Restaurant experiment: El Barrio

El Barrio

2211 2nd Avenue North between 22nd and 23rd Streets North

Birmingham, AL 35203

205-868-3737

http://elbarriobirmingham.com

Laura suggested this place as a venue for her pre-birthday dinner.  Not being familiar with El Barrio and because I like new things, I readily agreed.  Having lived in Manhattan’s El Barrio, I found it to be all very amusing.  I did a little research and found out that El Barrio is from the team who brought us the delightful Trattoria Centrale.  With this pedigree, I was all the more excited.  Brigitte, if you are reading, the chef is a Kiwi!  Not too many Kiwis in Alabama, that’s for sure.

Anyway, being 7:30 on a Friday night led us to discover that there was a wait for a table.  We plopped down in seats by the bar and soaked up the coolness.  The hostess told us 30 minutes, but it was only around 10 minutes.  Managing expectations?  El Barrio is very beautifully renovated, with a gigantic mural as the showstopper.  Here’s a donkey/burro in a sombrero that glared at me.  The crowd was mixed though mostly 20/30somethings.  And lots of girls in wedges.  Looked like the place to be for date nights.

The two of us both decided on grapefruit margaritas ($6.50) for our beverages.  Yum, thumbs up from me.  Wish it were a tad cheaper though.  Laura wanted Queso Fundido ($4), and I certainly wasn’t going to argue.  Here is a picture of the queso.  To my disappointment, the huge pile of cilantro clippings did not endear me to the dish initially, but the actual taste won me over.  Laura told me to just push the cilantro aside, which is what I did.  The unmistakeable flavor of blue cheese really made the dip sparkle.

As it turns out, we both ordered the platos de tacos ($8.50) which includes your choice of two tacos, black beans, and red rice.  Laura’s two tacos were the barbacoa and pollo, and I elected to try the al pastor and the barbacoa.  The al pastor was described as “chile-marinated pork with charred pineapple salsa” and the barbacoa as “slow cooked beef, charred onions, chipotle, fresh cheese & cilantro.”  Still recovering from the cilantro party foul earlier, I specifically requested no cilantro which they took to heart, even omitting the dusting of cilantro I spotted atop Laura’s rice and beans.  The tortillas were legit, having that spongy texture that handmade tortillas possess.  I started off with the pork tacos which promptly set my lips, gums, and tongue a tingling.   A little too spicy for my tastes, but hey, no lack of flavor there.  The barbacoa was soft and hearty.  Spicy too but not as killer.  The rice and beans were a fine complement to the tacos.  I sipped more margarita to ease the hot pain.

There was a large succulent growing in a sink right outside of the bathrooms.  How neato.

Our waitress was probably the weakest point of the meal.  I don’t recall her really checking up on us, and she also didn’t seem too friendly.  She didn’t offer us dessert, horrors!

Despite her and the cilantro worship, I would definitely come back.  Laura wants to try the sidecar!

Restaurant experiment: Frio en La Paz

Frio en La Paz

700 Montgomery Highway

Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

205-745-3930

http://www.lapazbham.com

Laura and I met up here at the curiously named Frío en La Paz for lunch on a weekend.  She had suggested trying out this place since she had been to its sibling restaurant in Mountain Brook.  I had been to neither, so it was all new to me.  The place is housed in the City Center shopping center.  It’s in a newish building, though Laura explained that the suite Frio is in used to be an Italian restaurant.  I saw some patrons dining on the terrace, but I thought it was too nippy for that.

Frío’s décor is trendy-minimalist, with lots of white and some wood here and there.  There’s even a tequila wall.  Laura and I were seated by the wall of windows.  My chair wobbled but I sat on the front part of the seat and silently coped.  A basket of chips appeared with two dips: a red salsa and a green one.  I preferred the red.  The chips were nicely salted.  I was famished so I was shoving chips into my gullet with at a rapid rate.

Our waiter appeared too early to take our order, but he cheerfully rattled off the specials instead.  I was very pleased that lunch specials were available on the weekend, priced around $7-$8.  The entrees on the menu were all around $10-$15.  I opted for the quesadilla lunch special ($8).  I picked out the American-ish steak and blue cheese quesadilla as my quesa-dilluh as Napoleon’s grandmother would say, and I went for the salad instead of the soup.

I’ll admit that I initially thought my quesadilla portions were small, though Laura reminded me that it was a combo.  It was all for naught, since I found myself satiated at the end of the meal, instead of hungry for more.  The waiter explained that the white concoction was sour cream with cilantro and jalapeno and the pink concoction was Frío’s own dressing consisting of ranch and salsa.  I approved of the salad since the greenery was fresh and chilled, and there was crumbly Mexican cheese/cotija? a plenty.

The quesadilla actually exceeded my expectations.  Sizzling hot, the steak was flavored well and the blue cheese with a touch of onions was oozing.  The whole shebang was heavy and helped fill me up.  I love blue cheese, and I love steak, so this was the obvious choice for me, and I was content.

Restaurant experiment: Rojo

Rojo

2921 Highland Avenue South at 30th Street South

Birmingham, AL 35205

205-328-4733

http://rojo.birminghammenus.com

There sure is a lot of Tex Mex in this town, and Rojo is just one of the names in the pile.  What truly sets it apart is its location in picturesque residential Highland Park.  Laura and I elected to sit inside for two reasons: 1) to avoid smokers on the patio and 2) to watch football.  I should mention that there is a bar part of Rojo which is not connected directly to the restaurant part of Rojo.  In the restaurant side, you order at the counter, and a runner brings you your order.  The decor is funky-hip with bright colors, artwork, and Christmas lights; I could easily picture this sort of place in Brooklyn.

The menu is two-faced, with one side bearing the Latin dishes, and the reverse the American fare.  Since on the way to the restaurant, I inhaled the aroma of burgers, I was primed for a burger, and that is what I ordered.  Wasn’t really in a Mexican mood, so I ended up with just a regular old cheeseburger with pasta salad as my side (there are a whopping seven choices for your side).  It seems like Birmingham eateries like the iceberg lettuce rather than other varieties.  Luckily the food didn’t take too long to come out.  Still, I had time to assess the patrons; the Rojo crowd was predominantly young professionals especially couples, though there were older people thrown in here and there.

I don’t have too much to say about the cheeseburger ($7.50) since it was fine and delicious.  I had requested cheddar on mine.  The pasta salad had a generous amount of fresh basil, along with tomato bits and feta.  It was a welcome change from fries, and it was a good thing I didn’t order the fries, as they were the fat wedge kind I’m not enthusiastic about.

As the cheeseburger was not the largest entree ever, I elected to sample a dessert.  Though the blueberry cobbler was quite tempting, I selected the peanut butter cream pie ($4.95) in the end since Laura voted for it, and I had a dream recently about peanut butter cookies which I took to be a sign that I should consume this PB pie.

The pie was grade A!  The crust was airy and so was the filling.  Like the elegant, high-class cousin of the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.  Chocolate and peanut butter do go so well together.  Viva Rojo!

Restaurant experiment: The Stanton Social

The Stanton Social

99 Stanton Street between Orchard Street and Ludlow Street

New York, NY 10002

212-995-0099

http://www.thestantonsocial.com/main.html

Stacy’s friends Jen and Courtney were in town, and Stacy decided that we should go to The Stanton Social after their Broadway show, as small plates let folks sample a bunch of different options, and we were at varying levels of hungryness.  And Stacy had been to The Stanton Social a couple of times before, so that it would not be an unknown.  Good enough.

Since we arrived before Jen and Courtney, Stacy and I went upstairs to the bar area to sip a libation in the meantime.  I dislike being carded, but what can you do.  The bar was stuffed and loud as a club.  I settled on the “Bea’s Gin-Lemon Mojito” which consisted of “Bombay Sapphire, shredded mint, fresh lemon, lemon syrup & lemon-lime soda” for $13.  Stacy liked this drink so much that she ordered one for herself later.  Lots of fresh mint really made the drink stand out.  Perfect on a boiling summer day/night.

We escaped to the calmer downstairs after a while.  Both Stacy and I poked fun at the all the girls.  There sure were a lot of women at The Stanton Social, especially big tables of girls celebrating birthdays or somesuch.  Is there a secret dress code?  If you have a short, skintight dress, the place to wear it is here!  And with your 10″ heels too!

The hostess was sweet and didn’t give us any issues about the other members of our party arriving later.  Eventually she seated us in a U-shaped booth, and we began perusing the menu.  The other folks showed up soon after.  We started off with a male waiter but he was replaced by the chipper Allison who was cool.

The plan was for everyone to pick our two plates for everyone to share.  Since Courtney was a veggie, we all selected at least one non-meat dish which was easy to do since a lot of the dishes sounded appealing.  Here’s what we ended up with.

Zucchini Tempura - tomato jam and asiago $7: this was fine and exactly what you’d expect: fried up squash.  Came out piping hot too.

French Onion Soup Dumplings $12: a bit too sweet for my tastes.  Tons of cheese was melted atop the dumplings.  And the homemade croutons were a nice touch.

Red Snapper Tacos – creamy avocado & spicy mango $10: I never was super into fish tacos.  These were tiny and therefore cute.  Spicy for sure.

Stone-ground Blue Corn Crabcake ‘Corn Dogs’ – $12 Since I’m not into crabcakes nor corn dogs, these weren’t really winners with me personally.

Grilled Cheese Slider - aged cheddar, house cured jalapeño bacon, fried green tomato & lemon aioli $7: my other pick.  Too bad this came out near the end since I was getting full, but it was very comforting and familiar.  And you can’t fail with cheese and bacon.  No sir.

Grilled Ovendried Tomato Pizzetta - fresh mozzarella and grana, roasted garlic & chile oil $13: Lots of tomato on a thin thin crust.  

Garganelli Pasta – baby artichokes, spinach, grilled cherry tomatoes, smoked goat cheese  $15: this ended up being a table favorite.  I was getting stuffed and wasn’t able to enjoy it as much.  Though $15 is a bit steep.

Grilled Corn - chipotle butter, lime & cotija $6: Both Stacy and I vehemently agreed that Cafe Habana (or my friend Wayne) does the grilled corn 1000x better than Stanton Social.  The flavors weren’t balanced right.  Too spicy.  Not cheesy enough.

I opted-out of dessert since I was feeling full with food.  The others picked out the following and were generous enough to offer me bites.

Chai Crème Brulee – spiced ‘misfortune’ cookies  $9: Allison told us that the pastry chefs have senses of humor.  They sure do, as evidenced by their snarky fortunes tucked inside the cookies.  Heh, misfortune cookies.  Strong chai taste, verging on bitter.

The Red Velvet ‘Twinkie’ - cream cheese – crème fraiche filling  $4 each: I love red velvet cake.  This was a win.

Mint chocolate pie – a special of the evening.  Allison described it as an Andes mint pie, and she was spot on.  Mmm.

It was bizarre to wrap up dinner past 1 in the morning.  But the staff was chill and weren’t trying to hustle us out.  I would say that you’re paying for the scene if you eat at The Stanton Social, hence the social in the name.  Oddly enough, most of the tapas were servings of three, and you had to request four.  Isn’t four a standard number?  Weird.  And the desserts outshine the dinner dishes.

Restaurant experiment: El Paso Taqueria

El Paso Taqueria

1642 Lexington Avenue between 103^rd and 104^th Streets

New York, NY 10029

212-831-9831

http://www.elpasotaqueria.com

Lily told me that El Paso was pretty good.  The story goes that it used to be housed in a smaller space across the avenue, but then it outgrew that place and leaped on over Lex.  This space is very Mexican-looking, with windows/doors that can be thrown open in warm weather, tile, big beaded rosaries, and so forth.

I embarrassingly admit that I do not exactly remember what we ordered.  The website’s menu and MenuPages aren’t really helping.

Here is a picture, so you can at least look at what we ordered.  I am a fan of avocado and really liked the pork with pineapple and avocado.  Dave and I also liked the chicken enchiladas with green sauce though it was too spicy for me.

Now for the crowning achievement, the dessert.  Our server, who Dave declared was an aspiring actor, had sort of a polished way about him.  Was he playing a character?  A guy playing a waiter?  He kept saying the phrase “my friends” all the time which was sorta strange.  But anyway, he recommended a special dessert not on the menu called rollitos de canales.  It was described as a deep fried cinnamon tortilla wrapped around bananas and chocolate sauce.  Dave and I were sold.  And we weren’t disappointed after all the hype.  Mmmmmmm.  We left wanting more!  Our spoons were put to good use, wiping up every bit of the sugar and raspberry sauce left of the plate.

Witness:

Ay, dios mio!  Muy delicioso!

Restaurant experiment: Dos Caminos

Dos Caminos

373 Park Avenue South between 26th and 27th Streets

New York, NY 10016

212-294-1000

http://www.brguestrestaurants.com/restaurants/dos_caminos_park/index.php

Mike, Douglas, and I came here for Restaurant Week lunch, and we didn’t even order off the Restaurant Week menu.  Oh, the irony!

The Two Paths is very popular with the businessperson crowd, but we were bequeathed a nice semi-circle booth.  Of course we had to start off with the guacamole.  Dos Caminos is famous for their tableside freshly mashed guacamole; I’ve had it before, and it’s a knockout.  Even though it contains cilantro, I can rise above that just because it’s so scrumptious.  Indeed!  And the chips are hot, crunchy, and salty: the perfect complement.

I ordered a passionfruit margarita and the carne asada burrito ($17), “grilled marinated steak, chihuahua cheese, pico de gallo, baby arugula, spinach tortilla.”  I requested no pico due to all that pesky cilantro.  And it was most excellent.  That has to be the most expensive burrito I’ve ever eaten however.  The meat was rockin.  The salad on the side was too spicy and will earn a thumbs down from me.  

Douglas and Mike were game for dessert, so I went along.  We ended up with the cajeta sundae which was “vanilla bean ice cream, roasted banana ice cream, chocolate & cajeta sauce, cajeta sabayon, cascabel salted peanuts.”  Even with only a third of it, I was stuggling; the thing was massive.  The brittle-like piece in the middle?  A dessert in itself for real.

What is cajeta, you ask?  According to trusty Wikipedia, it’s a gooey syrup sauce made from caramelized milk.  Ah, the caramel-like sauce in there.

And what is that milky shot, you ask?  That is a delight called horchata.  It was new to me.  Our waitress Jenny (ask for her if you go to this Dos Caminos) gave them to us on the house.  Ah, refreshing!  This version of the almond-y milk beverage had a small dollop of sorbet in there.

Oops, lunch went over.  Two hour “business” lunch.  Yeah, that’s right.

For Mike: 4.5 out of 5 stars (rating Time Out NY style)

Restaurant experiment: Cafe El Portal

Cafe El Portal

174 Elizabeth Street between Kenmare and Spring Streets

New York, NY 10012

212-226-4642

Cafe El Portal is one of those places which is sort of like a hole-in-the-wall but not really, or more like a fake hole-in-the-wall. It’s tiny but not so tiny in that you’re sitting in your table neighbor’s lap. Slightly low on the lights, cheery atmosphere verging on nearly raucous.

Stacy and I got the party started with margaritas. If you are a margarita enthusiast like me, you should find something you like on the drink menu. Frozen, on the rocks, plain, fruity…you’re set. Stacy got the prickly pear non-frozen, and I opted for the frozen passion fruit. Yeah! Just what I needed post-another day at the grind and pre-rocking out.

For my meal, I had the burrito de tinga, “tortilla filled with beans, rice, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and beef cooked in tomato/chiporle sauce” ($10.50). The menu definitely read “chiporle” sauce (as it does on MenuPages), but after Googling, I wonder if it’s supposed to be chipotle and was a typo. Anyway, soft beef and a hint of creamy sweet cinnamon I detected, delightful! I was giving myself a pat on the back for eating it all.

Caveats: no complimentary chips and salsa (though I believe this doesn’t exist in NYC period), no credit cards besides American Express (dumb!). Aside from that, I would recommend the Portal if you’re bopping around the Nolita area. Muy bien.

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: Itzocan Bistro

Itzocan Bistro

1575 Lexington Avenue at 101st Street

New York, NY 10029

212-423-0255 

http://www.itzocanbistro.com/

The budding East Harlem/Upper East Side border restaurant scene boasts the delightful Joy Burger (almost wrote Joy Division) and Itzocan Bistro, its colleague up the block. 

It was something around 10 degrees outside on a Friday night.  Lily and I dragged our frozen selves to Itzocan which was cozy and bustling but not packed or with a waitlist.  We occupied a four top betwixt the door and a radiator emitting funky noises.  Perhaps it was possessed.

I ordered the “adobo marinated duck breast with sweet potato and Malbec reduction” ($18), requesting the duck medium.  The duck was superb, with some crispy skin and the right amount of fatty flavor.  The veggies on the side were nothing remarkable: beans, corn, bok choy.  The mashed sweet potato was fine but could have used a bit more of the seasoning/salt.  Mmm, Malbec.

Service was friendly though not attentive.  Several times we had to stare the guy/girl down to get them to come over to our table.  The dinner went on and on because of that.  Lily and I went for desserts which were all around $6, and lots of them featured booze.  Tequila chocolate cake was our choice.  Very moist but light.  It usually is accompanied by brown sugar ice cream but due to the -1 wind chill outside, we asked for a substitution, and they were more than happy to swap; we got berries in sauce.  How kind. 

Be warned.  Cash only.  That just grinds my gears!  But otherwise, I might dub Itzocan Bistro that overused phase “a hidden neighborhood gem.”

Restaurant experiment: Pedro’s Spanish American Restaurant

Pedro’s Spanish American Restaurant

73 Jay Street at Front Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201

718-625-0031

Pedro’s seems almost out of place in the shiny gleaming brand new DUMBO part of Brooklyn where all the shops have a coat of new on them. It’s a low key Latin food joint on the corner, very laid back with multicolored lights and murals and no pretentiousness. There might be table service, but we ordered at the counter and brought our food to a spare table outside. Some bug bit me so that kind of tainted the whole Pedro’s experience.

Itchiness aside, I ordered beef tacos dorados (fried tacos) which were simply beef stuffed into deep fried taco shells with fixins piled on top, like sour cream, cheese, and avocado. I complained to Kora about a lack of cheese since I’m a cheese monster, and she encouraged me to ask for more which I was hesitant to do but did because I wanted more cheese to complement the plain beef. Luckily a guy on staff was kind enough to comply with my request; I’ve been traumatized by asking for sour cream one time in the West Village and being charged $2 for it. Bleh. Kora liked her cheese tamales, and Stacy found the Cuban sandwich to be filling and yum. Her margarita looked delightfully thirst quenching; I wish I had gotten one. The guacamole wasn’t that pure; it was adulterated with lots of onion which Kora didn’t dig but I found that fine. The chips were thick, sort of like pita chips. Sadly they are not gratis, to use the Spanish word for free which I taught myself earlier this year. To satisfy your cheap eats hunger pangs in DUMBO, Pedro’s would be a solid option.