1076 1st Ave
New York, NY 10022
212-505-0005
Snowman and I ended up eating at this Egyptian restaurant because we were wandering around the East Side trying to find one of two Mexican places we had been to before, despite the fact that we could not remember either names or either locations. We stumbled up Casa La Femme, and honestly, after all that walking around, I would have eaten at the salad bar at Food Emporium.
The decor is dark and romantic. We had a nice table in the back with comfortable, high straight back chairs (though it was difficult to get out from them as the table had to be moved out of the way). We had a drink at the bar first. Our bartender not only told us the drink specials, but also told us the prices. Which was nice since the drinks were $12. But quite tasty.
Our waiter was efficient, perhaps too much so, since I got the feeling that he was always anxious to get away from us. He spoke very quickly, so it was hard to understand what he was saying. But too efficient is much better than too slow, so I won't complain too much.
We basically ended up eating an array of appetizers instead of having entreès. We started with the Babaganoush, which was fine. I prefer it from Ali Baba. The fresh, warm pitas they served it with were delicious, flavored with rosemary and sesame seeds. I had the molokhya, a spinach soup with garlic and rice, which was really fantastic. It was sweet and spicy and filling. I also had the felfel mahschi, a baked bell pepper stuffed with rice and topped with tomato sauce. The pepper was soft, but not limp and the rice was very flavorful. Snowman had the sogo, grilled beef sausages, which he rolled up in the delicious pitas like little hot dogs. I thought these were very flavorful. He also had the tamaya, which were chickpea dumplings, something akin to falafel. I think I would prefer falafel, since I found these a little bland.
As our meal was winding down, the music was cranked up and I was going to complain until I saw a belly dancer come out to entertain the diners. She did several numbers, including balancing a sword on her head and pulling diners from their tables to participate (which they did with zeal). I thought this was a fun, interesting touch. A nice way to end a very nice meal.
My only real complaint is that I found it to be a little more expensive than the food warranted. It was good, to be sure, but that good? That, I'm not sure about.
Grade: B/B+
120 W 44th St
New York, NY 10036
212-840-8413
The whole point of going to St. Andrews was to try the haggis. They serve it year round, but I thought it would be particularly appropriate to sample on Robert Burns Day, since it is a dish rather closely associated with his name. I had written down the fateful day—January 25—sometime last March, and lo, it finally came round.
A friend who had gamely agreed to come with sent me a tentative email: I think we should split the haggis. I don't want my own. I replied: Oh, God, I never had any intention of us eating our own. I'm sure it's gross.
It wasn't gross. It was exactly good, but I'd probably still choose a steaming plate of sheep offal over Brussels sprouts. It's presented nicely, sandwiched between a layer of neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes to me and you) as you can see in the above photo. It didn't smell good, that's for sure and in that second I felt most of my nerve wilt away. But I took a bite, chewed a little, and offered this opinion: It's okay.
I took another bite, but didn't chew it, which meant I really only tasted root vegetable with a vague hint of meat. I told everyone at my table about my discovery and my friend said "You chewed it? You're never supposed to chew anything you're not sure of!"
Other than the haggis, the bar was tremendously packed, but the dining room in the back was pleasant enough. Our waitress, as Scottish as Groundskeeper Willie, was very nice and thanked us kindly for even attempting to eat haggis. For an entree, I had sea scallops, which were fine but not remarkable. The bread basket contained some kind of sweet, dense raisin roll that was really delicious.
Would I go back? Of course. But not for the haggis, Robert Burns be damned.
Grade: B
Does this look disgusting?
Because it sure tasted that way!
88-01 QUEENS BLVD
ELMHURST NY 11373
(718) 760-3050
Red Lobster is one of those restaurants that I often frequented as a child, therefore even though the food is only mediocre, I have a tender affection for it. Plus, those cheddar bay biscuits are like crack.
The first thing my friends and I noticed is that the little Mrs. Field's cookie kiosk outside the RL wafted the scent of chocolate chip cookies throughout the entire mall, to the point where I think one of my teeth fell out.
It was really crowded at RL. At first we thought it was because it was Shrimp Lover's Tuesday. We were wrong. It was actually because the service was really slow. I think it took us 90 minutes to eat our meal and it was at least 20 minutes before we got any biscuits, which we naturally attacked like a pack of wolves when they finally arrived. The worst thing about the slow service was that we didn't finish eating until 9:15 which meant we only had 45 minutes to shop at Target, the real purpose of our trip.
Service aside (and I will say, our server was actually very nice even if he was ineffectual), the word of the day was GREASE! For starts we had the artichoke, lobster & seafood dip. I'm quite sure that were I not ravenous when this came out, I would have thought it gross, but as it was, I thought it was not bad. Very greasy dip partnered with very greasy chips. Not much artichoke of which to speak. We all—let us not forget it was Shrimp Lover's Tuesday—had shrimp for dinner. I had popcorn, scampi and coconut shrimp bites with a healthy dose of mashed potatoes. I love the mashed potatoes here, very creamy. The scampi was pretty good and the popcorn shrimp coupled with their tartar sauce was tasty as well. The coconut bites were alternately spicy and cloyingly sweet and the dipping sauce tasted like suntan lotion.
By the end of the meal, one person had a tummy ache, one person took home a very odiferous doggy bag and I was just anxious about running out of time at Target. But was it worth it? For the biscuits, anything is worth it.
Grade: C
Tequila Sunrise
40-01 Northern Boulevard
Astoria
718-729-3301
Not much to say about this place. Decor is exceedingly tacky, but the food was decent, plentiful and cheap. Should I happen to pass by it again, I would have no qualms about dining here.
Grade: B-/C+
30-13 Broadway
Astoria, NY 11106-2610
(718) 932-9569
Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about diners: love them. In fact, one of the saddest things about my recent move was that I didn't know where the nearest diner was. Is there anything better than a fried egg sandwich? If there is, I don't want to know about it.
So it was only a matter of time before I went to Sanford's, which looks like a diner (read: no decor) but serves slightly more upscale comfort food. They have about 9,000 different sandwiches on the menu from wraps to burgers to panini. I ordered a Copenhagen panini (turkey, slaw, Muenster, Russian dressing) with sweet potato fries. Technically, I wouldn't call it a panini because it wasn't really pressed together and the bread—I think it was ciabatta—was too thick to ever get to that credit card-sized sandwich which makes a panini what it is. But it was still damn tasty. And of course, wonderfully cheap.
The only downside is that the ketchup is funky. It may come out of a Heinz bottle, but Heinz it is not. It pours too quickly and has a really odd, unpleasant vinegar taste to it (yes, smartass, I know all ketchup contains vinegar). It actually tasted like beer. Hmm, maybe it wasn't so bad after all.
Grade: B
33-04 36th Avenue
Long Island City
718-609-1367
This was my second time at Lil' Bistro. The first time, I thought the food was good, but not amazing (Snowman, on the other hand, looooved it), but I liked it nonetheless since we sat at the bar and chatted with the chef/owner the whole night.
Which must have left an impression because when we went back last week he presented us with a "compliments from the chef" amuse bouche of mushroom jelly. I know, that sounds disgusting, but if you like mushrooms, you can get over the jelly part pretty quickly. It was actually smoky and delicious.
For an appetizer I had the crispy tofu salad, which was basically sticks of tofu, lightly breaded and fried, served with field greens and a chunky dipping sauce/dressing. It was really good. The tofu was just crunchy enough, but not so fried that I lost the taste of the tofu. The dipping sauce was sweet and tangy and was particularly good with the greens.
As an entree, I got the special, which was crawfish etouffé. Much as I can't resist a bistro frisee lardon salad, I also cannot resist an etouffé. And I'm glad I did not. It was perfectly spiced and creamy, but not overwhelmingly heavy. The crawfish were firm and plentiful. I ate too much.
Despite the fact that at this point, I was too full to eat anything else, I split the white chocolate soufflé with Snowman. I'm not a big fan of white chocolate so I was reluctant, but this actually tasted more custardy than chocolately and it was really delicious. A crunchy, chewy top with a warm creamy center.
My only complaint? The decor is pretty unfantastic. The chairs are really ugly—like those ones you find at a buffet restaurant in Delray Beach. And it is small. But they're just over a year old, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume there is a renovation in their future.
Grade: B+/A
I am forever on the hunt for a good granola/snack bar. During the week, while I'm at work, I like to have a snack around 11AM and I find that granola bars offers a good balance of nutrition and sweet-treat-ness. These Special K cereal bars are so damn tasty. About 1000% more tasty than their rather plain cereal counterpart.
62 Thomas St. (bxn Church and West Broadway)
212-964-7777
First of all, nothing makes you realize how much of New York you've never set foot in until you have to go to a restaurant on Thomas Street, which I was pretty sure was in Brooklyn before last night. But it was beyond worth the trip.
Look, I didn't love everything. The Frosted Grape, a sake cocktail, wasn't especially good. The tuna tartare was a little bland. The langostine shrimp were downright distasteful.
There, I've said it. Everything else was divine. The space is huge, airy and beautiful. You completely lose any sense of being in a rather desolate downtown area. The service was fantastic, right from the way they welcome new diners with a Japanese cry (I'm not sure what they said, but in my head it plays like a scene from Karate Kid: "Bansai!"), straight through to how knowledgeable our waiter was about the entire, extensive menu.
Our table of four opted for the tasting menu, which we customized by telling the waiter our price point and any particular items we were or were not keen to try (no sea urchin, please). I can't really remember everything we tasted over the course of a two hour dinner. The (very) high points: clam chowder, different from the American version with no potatoes and a thinner broth, but tremendously tasty; kobe steak tartare, which was so insanely delicious it will live in my memory forever; the most velvety sashimi with sweet soy; shrimp tempura roll, crunchy and spicy; wonderful red snapper and noodle salad. For dessert, we had a sampling of banana cream pie, chocolate ganache cake, and two kinds of crepe layer cake—one with green tea and one with chesnut cream. I'm not a fan of red bean ice cream, but it was fantastic here, smooth and delicate.
The best part, of course, was that I didn't pay for it, and should such a opportunity ever present itself again, I would be more grateful.
Grade: A+
411 W. 42nd St. (bxn 9th/10th Ave.)
212-239-3060
This restaurant is quite possibly in the noisest part of the whole city—about one block west of Port Authority—but once inside, it was serenely quite. We went for lunch, so it was early and uncrowded. The restaurant was pretty, if unremarkable.
My only real complaint about the meal was that our waiter was a little bit odd. He looked like Michael Madsen (nothing wrong with that) and didn't seem like he'd been doing this for very long. When we asked if the iced tea was unsweetened (a legitimate question since I hate sweetened tea) he looked at us like we were Martians asking for directions to Coney Island. And then he totally blew us off with "I don't know; I guess so. Probably." But he got better as the meal progressed, so maybe he just has some repressed memory about iced tea abuse or something.
The iced tea was actually delicious. I find this beverage very hit or miss around the city. Sometimes it's too strong, or else it's flavored with some sort of herb or flower, only no one ever tells you that. The worst, though, it when it is poured from the same spout as the coffee, which is the surest way to ruin it. This was perfectly brewed black tea, served in our own little pitchers, so we needn't ask for refills. I'm willing to trek out to Port Authority just for this tea alone.
I started with a white bean soup with prawns. The soup was delicious; more of a broth than a cream, which was a pleasant surprise. The prawns were fine, but I found them unnecessary, especially as they were served whole and, for me at least, ruined the consistency of the rest of the soup. I also tried another prawn appetizer, crusted with fried quinoa. As far as I can remember, this was my first time trying quinoa, and it kind of skeeved me out a little bit, because I have a weird phobia of bumpy things and the prawns were covered in brown, round bumpy things. Overall, this appetizer was fine, but nothing more.
My main dish was actually also an appetizer, the frisee aux lardons salad, which to my mind, is the best bistro concoction ever. This was probably the best frisee aux lardons salad I've had, though I might have liked the poached egg a little less done. Still, the frisee was fresh, the lardons were chewy and salty, the vinaigrette was light, and the croutons were chewy and buttery.
The baguette they served to start with was wonderfully crusty and chewy. The latte was strong, but enjoyable. The cheese plate was also very nice, served with quince paste and more bread.
Overall, was this my favorite Batali restaurant? Of course not. Anyone who's been to Babbo can't say otherwise. I wouldn't even say Bistro du Vent is my favorite bistro. But it was very good and as long as Michael Madsen isn't our waiter next time, I wouldn't mind going back at all.
Grade: B/B+
33-02 34th Ave.
Astoria, NY
(718) 729-9080
This is the second time I've been to Locale, and I have to say the food is quite good. We had salmon carpaccio to start. I had chicken marsala for dinner and Snowman had a turkey burger. The salmon was really nice, served with onions and capers (which I always thought I hated, but am actually coming around to now). The chicken marsala was delicious with great big mushrooms and a fantastic wine sauce, perfect for soaking up bread. Snowman liked his turkey burger, but the French fries, which they call "shoe string" were more like "dental floss." They were so thin it was hard to get even the faintest hint of potato out of them.
The atmostphere here is nice too. Rather upscale for the neighborhood, but not pretentious or stuffy. The real problem was that we went on Friday night and the music was blasting, even though it wasn't even 9 PM yet. And it was that awful kind of music without any words, just an obnoxious beat boring into your brain and making all conversation a chore. Luckily, after five years of dating, Snowman and I have run out of things to say to each other, so it didn't matter. But from now on, I'll be dining there during the week, to avoid the loud boom-boom-boom.
Grade: B- (docked for the music)
Chicken and Shredded Cabbage Salad with Noodles and Peanut Sauce
This recipe comes from my good friend, Martha Stewart. I made this last night. I made way too much of it, so if anyone wants any, it's in my fridge. Help yourself.
Chicken and Shredded Cabbage Salad with Noodles and Peanut Sauce
MAKES 12 SERVINGS
1 cup Chili Garlic Peanut Sauce (recipe below)
3 quarts water
2 stalks celery, cut in half
2-inch piece ginger root, thin slice
2 cloves garlic
8 sprigs cilantro, rough chop
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pound somen or vermicelli (I used whole wheat soba to good effect)
1/2 head green cabbage
6 carrots, peeled
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and ribbed (I totally forgot to add this)
1/2 cup loose pack mint leaves chopped (not a big fan of fresh mint, so I omitted)
1/2 cup roasted peanuts
In a large saucepan, combine the water with celery, ginger, garlic, chopped cilantro, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and pinch of salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the chicken breasts, and reduce heat to medium, Simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat, and let stand until chicken is cool enough to handle, about 10 minutes (or put in the fridge to speed cooling time). Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, and cut into 1/4 in. strips, or shred as finely as possible with your fingers. Place in a medium bowl, and set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Cook noodles until they are al dente according to package instructions, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a colander, let drain and rinse under cold water until they are cool. Place in a medium bowl, and toss with remaining tablesooon sesame oil; set aside.
Cut cabbage in half, and remove core. Slice cabbage and carrots as thinly as possible with a mandoline or sharp knife. Place in a large bowl. Cut jalapenos into very thin strips, and add to bowl along with shredded chicken and mint. Just before serving, pour peanut sauce over mixture, and toss to coat.
Chili Garlic Peanut Sauce
MAKES ABOUT 1 1/2 CUPS
1 tablespoon peanut oil (I used plain veggie oil)
1 lg. shallot, fine chop
1 clove lg. garlic, fine chop
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter (I used smooth)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar (I used light)
1 teaspoon asian garlic chili sauce or Tabasco (trust me, stick with the garlic chili sauce)
1/2 teaspoon fine grate ginger
1 cup water
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons unsalted dry roasted peanuts (I used salted because those are the most delicious)
In a medium saucepan, heat the peanut oil until shimmering. Add the shallot and garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the coconut milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, chili-garlic sauce and ginger. Gradually whisk in the water. Simmer the sauce over moderately low heat until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly, then whisk in the lime juice and peanuts. Season with salt. Transfer the sauce to a bowl or a glass jar and serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.
Overall, this meal was pretty tasty and since you can eat it cold, makes a good lunch for work. The sauce is really delicious, but I should have salted the cabbage and carrots, as it tasted a little flat in the end. Though if I had added the mint and jalapeno, it probably wouldn't have been as noticeable. The most exciting thing was using my new citrus squeezer for the limes. This took about a good 45 minutes to make, and about as long to clean up all the little bits of cabbage and carrot that had flung themselves all over the kitchen.
Grade: B/B-
1076 1st Ave
