DaleW's Profile
Taiim Falafel Shack - Hastings
I've been there twice for takeout, not tried any meat yet, but enjoyed falafel, baba g, salads, sides were quite good. But totally agree with AMS54 re the pita- a real letdown. I'll order platters from now on.
Cafe Barcel in Nyack...anyone been yet?
Went to Cafe Barcel last night for a small birthday dinner for a friend. Cute place, service was fine. I thought the escabeche of shrimp, squid, and octopus with chickpeas was excellent. The burger with Comte and grilled onions was ok, "roast chicken" with preserved lemon was tasty (except who expects roast chicken to be breaded?).
(if you're not interested in wine stop reading). I have a lot of wine, and was hoping to bring a mature Rioja (from 70s or 80s) to toast the birthday girl. I called to check on corkage, was told not allowed. OK, so we went, had a few by-the-glass pours. I just don't understand the logic of a place with small list saying no corkage. Why not say $20 or $25, I would have gladly paid. Certainly more profit in that than some of their $28-30 bottles. I know I'm unusually wine-centric, but no corkage and that list means I'll not have CB on the list next time I'm thinking about a dinner place in Nyack (I live in Westchester). Maybe for lunch (if they're open). I understand not wanting a flood of people bringing bottles to be cheap, but if you make fee enough to equal profit on most bottles......
Disappointment at Mima Vinoteca
I really liked Mima's the first couple of times I went. Last time it was a bit of a disappointment. Good fritto misto, but the main courses were boring, though not flawed. Not exactly a bargain. Add in some iffy service, and a less exciting quartino list than first visit, and I'm not as eager to go back as I was originally. Still, will give it another try.
I
Portugese in Tarrytown
Caravela is the one place in Westchester I'd absolutely refuse to eat. After a meal (some good dishes, so less so) with a big group, I paid my half (two families). Long bill of handwritten figures. I started thinking about it later, seemed expensive. added up dishes (prices online), plus 2 bottles of wine ($45 each, I had doublechecked that on bill, as previous visit they had initially charged us for an extra bottle). Whoa, almost $100 difference. I faxed my math to restaurant with a polite letter, and called (yes, got fax, but manager not in). No response at all. Eventually challenged $60-70 of my charges for half the meal (informed other family). Amex refunded. But there were other posts on Zagats etc about such bill shenanigans. Anyone can make a mistake, but generally not so often. Few restaurants don't give you a real itemized receipt these days.
Marshall's Cheese
Barbara closed at end of November. It was very sad for me, but not a surprise. Very hard to make it with a speciality shop like that. I very seldom saw another customer while I was there.
That kind of shop in Dobbs Ferry faces a lot of disadvantages:
Parking can be difficult,
A good percentage of the more affluent residents (most likely to shop at a not-cheap cheese shop) take the train and don't get in till late, maybe likely to hit a cheese shop in lunch hour or Murrays at Grand Central.
Because of the Hudson, you really only have potential out of town customers from 180 degrees, as opposed to 360 in Hartsdale or Bronxville.
I REALLY miss Marshalls
Hudson Valley Restaurant Weeks - March 9-21 (Sunday-Friday)
Last night we went to Sonora, a "Neuvo Latino" place in Portchester for the Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. Sometimes places stint on their selections for these promotions, but Sonora gave a lot of nice options.
Betsy started with a nice shrimp ceviche with avocado and tomatoes (they actually listed a red snapper ceviche, this was brought without explanation, but was Dish of the Night); my starter was a lobster and avocado quesadilla with chipotle, creme fraiche alioli, and guacamole. Other options were a salad with beets and a skirt steak empanada appetizer.
For main course, I had lamb chops with chimichurri sauce, served with roasted garlic and wild mushroom mashed potatoes. Betsy had a vegetarian paella (good, but too heavy on the yellow peppers). Other choices were striped bass and chicken.
Betsy took a couple bites of two desserts (as I don't eat), a too-sweet sponge cake and a good chocolate bread pudding. Sorbet was other option.
Just as with NYC Restaurant Week, these deals are a good way to try a new place IF the restaurant doesn't treat you as a second-class citizen. This was a good deal at $26 (about same as most main courses on regular menu). Portions were large, food was good though not outstanding.
Where should I go for dinner tonight?
Don't really know CT, and in Rye only places I know are too $$$. But lots of Port Chester places. Sonora, maybe? I liked F.I.S.H. recently, but maybe not a fish place on a Monday.
portugese food
Speaking of bad experiences......We recently went to dinner at Caravela in Tarrytown with another family. Food was mixed- my chicken macau was very good, my wife's zarzeula not very good. Most seemed satisfied. As we split check (a diner-style slip with prices for 7 appetizers, 7 main courses, 7 coffees, and 2 desserts), it seemed high to me, but I didn't want to seem cheap by adding up 23 items(ego mistake). It nagged at me that bill seemed so high. When I went to Zagat for restaurant info next AM, I saw the following review:
"Reviewed by sylviap469112 on 05/21/2007.
Member since March 2003, Total Reviews: 15 (Bound Brook, NJ) Watch
your check! We had a party of 13. When the check arrived, it had 4
lines - each with an amount - one for appetizers, one for entrees, one
for desserts and one for the bar that totalled $1002.00. Feeling that
the bill was "fixed" we asked for an itemized bill as one would
receive in all other restaurants. The manager refused sating it would
be too much work. After requesting a third time and standing over him,
the bill was $220 less! No apoligies! Nothing! I wonder how many
people have been ripped off without catching the dollars padded into
the check! "
Uh oh. So I researched prices online. I knew exactly what everyone had, but didn't know prices on the 2 desserts (fruit tart and chocolate cake). But unless they were $46 each, we were ripped off. I wrote a polite letter to the restaurant; faxed and mailed it. I asked for a chargeback (based on $10 desserts, and changing tip to 15% from 20+%, as mistake made me less happy with service). No response (I provided phne, fax, and email contacts). No chargeback, so I have initiated a dispute through American Express.
I want to be generous of spirit, but have to believe management/owners are part of this. This is a restaurant that has been around at least 15 years, hard to believe that ownership would use the scribbled handwritten bill method rather than a modern POS system unless they want to take advantage. Even an adding machine tape would lessen the chance of mischief. Just a word of warning (my guess is they are more likely to do this with large groups, harder to cheat on couples,etc.).
