Mr. Chow
Dear Mr. Chow,
Your restaurant is trendy. I was impressed with the modern decor with lots of expensive flowers all over the restaurant. We were immediately escorted to our table and greeted by our team of tuxedo-clad waiters right away. It was a nice touch to have such professionally dressed servers even though most of the patrons were in shorts and t-shirts the Sunday evening I was in your restaurant.
I thought your restaurant week menu included a lot of variety and enjoyed sharing several dishes family style. While everything was piping hot and presented elegantly, unfortunately the food was not memorable to me. I tried the Squab with Lettuce, which lacked flavor and was slightly dry. We actually left much of the dish over (I never leave the chicken lettuce wraps over at CPK or PF Changs).
The MR CHOW Noodles were overcooked udon type noodles with what appeared to be topped with the same mixture as the squab. Even if it wasn’t the same, the taste and consistency were very similar. I would have ordered differently had I known.
The best dish we had was the Ma Mignon, which was very soft fillet encrusted with peppercorn. Very tasty – cooked perfectly.
The Velvet Chicken wasn’t memorable and lacked taste.
I enjoyed the string beans (but then again I also enjoy very similar string beans at the local Chinese takeout).
The dessert for two was “intermezzo” sized scoops of ice cream and sorbet. The small scoop was not enough to warrant calling it a “third course.”
While I enjoyed the experience and the company I was with, the food just wasn’t good enough for me to recommend your restaurant to friends and family or for me to return in the near future (especially for the premium price).
Best regards,
Jay
Rating:
Food – 6/10
Ambiance – 9/10
Service – 9/10
Category:
Food Type – Chinese
Style – Trendy
Price – Expensive
Address/ phone: 121 Hudson Street (Hudson/North Moore), 212-965-9500
Web – mrchow.com
Pampano New York
Some may disagree, but I feel Pampano has seen better days. First impression, a musty smell. We were promptly seated upstairs. Though the booth we were seated in was away from the other tables in a private corner, the upholstery had several stains and needed changing. When I looked up to the once impressive vaulted cielings, the curtains had water damage. It feels like a refresh is needed.
The Paella Mariscada had shrimp, calamari, scallops, octopus, cilantro rice, achiote-coconut sauce ( $27.00). Presentation was a little flat… just rice and seafood on a plate. Though not listed on the menu, the chorizo included in the rice overpowered the rice in flavor and greasiness. As a result of the chorizo, I didn’t taste the cilantro rice, achiote-coconut sauce. Every bite of my meal tasted exactly the same.
I enjoy paella more when it is served in the pan or pot that it is prepared in. This dish was missing the crispiness of the rice that can be achieved from pan presentation. And, by the way, since when is Paella Mariscada Mexican? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella.
I wouldn’t be as critical of the food and decor if prices were knocked down about $5 per entree. The 5 shrimp included in the Chor Camarones Al Ajillo shrimp, tomato, almond pipian, though cooked well, were not substantial enough to warrant the $28 cost. The corn, rajas tamal was not as sweet as tamals I have tried at other restaurants (such as Mesa Grill) and was a little dry for my taste.
Four $14 margaritas (2 each) added significantly to our tab. They were made well (with a heavy hand).
The drinks combined with overpriced entrees resulted in a $120 tab. We had Blackboard eats 30% discount. Even with the discount, I’d rather go somewhere newer and cooler for the price. I’d say go to Mercadito instead of Pampano for Mexican food.
Rating:
Food – 6/10
Ambiance – 7/10
Service – 6/10
Category:
Food Type – Mexican
Style – Casual
Price – Expensive
Wanna go?
Address/phone –
209 East 49th Street, Between 2nd and 3rd Avenues, 212-751-4545
website- richardsandoval.com/pampano/
OpenTable – opentable.com/pampano
menu – menupages.com/restaurants/pampano
Boi to Go
Update 9/8/2010 : There’s a for rent side on the window of Boi to go – told you so!
Boi oh boy… I am not sure what to say about Boi, but at this point I am confident it won’t be good.
Now I am not an expert on Vietnamese food, but I can’t imagine going to Vietnam and getting something that resembled what I just ate at Boi to Go.
Step 1 – Select one base – rice, noodles, burrito, salad or wrap. I picked Jasmine rice. My first wrong choice. They said rice noodles would have been lighter… looking back having one “light” element to the dish would have be nice.
Step 2- Select a meat. I picked curried chicken meat balls with honey-hoisin. Second wrong choice.
Step 3- Add lots of seemingly unrelated items to the top. I am talking corn, peanut, cabbage, lettuce, etc.
Step 4- Top it all off with an overpowering sauce. I picked peanut, but all I could taste was the hoison from the meatballs (they may have given me the wrong sauce).
The plate was overwhelming to look at, overwhelming to attempt to eat, and as I sit to write this review, my stomach feels quite overwhelmed as well.
To top it off, this bowl was not cheap $11 with drink). It might be due to the fact that they are paying the salaries of literally 6 people behind the counter with about 3 customers while I was there. Also, the expensive midtown location is in a very intimidating building (the one with 24 hr police presence and concrete barricades on 42 street and 2nd).
Rating:
Food – 5/10
Ambiance – 5/10
Service – 6/10
Category:
Food Type – Vietnamese
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Address/ phone: 800 2nd Ave (Btwn 42nd & 43rd St), 212- 681-1122
menu: menupages.com/restaurants/boi-to-go/menu
New York City Street Fair Food Guide
It’s that time of the year. Last weekend as I walked my way through NYC, I stumbled across three New York City street fairs.
This guide will go through NYC street fair food options. I will divide street fair food into three categories.
- Food I look forward to eating at each fair
- Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences (i.e indigestion, a lost tooth)
- Pleasant surprises
Hopefully this guide will help locals and tourists alike to navigate NYC street fair food options.
Food I look forward to eating at each fair
I will pick up some pickles if, for some reason, I have no pickles in my fridge.
Kettle corn: I most likely won’t buy this, I have plenty of equally enjoyable Orville Redenbacher at home, but I will try a free sample.
Sticking with corn, how can you go wrong with fresh corn? I like how most use the grill to char the corn.
Another corn product is the sweet corn arepa. How can you go wrong with melted mozzarella and sweet corn?
Food I never consider eating because I am scared of unintended consequences
This may be controversial but I never want a candy apple during the summer. Candy Apples are a Fall food for me. I am also afraid that I will lose a tooth when I bite into the hard shell.
Dirty hands making falafel balls and frying in oil on a dirty street, no thanks. The same applies to Zeppoles. I will sometimes try a spinach pie though.
Fear of indigestion, continued…
No desire to have one of those smoothies. How could they possibly wash all that fruit with no running water? They also use the same dirty blenders all day! If you do happen to be by a fair when it’s closing they may sell bananas and other unused fruit for next to nothing. That I will go for!
I may have a crepe or two in Paris, but not on a NYC street…
Pleasant surprises
I would try a lobster roll at lunch time!
As the summer goes by, I will add some pictures of some of the pleasant surprise food options that I come across.
Street Fair Calendars:
Locanda Verde
I wanted to enjoy Locanda Verde more than I did. I had heard a lot of buzz about the place and when it came up as an option for a casual weekend lunch with friends while in Tribeca, we jumped on it. It is a cool setting in a cool neighborhood. The food, however, didn’t match the expectation for me.
My Broccoli Rabe Sausage Grinder with spicy peperonata and ricotta ($15) sounded better on the menu than it actually tasted. I can’t point out much that was wrong other than the greasiness of the sandwich. The bread and sausage were fresh and everything tasted fine but it just wasn’t one of those sandwiches that had me saying “I need to come back and order this sandwich!” Is that too much to ask for $15 for two pieces of sausage?
The Rustic Potatoes with garlic and parmigiano-reggiano ($6) were also quite greasy.
Drinks were good, especially this spiked lemonade with pear vodka. Perfectly refreshing for a summer day. Most recommended item on the menu.
I bet a pasta dinner would be a lot more memorable so maybe I’ll give it a try again for dinner.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 8/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Wanna go?
Address/phone –377 Greenwich St (corner of N.Moore and Greenwich) , 212-925-3797
website- locandaverdenyc.com
menu - menupages.com/restaurants/locanda-verde
Sinigual New York
I recall walking by Sinigual as they were building it and thinking the entrance is not very inviting. I am not a follower of Feng Shui but something about this place on 42 street didn’t seem very inviting. Several months later, my wife and I were in the neighborhood around lunch time and decided to give it a try. They obviously put a lot of money into Sinigual. Unfortunately, is very little that differentiates Sinigual from every other overpriced Mexican place in NYC, except for the fact that they started the meal with fresh tortillas instead of chips. I liked the tortillas but wasn’t sure what to do with the salsa and butter on the table. My wife had chicken fajitas, which were good enough. A highlight was the little scoop corn mash that i used to love to get at Chevy’s as a kid (it was no better than Chevy’s). I had the fish tacos. The piece of fish inside was very small and all I remember from the meal was the mayo that overpowered. I asked for hot sauce to overpower the mayo. All in all, stick with Mercadito for Mexican in NYC.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 7/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Mexican
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate
Wanna go?
Address/phone – 150 E 42nd St (At 41st & 3rd Ave), 212- 286-0250
website- sinigualrestaurants.com
menus – menupages.com/restaurants/sinigual
OpenTable – opentable.com/sinigual-new-york
99 Cent Fresh Pizza
For those who are curious, the 5th location of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza opened up in Murray Hill at 201 E 34th Between 2nd and 3rd. I recently had a chance to try their pizza, which rivals Celeste and Ellio’s. The place is totally not worth a review, but I did notice one thing that is worth mentioning. For $2.75, they offer a special that includes “battle” water and 2 slices of their crappy pizza…. It might be worth buying the pizza and throwing it out if the “battle water” will give you an edge in you next fight.
Macelleria
Having experienced many Italian restaurants in NYC, I typically say most in NYC are either really good or really bad. Macelleria is somewhere in the middle.
We enjoyed a well executed Italian meal with efficient service in a festive environment. Macelleria is the perfect place for a celebration – the crowd is young and the energy is high. The restaurant is next to several trendy clubs/nightspots.
A few nitpick items stand out as separates Macelleria from some of the higher rated establishments.
We started with pasta. I had the wild boar pappardelle. The pasta was piping hot and cooked perfectly but I thought the wild boar sauce tasted and looked like standard chuck meat. The waiter said it was cooked for over three hours but I didn’t get the special “wild boar” taste I’m used to from ordering the dish at other places. We shared the Prime Dry Aged New York Strip Steak as well as the Branzino – both were well done. They were both very flavorful.
The sides were nothing to write home about… the spinach was a little bitter from my friend’s perspective. The roasted potatoes were crunchy and crispy but I could have used a few more on the plate.
Dessert was good, but they tried to play off standard “food service” ice cream as gelato.
Rating:
Food – 7/10
Ambiance – 7/10
Service – 7/10
Category:
Food Type – Italian
Style – Casual
Price – Moderate (Meatpacking price inflation)
Wanna go?
Address/phone –
48 Gansevoort St | Btwn Greenwich & Washington St, 212-741-2555
website- macelleriarestaurant.com
menus – menupages.com/restaurants/macelleria
Open Table- opentable.com/macelleria
Dong Yi Feng
In the almost all Chinese Flushing neighborhood there are many Dim Sum options. I chose Dong Yi Feng because the outside and dining room seemed nicer than many of the places I walked by (take that with a grain of salt).
I had a dim sum feast! First, I picked steamed rice noodle roll with shrimp inside. I was not a fan of the consistency of this one – a little too gooey for my taste- and it was a little cold.
Next, the piping hot and extremely flavorful pork dumplings made up for the shrimp.
I moved onto an overly greasy chive cake that like the shrimp dim sum was lacking flavor.
Finally, the stuffed eggplant with shrimp was a little greasy but very tasty.
I got a kick out of the bill – I was thoroughly stuffed for under $12!
Service was abrupt at times and friendly at times. No one knew English, but they were helpful and gave me a cheat sheet with pictures.
As someone who works on branding for a living I was quite confused by the lack of clarity in the naming of the restaurant. On the check it says Dong Ye Feng, The sign outside says Jong Yi Feng, and I noticed a bag on the counter that said Tung Yi Feng. I wonder if the names all have slightly different meanings?
All in all, I don’t recommend traveling out to Flushing from NYC for this mediocre food, but I do recommend eating your way through Queens and exploring the many vibrant neighborhoods.
Rating:Food – 6/10
Ambiance – 6/10
Service – 6/10 Category:
Food Type – Chinese, Dim Sum
Style – Tacky
Price – Reasonable Wanna go?
Address – 135-29 37th Ave, Flushing, NY 11354, 718- 886-8233
Nana
There’s no room for Nana in Murray Hill. Always excited for a new place, but my dining experience tonight was all I needed to know that the Nana doesn’t have what it takes to make it beyond a year. Nana is undifferentiated and no better than any of the other generic sushi places in the neighborhood including Hana, Iron Sushi, Tony’s, Akane, etc. For the record, the only good sushi place in Murray Hill is Mishima. Back to Nana… they only had one server for the place. He didn’t know the difference between shumai and vegetable dumplings. My Chirashi was fresh but it took too long to arrive. The pieces of fish were too big and lacked the flavors you will remember from a higher quality place.
To top it off, they are attempting to fool Yelpers with a review and professional photos from the owner, or someone related… Check it out and let me know if I am right or wrong? http://www.yelp.com/biz/nana-sushi-manhattan. I suspect bigmouth s. as being somehow paid by the ill nana.
Rating:
Food – 5/10
Ambiance – 6/10
Service – 5/10
Category:
Food Type – Japanese
Style – Trendy
Price – Reasonable
Wanna go?
Address – 511 3rd ave, Manhattan, NY 10016 (At 34th St)
website- http://www.nanasushi.com