Tag Archives: duck

Beatrice Inn

Beatrice Inn overall score: 93

Beatrice Inn is a cozy West Village chophouse that’s headed up by Chef Angie Mar, who made her bones under April Bloomfield and other big time chefs before striking out with her own meat-centric restaurant. Actually, you may recall an earlier experience I had with her food at Meatopia last year.  She was roasting wild boar that day, and it was delicious.

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Just thinking about the fucking awesomeness of that day again gives me a chubby… If you haven’t seen it, jump out to that link above and scroll through some of the pics. It was a meat eater’s heaven.

Anyway I’ve decided to treat this review as a kind of “sneak peak,” since I know with a high degree of certainty that I will be back again in the near future to try other items, and also to make sure my wife tries what I consider to be one of the best dishes in the city (I hope the suspense is killing you).

Another caveat I will mention here: I was struggling with whether to categorize this as a steakhouse or just a standard restaurant that happens to be very meat-centric. You’d think that after rating over 100 steakhouses and 60 steaks at non-steakhouses, I’d have a better grip on this shit. But Beatrice Inn is a different kind of joint, and it threw me for a loop because it’s not just about the beef; it showcases a shitload of variety in terms of animal proteins. It may not matter to avid readers who actually pay attention to my words over the numbers, but squeezing this review into my ranking system yields an artificially low score due to the constraints of my imperfect ranking system. Another reason I decided to treat this as a steakhouse is because what Chef Angie is doing is pretty unique, and she’s kicking some serious ass in a world that’s heavily dominated by male chefs. Now, you know me: I’m not one to get all “women’s lib” when talking about female chefs, but aside from Ruth Fertel (founder of Ruth’s Chris), she’s really the only other woman that comes to mind who owns/operates a restaurant that is almost 100% meat, steak, animal carcass, etc.

Last caveat: I was dining with a large group of people when I came here, most of whom I did not know very well, so I would have felt awkward taking my time shooting photos of everything the way I normally do. No one wants to eat cold food! Next time I will make sure the photos are more numerous and better quality.

So let’s (finally) get down to business…

Flavor: 9
This flavor score is an average score between ONLY the two cuts of beef that we tried; the 60-day dry aged cote de boeuf, and the 20-day dry aged wagyu hanger steak. It does not include the other items we tried, like the duck and pork shoulder, which I discuss below in the “other meats” section. Once I return to try more beef items, this score is likely to shift upward, since I saved one item that I really want to sink my teeth into for when I return with my wife (the 127-day whisky dry aged tomahawk rib eye, as seen on The Meat Show).

But anyway, back to the delicious shit we actually did try.

First the cote de boeuf:

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This was served with roasted garlic, marrow, blistered blackberries, charred prawn butter and thyme. It had a really unique woody, smoky, charred flavor to it that grew on me as I continued eating. I had never really tasting anything like it before. It was well-rested and cooked to a beautiful medium rare with minimal grey-banding and hardly any myoglobin “bleed out.”

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Since we shared this with a table of seven, we asked the kitchen to slice it up, which they gladly did for us.

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While there wasn’t much spinalis dorsi (fat cap) on this cut, I didn’t really expect it due to the long dry-aging time. Remember: dry-aging beef causes it to lose nearly 30% of its weight, and then you have to trim the bark off, which, unfortunately, sometimes happens at the sacrifice of some cap meat.

The real star of our beef entrees was this 20-day dry aged wagyu hanger steak. It seems that this was the table favorite for the beef.

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Dedicating less time to aging this cut is smart, since the hanger itself isn’t very big to begin with; any longer and you may risk having to trim off too much bark. Also, with a cut like hanger, which is normally pretty well-marbled to begin with, you are really doubling down on the intensification of flavor that you get from the dry aging process. The result for this cut is amazing. It’s one of the best hanger steaks I’ve had. It was super tender and juicy, and perfectly cooked. The beef flavor really stands out here as well, since it was wisely prepared in a more simple manner, with shallot butter and thyme. After all, they don’t call this cut the “butcher’s steak” without good reason!

Choice of Cuts & Quality Available: 7
Take this number with a grain of salt, as it skews low due to the limitations of my review categories. Beatrice doesn’t necessarily fit perfectly into the “steakhouse” genre, but since they offer so many wonderful animal proteins, I had to include it as one. While Beatrice only offers one traditional steakhouse cut (rib eye, in two forms) and one “other cut” (hanger steak), they really knock the shit out of the “quality” aspect to this section as well as the “other meats” category below. Most of the beef, from what I understand, comes from Pat LaFrieda, who is a standard bearer for high quality beef, especially in the Northeast. No filet. No strip. No porterhouse. I probably wouldn’t order those anyway, given all the other goodies that grace the menu here.

Portion Size & Plating: 10
Portions are generous and plating is beautiful without getting into the pretense of tweezers and excessive plate-wiping. It’s exactly what you want from a nice meal of this type.

Price: 9
I think our table enjoyed a bit of a discount since one of the people we were with is best friends with the chef. In any case, given the pricey location of the restaurant and the high quality of the menu items, it’s only natural that this place can be expensive. Luckily there are lots of “for two” or “for the table” items available that can be shared to defray costs. And the hands-down best item I tried (see “other meats” below) is a mere $27 entree. So there’s really something for every budget here. Even the high rollers can enjoy truffle- and duck egg-topped burgers for $90, or a whisky dry-aged steak that’s about $600 for a 50oz tomahawk.

Bar: 10
This joint was jumping even as we were leaving after 11pm on a Wednesday. The bar is ground floor level and feels like a speakeasy. There are some seats in a lounge type spot by the windows, and a warm fireplace at the end of the bar. In fact there are fireplaces all over this joint! I love it. The cocktail menu is really special too, with lots of unique takes on old classics.

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I recommend the smoked Manhattan, which fills the room with a really woody aroma every time someone orders it. If you want something more refreshing and crisp, try the Big Poppa, made with truffled gin, citrus and egg whites.

Specials and Other Meats: 10
There aren’t enough points available to award here. Only 10? Here’s a list of the other meats on the menu: applewood smoked rabbit for two, milk braised pork shoulder, lamb wellington for two, chicken for two to four people, roast duck flambe for two to four people, beef cheek, braised oxtail, and whatever other specials the chef is working on in the kitchen that day or week. It’s fucking amazing.

We tried the roast duck flambe. Here’s how it comes to the table:

It had a really nice smoked flavor and is served with cherry jus, fingerlings and lyonnaise.

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Once the presentation is made with the flames, they take it away and chop it up for easy consuming.

The absolute best item we tried, and what I submit to be one of the best pork dishes I’ve ever had, is the milk braised pork shoulder with jasmine rice soubise, hen of the woods mushrooms and sage.

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Chef Angie has been making this dish since she was 15yrs old, so by now it has been perfected to perfection, or whatever status is even more perfect than perfect. It was bright, savory, juicy and soul-satisfying. You really need to get it when you come here, and I’m really fucking sorry that I didn’t shoot it.

We also tried the game pie, which contains wild boar, lamb, venison, pearl onions and fingerlings inside. But the suet crust is something I’ve never experienced before. It’s essentially a pie crust made with rendered beef fat, so it’s crispy and meaty, harder than a normal pie crust and a shitload more satisfying to eat. It should also be noted that the entire pie is formed around a marrow bone for good measure. Because why the fuck not? I didn’t snap a pic of this but a friend of mine who went there recently got a great shot. My description begs for an image, so I’m sharing her pic here:

A photo posted by Jean Lee (@jeaniusnyc) on

Apps, Sides & Desserts: 10
I apologize for only shooting the fries and tartare, but I’ll get on it next time. Everything we tried was amazing. We started with the chicken liver pate.

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It was smooth and creamy, served with a blackberry sauce and whole grain mustard that were the perfect pairing for the pate when spread onto delicious toasty bread.

The lamb tartare was really nicely executed. It was mild and had none of that gamey flavor that you might expect. Dotted with blueberries, it had just the right amount of acidic pop to it.

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The truffle fries were cooked to a perfect golden crisp, and went well with our aged beef selections.

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For dessert we shared an apple “croissant” (for lack of knowing the exact term) that was topped with vanilla ice cream and a foie gras caramel.

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It was really amazing. The croissant was crispy but soft, warm and delicately “appled.” I was really tempted to get their famous bone marrow creme brulee as well. Next time!

Seafood Selection: 8
Beatrice Inn offers halibut and branzino by way of the sea, which we didn’t try on the first trip (see update below). But we did start with some west coast oysters that were crisp, creamy and fresh. They came with a really interesting horseradish sauce that had a kick of spice to it, perhaps the same kind of smoked spice flavors you get in something like nduja or chorizo. It was wild. Anyway, while that was technically an appetizer, I figured I would talk about it here since I didn’t try any seafood entrees.

Service: 10
Top notch, really great service here. Everyone is dressed in classy, old-fashioned attire, like you’d expect at a legit steakhouse. Water glasses are filled promptly, the food comes out at the right pace and temperature, and waiters/waitresses are attentive and know their shit forwards and backwards.

Ambiance: 10
I described the bar area up above, but the rest of the joint is just as impressive. There are two rooms off the bar. One is a large dining room and one is a semi-private elevated area with a massive fireplace and a skylight. You feel like you’re in an inn or old fashioned town home, but laid back and comfortable as opposed to stuffy.

I highly recommend trying this place ASAP. It’s been a hot, trendy spot for a while now, but I can certify that it’s with good reason. It’s not pretentious like other places that trend hard in the food scene, and the food is “fuck you” delicious – every damn bite of it.

UPDATE 12/27/16

I went back twice since the review above. One the first visit, we kept it simple and got a burger. It was great, but I think it needed a crunch element to make it really pop. The 45-day dry aging process really does impart a great flavor to the meat, and the use of a mild brie for the cheese is genius.

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On the third visit (yes, I like this place a lot), we tried a nice variety of new shit. To start, we went with these deep-fried dates that were stuffed with cured ham. Really fun and delicious.

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We shared a few entrees as well. First, the branzino en croute. So nicely cooked. For one diner, this was the favorite item of the meal.

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Yes, its a fish cooked inside a bread crust. So good.

Next was this braised rabbit for two. This was enough for three or four, for sure. The meat is so plentiful on this, which surprised the shit out of me.

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We also went with the 30-day dry aged rib eye, since I wasn’t super stoked about the 60-day last time. This was perfect.

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I only took a point off because it was a bit on the thin side. But the texture, flavor and cook temp were all remarkable.

We also had this roasted squash on the side. It had a sweet flavor profile, so I was wishing we added a scoop of ice cream to this and ate it for dessert.

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We did enjoy the bone marrow creme brûlée for dessert, however, it was a bit light in terms of the portion size. I’d say that you get about two or three tablespoons worth of custard inside the marrow. I wanted at least double or triple that amount for the price we paid.

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In the end, I took a point back for price (dropping from 10 to 9), and gave a point back for flavor (rising from 8 to 9).

BEATRICE INN
285 W 12th St
New York, NY 10014

Brindle Room

UPDATE 09-17-2023

First, check out my Ride & Review HERE:

The location is not on 11th street right near Avenue C. The burger is every bit as good as it used to be, but the poutine is no longer on the menu.

Fried pickles, wings, killer Tuscan style porchetta ribs, and bacon wrapped, goat cheese stuffed dates. All excellent!

Great spot. Pork loin was good too!

My buddies and I came in here for a quick dinner on a Sunday evening. I had heard great things about both the burger and the duck confit poutine, so I had to give them each a try.

First the poutine:

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At $20 this is a bit pricey, but probably big enough to share with another person and not have to order much else to get full. We split it four ways and each had an entree. That was perfect. While the fries do get a little soggy in this pot, that’s to be expected when covering them with confit duck, cheddar cheese curds and duck gravy. The dish had great flavor, and one of my friends who only ate duck once before and had a bad experience is now a changed man.

The burger, I am told, is crafted with rib eye fat cap. It’s a simple arrangement of American cheese, caramelized onions and pickles. My kind of burger. This is a damn good representation of how I like my burgers, however I just wish the bun was a bit softer and more supple. Potato buns rule.

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I had some more fries with this, only sans cheddar cheese curds, gravy and duck. They were nicely fried and well seasoned, with a crispy natural cut to them. Well played.

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That about does it. Another burger added to the list of hundreds that have found their way into my mouth, down my gullet, through my digestive tract, out my ass, and into the NYC sewage system.

BRINDLE ROOM
647 E 11th St
New York, NY 10009

The Villager

The Villager is a bar out in Babylon, near the train station. After a group of us spent the day drinking out at the wineries on Long Island’s north fork, we came here to get some grub. I have to say: I was pretty surprised at how good the food was. I was not expecting much. Shame on me for assuming shit.

The group started with an order of gouda fries. They were waffle style – nice and crisp – and covered with melted gouda, crumbled bacon and scallions.

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I ordered the breakfast burger, which was topped with American cheese, bacon and a fried egg, served on a toasted English muffin.

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Since I wasn’t sure what kind of place this was before ordering, I went with medium on the cook. I was kicking myself once I tasted the quality of the meat. I should have gone medium rare. It was still fucking fantastic though, and it came with a side of tater tots.

My wife ordered the duck burger, which was topped with gruyere and applewood smoked bacon. She, too, ordered it medium. The burger was cooked perfectly and had a hearty flavor to it, but, as a result of the medium poultry, was a bit on the dry side.

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I will definitely be back here, and next time I will order properly at medium rare for my burger.

THE VILLAGER
262 Deer Park Ave
Babylon, NY 11702

Decoy

The Cake Dealer and I took on the Peking Duck feast here at Decoy with Chubby Chinese Girl and her husband. This is one of the best deals in town. For $65/pp you get four starters, two main courses, one side or rice dish, and one Peking Duck with ten pancakes, three sauces, pickled leeks, cucumber and green onion. While this isn’t a huge single carcass, it is definitely a beast feast worthy of the Carcass Club.

So let me get right down to business. The cocktails here are really nicely crafted. I tried two, the Timelessness (Hibiki, pomegranate molasses, sherry, yellow chartreuse and Laphroaig mist) and the Sitting Down For Dinner (duck fat-washed George Dickel, lemon, egg white and red wine). That second one is pictured here, along with my wife’s Smoke N Spice (Thai chili-infused Fidencio mezcal, pineapple, Aperol, Sriracha bitters and lime, served in a pineapple mug). Notice the shape of the duck created in the foam in mine:

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In fact, ducks are everywhere in here as decor in paintings, or even just hanging over the tables:

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You can kinda see them over the bar here as well:

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Notice that guy on the right? That’s “Quinn” from the hit show Homeland. I didn’t want to intrude and get a photo (he was with a woman), but I did manage to snap this pic of the back of his head.

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Alright. So here’s a nice set of snacks that came out to the table before our appetizers. Roasted Shishito peppers, roasted cauliflower, curried carrots, Chinese broccoli stems, marinated mango and pickled cucumber.

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The star of the night, though, was probably this plate of “Decoy Chips,” which are fried branzino skin. These were so freaking good. They were nice and crispy, well seasoned and lightly dressed with pickled green and red onion.

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Alright. Now onto the starters. First was this Kumamoto oyster topped with caviar and dressed with Yuzu. Refreshing and crisp.

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Next up was oxtail dumplings. These were lightly breaded and fried to a golden crisp, and jam-packed with a generous amount of tasty stewed oxtail meat.

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These grilled wagyu chunks were pretty nice. I was unable to readily identify what cut of beef they were, and I forgot to ask, but they were tender and flavorful. They came with a little mound of kimchi.

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This next item is a fois gras and strawberry tart, designed and plated to look like a goose or swan.

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Absolutely stunning, and really decadent to eat. Velvety smooth.

After the starters, a little shot of duck consomme came out to prepare out gullets for the Peking Duck. This was both savory and sweet. Really nice. I would drink a cup after running every morning, if I could.

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We devoured the Peking Duck pretty quickly. It wasn’t all that big, but we had a lot more food coming so we didn’t mind so much. The skin was crisp, the meat was tender and flavorful, and the sauces and toppings were all really good. This may not be the best Peking Duck I’ve ever eaten, but it is certainly up there considering the value.

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Our main courses were a grilled rib eye ($10 extra) and a pork “toro” dish with Korean rice cakes and Chinese sausage.

The rib eye was nicely cooked to medium rare and pre-sliced for us on a beautiful plate:

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I’m not sure if that was all bleed-out underneath, or a purposeful sauce. The flavor score would be about an 8/10 on my ranking scale, mostly due to the proper cooking temperature and the wonderful char that stood up to the liquids on the plate. That’s asparagus served with it there, as well. Those were a bit under-cooked for my liking, but the tips were good.

The pork dish was actually a bit light on the actual pork, but we all enjoyed the rice cakes and Chinese sausage that were mixed in.

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Our side dish was unique and delicious. This is a bowl of lightly sauteed snow pea leaves, simply executed with garlic and oil. It reminded me of some Italian greens that I cook in a similar way, like escarole or spinach, but with a more watercress-like texture.

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To sum up, this place is definitely worth visiting for the duck feast. You get a ton of really good quality food for a reasonable price. In addition, the drinks and bar snacks (like the Decoy Chips) are exceptional if you just want a quick drink or a bar bite.

DECOY
529-1/2 Hudson St
New York, NY 10014

Excellent Dumpling House

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS CLOSED

Day two of jury duty gave me the opportunity to finally try Excellent Dumpling House, a small joint just below Canal on Lafayette that slings some decent cheap grub.

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I grabbed three items to fuel my sense of civic duty.

1) fried pork dumplings.
These were crispy and light. I gobbled them up pretty quickly and was waiting for my next dish. I have to say, I was impressed with these and I had very low expectations going into it.

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2) bbq duck egg roll
This was just mediocre. I was expecting a more dry experience as opposed to a highly sauced inside. That’s fine. It was just a little bland and slightly heavier on the vegetables as opposed to the duck.

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3) steamed shrimp and crab dumplings
These were excellent. A full, good quality and perfectly cooked shrimp was inside each, along with some crab meat mash. The sauce it came with was like a spicy cream sauce. Not a fan of that. But the dumplings themselves were great. The skin didn’t rip too much, yet it wasn’t too thick and gummy.

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These three items came to $17.50 with tax and tip included.

EXCELLENT DUMPLING HOUSE
111 Lafayette St
New York, NY 10013

Louie’s Backyard

We decided to take in the water view for a quick lunch here at Louie’s Backyard in Key West. I went with a burger, which, here, is topped with provolone cheese, caramelized onions, roasted poblano peppers and sri racha aioli.

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I didn’t get much heat from the aioli or peppers. The burger patty itself was nice, though cooked a little too much in my opinion. The steak fries were pretty good. I usually don’t like these, but they were very crispy.

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My wife had this really interesting smoked salmon and egg brik turnover. The outer shell was light and crisp, and inside was a runny egg yolk and perfectly cooked salmon.

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My buddy went with this really great duck confit dish. Super tender.

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Definitely give this place a try if you’re in Key West. The bar outside is nice too, even if you don’t sit to eat.

Thai Select

Kate, the owner of Thai Select, invited me and my wife into the restaurant for a press meal to sample, and yammer about, some of their delicious menu selections.

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I nearly got killed by three people going about 40mph on bicycles getting that shot, so please take the time to appreciate it more than usual. It was partially my fault, as I wasn’t watching where I was walking, but whatever. Bicycles still suck.

Anyway this joint is located in the heart of what I am now calling Thai Town in NYC. That’s 9th avenue from the 30s through the 50s. There are TONS of Thai joints on that stretch, and competition is pretty fucking fierce! There are lots of good places to dine here, and also lots of shitty ones as well. You need to know which is which, and that’s what I’m here for.

Thai Select is one of the good ones. In fact, it’s probably one of the best. The inside is decorated with a lounge-like atmosphere, with exposed brick, a long bench seat with two-top tables going along the entirety of the wall.

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There’s a bar on the opposite end that goes about a third of the length of the entire restaurant. There’s even a back area that is elevated, almost like a stage, for larger groups.

Chef Toni explained that on Friday and Saturday nights it gets pretty jammed. This was a Monday at 6pm, so we had some elbow room to eat, at least for a little while. It did get to nearly full capacity by time we left at around 7:30pm, which is a good sign.

They offer happy hour from 4pm to 7pm, and allow you to take advantage of those deals from your table. $4 beers is a pretty great deal, for one, but there are others as well. We started by sipping on this cocktail made with citron vodka, canton, fresh ginger and lime called the Springter. It was incredibly refreshing and bright.

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Chef Toni sat with us and explained some of the new endeavors that Thai Select is undertaking. One is a new healthy menu, where everything is gluten free, no MSG and no saturated fats, and which highlights the health benefits of various Thai herbs and ingredients.

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The offerings on this portion of the menu roll out officially next month, and they actually look really good, even the vegetarian stuff!

Chef Toni has been in the restaurant biz for about seven and a half years, and is already juggling two other joints nearby in Thai Town, in addition to this one.

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He’s created a menu that is accessible and familiar to people of all cultures, whether it is American, Indian or Latin, in addition to classic Thai dishes and flavor profiles. Everything is made in house from scratch, all the way down to the dumpling wrappers. Toni’s expertise shines in the food. Everything we tasted was really excellent, so let’s get into it:

We started with this bowl of moo dad deaw, or “pork poppers.” This is small bits of pork jerky that are crispy on the outside and served with a spicy, “fire sauce” that reminded me very much of the sauces made in Vietnam for eating with fried foods. It’s like a sri racha, but more orange colored and slightly sweet, as opposed to all spicy.

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I couldn’t eat these things fast enough. I ripped through that bowl like nothing. I could eat buckets of this shit. PLEASE – if you like meat snacks of any kind – do yourself a favor and order this when you go. You won’t be disappointed. If this was sold in bags, I’d be stockpiling for armageddon.

Next we tried the peanut dumplings.

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These are stuffed with sweet turnip and ground peanut, and served with a sweet soy sauce.

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The wrapper had the texture of a really nicely executed dim sum dumpling, but it held up to cutting without falling apart. Really tasty and healthy to boot.

Toni also brought out one of their better selling appetizer items, the crab rangoon.

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These are hand made deep fried wanton wrappers filled with whipped cream cheese and crab meat. They were very creamy and soft inside, but crisp on the outside, and came with a light duck sauce for dipping. While I’m generally not a fan of cream cheese with any sort of meat, these were definitely addicting.

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The entree I chose was a Bangkok spice pork stir fry wok dish.

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It came with fresh peppers (spicy green chili and sweet red bell alike), green beans and onions. And a nice little cone of rice:

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This was a really tasty dish. It had the kick that I expect from good Thai food, but without going over the top to blow out my palette.

My wife had what I think was the winning dish of the night. She ordered the pineapple curry duck.

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This robust, spicy-yet-sweet curry is one of the best I’ve had. The duck was placed on top, skin side up, to keep all that delicious fried skin good and crispy throughout. This is actually smoked duck from Canada, so there is less chewy fat under the skin than normal.

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There is no waste when you eat this – none at all. No bones, no messy picking up and chewing or gnawing through cartilage or fat, and no sticky smelly fingers afterward. It was awesome. And that curry. MAN! Toni should jar it and sell it at grocery stores. It was garnished with red bell peppers, tomato, green beans, fresh basil leaves, bamboo shoots and chunks of pineapple. Killer dish. No wonder why it is another one of their top sellers.

For dessert we had the fried bananas with coconut ice cream, which was drizzled with honey and chocolate syrup, and sprinkled with toasted and untoasted sesame seeds.

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The ice cream was good and flavorful without being too sweet, as were the fried banana egg rolls. We washed this down with some ginger tea and Thai iced tea, which was nicely adorned with a straw-wrapper rose:

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I love that chai tea flavor with sweet milk. It reminds me of the smell of fresh pipe tobacco for some reason.

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That about wraps it up. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed eating. Check this place out when you’re in the area and tell them I sent you.

THAI SELECT
472 9th Ave.
New York, NY 10018

Golden Unicorn

My wife picked up a Living Social deal for an eight course Peking duck dinner at Golden Unicorn, which is otherwise famous for its dim sum service. I was pretty impressed overall. But let me babble about a few other things first…

First off, I absolutely love this part of town. East Broadway and the surrounding side streets encircling the Manhattan Bridge still feel like old NYC. Not much has changed, save for a few new buildings poking up here and there. Walking around, you’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time, possibly even into another country.

This area is the real deal Chinatown, unlike the tourist-laden, knock-off selling, shitty DVD purveying hustle on Canal street. Take a closer look in these parts, or allow a lingering eye to glance into some storefronts, and you’ll spy people working at a ground floor dumpling factory. You’ll see produce, dry goods and health products that most white people have no idea about, and you can’t even read the signs to get more info, because they’re all in Chinese. It has a busy, bustling vibe and I love it.

Okay on to the fucking food. First up was egg drop soup with chicken. This was pretty good, though I did have to add a little bit of hot sauce to punch it up slightly.

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Next were two types of dumplings: crystal shrimp and siu mai. Both were excellent. If you swing by this joint for dim sum, these are some of the delights you can enjoy from the carts. Both were packed with ingredients and nicely steamed.

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Then the spring rolls came out. They didn’t look like much, but they had great flavor. I was actually surprised, although they were a little bit too greasy on the shell.

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Our waitress then brought out the Peking duck. YES!

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She cut off a good deal of the crispy skin and more generous portions of meat, and, with that, assembled six steamed buns for us, accompanied by hoisin sauce, scallion and cucumber. They were awesome. Crispy, fatty, juicy… all around excellent.

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The rest of the duck was chopped up for us and served on a plate:

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The meal kept on trucking along with this ginger beef and broccoli dish. The ginger was fresh and sliced thin. The beef was tender and flavorful. I think it was a mix of flank and rib eye. And the broccoli was steamed in the sauce, so it tasted awesome.

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There was also some fried rice with shrimp, roast pork, ham, peas, onion and egg. We were really too full to dig into this too far.

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At the end of the meal, some honeydew and orange arrived at the table. A nice, refreshing, smiley-face looking end to the meal.

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Excellent deal. Jump on it if you see another Living Social or Groupon offering for this place. And definitely check out their dim sum on the weekend for lunch.

GOLDEN UNICORN
18 E. Broadway
New York, NY 10002

Cafe Tallulah

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED

My wife had a deal for this joint that got us a shared app, two entrees and a shared dessert, with a cocktail each, for something like $50. Not a bad deal.

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We started with a pair of pink colored pussy cocktails. Mine was called “The Pink Panther” and had gin, agave, absinthe, pink peppercorns, and ginger.

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We shared a charcuterie plate, which was really nice. The best part was by far the pate:

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For my entree, I had the lamb shank with polenta. This was pretty good, but lacked a little seasoning. It was missing punch, and there wasn’t much meat on the bone.

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My wife had the winning dish; duck l’orange. The skin was perfectly crisp, and the orange wasn’t overpowering. This was a big portion size too.

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Service was extremely slow for some reason, but eventually our dessert came out. We had the apple crisp with creme fraiche ice cream. The ice cream was incredible. I’ve had better apple crisp. Maybe it needed more brown sugar in the mix.

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I’d definitely come back for their $1 oyster happy hour deal, which is pretty much every day in the after-work hours. BUT, on Mondays the oysters are a buck all night long. And the bar is incredibly big and beautiful here.

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CAFE TALLULAH
240 Columbus Ave.
New York, NY 10023

Le Village

UPDATE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED

Le Village is a small French bistro where I recently had the opportunity to dine for a press dinner. It’s been open for about a year, on 7th Street near Avenue A, and serves up some really great classical French dishes. It opens for dinner only, all days except Tuesday, and the best part – it is BYOB with no corkage fee! One thing that some of you diners out there may be glad to hear: the menu is very diet-restriction friendly, as it offers many gluten free, vegan and vegetarian dishes that are incredibly good, filling and satisfying; a rare trio of traits in that world of dieting.

The animated and extremely personable chef/owner Didier also runs two other locations across town on Broome Street (La Sirene, another French place, and Taureau, a fondue joint). He’s truly passionate about food, and his spirit shines through the dishes as well. They’re innovative, exciting, energetic and fun, just like he is.

As he spoke with us, I got the sense that he has very high standards in what he serves. My suspicions were confirmed when he explained the rationale for 86’ing the burger that used to be on the menu: it wasn’t perfect in his eyes (and his girlfriend didn’t like it very much either). I can respect that: Don’t serve it unless you are 100% confident that it’s you’re best version of that item. Not only does he treat his food with great respect, but he treats his staff with great respect as well. It seems that he also applies his highly selective attitude in choosing who he has working for him. Everyone who served us and waited on us was amazing, particularly Benjamin.

Didier’s perfectionist view on food translates to a perfect meal. I’m dead serious. Just about everything I ate was the best version of that particular item I’ve ever had.

For example, the French onion soup that we started with: absolutely amazing. By far the best I’ve ever had. Imagine, if you will, your Thanksgiving turkey stuffing floating atop a steaming bowl of thick, hot, velvety onion soup before being topped with a generous-but-not-massive amount of crispy-yet-melty cheese. Unbelievable. And after you let this beast cool down, the soup only gets better and better. Your taste buds sense all sorts of deep and rich flavors when the heat settles down. I can’t even fucking remember the last time I actually WANTED French onion soup, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. Didier took it to the next level, made it exciting. Amazing part about this: if you want, it can be made gluten free and fucking vegan, with ZERO GODDAMN CARBS!

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Another example of bests: the best Brussels sprouts I have ever had. Want to have your mind blown into thousands of bloody little brain bits? They were served with strawberries. Fucking… FUCKING… STRAWBERRIES, MAN – YES YOU READ THAT CORRECTLY! Perfectly caramelized and crisped, the sprouts were offset with a little bit of zing and sweet pop from the strawberries. It’s an unexpected match made in heaven, that, again, demonstrates Didier’s facility with food.

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Okay I’ll hit you with another best. The best Coq au Vin that I’ve ever tasted. Preparations for this dish start a week in advance at Le Village, as the chickensies bathe in wine. When finally served, what you have is a delicious, home-style yet refined stew of unbelievably deep flavor. The meat is so tender, the “gravy” so soulful and satisfying. This is where you go to learn what this classic French dish is all about, what it should actually taste like. Not only is Didier innovative, but he can really rock the shit outta the classics as well.

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Okay let’s get to the other menu items we sampled. We tried these miniature ravioli. The earthy aroma and truffle flavoring really made for a unique appetizer. I could easily devour an entire bowl of these.

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We’re in a fucking French restaurant, for God’s sake. Of course there is an excellent foie gras pate of sorts, with a slice of truffle right on top! Oui!

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These baked gnocchi au gratin were light as pillows despite their creamy, truffled Mornay and Swiss cheddar sauce. It’s very rare to find a chef with a hand skilled at NOT making dense, heavy gnocchi, especially in a cream + cheese base. These were fantastic, and definitely a recommended item.

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Finally, the seared duck breast with green beans and sweet potato was served with a unique and hearty unsweetened chocolate sauce, and garnished with pistachio nuts and red beeper coulis. Perfectly cooked, juicy, and delicious. This satisfied my meat needs for sure. And I am really excited to hit Didier’s other restaurant across town. Apparently the hanger steak there is pretty outstanding.

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My favorite of the three desserts we tried was the banana brûlée. The banana pudding was rich and creamy, and beneath the cracked surface of the brûlée sugar was some banana and wafer for texture.

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The lava cake was good as well, but since I am married to The Cake Dealer, I am admittedly spoiled when it comes to all-things-cake. Her cake is still my favorite.

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Finally, we tried the tart. This was nice and light, very refreshing.

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You should definitely check this place out if you get a chance. All the menu prices are incredibly reasonable, and you save money on booze by being able to bring in your own wine or beer for no corkage/opening fees. Get on it!

UPDATE 2/23/17

The duck rillette was very nicely crafted. It tasted authentic and home made.

While the baked mussels app was a bit small in terms of portion size (only 5), it delivered big on flavor. These reminded me of escargot in their preparation. I just wish they had rinsed the mussels better before cooking, as several of them had some sand or grain in them.

My wife got the baked aged goat cheese tart for her entree. Very different and unique.

I, of course, had steak. This was a butter poached hanger steak. It had a great flavor to it, imparted from the poaching process, and the meat itself was incredibly tender. 8/10.

LE VILLAGE
127 E. 7th St.
New York, NY 10009