Guest: Mike Ma
As Gina mentioned in her previous post, Restaurant Week is the perfect time to “eat yourself silly.” I love Restaurant Week, especially when it’s in NYC, because it allows me to try a good number of restaurants that are marked $$$$ on Yelp and not have to pay $50 for an entrée and skip ordering an appetizer. I have only one rule: “Thou Shall Only Dine At New Restaurants.” By new, I mean restaurants that I have not previously eaten at. NYC Restaurant Week was January 24th to February 6th but because of the good turnout it was extended until February 27th (NYC Restaurant Week excludes Saturdays but Hudson Valley RW doesn’t, although some restaurants have days that “excluded” from RW specials). For NYC, a three course lunch was $24.07 and dinner was $35. I was able to plan a couple of interviews during RW and thankfully they were in the morning which allowed me to have two RW lunches and a RW dinner. I wasn’t kidding when I said a “good number” of restaurants. In three days I tried: Morimoto, Bar Boulud, Centro Vinoteca, Fatty Crab, Colicchio & Sons, Fig & Olive and David Burke Townhouse.
Morimoto: I was worried the bento box wouldn’t be filling so my friend Stanley and I ordered four pieces of sashimi and octopus carpaccio. The carpaccio was delicious. The chu-toro and abalone were just okay (IMHO were a litte too one dimensional). The uni and tobiko were fabulous as were the bento boxes. He had the braised black cod and I had the wagyu beef. The dessert was a green tea panna cotta in a shot glass with fresh fruit which was a great way to end the meal.
Bar Boulud: Everything my friend Paul and I ate here was delicious, albeit not very filling. So afterward we walked to Hell’s Kitchen and had some food at Balkanika. We had wanted duck confit but had to settle for chicken confit when the waitress told us they no longer served duck confit (I shed a tear). The highlight was a sampler of all 17 mezes (appetizers similar to hummus) on the menu for only $12!
Centro Vinoteca: I had planned to not order off the RW menu because I wanted the duck confit, especially after not having it earlier, but they had JUST changed their menu the day before and took the duck confit of the menu. Foiled again! So I resigned myself to order off their RW menu. Monday happened to be half priced bottles of wine so my lady friend and I ordered a bottle of Montepulciano. My lady friend’s app was better than mine (fried ball of orzo?) but my entrée was better than hers (salmon with lentils). I just wish they had put more “applesauce” on my pork chops. The desserts were mediocre, so to make up for it we walked a couple of blocks to Cones in sub-freezing weather for corn ice cream (and pistachio)! Delicious!
Fig & Olive: The concept of the restaurant – dishes featuring over 30 different kinds of EVOO interested me enough to visit but the food here was disappointing (for some reason the two dinners were my least favorite meals). My friend Justin had tuna tartare but along with the chunks of tuna there were cubes of cucumber which were unappetizing. My beef carpaccio was over seasoned with balsamic and truffle oil so that is all I could taste. For entrées he had filet mignon and I had lamb chops. Both meats were well cooked but I could have lived without the sides. When they brought the lamb chops the dish it was covered with a glass top and they had lit the “Herbs de Provence”… unfortunately this left a burning smell at the table which wasn’t pleasant. When I was in Provence, I certainly did not have anyone serve me smoking herbs with my food. The desserts were mediocre and one of my cherries still had its pit. I must admit that the two lamb chops that I took home tasted much better the next day when I did not have smoke in my face.
David Burke Townhouse: I had tried to secure a reservation here during my first trip to NYC because my friend Justin’s sister, Dana, and her husband, Nick, who are avid Top Chef viewers, wanted to dine here after seeing it featured on Top Chef. However this place was totally booked a month before the start of restaurant week! So when I had the chance to dine here with my friend Nilay, I decided I couldn’t pass it up even though Dana had booked our joint birthday dinner here. The bread that they served was good, but what made it memorable was the butter, in the shape of a boot that they served on top a chilled salt block! The crabcake pretzel which I read raving reviews of on Yelp was good. You could actually taste the crab! I thought the pretzels would be crunchy but they weren’t. I think I would have liked them to be crunchy but when you cook pretzels they lose their crunchiness. The salmon and tuna tartare was wonderful. That day for lunch they had an ocean trout special ($8 surcharge), which Nilay ordered. It was simply amazing. I would order that dish if they ever offered it again in a heartbeat (although for the joint bday dinner I’m definitely ordering duck duck duck)! Why? Two words – crispy skin. The fish was cooked perfectly but damn, that skin was delicious. Most restaurants don’t leave the skin on – it’s time consuming and a pain to scale and if a customer finds a scale in a dish, that’s a wasted entrée. I’m sure everything around the fish was tasty (the slices of grapefruit were a nice touch) but all I can think about now is that skin. My entrée was also delicious. The scallops were not sliced in half (jab at B&B) and cooked perfectly. The spicy sausage was flavorful, but the highlight of the dish was the tiger prawn with its head on! The “top” part of the shrimp was simply amazing as it popped right out of the shell. Yum. I was stuffed after the entrees but still managed to eat my strawberry shortcake dessert. It was good, but I’ll probably order something different next time. Cheesecake Lollipop Tree!? Apparently Townhouse always has a three course prix fixe lunch for $24.07 or $37 not just for Restaurant Week. Nilay and I had the latter (we felt like splurging since this was our only meal of the day) and it was totally worth it. I will definitely be back to try some of their other dishes!
During previous Hudson Valley Restaurant Weeks I have tried The Bear Café, Crave, Beso, CIA – American Bounty, The Artist’s Palate, Terrapin Restaurant and Depuy Canal House. This year I only plan to visit: The Derby, Zitoune Restaurant, Raccoon Saloon, Sapore Steakhouse, Crave (again), Back Yard Bistro, Ship Lantern Inn, Boitson’s Restaurant, New World Homecooking Company, The Melting Pot and Aroma Osteria. I say only because I’m missing one week to watch my beloved Mets play some spring training games and to celebrate my birthday in NYC with some fabulous food (Day 1: A friend and I are going to try 8(!) different burgers. Day 2: I plan to hit up a handful of foodie spots and eat at Sripraphai Thai Restaurant in Woodside. Day 3: Recover from St. Patty Day festivities with a delicious bowl of Pho and then some Totto Ramen before a 5 course Bo Ssam Prix Fixe birthday dinner @ Momofuku Ssam Bar, Day 4: A joint birthday dinner at David Burke Townhouse with a preselected menu (6 apps, 6 entrees and all of the regular desserts).
As Gina mentioned in her previous post, Restaurant Week is the perfect time to “eat yourself silly.” I love Restaurant Week, especially when it’s in NYC, because it allows me to try a good number of restaurants that are marked $$$$ on Yelp and not have to pay $50 for an entrée and skip ordering an appetizer. I have only one rule: “Thou Shall Only Dine At New Restaurants.” By new, I mean restaurants that I have not previously eaten at. NYC Restaurant Week was January 24th to February 6th but because of the good turnout it was extended until February 27th (NYC Restaurant Week excludes Saturdays but Hudson Valley RW doesn’t, although some restaurants have days that “excluded” from RW specials). For NYC, a three course lunch was $24.07 and dinner was $35. I was able to plan a couple of interviews during RW and thankfully they were in the morning which allowed me to have two RW lunches and a RW dinner. I wasn’t kidding when I said a “good number” of restaurants. In three days I tried: Morimoto, Bar Boulud, Centro Vinoteca, Fatty Crab, Colicchio & Sons, Fig & Olive and David Burke Townhouse.
Morimoto: I was worried the bento box wouldn’t be filling so my friend Stanley and I ordered four pieces of sashimi and octopus carpaccio. The carpaccio was delicious. The chu-toro and abalone were just okay (IMHO were a litte too one dimensional). The uni and tobiko were fabulous as were the bento boxes. He had the braised black cod and I had the wagyu beef. The dessert was a green tea panna cotta in a shot glass with fresh fruit which was a great way to end the meal.
Bar Boulud: Everything my friend Paul and I ate here was delicious, albeit not very filling. So afterward we walked to Hell’s Kitchen and had some food at Balkanika. We had wanted duck confit but had to settle for chicken confit when the waitress told us they no longer served duck confit (I shed a tear). The highlight was a sampler of all 17 mezes (appetizers similar to hummus) on the menu for only $12!
Centro Vinoteca: I had planned to not order off the RW menu because I wanted the duck confit, especially after not having it earlier, but they had JUST changed their menu the day before and took the duck confit of the menu. Foiled again! So I resigned myself to order off their RW menu. Monday happened to be half priced bottles of wine so my lady friend and I ordered a bottle of Montepulciano. My lady friend’s app was better than mine (fried ball of orzo?) but my entrée was better than hers (salmon with lentils). I just wish they had put more “applesauce” on my pork chops. The desserts were mediocre, so to make up for it we walked a couple of blocks to Cones in sub-freezing weather for corn ice cream (and pistachio)! Delicious!
Fatty Crab: I was disappointed with the pork buns. The fat on the pork was not cooked so it was like chewing rubber, although the sriracha with the hoison was a nice touch. The Malay Fish Fry was delicious. The batter on the fish was crispy and light (tumeric tempura!) and the crab curry was wonderful. I decided to pay a small surcharge and replace dessert with Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork. It was an interesting dish that had a lot of flavor and surprising everything worked (I think the lime and garlic drizzle was key), although I would have preferred the pork to be crispy and NOT charred.
Colicchio Sons (Tap Room): The décor and atmosphere of this place was wonderful. The beef tongue was by far the best appetizer although the bone marrow was also very tasty. My friend Nilay brought his daughter so she had a tomato and mozzarella pizza while he had a simple steak and I had quail. Everything was well cooked and tasty. The apple tartin and vanilla parfait with fudge and red velvet cake were both delicious.
Fig & Olive: The concept of the restaurant – dishes featuring over 30 different kinds of EVOO interested me enough to visit but the food here was disappointing (for some reason the two dinners were my least favorite meals). My friend Justin had tuna tartare but along with the chunks of tuna there were cubes of cucumber which were unappetizing. My beef carpaccio was over seasoned with balsamic and truffle oil so that is all I could taste. For entrées he had filet mignon and I had lamb chops. Both meats were well cooked but I could have lived without the sides. When they brought the lamb chops the dish it was covered with a glass top and they had lit the “Herbs de Provence”… unfortunately this left a burning smell at the table which wasn’t pleasant. When I was in Provence, I certainly did not have anyone serve me smoking herbs with my food. The desserts were mediocre and one of my cherries still had its pit. I must admit that the two lamb chops that I took home tasted much better the next day when I did not have smoke in my face.
David Burke Townhouse: I had tried to secure a reservation here during my first trip to NYC because my friend Justin’s sister, Dana, and her husband, Nick, who are avid Top Chef viewers, wanted to dine here after seeing it featured on Top Chef. However this place was totally booked a month before the start of restaurant week! So when I had the chance to dine here with my friend Nilay, I decided I couldn’t pass it up even though Dana had booked our joint birthday dinner here. The bread that they served was good, but what made it memorable was the butter, in the shape of a boot that they served on top a chilled salt block! The crabcake pretzel which I read raving reviews of on Yelp was good. You could actually taste the crab! I thought the pretzels would be crunchy but they weren’t. I think I would have liked them to be crunchy but when you cook pretzels they lose their crunchiness. The salmon and tuna tartare was wonderful. That day for lunch they had an ocean trout special ($8 surcharge), which Nilay ordered. It was simply amazing. I would order that dish if they ever offered it again in a heartbeat (although for the joint bday dinner I’m definitely ordering duck duck duck)! Why? Two words – crispy skin. The fish was cooked perfectly but damn, that skin was delicious. Most restaurants don’t leave the skin on – it’s time consuming and a pain to scale and if a customer finds a scale in a dish, that’s a wasted entrée. I’m sure everything around the fish was tasty (the slices of grapefruit were a nice touch) but all I can think about now is that skin. My entrée was also delicious. The scallops were not sliced in half (jab at B&B) and cooked perfectly. The spicy sausage was flavorful, but the highlight of the dish was the tiger prawn with its head on! The “top” part of the shrimp was simply amazing as it popped right out of the shell. Yum. I was stuffed after the entrees but still managed to eat my strawberry shortcake dessert. It was good, but I’ll probably order something different next time. Cheesecake Lollipop Tree!? Apparently Townhouse always has a three course prix fixe lunch for $24.07 or $37 not just for Restaurant Week. Nilay and I had the latter (we felt like splurging since this was our only meal of the day) and it was totally worth it. I will definitely be back to try some of their other dishes!
During previous Hudson Valley Restaurant Weeks I have tried The Bear Café, Crave, Beso, CIA – American Bounty, The Artist’s Palate, Terrapin Restaurant and Depuy Canal House. This year I only plan to visit: The Derby, Zitoune Restaurant, Raccoon Saloon, Sapore Steakhouse, Crave (again), Back Yard Bistro, Ship Lantern Inn, Boitson’s Restaurant, New World Homecooking Company, The Melting Pot and Aroma Osteria. I say only because I’m missing one week to watch my beloved Mets play some spring training games and to celebrate my birthday in NYC with some fabulous food (Day 1: A friend and I are going to try 8(!) different burgers. Day 2: I plan to hit up a handful of foodie spots and eat at Sripraphai Thai Restaurant in Woodside. Day 3: Recover from St. Patty Day festivities with a delicious bowl of Pho and then some Totto Ramen before a 5 course Bo Ssam Prix Fixe birthday dinner @ Momofuku Ssam Bar, Day 4: A joint birthday dinner at David Burke Townhouse with a preselected menu (6 apps, 6 entrees and all of the regular desserts).
please mike, stop taking pictures of food.
ReplyDeletehaha, never!
ReplyDelete