Restaurant experiment: De Mole

De Mole

45-02 48th Avenue at 45th Street

Woodside, NY 11377

718-392-2161

http://www.demolenyc.com

I don’t get Sunnyside/Woodside.  I thought De Mole was in Sunnyside, but the website says it’s in Woodside.  Go figure.  Anyway, Greg and I decided to check this place out since it was convenient, and neither of us had been there before.  And it got great reviews on Yelp and elsewhere.  We arrived later in the evening  so we were seated promptly.  The place is very cozy and inviting, with dim lighting.  I remarked that it had a date vibe to it.

We were waited on by a man and a woman.  They were both nice and friendly.  The meal started off with complimentary chips & salsa.  The chips were thick and crunchy with lots of salt.  The salsa had a milky look to it.  Good start to the meal.  Okay, I have to say that details will be scanty since it’s been nearly two months since I’d gone to this restaurant.  I know, I’m terrible.  Well, better late than never I guess.

After much internal debate, I decided to go with the pork torta ($6.75) as my main which the waitress assured me was a popular option.  Considering the size of this massive sandwich, the price was very reasonable.  I love Queens for reasonable eats; your food dollar definitely stretches further here than in Manhattan.  The pork was soft and full of flavor.  There was kind of a kick but nothing that would have caused me to tear up in pain.  A bit messy but no matter.

Greg decided that we should cap off the dinner with some dessert, and coconut flan ($4.00) was his choice.  You know, I’d never considered myself to be much of a flan enthusiast, but I’ve been coming around on the custard-y stuff as of late.  I really like coconut too which helped I’m sure.  This flan had a wonderful consistency and was sweet but not disgustingly so.  Apologies for the washed out pictures; it was quite dark in the restaurant, like I mentioned.  Lovely presentation.

My dessert was a strawberry milkshake ($3.50).  Notice the twirled detail on the straw!  It was fine.  This milkshake was a little more water-based than milky.  Mmm, strawberries.

Greg and I really liked the atmosphere and edibles served at De Mole.  It definitely has a family-run vibe, not sure if it’s family-run but that’s how it feels.  Tasty and filling Mexican food.  Greg and I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Restaurant experiment: Pinches Tacos

Pinches Tacos

300 Hallman Hill East at Oxmoor Road

Suite 109

Homewood, AL 35209

205-536-6511

http://www.pinchestacos.com/

Pinches Tacos is very intriguing.  It’s a chain based in Southern California that has an outlier location in Homewood, AL of all places.  I wonder how that came to be?  Who knows.*  Anyway, this PT is located in a newish development in Homewood, one of those with apartments on top of businesses.  Laura loves Pinches so I agreed to go there with her.

There’s no dedicated lot, so you’ll have to street park it.  You order at the counter, and the food is brought to you.  I usually get free water, so I was delighted to see that the free water contained slices of limes already in it.  Love me some citrus water.  There is patio seating but since it was hot and humid that evening, Laura and I elected to remain within the climate controlled confines of the main dining room.  That room is full of windows meaning lots of light, and there are colorful Mexican decorations all about.

It’s been a while since I went here, so the details might be hazy.  I wanted an asada torta but then was informed that they were out of torta bread.  Hmm.  Not too pleased about that.  I then decided to order the burrito (~$8) at the cashier’s suggestion.  This burrito comes “with beans, Mexican rice, guacamole, onions, cilantro and salsa.”  They were kind enough to delete the cilantro at my request.

The salsa was fresh, and I gleefully scooped up the said salsa with the crispy sturdy chips.  The meat in my burrito was a little chewy.  I wasn’t completely blown away, I’ll have to admit, but maybe I ordered the wrong thing.  Laura was crazy about her order of tacos, so I should probably get what she got that time next time.  I would certainly give PT another try.  The services was good, and I liked the setting.  Even though Birmingham has a little too much Mexican, I like Pinches and want it to succeed.

These order-at-the-counter places are confusing with regards to what to do with your used plates and silverware.  Leave them at the table?  Bring them to the trash?  I actually asked an employee, and he cheerfully said he would taken care of the used plates.  Good to know!

To cap off the Mexican-themed evening, I savored a guava pop from nearby Steel City Pops.  Delish!

*I found this article that goes over how Pinches Tacos came to land in Alabama.  Basically, a guy from Homewood worked for PT in the LA area.

Restaurant experiment: Little Donkey

Little Donkey

2821 Central Avenue at Reese Street

Homewood, AL 35209

205-703-7000

http://thelittledonkey.com/

Little Donkey opened earlier this year, I believe, and it’s been super hot ever since.  It’s from the folks who brought us Jim ‘N Nick’s and Taziki’s.  I hadn’t been dying to check it out, but since I’ve been making billions of trips to neighboring Steel City Pops, I figured I should just try Little Donkey, if for nothing more than to get a pop after.

I have to complain about the parking lot.  It’s miniscule, and there’s never a space when I’m at the area (I end up parking on the street).  But that’s probably the only bad thing.

At 6 PM on a Friday, the restaurant was hopping, but Laura and I were able to be seated promptly.  I should note that there is not much of a waiting area.  Just a lone sad chair.  There are tables outside, and there’s a garage door leading to the patio which reminded me of Fellini’s in Atlanta.  The decor is not flashy like Iguana Grill but more subdued.

Complimentary chips and salsa started the meal off right.  Well, the chips were somewhat irregular.  A couple had soft parts, and I bit down on one that was crazy salty.  Laura said that the chips were consistent last time she was there, so I’ll let that slide.  The salsa had showy leaves of cilantro that I avoided.

Service was kind of on the slow side, but our waitress was cheerful and helpful (I asked her for straws for our waters).  I ordered a regular margarita ($7) to my preferences: rocks with salt.  I was a fan of its smooth tequila taste and fresh lime juice.

As for my main, I requested the hickory-smoked brisket torta ($9.49) since Laura said the brisket was great.  The menu lists that pintos, guacamole, rajas, greens, cheese, and salsa are all part of the sandwich.  I practically lived on tortas for a year in NYC and miss them tremendously.  This torta could not compare, though I had to tell myself that it is a southern-Mexican mashup and not the authentic Mexican kind.  It was a messy meal since everything kept slipping out of the side furthest from my mouth.  Crusty bun.  Fresh greens.  Muenster cheese.

You can pick from several different side items (beans, rice, fruit) to go along with your main.  Because Laura raved about the street corn, I had to get it.  Plus I like Mexican corn anyway, so the matter was settled.  It came out of a big skewer so I joked that it was a corn popsicle.  Yum, it was creamy and spicy.  I was struggling to finish it all since I was getting full, but I did it.

I would say that El Barrio is probably Little Donkey’s closest counterpart, though El Barrio aims for more authenticity than Southern hybrid.  So the thing is, I’ve been to both places on a Friday night.  El Barrio catered to the young adult crowd; there was nary a child in sight.  But at Little Donkey, kids were crawling all around.  Must be the downtown versus Homewood setting.  So take that into account when decided which trendy Mexican eatery you want to patronize on a Friday eve.

Little Donkey’s got big taste, yes indeed.

Restaurant experiment: Iguana Grill

Iguana Grill

2085 Colonial Drive at Centennial Drive

Hoover, AL 35216

205-987-8240

Laura has been to Iguana Grill umpteen times, and I was glad to finally be able to try it.  We were going on a weekday for dinner, on the early side, so parking was not a problem, though Laura warned me it could be madness during the weekend.  Iguana Grill does have a slight edge other other Mexican places in “Guadala-Hoover” as there’s a bit more authenticity: the shopping center IG is located in has a mercado and lavanderia.

Laura instructed me to prepare myself for the beautifully decorated interior.  And it did not disappoint.  The theme was lights and Mexican handicrafts.  High ceilings added to the look.  Apparently Iguana Grill took over some space next door, so there is plenty of room to dine and wine.

Pro tip: as Laura is an Iguana Grill expert, she made sure to order us the secret special salsa that you have to request; it’s not the default one that arrives with the complimentary chips.  I found myself preferring it too.

We decided to share a liter (I believe that was the quantity listed on the menu) of margaritas.  As Iguana Grill has no website, much less an online menu, I can’t exactly recall the names of things or prices, but I believe the liter was about $15 and contained approximately four cups of margarita.  The tequila sure did make its presence known.  I like myself a strong margarita.  But no happy hour, alas.  No bueno.

Being a copycat, I ordered the same entree as Laura, the burrito al carbon which comes with beans and rice on the side.  My burrito arrived, and I dove right into it.  How can you not love any item doused in white cheese?  Mmm.

Laura and I decided to go all out and order dessert.  But wisely, we decided to split the fried ice cream.  Good thing too, since I couldn’t have completed it on my own.  The fried ice cream was fine (I remember lots of whipped cream) and a sweet way to end the meal.

Bathrooms were clean, I do recall.  Iguana Grill, you’ve earned my seal of approval.

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)