Abigail's Profile
Restaurant Impossible: So Would You Eat There?
I enjoy the show, but I don't think there's been a single episode where I came away saying I'd like to eat there. In fact, even with the professional makeover, I have yet to see a single restaurant where I would willingly eat.
If a place is disgustingly dirty, a clean-up and lesson in hygiene is called for. But the chances of relapse seen high. If a chef doesn't know enough to put salt and pepper in food, which seems a common error, then they don't know enough to be in the business and will probably be making bad food immediately again. You can tell the owner to stop screaming at the staff, but you can't redo a personality without at least six months of psychotherapy. (Ha!) You can gussy a place up in two days, but most of these restauranteurs seem possessed of numerous bad habits, and I come away feeling that just about everything is going to start its slide from mediocrity nearly immediately.
And here's the thing that really brings it home to me. This show often runs right after "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"--which features places I'd be very happy to eat in. Most of these restaurants have some signature dish or dishes that make it worth a trip. Robert Irvine may donate a recipe or two to the places he upgrades, but they're still left without any signature dish. And that's the real flaw of so many of these restaurants. If you're serving the same food as dozens of your nearby competitors are, it doesn't matter if you're now only brought back up to their level. As Gypsy Rose Lee once said, "you need a gimmick," and these places are mostly a dime a dozen.
Terrific Restaurant Week Lunch at Gotham Bar and Grill
My husband and I dined there yesterday and left full and well contented. We both started with green salads (his with mushrooms, mine with blue cheese and poached pears) that were exquisite. The pears were a tad to sweet, but the greens were outstanding.
My entre of fresh pasta Bolognese was delicious and very filling. My husband thought his hangar steak and potato dish fine, but nothing special, so I was happy with my choice. The other entre, salmon, looked a bit predictable as well.
For dessert I of course chose the rich buttery chocolate cake with amazing mint ice cream with chocolate crumbs. The ice cream was my favorite item from the whole meal: it has the taste of fresh mint leaves, and you could see bits of leaves mixed in.
We left very pleased and with the feeling that we might like to come back for a special dinner sometime.
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Gotham Bar and Grill
12 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003
Flushing Dim Sum -- Avoid Ocean Jewels
Ocean Jewels certainly seemed promising as we entered, though the promised 15-20 minute wait ended up taking 35 minutes. But the “half Peking Duck” was all skin and no meat, and seemed less than a full half. The salt and pepper fried anchovy mysteriously was all coating and no fish. Despite it’s size, the selection of items and preparation styles was quite limited, with an emphasis on bland, fried things and cold, oily things. There were a large number of carts, but not much variety. At the end of the meal, we all felt greased down and a bit queasy. When we went to pay our bill, the cashier added an extra $5, claiming the waitress had misadded—although the bill had seemed correct to begin with. We’re not going back.
Restaurant Week Disappointment at Il Giglio
I usually try 2-3 new restaurants during the summer and winter restaurant weeks each year. I have to say that Il Giglio was pretty much the worst in terms of service, selection, and food. The service was terrible: no one welcomed us when we arrived, we had to ask several times for menus, ask again for the wine list, and were not able to place our wine order and receive it until we were nearly done with the appetizer. As my husband was eating his appetizer, with plenty of food left on the plate, he was asked “are you done with that” by a busboy eager to clear the table. We had a lengthy wait between each course, but it was hard to talk, because the tables were so jammed together and the room was so noisy.
The restuarant week lunch menu offered was frustrating. The items offered for the 1st and main courses had non-descriptive names such as “cold appetizer plate” and “fish special” so we had to ask the waiter to describe each offering, something that seemed as tedious for him as for us.
Lastly, the food was nothing special. I had a small mesculun salad with a dash of ordinary dressing, followed by a tasty piece of veal drenched in a brown mushroom gravy. Nothing else was on the plate. There was no choice offerred for dessert at all, but a plate with a tiny sliver of chocolate cake and tiramisu was slapped down in front of us without comment from the waiter.
Many times an excellent restaurant week lunch has led me to a new favorite restaurant. I plan to go back to both Artisinal and Craftwork after enjoying their lunch specials last month. But if Il Giglio cannot graciously participate in this program, it would be better for all involved if they crossed themselves off the list.
Shopping for good food -- Akumal and environs
Thanks Veggo. I have some other questions. Is it possible to email you directly via Chowhound? I've enjoyed many of your posts in preparing for our upcoming trip.
Where in PDC is Cactus and what do you like about it? We're into food, not drinks, and want a place that's authentic but hygienic.
We're going down to Chetumal for two nights. Any recs for the trip?
Shopping for good food -- Akumal and environs
My family will be staying in Akumal for a week, and will have a well equipped kitchen and outdoor grill. We hope to cook most dinners at home -- but where can we buy the most interesting and attractive produce, fish, meats, pastries, cheese, and so on? There must be something better out there than the Super San Francisco. Any fresh food markets? Best maize ice cream?
High Tea at St. Regis Astor Court -- NOT recommended
I treated my mother (75) and daughter (11) to High Tea at the Astor Court on January 28th. Overall, several aspects could have been better and I doubt we will return. While the food was okay, the service was ungracious and unprofessional.
When we arrived, the Maitre’d glared and said coldly to me, “We have you reserved as a party of two but I see you are three.” I definitely made the reservation for three, so the mistake was not mine, and since we were immediately seated anyway there was no need to say anything. An unpleasant, unfriendly greeting is no way to start things off. The maitre’d might have smiled and said warmly, “I am happy to see you have an extra person in your party. We will be delighted to seat you.” Since the room was nearly empty when we arrived and not entirely full when we left, I did not get the sense that our need for a larger table than expected was a big problem.
We had just sat down and were looking over the tea menu when our first course arrived. We weren’t even fully seated – the table needed to be moved closer to the small couch so my daughter could reach her plate and my mother’s chair needed to be pushed in – but we had to put down our menus and eat immediately while the quiche was warm. I would have much rather had some time to get comfortable, read the menu, place our tea order, and secure a glass of water before beginning the meal.
As we ate our quiche, the waiter came frequently to ask for our tea order, so we ended up gulping our food and reading the menu simultaneously. The lengthy menu is a pleasure to read and I would have liked to ask about the white teas and see if there were any premium herbal teas for my daughter, but there was no time. The first course was thus utterly ruined, and left us all feeling pressured. Of course, no drinks had yet arrived.
We hadn’t quite finished our quiche and still had not received our tea when the sandwiches were served. This was about five minutes after we first sat down. The server mumbled rapidly to me the type of sandwiches we had and departed; I’m sure my mother and daughter could not hear him. At this point I called the waiter back and asked if we needed to be finished within a certain amount of time and why we were being rushed. He assured me we could take our time, and we were not rushed from that point on.
By the time the tea arrived, steeped, and we poured it, we were done with our sandwiches and still didn’t have water. The sandwiches were tasty and beautiful but given that four quick bites finished them off, that course seemed a bit meager. None had much filling and they had clearly been made some time ago – the bread was hard and dry on two of them.
Things improved when the tower of baked good arrived, and this course was quite enjoyable. We were regularly offered more hot water and the service was solicitous. None of the baked goods were fresh or warm, but the small lemon pound cakes were terrific, the best item served at the meal. The petit fours had no particular taste and the pistachio meringue cookie was soggy and inedible.
I did notice that parties at adjoining tables were rushed as much as we had been. Two tables “caught up” with us even though they were seated about half a hour later. And we were certainly not dawdling. I would say we were seated for about 1 ¼ hours max.
I had been told there would be piano music during the tea. Instead there was guitar music for about half the time we were there. Oddly, when we were finished it took quite a while to get the waiter back to receive and settle the bill.
Peruvian rec in Gaithersburg, VA
My family dined last week at La Flor De La Canela at 117 N. Frederick Ave. The food was unusual, fresh, tasty, well presented, and reasonably priced. Although the prices were low (entrees ~$15), the atmosphere was good, with white tablecloths and a colonial Spanish interior – not the typical suburban DC strip mall. The mixed seafood ceviche was generous and varied, and not excessively oniony, as I’ve had at other Peruvian restaurants. The shredded chicken in a slightly cheesy/creamy sauce and the beef fillet with grilled onions and tomatoes were both delicious, as was a fritter-type appetizer with crabmeat. The desserts looked attractive, but we were too full and satisfied to try one. An extra plus is the outstanding ethnic supermarket next door, selling specialties from Ghana.
The one minus was my husband reported the men’s restroom was beyond disgusting, and when he brought this to the manager’s attention, the he did not seem especially concerned. If this was a one-time problem we would definitely eat there again; if the restrooms are typically in that condition I don’t think we would.
How can I delete material I posted?
How to handle these situations:
1) I posted a write-up of a restaurant that is no longer in business. I would like to delete the post. It had no associated posts so I would be deleting my own material only.
2) I posed a question that has received no responses. I no longer care about the answer. I would prefer to delete it to avoid others wasting their time by answering.
3) Under my posts, there are several items listed that I did not post. Why is that?
Restaurant Week Lunch at Megu
We went for the special promotion lunch at Megu during Restaurant week and were blown away. The restaurant itself is a delight to look at, with one of the most dramatic dining rooms in the city. And the food is outstanding too. The miso soup was the best we’ve ever had, filled with interesting textures (including an herb swaddled in a Japanese starch—junsei?). I had the sushi while my partner opted for the kobe beef hamburger. The latter was small but very satisfying; the sushi was primo and quite the generous serving. The dessert was a cake made of crepe layers interspersed with a green tea flavored cream. One of us liked it, one didn’t, but it sure was inventive.
Overall, we came away feeling like we had had a great treat, and that we’d go back, either to another promotion lunch, or another time when we’re feeling like celebrating and have some money to burn. Incidentally we had no trouble making reservations using OpenTable.com.
Artisinal recs
I was there last week for a Restaurant Week Lunch. I had the fixed $24.07 lunch. The pumpkin soup was delicious, followed by a piece of salmon perfectly grilled with crispy skin on a bed of mixed and flavorful vegetables. The only disappointment was the dessert course, where for a $5 supplement I got a plate with three small wedges of different cheeses and nothing else – some crackers and other accompaniments would have been nice as I was a bit tired of the one type of bread offered in the breadbasket. My friend chose a la carte items – a salad and the delicious pumpkin risotto. Service was prompt and friendly. Overall, a fair value for a tasty, elegant, and pleasant lunch. The only drawback was that it was a cold day and it would have been nice had hot chocolate been one of the dessert options.
Astoria Favorites -- All Cuisines
I offer my long time faves below. I'd love to hear from others where the best chow is.
-- Elias Corner. Greek seafood, no menus, great atmosphere. Swordfish shish kabob, all items grilled and olive oiled. Get the chopped green salad with dill and feta, the cold marinated octopus, and the fried potatoes/zucchini/eggplant and you won't be sorry. Almost everything is a standout, so bring friends and also order the jumbo shrimp, fried whitebait, calamari, and the porgy. Only drawback: a very limited choice of wines.
-- Zenon Taverna. Also great Greek food, more classy setting, and with a Cypriot twist. We had my husband's 50th birthday party here with a large crowd, and had a wonderful time. We had arranged a reasonably priced spread to be put out, and the food just kept coming. The gracious host was concerned we hadn't eaten to capacity and send out extra treats on the house. My favorite lunch plate is the char-grilled zucchini and eggplant with skordalia.
-- Cevabdzinica Sarajevo. My first Bosnian restaurant and why would I go anywhere else? Everything we've ordered in our many visits has been delicious, even the "hamburger" and liver. Order a scoop of the fantastic cjaymak spread; it's is a cross between butter, cream, and sour cream. Most outstanding: the borek and the mixed grill.
-- Balkh. Best Afghan food in the city. You can eat in the outside garden, inside has rug covered walls. I love the salmon kebab. Under the el on 31st St., between Elias Corner and Ditmars.
-- Sabor Tropical (on Grand Ave). Neighborhood Brazilian. Grilled steak of course, with all the traditional topics and sides. Plus at least one caiparina. A fun family place.
Outstanding Italian Salumeria -- Razzanos in Glen Cove
Desperate to avoid another chain food lunch while driving along Glen Street, we lucked into this take-out only gem -- one of the best sausage and pepper heroes we've had (get the mix of spicy and mild), fresh and not too cheesy risotto ball, homemade octopus salad, and other treats. Wide selection of fresh and packaged Italian specialties.
This Southern Gal needs some good ole barbeque
Tried recently to get barbecue takeout from Daisy Mae's--but it seems they do everything possible to avoid you getting anything from their "big pig" menu. It's not enough to order two days in advance; you need three or four days if you want your pickup on the weekend, and pickup isn't until 8:00 pm.
I also tried to order from Pig 'n Out in Brooklyn. After being promised delivery at a specific time and date, I was then left high and dry as "nothing was available" until three hours after my arranged pickup time.
Thankfully, RUB Barbecue came through. The whole butt was a big hit at the picnic, tender, spicy and sweet. The brisket, burnt ends and pastrami were only OK, but the sides were all good, led by the addictive onion strings.
Is there any good eating around Athens and Hudson in the Hudson Valley Area?
I'll be spending a week in West Coxsackie in late August and would love tips on where to eat, shop for food, pick your own, etc.
