Restaurant Review: Alder

Eh. I have to say that Alder was a bit of a let down. I must caveat that I was not feeling 100% the day I went with Jeremy, but we agree on the so-so-ness of Alder. First of all, I was a bit confused by the atmosphere of the place. The decor was pretty bare and there was just nothing memorable about it. It was dimly lit, so my pictures are exceptionally poor this time, sorry. Also, our waitress was kind of awkward, but she was fine service-wise. Now the food...

We ordered 5 dishes to share, starting with the Pickled Beets. They were served with coconut ricotta and Thai basil crystals. The beets were not very pickley, which is good actually, because it went well with the creamy, not-too-sweet, coconut ricotta. The Thai basil was super interesting because it was somehow crystallized and reminded me of colored sugar (like the kind you use to decorate cupcakes). It provided a nice textural contrast and overall I thought this was a good starter.

Pickled Beets

Next was the Chicken Liver Toast. Unfortunately for this dish, we just had an amazing iteration of Chicken Liver with Toast at Charlie Bird, so this version fell flat. It was served on top of cornbread with grapefruit marmalade around it and a piece of crispy chicken skin on top. Since chicken liver is creamy, it seemed weird to put it on top of cornbread as it is a soft vehicle and it all kind of mushed together. It didn't help that the liver was under seasoned. However, the grapefruit marmalade gave a nice tang, and the chicken skin on top was super crispy and savory.

Chicken Liver Toast

The next course was the Fried Squash Blossoms. Two flaky cornucopias were served on a slate board filled with blended smoked shrimp, summer squash, celtuce, and some fresh dill. This was probably the best dish of the night. The outside was crispy and the inside was creamy and flavorful. There was a nice sauce drizzled on top too.

For our entrees, we split the Rye Pasta and the Beef Tongue. The concept of the Rye Pasta was cool - rye flavored pasta with shaved pastrami in it (like the classic kosher deli sandwich), however I probably would have preferred the actual sandwich. The pasta was dry and it needed some kind of sauce. I personally thought a nice mustard-based sauce would go well, but what do I know.

The Beef Tongue was served thinly sliced with smoked yucca, pickled cippolini, and chimichurri dashi. This was pretty good. The tongue was tasty and the dashi broth was nice. Nothing to run back for. I can't even remember any other thoughts I had about it.

Rye Pasta

Beef Tongue

Needless to say I will not be returning or recommending this spot. It was pretty expensive, about $150 for this meal (including 2 beers), and there are plenty of other restaurants that have food good enough to command this rate.

Restaurant Review: Charlie Bird

Last night Jeremy and I decided to have date night and check out a new spot that we've been hearing about over and over, Charlie Bird. A bit pretentious at first glance, especially when they gave away our table after we were 10 minutes late. Let me ask, who isn't 10 minutes late to a reservation? Anyway, we waited just about another 10 minutes and they "figured something out" for us. It's a trendy spot in the West Village; a decent size with a happening bar. Our waiter was quite friendly and attentive, so A+ for service.

More importantly, the food was excellent. We both thoroughly enjoyed every part of our meal.

We each kicked it off with a cocktail. Me with the "Two One Two," a mix of tequila, Aperol, and grapefruit, and Jeremy with the "Old Pal," a mix of rye, vermouth, and Campari. Both were very nice.

Left: Old Pal
Right: Two One Two

We started our meal with two small plates - Grilled Octopus and Tuscan Chicken Liver. We told them we were sharing everything and it all came pre-separated, which I greatly appreciated. This way, I can eat at my leisure and there is no swatting of the fork when Jeremy goes for my portion.

The Grilled Octopus was served with speckled beans and green garlic. It was grilled to perfection with a nice, crisp exterior and it was juicy and tender inside. It had great garlic flavor too, without being overpowering.

Grilled Octopus

The Tuscan Chicken Liver was served in a bowl with toast on the side. I normally don't mind chicken liver, but Jeremy loves it. This liver, however, was actually delicious. It was not irony, as I normally expect, and it was creamy and seasoned very well, which I guess is "Tuscan" style. We had to ask for more toast to ensure we scraped the bowl clean.

Tuscan Chicken Liver

Our next course was the Duck Egg Spaghetti, split into two portions all tied up with uni on top, spring onions and lemon. The uni, or sea urchin, was a small portion but packed a powerful punch. A bit fishy as expected, but did not overpower the entire dish. The lemon provided a nice acidic balance and a fresh taste. Not 100% sure if the pasta was homemade, but it tasted like it!

Duck Egg Spaghetti

Last was the Grilled Black Bass. This was also portioned out for us, and the fish was served atop of a shitload of tomatoes. There were chunks and slices of heirloom tomatoes, and little tiny tomatoes cooked in someway that made them shrivel up still attached to the vine. All of this sat in a broth made with Lambrusco, a type of wine. The bass was cooked perfectly, and I personally loved the acidity the tomatoes brought. However, Jeremy thought it was a bit much. I am more of a tomato lover than he is.

Grilled Black Bass

Overall, we had a very nice experience. Great spot for date night, or even a double date. A little pricey, I will warn you, but worth it. I would definitely return!

Restaurant Review: Umami Burger

Tonight I checked out the new CA transplant, Umami Burger. Of course, they do not take reservations. We were a party of 3 and did not have to wait too long at 7pm on a Wednesday night (though one member of the party was there 15 min earlier to get our name on the list). After 7pm, there was a significant line forming. Anyway, we got hooked up with a sweet booth in the back and enjoyed our meal.

We decided to start with two orders of fries, one regular thin fries and one sweet potato. The regular fries were crispy and savory, and the sweet potato fries were very sweet. They were actually served with brown sugar on top which was interesting. I only wished they were served with some special dipping sauce too.

Now for the burgers. I went splitsies and tried half of the Classic Burger with shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions, roasted tomato, a Parmesan crisp, and Umami ketchup. The other half was of the Truffle Burger with house-made truffle cheese and truffle glaze. Both were really delicious. We got them medium rare and they came juicy, savory, flavorful, and just awesome. The Parmesan crisp on the Classic was a nice added touch. The Truffle Burger had cheese literally oozing out of it, but it was gooey and truffley and mmm so good. Also, the buns were nice and soft and had a cool "U" burned into the top. Nice branding opportunity.

Truffle Burger

"Umami" means savory, and all of our food was just that. I had heard so much excitement around this new, amazing burger spot, and it did not disappoint. I have had a lot of great burgers, and this is near the top of the list. I suggest you try!

Restaurant Review: The Meatball Shop

Tonight Jeremy and I gave the new UES location of The Meatball Shop a try. We have been to the West Village location and had a great experience, so naturally we were excited when we heard their biggest location yet would be opening just 3 short blocks away. Why not cap off a great Labor Day Weekend with a ball-rific dinner?

We had great service - did not have to wait at all, which was a big plus, and our food came very quickly. Everyone was super friendly. It's a fun place, and I especially like the laminated menus that allow you to use markers to check off what you want.

As for the food, we had 2 different orders of "naked balls," which is four meatballs served with your choice of sauce and a stick of focaccia bread. We got spicy pork balls with mushroom gravy sauce and chicken balls with pesto sauce. The balls are a nice size, not too dense, and very delicious. Even the chicken ball had tons of flavor. My favorite part was the pesto sauce. While it was a little oily, it had toasted pine nuts in it, so that was a nice touch.

For sides, we got the two daily specials - sweet corn and cherry tomato risotto and roasted squash with chili lemon butter. I was a little disappointed with both. I expected the risotto to be super creamy, but it wasn't. I mean it was fine, just not what I expected. And I really did not like the squash. The chili lemon butter gave it a weird kick, and I am pretty sure there were a few other spices like paprika or cumin that did not mix well and gave it an odd flavor.

From Top to Bottom:
Spicy Pork Balls with Mushroom Gravy Sauce
Sweet Corn and Cherry Tomato Risotto
Roasted Squash with Chili Lemon Butter
Chicken Balls with Pesto Sauce

For dessert, I had to try one of their famous ice cream sandwiches. Glad I did! They give you the option to mix and match the 2 cookies and the ice cream, so I went with snickerdoodle and honey vanilla cookies (daily special) and the brown sugar ice cream (daily special) in the middle. The snickerdoodle cookie was actually a bit hard, but the honey vanilla was super chewy and buttery-delicious. The brown sugar ice cream was sweet and it all came together well.

Ice Cream Sandwich

Will definitely be returning, especially to try some more of their daily specials, which vary by location. A cute, fun, casual, cheap spot! What more can you ask for?

Restaurant Review: Mission Chinese

Finally made it to Mission Chinese! Such a hole in the wall, which we all know means it's the best. This small, sort of dingy looking spot in the Lower East Side lived up to all of the hype (at least in my book). We had to wait about 45-60 minutes for a table at 6:30 on a Tuesday, but this was for a party of 5. We expected a wait, so this was fine and we just got a drink around the corner. They called us when our table was ready, which is so great for a restaurant to offer, so you don't have to stand around. When our time came, we were led down a narrow hallway to the back of the restaurant which had under 20 tables and a few seats at the bar. We were a little overwhelmed with the wide variety of options on the menu, but I was excited about some of the unusual offerings. The waiter was super helpful in finalizing our meal when we gave him our proposed rundown. And here it goes...

I think I have established I love pickled vegetables, so I suggested Tartine's Spicy Carrot Pickles. The carrots were sour and spicy and had a great crunch. A nice start to the meal and a good way to get some veggie representation on the table.

Tartine's Spicy Carrot Pickles

Next was Steamed Eggplant in Chili Bean Sauce. This was a fine dish, nothing crazy. The eggplant was soft and mushy and covered in the chili bean sauce which gave it a kick. Nice for just a taste.

Then came the Crispy Pig Ears with Old Bay seasoning and country ham powder. These were AWESOME. Everyone at the table looked at me a little funny when I suggested it, but we went with it, and thank god. The waiter assured me these weren't TOO Old Bay-y, because I am not the biggest fan of the seasoning, but can tolerate it. For those that are not familiar, Old Bay is found a lot in the Mid-Atlantic region and served with fresh crab or on french fries (among other things). Anyway, these pig ears were fried to perfection, super crispy, seasoned well and totally addicting. I had to remind myself to leave some for the others.

Next were the Griddled Lamb Meatballs with seven spice, toasted nori, Worcestershire sauce and served with potatoes. It came with 4 meatballs (we actually thought there were more, but potatoes were mistaken for balls) that were moist, savory, and complimented by the nori (type of seaweed). A nice appetizer.

Then came the Thrice Cooked Bacon. This is apparently a popular dish, and I can see why. A total indulgence, but great to share. The bacon was served with Shanghainese rice cakes, tofu skin, bitter melon, and chili oil. This was SPICY. They warn you on the menu, and they did not lie. You can push away some of the chili flakes to ease the fire, but it most definitely has a kick. As we were all trying our first bites, we forgot what the round white things were. They had this kind of weird soft chewy texture that lead your mind in a few different directions. We were all chewing thinking "well, this could definitely be something weird but I am trying to be open-minded...." but then the waiter reminded us that they were rice cakes. This revelation completely changed our mind set and made the texture totally acceptable and even good! Funny how that works. The bacon was unreal, but I probably don't even need to tell you that.

Top Left - Crispy Pig Ears
Top Right - Griddled Lamb Meatballs
Bottom - Thrice Cooked Bacon

The next round of food started with the Egg Egg Noodles. These egg noodles came with a soft hen egg, ginger, scallion, and black vinegar. You crack open the egg and release the goodness, and mix it all up. This was a mild noodle dish, which was needed as many of our other dishes were spicy. I love a good runny egg all over my food, so that was plus, and this was just plain tasty. And yes that is cilantro you see below, but don't worry, I was able to dig around it. 

Egg Egg Noodles

Then out came the Broccoli Beef Brisket with smoked oyster sauce. This was super tender brisket, a little fatty, and the smoked oyster sauce provided so much salty/smokey flavor (however they probably could have laid off a little on the sauce). The broccoli on top I think may have actually been broccolini, but either way it was very green, crisp, and crunchy. Great textural contrast.

Broccoli Beef Brisket (photo credit: Alicia Dreher)

Overall, this place rocked. So casual, fun, cheap (surprisingly so), and DELICIOUS. I will absolutely be back and I have already picked out everything else I want to try....

Restaurant Review: Sen NYC

I went to Sen NYC with two of my besties to celebrate a special birthday (aren't they all special?). We had some decent food, however, the service was bad and I would consider this place overpriced.

Service:
To start, the waiter brought us edamame though we did not order it. He told us to keep it anyway which was nice, but then forgot to take it off the bill. So we had to remind him of that. That was when we finally got the bill. The waiter went very MIA after we got our food. I think it took about 30 minutes for him to come back after he cleared dessert to ask if we wanted the check. The only upside to that was I had a wonderful time catching up with my girls.

Food:
We ordered several dishes and split between the 3 of us. We started with edamame (as forementioned, on the house), which was actually really good. Probably the most flavorful and well cooked edamame I have had, and salted just right.

Edamame

Next was the Tuna Tartare, with takuan pickle, shallot, cured quail egg, crispy wonton, and spicy yuzo dressing. This was delicious too, but such a small portion. Not what I was expecting for $16. However, it had a nice textural balance and the quail egg made such a difference in flavor.

Tuna Tartare (sorry for the poor quality photo)

Then came 2 rolls, the Hot Tuna (tuna with three spiced chili sauce) and another specialty roll that is slipping my mind. They were both good rolls, but clearly not too memorable! I always think that all sushi is good, because if it's bad, then it's BAD. So I mean, yea it was good sushi with nice fresh ingredients.

Also, we got the Cahan Rice Pot. This included garlic fried rice, a slow cooked egg that you could break open and mix in, shaved green onion, and sesame seeds. This was a great dish that complimented our other dishes well. This was a bit more substantial and I always like egg mixed in, so that was a plus. I would definitely order this again.

Last was the Harami Garlic Skewer. This came with 3 skewers of wagyu skirt steak and crisped garlic chips on top. The steak was very tasty but a little chewy. However, that is basically the definition of skirt steak, so in other words it was exactly what you might expect. There was a nice garlic flavor and the chips were in fact crispy.

Sushi Rolls, Cahan Rice Pot, and Harami Garlic Skewer

Last was the green tea ice cream (no photo). A favorite flavor of mine, and this did not disappoint. We split one scoop and that's all we needed. It was rich, creamy, and tasted authentic and homemade.

Overall, I probably would not return. There are so many other places for Japanese food and Sen NYC did not offer anything above and beyond, including service.

Restaurant Review: Red Farm

I was meeting a friend in the West Village around 8:00 on Friday night, so I decided to take this opportunity to get a table at RedFarm with Jeremy. Typically there is always a huge crowd lingering outside of the restaurant waiting anxiously for a table, however I got there around 6:45 and was seated immediately. By 7 pm, every table was filled. I didn't realize that there is a downstairs seating area that has a separate entrance, but that is where we were taken. The place has rustic decor with some small tables, but mainly a large communal table in the center of the room. Service was good, and we received our food quickly.

We both started with a beer, me with the Sixpoint Sweet Action, and Jeremy with the Peak Organic IPA. Both were good and nice compliment to the food we ordered. Speaking of food...

We chose 4 dishes to split: Shu Mai Shooters, Katz's Pastrami Egg Roll, Pac Man Shrimp Dumplings, and Wide Rice Noodles with BBQ'd Roast Duck.

The Shu Mai Shooters were presented nicely with 4 double shot glasses containing carrot and ginger bisque with a scallop and squid dumpling sitting on top. The shu mai was delicious and did not have an overpowering fishy taste. It was also just the right amount of salty. The carrot and ginger bisque was VERY gingery. I think I am just sensitive to ginger, because Jeremy was sucking these down. I did like this dish overall because it was actually two things that complimented each other well.

Shu Mai Shooters

Katz's Pastrami Egg Roll was as amazing as it sounds. It was the pastrami of all pastrami stuffed inside an egg roll and deep fried, and served with honey mustard. It was served warm and super crispy on the outside, yet not at all greasy. This dish is just the best idea ever. You must order it.

Katz's Pastrami Egg Roll

The Pac Man Shrimp Dumplings must be their top seller by far. Every single party at the communal table ordered this, and the same waitress brought them all out with her memorized shpeel describing the dish. She was Ms. Pac Man. Anyways, this dish was totally adorable. There was a piece of fried sweet potato shaped like Pac Man directed towards 4 dumpling "ghosts." Each dumpling was made with shrimp, but each one was different in that one also had bamboo, one also had lobster, and I forget the other two. But they were all good. A dumpling is a dumpling you know? Some are better than others, and these count as the better ones. But it's hard for me to tell you why. The fried sweet potato was awesome because anything fried pretty much is. And it was sitting in a dollop of mushed avocado which provided a nice flavor and textural compliment. This was a good dish overall, but I think it is more about how fun and creative the idea behind it is than the actual food.

Pac Man Shrimp Dumplings

Against the recommendation of our waitress, our "entree" was the Wide Rice Noodles with BBQ'd Roast Duck. She suggested we get something from the entree section as the noodles are made to compliment the entree dishes, but honestly this all was plenty of food for us. We both really liked this one. The roast duck was laid on top in slices, with super savory and crispy skin and juicy, tender meat underneath. There was a layer of fat, which normally I hate, but this was really very delicious duck. The noodles were in a brown sauce and had probably an entire red onion with it. This would be my only complaint, the abundance of red onion. While it was cooked onion, it was still a bit overpowering. I think the noodle to red onion ratio was 1:1.

Wide Rice Noodles with BBQ'd Roast Duck

We opted out of dessert because we had to run, but overall we had a nice experience. While the restaurant has a nice ambiance, and has a fun, playful menu that is very delicious, it is a bit pricey for what it is. While way less glamorous, it is hard to pay $100 knowing you can go to Prosperity Dumpling and for just $2.50, receive 10 super tasty, authentic dumplings. Just sayin.