‘Restaurant Review’ Archives

A rant, of a sort.

I passed by this sign Sunday afternoon, while I was walking around my neighborhood.

This sign has virtually ensured that I’ll never go there.

Why?

Look, if you’re “upscale” enough to offer a prix fixe dinner, then learn how to spell it (along with “relish” and “dinner,” for that matter).

But beyond my own grammatical bitchiness, I have to ask — if no one is paying attention to the details of your very public ads outside, why should ever I think your restaurant will be any better inside?

Tags: crappy PR, washington heights
Category Restaurant Review |

Restaurant review: Boca Chica

[Ed. note: I realized I still have all the rights to my reviews I've been writing for the local paper, so I'm going to republish them here. This was originally published in the Manhattan Times, 4 December 2008:]

Seafood Boca Chica, 4235 Broadway, near W 180th St., (212) 568-0027, open 24 hours.

If it hadn’t been raining, I would not have stepped into Boca Chica.

I had lured my husband and daughter out on a rainy Sunday afternoon with the promise of a late lunch somewhere new. As we arrived, I stopped short, taking in the yellow sign on the door offering Atlantic City bus tour tickets. Could this really be the place I’d been asked to review? Rather than turn around and walk 10 blocks back home in the rain, I smiled wanly and ushered my family in, out of the rain.

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Category Restaurant Review |

Hiatus: over.

Do you know how much stuff I’ve been doing lately? It’s crazy. Let me sum up, list-style:

1. I got sick. For like, a full week. This never happens.
2. The house fell into a shambles.
3. I started tidying up and the kid got whatever I had.
4. She got over it, then I had to embark on mad cleaning spree.
5. My mother-in-law came to visit for a few days.
6. At the same time, my father-in-law and his wife came by as well.
7. I got accepted to The New School.
8. Everyone went home.
9. I just stared into space for a day, recovering from all that human interaction.
10. I sorted out all my financial aid.
11. I met with my academic advisor and registered for classes.
12. I have not cooked a single thing worth mentioning in several weeks. Not a damn thing.

I did, at least, go to a couple places worth noting:

Landmarc (at the Time Warner Center) is now officially my go-to spot for taking out-of-town guests. It’s casual enough that you can go there after walking around all day, but the menu is still pretty impressive. (I had the hangar steak, which was fantastic.) The kids menu is freakin’ brilliant, and we nearly came to blows over who got the last bite of the little crème brûlée.

Jerusalem Restaurant is so tiny, we almost walked right past it. I love shawarma, and this place did not disappoint; the Jerusalem Salad platter was as delicious as it was huge.

Tasty Dumpling — which I actually went to for the first time during the Taste of Chinatown I never wrote about — has usurped Fried Dumpling as my new favorite dumpling joint. Five dumplings, one dollar; same as Fried Dumpling, but the dumpling… dough(? wrapper? exterior?) at Tasty Dumpling is chewier and, well, tastier, possibly because they’re fried a little more than the ones at Friend Dumpling (ironically enough).

Back here in Maison Gezellig, we bought a new rice cooker and a new coffee maker. I’m so enthralled with both of them, it’s having deleterious effects on my digestion.

Also, I’ve finally picked a week for my Eat Local Challenge: May 21-27, one of the few full weeks without anyone visiting, having a birthday, celebrating Mother’s Day, or starting classes. This time, it’s eat local or bust.

So, what have you guys been up to? Anything good?

Category Eat Local Challenge, Life in Maison Gezellig, Restaurant Review |

April in Paris, banh mi in blossom

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Category Restaurant Review |

An Open Letter

Dear Korean Food,

I still remember the day we met; I bought some mysterious pickled cabbagey thing I’d never heard of from the local Wild Oats. I brought it home, popped it open, and as soon as that fermented smell hit me, I knew we were gonna be friends. Remember that? I was living alone and we’d just hang out in front of the open fridge, eating kimchi straight from the jar… yeah, that brand with that grumpy looking woman on the label? What was her name?

No matter. It was pretty hard for us to keep up a relationship; what with me living in the suburbs of Massachusetts and you, well, not. Still, I got to know you a little better during that time — mostly from watching Dae Jang Geum — and I hoped by moving to New York we could really get to be friends.

So, why then, did I only just now learn that you evidently make the world’s greatest fried chicken?

I understand we’re not BFF or anything, but I never thought you’d keep fried chicken from me. Fried! Chicken! You know how I feel about that! And I had to find out about it in The New York Times, for chrissakes, like everyone else!

I’m sorry. I’m just… I’m hurt, you know? I know when I moved here, I changed plans and chose to live in Washington Heights instead of Jackson Heights, but I thought we were past that, aren’t we?

So, anyway… if it’s okay with you, I’d really like to meet this fried chicken of yours; maybe sometime this weekend? I’ll even come out to Queens to see you.

Your friend,

Kristen.

Tags: korean food, why I moved here in the first place
Category NYC, Restaurant Review |