77 W. Houston St  New York, NY 10012

Rating: 6.2

Photo Credit: www.concierge.com

The Pegu Club is a large cocktail lounge in Soho that is named after a British Colonial Officer’s club near the Gulf of Martaban, Burma. One Pegu master mixologist Harry Craddock became famous for memorializing the signature Pegu cocktail in the Savoy Cocktail book in 1930 – this gin-based beverage can be found today on the menu at Pegu.

The Original Pegu Club

It is much more spacious than many other specialty cocktail bars in the city such at Little Branch, Raines Law Room or PDT which makes it easier to seat larger groups.

All of the cocktails are meticulously created and served in pretty glasses with various decorative garnishes.

Gin & Champagne Cocktail

The bar menu is also good with creative little bites. I had BBQ duck sliders which were served on buttery brioche mini buns. These were good but probably too much sauce because the duck could hav easily been mistaken for beef or any other type of meat for that matter. I also had the deviled eggs with smoked trout. These were also fine but not the best I have every had. Still some of the better bar snacks you are are likely to find but the focus is definitely the cocktails.

Duck Sliders & Deviled Eggs

183 West 10th Street, New York, NY 10014

Rating: 8.4

Photo Credit: www.nellyrodilab.com

It is Gabe Stulman month for me. Promptly after eating at Montmartre I asked my friend to make a reservation at Chez Sardine which had been on my radar since it opened. The tiny little West Village spot has been nearly impossible to get into since day 1 and rightly so. Several of the “dishes” we had were so delicious that a silence fell over the table (unagi and pork hand roll). I use quotation marks because nearly everything on the menu should really be labeled “bites” for their actual size. This is a double edged sword because it allows you to try most of the menu with just a small group but it also racks up a sizable tab very quickly if you are hungry. Many of the ingredients also show up several times so there is a tendancy to have overlap.

The space itself does not have much decor to speak of as you would expect your typical Japanese restaurant to look – just of few prints of fish on one back wall, big windows along the entire front and an open kitchen and bar. The vibe is definitely more laid back than the average higher end Japanese restaurant.

We sat down at one of the tables for 4 along the wall and proceeded to order up most of the menu. To start we were given a little bowl of Japanese marinated vegetables with chives - a palate cleanser of sorts. Next up was the caviar and butter toast. This singular little square of crusty bread was definitely intended for one but given that the price for two toasts was about equal to a pricey entree anywhere else, we tried to limit ourselves just a tad.

Marinated Vegetables

Caviar Butter Toast

Next was easily the best dish of the evening (as mentioned above)- pork and unagi hand rolls. These were incredible. Rich tender pork and unagi juice was absorbed by perfectly cooked rice.

Pork & Unagi Hand Rolls

The sushi arrived all together on one plate and some of the pieces were a bit difficult to identify this way. The oyster was very fresh and plump with a bright sauce of apple and chive oil.

Oyster with Apple & Chive Oil

The beef tongue was one of the two adventurous dishes of the evening. I was expecting it to be like a rubbery, chewy flank steak but on the contrary it was very tender and flavorful. The ponzu and jalapeño added a little kick and tanginess. The hamachi and the snapper were good but definitely not the most memorable pieces of sushi I have had. The fish was a bit warm as though it had been sitting around waiting to be served for too long. Their respective seasonings of ginger and horseradish did not add too much. The chopped beef with sea urchin was a very solid combination – like a little bite-sized Japanese version of steak tartare.

Assorted Sushi

We had some more beef tartare in the form of a larger plate with lime cream and horseradish. This was also very good on the toasty baguette drizzled with olive oil. The beef was neatly and thickly chopped which I find much more appealing for a tartare.

Beef Tartare

The other memorable dish was the “breakfast pancakes”. Again this is tiny so one can only really be shared between two people. The tiny blini pancakes were layered with a mixture of chopped smoked arctic char, hamachi and mackeral. The plate was then artistically decorated with salmon caviar, chives and a yogurt sauce.

For the larger plates we decided on the pork belly, the miso glazed salmon head and the fois gras grilled cheese. The miso-maple glazed salmon head was a fun order and the flavor was delicious. It was sweet and smokey from the grill. It is a bit messy to eat with a group because to get all the meat it’s almost impossible not to go in with your fingers. Luckily it comes with some extra napkins.

The grilled cheese has had mixed reviews because it is so incredibly heavy. It is literally fat on top of fat, slathered with fat and then grilled. I say yum. The pickled cucumbers in the center added the necessary acidity. Cut into 4 I think this was pretty manageable.

Fois Gras Grilled Cheese

By this point we had so many rich dishes that a whole entrée sized portion of pork belly seemed a little overwhelming. In terms of execution it was nicely done with a sticky sweet outside and topped with a slow cooked egg and some cabbage.

Pork Belly

The one lowly vegetable we ordered was a plate of brussels sprouts. In theory this was a good idea but they were also fried and topped with toasted pumpkin seeds. While tasty, this did not do much to lighten the meal.

Brussels

To top everything off they brought us each a mini cup of white custard drizzled with maple syrup and sprinkled with a few rice crispies. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they pureed a bunch of Eggo waffles and made a pudding out of them. This might sound like an insult but it was very good, especially if you grew up on Eggos.

"Eggo" Custard

Chez Sardine is a great place to go on a double date or with a small group of friends to catch up. Be prepared for a very rich meal!

Thank you to my friend Demetri Themelis whose valued opinion helped greatly in the commentary for this review!

158 Eighth Ave. (nr. W. 18th St.) New York, NY 10011

Rating: 8.3

Photo courtesy of: www.newyork.grubstreet.com

Gabe Stulman’s newest creation is going to be tough to get into real soon.  Stulman is 3 for 3 in opening exceptionally popular spots in the past ~ year (Perla, Chez Sardine and Montmartre), and rightly so. All of these restaurants are charming with delicious food. Montmartre is located in Chelsea in an area that is somewhat of a no-man’s land of good food.  Chef Tien Ho, formerly of Má Pêche, presents an interesting menu of traditional French ingredients presented in completely new ways. The space is typically French in that it is [very, very] cozy with just a few small tables in the back half and a small bar with about 8 stools up front. This makes it easy to eavesdrop or reach onto your neighbor’s table and steal a spare pomme soufflé when they are not looking.

My friend and I decided to wander in one Friday night for a late casual dinner. 40 minutes later after a few “Mifflin street Moonlight’s” we were escorted to our tiny table.

Everything on the menu looked delicious. We started off relatively sensibly and then just drove straight off the deep end and went into carbo-overload for our mains. We simply could not decide between two of the sides. So we ordered both. I’ve never been one for moderation.

An amuse bouche is always a nice way to welcome diners in a restaurant. We had a little nibble of a mushroom crêpe with chives that definitely made us hungrier than we already were.

Mushroom Crêpes

We began with the frisée aux lardons salad with a fried egg and duck confit on top. The salad was crisp and nicely dressed, the duck confit was flavorful and the egg just runny without being undercooked. The best part were the croutons which were crunchy and absorbed some of the tang of the sherry vinegar.

Frisée Salad

We also had the hamachi with marinated apples, chili and kaffir. This was also very good but the chili did not have as much of a kick as I would have expected. The fish was also a bit too warmed which means it probably sat out for a little too long before making it to the table.

Hamachi

We ordered one entrée to share which was the lamb testaroli. This dish is what made our meal. Chunks of lamb tenderloin grilled rare on top of a buckwheat crêpe -pasta mixed with a tender lamb neck ragout, niçoise olives and dressed with a buttery gremolata. I am not sure there is much else to say here except that each bite resulted in an exclamation of how delicious it was.

Lamb Testaroli

To lighten things up a bit we ordered not one, but two sides of potatoes. The first was the pommes soufflé which are basically hot versions of the puffy potato chips you always dig around for in the bag. These little airbags were stacked like a log cabin on top of one another and served with a rich dipping sauce of artichoke and chervil.

Potatoes Two Ways

The second potato dish was so large it could have easily been its own entrée. Potatoes “Gascognaise” were crispy fried chunks of potato with a thick sauce of fois gras and carmelized onions. I think this one is pretty self explanatory too.

If you are looking for a casual date spot or just a good meal with a friend, Montmartre will certainly do the trick.

355 West 16th Street, in The Dream Hotel, New York, NY10011

Rating: 8.2

Cherry

Theoretically any restaurant in the Dream Hotel should do excellently well given the location and trendiness of the hotel itself. However, Romera, Cherry’s predecessor, only lasted 6 months which may have been due in part to the elaborate tasting menu they offered which was probably too pricey and formal for the average diner. This also reminded us just how brutally competitive the New York restaurant scene is.  At Cherry, they know their audience a lot better. They know that people want to share delicious dishes and small bites while sipping well crafted cocktails and good sake to either get them in the mood for an evening out or to simply enjoy a good meal in the ambiance they have created.

Cherry clearly has a similar vibe to its sister restaurant BondSt – dimly lit with sultry red velvet banquettes along the walls. Even the stand – alone tables make you feel like you are on your own little red velvet and mahogony island. The fabric lined walls also add depth to the space and give it sort of a library feel – although without any books.

Photo courtesy of www.ny.eater.com

My friends and I sat down at our cozy table and immediately our general attitude was “screw the salads and soups”. There are so many things that look interesting and delicious, why bother wasting any room with lettuce and broth.  We ordered some cocktails and a nice bottle of sake while we dissected the menu. I was feeling a little crazy and didn’t want to go with just my normal Ketel splash of soda so I asked the bartender to splash a little yuzu in there adding some Japanese flair. Highly recommend if you like yuzu. And vodka.

We started with the kanpachi with avocado mousse, celery, cilantro and citrus soy. The fish was extremely fresh and was nicely accented by the tangy green mousse. The black sea bass carpaccio was very neatly presented in the center of a dinner plate with shiso, fennel oil, sazu, chili lime tosazu, and furikake lavosh evenly seasoning the light white fish.

Black Sea Bass & Kanpachi

Next up we had the Wagyu beef tartare with a tiny quail egg and buttery japanese pullman bread. This was just a classic tartare with very good quality beef. Sorry no pic here it was destroyed before I could snap one.

The first thing that caught my eye on the menu was the crispy rice with Uni. So simple and so incredibly delicious. The rice is (obviously) crispy on the outside and a gently warmed with a generous amount of creamy fresh uni on top, a quick brush of wasabi soy and micro cilantro greens. We also had the spicy tuna version with Korean chili mayo which is basically transplanted from BondSt (the famous tuna tart also appears on the menu for all you loyal fans out there!). We nearly ordered a second one of each.

The Tamagoyaki was not as popular. I will admit the waiter warned us about this one and I have to say he was right. The smoked trout tasted more like smoked turkey slices out of a a bag from your local deli than fish which was kind of strange.  The radish and yuzu buerre noisette did almost nothing to salvage the dish. It made quite a nice centerpiece though with the little pink flowers on top.

Crispy Rice with Uni, Tuna & Smoked Trout Roll

Uni Poached Egg

The MVP dish of the night was the fois gras and short rib gyoza with plum sake and sour cherries. Posing inconspicuously as your standard dumpling, this gyoza was about as far from bland flavor and colorless center as you can get. The rich earthy flavors of the filling pop in your mouth as you bite through the crispy noodle pocket. Whether or not you think you like fois gras, these are a must.

Fois Gras & Short Rib Gyoza

For those of you who actually already know you like fois gras, the next dish was a very nice rendition of a fois gras mousse. The neatly plated scoop of mousse was so smooth and rich it almost tasted like ice cream. The cherries and spiced cashews served as a nice complement but I did question the necessity of the tuna tataki. We certainly did not eat them together – although maybe we were supposed to?

Fois Gras Mousse & Tuna

Our one main course was the Sapporo braised lamb shank with parsnip tofu puree, Tokyo turnip and marjoram. The lamb was so tender it required almost no chewing. The flavors were bold and the fresh vegtables on top were much appreciated in the context of the rest of our meal.  The BBQ eel roll with avocado, crispy tofu, and candied bacon was a stepped up version of the popular roll.Braised Lamb & BBQ Eel Roll

Braised Lamb & BBQ Eel Roll

Tuna for dessert anyone? Our last dish was crispy tuna tacos with jicama, cucumber and scallions. Although I am not sure the kitchen meant to send it out at the end, the taco was a nice light finish to the meal.

Tuna Tacos

Overll we were very impressed with our food at Cherry and we all plan on returning if we haven’t already. So if you are dining around Meatpacking (sigh) definitely consider Cherry as a highly recommended option. Just make sure you are on time as they are serious about giving tables away.

The Ladies

79 Macdougal St. New York, NY 10012

Rating: 6.5

Photo courtesy of: www.newyork.metromix.com

The Mermaid Oyster Bar is a cleaned up New York version of a seaside lobster shack. With three locations in different parts of the city one does not need to travel very far to get a decent lobster roll. The Oyster Bar is the more focused on the raw bar than the other two locations and also feels a bit more modern with whitewashed wood and white plastic chairs than the darker, more rustic sister restaurants.

A big platter of shellfish is a compulsory order at an oyster bar. We ordered several dozen for the table as well as a tuna tartare with avocado which was easily overshadowed by the big beautiful trays of chilled shellfish.

Oysters & Tuna Tartare

This is a pretty good lobster sandwich which they call the “nearly famous” lobster roll. I am not sure it will ever be red carpet status because it is on a hamburger bun (albeit a brioche hamburger bun) rather than a griddled, buttered hot dog bun. While this makes it easier to discard part of the bread for the carb conscious, it also means that a fork and knife are required to eat it. The sandwich is served with old bay fries which are always good. 

Lobster Roll

To add a bit of green to our briny, salty meal we also had brussels sprouts with marcona almonds and apple smoked bacon and some charred shishito peppers.

Brussels & Marcona Almonds

The whole ambiance is very charming at all of the restaurants but the nicest touch is the little dessert they bring at the end of every meal. A little chocolate pot-de-creme in an espresso cup topped with a little dollop of whipped cream arrives unsolicited with the bill. What also arrives with the bill is a fortune telling fish for everyone at the table – a creative touch.

The Mermaid restaurants are very cute and casual with reliably fresh seafood.

Pot de Creme

109 W Broadway  Manhattan, NY 10013

Rating 7.4

Photo Courtesy of: www.superlindanyc.com

Super Linda is funky spot down in Tribeca that opened just over a year ago and has a lot going on theme-wise. It is a Latin inspired restaurant but has kind of Cuban vibe to it with lots of red tin and cozy booths. In the summer they like to pretend that the air conditioning (one single window unit) is working full blast but they aren’t fooling anyone. As you descend into the bar/nightclub portion it becomes increasingly more horse-themed with murals of horses running across them. The bathrooms have the names of show horses on each one. As you enter the second downstairs bar, it feels like the tidied up basement of a frat house on parents weekend. Somehow, given those involved in the creation of Super Linda, Matt Abramcyck (Warren 77, Smith & Mills, the former Beatrice Inn) and Serge Becker (Miss Lily’s, Lure Bar, La Esquina), this all comes together pretty nicely and it has been packed with reservations since it opened.

The meal begins with lots of fresh seafood – ceviches, oysters, etc. and Latin American dishes such as empanadas and arepas. Our first dishes were the ceviche verde, tuna tartare and scallop ceviche. The fish of the day for the ceviche verde was fluke with tomatillo, jalapeno and cilantro, tangy from the citrus, and it was absolutely delicious.  The tuna tartare was served in more of an Asian fashion with a soy based sauce and toasted hazelnuts and bits of cucumber. The scallop ceviche was also very good layered on top of some avocado with red onion, radishes and cucumber.

Ceviche Verde with Fluke

Tuna Tartare

Scallop Ceviche

The hearts of palm salad was also good- frisée, hearts of palm, grapefruit, avocado and toasted hazelnuts in a citrus dressing.

Hearts of Palm Salad

The favorite small plate was the crab tostada topped with pickled red onion and uni. A few of these would have made a very nice meal by themselves.

Crab Tostadas with Uni

I split the ribs as my main dish because they were pretty big. The ribs were very good and tender but even better was what they were served on – fried brussels sprouts with tangy pickled pepper rings and topped with crispy panko breadcrumbs. These sounded so amazing that we ordered an extra side before knowing how much we were going to get. This was not a problem.

Ribs & Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Round 2

The least exciting dish by far was the red and green snapper. I actually read other reviews that said the same thing that I am about to say so maybe this dish is inherently flawed. The snapper was dry and bland and definitely the weakest link.

Red & Green Snapper

We ordered two desserts to share. The churros were excellent – crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside (I am not actually sure what the criteria for a good churro is).

Churros & Dipping Chocolate

The other dessert, which seemed like a surprisingly excellent take on flan, was a caramel custard on top of a crispy meringue that had candied banana brittle poking out of it like a little Stonehenge.

Caramel Custard

Super Linda is a great place for a double date or if you are feeling ambitious, renting out the entire space for a party.

Side Room. Photo Courtesy of: http://dev.thompsonhotels.com

186 Franklin St. (at Greenwich St.) New York, NY 10013

Rating: 7.8

Photo courtesy of: www.nytimes.com

Living in New York, it’s hard to avoid the influence and presence of Jewish food. Some is excellent but might involve standing in line for 30 minutes to get your perfect bagel and lox or brisket and some you would really rather avoid altogether.

Kutsher’s the restaurant takes the best of Jewish culinary culture and does it up right. The name Kutsher’s comes from the 100 -year old Kutsher’s Country Club in the Catskills – the hot destination for Jewish families in the ’60′s and ’70′s. The Kutsher’s website has lots of fun facts about the original resort but the idea was to recreate the culture in a modern Jewish American Bistro. The airy and spacious dining room is meant to evoke 1960′s minimalist with its modern clean lines.

At Kutsher’s they hand select their ingredients from the best places across the city and put them all under one simply elegant roof.  Chef Thomas Higuchi-Crowll cures and smokes his pastrami meats daily which makes for the freshest sandwiches and charcuterie platters. The only problem with the menu is that everything looks delicious. This resulted in ordering two kinds of potatoes.

Some friends and I were graciously hosted by our friend Zach Chodorow at Kutsher’s for brunch one day to welcome a friend home from London.

We started with some potato latkes with apple compote and sour cream. These were almost as good as the class moms’ latkes who came in to make them for us during Hanukkah in 5th grade.

Potato Latkes

We also couldn’t resist the duck schmaltz fries which came highly recommended by Zach. He was definitely right. These are amazing.

Duck Schmaltz Fries

To cut the grease a bit we had the assortment of pickled vegetables. This mixture included a colorful mix of veggies as well as half sour and salty full sour pickles (my favorite).

Pickled Vegetables

Next was the bagel that was piled high with nova lox, red onion, tomato and a garlicky avocado dressing. This is an enormous sandwich and definitely requires a partner in crime.

Bagel with Lox

Coming in for the close up...

Someone else at the table ordered the Leo with egg whites which was nova lox with onions and potato hash (yes, yet another potato variation, I see that now).

The Leo

For our dessert portion of the meal we had the cheese blintzes which were drizzled with a three berry compote and served with sour cream. These were creamy and rich without being too sweet and much better than any blintz I have every had.

Cheese Blintzes

To top it all off we had to have an egg cream. But we couldn’t decide on chocolate or vanilla so we ordered both. Obviously.

Johanna sampling both egg creams...

Come home soon Johanna!

7 Cornelia Street (nr. 6th Ave) New York, NY 10014

Rating: 7.2

Wong Counter. Photo courtesy of www.wongnewyork.com

The concept behind Wong is to be an Asian restaurant that features local and seasonal fare. Chef Simpson Wong is of Malaysian heritage but the menu is broader than that. Chef Wong has been on the restaurant scene for a while and his first restaurant, Jefferson, even made a cameo on “Sex and the City” some years ago. After suffering a heart attack he closed the restaurant and returned home to Malaysia to travel with his elderly mother. Throughout his travels he collected ideas and inspiration for a menu that would be healthier than some traditional Asian dishes. While this is definitely not diet food it does exhibit a lighter quality.

The space is small and mostly made of concrete with a bar to the right of the entrance. There is not much to it besides a bunch of small tables that can be easily rearranged and stackable wood and metal chairs. The kitchen is open concept and there are several seats at the counter which allow you to have such a front row seat that you should probably wear layers if put there because it gets a little toasty from the open oven.

I started with a spicy gingery cocktail as I waited for my friend to arrive.

Ginger Cocktail

Duck is prevalent throughout the menu including some of the lesser used parts such as the tongue. There is even a tasting menu (the Duckavore Dinner) that offers 6 dishes each featuring the protein – including the dessert. Other unusual ingredients make their way into dishes such as sea cucumber which is not seen very often.

The duck buns were what I wanted most on the menu. These were much meatier and less fatty than any pork bun I have ever had. The bun itself was also golden brown and crispy as opposed to the pillowy white bun you would see on a pork version. A few thin slices of cucumber and some butter lettuce allowed the duck to speak for itself. The buns were piping hot when they were placed in front of us but I dove right in and enjoyed every minute of it.

Duck Buns

Next we shared two entrees. The lobster egg foo young was the more impressive of the two. This dish was departure from a traditional egg foo young which is a type of Chinese omelet where all the ingredients are bound together by the egg and served with a brown sauce. This version reminded me much more of Italian baked eggs. The skillet came with a half lobster cooked perfectly atop two runny salted duck eggs in a spicy tomato-based leek sauce sprinkled with dried shrimp. Lots of cilantro brightened up the flavor of the dish. A piece of crusty bread to sop up the sauce made it seem even more Italian.

Lobster Egg Foo Young

The Cha Ca La Wong was a less memorable for me. This was a rice noodle dish with Hanoi-style Hake with turmeric and dill. I found the flavors to be much more bland but all in all it was a good noodle dish. I do enjoy a good rice noodle.

Cha Ca La Wong

Wong is a very cute, casual restaurant that offers original takes on Asian cuisine that also supports local food movement in New York.

Photo Courtesy of: www.wongnewyork.com

2670 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235

Food Rating: 4.5

Rasputin Performance

Rasputin is one of the most unique places I have been recently. It is essentially a Russian cabaret / nightclub where groups order huge menus and enjoy a live performance throughout the meal. Located in Brighton Beach this spot is just a little ways from the isle of Manhattan but truly feels worlds away. 

Upon entering Rasputin you immediately feel like you are in Russia in a gaudy, opulently decorated theater. Beneath the 30-foot ceiling in the center of the room is a circular dance floor and a stage with large tables pre-set with food awaiting their diners all around the perimeter.  Because it is winter, there was even more decor than usual with what looked like an explosion of white winter wonderland decorations – snowflakes and glitter everywhere. The patrons were no less gaudily adorned. Many were in black tie and there is no shortage of sequins and shoulder pads here.

Appetizers

The food itself is about as authentic as you can get without traveling thousands of miles, but unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired. For those at the table who were unaccustomed to being served platters upon platters of cured fishes and finding out the hard way that the entire fruit and vegetable tray was heavily pickled, this was not the best experience. Other dishes you might find on your table include basturma, beef tongue, caviar with blini and assorted pirogi. The portions were so large that the appetizers alone needed to be stacked on racks to accommodate all the dishes.  Among the approximately 30 dishes we were served, there were some moments of brightness in the menu. The potatoes with mushrooms were delicious, albeit a bit greasy, and the assortment of grilled meats and fish was nice too. What they really want you do at Rasputin is ply you with as much of your BYO vodka and wine as possible (probably so that you won’t notice the food as much) so they kindly provide you with not only wine glasses but also individual vodka glasses. Needless to say there were lots of “nazdarovya!”‘s being cheered throughout the meal.

BYO

What you really go to Rasputin for is the expereince. The performance is lively and worldly with songs sung in various languages and lots of theatrical costumes. At some point the saxophonist is likely to climb off stage and serenade the table. There is a photographer who will take cheesy photos of your group available for sale after the meal and even a man who wanders around with individual long stem roses for those feeling a bit romantic. It is common throughout the dinner for everyone to get up and dance to a few songs before heading back to the table for another drink or two and largely ignore the food.

Pickled Fruit & Veggie Platter, Smoked Fish

Smoked Whole Fish

If you are in need of something very different from your normal evening of NYC bars and clubs, I highly recommend getting a big group together to make a quick trip to Moscow!