Posts Tagged ‘Chicken’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Pho Grand

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 by virginia

So I realize that I’ve been neglecting this blog in terms of NYC restaurant posts. I’m really far behind on posting, considering I have yet to write about the fantastic anniversary meal that Josh and I had at Eleven Madison Park in May. Yes, May. It’s bad. I have restaurant pictures going back farther than that as well. Between work and all the travel posts, I really haven’t put much thought into the NYC restaurant scene, although we have been eating at lots of new places. So I’m going to start mixing in regular posts with the travel posts, and hopefully that will force me to start covering more ground. At the rate I’m going, I’ll still be writing about Peru for the next six months!

In terms of some good meals we’ve had lately, I had an odd hankering for Vietnamese food one weekend so we made the trip down to Chinatown where there are several highly touted Vietnamese restaurants. My hankering was odd because I’ve never really eaten Vietnamese food, aside from a bowl of pho in San Francisco five years ago, plus all the banh mi sandwiches we eat. But I had seen pictures of Vietnamese dishes in several blogs and I just got an uncontrollable craving to try some for myself.

We ended up at Pho Grand, a restaurant that I’ve read about, plus it was super close to the subway. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the restaurant had received an “A” rating on their health inspection, not that a lower rating would have stopped us from going.

The menu was massive, and I started to feel a bit overwhelmed because I had no idea what to order. We selected a pho, since the restaurant has “Pho” in its name. For our other dishes, we ended up choosing “Cari Ga”, or curry chicken, because we’ve still been searching for a curry chicken that is similar to the dish we had on Sentosa, in Singapore. Lastly, we ordered “Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong”, which is grilled pork and spring rolls with lettuce on rice vermicelli.

The pho we chose was the “Xe Lua”, which was beef soup with rice noodles and six different cuts of beef, including brisket, tripe, tendon, eye of round, navel(?) and frank (flank?). It came with a little dish of fresh bean sprouts and basil that we mixed in, plus a wedge of lemon that we squeezed into the soup. It was an enormous portion and we dug in right away. The slices of rare beef on top were super tender but my favorite pieces were the chewy bits of tendon and tripe. The soup itself was flavorful yet light, and the lemon juice and fresh basil really brightened it up.

Pho xe lua

The curry chicken was pieces of leg and wing in a large bowl full of curry sauce and potatoes. The chicken had bones and skin so the actual meat was a bit sparse, but everything was tender and pretty tasty. The curry sauce was rich but not overwhelming with coconut milk, and it’s the best version that we’ve had so far in the city. I would improve it by adding some more spice and punch, since it was just slightly on the mild side.

Curry chicken

We had a choice of rice, vermicelli, or bread to accompany the curry. We chose the bread since that was what we had on Sentosa. It was a long piece of french bread that wasn’t as crispy on the outside as we would have liked, but it was fresh and chewy in the middle. We ripped off chunks of the bread and tucked in some chicken meat, then soaked it all in the curry sauce before gobbling it up.

French bread to go with the curry

The grilled pork and spring rolls with lettuce on rice vermicelli dish is the one that threw me off the most. I thought it was the dish where you wrap the pork or spring roll in lettuce leaves with some of the rice noodles and eat it like a summer roll (turns out that dish is called “Banh Hoi Thit Heo Nuong”). What arrived was just a large pile of rice vermicelli topped with some pieces of grilled pork and spring rolls. The lettuce was shredded and buried underneath the noodles. It came with a little bowl of nuoc cham sauce, a sweet and sour dipping sauce that usually accompanies fried spring rolls. We didn’t know if we were supposed to pour the sauce over the dish, or to pick up bites and dip it into the sauce. I was afraid of committing a faux pas, so I actually had Josh google how to eat the dish. Turns out we were supposed to dip bites into the sauce so that’s exactly what we did.

Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong - grilled pork and spring rolls with lettuce on rice vermicelli

I was worried that Josh would think the dish was too plain and get mad at me for ordering it, but he absolutely loved it! The rice noodles by themselves were plain but they had a nice chewy texture. When combined with the pork or the pieces of spring roll and dipped into the nuoc cham sauce, it was a great mix of flavors. The pork was slightly sweet and smokey and the spring rolls were crunchy and meaty. There were also pieces of pickled daikon and carrots that added a nice  tangy crunch. It was a filling dish yet light enough that we didn’t feel heavy after eating the whole thing.

Overall we both really enjoyed our foray into Vietnamese food at Pho Grand. We thought all the dishes were really tasty and well prepared, though we really don’t have a basis for comparison since we’re Vietnamese food newbies. Service was fast and efficient, and prices were pretty cheap. We got a ton of food for about $20, and we had an entire takeout container of pho left over that we took home with us. I definitely plan on eating Vietnamese food more often, and this was a good place to get our feet wet. Vietnam is one of the places on our pre-baby bucket list, mostly because we’ve heard the food there is wonderful. If what we had at Pho Grand was authentic, then we’re definitely in for a treat.

Pho Grand
277 Grand St. at Forsyth St.
New York, NY

Bun Cha Gio Thit Nuong

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »

Hilton Head Day 3 – Antonio’s

Saturday, August 21st, 2010 by virginia

Before we arrived in Hilton Head, someone recommended that we go to Antonio’s, which they said was the best Italian restaurant on the island. Since we’re always on the lookout for new places to try, and we all like Italian food, we decided to give it a shot. There’s a bar area in front where people sat watching preseason football and the Yankees game, and a more formal dining room that is slightly separated. The lighting was a bit dim but it wasn’t too stuffy or upscale.

We ordered some garlic bread for the table but it was pretty standard, not very crispy, garlicky, or flavorful. We were better off sticking to the regular bread, which was slices of a flat peasant loaf that had a sturdy crust and a chewy interior. It came with a bean spread that was a little sweet but still pretty tasty.

Slices of peasant bread

There were only a few appetizer/salad options but none really appealed to us so Josh and I decided to have sampler portions of some pasta dishes as our first course. We split the pasta carbonara and an orecchiette with clams and pork. The carbonara was chock full of sweet peas and diced pieces of pancetta. The pasta was cooked al dente and it had a nice balance of sweet/salty. I just thought there was too much cream in it, so that the pasta at the bottom of the bowl resembled an alfredo rather than the silky richness of a carbonara.

Spaghetti carbonara with peas and pancetta

The orecchiette had a generous serving of clams and lots of pieces of tender pork mixed throughout. The sauce was light but savory, and the pasta had a really great chewy texture. There was also a healthy sprinkling of toasted breadcrumbs on top that added a nice crunch to the pasta. This was my favorite dish of the evening.

Orecchiette with clams, pork, and toasted breadcrumbs

For our main courses, Josh and I shared the veal parmesan and the stuffed chicken. The veal parmesan was a huge portion with two large pieces of breaded veal served over angel hair pasta. The veal was pounded thin but not too thin, and there was a good coating of melted cheese on top. However, the pasta was really wet and mushy, and it hadn’t been properly drained so that the excess liquid made the tomato sauce really watery and thin. The sauce kind of ruined the rest of the dish because it made everything soggy and diluted the flavors of the other components. I was pretty disappointed with it.

Veal parmesan

The description of the chicken dish made us think it would be more like a chicken milanese, but it was actually a thick piece of chicken on the bone stuffed with spinach and served on top of a small bed of arugula and grape tomatoes. The chicken was tender and the dish was well seasoned but it lacked pizazz. The dressing was a simple honey mustard sauce that really didn’t add much to the dish. It was a good dish, but not great.

Stuffed chicken over arugula and grape tomatoes

Overall we were all pretty disappointed with our dinner at Antonio’s. None of us were wowed by any of the dishes, and while we thought the pastas were pretty good, they weren’t spectacular. Service was pretty bad, especially considering how empty the restaurant was at the time. There were only a handful of other tables at most, yet we waited a long time until we could even place our orders. When they brought out our entrees, they forgot Jess’ lasagna and we sat there waiting for a good 10 minutes before we could finally flag someone down to ask about it. They went to get it from the kitchen and handed it off without any real apology.  The lasagna she got had clearly been sitting in the oven the whole time because the cheese on top had browned completely and hardened.

Portion sizes were also all over the place. The sampler portions of pasta were pretty hearty, but the salads were laughably small. Alice’s beet salad came with approximately five pieces of baby arugula. It was more like a garnish than a component of the dish. The caesar salad had good flavor but was way overdressed, with the creamy dressing weighing down all of the romaine, rendering it gloppy and heavy. Unfortunately, with one misstep after another, I don’t think this is a place we will return to the next time we’re in Hilton Head.

Antonio’s
1000 William Hilton Pkwy.
Hilton Head, SC

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Restaurants, Travel | No Comments »

Chicken Milanese with Arugula

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 by virginia

Arugula

In our week 2 CSA share, we received .2 lb of arugula. Josh and I both adore arugula, and this farm fresh version was really fantastic. Peppery, not too bitter, and the leaves were so tender, not at all like the arugula we get from the supermarket. Unfortunately, that was the only time we got arugula as part of our CSA share, which is really too bad because the arugula contributed to one of my favorite meals we’ve made, chicken milanese.

To make the chicken, we pounded out two boneless/skinless chicken breasts until they were about a 1/2 inch thick. Then we coated the chicken in a mixture of flour, grated parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper, using an egg wash to help the mixture stick to the chicken. After the chicken had a nice thick coating, we fried it in a dutch oven that was filled with about 3 inches of vegetable oil. The coating puffed up nicely and was really crispy.

We served this quick and easy chicken milanese over the arugula, which we had tossed with some lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. We also added chunks of tomato for some sweetness. We just squeezed a bit of lemon over the chicken, and everything tasted really fresh and bright.

Chicken milanese with arugula and tomatoes

Hands down it was one of the best dinners we’ve made with our CSA share, and it was ready in about 20 minutes. I don’t know anything about the seasonality of certain vegetables, but I keep holding out hope that we’ll get arugula again. This CSA stuff has really spoiled us, hasn’t it?

Tags: ,
Posted in CSA, Recipes | No Comments »

Foodie Futbol

Thursday, July 15th, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I hosted a World Cup party at our apartment to watch the final between Spain and the Netherlands. We had decided long ago to cook foods from the competing nations, not knowing who would be in the championship match. We were rooting for Spain from the beginning so we hoped they would be one of the teams, and luckily they didn’t disappoint, but the other side of the bracket was a complete toss up. When the Netherlands prevailed, we were at a loss as to what to make to represent Dutch cuisine.

Planning the Spanish side of the menu was easy, as Josh and I both love Spanish food and he had done a semester in Barcelona during college. For the Dutch side of the menu, I ended up doing a few google searches, and although we couldn’t exactly pronounce the names of any dishes, we got some good recipes of stuff to make.

While Josh and I both like to entertain, we don’t exactly know how to do it without going overboard. We both love to cook and to share our cooking with other people, so when we have parties, we tend to make a million things. Most of the time we end up missing out on most of the party because we’re in the kitchen still cooking. We didn’t want to miss the soccer game though, since this was the whole point of our party, so we made sure to plan dishes that can be cooked ahead of time and easily reheated.

We had our planning done ahead of time, complete with detailed shopping lists and who would make what, but I think we were a bit overly ambitious and wound up pulling an all nighter – cooking, that is. We did all of our shopping on Saturday morning/afternoon in NJ, got back to the city around 7 pm, and promptly started prepping and cooking. 11 hours later, at 6 am, after the sun had set and risen, we finally went to bed. We got up three hours later and finished cooking, then set everything up for our party, which started at 1:30. It was a hectic and tiring process, but we did get everything done, we didn’t miss the game (hooray for Spain!), and everything turned out better than we hoped.

Since the theme of the party was the World Cup final, we kind of planned our menu to pair Spanish and Dutch dishes head to head. First up was our cheese board, which featured Spanish manchego cheese versus Dutch gouda. We paired the gouda with apple slices, and the manchego with membrillo, which is quince paste. The gouda was declared the winner, though the membrillo turned out to be a surprise hit. Silva and Felipe also brought a different kind of Spanish cheese that was milder than the manchego but still quite tasty.

Gouda/apples vs. Manchego/membrillo

Next was the battle of the breads. On the Dutch side, we made Boerenkaas Puffs, which were cheese puffs made with gouda. The recipe we followed came from here. They were pretty similar to gougeres, very easy to make, and really delicious. On the Spanish side, we made pan con tomate, which is simply tomato bread. All you need to do is take a baguette, slice it in half length-wise, rub a clove of garlic on each side, and sprinkle each side with some salt and olive oil. Then you take some ripe tomatoes, cut them in half, and rub the juicy pulp all over the bread. Easy and really tasty. Both breads were a hit, so I think this may have been a toss up.

Boorenakas puffs (cheese puffs with gouda)

Pan con tomate (tomato bread)

For the potato dishes, we had tortilla espanola on the Spanish side. The tortilla is basically a giant frittata with layers of potato, onion, and egg. To make the tortilla, we gently roasted potatoes and onions in the oven, layered it in deep dutch oven, and covered the layers with lots of scrambled eggs. We baked the tortilla in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until it was cooked through and had set. For the Dutch potato dish, we made Boerenkool Stamppot, which is a hodgepodge with mashed potatoes, onions, kale, and smoked sausage. This was the recipe we followed. The potato/kale mixture turned out to be a surprise hit, helped mostly by the smoked sausage we spread around it.

Tortilla espanola

Boerenkool Stamppot (kale hash with sausage)

For the main courses, this was where we showed our true colors. Since we were rooting for Spain, we made two Spanish entrees and only one Dutch entree. In actuality, we couldn’t decide on which Spanish dish to make so we made both. First was pollo ajillo, or chicken in garlic sauce. To make the chicken, we first brined it in salt water for a few hours. In the meantime, we gently cooked a whole head of minced garlic in olive oil to make a super flavorful garlic oil. Then we seared the chicken (we used bone-in thighs) in that garlic oil and placed them into a dutch oven with minced onions that had been carmelized in garlic oil. We deglazed the pan with white wine, poured that off into the dutch oven, and tossed in the garlic from the garlic oil into the mixture as well. To add even more garlic punch, we added slivers of garlic from an entire additional head of garlic. Then we added the zest of three lemons and enough chicken stock to cover the chicken. We cooked the chicken in the dutch oven, in the oven, at 350 degrees for several hours. Right before serving, we added the juice of the three lemons to brighten up the flavor. By the time we served the chicken, it was super tender and falling off the bone.

Pollo ajillo (chicken in garlic sauce)

Our other spanish entree was albondigas, or meatballs. To make the meatballs, we mixed together ground beef, a puree of onions and garlic, and fresh pieces of diced onion. We used salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika to season the meat. We rolled and shaped the mixture into bite sized meatballs, then seared them off in a large pan. In a large pot, we sauteed some onions in garlic oil and added a big can of crushed tomatoes. When the meatballs were all seared, we added them to the pot of sauce and gently simmered them for a few hours. They were also super tender by the time we served them, and the flavor of the spices really shined through.

Albondigas (meatballs)

Our Dutch entree was Gestoofde runderlappen (try pronouncing THAT!), or braised steak. It was essentially a beef stew cooked entirely in beer. Simple, yet deeply flavorful. The recipe we followed came from here. The beef fell apart with a touch of a fork, and the carrots and onions added a nice heartiness to the dish.

Gestoofde runderlappen (braised steak)

We didn’t forget about dessert! For the Dutch side, we tried to be a bit playful and decided to make herb brownies. The herb? Mint, of course. Josh and I had an argument about the brownies because I just wanted to use ones from a box, but he insisted on making them from scratch. He won out in the end by convincing me that it would be embarrassing to say on the blog that we made brownies from mix. It was kind of a victory for both of us, as he ended up being the one to make them at 5 am while I sulked on the couch nursing my aching knife arm. He used the cocoa brownie recipe from Alton Brown’s Good Eats: The Early Years, which is similar to the recipe posted here. The mint was our own addition (add a handful of fresh leaves to the butter as it’s melting, then strain). The brownies were intensely chocolatey, had a fudgey texture, and just a hint of mint in the background. They were super rich but I thought they were really good, so kudos to Josh.

"Herb" brownies (with mint)

Beauty shot of the rich, chocolately, minty deliciousness

The Spanish dessert was all Josh as well (he’s the real baker in the family). Using another Alton Brown recipe, but substituting real vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, the flan was a risky endeavor but a huge success. He also made his own caramel sauce, courtesy of Mr. Brown as well. The flan had the perfect texture, creamy and smooth, and the caramel sauce was thick and rich.

Flan with caramel sauce

Beauty shot

So the verdict? I think based on the entrees, Spain had the narrow victory. And not because we’re biased or anything. But the Dutch food was surprisingly really good, and I’m eager to try it for real next year when we head to Amsterdam in honor of Josh’s 30th birthday. Aside from the food, the game was really exciting as well. La Furia Roja eeked out the win in extra time, and we’re glad it didn’t end up going to penalty kicks. All in all it was a successful day, and totally worth the lack of sleep we endured. Plus we have oodles of leftovers to feast on for the rest of the week!

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Recipes | 1 Comment »

Fontana di Trevi

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 by virginia

Josh’s parents had heard good things about a new Italian restaurant in Leonia called Fontana di Trevi so we decided to try it out for dinner one Saturday night. When Josh tried to call to see if there was a wait, he got an answering machine message that said no tables were available until after 8:45 PM. So we waited until after the specified time and tried to call again but it was the same message. We decided to head over to the restaurant and check out the situation in person.

Josh went inside first and he said that they told him it would only be a 10 minute wait, which didn’t seem so bad. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of room to stand in the restaurant so we hovered by the doorway, feeling very conspicuous and bad that we were pretty much right next to the first table in the front. But we figured it would only be a short wait so we just tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. The restaurant is split into two rooms, separated by a short hallway, and the hostess stand is in the smaller room.

So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Meanwhile, they never did fix the phone message because while we were standing there waiting, Josh called the number again and he got the same message. The phone by the hostess stand didn’t even ring. How do you operate a restaurant like that? How do people make reservations if they never pick up the phone? But we continued to wait, getting increasingly more agitated. We had been waiting for over half an hour, and no one came by to check on us. The hostess basically ignored our imploring looks and carried on a conversation with a table that had already paid for over 10 minutes. We were seriously annoyed by the time she finally came by and said that they were getting our table ready, and she kind of jerked her head towards the other room.

Another 10 minutes later (by now we had been waiting for almost an hour), they finally did get our table ready – the same one where the hostess had been chatting with the previous patrons. It was not in the other room, as she had indicated, and we were pretty much disgusted with the level of service (or lack thereof) that we had received. An hour wait is certainly unacceptable when you’re told that a wait would only be 10 minutes. The only reason we stayed was because we were starving, and because the restaurant was packed. Surely the food had to be fantastic, right?

They started us off with pieces of focaccia bread that was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. It had good texture with a nice olive oil flavor, and things started to look up for the meal.

Focaccia bread

Alice and I both opted to have the Caesar salad for our appetizers. The salad is prepared tableside – always a nice touch. Anchovies, egg yolk, garlic, breadcrumbs, mustard, worcestershire sauce, and a few other ingredients were combined in a bowl to form a thick paste, which was then loosened with olive oil. The dressing was tossed with bite-sized pieces of fresh romaine. The flavor was great but the dressing was a tad too thick and clumped on some of the leaves, leaving some bites overwhelming with dressing while others totally bare. Dressing dispersion issues aside, they do top it with lots of grated cheese, which I liked.

Caesar salad made tableside

Josh had the spinach salad with cremini mushrooms and pancetta. It was tossed with a warm white vinegar dressing, and Josh seemed to enjoy it a lot. He thought the pancetta wasn’t too salty or overwhelming, and it was a light and refreshing salad.

Spinach salad with cremini mushrooms and pancetta

For his main course, Josh had the linguine with clams. The pasta was nicely cooked to al dente and the sauce packed a nice garlicky punch. There were lots of whole clams on top and was definitely the best dish of the evening.

Linguine con vogole

I had to go with the chicken parmesan, of course, which is always my test of a new Italian restaurant. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t that good. The chicken itself was fine but the “famous” marinara sauce (as it says on their menu) was overly sour and too acidic. The cheese was melted but runny, not browned and bubbly like I prefer. Instead of a side of pasta, it came with some mushy, buttery vegetables and mashed potatoes. Those reminded me of bad hotel food. Harsh, maybe, but I expected better.

Chicken parmesan

Since we ended up eating later than we expected, especially with the super long wait, we just wanted to get home and decided to forgo dessert. Overall we weren’t all that wowed by the food we had at Fontana di Trevi, and we were less than thrilled with the service. Maybe because they were new was why they had so many issues, but I still don’t understand why they don’t even answer their phone. It doesn’t seem to hurt business though, as the restaurant was packed the entire time we were there. Nevertheless, the food was not so impressive to overcome the problems we had, and I don’t think we’ll be going back. Sad, because we’re still looking for a good Italian restaurant near our home in NJ, and this one was also a BYO.

Fontana di Trevi
248 Fort Lee Rd.
Leonia, NJ

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »

Istanbul Cafe

Friday, April 9th, 2010 by virginia

As recommended by Silva, Josh and I decided to try out Istanbul Café the last time we had a craving for Turkish food. Coincidentally, we ran into Felipe and Silva on our way to the restaurant, and Silva offered up particular dishes that she liked (the chopped tomato salad dip, the kofte, and the shepherd’s salad with feta). We ended up ordering way too much food for just the two of us, but we did manage to cover most of the items she recommended.

Before heading to the restaurant, we looked up the menu to see if they sold alcohol. Not seeing anything noted, Josh called to ask and he was told that they do not offer any alcohol. He followed up by asking if that meant we could bring our own, and he got an affirmative response. When we arrived with our bottle of wine in tow, however, we were told that they don’t serve alcohol, and we aren’t allowed to bring alcohol either. I’m guessing this is for religious reasons, but that’s not the response Josh got when he specifically called to ask. Perhaps there was some confusion on the phone, both in the questioning and in the response, as English did not seem to be the first language of the person who answered the phone.

Nevertheless, the no alcohol policy wasn’t really an issue. They were apologetic about the situation and we quickly slipped our bottle of wine under the table, out of sight. I just thought it was weird that out of all the reviews I had read about the restaurant, no one mentioned the policy. We opted for water instead, and set about looking over the menu. As always, there were lots of things that I wanted to try, given that this was our first visit to the restaurant, so we ended up ordering sampler platters for both our appetizer and our main course.

The cold appetizer platter included hummus (mashed chickpea and tahini paste), lebni (thickened yogurt mixed with dill, garlic, walnut, and herbs), chopped tomato salad (hand chopped tomato, bell peppers, onion, garlic, and walnuts mixed with red pepper paste), eggplant salad (smoked eggplant mixed with mashed garlic and roasted red pepper), and a few stuffed grape leaves.

Cold appetizer platter with hummus, lebni, chopped tomato salad, eggplant salad, and stuffed grape leaves

It came with a basket of grilled pita bread to dip with, and I thought all of the spreads were really tasty. The chopped tomato salad was flavorful and tangy, and the eggplant salad had a nice smokiness to it. The yogurt dip was thick but not too sour, and everything had a good amount of garlic in it. My least favorite was the hummus, but only because I think the hummus was a bit boring compared to the other dips. Otherwise it was a very respectable hummus.

Grilled pita bread

We ate most of the pita bread and put a good dent into the appetizer platter, but there was still tons left so we had them wrap it up for us while we went to work on our entrée, the Istanbul combo. The giant platter came with chicken shish kebab, lamb shish kebab, kofte, doner kebab, and lamb chops, all served on top a bed of rice. The rice I think was a bit undercooked, as it had a strange crunchy texture to it. I know there was orzo mixed in with the rice, but that wasn’t what was making it crunchy (I made sure to try a forkful sans orzo). There were also grilled tomatoes and peppers, but the peppers turned out to be jalapeno, and super spicy! I’m not sure why they served the jalapenos, and if it was intended to be a garnish, but they were way too spicy to be edible. Yikes!

Istanbul combo - chicken, lamb, kofte, and doner kebabs, lamb chops, peppers, tomatoes, rice

All the grilled meats, however, were well seasoned and flavorful. I especially liked the kofte, which are meatballs made with ground lamb and beef mixed with Turkish spices. The doner kebab was wonderful as well, which is thin slices of lamb shaved from a spit. The outside of the meat was crusty and crispy, and I ended up making mini gyros for myself by wrapping the meat in some pita bread. Again there was too much food, even though we stuffed ourselves silly, and we ended up taking home about half of the combo.

Overall we both thought the food at Istanbul Café was well spiced and seasoned properly, but preparation-wise it suffered a bit. The lamb and chicken kebabs were tasty but tough and overcooked, and even the kofte was a bit gristly, surprisingly. Service, however, was efficient and attentive, although the restaurant was pretty empty when we were there. They wrapped up our leftovers right away and even threw in some extra pita bread for us, which I thought was a nice touch. The no alcohol policy presents us with a bit of pickle though, as we like to enjoy a nice bottle of wine when we go out for dinner. The resolution to that problem is to have the food delivered and eat it at home. It’s available for order on Seamless Web, and I think that’s what we’ll do the next time we have a craving for good Turkish food.

Before we left the restaurant, they took us on a tour of the outdoor garden area in the back, which is really pretty. It looked like a nice place to hang out and smoke a hookah, if that’s your thing. The restaurant also offers an extensive array of desserts, which we were to full to try but some of the pastries in the glass display cases looked amazing. Turkish teas and coffees are available as well, and it’s a nice place to just sit and relax. The décor inside the restaurant is also interesting, with low tables and chairs and intricate lamps hanging all around. I definitely recommend checking it out sometime.

Istanbul Cafe
325 West 57th St. between 8th and 9th Ave.
New York, NY

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Disappointingly Bland Food at Hanci

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010 by virginia

We did take up Silva on her recommendation to try the Istanbul Café, but we’ll post about that meal later. What prompted her recommendation was the meal we shared at Hanci Turkish Cuisine that left us wanting more – more seasoning that is. We went there with a group of people after some happy hour drinks at Valhalla. Josh and I suggested it because it was close by, we had enjoyed our first visit, and because it was a BYO, or so we thought.

We stopped off at a liquor store on our way over and picked up a few bottles of wine. The first thing we were told when we showed up at the restaurant with the wine was that they were no longer a BYO, and that if we wanted our wine there would be a $10 corkage fee. No thanks. None of the wines on their short list seemed very appealing, so most of us stuck with soda while Josh tried a Turkish beer. It was very light, nothing to write home about but perfectly drinkable.

Turkish beer

We decided to share a few appetizers to accompany the wonderful Turkish bread that I’ve been raving about. The bread was as good as I remembered – hot, crispy, and flavorful. We devoured baskets and baskets of this bread, and everyone agreed that it was pretty tasty.

Delicious Turkish bread

Our appetizers included the ezme, which is a dip made from chopped tomatoes, peppers, and onions, with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing. It’s a little spicy and very flavorful, perfect for slathering all over the wonderful Turkish bread.

Ezme

We also got the piyaz, which was the white bean salad that Josh and I ordered when we got delivery from the restaurant. The salad was fresh and chock full of creamy white beans but like with our delivery, it lacked seasoning. The tangy vinaigrette helped a little, but it definitely needed more salt to perk up the flavors a bit.

Piyaz

Our last appetizer was the cacik, which is a dip made with yogurt and cucumbers seasoned with dill and garlic. Again, this dish lacked flavor and seasoning. It needed a lot more dill and garlic, plus salt. It tasted mostly like plain yogurt, and we ended up saving most of the bowl to use as an accompaniment with on our entrees.

Cacik

Both Silva and Felipe ordered the kofte for their entrees, and they were really disappointed with the lack of spices and seasoning in the ground lamb mix. I had the lamb sis kebab and thought the lamb was perfectly cooked but also lacked seasoning. The meat itself was juicy and tender, but it was bland. We made liberal use of the salt shaker on our table.

Lamb sis kebab

Fortunately, Josh’s entrée was much better. He ordered the iskender kebab with chicken, which was served over bread cubes and a pool of yogurt and tomato sauce. The yogurt and tomato sauce provided a much-needed tang and sweetness to the otherwise bland chicken kebabs. It was an interesting dish with lots of unusual textures coming from the bread cubes that were soaking in the wonderful sauce.

Chicken iskender kebab

Overall I think everyone was a little bit disappointed with the dinner we had at Hanci. When I think Turkish food, I think of perfectly grilled meats with a wonderful array of spices. The food we had just didn’t fit the bill. Everything was cooked perfectly but nothing had been seasoned, rendering everything bland and flavorless. And without the bonus of the BYO, the only thing drawing me back to the restaurant is the bread, though I’m not sure it’s worth making the trip. Which is really too bad, because we had such a great time during our first visit. Even service fell off a notch the second time around, with our waitress slightly surly and indifferent. We’re going to expand our horizons for now and try other Turkish restaurants, even if they aren’t within walking distance from home.

Hanci Turkish Cuisine
854 10th Ave. between 56th and 57th St.
New York, NY

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Pizza Plus

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 by virginia

The latest delivery place on our pizza quest was Pizza Plus on 9th Ave. They left some delivery menus in the mail room of our apartment building and it looked like they had a lot of different options so we decided to give it a shot. We actually liked our pizza order so much the first time that we ordered from them again later in the week. Both times we placed an order online through their website, which also included 20% off coupon codes – that’s always a plus. The first time we ordered, our food arrived in a decent amount of time and the cheese pizza looked pretty promising.

Cheese pizza

The crust was thin and there was good cheese coverage on the slice. The cheese was flecked with oregano, giving it a bit more flavor and a fresher taste. The sauce wasn’t overly sweet or overpowering.

Lots of seasoning and herbs in the sauce and on the cheese

The crust was nicely browned and somewhat crispy, though the pizza was slightly cold when it arrived so it was a bit chewier than I would have preferred. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but it would have been much better had it been served hot.

Underside shot

We also got an order of garlic knots, which were big and puffy but didn’t have enough garlic flavor or seasoning. They were quite bland and very uninteresting.

Bland garlic knots

Deviating from the norm, we got an order of buffalo wings. I wasn’t expecting too much out of buffalo wings from a pizza place, but these weren’t terrible. They were decently meaty and covered in a vinegary hot sauce. Again, these would have been better had they been served hot, as they would up being chewy rather than crispy.

Buffalo wings

Last but not least, we got an order of french fries. These were on the thicker end of the fry spectrum but they were fried to a well done, so they weren’t too soft or soggy in the middle. They weren’t too greasy, and for delivery fries, they weren’t bad.

Decent french fries

Overall we were pretty pleased with our first order from Pizza Plus, so we decided to give them another shot in the same week, hoping that we had finally found our go-to delivery pizza place. Again we ordered online, but this time, our food took forever to come. After waiting for almost an hour, we decided to call them up and see what was going on, as they’re not located too far from our apartment. They told us that the delivery had left already, so we waited a bit more.

After another while, we got a phone call from the delivery man saying that he couldn’t find our apartment, and that he was on 58th St. and 6th Ave. Umm, that is nowhere near our apartment. We live pretty much a straight shot down 9th Ave. from where Pizza Plus is located. How in the world did the delivery guy end up on 6th Ave.?? This time it wasn’t my fault, as we had definitely put in the right address.

Needless to say, when our pizza finally showed up, it was ice cold. If I thought the pizza wasn’t hot enough the first time, the second time it might as well have been sitting in the fridge for a few hours. Don’t get me wrong, I love cold pizza as much as the next person, but I like hot pizza better. And when I order a fresh pizza from somewhere, I expect it to be served hot.

Cold and stiff pizza

The crust was hard, and the cheese had congealed into one solid mass. We ended up putting slices into the oven to reheat, which only meant that our dinner was delayed even more.

Cold and congealed cheese on top

The chicken parm hero we ordered was also stone cold, and into the oven it went as well. Even after reheating, it was pretty bad. The chicken had been chopped into smaller pieces, and they were hard and dry. The cheese on top was clumpy, and it just wasn’t a good sandwich overall.

Disappointingly bad chicken parm hero

The fries were the same kind as the first time, but they also needed reheating in the oven as they were ice cold and hard.

Cold fries

We were extremely unhappy the second time around, as we just couldn’t understand how they messed up our order. We don’t live so far from the restaurant, and they should have looked up our address if they weren’t sure where it was, even though they found us just fine the first time. How the delivery man ended up on 6th Ave. is just mind boggling to me. They ruined our dinner and didn’t even attempt to make amends in any way. That’s just service I can’t condone, and sadly, I don’t think we’ll be ordering from them again. Even though the pizza had such potential, it’s never delivered to us hot, and at that point, it’s just not worth it. And so, the quest continues.

Pizza Plus
642 9th Ave. at 45th St.
New York, NY

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »

Delivery Doesn’t Do Hanci Turkish Cuisine Justice

Sunday, March 14th, 2010 by virginia

Josh and I really enjoyed the meal that we had at Hanci Turkish Cuisine and decided to get a delivery order from there one rainy night when we were too lazy to venture out of our apartment. We decided to get a few appetizers and split an entree of the mixed grill, since last time we had ordered too much food. We both remembered how much we loved their freshly baked, crispy and chewy Turkish bread, so when we placed the order on Seamlessweb, we wrote in the special instructions section, “Please bring us extra bread, we love it!”

Our order arrived quickly but sadly, they failed to bring us the extra bread we requested. Instead, we got three measly little pieces, not even a basket’s worth if we had eaten at the restaurant. I guess that’s what we get for being lazy? The bread was delicious as always but the three pieces weren’t nearly enough to use on the portion of cacik we ordered, a yogurt based dip.

Delicious Turkish bread but a meager portion

Cacik is yogurt mixed with chopped cucumbers and seasoned with garlic and dill. It’s similar to tzatziki sauce from Greek restaurants, but Hanci’s version was much milder in flavor. There were lots of small cubes of cucumber but I wish they were more heavy handed with the garlic and dill, as it was kind of bland. It did go well with the mixed grill we ordered, but we ended up putting in a lot of salt to coax out some more of the flavor.

Cacik - yogurt with cucumber, garlic, and dill

We also got an order of sigara boregi, which is fried phyllo dough cigars filled with feta cheese and topped with parsley and dill. The fried phyllo dough suffered a bit from delivery, as it steamed in the container and got a bit soggy, but flavor wise it was quite delicious. The salty feta paired well with the fresh herbs, and though the phyllo was soft, it wasn’t too greasy and was still somewhat flaky.

Sigara boregi - phyllo dough cigars filled with feta cheese

Our last appetizer was piyaz, which is a salad made with white beans, onions, parsley, tomato, and olives. It was dressed with a tangy vinaigrette, and I loved the bite that I got from the slices of fresh red onion. It was a refreshing and flavorful dish but it also needed some salt to boost up the flavor a bit.

Piyaz - white bean salad with onion, parsley, tomato, and olives

For our entree, we split an order of the mixed grill, which was a dish that we had ordered when we went to the restaurant the first time. The mixed grill features lamb sis kebab, chicken tavuk sis, lamb kofte, and chicken adana. All the meats are served over rice pilaf and a side of mixed vegetables. It’s a generous portion of food, though I favored the lamb sis kebab and the chicken tavuk sis, which are just grilled cubes of lamb and chicken. Both the kofte and the adana lacked seasoning and flavor, although all the meats were nicely cooked and very tender.

Mixed grill over rice pilaf with mixed vegetables

I have to admit that we were a bit disappointed with our delivery order from Hanci. We enjoyed our meal at the restaurant much more, and perhaps the food just suffered a bit from being taken out. I did think that a lot of our food lacked basic seasoning though, such as salt, and was much blander than I had remembered. We were also disappointed that they didn’t bring us extra bread, or even a normal sized portion of the bread, as we had ordered several appetizers that needed the bread to pair with. I don’t know if they just didn’t see our special instruction or if they chose to ignore it, but after the hospitality we received while we were there, we were a bit surprised that they weren’t more accommodating. I understand that the bread they offer free at the restaurant costs them money to produce, and I would have paid for extra bread if that was an option, but it wasn’t. In general, I think their food is best enjoyed at the restaurant, when it can come out hot and fresh, and you can have all the delicious Turkish bread that you want.

Hanci Turkish Cuisine
854 10th Ave. between 56th and 57th St.
New York, NY

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Great Service and Great Food at Nook

Saturday, March 13th, 2010 by virginia

In my first post about Nook, I mentioned that we hadn’t been there in years because the service was bad, but after a long hiatus, Josh and I went to brunch and thought both the service and the food were fantastic. We decided to go back there for dinner to see if the service was consistently much improved, or if our brunch experience was merely a fluke. Even though it was quite late for dinner when we arrived, the tiny restaurant was completely full, probably because it was Saturday night. The hostess/waitress told us the wait would be about half an hour and suggested we go across the street to a bar, saying she would call us when a table was available. Since neither of us were starving, and there really is nowhere to wait in the restaurant, it seemed like a good solution so that’s exactly what we did.

We headed across the street to The Snug, which, like Nook, is aptly named. It’s a long narrow bar with limited seating but we managed to snag a small table all the way in the back. Josh got a beer and we chatted for a while. After half an hour, no call. We had left Josh’s phone on the table so that we would see it ring, in case we couldn’t hear it in the noisy bar. Forty-five minutes later, still nothing. At this point we were getting a little peeved, and after almost an hour we decided cross back over to the restaurant and see what the situation was. As soon as we walked in, we saw an empty two top right by the door, and were a bit miffed that we hadn’t received a call.

The waitress came over to us and said she was wondering what happened to us because she called us twice and left a message when we didn’t answer. She then offered us the empty two top and said we could sit right away if we wanted. Josh and I looked at each other, perplexed, because we definitely didn’t see or hear the phone ringing, but we shrugged it off, gave her the benefit of the doubt, and sat down for dinner. Indeed, halfway through the meal, Josh got the beep that he had two missed calls and a voicemail from the waitress telling us that our table was ready. So she really was telling the truth, and we blame AT&T for our frustrations.

We were glad we stayed because not only was the waitress very gracious about the whole mix up, the food was great as well. She opened up our bottle of wine right away (the restaurant is a BYO) and brought us glasses as well as a basket of the same kind of bread that we received at brunch, a rustic and crusty sourdough.

Basket of rustic bread

We ordered two appetizers that we had remembered enjoying the very first time we ate at the restaurant in 2006. First was a tuna tartare served with avocado and flavored with soy and ginger. The tuna was very fresh and nicely cut into small cubes, which I like better than the mashed up tuna that we sometimes receive from other restaurants. The tuna paired perfectly with the creamy avocado, and the whole dish was well seasoned and very flavorful.

Tuna tartare

The second appetizer was mushroom cigars, which was filo dough wrapped around a filling of ground mushrooms, goat cheese, sage, and truffle oil. The pastry was lightly browned and perfectly flaky while the filling was really delicious. I love mushrooms, I love goat cheese, and I love truffle oil. The three together were simply divine. We only wished that the portion was larger, as it’s really only one small cigar cut in half. Josh and I just couldn’t get enough of it.

Mushroom cigars

For our main courses we also opted to order dishes that we’ve tried previously, and both were just as good as we had remembered. The first was tuscan chicken, which features a large boneless chicken breast stuffed with spinach and ricotta, topped with a light parmesan sauce. The chicken was tender and juicy, not at all dried out, and the filling was nicely seasoned and garlicky. The parmesan sauce bound everything together, and it was a very homey and comforting dish. The chicken came with a side salad that was tossed with a tasty vinaigrette, and it was supposed to come with chive mash potatoes but I requested the rosemary fries instead, which they gladly accommodated. The fries were slightly limp but well seasoned, and we could really taste the pleasant rosemary flavor.

Tuscan chicken

Our other entree was the Thai marinated grilled rack of lamb. The serving came with four perfectly grilled chops that were tender, juicy, and flavorful. The Thai marinade was slightly sweet, which worked well with the slightly bitter braised cabbage that came on the side. There were also chive mashed potatoes that came with the dish, which was why I had requested the fries with the chicken dish instead. Despite the casual presentation, the food was well prepared and the flavors were very refined.

Thai marinated grilled rack of lamb

Josh and I weren’t in a rush and were lingering over our meal, finishing up our wine and debating dessert when we got a call from his parents who happened to be in the city that night for a party. It turned out that they were just around the corner from where we were, so they met us at the restaurant for dessert. Our waitress had no problem letting us move over to an empty four top, and we ordered a round of coffee drinks. Unfortunately, the coffee was terrible. The espresso was weak, as was the cappuccino. Both Josh and his mom ordered extra shots of espresso to try and bolster their drinks, but even those were super weak.

Fortunately dessert was much better. Lloyd ordered the cheese and fruit plate, which turned out to be quite a large serving of assorted cheeses (I’m not a cheese person so I only recognized brie but there were others) and various fruits, including grapes, blackberries, and slices of apples, pears, and strawberries. There was plenty to share, and the waitress brought extra bread to pair with the cheeses.

Cheese and fruit plate

We also got a slice of the apple pie, which was served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The pie was more like a cobbler, with tasty, buttery, crumbly bits on top, but it was no less delicious. It wasn’t overly sweet or too cinnamony, and we all enjoyed it immensely.

Apple pie with vanilla ice cream

I have to say, I’m thrilled that the service at Nook truly has improved, as we now have a neighborhood spot that serves up good food at reasonable prices, and is a BYO to boot. Nook really is teeny tiny though so it does get a bit cramped inside, but I find the atmosphere to be homey and welcoming. If you want to dine during pre-theater or prime hours, however, it’s probably best to make a reservation. While the menu hasn’t changed all that much since the first time we were there in 2006, it’s nice to know that we have a place that we can rely on, where the dishes are familiar, tasty, and always well prepared. We’ll be back, and often, I hope.

Nook
746 9th Ave. between 50th and 51st St.
New York, NY

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »