Restaurant experiment: Rare Bar & Grill

Rare Bar and Grill Chelsea

152 West 26th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues

New York, NY 10001

212-807-7273

http://www.rarebarandgrill.com/chelsea.php

A couple of weeks ago, Stacy raved to us about the out-of-this-universe burger she had consumed at Rare Bar and Grill.  And then it just so happened that I entered a burger zone where I kept thinking about burgers and craved a worthy burger.  Dave and I weren’t in a Murray Hill mood and decided to try out the Chelsea location which is newer.  Due to the new factor, this place was not very crowded despite it being a Saturday night.  There’s a bar on street level and then you descend to the depths for the dining room.  It’s a cavern.  A two-story ceiling ups the noise factor.  And I wondered why the AC was pounding so much so that I was chilly.  The decor verges on silly, with barbed wire images on the lighting, and a chandelier made out of cattle branding irons reading “RARE.”

Our server Gregorio was excellent; he had a full command of the menu and was welcoming to us.  I should also add that your water glass will never be empty here.  Take one sip, and someone’s over to replenish the water consumed.  Though along with the home-on-the-range decor, something else was noticed which made the experience sort of chain restaurant-y.  We were in a booth/table which was adjacent to a pile of restaurant tray stands.  Immediately I had a flashback to eating at a Red Lobster and could picture a white-shirted server setting a tray of fish meals onto a tray stand and asking “Who had the captain’s platter?”

Before venturing to Rare, I had checked out the menu online, and there were a few changes.  Like a couple of the cocktails had been increased by $2 and the special cheeseburger uses Artisanal fromage than from Murray’s.  So if you look on the menu, take those into account.  If you care, that evening’s Artisanal cheese selection was an aged cheddar.

I was going to get a regular burger instead of a fancy steakhouse burger, but with Dave getting a fancy burger, I decided to go for it; after all, I could get a burger with goat cheese at most joints.

The french fry tasting basket for about $10 wasn’t bad, though next time, I’d probably just get an order of just one type of fry.  You got shoestring, cottage (or waffle, if you will), and thin sweet potato.  Thin sweet potato was a bit funky.  There were a zillion sauces to try: ketchup, Mexican ketchup, chipotle aoili, honey maple, parm garlic I think?  I can’t remember, there were too many! 

My ultimate selection was the t-bone steakhouse burger ($21).  “A blend of sirloin and strip, flambeed in tequila, wrapped in apple smoked bacon, topped with cheddar and crispy onions.”  Cheddar, tequila, and bacon are all fine by me.  I’d rather raw than fried onions, but you can’t win them all.  The kitchen declined to switch Dave’s steakhouse meat selection with other toppings.  What the burger lacks in diameter, it makes up for with height.  Boy, was that sucker tall!

Ouch, hot burger!  Literally hot off the grill.  And juicy, as evidenced by the mililiter or so of liquid falling onto the plate.  The height made eating a challenge.  I squished as much as I could, though in the end, the infrastructure collapsed.  Yum!

If you go, and you should, check out the rooftop.  We didn’t but maybe another evening!

Restaurant experiment: Dafni Greek Taverna

Dafni Greek Taverna

325 West 42nd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues

New York, NY 10036

212-315-1010

http://www.dafnitaverna.com/

Lisa and I decided to see Hair one fine mid-week evening. I picked out Dafni Greek Taverna as our pre-theater dining destination for a couple of reasons: I was able to snag a reservation on OpenTable, I read its Yelp reviews, it was close to where Hair was playing, the prices were right, and I hadn’t had Greek in a while.

It was kind of loud in the restaurant, and I realized that I had been speaking strongly when my throat was grumpy after. Maybe they should look into some noise absorbers. The tables are a tad tight as well. Dafni, being right across Port Authority and in the theater district, entertained a packed house. Glad I made a reservation. I showed up first and was seated; Lisa walked in soon after. Our table was smack dab in the middle of the dining area which wasn’t the best table, but what can do you.

Our waitress accidentally brought us an iced tea intended for a neighboring table. Not a huge deal, and she later joked about it when she brought over Lisa’s salad which was actually meant for her. She wasn’t a bad waitress. I ordered lamb shish kebab, and Lisa selected moussaka. We tossed back pita triangles like no tomorrow as we waited eagerly for our entrees to show up. And Lisa also offered me some of her salad too. It wasn’t your standard Greek salad. Mostly lettuce with some scallions, I recall. I’d eat it if it came with my kebab.

The lamb shish kebab was great, perhaps edging into dryness territory, but the strong flavors made up for it. I was tasting garlic and onions in my mouth the rest of the evening. I selected rice as my side (potatoes were the other option), and the lemony zing of the rice led me to try and fork up every single grain. The slices of pickled cucumber in the ramekin were all right but nothing to gloat over. The huge dollop of tzatziki sauce was great for rolling lamb pieces in.

The restaurant’s populace petered out as it approached curtain time. Later during the show, I realized that I was very thirsty so Dafni may want to tone down the salt. Otherwise, good Greek. Go Greek. Let the Dafni shine in!

Restaurant experiment: Khao Sarn II

Khao Sarn II

637 Second Avenue between 34th and 35th Streets

New York, NY 10016

212-889-8877

http://www.khaosarnnyc.com/

On a drizzly Sunday evening, I had dinner with Payal and her friends Lauren and Lisa at this chill Thai food purveyor.  It wasn’t ultra crowded, so we could sit basically anywhere we wanted.  The coolest aspect of the actual restaurant is the wooden wall which is painted pastels.  That sounded more matronly than wanted.  Hip pastels?  Thin wood that curved near the ceiling?  That’s better.

Everyone decided to go with the $19 prix fixe while I decided to be the black sheep and order a la carte.  Luckily unlike some heavily starred establishments, the whole table does not have to participate in the prix fixe.  Our waitress had  bold eye makeup, like of like inky trapezoids on her eyelids.

I got things going as I usually do with a Thai iced tea ($3).  I ordered the white rain noodles, how poetic!  Payal kindly let me gobble up her prix fixe order of edamame which I rapidly did so.  I like a little more salt on the pods, but that’s just me.  The entree didn’t let me down.  Described as glass noodles with egg, bok choy, bell peppers, broccoli, and tomatoes in a brown soy-based sauce, it was $12 with my meat choice of shrimp.  And I was pleased that there were several pieces of shrimp of a generous size, not those minis that you need a magnifying glass for.  Praise!

Lisa spotted Thai donuts on the dessert portion of the menu.  Since I’d never tried, much less heard of those goods, I decided to give them a shot.  These are fried, much like the sugar rolled donuts you find at Chinese restaurant buffets.  No sugar on these fellows though.  You dip them into sweetened condensed milk and then roll them into peanut grounds.  Yum.  The peanuts are fine, but it’s all about the condensed milk for me.  That really is the reason why I heart Vietnamese coffee. 

Payal also generously let me sneak a few bites of her mango mousse cake.  Aside from being aesthetically appealing, it was also gastronomically appealing.  I was nearly fooled into thinking it was a cheesecake.  Mmm, someone needs to make mango cheesecake. 

Service was on the slow side.  With a smile and friendly, but not fast.  In short, Khao Sarn II is recommended if you want Thai, are in that area of town, and if you are not in a rush!

Restaurant experiment: Marc Forgione

Marc Forgione

134 Reade Street between Greenwich and Hudson Streets

New York, NY 10013

212-941-9101

http://www.marcforgione.com/

I picked Marc Forgione for a dinner to celebrate an accomplishment because I wanted to knock some more Michelins off the list.  Its prices don’t give you heart attacks, I haven’t been cavorting in Tribeca lately, and it’s not so hoity toity that you feel like you’re in a museum.  And yes, the menu sounded satisfactory.  Perfect.  What was not-so-perfect was me fighting a pesky rhinovirus.  Bleh.

The restaurant is beautiful.  The main dining area has brick walls and tube lighting (like Christmas lights) sneaking behind the booths.  Glass lamps are suspended from the ceiling and encase flickering candles.  The bathrooms recall mountain cabins, with old framed pictures on the dark cloth walls.  I didn’t go into the bar area so I don’t know what that was like, but it seemed pretty popular.  There is also outdoor seating which I wouldn’t have minded either since this block of Reade is calm and not infused with automobiles and humanoids.

Stacy and Josh were running late, but thankfully the hostess was fine with a) pushing the reservation back some, and b) seating us first.  Our table was 50% booth, 50% chairs, and from the booth seats, I could peek directly into the kitchen which I of course was delighted by.  There was some hoopla recently about chef Marc Forgione ejecting a New York Times writer (not the restaurant critic) from his establishment, but Mr. Forgione refrained from yelling during our meal I am pleased to report (I think I saw him?).

In the meantime, Dave and I scrutinized the drink menu.  I decided to go for a signature drink.  Oddly, it doesn’t have a catchy name but is simply called tequila with mango-mint.  The cocktail’s mango is rather subdued.  What a soothing green color too.  Smooth and slightly minty.  Sminty!  We were brought two warm rolls with butter.  We cheered.  When Stacy and Josh showed up, Stacy also tried a signature concoction (rhubarb & elderflower mimosa) while Josh requested a Sierra Nevada which was out and the waitress brought him an alternative microbrew which he approved of, so points for her.  Also, bringing out more bread for all was appreciated.

The amuse bouche?  Two spoons of meatballs and two spoons of white beets and goat cheese.  I opted for the latter because of goat cheese trumping my dislike of beets.  White beets aren’t as punchy thank goodness.  Goat cheese seriously makes anything better.  How strange is it that you can only try one amuse?  Frown.

My appetizer was the “Hangtown Fry, Crispy Olde Salt Oysters, Smoked Paprika Aioli, Pickled Red Onions, North Country Bacon” ($15).  I guess I was expecting large oysters, but these were about the size of tablespoons.  And the Hangtown fry turned out to be an omelette.  A Google search led me to Wikipedia which stated that a Hangtown fry is a special omelette that rose to prominence during the Gold Rush.  One origin story had it that a prospector stuck the motherlode and ordered the most expensive breakfast out of the most costly ingredients at the time: eggs, oysters, and bacon.  Hehe.  Well, I hope that prospector liked his as much as I liked mine!

Both Dave and Stacy ordered the hamachi appetizer which earned approval from both of them.  The most curious aspect of this dish was that it came with sichuan buttons to pop in your mouth prior to delving into the fish.  I had never heard of this plant before.  It’s actually a miniature bud.  At Marc Forgione, it’s used as a palate cleanser.  It pops in your mouth and also triggers salivation due to the spilanthol which acts on the trigeminal nerve.  Wow, how cool is that?  I didn’t try any but I was fascinated.

A noticeable amount of time passed between the first course and the second.  Hmm.  Then all the mains came out for everyone.  I had ordered the bacon-encrusted pork chop which came with basil mashed potatoes and pickled peppers.  It was a massive cut of meat, that’s for sure.  Was I enraptured?  No, not really.  There just wasn’t a kick, an oomph that made you go googly-eyed during each bite.  Needed more bacon flavor perhaps.

Regarding the desserts, the key theme was comfort food.  No wacky sweets with bizarre freaky ingredients here.  You’ve even got baked-on-demand chocolate chip cookies.  Ice cream features prominently.  Stacy ordered a huge sundae which I sampled, and Josh opted for the PB&J which had peanut butter cookies as the bread.  Cute!  Dave and I split the “tattoos and strawberries” named after the tattooed pastry chef.  Homemade ice creams such as strawberry and chocolate, maple oatmeal cookie, rocky road, hooray!  Sadly my cold dulled the flavors, making it tougher for me to discern what each flavor was.  What a bummer.

There were complimentary wee blueberry oatmeal squares in cream with the check.  Made paying the check go down sweeter!

To sum up, I liked Marc Forgione fine, but Michelin star?  Skeptical.  I would go again for brunch, since the menu seems to have prices all in the low teens.

Restaurant experiment: Hillstone

Hillstone

378 Park Avenue South at East 27th Street

New York, NY 10010

646-689-1090

http://www.hillstone.com/hillstone/

Business lunch!

Gotta love when there’s moolah in the budget for meals to be eaten out.

After some happy news was received, we ended up at Hillstone because Dos Caminos wasn’t yet open.  Sorry, you lost out, Dos Caminos.  Hillstone used to be a Houston’s and does sort of feel like an upscale chain restaurant.  The story is that Houston’s changed its name so that it could avoid printing caloric information on the menus.  Huh.  Clientele-wise, if you’re looking for suits, you’ve found ‘em, jackpot.  And this place has room to spare.  No being smushed and squished for the movers and shakers.

The four of us were seated in an oval booth-table hybrid.  Our waiter was a cheery young man, sort of like the waiter from Office Space but less bothersome.  I ordered some hot tea (one reason why was because the AC was jacked up despite not even being sweltering outside)  and was delighted when it came out in an iron teapot.  Classy.

Hillstone’s menu is heavy on the fishy friends, with a sushi display right smack dab in the middle of the joint, and finned animals populating the menu.  The four-legged pals are also featured as well, not to shunt them to the background.

We ordered three appetizers to share: the tomato salad, the Rockefeller spinach artichoke dip, and smoked salmon.  Each of these were around $13 each.  I was the one to suggest the latter two actually.  There was only one more appetizer anyway which was a fried artichoke.  The Rockefeller was a hair disappointing as it was kinda bland.  The chips came with salsa and sour cream, giving it a nachos feel.  But I must salute the tomato salad and the smoked salmon appetizers.  If I were a boss, I would give them raises.  The tomato salad consisted of heirlooms and beets sprinkled with chunks of blue cheese and drizzled lightly with creamy dressing.  The salmon was stupendous.  Right isosceles triangles of Melba toast were paired with a mayo-based herb spread and smoked salmon that just fell away with the lightest touch.  Cue salivation.

All four of us concluded the meal with sea-based entrees.  I couldn’t resist the siren song of seared tuna salad and ended up ordering it ($17).  The presentation on this was very cute and colorful.  The dominos of tuna were tipped over off to the side, away from the fruits and veggies.  Picked red onion made an appearance; there were also cubes of mango, avocado slices, grape tomatoes.  A sprig of mint and cilantro leaves were present, all of which I slid over to the side.  Wish I had a picture to help, but those were the highlight produce at any rate.

It was hard to go back to work.  If you have to go chain, go to Hillstone.  Plus they have classy business cards (letterpressed linen).

Restaurant experiment: Marlow & Sons

Marlow & Sons

81 Broadway between Wythe Avenue and Berry Street

Brooklyn, NY 11211

718-384-1441

http://marlowandsons.com/

Marlow & Sons had a while ago been recommended to me by Stacy, but as Dave found ourselves in the area, we decided to finally check it out.  Walking to it from the subway, we passed Peter Luger, and the wonderful aroma of steak entered our nostrils.  Mmm.  As this is Williamsburg, Marlow & Sons is hipster central.  Lots of tattoos and such.  Even though it was prime dinner time on a Saturday night, we lucked out and snagged a table outside; other parties of two didn’t have to wait all that long either, but large groups got to know the sidewalk quite well.  No reservations are always frustrating, but at least plastic is accepted.  Outside seemed like the sweeter deal since inside was dark and noisy.

The seating is typical New York, very tight.  That is why we ended up listening to what our neighbors were saying, not because we wanted to but because we had no other option.  The pretentious pregnant couple always seemed to be getting their food before us even though we ordered before them.  Suspicious.  The bathroom has a scale for some reason, and it also has Dr. Bronner’s soap.

Our waitress knew her stuff, but owing to it being a Saturday night, there were large gaps between ordering and eating.  The menu is quite small, and only three entrees are listed.  The food items are not described in detail, and therefore the waitress has to describe them over and over to each group.  Although many of the plates sounded appealing, we finally settled on our choice, but we ordered drinks first.  I got the Forrest Hills ($10) which was a cocktail concoction of Earl Grey Boodles Gin, Pimms, lemon, and ginger ale.  It was quite ginny.  Okay, but I’d prefer a Pimms cup instead.

Dave ordered the chicken liver pate ($11) and I went with the crostini ($8) for my appetizer.  The appetizer also featured stuff like salads, soups, oysters on the half shell at $2.75 each (I’d get ‘em if they were cheaper), cheeses, meats, fettuccine, and morel toast.  The evening’s crostini was garlic sauteed broccoli with goat cheese and parm, all on sesame bread.  Yum!  I’d like the bread to be more toasted, but oh well.  The pate was out of this world.  What a generous ice cream scoop size serving too.  Needed a little more bread, and I’m sure we could have gotten it, but it was easier to not ask for it and wait around. 

As for the matter of entrees, I selected the soft shelled crab sandwich ($16), and Dave requested the off-the-menu steak ($29).  The steak earned raves from Dave, and I was also keen on my crab sandwich.  I will freely admit that it was on the small side, and the chips weren’t my bag as they were spiced with some hot herb.  Loved the touches of bacon on the sandwich and the delish mayo based sauce and lest I forget the pickled red onions.  Mmm.

Maybe Marlow & Sons keeps the portions small so that you are sure to order appetizers and desserts?  If so, well done.  There were three desserts featured that evening: mint chocolate pot de creme, buttermilk panna cotta with strawberries and rhubarb, and a caramel chocolate tart with sea salt.  We decided that the latter should grace our taste buds.  The slice that came out of the kitchen was massive.  See below.  It was incredibly rich.  And it was cold and hard to cut; we had to ask for a knife.  Oreo-like crust.  My main criticism was that it was too salty.  The insides were salted as well as the top.  Sea salt is potent and packs a punch; just on the top would have been fine for me.  Or at least reduced within the chocolate and caramel parts.  Mmm otherwise!

I got a kick out of scrutinizing the hipster girls’ ugly outfits.  Gosh, fashions nowadays are wacky.  If you want people watching, Marlow & Sons has got it.  Sister restaurant Diner right next door is supposed to be superb, so I look forward to trying that soon.