babylovesduckfat's Profile
non-awful Chinese delivery in West Village?
Mama Buddha on Hudson and 11th has very good Chinese takeout. And they are so fast, sometimes it seems like they're ringing your doorbell before you hang up the phone...
Disappointing dinner at Bouchon in Vegas, Delicious trip to Okada at the Wynn
Flew into Vegas from New York for the weekend, eagerly anticipating my trip to Thomas Keller's Bouchon at the Venetian. Don't go if you're expecting a true Thomas Keller experience. You will be sorely disappointed. But if you want something a notch up from TGIFridays, then Bouchon at the Venetian is the way to go.
It started out promisingly, with a flight of oysters at the bar while waiting for a table. Absolutely delicious selection.
Then we sat down, and eagerly eyeing the grilled sardine "special" on the board, started to plan the meal. Sadly, we were informed by our waiter that EVERYTHING on the "specials" menu was sold out. Oh, the disappointment. According to our waiter, this happens every night at around 8 or 8:30....which makes me think perhaps the kitchen should plan a bit better....
Ended up sharing the salmon rillette to start, and mussels for my main. My dining companion had the steak frites. The salmon rillette was delicious - a mix of smoked and fresh salmon, on toasts, served in a charming little jar. Then came our main course: my mussels were overcooked, and some to the point of being inedible...the broth was so-so, but I had actually had the same dish at Bouchon-Yountville and this could not compare in terms of flavor or complexity.
My friend's steak-frite was "as tough as a shoe." I concurred. It was one of those meals that caused me pain when the bill came, because it simply wasn't worth it.
For those who think Thomas Keller can do no wrong, try Bouchon in Vegas for a rude awakening. A huge disappointment.
On to Okada at the Wynn. Sat down at the sushi bar (there are 4 different dining areas) after a short 20 minute wait. Had an excellent sake recomendation while waiting. The sushi was fresh, incredibly high quality, and absolutely delicious, thanks to our disco-dancing sushi chef...We started with the oh toro - very good - then salmon with lemon and salt - perfection - and hamachi - also perfection, though much more delicate in flavor. The seared sea scallops were also very good. My friend had the pork short ribs as well, and loved them so much he ordered a second round, along with a fried rice ball. The bill was very reasonable. Highly recommend it.
Dinner next Thursday in Healdsburg
Thank you for the reccomendations! We ended up at Santi, and it was a lovely night. The garden was perfect.
Had a delicious sardine crostini to start and a pasta dish with ragu that was pretty good. Great bottle of Londboard Syrah...My dining companion was less satisfied with his meal, but still overall it was a great experience.
Degustation and other small plates rest.
I love dining at restaurant bars...that combined with Frank Bruni's NYTimes review made me eager to try...only to be bitterly disappointed by the service, so much so that it detracted from the food, which was good to very good.
We were seated promptly by a friendly maitre d' (perhaps one of the wine waiters who would later leave our glasses empty for a good 10 minutes before we could track him down for the rest of our bottle of very average cote du rhone).
Then, we ordered wine from our waitress. My dining companion was ravenous, and we asked for some bread to stave off the hunger pains so that we wouldn't go through our meal too quickly (not part of their standard setup, so they were kind to accommodate us). Finally after asking 2 additional times, bread was delivered to our table. When the waitress returned several minutes later to take our order, she was surprised to find we hadn't received our wine...as were we. We then placed our order, and she assured us that the first two things would be out quickly. After another 15-20 minutes (during which time we finished our first glasses of wine and water and had to wave the wine steward and bus boys down for more) we received our first appetizers, only one of which was what we ordered. It turns out that the waitress had mixed up our ticket with another couple, but rather than apologize both for the delay as well as for having to recite our order all over again, she simply ignored that anything had gone wrong. We then waited still longer for more food....which was tasty, but not enough to make up for the really poor service. However, the wait staff needs to pay more attention to the cutlery they spend half their time dealing with - I ordered the sous-vide poached egg with jamon serrano panko in chicken broth, and was given a fish knife to eat it with....
The food continued to trickle out of the kitchen at a very uneven pace, our wine glasses stayed empty and we were unable to order more, and finally, 1 hour and 45 minutes into our meal, we decided to leave though we'd only received 5 out of 9 dishes. A big disappointment.
Good Peking Duck in DC?
Peking Gourmet Inn is the best peking duck I have ever had. Absolute perfection. Crispy, juicy, plump....yum!!
Buddakan first time last night
I have to disagree with this review - Went with my boyfriend who grew up near Philadelphia (lives in san francisco now) to try out one of Starr's new manhattan restaurants, and were thoroughly disappointed with every single thing. Went on a Friday night, and after having received a confirmation over the phone earlier that day, checked in only to find that my reservation had been lost. Were initially seated in the backroom which felt more like mausoleum than a dining room, quickly switched to a table at the bar. Our drinks (unfiltered sake and 2 sapporos) arrived tepid at best, but certainly not cold, after a 10 minute wait. As for our appetizers: the edamame dumplings were just plain awful - mushy, flavorless blobs - the scallion pancake was so hard I had a hard time cutting with a fork and knife, let alone biting into it - all were dismal. The pork dumplings, which had received such rave reviews in the times article, were very very average (how can a deep fried pork dumpling be merely average? seems completely impossible). All in all we were so disappointed that we left after the appetizers. While I agree the room is striking - the amount of space feels very decadent for a NYC restaurant - I have to say - DON'T GO - warm drinks, bad food, bad service, bad atmosphere.
Dinner next Thursday in Healdsburg
My boyfriend and I are visiting fm NYC and will be staying in Healdsburg next Thursday....looking for a place with a low key (though not too casual) atmostphere and delicious food. Cyrus sounds like too much of an event for us. He's also been to Charlie Palmer's Dry Creek at the Hotel Healdsburg, but we want something with a more charming, less fussy atmosphere. From reading past postings, I like the sound of Willi's Raw Bar and Santi, but wonder if there might be others that I'm missing. Have read mixed reviews of Ravenous and Zin's....Any current points of view much appreciated. Thank you!
