Restaurant experiment: Sushi Samba 7

Sushi Samba 7

87 Seventh Avenue at Barrow Street

New York, NY 10014

212-691-7885

http://www.sushisamba.com

Leslie pointed out the West Village Sushi Samba to me over three years ago, and I remembered it because she was saying it was in Sex and the City (disclaimer: I do not watch that show).  Since then, it was on the food rolodex, but I hadn’t pulled it out until now because Zen wanted to do Restaurant Week and wanted a Japanese joint.  Okay then, Sushi Samba it was.

Peruvian, Japanese, Brazilian.  There sure are a lot of Peruvian places in the West Village, no?  The hostesses exuded bitchy vibes.  The colorful room made up for that.  Though a loud table of mostly males nearby brought the points down a bit.  Our waitress’s heavy accent was sometimes difficult to decipher.  Swift service though.

Frito Mixo
squid, prawns, rock shrimp, ponzu mayo, smoked soy

The seafood was fine, nothing stellar, but I was all over the ponzu mayo.  Dee.  Lish.  Harped about it to Zen.  Smoked soy was just tempura dipping sauce.

Braised Short Rib
roasted garlic, boniato purée, honshimiji mushroom , cabrales-stuffed shishito

The pepper looked like a breaded okra.  The rib was tender though lacked distinctive flavor. 

Warm Chocolate Banana Cake
maple butter, banana chip, vanilla rum ice cream

The wafer was exceptional!  They needed to forget the other components and just make this dessert solely chocolately wafers. 

Sushi Samba was style over substance.  Not bad food, but I wouldn’t enthusiastically rave about the place to my pals.  Though I did feel trendy sitting in our corner booth with bamboo wall.  If you wanna go, go early, and be armed with a reservation.

Restaurant experiment: Fatty Crab

Fatty Crab

2170 Broadway between 76th and 77th Streets

New York, NY 10024

212-496-2722

http://www.fattycrab.com/

This place had been filed away in my food rolodex as a “To Try” since February (thanks Mike).  The Upper West Side outpost is relatively shiny and new; the original is in the West Village, but I’ve never been.

The service was not very attentive.  Or they would come and drop off plates but not pay attention at the end to see if I needed anything else.  I had to blurt out my requests quickly just when they were about to run away. 

Since Stacy and I couldn’t decide on our selections (the waiter suggested the non-spicy dishes for me since most of the menu is heavy-handed with the hot), we decided to get a few things to share. 

Kaya toast & teh tarik ($7)–this was an appetizer but ended up appearing after the other two dishes.  That actually worked out well since the sweetness of the coconutty Nutella-like filling between the toast was dessert-like and pleasing.  The teh tarik was like chai flavored milk.  Not bad.

Watermelon pickle and crispy pork ($15)–pictured on the right of the photograph.  Pickled watermelon was a curiosity.  Slightly ginger tasting.  The pork was a pure delight!  Crispy on the outside, a taste sensation.  Yeah.

Curried bacon sandwich with ramps, aioli, egg garnish ($14)–pictured on the left.  Bacon.  Really, is there anything else I have to say?  How could I not order this?  I could do without the cilantro in that and in the other plate, but oh well.  I’ll suffer if the positives tremendously outweigh the negatives.

The bathroom is a character.  It’s darkness, and there are some photographs verging on lewd being displayed.  The dishes are wonderful but the prices/portion size are not wonderful.  Malaysian food shouldn’t be this costly!

Despite not eating any crab, I was down with the Fatty Crab.  Phat!

Restaurant experiment: Spitzer’s Corner

Spitzer’s Corner

101 Rivington Street at Ludlow Street

New York, NY

212-228-0027

http://www.spitzerscorner.com/

Denied at T Poutine…it was where we planned to go but it wasn’t open yet.  Crushed.  So down the street we went to Spitzer’s Corner, our backup plan.  Hipster land!  They were crawling all over the place.  And it was loud.

After a reasonable wait, we were seated in the back room, at the end of one of the communal tables.  My new theory is that communal tables are supposed to be cool but are simply a cover, an excuse for the closeness of tables in NYC.  I certainly didn’t want to socialize with the girls next to us.  Ugh.

The service was sparse, but at least the girl was friendly enough and didn’t have a permanent sneer on; the bartender chicks had attitude oozing out of their pores.  Julie and I opted for the duck confit ($13).  It needed more duck!  Other things it included were “baby spinach, frisee, arugula, toasted pine nuts, foie gras butter on toasted baguette, passion fruit seeds/vinaigrette.”  It was like this dish was made with me in mind since I am gung ho about duck, foie gras, and passionfruit.  Maybe it was a slice too sour, but overall, it worked like a charm.  Stacy loved her burger; Thomas seemed to seem to be at peace with his grilled cheese, at least I think he didn’t loathe its guts.

The fries took years to arrive and showed up the same time as the mains.  So much for them being an appetizer.  If you can stomach the hipsters, you could do pretty well here.  Reasonable prices!  Gasp, shock, awe!

Restaurant experiment: Phoenix Park

Phoenix Park

206 East 67th Street between Second and Third Avenues

New York, NY 10065

212-717-8181

http://www.phoenixparkny.com/

Stacy’s new go-to bar was our go-to for dinner as we wanted a solid meal which meant for me, a welcoming burger. Phoenix Park is divided up into several room and even has an outside area but that was full so we resigned ourselves to a back room. It was pretty empty at the onset but filled up rather quickly.

The fries were excellent! Just the way I want ‘em: crunchy, slender, salty. Mad praise for the generous white onion quantity. The patty was cooked slightly freakishly because I ordered medium well, and the beef was charred on the outside and then verging on medium or even medium rare on the inside. Oh well. Overall, the package worked.

The paper menus on the table declared PP to have been open since 1998. How ancient. Hah!

Restaurant experiment: Veritas

Veritas

43 East 20th Street between Broadway and Park Avenue South

New York, NY 10003

212-353-3700

http://www.veritas-nyc.com/

Eight people commanding a restaurant.  Kind of cool but kind of not since Veritas was on the empty side.  Almost creepy.  It’s nice to have attention lavished on you, but a few more full tables would have been nice.  Holiday weekend?  A shame regardless. 

It was AmyL’s idea to check Veritas out.  Even though the chef associated with the place has since departed, it’s still noted for its cuisine (one Michelin star) and mammoth wine list.

We sat around a figure-8 shaped table which sort of segregated our group into two factions.  After some discussion, it was agreed to try out the nine course tasting menu.  Yikes.  I’ve never done a tasting menu that large before…have I even done a tasting menu?  Don’t think so. 

Armed with glasses of riesling, here’s what we had.  It was too dark in the restaurant for perfect pictures; we must make do with a small smattering.  The kind employees gave us menus to take home so we could remember all the dishes we tried.  Perfect!

1. Amuse bouche–asparagus soup with croutons, thumbs up.
2. Lemon marinated langoustine–mmm!  One of my favorites since I’m partial to raw shellfish, and it came with caviar.  Langoustine is also known as scampi and the Norway lobster, as I looked up just now.  Ah, now Red Lobster Shrimp Scampi makes sense.
3. Foie gras mille-feuille–mmm again!  Foie gras with pineapple was a rather unconventional pairing, but it worked. 
4. Lobster nage–eh.  Lobster soup with white asparagus.
5. Fresh white asparagus roti–the yolk from the egg attacked Stacy!  The egg was somewhat bland, but that was balanced out by the saltiness of the jamon.
6. 6.  Sauteed frogs legs–this had to be the most talked about platter during the meal.  The bone was pulled out in such a way that the meat turned into a lollipop.  Plus you had a special dish of water with which to wash your fingers.  What fun!  Mini-chicken drumsticks with green dipping sauce.
7. Wild turbot–another eh.
8. Barbary duck breast–while I did praise this, I was become stuffed at this point and couldn’t enjoy it as much.  Bummer.  Nectarines (whoops, I said peach) and figs were delightfully warm and sweet. 
9. L-Ossau-Iraty–cheese!
10. 10.  Chocolate mille-feuille–again, I was too stuffed.  They sure do like putting gold flakes in the food.
11. 11.  Bonus dessert–marshmallow and Earl Grey truffle and something that I forgot and ate before I took a snapshot.  The other two were not of note, but I drink Earl Grey like nobody’s business, so the Earl Grey chocolate was just my style.

Nine course tasting menus could be a bit of a mixed bag.  I don’t think any one dinner guest of mine was vehemently infatuated with all eleven courses, but we all liked a lot several and were neutral or didn’t like several.  It all evens out.

Healthy debates–err conversation, good friends, fun food.  And that’s the truth that I found in the wine.

Restaurant experiment: Great NY Noodletown

Great NY Noodletown

28 1/2 Bowery at Bayard Street

New York, NY 10013

212-349-0923

AmyL and I were intending to hit up Chinatown for some dim sum, but as we passed Great NY Noodletown, I told her how popular it is and how AmyC’s gang loves it, and we ended up having our lunch there instead.

Since it was a little later than the the usual lunch time, we lucked out and were seated promptly at a table by the door; I had a full view of the people who came in and waited for a table.  Since Great NY Noodletown has been written up numerous times, there were a lot of tourists there.  You could tell.

I ordered the noodle soup with beef muscles and AmyL had the noodle soup with duck.  $4?  Score!  And filling too, or at least I thought so.  I spied jellyfish and thousand year old egg on the menu and brought it up to AmyL who agreed to split the platter with me.  That cost more than the noodles, but that was all right.  Thousand year old eggs actually gross me out just by looking at them, but they do taste very eggy and nice.  It’s fascinating how the egg whites turn translucent and dark brown.  Nifty.

 

Then the old man waiter made me irate.  Miscommunication issues aside, telling customers to give a specified money tip is TACKY and RUDE.  We went to Chinatown Ice Cream Factory after, and I felt better.  Black sesame ice cream is a proper calmer.

The Pipette turns one!

Happy birthday to my blog!

To celebrate, I will give a prize to the first person who makes a comment.  Hopefully today, but I’m patient.  Comments are coolness.  Cash value of prize not to exceed $7.09.

Rules: you must be someone I know in real life, and we can’t be related.  If you don’t want to comment here, send me a message by other means.  Not telepathy.

Restaurant experiment: Nan Xiang

Nan Xiang

38-12 Prince Street at 38th Street

Flushing, NY 11354

718-321-3838

AmyL and The Geneticist had been to Nan Xiang before so it had Amy’s stamp of approval.  We’re mad about soup dumplings, and apparently this is the place for ‘em.

We survived the 7 train and found the restaurant without any problems.  It was easy to find since it was the one with the line out front.  You know a place is popular if its sign isn’t even in English.  The wait wasn’t too long, but prepare yourself for a small dining area and your new family: good old communal seating.  Unless you’re a party of six or so.  I spent a lot of time checking out what the couple next to us was chowing down on.

Amy never steers me wrong.  We started with hot sweet soymilk.  Of course we had to order the soup dumplings which Nan Xiang is famous for.  These are special dumplings popular in Shanghai, which, as the name suggests, have piping hot broth encased within the skin, along with the meat.  Amy had a handy trick for cleanly eating these guys.  I secretly snickered at the man and woman who let all the yummy broth leak all over the plate.

And we simply had to order the scallion pancakes.  These have to be the best I’ve ever eaten!  Love love love the crunchy exterior.  Those flabby soft ones are ick.  These sure were not ick.

However, I’m lukewarm on the shumai filled with rice (wha?) and gyoza (not crispy enough).  I guess it’s pretty obvious that I like my skins/wrappers crunchy, huh?

Cash only.  And then I got Pinkberry later.  What an Asian way to spend the Fourth of July!

Restaurant experiment: The Ethiopian Restaurant

The Ethiopian Restaurant

1582 First Avenue between 83rd and 84th Streets

New York, NY 10028

212-717-7311

http://www.theethiopianrestaurant.com/

Stacy and I have had Ethiopian on the brain since Julie brought it up a few weeks ago. All right, maybe not on the brain, but at least at the very backs of our brains. So when we were deciding on a place for post-happy hour appetite relief, it was settled to come here.

The Ethiopian Restaurant has to be one of the worst names ever. It’s just so uninspired. But it wasn’t too crowded inside like a lot of Upper East Side places can be. Fine by me. I highly recommended the honey wine (tej) to Stacy, so she heeded by advice and ordered a bottle of it for us. The bottle told me it was made in New York State. It’s just mead I guess. But no matter. Stacy was keen on the tej to my relief. Woo hoo!

I ordered the tibs wot (“strips of beef cooked in berbere sauce with an assortment of traditional spices”), and I found it to be pretty finger-licking good.

Sean selected the lamb Ethiopian combo (“Our special combination of yebeg alecha, tibs wot, tikel gomen, misr wot and yabesh gomen”). You honestly can’t go wrong with combos at Ethiopian establishments because you can sample a lot of different plates with your dining companions. That works.

I believe Stacy picked out the doro wot (“spicy chicken stew simmered in berbere, garlic, onion and spiced butter served with a hard-boiled egg”) because it was supposedly insanely spicy, and I was warned to keep away.

All the entrees were about $12-14. The portions were slightly meager, or at least more so compared to my other NYC Ethiopian dining experience at Meskerem. I stuffed myself silly with the injera. Stacy and I are fans of that sour bread.

In a neighborhood that needs all the exciting international cuisines it can get, if you’re in the area, you can’t go terribly wrong by eating at The Ethiopian Restaurant.

Restaurant experiment: Klong

Klong

7 St. Mark’s Place between First and Second Avenues

New York, NY 10006

212-505-9955

http://klongnyc.com

Because the wait at Prune was too long for our impatient selves (20-30 minutes in case you’re wondering), I suggested Klong because Annie had wanted to throw a dinner there but they were restrictive about large groups.  Luckily Klong was three times the size of Prune and was a third less crowded.

Klong is decorated in a funky-chic-Asian way.  Among the décor: calligraphy brushes, abacuses, birdcages.  Ball bearing bead curtains covering the restroom area.  A mini lit-up river slinking along the back tables.  Swellness.

The weekday lunch special is a mere seven bucks and includes an appetizer and entrée.  For $3 more, you can add a mimosa to your lunch.  But I went the boring safe non-alcoholic route with chicken satay, pad Thai, and a Thai iced tea.  The iced tea comes in a tall skinny glass with a straw that is too short.  Long straws please!  The chicken satay was fine (I liked the mini salad in the bottom of the square ramekin), and the pad Thai was pretty palatable as well.  AmyL got two appetizers (shrimp in fried skins and spring rolls) and was satisfied as well.  Go Klong!

And Klong has kickin’ kickass business cards.