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Kingside

3 Feb

We were trying to find a restaurant for a Friday night before a Broadway Show, and Mike mentioned that he had wanted to try Kingside in the Viceroy Hotel (57th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues).  It looked good from the outside, with a nicely lit sign and the black and white checkered floors that I’m a sucker for.

The menu looked pretty great, too.

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I absolutely love artichokes, and would probably call them one of my favorite foods.  So we had to get the crispy baby artichokes.  I was kind of shocked and appalled by the price: $20. But I went with it.

These were good, though a little greasy, and not great. Certainly not $20 great.  What are they thinking? Not everyone is an artichoke sucker like me!

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Mike chose the braised pork shank with roasted shallots, escarole and pork jus.  This should have been great. I mean… how can braised pork shank not be great? But it just wasn’t.  The meat was tasty but had very little flavoring besides the meat.  It felt a bit like a finely cooked piece of meat swimming in flavorless jus. How is pork jus flavorless? I’m still confused.

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We got a side of the brussels sprouts with mustard and black garlic.  These were also very ehh.  I LOVE black garlic and I would not have been able to identify that flavor anywhere in this dish. The sprouts were a bit soggy and while they looked like they had a char, they were really just kind of limp.

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And then I got the scallops (with butternut squash, bacon caponata, and brown butter)… good gracious the scallops.  I love scallops. I basically could eat a scallop in any form.  I don’t think I have EVER left a morsel of scallop on a plate in my history of eating scallops probably hundreds of times.  But this? This was awful. The scallops were so over-salted I could hardly eat them and wound up leaving an entire scallop on the plate. An atrocity. I ate the squash hash because it was okay and I didn’t want to starve, but I was seriously angry that someone could ruin a scallop.

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This was such a poor excuse for a restaurant. Someone took all the things that are trendy and good and then put a cook in there who had no idea how to execute on the food.  The concepts of all the dishes were fine, but whomever was behind that stove should be ashamed of themselves. I really have to hope they had an off night, but there is no excuse for ruining a perfectly good scallop.

Total Nom Points: 4 out of 10

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Gramercy Tavern for New Year’s Eve

29 Jan

I was more than happy to plan a New Year’s Eve that included not much more than my couch, my husband, and my cats… but friends of ours were visiting from London and were passionate about having a nice meal out, especially at Gramercy Tavern. So 30 days before 12/31, we were online and calling to snag a reservation. And we got one.

And I’m glad she motivated me to get off my butt to enjoy a nice meal on New Year’s Eve.  Because it was a really lovely way to spend the holiday, without having to deal with any of the craziness that is NYE in NYC.

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The Dining Room menu is typically a 3-course menu where you can choose from an app, entree, and dessert for $92 or a Seasonal Tasting Menu (~6 courses) for $120.  New Year’s Eve was no different.  (Which I think is important, because I hate price gouging on holidays)

We were at a table with 2 other couples, some of whom were not the foodie activists we are, so when the waiter said it would be hard to have some of the table do the 3-course and the others do the Tasting Menu, we sadly went with the 3-course.

But I longed for that Seasonal Tasting Menu.  There were so many dishes on that menu that had my name all over them.  I used every kindness I had and asked the waiter if I could choose some things off the Seasonal Tasting Menu, even if they came with a supplement.  He checked with the chef and agreed. OH HAPPY DAY!

We started with an amuse bouche, and I got a special one with pickled veggies, which was a very nice start.

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One of the items that tickled my fancy off the Tasting Menu was the lobster with squash.  This was fantastic.  Sweet lobster, cooked just right, complimented by a perfectly roasted squash, squash seeds, and a delightful sauce.

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Some other dishes around the table looked equally delicious.

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But the other dish off the tasting menu I needed was the short ribs.  These were cooked perfectly and in a fantastic sauce with bright, beautiful veggies.

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We then got an intermezzo of shaved ice that was a really refreshing transition into dessert.

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All of the desserts were lovely, including the cheese tasting.

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And we ended the meal with beautiful chocolate fudge and salted caramels.

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And they sent us home with homemade banana bread and chocolate hazelnut spread to enjoy the next morning (and oh boy did we).

This was a great meal, and a great way to end a great year with great friends.  They were so kind to let me order a custom meal and get the things I so wanted, and for that bit of hospitality I cannot help but love them even more.  We already had one great meal at Gramercy Tavern, and I can’t wait to go back for another one. It’s such a classic New York City restaurant that always impresses.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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Bâtard

27 Jan

It seems everywhere I looked, someone was raving about Bâtard.  It took us a few weeks to get a reservation, but we finally managed to squeeze in for a 6pm on a Friday night.

One thing everyone raved about was that you can do a Tasting Menu for $55 (2 courses), $65 (3 courses), or $75 (4 courses).  I love this concept because I love trying as much as possible.  They said they would course the meal depending on what we ordered. Great.

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We started out with warm bread that was fantastic.  The olive roll was incredible and started the meal well.

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We decided to split all our courses.

We started with Braised Artichokes with barley, poached hen’s egg, and eiswein sabayon.  It came with a chili flake on top, and when I asked about it, it was immediately whisked away and very quickly replaced.

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With a non-allergenic version.  And it was awesome.  The sabayon was fantastic and the artichokes were super flavorful.  The chip added nice texture and I enjoyed the barley as a way of sopping up the sauce.

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We also tried the short rib and tafelspitz terrine with smoked egg, german sesame, and apple.

The terrine itself had great flavor and texture, but that little fried piece of meat was heavenly.  The fresh apple complimented the richness well.

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We then tried the sea scallops with carrot fondue, parsnip, and chervil.

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The scallops were perfectly cooked, and the little touch of caviar on the one made it extra special.  The parsnips were caramelized and really flavorful.  The crumble added great texture and flavor (though I still have no idea what it was).

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Our next dish was sweet potato agnolotti with parmesan mousseline, pecan, and peppercress.  These melted in my mouth and had this great balance of sweetness, richness, and a bit of bitter from the greens. I LOVED this dish.

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We then had the branzino with butternut squash, grilled lettuce, and pumpkin seed vinaigrette.  I love branzino and this did not disappoint. Perfect cooked with slightly crispy skin, complimented with all the great squash flavors of the butternut and the pumpkin seed.  The grilled lettuce had a nice char and it came together beautifully.

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There was a special this night with chicken schnitzel (partially on the bone) with potato salad.

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This was very nicely seasoned, with a slight crisp, and I loved the piece on the bone.  The potato salad was mustardy, which Mike loved and I was a bit turned off by, but I could see the appeal.

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For dessert, they had a selection from the menu or a cheese tasting of 3 for $15 (only thing a la carte from the tasting menu).  Mike went with the 3 courses plus the cheese and I chose the 4 courses with dessert.

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Each of the cheeses were very good, and paired with a compliment (apricot, apples, etc)  to make the flavor sing.

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I chose the caramelized milk bread, which I have been seeing pop up on menus a bit more very recently.  This came with blueberries and brown butter ice cream (which had a little bit of salt on top). Awesome dessert.  It was kind of like a french toast but with a beautifully caramelized outside to make it more desserty.  The blue berries were cooked a bit to sweeten them and add some sauce without losing the consistency and flavor, and the brown butter ice cream went very well with everything.

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We were then brought a final tasting with marzipan cookies and truffles filled with black olives. Yes. Black olives.  When I took a bite, I was so confused by what flavor I was tasting, I had to ask.  I was surprised at how enjoyable this was once I found out it was black olives.  I also really loved the marzipan cookies. Delicious.

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From start to finish, we really enjoyed our meal.  I felt like the quality was great with a good amount of innovation, that made me feel like we were getting a lot for our money.  Most tasting menus of this quality in NYC would cost a lot more, but this felt like a big value with a huge payoff in delicious food.

Highly recommended.

Total Nom Points: 8 out of 10

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