Restaurant experiment: Rhong Tiam

Rhong Tiam

541 LaGuardia Place between West 3rd and Bleecker Streets

New York, NY 10012

212-477-0600

http://www.rhong-tiam.com/

The Coding Philosopher had alerted me to the fact that a reasonably priced establishment had earned a 2010 Michelin star.  Wild, no?  And Thai food too.  Naturally I had to check this out.

So I took Dave and the brother to this joint on the eve before Thanksgiving.  It was very dead, guessing it was because of the holiday.  Rhong Tiam is very white (paint-wise), with a raised section of tables and a lower section.  And there are Christmas lights twinkling up the place.  And a Vespa greets you as you enter.  Banjo-type music plays, some twangy European sounding stuff.

The menu is ginormous and reminds me of a diner menu.  I had a Thai iced tea as is my want.  We started off with two appetizers which were about $5 each.  Dave suggested the roti canai “crispy and doughy indian style pancake served with curry sauce” (in the foreground), and I decided we should sample the Thai nachos “minced shrimp and chicken in coconut dipping served with crispy shrimp chips” (in the background).  Both were nice, and my dinner companions were rather fond of the sauces and kept them after the severs tried to take them away.

For my main, I selected the Singapore Mee which was thin rice noodles with bean sprouts, egg, shrimp, signature sauce, and I picked out beef.  Despite no chili pepper by its name on the menu, it was spicy and made my lips tingle after.  The thought of how spicy the spicy meals are scares me.  While the noodles were good, they didn’t make me want to close my eyes and think that I could just die right then and there and be satisfied.  Dave and the brother seemed to like their dishes fine.

Man, I wish I had room for dessert, because looking now, there’s something called Thai tea creme brulee.  Drool.  So Rhong Tiam: it’s not an upscale dining experience, but it’s a tasty dining experience.  I’ll have to suggest it to Lisa since she’s the Thai fan in my circle.

Fun fact: the receipt encourages you to write online reviews.  Hee.

Restaurant experiment: Grimaldi’s

Grimaldi’s

19 Old Fulton Street between Front and Water Streets

Brooklyn, NY 11201

718-858-4300

http://www.grimaldis.com/2/Index.htm

Supposedly Grimaldi’s is the top pizza place of all five boroughs.  Through the friend-vine, Nick and Lily have both been here, and Nick is Team Grimaldi’s while Lily think it’s aight.  My first trip here was with the brother since he had heard the rumors and wanted to try it out.  Of course I was game.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we arrived at this place at 11:10 AM and were not the first people there (they open at 11:30).  A line formed soon after.  I killed time by going through a box marked FREE which some bearded dudes had put out on the sidewalk.  Scored some CDs.  If you wanna know, the unofficial line forms away from the water as we learned as some woman in the line tried to act all high and mighty.  Shut up, lady.  These Italian tourists vouched for us, so there!

The doors finally opened, and it was kinda like Black Friday at Wal-Mart.  The place was full ten minutes later.  Wha?  The walls have pictures of famous folks who have eaten there, and the shirts read “I’m gonna make you a pizza you can’t refuse.”  I sat under a picture of The Godfather with this phrase.  The oven is out in the open.  As I waited in yet another line (for the bathroom), a dad was telling his son all about how the coal oven has to get super hot and such.  Free hand sanitizer, hey.

The brother and I decided to share a small pizza which was perfect for two people.  I had black olives and sausage on my half, and he had mushrooms and sausage on his portion.  The pie appeared pretty zippily.

Would I wait an hour outside for this pizza?

No.

Let me tell you why.  The black olives were bizarrely salty.  And I think they salted the underside of the dough.  What the heck?  Or since I just saw Fantastic Mr. Fox, what the cuss?  I ate everything, but I was craving water like the insane all the rest of the day.  Messed up.  Brother fared better, but he wasn’t exactly majorly impressed.  Oh well.  That’s what you get when you go to these hyped places.  Cash only, bleh.

When we left, there was a long line of pizza gobblers waiting outside.  Team Lombardi’s!  (Sorry Nick)

Restaurant experiment: The Redhead

The Redhead

349 East 13th Street between Second and First Avenues

New York, NY 10003

212-533-6212

http://www.theredheadnyc.com/

Next time she’s in town, I’ll have to take The Redhead to The Redhead.

Jokes aside, I selected this place to be the food venue for a dinner with Stacy, the brother, and Mark.  Lately The Redhead was distinguished by being the final review for the outgoing New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni.  That boosted its popularity.  What also will help is the face that it will soon be in a feature on Thirteen about mom and pop restaurants in NYC (I saw a man filming the dining room and asked the waitress about it).

The Redhead is yet another establishment which doesn’t really take reservations, and you must show up early in order to avoid a ridiculous wait.  Around 6:30 on a Tuesday night was just about right.  I wasn’t too fond of the table, kind of an island in the flow of traffic, but beggars can’t be choosers.

We started off with the bacon peanut brittle which was not what we expected.  Because you think brittle and conjure up a sticky rectangular piece which will snap your teeth in two.  This peanut brittle was essentially beer nuts with tiny bacon pieces.  And some spicy taste.  More bacon please.  I’d probably pass on these next go round.

This fried chicken impressed me and I’m kind of skeptical about fried chicken in that if it’s not KFC, it’s probably not worthwhile.  I’m very picky about the dryness of the bird meat.  But The Redhead’s fowl was out of this world.  So moist and oily, with a crunchy buttermilk exterior.  And the cornbread and salad weren’t too shabby either.

I finished the meal with liquid dessert, a wee glass of moscato.  Perfect!  Mark had suggested moscatos during an earlier conversation, and seeing a moscato in the dessert section made it clear that I needed to order that.  Dessert wines are the best!  Stacy let me sample her toffee cake with buttermilk ice cream, delicious (liked the hints of lemon zest).  Also the best, take home goodies.  The espresso cookie was more like a brownie and had hints of sea salt.  Sweet.

Restaurant experiment: La Giara

La Giara

501 Third Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets

New York, NY 10016

212-726-9855

http://www.lagiara.com/

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The parentals and the brother and I came here on a Monday evening because the mother unit wanted Italian within walking distance of the hotel.  Since I wanted to accrue more OpenTable points, I found this place La Giara which seemed to fit the bill.

I didn’t really need to make a reservation since the place was rather dead.  I’d rather have a place undercrowded that overcrowded though.  At least we could hear each other easily and had attentive service, though the waitress’s Eastern European accent was rather thick.  Lucky for us, Monday nights are $9 pasta nights.  Good deal since the usual costs are about $13 to $16.

The family shared the bufala caprese appetizer ($11.50) which was “bufala milk mozzarella, plum tomato, basil, oregano and extra virgin olive oil.”  It also came with bread and olive oil tomatoes on crostini.  Yum.  We also shared a red wine with was yum.

The brother and I shared a pear and walnut salad which was not too thrilling.  It was okay but needed more cheese since it advertised cheese.  As my main, I ordered spaghetti in lamb ragout and pecorino cheese ($13.50).  I found this dish to be comforting and satisfyingly lamb-y though it was toeing the line into blandness.  Plus I got extra freshly grated cheese on top, and we all know that cheese can improve nearly any dish.

I felt bad for La Giara since it could have used some more business.  At least we were doing our part.  And it’s an appealing cozy space, with candles on the tables, white walls accented with dark wooden beams, wine bottles as decor, and so forth.  You can do it a favor and go Mondays.

Restaurant experiment: Oh! Taisho

Oh! Taisho

9 Saint Marks Place between Second and Third Avenues

New York, NY 10003

212-673-1300

http://www.yakitoritaisho.com/main/

Though I’ve been to Takitori Taisho twice, I’ve never been to its sibling Oh! Taisho.  They’re basically the same place, though Oh! Taisho seems to get less love; it’s always somewhat less packed than Yakitori Taisho.  Luckily Oh! Taisho zipped to the rescue when Yakitori Taisho already had folks spilling outside when the parents and I arrived on Saint Marks.

We only waited a minute to be seated, and I ordered a frozen alcoholic Calpico to enjoy with the rest of my meal.  With the yakitori skewers, I ordered two chicken chunks, a beef, a pork, a shrimp, and a bacon wrapped scallop (initially I requested bacon wrapped okra but there was no okra to be found).  And for some greenery, a tuna and avocado salad.

The skewers were fantastico as usual.  The pork was fatty fat phat however, but we all know how fat=yum.  As a corollary, the bacon was also fatty, but delicious.  All the other skewers were lightly peppery and delish.

The tuna and avocado salad came with more, to my surprise, more meaning tomato and onion and spinach.  It was in a ginger dressing.  I liked how there was lots of avocado and the tuna wasn’t skimpy either.

Oh!  Oh! Taisho!  You rock just as much as your sibling, and I like you more even maybe since I’m awfully fond of underdogs and less crowds.

Restaurant experiment: Ping’s Restaurant

Ping’s Restaurant

22 Mott Street between Chatham Square and Mosco Street

New York, NY 10013

212-602-9988

Many months ago, I asked AmyC for dim sum places that she would recommend, and Ping’s was at the tip of her tongue.  I stored that important bit of knowledge in the back of my brain and waited for the appropriate time to whip that out.

The time came, as I insisted the parentals have dim sum with myself.  It was around 11:30 and already Ping’s was filling up.  By noon, there was nary a seat in the smallish house.  What I wasn’t too fond of was sharing a nine-seater circular table with complete strangers.  Awkward.

Pressing on, the dim sum was perfectly tasty so that compensated.  Since space is a premium, the servers at Ping’s mostly carry around the small plates on trays.  What was handy is the hardcover menu which has glorious pictures of dim sum foods along with the names in English and in Chinese.  Wish I could have swiped a copy since I am terrible with the names.  So you can get the big names from the trays or request the lesser wanted things from your waiter or waitress.  Nice!  This was how I got steamed pork buns.  They were smaller than I was used to and a little sweet almost.  Oh well.  And this was how I obtained my favorite slippery rice noodle with shrimp.  I didn’t get how you had to order this since every since party at our shared table ordered this.

As for the food that came out, shrimp shumai and veggie shumai were great.  Greens with garlic, yum.   That was the bulk of the food.  And then to exit, we had to do battle with the masses waiting to be seated, usually a reassuring sign.

Restaurant experiment: Ethos

Ethos

495 Third Avenue between 33rd and 34th Streets

New York, NY 10016

212-252-1972

http://www.ethosrestaurants.com/

The parentals requested a Greek restaurant near their hotel, and Ethos was what I had come up with since a trip to Astoria seemed to be out of the question.

I patted myself on the back for making a reservation since the place was stuffed to the gills.  We ended up at a high table in the front corner which was rough on the posterior (stools with no cushions) but at least afforded people watching opportunities.

The service was weak.  The waiter occasionally made appearances  but the majority of interactions were with the professional busboys.  Ethos was just too busy and cramped.

Luckily the food was great or otherwise we’d be super steamed.  There was complimentary bread, like a rosemary loaf along with a few pitas.  A small bowl of olives tagged along.

I’m irked that the menu on the restaurant’s page is incomplete so I can’t properly name what I ate.  Grumble grumble.  At any rate, I ordered grilled shrimp with tomatoes, mushrooms, and feta.  This was rather tasty though I personally thought more huge chunks of feta would elevate the dish to the next level.  There were four shrimps but they were fat.  Nice scoop of rice in the middle.

What was a pleasant surprise was the free dessert at the end.  We made sure that it wasn’t secretly tacked onto the bill or anything, but yeah, who does that in NYC?  Not exactly sure about this specimen.  Honeyed cinnamoned phyllo dough wrapped around some sorta ricotta or custard filling.  The layers were scrumptious, the filling not so much.  Decrease the filling, increase the phyllo!

For those Greek cravings, if you can’t jaunt to Astoria and are stuck in Murray Hell, you could do a lot worse.

Restaurant experiment: Zen Japanese Restaurant

Zen Japanese Restaurant

31 St. Marks Place between Second and Third Avenues

New York, NY 10003

212-533-6855

I was all giddy to take my parental units to Ippudo but the wait for three was 45 minutes.  This was nearly 3pm on a Saturday.  Sigh.  The backup was Yakitori Taisho but that doesn’t open until 6pm.  We wandered further down St. Marks.  Places were either closed or crowded.  An udon place told us 15 minutes.  Gah.  I wanted food that minute.

Thankfully the not-so-busy Zen was able to accomodate us.  And the lunch special ended at 4pm, so we were just in time.  My parents ordered noodles while I got the ramen special: ramen, salad, and your choice of sushi.  I got salmon.  I didn’t know if you could pick your ramen; they have different varieties.  Either you can or you can’t.  I wasn’t offered a choice.  Therefore you either get tonkotsu or there’s no choice.

The salad came out right away, and it was your typical salad which usually accompanies sushi.  The bowls of noodles came out and were good.  Not Ippudo good, but not terrible.  Not quite as rich tonkotsu as Ippudo.  These ramen had seaweed varietals (kelp and dried), bamboo, scallions, a hard boiled egg, and one wimpy piece of pork.  Stealthily salty broth, as hours passed and my mom and I wanted to guzzle water like there’s no tomorrow.  The salmon was fine.  Nothing phenomenal, just fine.

Thanks for being a friend, Zen!

Restaurant experiment: Doc Watson’s

Doc Watson’s

1490 Second Avenue between 77th and 78th Streets

New York, NY 10021

212-988-5300

http://www.docwatsons.com

The UES=Irish pub land.

I was surprised by how big Doc Watson’s is; there’s a basement with an outdoor patio attached too.  We were too late for the happy hour specials, but we weren’t missing much judging from the menu.  Wednesday night specials include $8 well drinks.  That doesn’t really sound like a special to me.  Pshaw.

For a second, I spied bacon wrapped scallops on the specials menu and was tempted to order that, but eating scallops in a pub seems a little strange.  Or is it just me?

I got blue cheese on my burger (about 8 bucks).  Oddly enough, the menu states that the 1/2 pound burgers are presented on poppyseed buns, yet what we got were buns of the sesame variety.  These buns were structurally deficient and crumbled under the sheer weight of the patty.  I do like a pure beef taste, and this is what you got with your Doc Watson’s burger.

The cottage fries were pretty good, and they were even better when I added generous splashes of British vinegar.  This was a good night for discoveries.  Earlier elsewhere I sampled a Malibu rum and cranberry juice and was delighted, and then I tried vinegar with fries and was delighted.  Huzzah!

If I were to describe the dining crowd, it’d be business casual.  Very business casual.

Restaurant experiment: Curry Leaf

Curry Leaf

99 Lexington Avenue at 27th Street

New York, NY 10016

212-725-5558

http://www.curryleafnyc.com

Leslie and I met up for a weekday lunch.  I suggested Saravanaas but the line was flowing out the door, so we nixed that and wandered up Lex, ending up at Curry Leaf which was less crowded.

We both ordered the lunch prix fixe and picked out the tandoori platter: “chicken tikka, tandoori chicken, seek kabob & one vegetable curry” along with basmati rice, naan, salad, and rice pudding.  A fair deal for $9.95, considering that neither of us were able to finish everything.  Hello, dinner.

The salad was just iceberg with an oily dressing.  The naan was terrific, warm, airy, soft, and fresh.  The rice was good.  But I think not all of the items listed on the menu were included, and maybe they ran out because it just looked like tandoori chicken only.  Which is okay because I like it, but that was odd.  It was a teensy bit dry but still really delightful.  My veggie of choice was  saag paneer, “cottage cheese & spinach cooked in butter flavored tomato gravy.”  I’ve had saag paneer a couple of times and wasn’t expecting spicy.  Leslie and I are spice wimps and didn’t desire to have our taste buds lasered off, so I was surprised that the saag was a little spicy though it was certainly manageable.

The rice pudding wasn’t on the menu so it was  pleasant surprise and saved me from ordering a mango lassi.  It was slightly chilled, not too ricey, with strong coconut flavors and a smidge of sliced almonds.  I don’t even like rice pudding all that much, and I enjoyed this.

Bad: I saw a mammoth fly hanging out above a painting on the wall.  Ew.  Still, the food’s better than Banana Leaf.