Glenn C
Google
Winter Restaurant Week Review 3/6-
Recommendations for restaurant week: Apps- Goat cheese salad or pappardelle. Mains- Pomegranate duck, schnitzel, or branzini. Desserts- Persian lime pie. Lime pie is Steve's quality, and you can quote me on that.
Drink: Hot Toddy with bourbon, St. Germaine, honey, lemon, and clove for $12, which was standard and helped warm me up after walking across the bridge to get there.
Bread- Focaccia and olive oil to begin with.
For appetizers, my favorite that didn't have an extra charge was the Pistachio Crusted Goat Cheese Salad. The highlight, of course, was the goat cheese, which was nutty and slightly funky. I wish there were more roasted beets, and otherwise, I found the dressing a bit light. For $3 extra, there was the Pappardelle with buffalo oxtail ragu, which was small but tastier. The pasta wasn't the biggest portion, but it was perfectly cooked, and the ragu had a good consistency. If you don't mind paying a bit more, I would recommend it. The remaining appetizer, the Ozark Bar-B-Q Ribs, was a bit disappointing. While I liked the sauce, which had a sweet and spicy flavor, the ribs were very tough and a bit too fatty.
For the main course, my easy favorite was the Duck, which was a $6 supplement. The portion was very large, consisting of several pieces of sliced duck along with a duck breast. The sliced duck was tasty, but the larger piece was even more tender and flavorful. The sauce itself had a mild sourness and sweetness, and at the end, a few folks were mopping it up with the remaining bread.
Also tasty, but $3 extra, was the Pan Roasted Branzini. The fish was cooked well, being tender with crispy skin. The beans were mildly cooked and still had some texture, and I particularly liked the fish with the escarole, as the mild bitterness worked well. This was pleasant but perhaps a bit mild, and I think a light sauce would have helped, possibly with garlic and other ingredients. We also got Grilled Scottish Salmon with three mustards, cream, and horseradish. The fish was cooked nicely again, but I found it a bit too pungent.
The remaining dish with supplements, the Venison Bourguignon, was good, though a bit small compared to the other dishes. This was $6 extra, and the meat itself was tender, while the sauce was rich. I found it just a little bit salty, and I presume that was from the bacon, but it was good and honestly better than many of the generic bistros in the city. Speaking of bacon, we also got an $8 side of Brussels Sprouts, which were decent.
The best main dish sans supplement was the Chicken Schnitzel. The chicken had a nice light breading and was very tender. The mushrooms added earthiness, and the mashed potatoes were soft and buttery. Also lightly fried, but worse was the Veal Lemonese. Outside of sauce preferences, as both were prepared well, the veal was unfortunately much less tender.
For dessert, most of us got their highly recommended Persian Lime Pie. Instead of being a wide piece, this was more of a pie jar, similar to how Mia's in Cobble Hill, among other locations, serves it. However, the comparisons end there, with the flavors being much better. The filling had a perfect mix of sourness and sweetness. In terms of NYC, this was honestly the closest thing to Steve's Key Lime Pie that I've had. Another person had the Flourless Chocolate Hazelnut Cake, which was a bit above average but not comparable to the pie.
We overall had a pretty good meal here at this neighborhood spot. It's not the best for any particular dish, but it was mostly worth it for the price, especially if you don't mind paying extra for some things. Mid 3 bumped up.