Archive | October, 2009

Charles Restaurant- ::EDIT::

21 Oct

When Mike and I went to Taste The West Village a few weeks ago, I entered into a raffle where you bid on a gift certificate to certain restaurants (it went to charity for the schools). After tasting the awesome braised short ribs at the Charles (234 West 4th Street on the corner of West 10th Street) stand, I decided it was totally worth it to bid $60 for a $75 gift certificate.  I really didn’t expect to win but it was my lucky day.

It said on the reservation email itself that photos were not allowed in the restaurant. Bummer!  I snuck some on my iPhone, however, until the light couldn’t hold out any longer. (Sorry for some of the blur)

We started the meal with some delicious flat bread and olive goo (aka tapenade).

For an app, we decided on potato gnocchi with squash, spinach, and pecorino romano. It was great.  The gnocchi was at a perfect consistency and flavor and the squash, cheese, and spinach gave it such a great, earthy flavor.  

We decided on the brussel sprouts as a side dish and they were okay, but nothing like the now infamous ones Mike and I make with pancetta (inspired by both Babbo and Guy Fieri).

I was tempted to go with the short ribs again, but when Mike said he was also leaning in that direction it opened me up to try something different. So I went with the Braised Lamb Shank which came with Israeli couscous.  It was a really marvelous dish. Great flavor to the lamb and the couscous was delicious.  I savored every bite.

The short ribs were just as good, if not better, than at the tasting.  I still think the celery root puree is too soft for the soft texture of the meat, however, it was definitely tasty.

For dessert, Mike made a good call and said the molten chocolate type cake sounded right up my alley.  WOW was it!  Perfect.

Mike went with the homemade ice cream sandwiches.  See that little bowl of warm liquid? I’m pretty sure that was nutella.  I wanted to put my entire face into that little bowl.

Overall our meal was very good.  That lamb was absolutely worth going back for.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

EDIT:
Funny… the same day this posted, Charles was in GrubStreet: http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/10/charles_names_jason_zukas_as_t.html

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Welcome to the Neighborhood

19 Oct

I have long been reading about the Schnitzel Truck and was quite excited when I read on the Midtown Lunch Twitter Tracker that they were in front of my new office building on only my third day, I was in. It was chilly and the line was pretty long, but it was too fortuitous to pass up.

They had run out of bread, so they only had platters left. I wound up being glad to spend the extra $2 because the beet and feta salad was GREAT. The Austrian Potato salad left something to be desired (and it didn’t help that it was so cold that it felt like it was right out of the freezer and killed the temperature of the meat… but oh well). I would up choosing pork rather than chicken and the meat itself was perfect. The breading was perfectly shnitzel-like and the flavor was great. Just wish it hadn’t been so cold by the time I got across the street and into my office.

As far as “Street Meat” goes, this is good. Even more than being good, however, it’s original! Selling schnitzel out of a truck? Can’t wait to see what they think of next!

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NJ BBQ at the Grub Hut

19 Oct

When I visited my mom in NJ, she decided that Grub Hut in Manville, NJ was the place to take me for some BBQ.  They also have Mexican, but the vote was that their BBQ was some of the best she had eaten, so we all ordered some ribs.


They had a few items on special including the Rib Sampler which included Baby Back, Beef, and Spare Ribs.  I ordered it with the special teriyaki sauce since the BBQ sauce was a risk with peppers.  It was SOOOO good.

The beef were decidedly my favorite.  And they were the size of my head!

Mom went with the double that came with spare and baby back (as well as sides of cole slaw and AWESOME BBQ baked beans.)

Rich got the 4 pound beef ribs special.  It was HUGE.

It was a very messy enterprise, though entirely delicious and with enough food for another meal!

Our pile of bones was quite large.

Overall, Grub Hut offers so much meat for the price that it is entirely worthwhile.  There are also sometimes coupon on Restaurants.com that can save you even more (none at this time… sad).  It’s delicious and better than most Northeast BBQs I’ve had.  Totally worth a stop if you’re in the neighborhood.

Total Nom Points: 7 out of 10

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