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Teaneck Kebab House

Friday, July 31st, 2009 by virginia

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I first heard about Teaneck Kebab House when it was reviewed by the NY Times. Josh and I got a delivery order from them one weekend that we were in NJ but at the time, I wasn’t really familiar with Afghan food. Since then, I’ve grown to love all kinds of middle eastern cuisine. I had a craving for it so when Josh and I found ourselves heading to NJ on Friday night, I suggested picking up food from the Teaneck Kebab House and bringing it home with us.

We had to wait a little while to pick up our food, as they were still baking a batch of Afghan bread for us. We were starving at that point so we ripped into the bread during the drive home. It was hot and crispy and absolutely delicious. Two pieces came with the food we ordered, so I’m glad that we picked up an additional order, which was another two pieces. This bread is seriously addictive.

Freshly baked Afghan bread

We got an order bouranee baunjan, which is eggplant covered in mint, garlic, and yogurt. It doesn’t look very appetizing but it’s absolutely delicious. The eggplant is tender and breaks apart easily. Mixed in with the yogurt sauce, it’s perfect for dipping the Afghan bread into. This was my favorite dish of the night.

Bouranee baunjan (eggplant with mint, garlic, and yogurt)

We also ordered the mantoo, which are beef dumplings topped with yogurt sauce and spices. The dumplings were shaped like tortellini. They were large but didn’t have too much filling in them so mostly it was just pasta. It’s also supposed to have tomato sauce (the NY Times review likened it to pasta Bolognese) but I didn’t really taste any tomato; the mint in the yogurt sauce was the predominant flavor. The dish was also very greasy for some reason, as there was a pool of red-tinged oil that gathered at the edge of the container. I was a bit disappointed as I’ve had better versions of mantoo elsewhere.

Mantoo (beef dumplings topped with yogurt and mint)

For our main course, we split a combination kebab platter which came with beef chapli, lamb, and chicken kebabs on a heaping pile of rice. The chapli, which is ground beef mixed with onions and spices, was super spicy. My mouth was on fire after one bite. I ended up dipping it into the leftover yogurt sauce from the mantoo, and that helped temper the heat. Once I got past the burn, the kebab was actually really tasty and seasoned with interesting spices. Both the lamb and chicken kebabs were cooked perfectly. I loved that the lamb was gamey, but people who are adverse to gamey lamb might be turned off by that. All the kebabs were really tender though, which is not an easy feat to accomplish. Too often I’ve been plagued by dried out and chewy kebabs. I wasn’t sure why the chapli was served in two different shapes though, one cylindrical and one flat patty.

Combination kebab platter (beef chapli, lamb, and chicken kebabs)

The combination platter also came with a salad of lettuce, tomato, carrots, cucumbers and onions topped off with a minty dressing. It was a good way to cool off my mouth after the spiciness of the chapli, and it was a generous serving.

Salad with minty yogurt dressing

Overall I really liked the food from the Teaneck Kebab House, and it would have been even better had we ate there because the food got a little bit cold on the drive home. Next time I think we’ll try eating at the restaurant rather than taking out. Portions are pretty big and the food is reasonably priced. Josh and I had two appetizers and shared one entrée, and we were absolutely stuffed. The restaurant is a BYO too, so it’s really a great value.

Teaneck Kebab House
251/253 Degraw Ave.
Teaneck, NJ

Tags: Afghan, BYO, NJ
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Another Trip to Coppersmith’s

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009 by virginia

The $6.95 lunch special at Coppersmith’s is quickly becoming a favorite for me and Rodney. It’s still a bit of a hike for us during our lunch hour but the food is consistently great and the quiet bar is a nice place for us to chat and catch up.

I recently tried the grilled chicken sandwich with buffalo sauce, which was two thin but large pieces of grilled chicken covered in a nicely tangy buffalo sauce. The sauce has a nice vinegary kick to it but it isn’t too spicy. The chicken is served on a kaiser roll and topped with lettuce, tomato, and red onion.

Grilled chicken sandwich with buffalo sauce

The kaiser roll really works well with this sandwich, as a regular bun would not be sturdy enough to contain all the fillings and the sauce. I always get a container of bleu cheese dressing on the side and slather that on as needed. I’m not the hugest fan of bleu cheese but sometimes I use it to temper the spiciness of the buffalo sauce. The sandwich also comes with a big pile of their always perfectly cooked french fries.

Autopsy shot

Out of all the bars in our neighborhood, Coppersmith’s is quickly becoming my favorite. They have a nice selection of beers on tap and lots of big tv screens to watch games on. There is also a lot of seating, which I find important in any bar. It’s just a great place to grab a bite, have a drink, and hang out.

Coppersmith’s
793 9^th Ave. between 52^nd and 53^rd St.
New York, NY

Tags: Bars, Lunch, Midtown West, Sandwiches
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Hilton Head Day 2 – The Studio

Sunday, July 26th, 2009 by virginia

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We had a hard time deciding where we wanted to have dinner so we did a quick internet search for restaurants. The Studio came up as the #1 most popular Hilton Head restaurant on Trip Advisor and the menu looked pretty interesting so we decided to give it a shot. The restaurant has very interesting décor, since it doubles as an art gallery. There are paintings and sculptures decorating the dining room, and the collection is very eclectic. We were greeted very warmly, as our waiter kept emphasizing that we should feel at home while we were in the restaurant. It did kind of feel like we were eating in someone’s very funky dining room.

Our meal started off with soft dense bread and sweet butter. While the bread didn’t have a crispy crust, it was served warm and had a nice chewy texture.

Carbs and butter

For my appetizer, I opted for the escargot a la maisonette, which were big plump snails served on top of rounds of sweet potato and finished with a sauce that tasted faintly of licorice. The snails were perfectly tender and juicy and complemented the sweet potato perfectly. While I would have preferred garlic butter, since I’m not the hugest fan of licorice, the sauce was mellow enough to provide just a hint of licorice, and was a nice change from the usually greasy garlic butter that often accompanies escargot.

Escargot a la maisonette

Josh’s appetizer of crab and Vidalia onion bisque was the winner of the group, as it was deliciously smooth and rich. You could really taste the crab and sweet onion in the soup, and it wasn’t overwhelmingly covered in cream. I stole several spoonfuls from his bowl, and then scraped it clean at the end with some of the bread.

Crab and vidalia onion bisque

For my main course, I had the filet mignon with goat cheese soufflé and blackened shrimp. While the steak was cooked more medium rare than the rare I requested, it was still perfectly tender and well seasoned. The blackened shrimp were absolutely delicious and covered in a mix of spices. I wasn’t a huge fan of the goat cheese soufflé, which was more like goat cheese lightened with something and piped on top of the steak rather than something served in a ramekin. It was a bit too heavy for the dish and I ended up scraping it off to the side. The dish also came with mashed potatoes, which were creamy smooth and buttery. I also liked the red wine reduction that served as a sauce for the steak.

Filet mignon with goat cheese soufflé and blackened shrimp

I was debating between the filet mignon and the NY strip steak, but only because the strip steak came with truffled mac and cheese. Josh asked if we could just get a side order of the mac and cheese, and the waiter said it would be no problem. That made my decision much easier, and I was thrilled with the mac and cheese. It was creamy and cheesy and had just enough truffle flavor that it didn’t overwhelm the dish. The side serving was actually an ample portion so everyone was able to get a taste before I polished off the rest of the dish. I could have just eaten a huge bowlful of this for dinner and had been completely satisfied.

Creamy truffled mac and cheese

Josh had the special of the day, a massive veal chop covered in foie gras butter. The veal chop was cooked medium rare as requested, and was perfectly tender. The foie gras butter was really rich, but I didn’t taste too much foie gras. I enjoyed the few bites that I had but I’m glad I didn’t order it as I never would have been able to finish the chop, which weighed in at almost a full pound.

Veal chop with foie gras butter

Josh and I also tasted a chop from a friend’s rack of lamb “rogan Josh”, which was covered in tomato cardamom curry. Rogan Josh is my favorite Indian curry, though the Studio’s version was a bit lighter on the spices. The lamb was cooked perfectly though, and I thought it would make a great introduction to Indian food for people who are a bit wary.

Rack of lamb rogan josh

Unfortunately, not everyone enjoyed their meals at The Studio. Josh’s mom ordered a dish that was called Pad Thai, but bore no resemblance to the pad thai that you get at any Thai restaurant. It was described on the menu as rice noodles and tamarind-curry sauce, but it was very heavy on the curry and had spices that I’ve never encountered in pad thai before. The noodles were also really thick and doughy, not like regular rice noodles. The whole dish was gloppy and pasty. The noodles were supposed to come with flounder and shrimp, but the restaurant very nicely granted her request for just shrimp, and no flounder. While the portion was ample, the dish itself was not what we were expecting. It might have been perfectly tasty Thai curry, but it was not pad thai. I think calling it as such on the menu is very misleading, and as a result, the people who ordered this dish were not happy.

Not quite pad thai

Aside from the poorly named pad thai, I really enjoyed the food at The Studio. There are lots to choose from on the menu, and everything is prepared in interesting ways and comes with lots of different sides. The service was also outstanding. Our waiter was very patient and friendly in dealing with our large party, and the restaurant also very accommodating in granting special requests and substitutions. For example, a few people in our party wanted the Studio salad, which featured greens, apples, gorgonzola, and toasted almonds, but wanted to substitute goat cheese for the gorgonzola. That request was met without any hesitation at all. I would definitely come back here the next time I’m in Hilton Head. There were plenty of things on the menu that I didn’t get to try. Hopefully it won’t be another four years before I’m back.

The Studio
20 Executive Park Rd.
Hilton Head, SC

Tags: Hilton Head, Seafood, South Carolina, Steak
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Hilton Head Day 1 – Aqua Grill & Lounge

Saturday, July 25th, 2009 by virginia

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Because Josh and I only had time for two dinners in Hilton Head (we were leaving before dinner on Monday), we were adamant about eating low country food and not something that we could get here in NYC (i.e., Italian food). We’ve been out of the Hilton Head restaurant scene for so long though, and all our old favorites were either closed or serving subpar food, so Josh’s mom suggested a place we hadn’t been to before, the Aqua Grill.

Since there were so many of us (13 altogether), we were seated at a long table in a semi private room that was separate from the main dining room. That was too bad because the décor in the main room seemed to be really interesting and I kind of wanted to see what it was like. Oh well, we were here for the food anyway. They started us off with soft rolls covered in different kinds of seeds, sort of like an everything bagel. The accompanying butter looked like it was filled with pieces of roasted garlic but when I tasted it, it was actually sweet pecan butter. It was sort of a shock because I was expecting savory garlic flavor, but this was more like dessert. It was tasty though, and made me think I was eating a sweet breakfast roll.

Seeded rolls with sweet pecan butter

I knew immediately that I wanted the she crab soup for my appetizer, since I’ve been missing it for the last four years. Aqua’s version was exactly how I remembered it, though they were a bit heavy handed with the sherry on top. But it was smooth and creamy with a subtle crab flavor, and the seasoning was spot on. I ate every last bit of it and cleaned out my bowl with a piece of bread. It’s really a delicious soup, more mellow than chowder or bisques, but that’s what makes it unique.

She crab soup topped with sherry

Josh started with fried green tomatoes that was topped with cheddar cheese, lobster and shrimp salsa, and chipotle sour cream. The presentation was stunning, and fried green tomatoes were perfectly cooked. The toppings were light and refreshing, and everything worked beautifully together.

Fried green tomatoes with lobster and shrimp salsa

I had a hard time deciding what to eat for my main course, as a lot of things sounded really good. Luckily everyone around me was ordering different things so I knew I could always snag a bite from them. I ended up with the pan blackened mahi mahi served with fried green tomatoes, white cheddar grits, sherry scallion cream sauce, and lump crab salsa. The serving was huge, with all the ingredients stacked on top of each other. The grits were at the base, the fried green tomatoes in the middle, the mahi mahi on top, and the salsa was sprinkled over everything. I definitely need to use a knife and fork to eat it, and tried to get everything together in one bite.

Pan blackened mahi mahi served with fried green tomatoes, white cheddar grits, sherry scallion cream sauce, and lump crab salsa

Blackened mahi mahi with fried green tomatoes, white cheddar grits, sherry scallion cream sauce, lump crab salsa

At first the flavors were really delicious together, with the meaty fish and the tangy green tomatoes and the cheesy grits, bound together with the cream sauce. The more I ate though, the heavier it got. The fried green tomatoes were cut really thick and heavily breaded. The grits had a weird texture to it, almost like undercooked risotto. I’ve only had grits once, at a Waffle House so I don’t know if that counts, but these were very different. It wasn’t as creamy as I thought it would be, and had really crunchy pieces in it. There also wasn’t enough cream sauce to cover the large portion, and so halfway through I ran out, and everything was just a bit too dry. I also didn’t taste any lump crab in the salsa at all. I didn’t see any pieces either, so I don’t know if it was really there, or if it got lost in all the other ingredients. This dish really had a lot of potential, but there was just too much going on, and too much of everything.

Josh had the pecan encrusted grouper. Grouper is a local fish in Hilton Head, and it’s a very meaty and sturdy fish. I wasn’t a huge fan of the texture, as I like my fish to be more delicate and flaky. The accompanying spicy cranberry sauce and basil mascarpone helped moisten everything up though, and I thought it was a sweet and tasty dish.

Pecan encrusted grouper with spicy cranberry sauce

The service at Aqua was efficient and attentive, up until we were dealing with the check. I know there were a lot of us, and we were splitting up the bill in different ways, but we tried our best to make it easier on the staff and somehow everything got horribly messed up. Because we were a party larger than 6, gratuity was automatically added to the bill. Fine, no problem. We divided the bill using cash and three credit cards. To make the credit card portion easier, we wrote down the card number and the amount we wanted on each card. We had rounded up in our calculations, so the final amount we were paying was about $3 more than the total bill. We gave everything to the waiter, and when everyone looked at their credit card slips, there was a huge error. Because our bill included gratuity, we had divided it up counting the gratuity. The number we gave the waiter for each card was including that gratuity. Well when he rang it up, he put in the number we gave, and it added another 20% gratuity to each card. So this was on top of the original 20% already in the bill.

Now I know that splitting up bills on different credit cards is a big pain for servers, but we really tried to make it easier on them. We’ve done this a million times in other restaurants, and we never had this problem before. We called the waiter back and explained the situation to him, but he didn’t seem to understand that they were adding an extra 20%. He thought we were quibbling about the extra $3, and offered to pay it back to us out of his pocket. That’s not what we were saying, and we were definitely put off by his attitude. He went to check with a manager, and then came back and said that it was the computer’s fault, because it automatically adds 20%. I don’t know how that makes sense, even if we had paid with just 1 credit card. The gratuity was already in the bill. After a lot of back and forth, he finally came back and gave us a bill, sans the automatic gratuity. So we had to go through the process of calculating everyone’s share without the gratuity, writing it all down again, and then adding in the 20% ourselves when the credit card slip came. This process took over half an hour. No joke. The waiter blamed it on the computer, but it was apparently perfectly capable of spitting out credit card slips without the automatic 20% gratuity, so I think it was just his problem in not understanding the situation. He acted like we were trying to cheat him out his tip, which wasn’t the case at all. We were all offended by his attitude.

After that ordeal, I think we all left the restaurant on a down note. Which was too bad, because I really did enjoy a lot of the meal. The food was tasty and fresh, and the service was great up until that point. Now I have mixed emotions about whether or not I would come back. There are so many great restaurants in Hilton Head that serve similar food, so I don’t need to be subjected to a bad attitude. But maybe the waiter was just having an off day, or he was tired because it was pretty late and they were starting to close up. I don’t know, and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. So I would probably go back simply because I enjoyed the food, and hopefully next time there won’t be any more credit card/gratuity issues.

Aqua Grill & Lounge
10 North Forest Beach Dr.
Hilton Head Island, SC

Tags: Hilton Head, Seafood, South Carolina
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Two Fat Bellies Hit the Road – Low Country Cuisine in Hilton Head, SC

Friday, July 24th, 2009 by virginia

Almost every year since I’ve known them, Josh’s family heads down to Hilton Head, SC where Josh and his father golf every morning while everyone else spends the day on the beach or by the pool. It was relaxation at its very best, topped off by wonderful dinners every night at a different restaurant, ranging from down home low country cuisine to kid-friendly pizza parlors to upscale fine dining restaurants serving continental cuisine.

I still remember the first summer that I joined them, in 2003, when we drove down to Hilton Head from NJ, stopping in Charleston and Savannah along the way. I had never experienced “the south” before, and I loved everything from the beautiful houses with wrought iron gates out front to the friendly southerners with their sweet accents, and especially the food, of course – she crab soup, fried green tomatoes, and abundant fresh seafood. It was a new experience for me, since I grew up in a Chinese household where we either ate Chinese food at home or went out for Chinese food on the weekends. Treats for me were the occasional trips to Burger King or Pizza Hut. That trip really opened my eyes and helped turn me into the food lover that I am today.

Josh and I made the journey to Hilton Head for the next few summers after that, but soon “grown up life” set in and we both got jobs where vacation time was limited and we were eager to see other parts of the world. After a four-year hiatus, we finally returned to Hilton Head for a long weekend, just long enough for me to fall in love with it all over again and sad that we couldn’t stay for longer. A lot of the restaurants that I remember fondly are not there anymore but we still had some fabulous meals that brought back wonderful memories of previous Hilton Head trips. I can only hope for the time when these trips will once again become an annual journey for us.

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Tags: Hilton Head, South Carolina
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Hayashi Ya

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 by virginia

We had yet another Japanese menu slipped under our door, and since we were craving sushi we decided to give it a shot. There were lots of items to choose from and prices seemed pretty reasonable. We placed our order over the phone, and it arrived about 35 minutes later, which isn’t too shabby. Unfortunately, most of our hot food arrived pretty cold.

We started out with miso soups that had lots of tofu and seaweed in it, but it was lukewarm at best. The miso was mild in flavor, which I liked, since a lot of versions tend to be too salty. I supposed I could have nuked it in the microwave to warm it up a bit, but I was hungry and too lazy.

Lukewarm miso soups

We also ordered a chicken katsu combination, which came with rice, a small salad, and side dish of our choice. We opted for shrimp shumai, which were clearly the pre-made frozen kind and were totally ice cold in the middle. Too bad, because they were actually really tasty, but I guess I can just go to an Asian supermarket and pick these up for myself and warm them up correctly. The chicken katsu was a bit hotter, but not by much, and it was pretty soggy and greasy. I can forgive the soggy, since it has to be delivered in a covered container, but the greasiness was kind of gross, as the breading just tasted oily. Not pleasant. And also boo for the prepackaged katsu sauce. The salad was just chopped up lettuce and one tomato slice, but I did like the ginger dressing.

Chicken katsu, shrimp shumai, green salad with ginger dressing

We ordered a variety of our favorite standard sushi rolls, which included a tuna roll, a salmon avocado roll, a spicy tuna roll, and a yellowtail and scallion roll. I tend not to go for special rolls since all the fish just kind of gets mixed together and it’s hard to taste each component individually. I enjoyed the spicy tuna roll, which was not too mayo-y tasting, and the yellowtail and scallion roll, since yellowtail is my favorite fish. The tuna in the tuna roll was kind of stringy though, and the salmon was way too fishy, which is kind of scary. I also thought the sushi rice was a tad too sweet for my taste.

Spicy tuna roll, salmon avocado roll, tuna roll, and yellowtail scallion roll

Overall I thought the food from Hayashi Ya was pretty bad. The only thing that I really liked was the miso soup, but I can pretty much get that anywhere or have Josh make it. I didn’t enjoy their greasy chicken katsu at all, and the sushi was obviously not the freshest. Even though prices are pretty cheap, sushi is not something that you would want to trade quality for just to save a few pennies. And there are plenty of other restaurants that offer cheap prices, like Oyishi, and still provide pretty decent fish. I will definitely not be ordering in from here again.

Hiyashi Ya
857 9th Ave. between 55^th and 56^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Delivery, Japanese, Midtown West, Sushi
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Amadeus Pizza – Take Two

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 by virginia

I raved so much about Amadeus Pizza that Josh wanted to try it as well, since he was in Las Vegas the first time I ordered in from there. We placed an order on seamless web for a large cheese pie and garlic knots, and it arrived a short while later. I would have to give points for fast delivery, except that when we opened the box, the pizza looked disgustingly white.

An extremely pale pie

It was way undercooked, as the cheese was barely melted and didn’t have any bubbly brown spots to it at all.

Doesn't look much better close up

The crust was also a sickly pale color on top, though when I flipped it over to look at the bottom, it looked brown. Maybe their oven was on too high and they were worried about burning the pizza?

Underside shot

The garlic knots were nicely brown and still had an ample sprinkling of chopped garlic on top, but they were cold. They did come with a container of tomato sauce for dipping this time though, which I thought was a nice touch. The sauce was still warm at least.

At least the garlic knots were properly browned

The pizza was obviously horribly undercooked and cold. It was almost like they brought us a par-baked pizza, and we finished cooking it in our oven on our pizza stone. At least then it came out hot and crispy but to me, reheated pizza just isn’t the same as pizza fresh from the oven the first time. It still tasted pretty good after we re-baked it but I can’t get over how they would send out a pie that looked the way it did when it arrived. Seriously, it just looked gross, and Josh couldn’t believe that I liked it the first time. Believe me, it certainly didn’t look like that. I was embarrassed for having so highly recommended it in the first place. I was sorely disappointed, and don’t think we’ll be ordering in from them again any time soon.

Tags: Delivery, Midtown West, Pizza
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Morimoto

Sunday, July 19th, 2009 by virginia

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We had an extra special treat for this rendition of Sunday night dinner. We were trying to decide where to eat and somehow we ended up having the omakase at Morimoto. It was a nice surprise and quite a change from our usual Sunday night choices.

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I was really excited as we walked through the red curtains into the entrance of restaurant. I was surprised by the décor, as it was super sleek and modern. I guess I was expecting something a bit more Japanese in style? The tables are separated by glass walls, so it kind of feels like you’re sitting in clear cubicles. The glass is only a little bit frosted so you can still see the people around you. I guess it helps keep the noise level down, and so you don’t feel like the tables are too close together, though they are. Every time a server brushed against the glass to serve the other table, the glass shook and knocked into our table.

Funky wall made from glass bottles

Our waiter described the “chef’s choice” omakase menu to us, which varies every day. Today’s offering was seven courses, all of which sounded pretty good. Everyone at the table opted for the omakase, and ordered a few bottles of special Morimoto beer to start. The beers, which are made by Rogue, range from light to dark. Josh and I tried the Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale, which was like a dark porter and had a nice coffee taste to it.

Morimoto Black Obi Soba Ale

Josh’s dad had the Morimoto Soba Ale, which was much lighter and crisper.

Morimoto Soba Ale

Our first course was the toro tartare, topped with a little bit of osetra caviar and served spread out on a wooden plank on ice. At one end were the “condiments”, which included wasabi, crème fraiche, nori paste, chives, avocado cream, and rice cracker crumbs. There was a bowl of dashi soy for dipping as well.

Toro tartare

The bowl came with a little metal spatula/shovel, which you use to scrape up some toro, dip into the dashi soy, and scrape on whatever condiments you like. I was partial to the nori paste, the avocado cream, and the rice cracker crumbs, which provided a nice crunch. The toro was really delicious and we all scraped up every last bit. My only complaint was that the spatula/shovel is flat, so when I dipped into the dashi soy I tended to lose some toro in the liquid, as there was nothing really to keep it in place. Regardless, it was a fun dish to eat.

Tartare condiments - wasabi, crème fraiche, nori paste, chives, avocado cream, and rice cracker crumbs

The second course was fluke crudo seared with hot sesame oil accompanied by yuzu, microgreens, shiso, and mushroom. The sauce for this dish tasted exactly like the hot oil, scallion and soy sauce that my dad pours over steamed fish, a classic Chinese dish. It’s my favorite way of preparing fish, but meaty steamed fish, not thin slices of raw fish. I’m not saying that it tasted bad, which it didn’t, but the sauce totally overpowered the fluke, and the delicate flavor of the raw fish was completely lost. I liked the sauce, but I didn’t like it in this dish because I felt like it wasted the fish, if that makes sense.

Fluke crudo seared with hot oil

The third course was the “salad” course, with seared sockeye salmon on shiso tartar sauce accompanied by greens tossed with apple vinaigrette. The salmon was cooked perfectly – lightly seared on the outside and still very pink in the middle. The tartar sauce fortunately did not taste too strongly of shiso, as it’s an herb that tends to overpower, and had an interesting pink color to it. The salad and apple vinaigrette on its own tasted a bit too acidic, but when combined with the salmon and tartar sauce all the flavors worked out well together. This was one of my favorite dishes of the omakase.

Seared sockeye salmon on shiso tartar sauce

When we first placed our order, we were given a choice for the fourth course, either an oyster dish or a smoked salmon ravioli. Josh, his dad, and I all opted for the oyster while Josh’s mom and sister chose the smoked salmon ravioli. While we were waiting for this course to arrive, the waiter came by and told us they had run out of foie gras for the oyster so we would all be getting the smoked salmon ravioli. I thought it was poor planning on their part, and it was disappointing that they didn’t offer a substitute choice for the oyster. They should have come up with an alternative option, rather than just giving us all the smoked salmon by default. Not everyone wants to have salmon two courses in a row. Fortunately, I love smoked salmon, but unfortunately, I was disappointed by this dish. It was one tiny ravioli, filled with an insignificant portion of smoked salmon, sitting on top of pureed mountain yam and covered with yuzu foam. There were a few dots of salmon roe and dill as well. I found everything to taste a bit too bland, and there really wasn’t much textural difference between the ravioli and the yam. The salmon roe helped, but there wasn’t enough of it to provide enough of a salty punch. And I couldn’t help wishing that we had had the oyster instead.

Smoked salmon ravioli covered in yuzu foam

Our fifth course was sushi, which included pieces of unagi (eel), red snapper, Boston mackerel, silver whiting, and toro. The unagi was one of the better versions that I tasted, as it wasn’t covered in so much sauce so you could still taste the eel. The red snapper was also super fresh, and I enjoyed it even though I’m not usually fond of it. The mackerel was tasty as well, but my favorite was the toro. It was lush and fatty and just delicious. I didn’t like the whiting though, as I found the texture to be a bit too firm and it had a weird flavor to me but everyone else seemed to enjoy it.

Unagi (eel), red snapper, Boston mackerel, silver whiting, and toro sushi

Prior to our main course, we were given a palate cleanser of a shot of hibiscus tea topped with yuzu foam and pepper. It was actually really tasty, with the sour shock of yuzu bubbles followed by the sweetness of the tea, and just a tiny bit of pepper in the back of your throat. It was a beautiful presentation and definitely woke my taste buds up for the next dish.

Hibiscus tea topped with yuzu foam

For our main course, we had half a roasted lobster that was covered in garam masala and served with a little bowl of lemon crème fraiche. Also on the plate was a serving of wagyu beef with a sweet scallion sauce.

Lobster and wagyu beef

I liked the garam masala spices on the lobster, though if you’re not a fan of Indian food this wouldn’t be for you. I thought the lemon crème fraiche didn’t really go with the dish (it tasted like super sour lemon-flavored yogurt to me), but Josh’s sister liked it because it tempered the spice on the lobster.

The lobster was covered in garam masala and had a lemon creme fraiche dipping sauce on the side

The wagyu beef was pretty good, but it was a super thin slice and I thought the sauce overwhelmed the flavor of the beef. It was also a bit tougher than I thought it would be, considering it’s wagyu. There were pieces of yam with the beef that I enjoyed, but overall I found the dish to be a bit too sweet and cloying.

Wagyu beef with sweet scallion sauce

For the last course, dessert, we had a steamed almond cake with apricot ice cream and torched meringue. When they brought us the dessert, we were told it was mango ice cream, but when we tasted it, and had no mango flavor whatsoever. It tasted more peach-like but we couldn’t exactly place the flavor. We asked a different waiter, who told us that it was apricot. Apricot and mango? Not exactly the same thing. Regardless, I really enjoyed the almond cake, which was a bit gritty and chewy and sticky, if that makes any sense. Josh’s parents didn’t like the texture, but I guess maybe it’s an Asian thing to love things that are “QQ”. And once we found out it was apricot ice cream, then we could really taste the apricot flavor. However, I’m not sure that the apricot went well with the almond cake; I ended up eating each component separately.

Steamed almond cake with apricot ice cream

The service kind of surprised me a bit, as it was pretty casual. I would have thought a place like Morimoto would strive for perfection in every way, including service. While they did sweep the table when serving each course, plates were cleared before everyone at the table was finished eating. That’s a pet peeve because it makes everyone else feel rushed, me especially since I’m a slow eater and I like to savor my food. They also didn’t take much care when providing utensils for courses that required more than just chopsticks. Spoons and forks were haphazardly placed on the table, sometimes piled on top of each other messily. They took away Josh’s mom’s napkin when she went to the bathroom, and we had to ask them for a replacement. It was mostly little things, like incorrectly telling us what was in our dessert course, but all of that put together makes a huge difference in the end. For the amount of money that you spend at Morimoto, you want a nice complete experience.

Overall I was a bit disappointed with the omakase meal. I’ve always read that omakase is the way to go at Morimoto, but most of the items we had can be ordered a la carte, and nothing really blew my mind. I think we would have been better off ordering lots of different things and sharing them. The food that we ate wasn’t the best Japanese food I’ve ever had, nor the freshest tasting. A lot of courses were drowning in sauce, which really detracted from the overall flavor. If you’re supposedly serving high quality ingredients, why would you need to cover it up? It didn’t make sense to me. I might come back to Morimoto and order a few things off the regular menu, but I won’t be doing the omakase again.

Morimoto
88 10^th Ave. between 15^th and 16^th St.
New York, NY

Tags: Chelsea, Japanese, Omakase, Sushi
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Tick Tock Diner

Sunday, July 19th, 2009 by virginia

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We had a few errands to run so we headed to NJ to do some shopping at Willowbrook mall. We stopped for lunch along the way and ended up at the Tick Tock Diner in Clifton. This place was on an episode of “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”, though I don’t really remember that particular segment, as I only paid attention to when he visited White Manna in Hackensack, one of my favorite hamburger joints. Guy Fieri kind of annoys me so I only watch him when I hear about a place that interests me. They must be fans at the Tick Tock, as they have a huge autographed poster of him in the restaurant.

Autographed poster of Guy Fieri

The first thing that I saw when I opened the vast menu was disco fries, which I love so we ordered some for us to share. Disco fries are basically French fries with cheese and gravy. They listed American cheese on the menu though, which I find gross. We substituted swiss instead without any issues. Unfortunately, when the plate arrived, it was piled high with steak fries but very little cheese and gravy. Only the middle top pieces of fries were covered, leaving the fries on the outside and bottom hanging out to dry. The gravy was pretty tasty though, not too watery or greasy; I just wish there was more of it. We ended up eating only the cheesy fries and left the dry ones on the plate.

Disco fries with swiss cheese and gravy

I had a hard time choosing what I wanted for lunch, as many of the options sounded pretty good. I ended up choosing the “My Big Fat Greek Burger”, which is described as a lamb burger with feta tzatziki, eggplant medallion, and lettuce, served with seasoned fries. When it came, it didn’t look like how I pictured it would. The lamb patty was quite thin, there was only a small shmear of the tzatziki on the bun, the eggplant medallion a sad thin strip, and the lettuce was a few pieces of limp iceberg. Usually lamb burgers are fat and juicy, but this version just looked a bit sad.

"My Big Fat Greek Burger" with lamb and feta tzatziki

Nevertheless, it smelled pretty good so I carefully assembled everything together to make sure that I would get a bite of everything at once. The lamb patty itself was very flavorful, though people who don’t like gamey lamb should beware as it was super gamey. Unfortunately, it was also extremely dry. The thinness of the patty did nothing to help that, and it was completely cooked through (I wasn’t given an option of how I wanted it cook, not that it would have mattered since the patty was so thin). The eggplant was pretty much nonexistent in flavor, and the lettuce did absolutely nothing so I ended up pulling it out. The feta tzatziki was nicely salty and had good flavor but there wasn’t enough of it, which was too bad because it would have helped with the dryness factor.

Autopsy shot

While the lamb itself tasted good to me (I love gamey lamb), the dry texture was really off-putting. The patty was way too small for the bun, and the bread to filling ratio was pretty poor. The burger did come with seasoned waffle fries, my favorite, but these were a bit cold and soggy. It was not a well put together plate overall.

Josh ordered his diner standard, a triple decker turkey club. While the turkey wasn’t incredibly dry, it was really cold for some reason, like it had just been pulled straight from the refrigerator. It was colder than the lettuce and tomato on the sandwich, which I found kind of weird. The bacon was nice and crispy though, and there was a lot of it. The sandwich came with potato salad, which was pretty good and not overly drenched in mayo, but Josh doesn’t eat potato salad so he left it alone; I stole a few bites.

Turkey club with potato salad

Josh’s mom also had a hard time deciding what she wanted to eat so she ended up with eggs benedict. The eggs were a bit overdone but not completely hard boiled (they were, shall we say, medium rare?). The Canadian bacon was thickly sliced, which I liked, but the English muffin wasn’t toasted enough. The hollandaise was perfectly made, not too eggy or buttery, so overall the dish tasted pretty good.

Eggs benedict

To me, there’s nothing so special about the Tick Tock. It’s a diner, and it’s pretty much just like any other diner I’ve been to. The food is decent overall, but there are hits and misses as well. I wouldn’t order the lamb burger again but I’d try some of their other offerings. You pretty much can’t go wrong when you order standard diner food, and the food is pretty reasonably priced. It’s not a diner destination that you should go out of your way for, but if you happen to be hungry and driving along Route 3, it’s not a bad place to stop.

Tick Tock Diner
281 Alwood Rd.
Clifton, NJ

Tags: Burgers, Diner, Eggs Benedict, NJ
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Bread Tribeca

Saturday, July 18th, 2009 by virginia

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It was our Aussie mate’s birthday celebration so we headed downtown to Bread Tribeca, near our old neck of the woods. The restaurant isn’t huge but it has really high ceilings, giving it an open, lofty feel. Surprisingly, Josh and I were the first to arrive so we had some drinks at the bar while we waited for everyone else. Most people were running late, birthday girl included, but we didn’t have to worry about them holding our table as the restaurant was totally empty. There were some people eating in the small outdoor seating area in front, but we couldn’t figure out why the rest of the place was unoccupied during prime dinner hours on a Saturday night. We’ve eaten here once before so we knew the food wasn’t bad. Maybe it was just a sign of the times, or everyone was out of the city during this gorgeous weekend.

Nevertheless, the emptiness of the restaurant gave us the opportunity to go into full party mode. We had a large table in the corner and commenced with the feasting and drinking. For appetizers, we decided to share two orders each of the bruschetta, the fried calamari, and a prosciutto and artichoke pizza.

First out was the bread plate, which had a few thin slices of a rustic loaf and one pretzel roll. The pretzel roll was delicious and had come straight out from the oven so it was warm and crispy and chewy. The rustic bread was a bit tougher, making me wish there were more pretzel rolls on the plate.

Regular Italian bread and a pretzel roll

Fortunately our appetizers started coming out so I turned my attention away from the bread. The bruschetta was a bright green pesto sauce on top of the same rustic bread, topped off with a roasted cherry tomato. The pesto was fresh and chunky but it lacked enough garlic and seasoning. The tomato was good, but it was only one bite. I wish they had put more tomatoes on top of the bruschetta, which would have helped to boost the flavor. One order only came with three small pieces, so they definitely weren’t worth the price ($7) and I wouldn’t order them again.

Bruschetta with pesto sauce and roasted tomatoes

The fried calamari fared much better, as the coating was light and crispy. The accompanying tomato sauce was bright and chunky, and I liked that the calamari was on top of a bed of arugula. We squeezed lemon over the calamari and the arugula, and I tried to get everything on my fork together. The saltiness of the calamari, the sweetness of the tomato sauce, the bitterness of the arugula, and the tanginess of the lemon really made for a complete bite. It was also a pricey appetizer, however, as it was a fairly small portion for $14.

Fried calamari with marinara sauce

The pizza had a super thin and crackly crust. The prosciutto cotto they used was more ham-like than the usual di parma variety but I think that helped make the pizza easier to eat, since really cured prosciutto tends to dry out and get tough in the oven. It worked well with the pieces of artichoke scattered throughout.

Pizza with artichokes and prosciutto cotto

The pizzas were larger than we thought they would be, and one pie would have fed all of us easily; two pies were excessive, given all the other food we ordered.

Underside shot

For my main course, I had the pappardelle with beef ragu. The beef was a bit tough and had a nubbly texture (it was ground beef), but it had a nice rich rosemary flavor. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and the dish arrived steaming hot. Despite the beef texture issues, I really enjoyed this dish a lot.

Pappardelle with beef ragu and rosemary

Josh had chicken Milanese, which was served with fingerling potatoes and a caper-sage-lemon sofrito. The chicken was not as crispy as it could have been and tasted like it had been cooked in butter, which soaked a bit into the breading. The accompanying potatoes were good though, and the sofrito, as well as a squeeze of lemon over the top, really brightened everything up. I still prefer Milanese to be served over a salad, however, as fresh vegetables will cut through the heaviness of the breaded chicken.

Chicken milanese with fingerling potatoes

For dessert, the waiter very thoughtfully sent out a slice of ricotta cheesecake for the birthday girl. I snagged a bite and it was creamy and not too rich. I originally just wanted a glass of limoncello for dessert but they ran out of it, so I ended up ordering the frittelle with chocolate-basil sauce. They turned out to be little round fried doughnuts that you dip into the accompanying chocolate sauce. The sauce was dark and bitter, and I couldn’t taste any basil in it at all. The doughnuts were freshly fried and crispy, but I found the dish to be too heavy and not quite sweet enough to be satisfying.

Frittelle with chocolate-basil sauce.

Overall the food at Bread Tribeca was pretty good, but a bit overpriced. I guess that can’t be helped in this neighborhood. The service was a tad overly attentive, but probably because we were basically the only people in the restaurant. I did think that the waiter was a bit heavy handed with the wine pouring, as he poured full glasses so that one bottle wasn’t enough to go around the table. He also constantly refilled everyone’s glass, even people who weren’t planning on drinking more than the initial pour. We ended up switching glasses around to accommodate, and didn’t succumb to the pressure to order more wine than we intended. It was really nice of him to bring the birthday girl a complimentary slice of cheesecake though.

The restaurant seems like a good place for big groups, and for people who are looking to have a nice night out. I think it would be a great first date kind of place. All in all we had a fun night, and hopefully the birthday girl had a blast as well.

Bread Tribeca
301 Church St. at Walker St.
New York, NY

Tags: Italian, Tribeca
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