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Restaurant Week – Winter 2015: all’onda

6 Apr

I somehow forgot to post this during Restaurant Week (I blame baby brain), but I couldn’t leave out our fantastic dinner at all’onda! We had gone to all’onda once before right when it opened and loved it, and I’ve recommended it ever since.  While I kept saying we had to go back, their participation in Restaurant Week inspired me to make that reservation first.

Here was the Restaurant Week Winter 2015 Menu:

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And the regular menu that night:

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I was impressed that the Restaurant Week menu listed both the Short Ribs (for 2) and the Bucatini with smoked uni.  Though both had an up charge, since both dishes are some of the best on the restaurant’s menu, it’s great to see there was the option to include them in a Restaurant Week tasting and the total cost was still a bargain.

We started off the menu and split the arancini. These were different from the squid ink ones we had last time, and instead came with black truffle and parmesan.

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Very good, but not quite as original as the squid ink ones. (Nor as beautiful)

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Back to the Restaurant Week menu, Mike went for the kale salad, which I thought was an odd choice from the other delicious things on the menu, but he enjoyed it.

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One of our friends went for the scallop crudo which was fresh and delicious.  Great combination of flavors.

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I got the grilled treviso with kobocha squash and aged balsamic.  (Looked it up: Treviso is a red radicchio)

It was packed with flavor and tasted just like the end of winter.

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Our meal was quite the spread when it all came out.

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We made fun of Mike for his entree choice as well… he got… the chicken. Now I love me a good chicken, but with all the amazing things on the menu, who gets the chicken?  He seemed very satisfied with his selection and the skin was quite crispy and it was well flavored (sorry for picking on you, honey!)

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Our friends split the short rib for two.

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Which could not have been more perfectly cooked. It was so tender on the inside with a great, slow cooked flavor and nicely charred outside.  A fantastic short rib.

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I got the skate, which was awesome.  Cooked so the ends were crispy, the inside tender, and the light sauce brightening.

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We added some sides we loved last time to split for the table, including the brussels sprouts.  The flavor of these sprouts is just fantastic.  All the right sweet, savory, and crunchiness.  Probably some of my favorite brussels in the city.

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And then the polenta with miso cured egg yolk and wild mushrooms. Every bite was sensational and it was hard to not dip back in for more and more.

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If the meal above was by itself, it would already be fantastic, but add on our favorite dish from the last time, the bucatini with smoked uni, and it rose itself back to star quality.  This dish is just so fantastic.  We got it without the spicy breadcrumbs and no one missed them.  The uni with the exquisitely cooked pasta and the sauce… it’s just one of the best flavor combinations ever.  I love this dish.

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We were full… but never too full for dessert.

The olive oil cake with lemon and basil was moist and scrumptious.

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But most of the table chose the hazelnut mousse with chocolate crumble and candied orange.  A perfect way to end the meal with a bit of sweet and excellent execution.

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all’onda was one of our favorite meals in 2014 (#4 on the list to be exact) and we left this meal equally, if not more impressed.  If they participate in Restaurant Week in Summer 2015, make this your first reservation!  And if you’re looking for a great restaurant to have a really great meal, you can’t go wrong here.

Total Nom Points: 8.5 out of 10

nomscale- 08.5

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Restaurant Week – Winter 2015: Bar Primi

5 Mar

Our second Restaurant Week stop was with some friends at Bar Primi.

Bar Primi is run by Chefs Andrew Carmellini and Sal Lamboglia with Josh Pickard and Luke Ostrom of NoHo Hospitality Group, who also run Locanda Verde, The Dutch, Lafayette, Little Park (where we will be excitedly heading in 2 weeks) among others.

Here’s the 2015 Winter Restaurant Week Menu:

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I started with the Grilled Octopus with Fingerling Potatoes (sans red hots).  It was a beautiful tentacle that was pretty tasty.  It was lightly sauced so it really focused on the great octopus flavor.  While I enjoyed it, I still have the bar set by Kefi, which is the best octopus I’ve ever had, so everything else pales in comparison, unfortunately.

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I was the only one of the four of us who stuck to the Restaurant Week menu, and while I had 0 regrets, I was glad the rest of the table ordered off the menu so I could try a bunch of things, having never been to Bar Primi.

So the table started with the truffled mushroom crustino.  This was incredibly tasty and bursting with flavor.  The bread was just the right amount of crisp to bring it all together.

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The table also ordered the stuffed mushrooms in sugo (which, sadly, had red peppers in it).

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Here is an inside view, and everyone raved that they were very tasty.

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We also got Sal’s Antipasti Salad for the table.  This was nicely flavored, however, I was expecting a bit more antipasti components.  My bites were mostly lettuce and chick peas and not much more.

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For dinner, I chose the Strozzpreti from the Restaurant Week menu which has a mushroom marsala ragu.  I usually shy away from a dish without meat, but I didn’t miss the meat at all in this dish.  The pasta tasted like really amazing, gourmet macaroni and cheese with a hugely flavorful mushroom sauce.  I was so impressed with how much flavor they packed into this little pasta dish. And the pasta itself tasted incredibly fresh and was perfectly cooked.

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Others around the table tried the Bucatini with Lamb Amatriciana, which they all loved.

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And the Fusilli Napoletan with Nonna’s Veal Genovese, which they all also loved.

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And the Friday special, lobster oreganata with linguine pangrattato. This tasted similar to a classic scampi dish and the lobster was great with it.

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For dessert, we tried the Chocolate Hazelnut Torta off the Restaurant Week menu.  This looked like it was going to be dry, but the flavor was really fantastic and a great way to end the meal.

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We also got a piece of tiramisu, and while it looked very melty, it was quite good.

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I was VERY impressed with the Bar Primi Restaurant Week dishes I tried.  If I had only that, I would absolutely want to go back and try more, and was grateful to be able to try additional components with my fellow diners.  I will absolutely be revisiting Bar Primi, even after Restaurant Week is over. A very enjoyable restaurant.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

nomscale- 08.0

 

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Restaurant Week – Winter 2015: Pera

3 Mar

Restaurant Week is back in NYC.  It started a couple weeks later than last year, but it came just in time, as we have all worn thin with the freezing cold and need an excuse (any excuse) to brave the cold for good food.

The first stop this year was Pera, a Mediterranean restaurant near Grand Central and the Library/Bryant Park that I have passed many times, but have never had a good excuse to try.  Restaurant Week provided as good an excuse as any to have a meal there with my sister.

It was quite crowded, but not at all loud.

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We were provided with two Restaurant Week menus as well as the regular menu.  How these were different, I am still not sure:

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We started with the Crispy Portugese Calamari, which also came with sliced sausage. It was also supposed to come with a paprika yogurt and hot peppers, but since both my sister and I share the same peppers allergy (capsaicin to be exact), we had to forego those parts. But it was quite tasty without, both the calamari itself, which was fried a bit heavy but not at all greasy, and the sausage slices.

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My sister chose to go with the pan-roasted Atlantic salmon with grilled vegetables and eggplant ragu.  I think the ragu was kept off due to the peppers allergy, but she enjoyed the dish.  I tried a bite, and even though I’m not a salmon fan, this was pretty good.

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I got the Wild Mushroom Bucatini with porcini cream sauce, swiss chard, oyster mushrooms, and parmigiano reggiano.  While it photographed quite poorly, it was actually quite tasty.  Nothing too memorable, but it’s hard to go wrong with bucatini and mushrooms.  I did have the distinct feeling, however, that I could have just as easily made this myself.

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Dessert was a sampler of 4 treats (even though the menu listed it as a trio).  We had a piece of baklava, a mini apple tart, dark chocolate mousse in a dark chocolate cup, and I think a coffee mousse.  All were good, but nothing outstanding.

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Overall our meal here was pretty good, but I wasn’t really blown away by anything. This Restaurant Week experience didn’t give me motivation to want to come back again, but it’s a solid choice.

Total Nom Points: 6.5 out of 10

nomscale- 06.5

 

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