skgchow's Profile
Boulud Sud dinner review
After much anticipation for the newest Boulud ventures in our neighborhood, the husband and I tried Boulud Sud last Friday evening for dinner. The night before I had picked up from Epicerie Boulud around the corner and was somewhat dissappointed - more on that in another post.
Service at Boulud Sud was polished and professional - props for a well-trained staff on the 4th-ish night of dinner service. On to the food... We were served the complimentary bread with olive oil poured over a plate with a bit of rosemary and salt - nice touch. We started with the Tomato and Sheeps Milk Cheese small plate, which consisted of whipped ricotta and oregano (fantastic), pan con tomate (good - nothing special), and grilled manouri cheese with tomato confit (the weakest link). The size was good for sharing among the 2 of us.
Next was the stuffed squid and the harissa spiced mussels. The squid was served in a (stewed?) tomato sauce and was stuffed with chorizo, rice and swiss chard. Although Valencia rice is supposed to be slightly sticky, I found the rice a little too sticky and didn't enjoy the crunchy/chewy/sticky textural component. The mussels were served without their shells and were quite delicious; very plump and flavorful/well spiced. We used the bread to mop up the sauces of both dishes.
For our main courses we had the grilled scallops and the grilled short rib on the bone. The scallops were also served in a stewed tomato sauce, but by this point I had enough of this sauce. After the tomato small plate and mopping up the tomato sauce from the squid dish, the stewed tomato sauce served here felt tired and one-note. The scallops were well cooked however. The short ribs were very meaty and delicious; the only word I can think of to describe them is "heady." The portion was quite substantial as well. Probably my favorite dish of the night, followed by the mussels, then the ricotta. Oh, and we also ordered a side of potatoes.
The evening was good, not great. I think I was expecting more from this restaurant. The menu seems too large to me, some flavors from the different dishes we ordered seemed too similar/repetitive. We will be back, but will order more carefully (keeping the repeating flavors thing in mind).
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Boulud Sud
20 W 64th St, New York, NY 10023
Epicerie Boulud
1900 Broadway, New York, NY 10023
Galanga or Tue Thai?
The Khao Soi at Klong, aka Floating Market Curry Noodles, was better than Galanga, but still not great. Still didn't have the depth of flavor, was a little watery, and didn't come with the appropriate condiments (pickled/fried shallots, bean sprouts, lime etc). Next on the Khao Soi journey - Thai Talent Kitchen.
Galanga or Tue Thai?
Thanks! Will try RTExpress and Thai Talent Kitchen. Am trying to Khao Soi at Klong tonight.
Galanga or Tue Thai?
Agree - overall Galanga is just OK. Would perhaps go if in the area, but wouldn't make a point to eat there.
I am on a mission to try every Khao Soi dish in the city. I found the version at Galanga to be watery and tasteless. I loved Rhong Tiam's version and was so sad when they closed. If you have recommendations of good preparations of the dish, I'd love to hear!
Marea...on a Sunday?
I have a milestone birthday coming up this month, and it falls on a Sunday. We've made reservations at Marea for an early dinner that evening.
My question is: Do you think we'll suffer in terms of quality of the seafood if we dine on a Sunday? I categorically avoid ordering raw fish on a Sunday, and usually avoid ordering any seafood on Sundays. I expect that a restaurant the caliber and quality of Marea would serve only fresh product, even on a Sunday...but I just wanted to throw the question out there. We intend to order uni, and probably at least a crudo or two, in addition to antipasti and pasta.
Yes, I understand this problem can be solved by changing the date of our reservation. However, I'd really like to go there the actual date of my birthday. And, the week previous, we will be out of town (so not possible to switch reservation to earlier in the weekend). And with the holidays and work schedules, other weekends or even weekdays won't work for us this month.
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Marea
240 Central Park South, New York, NY 10019
I'm going to Le Bernardin Tomorrow. Yay!
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/709064?tag=footer_recommendation%3bboard_discussion_module_small
See my review of the LB tasting menu from May 2010. Enjoy your dinner!
Le Bernardin tomorrow night - prix fixe or tasting menu?
Our LB experience was wonderful, sublime even. We ended up doing the Le Bernardin tasting menu with wine pairing, and I substituted one of the courses.
We started with cocktails and a lobster salad amuse on a potato chip. Not the best lobster salad I’ve ever had and a little too much mayo, but a nice refreshing first bite.
From the tasting menu, our first course was the pounded yellowfin tuna over a thin baguette and foie gras. I could eat this every day! So delicate, but robust at the same time.
The next course was octopus. Although I’m not a fan of octopus, I decided to try it because I had heard wonderful things about LB’s octopus preparations. The octopus was incredibly tender, and the preparation was so unique. The charred octopus was served with a black bean and pear sauce – such an interesting combination of flavors! The sauvignon blanc paired with this course really highlighted the pear flavor in the sauce.
The next course on the tasting menu was skate. My husband had the skate, and I substituted the langoustine from the prix fixe menu for my third course. I can’t comment on the skate, but the langoustine was amazing. It was served with a tab of foie gras melting over the top, and a lovely white balsamic vinaigrette. This was easily my favorite course of the evening.
Next up was a striped bass, served with a corn and leek cannelloni. The sauce for this dish, flecked with black truffle, really made the dish. However, one complaint I had with this course was in its service. It was the server’s overpowering cologne. In fact, with each dish that was sauced at the table, we could smell his cologne and it just ruined the aromatics of the food. Note to LB servers/captains: go easy on the fragrance! People want to smell their food, not you.
Our final savory course was the surf and turf of kobe beef and escolar. The barbaresco that was paired with this course was fabulous. And I was really impressed with the sauce which paired equally well with the tender kobe and the meaty escolar, although I can’t remember the sauce preparation …
On to dessert. Our pre-dessert was a mascarpone cream encased in a crisp sugary shell on top of an almond cake. The texture contrast of the crisp shell and mascarpone cream was nice, and the almond cake had just a hint of sweetness. A nice “warm up” to dessert, although I found the wine pairing here too sweet for the dish. Finally, we ended with a caramel parfait with 2 liquid pear spheres. The liquid pear was a gush of crisp pear flavor in my mouth, and was a nice acidic counterpoint to the parfait. We also received a passionfruit mousse which actually was my favorite dessert of the 3. This was sweet and tart and creamy, just delicious.
Overall, the service was competent and the wine explanations by the sommeliers were much appreciated. We’ll be back, but probably for the prix fixe so we can explore more of the menu. We saw Eric Ripert pop out of the kitchen to greet guests at one of the tables – always nice to see that the chef is in his kitchen.
Le Bernardin tomorrow night - prix fixe or tasting menu?
RGR - thanks so much for your advice on asking for a course substitution for the tasting menu. I think we'll go that route. These pictures are fabulous (and making my mouth water)!
Thank you everyone for your optimistic feedback. I can't wait for dinner tonight!
Le Bernardin tomorrow night - prix fixe or tasting menu?
My husband and I are going to LB tomorrow night (first time for both of us). In your opinion, should we get the tasting menu? Or order from the standard 4-course prix fixe? I've heard wonderful things about the wine program - so am inclined to do the tasting, perhaps with only 1 wine pairing. Do you know or do you think LB would split a wine pairing between the 2 of us (1/2 wine serving each per course)? I love seafood, but am still a little picky (i.e. not thrilled that octopus is on the tasting menu), so that makes me think I should do the prix fixe and choose my own courses. As you can see, I'm torn!! Any advice/thoughts/fav dishes etc would be much appreciated!
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Le Bernardin
155 W. 51st St., New York, NY 10019
where should an uni "virgin" try uni?
Thanks everyone! The ricci dish at Marea sounds divine. Its sounds like the concensus is to try uni in a dish with other ingredients before trying it raw/unadulterated. May try the sandwich at El Quinto Pino as well before taking the dive at Yasuda.
RGR, sorry to hear your Yasuda trip has to be postponed, but will look forward to your review and pics once you have a chance to go.
where should an uni "virgin" try uni?
Over the years I've slowly opened up to more and more foods, and am finally ready for (and endlessly intrigued by) uni. Where would you recommend an uni virgin try her first uni?
Sushi/Omakase recs? (visiting SF from NYC)
thanks to everyone for their input (and interesting travel stories)! based on the responses here and having done more research the past day or so i've also come to realize that we won't get what we're looking for in the city of SF (we're only in the city for 1.5 days before heading up to napa so are looking for a restaurant that won't require more than 15ish minutes of travel by taxi). i guess i thought that SF, as other west coast cities, would have superior sushi (esp pacific fish) from what we find in NYC.
so, for our 1 dinner in the city, what would you recommend? we're doing several fine dining dinners in napa/yountville, so would appreciate a non-fine dining recommendation. maybe something quintessentially san franciscan? or 'californian' cuisine? how are some of the restaurant with seasonal prix fixe menus (coi, gary danko etc)? what about more casual places like absinthe? thanks again for any input!
Sushi/Omakase recs? (visiting SF from NYC)
Hey SF hounds, my husband and I will be visiting from NYC next month and are looking for the best omakase in the city. If there are any transplanted NY'ers here, or others familiar with the sushi in NYC, we like the following NYC restaurants for omakase: Sushi of Gari, Sasabune, Sushi Yasuda. We did omakase at a couple places in Vancouver on a recent trip - Tojo's and Shiru Bay Chopstick cafe. We are looking for super fresh fish, (inventive preparations are appreciated but not required) and we typically spend $80-$120 per person. A mix of sushi/sashimi would be preferred (as opposed to an omakase meal that includes many kitchen prepared hot dishes - 1 or 2 would be ok).
Also, would love to hear your favorite sushi restaurants in general, and what you like to order there. Price points and neighborhood information would help too. Any input would be much appreciated! And be sure to look me up on the NYC board if you're ever visiting the east coast. TIA
Bouley - Lunch tasting menu
Thanks! I did read your recent birthday celebration reviews! I'm definitely going to get the porcini flan, although not sure what I'll pick for the other courses. The duck you had sounds delicious too!
Bouley - Lunch tasting menu
Has anyone been recently? We have a reservation in a couple weeks. The menu looks delicious! Any other lunch tasting menus you'd recommend?
UWS Dinner Delivery (66th and Columbus), need rec's to add to our rotation
Thanks everyone! We'll definitely try CC soon. I guess I didn't appreciate the prepared foods in the 'hood - picked up some great stuff from Fairway yesterday.
UWS Dinner Delivery (66th and Columbus), need rec's to add to our rotation
Thanks all. We'll avoid Haru and try Nanoosh. Any particular dishes at Shun Lee Cafe? Is it the same menu as Shun Lee?
Simon - lack of resto's in the 'hood is frustrating! We tried Cafe Ronda last weekend and although it was good, it was slightly underwhelming. Not sure if we ordered wrong - we got the lamb meatballs, calamari, empanadas, fries and seafood stuffed red pepper. Would go back to try more of the menu though.
UWS Dinner Delivery (66th and Columbus), need rec's to add to our rotation
After moving to our current location on the UWS (66th and Columbus) at the beginning of the year, my husband and I are in need of new ideas for dinner delivery. I've searched the boards, but need specific rec's for places that will deliver to us (not all of the restaurants in the 70's, 80's or 90's on the west side will come down to us; not all restaurants in the 50's/9th ave come up to us).
Price and cuisine are not an issue - we eat everything and order from a range of price points all the time.
Some places we generally turn to include:
Saigon Grill
Earthen Oven
Seven's Turkish
Gabriela's
Land Thai Kitchen
Wondee Siam (although when they are busy, they won't deliver to us - at 13 blocks we're 'too far away')
Pinch & S'mac
Patsy's (early evening, they will deliver!)
Landmarc and PJ Clarke's (although the quality for the price isn't always appealing)
Tenzan (although quality of food delivered is weakening)
Arte Cafe (although portion for price can be underwhelming)
Some places we're interested in trying, but haven't ordered from yet:
Chirping Chicken
Shun Lee
Brother Jimmy's
Fairway Cafe
Haru
Any input/ideas are appreciated! Thanks
Your 10 favorite Manhattan restaurants?
no particular order:
kefi
daniel
rhong tiam
gari
chinatown brasserie
boca chica
second avenue deli
perilla
sasabune
tamarind
Ann Arborites heading downtown?
I'd add Las Ramblas, Pipa, Kefi, Snack and Rhong Tiam as suggestions.
Dinner at Perilla followed by drinks at the Barrow Street Ale House would make for a nice low-key evening.
mustard dill sauce? (served with gravlax)
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for a recipe for mustard dill sauce (the kind traditionally served with gravlax - sweet, salty and delicious!). For any New York'ers out there - I'm trying to recreate the mustard dill sauce that comes with gravlax from Zabar's. I've done some searching online and have found several variations that look good. However, I'd love some input!
Some questions: do you use honey mustard or sugar and dijon mustard? What kind of vinegar? Do you emulsify with an oil, or just use mustard/vinegar as the base? I'd prefer a non-mayo based sauce, but if you have a great mayo-based recipe please share. Thanks
40th bday party rec - private dining room
I would definitely recommend BLT Fish for your party. Although it didn't meet the "people watching" criteria that my brother was looking for, the party was a smashing success. I think part of the allure of good people watching/bar scene was so that people had a chance to mingle and get in the party spirit before dinner. However, BLT Fish has a fabulous bar in the private dining room - so that spirit was cultivated among ourselves. And the event planner helped us plan the seating and room layout - everything looked great. The passed hors d'oeurves were fantastic - better than dinner in my opinion. The service was spotty, but overall the night was a success. Birthday girl was surprised and that always helps. Can be pricey, I think there's a $3000 food/beverage minimum, but if you're inviting a large crowd as we did its pretty reasonable per head. Best of luck with your party planning...
40th bday party rec - private dining room
Thanks for all the input everyone. We are going with BLT Fish for the party...
40th bday party rec - private dining room
Thanks RGR. I'm not sure why ambiance is so important to the party planner since he's interested in a private dining room. He did mention that he'd like to have pre-dinner drinks at the bar wherever we go - to sort of set the party/festive mood, I guess. I'll let him know about Tavern Room - thanks for the suggestion! Hopefully his guest list will permit the size.
40th bday party rec - private dining room
I am looking for a private dining room that can accomodate 20-25 people for an upcoming 40th birthday party. We're not interested in the fine dining standards - Daniel, Le Bern, Per Se, Jean-Georges etc. Went to a bday party in the Craft private dining room recently, and while the food was fantastic, we are looking for a more lively, fun atmosphere. Thoughts so far: 5 Ninth, Savoy (but, is it lively enough?), Tocqueville (again - how is atmosphere here?), BLT Fish, Anthos, Compass, Highline, Cru, Spice Market (is it too played out though?), BLT Steak. I'm helping my brother in law plan this for his wife - his direction is "incredible food a must, fun and non-stuffy atmosphere very very important." Is Stanton Social appropriate for a 40-ish crowd? Will the food be "incredible?" Any input/suggestions will be much appreciated! Thanks
Good Indian Food in Manhattan
I am Indian, and for a celebratory meal, I would also recommend Tamarind. Another place to look into is Bukhara Grill. Great for dinner and even better for brunch.
22nd and park ave south-lunch question
I used to work at 22nd and Park and would recommend many of the suggestions already posted here. Other places I'd recommend for quick bites and/or takeout:
Eisenberg's (I think its still open) Deli - 5th ave and 22nd
City Bakery (worth the few extra blocks) - 18th and 6th ave
Lennys on 23rd st btwn 5th/6th Aves
Rickshaw Dumpling Bar - 23rd St btwn 5th/6th Aves
I would even venture down to Union square on occasion - especially on Greenmarket days! For quick service try Republic, Maoz falafel, Whole Foods, Korean place on 18th/Broadway (I can't remember the name!), Tisserrie, Chickpea.
And then you've got the standard lunch fare - Cosi, Pax, Bravo Pizza, Mozzarelli's, Emma's Deli, Subway, etc.
Restaurants Report: Le Bernardin, Blue Hill, Bouley, Gramercy Tavern, Yasuda, Balthazar, Clinton Baking, Daniel, Aquavit, Eleven Madison Park...
That's great to know. I'm going to call right now. Thank you!
