Restaurant experiment: Cafe Argentino

Cafe Argentino

499 Grand Street at Union Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11211

718-782-9477

http://cafeargentinony.com/

Dave and I had walked by this sharp little corner eatery several times.  Once I asked Laurel about it, and she said it had just opened recently.  When the opportunity arose to give Cafe Argentino a shot, we all were eager to find out what it had to offer us.

Since Dave and I arrived first, we picked out a booth-table hybrid towards the back.  I should mention how there were hooks above my head for jackets and such, but they were inserted into the white-painted bricks so high that short guys and gals would have problems.  The booth was low and the table was high, resulting in me slicing my meat near my neck.  For a Saturday night, the place was not crushingly crowded, as I had noticed DuMont down the street being.  Fine with me.

The drink menu featured lots of wine.  Since I saw other tables with pitchers of sangria, I decided sangria might complement our meal nicely.  Cafe Argentino also had pitchers of something which turned out to be basically sangria made with champagne; sadly I forgot the name.  Laurel came up with the smart idea of asking for sangria samples since she read in some Yelp reviews that the sangria was too sugary.  The nice waiter obliged.  The white sangria mimicked a mimosa too much for me, but the red wasn’t too bad though I detected a slight bitterness from orange peels.  Pitcher of red it is!

Eventually Dave and I settled on what we wanted.  He ordered an appetizer of the caracoles ($7) which were essentially escargot in garlic butter sauce.  Since I’m not one for snails, I dipped bread into the garlic butter sauce.  Yum.  We all tore our way through three baskets of bread.  Free bread is good.  Laurel and Ian shared some empanadas as their appetizer and liked them well enough I believe.

Here is/are the short ribs with a side of salad.  They were fantastic!  So flavorful, you didn’t need any sauce.  Buttery almost, well-seasoned.  Yay.  This was a little under $20. 

Here is the 16oz ribeye steak with a side of mashed potatoes (a little over $20).  I enjoyed this cut of meat but maybe since I ate it after the short ribs, I was a little let down.  Just didn’t seem as busting with flavor though adding the steak sauce helped.

The mashed potatoes were not high on anyone’s list.  They tasted like they had been born out of an envelope: very instant.  I like instant mashed potatoes, but I can buy them at the grocery store; that’s not what you want at a restaurant.  The salad was fine: some lettuce, cut miniature tomatoes, red onions, with the house’s simple oil-based dressing.

Laurel and Ian split the mixed grill which was about $38.  That was a crazy ton of meat.  It says it’s for two people, but I’m sure that could comfortably accomodate three.  If you like sweetbreads, Cafe Argentino is the place to be, I’ve learned.  But what was not cool was that the mixed grill for two people comes with only one side (the aforementioned mashed potatoes or salad, also potato salad or fries are options).  Silly.  The mixed grill also had a black sausage which looked like a baby purple eggplant.

Later in the evening, a party of three came in and sat in the adjacent corner.  I whispered to Dave that I wasn’t sure if one person was a man or a woman, and he had been thinking the same thing.  His conclusion was that the person was a man dressed in somewhat women’s garb.

In conclusion, Cafe Argentino is reasonably priced and rather filling with friendly service though some of the foods are slightly spotty.  I did not even want to look at the dessert menu; that’s how meat stuffed I was.  Meat coma.

Restaurant experiment: Cafe Spice

Cafe Spice

72 University Place between 10th and 11th Streets

New York, NY 10002

212-253-6999

http://cafespice.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=70

The four of us ended up at Cafe Spice unintentionally.  It lucked out because it was in the right place at the right time.  After a trip to the Rubin Museum, we ended up wandering around, trying to find a place to have dinner.  Kora suggested Indian, and it didn’t help that the Yelp app was down, boo.  Intending the East Village as our destination, we passed by Cafe Spice and being tired, we settled on it because it was Indian and there.  That was good enough for us.

Cafe Spice sort of looks like a museum.  One wall had large, backlit images of spices.  Another wall contained glass containers.  Walls were painted colorfully.  The kitchen had a wide window, and I could observe toque-wearing chefs working their magic.  The tagline for Cafe Spice is “An Indian Bistro” which sorta means more Americanized and slightly more upscale.  The specialty cocktail menu was extensive, and there were a lot of non-Asian servers.  Someone likened this place to Spice, the Thai restaurant chain.  If you’ve been to Spice, than just picture Cafe Spice as the Indian version.

I ordered the murg tikka labadar ($16) because it was “chicken tikkas braised in a creamy tomato sauce.”  All entrees came with rice, salad, and dal.  The dal that came with this particular dish was called dal tadka.  I also put in my request for my requisite mango lassi.  Theirs was ultra thick and creamy.  Mmm!  Done right!  Regarding the menu, it’s pretty extensive, as most Indian menus are, so you should be able to find something.  There are even family-style options (hello, Olive Garden) but we nixed those as three omnivores outnumbered one herbivore.  Even some prix fixe-ish selections, called thali which seemed to be good deals for $25.

A complimentary plate of rolled up papadams emerged.  None of us had ever seen them rolled up like that, like little cigars or eggrolls.  Neato mosquito.  And as a bonus for myself, the rolls were not excessively peppery.  Hooray.

The mains soon appeared for everyone.

I tried the dal first.  It was kind of like eating a Guatemalan insanity pepper: so freakin’ spicy.  I quickly gave up after a few spoonfuls.  There were a few flakes of cilantro, bah, in the murg but I could at least deal with a small quantity.  The real issue here was how hot the dish was.  I guess Cafe Spice is living up to its name for sure.  Kora helpfully gave me some yogurt to dump into the murg to soothe the savage spice.  That did help, plus it gave the chicken a smashing extra creaminess.  Mmm, tender bird.  The salad was spicy in that there were copious amounts of raw onions tossed in there.  I found solace in the rice; at least the rice wasn’t spicy.  I also attempted the dal again later in case my mouth had been rendered tolerant, but alas no, I had to give up quickly again.

If you want your taste buds blown out, Cafe Spice is the place to be!  Aside from causing me grief, the  food was good and luckily we didn’t have to wait for a table either, being a Friday night.  Next time, I’ll have to request super mild mild, fit for newborn babies.

Restaurant experiment: Schiller’s Liquor Bar

Schiller’s Liquor Bar

151 Rivington Street at Norfolk Street

New York, NY 10002

212-260-4555

http://www.schillersny.com/

I’m working my way through the Keith McNally establishments…Schiller’s Liquor Bar at least is easier to get into than Minetta Tavern.  The brother and I went on a delightful spring afternoon to the eatery on a sunny Lower East Side corner.  The restaurant had a couple of the floor-length windows open, very springy.  I heard Schiller’s can be a madhouse during prime times, but being a midweek lunch, there were no issues with space.  The decor is pretty neat, like French bistro meets American soda shop?  Something along those lines.

We were told to sit anywhere we’d like, so I plopped myself down at two top by an open window.  Hooks above my head were home to my bag for the duration of the meal.  Our cheery waitress gave up tap water in the form a big clear glass flask.  The  drink menu was appealing, but I just stuck with water since it was mid-day and drinks were not dirt cheap ($11).  Breakfast served until 4pm, nice.  Apparently Schiller’s is well-known for their brunch, in case you were wondering about that.  And the name confuses people, I’ve noted.  I say I’m going to Schiller’s Liquor Bar, and they think I’m going to a regular old bar, but I’m going to a restaurant/bar.  Tricky tricky.

My stomach was a little  grumpy, so I decided to go with the trusty old cheeseburger ($12) with blue cheese; there was a typical selection, like cheddar and American and maybe gouda.  I was leaning towards the macaroni and cheese with bacon ($11), but I went with the burger and the brother thoughtfully ordered the mac and cheese so we could sample.

Immediately I noticed that the blue cheese certainly was blue.  In fact, it was so blue that it was kind off-putting, but not enough for me to forgo the burger.  No, of course not.  Good sturdy sesame bun, patty cooked exactly medium well, fresh components (veggies).

Fries were excellent (slender, fried well done, and no need for additional salt) though I suppose you have to expect that from a restaurant related to Balthazar and Pastis.

The macaroni and cheese featured literally, cubes of bacon.  They were just that thick.  Oh, oily goodness.  And the cheese crust at the top of the baby iron skillet (placed on a doily!) was a bonus.

I guess I’m saying that the entrees are not massive because I had room for dessert.  Or maybe I’m saying that the desserts sounded too tasty to pass up?  Either way, I selected the warm apple crumble ($7.50).  It came out in a little bowl with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  Perhaps a little more apple than crumble but thumbs up overall.  Very tart apples were used in the creation of this dish, I can note.  Crumble could have been a little sweeter to counteract sour, but that’s enough backseat baking from me.

The bathrooms are worth a whirl.  Tip 1: The first door is funny!  Tip 2: Once past the first door, don’t go into the emergency exit as I nearly did and witnessed someone else nearly do.

Restaurant experiment: Paul’s

Paul’s

131 Second Avenue between East 7th Street and St. Mark’s Place

New York, NY 10003

212-529-3033

http://www.paulsburgers.com/

I’ve walked by Paul’s a jillion times, seeing as though it’s right smack next to St. Mark’s as well as Pommes Frites but I’ve never eaten a burger there despite some marketing material out front about being NYC’s best burger and all.  I recall Brigitte giving Paul’s the old thumbs up, so when Dave and I found ourselves in the East Village, ravenous after a couple of beers and glasses of wines on a rooftop terrace, enjoying a perfect spring day, I suggested Paul’s and received an answer in the affirmative.

Being a Friday night, Paul’s was kept full and busy.  There are a lot of signs on the wall which remind you of Chili’s or Applebee’s.  I would say Paul’s is a very blue-collar type place.  Definitely diner-y.  No frills.  The list of burgers is practically a mile long, and you can have your burger as is or the deluxe version.  I went with the cheddar cheeseburger deluxe, solid.  The menu advertises that the patties are 1/2 pounders, very respectable.  What is cool is that you are given the option to have cooked or raw onions on your burger (team raw onions!), along with lettuce and tomato for the deluxe.  The waitress had brought out pickles in a bowl; we went to town on those suckers and left only the juice behind.  Mmm, pickles.  Note empty aluminum bowl that formerly held pickles.

The fries were those average-sized rectangles that aren’t my supreme favorite but are all right.  The key word to describe the Paul’s burger is SIZZLING!  Literally.  My fingers were burned because the bun wasn’t as sturdy as it could have been, but at least the pure beef-ness of the large meat makes up for that.  Yeah, so incredibly hot.  Dave and I agreed that Paul’s holds its own amongst the burger titans of this town but that combining Pommes Frites fries with Paul’s burgers would be an unholy union.  Mmm.

Restaurant experiment: Kiku Sushi III

Kiku Sushi III

121 East 27th Street between Park Avenue South and Lexington Avenue

New York, NY 10016

212-213-9888

Three cheers for expense account dinners!  Wait, is there a difference between expense account dinners and business dinners?  Okay, Kiku Sushi III is not Jean-Georges, but I never turn down a comped meal.  And you shouldn’t either.

No clients involved, thank goodness.  Kiku Sushi III was chosen due to its proximity to our workplace and due to Kathy’s desire for sushi.  I’d walked by Kiku several times and always assumed it was more upscale than it was really; perhaps it was due to the kanji characters on the door and the generous use of dark wood.  I heard it’s quite the popular lunch locale though.  But this Wednesday evening, it was only our table and one more (a tutor and his tutee who were later replaced by a man and a woman).

AmyW, Kathy, and I shared an order of pork gyoza and the Philly roll as appetizers.  These two were fine but not particularly memorable.  Deep down, I’m a purist so the idea of smoked salmon and cream cheese being proffered as sushi still strikes me as odd.  Though I do adore salmon+cream cheese in other forms, bagels anyone?  Gyoza could have come out of a frozen bag. 

I got the sushi deluxe for my main course, along with a miso soup.  The soup was pretty decent, not too strong and not with those microscopic tofu cubes which remind me of powdered soup mixes.  The sushi deluxe certainly did contain a lot of sushi: ten pieces and then tuna rolls.  I liked the inclusion of tobiko though this particular roll had somewhat of a chemical aftertaste.  The fish slices were nearly 2x the size of the rice balls, creating a bit of a messy look.  But hey, more fish!

Dessert time!  Us three shared fried banana and green tea ice cream.  I should say here that Kiku Sushi III also has a Thai food menu.  So the fried banana is off that side of the restaurant.  Usually I love green tea ice cream, but this version was droll.  Guess I’ll stick to pints from Maeda-en or Haagen Dazs.  The friend banana was actually the highlight of the meal.  Sweet, sugary crust on the hot fruits cut up into eights, perfect for sharing.

Kiku Sushi III was your run-of-the-mill sushi place.  Not a dump, not a palace.  Somewhere comfortably in the middle.  Here’s hoping for more expense account dinners!