “wild salmon” as a menu item and when I order it I’m presented with a block of farmed fish (not even really salmon)!  It’s frustrating and it’s a classic example of restaurants thinking that their diners don’t have a sophisticated enough palate to know any better. Worse yet, sometimes when I question the waitstaff and make them ask the chef the chef tries to lie and say it is wild salmon…

So here’s the deal, if you see “Wild Salmon” listed on a menu, first ask the waitperson if it really is “wild”…then when it arrives the salmon should be dense, and have a firm but not flaky consistency and taste rich and flavorful…lastly it shouldn’t be that pale pink color that we are used to, wild salmon is also a darker color.  I will not return to a restaurant that falsely states it’s serving wild salmon, because if they are fudging the truth on that and misrepresenting an ingredient so easily identifiable then I question what else they are substituting.  However, I would return to a restaurant that has “salmon” as an entrée, because there is no misrepresentation, ingredients on principle shouldn’t be misrepresented.

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