FoodMayhem

For Stephen’s (Lon’s brother-in-law) birthday, Kasi chose Mermaid Inn. Lon and I were happy to go again. The menu had changed a little bit but several items were still familiar.

For appetizers, Stephen and I both ordered the bacon wrapped scallops which were incredible. The 3 large scallops were cooked perfectly and wrapped with tasty bacon, also cooked perfectly, and the chef balanced the saltiness very well. Kasi ordered cod fritters and Lon ordered the tuna tartare. Both were very good but not memorable.

For entrees, Stephen ordered skate, Kasi ordered Salmon, Lon ordered the lobster sandwich and fries that we adored last time, and I ordered the spaghetti with shrimp and scallops. Kasi requested a side from another entree instead of the one that her salmon normally comes with and they were happy to do the substitution. Everything was plated nicely and everyone seemed happy with their meal. The lobster sandwich was just slightly saltier than last time but still delicious. Lon and I didn’t think the pasta had much flavor but the seafood was cooked perfectly. Mermaid Inn really knows how to cook their seafood!

The service was very good. The waitress even noticed that it was Stephen’s birthday (because he was opening gifts) so she stuck a candle in the the complimentary chocolate pudding. I would also like to point out that this is a great place to celebrate birthdays if you want to bring a cake because they don’t have a plating charge.

Stephen likes Beard Papa’s so we decided to head over there afterwards instead of birthday cake. We got some plain, some green tea (flavor of the day), and some strawberry. The strawberry cream was fantastic but I didn’t really like the choux pastry. It was too hard. The cream puffs at the UWS location are better.

Since Cold Stone Creamery is next door, I couldn’t resist. Kasi got her favorite, the birthday cake remix. I tried it and it was way too sweet for me. I ordered the strawberry shortcake and added bananas in. Even though there was only 2 strawberries in it, it was still delicious! The service was happy and friendly.

Barça 18 is really a well designed space. I loved the lights, the leather tables and seats, and the service was very good. The wait staff was dressed in yellow soccer jerseys in support of the world cup so I’m not sure what they normally wear.

We order 3 tapas and a paella to share. The first one was a crab meat “pizza”. It was ok the fried dough crust was flavorless and most of the ingredients were weak. We had the other tapas with our paella so they served us more as sides which worked out perfectly. The salt cod fritters were fried perfectly and came with a nice mayo sauce. The potato balanced out the saltiness and the texture was so smooth and hot inside. The fried pimientos were just lightly spicy and a bit salty. They were delicious paired with the seafood paella that came out nice and hot. The seafood was cooked very well and the flavor was good. We weren’t wowed by the paella but one of the better ones we’ve had lately.

The food here is very good, not amazing. But the space is wonderful, good service at very reasonable prices, making the experience very enjoyable. I would recommend this as a great client dining restaurant.

Like any other little neighborhood Italian, you start off with bread at Borgo Antico. They offer a regular crusty bread, a focaccia, and bread sticks. The breads are warm and served with a fabulous sun-dried tomato spread.

We ordered the grilled calamari over arugula and cannelini beans to share. It was pretty tasteless but they did something really nice and split it for us onto 2 separate plates. The salad was not dressed at all so I wonder if they just forgot or if it was supposed to be like that.

Our entrees were a lot better. Lon had the Maltagliati (looks like flat parallelograms) with lamb ragu. The sauce wasn’t made in a particularly attractive way because the lamb chunks in brown sauce looked like dog food but the pasta tasted very good. It was definitely freshly made and had a fantastic texture. I ordered the duck breast in a fig and balsamic reduction served with spinach and mashed potatoes. The entire dish tasted terrific as each part individually and together. The duck was cooked perfectly and the sauce was the right balance. I would’ve enjoyed a few more pieces of fig since there was only 2 small slices but it was really a delicious plate.

The menu had a lot of very interesting looking items and the prices were very reasonable. The service was very good and since it’s only a few blocks away from our apt, it will probably be one of our neighborhood spots.

Crappy food, crappy service, and the place looks ugly too. If you have to eat at Cafe Charbon-Epicerie, first protest loudly, but if you’re still forced by friends or family to go (as we were), only order french fries or the shrimp Plancha appetizer.

The french fries were crispy and hot, just the way I like them. The Shrimp Plancha is 5 large shrimp, served with heads and shell on, a little spicy, and cooked perfectly.

Everything else was awful! Lon ordered duck confit which was really more of a very dry roasted duck leg with very little flavor. Kristine got a flavorless pile of mussels. Vinnie got steak tartare which was raw hamburger meat with ketchup and capers mixed in. Yuck. I didn’t try Steve’s steak but it looked over-cooked. I had the pork tenderloin which was drenched in an overly sweet sauce and over-cooked. It was served with a huge pile of ok mashed potatoes (even though the menu said gratinee) and the entire time, I felt like I was eating cafeteria slop. Oh, the table also shared the pate appetizer which was a below average and served straight out of the fridge.

The service was also horrible. The restaurant was fairly empty yet it took an extremely long time to get our entrees. The waiter didn’t understand what a 7 & 7 was (it’s only around 30-40 years old) and asked me to repeat my order approx 6 times.

The part that bothered us most was that Kristine had been to the restaurant before and had already said it sucked to Vinnie and Steve so I don’t know how we ended up going there when there are 9000 other restaurants in NY???

On Sat, Lon and I cooked with Kasi at her place for a little family gathering. We had a Middle Eastern inspired meal with hummus, baba ganoush, quinoia, chicken and beef kebabs, salad, grape leaves, and pita. I’ll try to post some pictures later. It was delicious.

On Sunday, Lon and I went to Carol’s apt to see her new kitten, Twinkie. We couldn’t find her for the first 10 min but she finally came out running inside a plastic bag. It was the funniest sight ever. The little kitten darted in and out of sight like a little cartoon. I barely got a good look at her but from what I saw, she was adorable.

The 3 of us headed out for dinner. Carol had noticed a new Bistro opened in the area and we’re glad she did. The waitress at Bistro Citron was a bit confused and the service was very slow but the food was very good for very reasonable prices. Lon and I shared an onion soup and Carol had her own. We all enjoyed the flavor of the soup but agreed that they need to add way more cheese. The salad Citron was fantastic: micro greens with beets, walnuts, onions, and blue cheese in a great vinaigrette. It was a healthy portion and plenty to share. Carol ordered the Ceasar salad which was plated beautifully in a thin bowl shaped shell, perhaps made of spring roll wrapper lightly fried? The dressing was delicious and did indeed include the flavor of anchovies. Lon ordered the steak au poivre which was tender, flavorful, cooked perfectly, and served with nicely cooked vegetables and an incredible potato gratin. The sauce was so yummy and perfectly portioned to the generous steak. I ordered mussels in a tomato, garlic,basil broth and added the french fries. The french fries were very good but I didn’t like the mussels that much. It was presented in a beautiful copper dome and it was a tremendous portion but approx 25% of the mussels were wimpy and not so fresh looking. Lon liked the sauce a lot but I wasn’t so impressed.

I enjoyed the rest of the meal enough to definitely go back and just know not to order the mussels. They had a very large variety for a bistro and yet didn’t stray from Bistro foods (some restaurants look like they have very random items that are out of place) so I’d like to try some more items.

The bill for all of us came to a little over $70.

We liked the space at Gonzo and the service was good enough, but the food isn’t really worth going back for. We started with the small tasting plate (you can select 3 meats and/or cheeses from 17 choices). We got Ribiola, fresh mozzarella, and Cacciatorini with fig and fennel jam. The Ribiola tastes like a super version of whipped cream cheese. I loved it. The Cacciatorini is a fantastic sausage and goes perfectly with the jam. The mozzarella was very average but Lon pointed out that they did have very good olive oil.

After that, the meal went down hill……I got the Margherita pizza because grilled pizzas are what they’re supposedly known for. It was just ok. Too salty, and after my first piece, I wasn’t really interested in it anymore. Lon had the spaghetti with manila clams, also just ok. The food isn’t bad but the prices call for above average and most of it was not. The best way to decribe the meal is forgettable.

I haven’t been to Beyoglu in about 2 years and I missed the great food. They make the best charred octopus salad and you can have as much as you want of their freshly baked pita straight out of the oven. The octopus was just as tender as I remembered it but the pita wasn’t as consistent. We had 3 pitas during our meal and each was a little different. The first one was only slightly warmer than room temperature. The 2nd was a bit over-baked. The 3rd was perfect, hot, thick, and soft in the center.

Lon ordered the Donner Kebab, which comes over rice with roasted tomatoes, onions, and nicely fried potatoes. It was so wonderfully flavorful and tasted even better with all the dips on my platter. I ordered the vegetarian platter because it is a huge assortment of several of their mezes: hummus,stuffed grape leaves, spinach, cacik (yogurt), ezme (mixture of spicy chopped vegetables), tabouli, and Patlican Salatasi (mashed eggplant salad). Every single one was delicious. Lon and I agreed that they have the best tabouli we’ve ever tasted.

We ended with the baklava which comes in such a big portion for such a rich dessert: 3 big pieces. Lon enjoyed it although it wasn’t the best. I took a little piece and spit it out. ( I know that’s gross but it was way way too sweet for me!) I enjoyed my coffee though and Lon had a glass of grappa as well.

We enjoyed the whole meal so much that I barely remembered dessert while writing this. The service was fantastic. Food came quickly, our waitress was friendly, and our water was filled regularly. I’m sure Lon and I will be back soon….probably with Kasi and Stephen since they live in the area.

I was starting to lose faith in the dim sum in Manhattan. Overall, it’s defiantely better in Flushing but since Flushing is a far trek for me…..I still try to find dim sum around Chinatown. Many lack quality, variety, and turnover, but Ping’s was pretty good. They have all the usual stuff: shu mai, fish balls, roast pork buns, egg tarts, chicken feet, stuffed eggplant, stuffed peppers, stuffed bean curd skins, spring rolls, fried squid, sticky rice, assorted dumplings, and lots of stuff I can’t describe briefly in English. We tried a large portion of the offerings and most came out hot, tasted fresh, and had the correct flavor. Ping’s is currently the best dim sum in Chinatown.

My friends Caroline and Eddie got married over the weekend. It was a beautiful and elegant wedding, simple and well organized, exactly what you would expect of Mr. and Mrs. Song.

The reception was catered by Upper Crust at a nice space on Horatio St. I really liked all but one of the hors d’oeuvres…which is a compliment to the caterers. The presentation of each was beautiful and in order of favorite to least, the hors d’oeuvres were mini crab cakes, goat cheese towers, Morrocan spiced salmon tar tar on crackers, mini duck crepes, spicy beef Vietnamese spring rolls.

The buffet style dinner included the basics of mesclun salad, an assortment of rolls, and roasted potatoes. For main dishes, Caroline chose pistachio crusted chicken breasts with caramelized onions, a salmon dish, and a sun-dried tomato pasta. I enjoyed all 3 but didn’t love them. Both the chicken and salmon were very tender, cooked nicely for bulk cooking but the sauces were too sweet for me. My favorite dish on the table was their roasted and grilled vegetables. It was an impressive looking plate with red onions, beets, carrots, asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and red and yellow peppers. Each vegetable was cooked perfectly and well marinated.

The wedding cake was a yellow cake with buttercream frosting and a chocolate filling. It was a simple 3 tiered cake with a large crystalled “S” on top that Caroline made. The cake was plated nicely with fresh raspberries and a raspberry sauce. I didn’t think there was enough filling and the frosting was too sweet for me but it looked really nice.