Restaurant experiment: Oro Bakery and Bar

Oro Bakery and Bar

375 Broome Street between Mott Street and Mulberry Street

New York, NY 10013

212-941-6368

http://orobakerybar.com/index.php

Post-L’asso, Shing suggested we give Oro a go because it would satisfy our needs for sweets and alcohol.  Yes.  And it didn’t hurt that Oro was close by, considering how Arctic-like the weather was that night.

When we showed up, Oro was pretty quiet: there was a dude at the bar and a table of three by the door.  There is some seating in the front next to the entryway of chilling winds, and there is also seating in the back near the bathroom.  The bar dominates though.

There was just one lady working the bar.  There were menus on the bar which we grabbed before seating ourselves in the front nook.  Lucky for us, the heater was going full blast and there weren’t too many patrons coming and going.

I wanted to keep warm, so I picked out the hot mulled wine and for my sweet tooth, the peanut butter and chocolate mousse.  Pretty presentation for the latter!  Notice the gold too.  I remarked that it was like Goldschlager.  I sampled Amy’s pumpkin cheesecake and Shing’s chocolate souffle which were both worth of being devoured.  Usually I’m wary of souffles but his was light and sweet, not too non-sweet.  Great.

The mulled wine, which Frank was very curious about, was a bit of a quandary.  Yes, it was warm and wine-y.  I guess the spices had steeped too long, as the first sips were sharply bitter.  It did not help that I accidentally bit into a clove, yuck.  But as the liquid levels lowered, either I got used to it or the bitterness relaxed.

The bartender was incredibly friendly, and she was keen on telling us background info, like how all the desserts are made on premises in a big secret bakery downstairs.  Apparently they open at 7am as a regular bakery and then morph into a cafe later on, followed by wine bar (not a full bar).

I don’t know if it was undercrowded due to the weather, but if that’s the normal crowd, Oro would be a swell place to relax and catch up with your friends without shouting or getting jostled.  Worked well for us!

Restaurant experiment: L’asso

L’asso

192 Mott Street at Kenmare Street

New York, NY 10012

212-219-2353

http://lassonyc.com/

AmyC invited me out to dinner as an early birthday treat.  She suggested this joint L’asso which I was unfamiliar with, but she had been several times and felt like it was a good choice.  Props to her for reading the blog to check if I had been there or not!

On a nippy night, I ventured into L’asso and met AmyC at the bar, and Frank, Shing, and Sophie showed up soon after.  We were then seated at our table in the middle of the floor.  The restaurant is cramped meaning both busy and with a lot of squished tables, and I kept getting bumped by people moving along in the aisle.  So that was unpleasant.  But typical.  The menu features pasta and other Italian items though Frank said it was wise to go with the pizzas.  Okay then, sounds fine to me.  I also ordered a dark and stormy which was reeking of rum, very stormy indeed.  I skimmed the pastas but spent most of my efforts on the pizza page.  The five of us decided to share a few pizzas.  My contribution/selection was the puta di mare which was garlicky sautéed shrimp and broccoli rabe on pizza with an artichoke sauce.  We shared a medium of that along with mediums of the margherita and the one with portobellos and truffle oil.  The bleached blonde bobbed waitress brought out complimentary appetizers which resembled tortillas soaked in herbs and olive oil.  That and the olives were quickly gobbled by me in anticipation of the pizza.  I also spent food waiting time playing with AmyC’s brand spanking new Droid phone (pretty kickass).

The margherita emerged first and we all pounced on it.  As you can see, there was a lot of sauce on it.  The crust is very airy and crunchy.  The margharita is a very safe pizza in general, and I found it to be tasty.

Second in the parade of pizzas was my pick, the puta di mare.  Nobody at the table had sampled it before, so it was an unknown entity but after the first few bites, all five of us were happy with my pick.  Whew, because I hate it when I pick bad stuff.  There was a hint of spiciness which I could have done without, but no matter.  Thumbs up.

Last was the portobello.  You can see my punchy Dark and Stormy in the upper left corner.  Since I’m not a huge fan of portobello in general, I would have to place this last, but still, I would eat it, not like I would avoid touching it with a 10 foot pole of anything.  This pizza, like the preceeding, also did not have a tomato sauce; it too was a white pizza.

Thanks to Frank and AmyC (and Shing and Sophie too)  for lassoing me into the L’asso fold and for the lovely dinner!

Restaurant experiment: Gobo

Gobo

401 Sixth Avenue between Waverly Place and West 8th Street

New York, NY 10014

212-255-3902

http://www.goborestaurant.com/

Gobo is a very beautiful restaurant with the name of an ugly Japanese root vegetable.  There’s an entryway, and then you walk through wooden doors to access the reception area with glass display cases filled with dried fruits and such.  The whole space is pretty bare bones or zen.  Walls are plain, there’s an open kitchen, also a communal table.  There was a wait too, even on a weeknight.  Gobo is a busy place.

Stacy, Kevin, and I squished into a round corner table.  Our server was a cheery gal who poured us tap water which I believe was spiked with a bit of lemon or lime.  Stacy and I ordered smoothies while Kevin opted for a sake mojito.  The smoothie was stellar!  I ordered the Tropical Mystic which was $6 and had kumquats, passionfruit, and ice and since I dig tart fruits, I was in heaven.

We shared an appetizer of the scallion pancakes with mango salsa ($9).  I was actually pleasantly surprised.  The pancake wasn’t too oily and was crispy, and the salsa added the right amount of sweetness and onion.  Good because it was my idea to have the scallion pancakes when it was suggested that we have an appetizer.  Whew, hate it when I pick something that’s not a win.

For my main, I went with the pineapple fried rice with sunflower seeds and soy protein ($14).  While this was fine, I wasn’t overly excited.  The texture of the rice was good (thanks to the seeds) but it just wasn’t all that and a bag of chips and verged on dullsville.  The chunks of fresh avocado tossed on top were a helpful touch.  I didn’t feel as bad being neutral on my food since Kevin the veggie wasn’t exactly super enthused himself.  We skipped perusing the dessert menu.

Could have used another smoothie though.  Mmm.  Except the spinach banana one.  That sounds a tad questionable.

Restaurant experiment: Pho Bang

Pho Bang

41-07 Kissena Boulevard at 41st Avenue

Flushing, NY 11355

718-939-5520

I found this place through my trusty Zagat, and even though it was late and rainy and cold, Dave and I ventured out to Pho Bang to sample its wares.  The service is efficient and bare bones.  The menu is sprawling so there’s something to suit practically anyone, or it would appear.

Since the name of the place has pho in it, naturally I wanted pho.  And it was the perfect weather for it too.  I forgot exactly which pho we ordered since there are about twenty zillion varieties.  Here is the visual.  Mmm.  Dave was entranced by the subtle cinnamon clove taste of the soup.

The vermicelli was also tasty, and as with the pho, I am not sure exactly what kind we got, but it contained beef and peanuts, as you can see here.  I should add that there were generous helpings of bean sprouts and mint for adding to your broth.

And our appetizers were spring rolls, even though they came out at the same time with all of the mains.  No big.  Crunchy and hot.  Will have to try the summer rolls during the next visit to Pho Bang along with the coffee (it was too late for caffeine for yours truly).  Even though we were the last patrons in the restaurant, the staff weren’t shooting daggers at us or cursing at us, or maybe they were since we couldn’t understand.  We wrapped up and left promptly, only to face the dreary chill and damp of outside but feeling satisfied with the Vietnamese delights in our bellies.