Restaurant experiment: Hollywood Diner

Hollywood Diner

574 Sixth Avenue at 16th Street

New York, NY 10011

212-691-8465

Greg and I came here post-Sunday night Bingo (we didn’t win anything).  We only came here because it was nearby, cheap, and recommended by Tom.  Works for us.  We sat in a booth which afforded a view of people descending into the subway.  It was kind of like a movie.  Good because there wasn’t anything  too Hollywood about the place really.

I ordered a cheeseburger, and it was all right.  There were too many fat fries, and I had to leave some.  To be fair, I was still slightly under the weather and not up to my usual appetite.  Poor orphan fries.

Okay, that’s that.  You know the drill with diners.

Restaurant experiment: Panca

Panca

92 Seventh Avenue South between Grove and Bleecker/Barrow Streets

New York, NY 10014

212-488-3900

http://www.pancany.com/

Summer is winding down, so we elected to sit outside while enjoying an early dinner.  Not brunch since Greg, Wayne, and I missed it (stopped at 4pm).  Panca is on busy Seventh which affords plenty of people watching opportunities.  We witnessed a cop pulling over a woman and giving her a ticket.  Dinner entertainment?

Wayne and I shared a half-pitcher of sangria ($14).  Panca’s sangria is unique: thick, V-8 looking, with almost a berry/cinnamon taste.  I was mesmerized by the electric yellow Inca Kola two gentlemen were sipping at an adjacent table.

There was no free roasted corn on the table, just plantain curls with salt.  Darn it, I love the huge roasted salty corn kernels. 

I ordered the seafood chowder, chupe de camarones ($18), which contained fish, prawns, shrimp, egg, corn, and squash.  The cilantro was toned down at my request.  Mmm, creamy and seafoody, perfect for a breezy summer day. 

Even though the soup was huge and full of creatures from the sea, I was game for dessert.  All the options sounded appealing, like the sampler, the caramelized pineapple, the ice creams.  I zeroed in on the lucuma mousse because I had no idea what a lucuma was.  None of us knew.

So we asked the waitress.  Our waitress was either totally green or just plain clueless.  We asked her what was in the sangria, and she didn’t know which was okay but not giving us notes of confidence.  Apparently mango and passionfruit.  Huh.  Greg asked about the risotto, and she hadn’t tried it but said a lot of people liked it.  Asking about the lucuma was the least helpful.  She dodged the question by informing us that lucuma is a fruit from Peru.  Yes, we kind of concluded that ourselves.  “It’s like mango?”  Okaaaaaaay.  “It’s sweet.”

I got the scoop from my smartphone; lucuma is a fruit grown in high altitudes mostly in South America, and the flavor is described as maple and sweet potatoes.  Thanks Wikipedia!  You’ve come to the rescue when our server failed us.  No mango taste, and it was sweet but not overly so.  Wayne and I concluded that the lucuma mousse reminded us of fall and winter.  Very warm and cozy.  Yummy!!!

Restaurant experiment: Hop Devil Grill

Hop Devil Grill

129 St Marks Place between First Avenue and Avenue A

New York, NY 10009

212-533-4468

http://www.hopdevil.com/

After celebrating the births of That Girl and This Girl by burning up the microphones at karaoke bar Planet Rose, the remainder of the celebrants strolled down Avenue A on a particularly mild April evening in search of a restaurant. Being as it was late on a Saturday night, the options were limited unless you wanted to wait hours, but no one wants to do that.

Hop Devil Grill came to the rescue, especially since Tex-Mex is usually agreeable to all sorts of guests. The place kind of fooled us since it had a secret annex attached to the restaurant, like its lounge/bar segment off to the door. What was annoying that the door that separates the restaurant from the lounge kept slamming shut whenever anyone would pass by. The host with the southern drawl and “ya’lls” seated us at some padded furniture at the calm back area of the secret annex.  How very A list!

Our waitress looked like she was about to go to a cocktail party after her shift, in a V-necked black dress. It was very abnormal eating dinner while in lounge seating. The small tables were too low to eat conveniently, so I followed Shanna’s lead and put my plate in my lap. Everyone agreed that the food was fine. I got kind of a college vibe from Hop Devil; the restaurant place would seem at home in any Division I football-centered college town.

The complimentary chips came with some sort of salsa/dip, but I didn’t try the dip. Since I ate too many cookies during karaoke, I tried to order something small. That happened to be the southwest chicken sandwich ($8.99): “cajun seasoned chicken breast, melted cheddar, crispy bacon, caramelized onions & chipotle remoulade.” This sandwich was a hot mess to eat with my hands and with that unique table situation. The bun was primarily to blame, somewhat wimpy. Had to use my fork and knife. The innards of the sandwich were heavy/oily. But cheese and bacon, how can you go wrong? You can’t. Your stomach is grumpy at you for a while, but it forgives you because it can’t be mad. That should be a rule: never pass up cheese and bacon.

All in all, That Girl and This Girl had a whale of a birthday party.  Cheers all around.

Restaurant experiment: Nomad

Nomad

78 Second Avenue between 4th and 5th Streets

New York, NY 10003

212-253-5410

http://www.nomadny.com/

Yet another birthday celebration in one week, birthday week!  This time, it was Greg who was turning another year older.

I arrived early and sat at the bar until the rest of the party arrived.  Since I was the only guest in the place at that point, I was lavished a lot of attention by the waiter/host (waist? hoter?).  Nomad has a front dining area and a back dining area which is a little roomier, a way a lot of restaurants are laid out.  The back also has more atmosphere, meaning is prettier and more inviting.  Our party sat in the back, tucked away into a little corner.  It was just us for a while but then the place started to fill up.

The lamb and prune tagine was highly recommended to me by Greg and Ambika, and I was skeptical at first because of my dislike for prunes though Greg said these weren’t like your average standard prune.  The lamb was great!  Prunes, not so much.  I gave them a chance to prove me wrong with this dish, but nope.  Just didn’t win me over.  The only prunes I’ve loved have been at Freemans, only because blue cheese and bacon compensate for the prune-ness.

Even though I gorged myself of the free pitas and olive oil beforehand, I ate every single bite of the lamb, the unliked prunes, and my bowl of couscous, but I was still hungry.  This is rare for me since typically I can’t even finish my own entree, so I guess the portion really was small.  Ambika took pity on my predicament and offered me her bowl of couscous, and Greg bestowed upon me a bite of his red snapper.  Snappy tasting, that fish.

The check took a long time to arrive, par for the course.  But I would come back though I’m trying the chicken pastilla (chicken, almonds, phyllo, cinnamon, sugar) next time.  And maybe having a snack at home beforehand.

Restaurant experiment: New Venus

New Venus

252 Eighth Avenue between East 22nd and 23rd Streets

New York, NY 10011

212-243-0980

After some St. Patrick’s Day festivities nearby, myself, Laura, Greg, and Wayne walked up Eighth Avenue in search of a relatively inexpensive place to soothe our appetites.  New Venus appeared on her scallop shell, and we decided we would eat here.

The waiter offered to give us separate checks, right off the bat, no prompting or anything.  Wow!  Days later, I am still floored about that.  New Venus earns a special place in my heart just for that act of kindness.  Usually you are laughed out of the restaurant if you request separate checks in NYC, so this was just that amazing.

I got a special Greek-style burger which was not on the regular menu.  The patty came with kalamata olives and a generous slab of feta cheese, served on pita bread, with onion rings and lettuce and tomato to round it off.  Since it was a deluxe, it came with fries which I barely touched since the burger filled me up.  The burger was not easy to eat.  I cut it up into bits with my knife and fork and made do that way.  How sophisticated.  As with most diners, the burger was fine but nothing which would cause you to squeal with delight.  Thanks to Laura for helping with the fries!