FoodMayhem

Lon’s new office at Linkstorm is in Chelsea so we were planning on trying Monster Sushi Monster Sushi for lunch but they’re closed for renovations until September 4th. We walked around the corner and spotted Hana Sushi Hana Sushi . It was pretty crowded so we gave it a shot. We both got the Sashimi Bento Box lunch special which is pretty cheap for $8.50. The box includes salad, seaweed salad, rice, miso soup, shrimp shumai, and the sashimi. It’s all pretty average and the knife skills on the fish are extra sloppy but I didn’t expect much with those prices anyway.

This Maryland style waterfront crabhouse is actually in Brooklyn. It is a bit tough to find but well worth the effort. My friend Anthony told me about Clemente’s Maryland Crabhouse Clemente’s Maryland Crabhouse a few days ago and when I shared the info with Lon and my parents, we didn’t hesitate to check it out ourselves.

For $29.95, it’s All-You-Can-Eat crab. They prepare it in 2 ways, the traditional Old Bay or garlic and oil. Both ways taste great and the crab is cooked perfectly!! It comes with not so good corn and decent french fries, and a roll of paper towels, shell crackers, and bibs. There’s also a whole menu of other items like soup, salads, and other seafood dishes. The service is good and the waitresses are always eager to bring you more crabs.

It took me almost 3 hours to eat 12 crabs and a plate of french fries (that’s refillable too) and I’m dying to do it again. This is going on my list of favorite things to do on the weekends!

You’d think that Cafe Fiorello Cafe Fiorello would be a tourist trap since it’s across from Lincoln Center, but it’s actually got great food. After attending the last night of Midsummer Night Swing, we headed over for dinner.

The table of 5 shared 2 appetizers. The prosciutto with melon was delicious. Fresh melon, expertly sliced meat, and a surprise dab of marscapone. What a nice touch! The salad of poached pears, sugared pecans, and fried goat cheese was fantastic. The blackberry dressing was unique and wonderful. Sadly, this item is a special and not available on their regular menu.

Most of us ordered pizzas, which are super thin with quality ingredients. Lon had their signature lasagna. It looks like a lasagna pastry with 3 meatballs on top. It’s yummy! My only regret is not coordinating to order a wider variety of foods. They have an amazing display of antipastos in front. I stared on my way out wishing I could have some.

I went to Cafe Fiorello years ago with my family and it was a great dinner for all of us then too. The prices are right. I need to go back more often.

For my birthday, Jessica treated me to a wonderful dinner at Del Posto Del Posto. For those of you who aren’t in the know, Del Posto is Lidia and (her son) Joe Bastianich’s and Mario Batali’s largest (at least fiscally-speaking) venture. About two weeks ago, Jessica grabbed reservations on OpenTable and let them know it was my birthday, and asked if they could do anything special. And they did.

In my oh so (not) humble opinion, they gave us the best table for two in the house. It was located in the upper level, to the right where there are only three tables and ours is in middle over-looking the entire restaurant. It’s substantially quieter up there and you feel like you’re in a private space. We were seated by the greeter/maitre’d and then visited by our waiter, who spoke with an accent and oddly forgot words like “herb” which I assume he uses regularly. But it’s forgiveable because he was a great waiter with a wonderful personality. Same with the two busers who served us bread, water, and cleared — great personalities and heavy accents.

While perusing the menu a complimentary course was served, like an amuse bouche, although it was called something else (neither Jessica or I caught the word used). It was comprised of a pea soup beautifully served in a clever, shot-sized glass; a slice of cured ham on a small plate; a fried zucchini flower with basil pesto on a second small plate; and, a slice of zucchini and slice of squash over fresh yogurt on a toast point, on a separate plate. And in that order they ascending from horrible (neither of us could finish the pea soup) to wonderful (we loved the flower and even more so, the toast point).

We opted for the $85 per person Del Posto Menu, which allowed for each of us to choose an antipasti, primi, secondi, and dolci. It was noted as a five-course meal, since each of our primi’s would be served in halves and then shared, in other words, half of my primi went to Jessica and vice versa. It was a great way to enjoy the food, and I highly recommend it.

Jessica started with lobster and polenta, it tasted phenomenal and included a substantial portion of lobster. We loved the polenta, but both agreed it was more of a corn pudding then polenta. I started with the “Artichokes DUE” which offered a well fried (almost bronzed) artichoke heart, that was presented beautifully as a flower and then acidic sauce of cut hearts and perilla. Both were delicious, the latter being the best of the two.

We then moved on to the primi Jessica selected: Spaghetti with Crab, Chive Blossoms & Havanero Oil– that was my favorite dish of the night. The crab was completley superfluous in the dish, succumbing to the incredibly taste of the not-too-spicy oil. It also included a sprinkling of bread crumb, which we didn’t like. We independently thought they were crab shells, and decided the texture variation didn’t overcome the odd-factor.

Then we shared my selection: Crisped Potato Gnocchi with Braised Pork Shoulder, Celery & Nepitella. The gnocchi were just seared on one side and otherwise quite soft and flavorless. The pork was cooked perfectly but also didn’t have much flavor. Fortunately the celery and the nepitella brought A LOT to the party. In fact, the nepitella, also known as Nepeta or CATNIP, was the really winner. Both of us loved the flavor and so we must be part feline. Meow.

By the end of the pasta dishes we were already feeling full. But we persisted on to Jessica’s entree, the Cacciucco with Burnt Fregola and Red Mullet; and my entree, the Slow Baked Wild Salmon. The cacciucco was served over some type of barley and included pine nuts. Jessica enjoyed it, while I was underwhelmed at best, particularly due to the over cooked seafood. After I got home, Bill told me that he’s heard Batali say on TV that traditionally Italians cook seafood longer than Americans. I haven’t heard that myself and can’t find anything about it online, but I don’t care for it.

My fish was not over-cooked, but had no flavor, less than typical salmon even. The best part of the dish was actually the avocado. In fact, not just because of the avocado, the dish was California Cuisine-style, odd for a generally, Italian-inspired menu. I recommend skipping this dish.

Finally, for the dessert course, Jessica had the Soufflé di Cioccolato: Chocolate Souffle, Hot Chocolate, and Brandied Cherries with Espresso Gelato, which she enjoyed; but we both thought was a wintery dessert. I had the Sorbetti, four flavors of sorbet, I think they were mango, lemon, passion fruit, and raspberry.

They also brought over a cart of nine or ten types of petits fours. We were very full by this point, but tasted all of the sugary treats. The hazelnut white chocolate petit four was my favorite, but I found them all too sweet.

In the end, we think this is the amongst the best service in the city — a real 10 out of 10. The food was quite good too, at least an 8 out of 10. Particularly, we enjoyed the unique dishes that we’ve not seen at any other restaurant. I highly recommend you give Del Posto a try.

Peking Duck Forest Peking Duck Forest is surprisingly authentic. Located by the Austin Street shopping area in Forest Hills, you’d think it was one of those typical Chinese restaurants with the Lo Mein, General Tso’s, and Chicken with Broccoli. While those dishes are also offered, you can also get the real stuff if you know what to order.

The Peking Duck there is superb, from the flavor and texture of the duck skin to the house made wraps, to the friendly chef who carves your duck table side. Don’t worry if you’re a first timer, the chef also expertly makes each wrap for you with the right proportion of scallion, cucumber, duck and sauce. Just enjoy watching and then eating.

I also recommend dishes like Dungeoness Crab, Imperial Stuffed Lettuce Leaves, and Shrimp Stuffed Tofu. The prices are good, the staff is friendly, and you can get real Chinese food without going to a whole in the wall joint in Chinatown.

My boss took me to lunch at Oscar’s Oscar’s for a break from the heat (our office had no air conditioning as a result of the steam pipe explosion on 43rd Street). They do a good job maintaining a cool temperature without being freezing like most air conditioned restaurants.

Each table is given a basket of fresh breads, a raisin fennel, a cheese topped, and regular French. We split a crab cake appetizer which was good because it was mostly crab but had a weird choice of condiments. A spicy barbecue was smeared across the plate. A blob of a ketchup mayo mix sat on the side. A small clump of guacamole was on top. The guacamole worked for me and the other 2 sauces didn’t.

I ordered the Zuppa di Pesce and Roger had the Grilled Rare Yellow Fin Tuna Panini. The shellfish in my dish were cooked perfectly (especially the shrimp) but the sea bass was a bit over-cooked. The tomato-herb broth was very flavorful and great for dipping. The overall impression was a good one especially since it was a nice portion size.

The nice plating, nice decor, very good service, and pretty good food makes the lunch prices worth it.