Monday, April 27, 2009

A Mish Mosh Meal

The other weekend Mr. Broad and I prepared for a long night out with our friends that were in town, The Essamas. They were up celebrating their one year anniversary and we had no problem crashing. While they were at a show doing their anniversary thang, Mr. Broad and I went out for dinner in a new 'hood we haven't been to much.

Tribeca.

Upstairs at Bouley
130 W Broadway

Like many big-time chefs Bouley has a high end restaurant (Bouley) and a "lower end" restaurant (Upstairs at Bouley). Chef Bouley also has a bakery and a market so that's really big time I guess. This restaurant had a menu that read like a diner. Well, a hodgepodge of items. They have a sushi chef with plenty of raw fish variety alongside of traditional Japanese, Italian, and the ever vague "fish and meat". But don't let my jesting sway you, this was a very good (but slightly random?) menu.

Fresh Asparagus Salad with Blue Crab and Parsley Broth:
Not sure if you can see the crab meat in this picture but it would make any native Marylander proud.

Nanzenji: Upstairs signature handmade tofu with truffle dashi-an

I did a double take when Mr. Broad placed his order. TOFU?! From the one who thrives on all things that were once alive... TOFU?! Whatever. It had mushrooms in it which isn't really my thing. I enjoyed the tofu and surprisingly... so did Mr. Broad.




Gnocchi with gorgonzola, shallots and cherry tomato sauce
I mean if you can order Italian next to someone ordering sushi, why not? This was awesome. A nice balance of gorgonzola (who knew?) with the tomato sauce equals rosa sauce? Nice.



Alright blog friends. This is where I broke the number one rule in food blogging. Guesses?

I DID NOT CHARGE MY CAMERA! ugh.
So I apologize. For all those that don't read what I write, well this post will likely end here for you. If it hasn't already.

So onto Mr. Broad's order, in words. He ordered something from the Japanese section and what came was something different in the Japanese section. Mr. Broad noticed right away and the attentive waiter came along, quickly apologized told Mr. Broad at no charge he can have the mistaken dish and brought over the new dish. You didn't have to tell Mr. Broad twice, this was a $25 mess up (the most expensive thing on the menu). Nice and tasty. Even if I had no idea what he ordered.


Review:
From the service to the eclectic menu, we had a great meal at a much smaller price than the upscale version would have been. Being in Tribeca I was in prime celebrity-look-out mode but alas, nada. I think it's like watching a pot boil at this point. I may have reached my potential at Bob Saget... Anyway, I'd definitely come back to this place. You may have a wait but if you and the rest of your party can't agree on a cuisine du jour this is a great compromise.
Rating:8


Up next... the night continues!

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Hipster BBQ

This past Friday night Mr. Broad and I stayed on our side of the East River, and took the subway three stops over to hipster, trendy Williamsburg. No really I lost count of how many converse shoes I saw being held together by masking tape. And I'm sure that guy secretly works on Wall Street.


NOTE: We also saw not one but FOUR people wearing black booty shorts with black panty hose underneath. This is not attractive. This is just weird.

354 Metropolitan Ave. Brooklyn

Fette Sau, meaning Fat Pig in German (Who knew? I thought it was French. Oops), is in a converted auto shop space which creates a great atmosphere for eating all things on a grill or smoker. Last Friday night, the weather was nice and this place has several tables outside so it was bumpin'. Or whatever the new hipster phrase is for crowded. You seat yourself and then go wait in a line and order your food fast-food style. It was barbeque; no need dressing it up with white table clothes.

Mr. Broad requested a platter for two-- whatever they wanted to put together for us. And a couple of sides of broccoli salad, pickles, and baked bean with pork.

In the front was pork belly, the back- pork chops, the left- rib meat and briscuit. This picture below was our entire platter. Plus our sides. Didn't look like a lot did it? At least I didn't think so. It was all $55. Uh yeah, a bit more than we were expecting. Yet I was not able to finish any of my portion at all. I guess they know what they are doing.






Pork belly is in the front. Yum.


Review:
Fette Sau is a fun barbeque place to sit back, relax and drink some beers out of a mason jar. The barbeque was good- Mr. Broad enjoyed it a lot more than I did. I appreciated it but decided I'm not a fan of pork chops and the briscuit was rather dry. The side dishes were okay, nothing remarkable. Hands down our favorite thing on the platter- pork belly. It had a distinct cinnamon taste to it and wasn't too fatty. I looked around and everyone was eating this up. We looked back at the chalkboard menu later on and it was quickly erased.
But the rest of it all? Well, let's just say my father is one to smoke legendary ribs. If he were to open up a place here, he'd be giving them a run for their money. And I'll even bring some converse sneakers for the occasion.
Rating: 7

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Monday, April 20, 2009

Belgium: Small country, Big (and Good) Food

So I mentioned that Mr. Broad severely chose incorrectly on one of his dinner picks. I really love rubbing this in...!
My turn, My turn!

I was going to make a stupid joke about my love for brussel sprouts and tying that into Brussel, Belgium. Or feeling very muscular and wanting mussels. I had just watched The Office and was feeling a little Michael Scott-like.

Basically, I was in the mood for mussels and my friend Zagat, Chowhound, and New York Magazine pointed me in this direction I knew we'd have to go for it.

118 Greenwich Avenue

Holy Mussels. They have a whole page dedicated to them. And another to Belgium beer! And it's (relatively NYC) affordable! I think Mrs. Broad gets a big ol' check plus in her restaurant pick match up!

Moules au Roquefort
Bacon, Celery, Onion, Blue Cheese and Beer

I admittingly knew what I was going to order before we got here. After perusing this menu can we say HELLO! It was awesome. A HUGE pot o' moules (5 years of French baby!) with a sauce that had large pieces of bacon and blue cheese throughout. The broth was really drinkable (but I didn't) and with all the moules I hardly made a dent.



There were so many mussels it was hard to get them in the picture. That's my excuse for the unappetizing pictures.




Carbonade Flamande

Dark Belgian Beer Stew of Beef

I was surprised Mr. Broad picked this one out since it didn't sound as exciting but sometimes I gotta admit it, he's got an eye for it all! The beef stew was thick, rich and meaty. How's that for adjectives.




Frites.

Cause what's some moules without any frites?! The reason why this restaurant stood out amongst others is that people raved over and over about these fries. Typical belgium style- twice fried (and I know this cause Mr. Broad made them once); they were crisp and well pretty awesome for fries. It came with a mayo-like sauce that was a bit too thin for my liking. So we dipped it in my mussel broth. Now we're talking.



Review:

What a great belgium restaurant. Located in the West Village, I felt like I coulda been in Belgium again. But this time I could afford the pricey Belgium beers. Mr. Broad commented on the decor being "weak"; but I think he was just trying to find some type of fault in my restaurant choice. Fair. Plenty of options on this menu if you want your choice of mussels... or if you want to try something else, belgium-like. The fries were pretty wonderful. The best I ever had? Not sure on that, I don't discriminate.

Rating: 8

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Is it Weird I love Hummus But Am Not Crazy about Chick Peas?

Mrs. Cardinal comes to NYC every month for work... and it's about time I post our last lunch get together before she laps me in her visits. Mr. Broad suggested we check out this place knowing my love for hummus and it had just got written up in the New York Times that day. I'm all about being relevant.

109 St. Marks (nr. First Avenue)

Ya know it's funny, last time Mrs. Cardinal came up, we went to S'MAC. We really are all about the "speciality" food items. Up next-- the peanut butter sandwich restaurant? Or the grilled cheese place? Really I need to come up with one of these concepts.

The restaurant was very cute and quaint plus the yellow walls gave it to bright, shiny it's-not-that-small-of-a-restaurant feel. And how I love places that have a lunch special! Here you get your choice of appetizer plus one of the main "hummus's" for $7. Not bad!

Falafel
It had the necessary "green" fresh look inside that every falafel should have (cilantro, parsley...). The taste wasn't bad however it was pretty over fried. I was, however, impressed with the portion of five falafel balls. I sense a joke here.

Excuse the blurry artistic shot.

Hummus Tahini
Tahini, Olive Oil, and spices.
This was quite possibly some of the creamiest hummus I've ever had. With the tahini swirled in the middle it was all nice and smooth. I did have a bit of menu envy looking at Mrs. Cardinal's meal but I made due with my falafels.


Grape Leaves
No real comments for this one, just grape leaves that were pretty up to par.


Hummus Fava
Whole Fava beans stew, tahini, egg, olive oil and spices
Now this looked like a nice stew. Mrs. Cardinal definitely enjoyed this option and all its components.



Review:
Hummus Place has several locations throughout the city. And here I thought I found a secret gem, oops. It is a nice non controversial lunch spot. Oh and I must make mention of the bread/pitas that were about an inch thick. No pictures taken of it but it definitely added to the monotone hummus plate I ordered. Just hope you like your hummus cause it's quite a serving.
Rating: 6.5

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Thursday, April 16, 2009

The Meal That Wasn't

What, what?! 3 posts in 3 days?! Nuh UH!!

Mrs. Broad is BACK!

Because I have been posting all these fabulosity meals... I'd like to come clean. It ain't all like that. A couple of weeks ago (I told you I'm gettin caught up!) Mr. Broad and I decided we hadn't had sushi in awhile and I was craving some raw fish. So Mr. Broad in his ever-so commanding let me pick the restaurant voice chose this one.
And I can't stop reminding him.

63 Clinton Street

It was in the Lower East Side so we totally though oh yay cool hip sushi restaurant! Because every restaurant in the LES is OH SO COOL!? Negative.

We walk in to quite possibly the smallest restaurant room I've evern seen. Not saying much considering this is NYC but when you feel like you can stretch out your arms and touch opposite walls, I don't know... the word claustrophobic comes to mind.

We sit down and Mr. Broad and I give each other the eyes. Not in that sexy, newlywed way... but in that where the hell are we-should we leave way. Green tinted lights throughout the place and voices back and forth over the walls and the music.
We both decided that since it was 8:30 on a Sat night we just decided to go with it.
But let's discuss the music.
Where were we?! A club in Germany?

YOU try eating sushi to this music.


Review:
I guess I should review the sushi. It was okay. Sorry no pictures... I think I forgot my camera and Mr. Broad and I just wanted to get out of there. Some of the sushi rolls were very small pieces but overall we were really too distracted. Mr. Broad and I got the hell out of there in 30 minutes. And decided to go for a liquid dinner instead. Aaah. And who said married people don't go out!?
Rating: Mr. Broad gives it a 1. I'm too "diplomatic" to do that... I'm just not going to go back.

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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Other Side of Manhattan

Many, many of my posts have been from places around the Lower East Side or East Village. To the point where a fellow reader said, what about the Upper West Side?! And then emailed me all the places that I MUST TRY because the UWS is the new place to dine. They do now have a Shake Shack so perhaps she's onto something...


This was one of her recommendations and it's actually been mentioned on our foodie go-to websites so Mr. Broad and I ventured cross town to explore.

NOTE TO MR. BLOOMBERG: PLEASE FIX THE SUBWAY AND MAKE YOUR TRAINS MORE CLEAR ON THE WEST SIDE. GOING STRAIGHT FROM THE 60s to 125 in HARLEM WAS NOT A FUNNY JOKE. That is all.

283 Amsterdam Avenue (between 73rd and 74th)

Explained to me as the new go-to for best selction of cured meats and cheeses... wait. Did I just say cured meats? Mr. Broad was there.
So here we go:

It's been a little bit since we've been so I'm going to try my best to recreate what we ate. Or just make it up who am I kidding.

But no, starting with my favorite-
Cipollini Onions
Wow. I'm an "okay" onion person. Not really on the raw side but cooked it's aight. Fried it's better. Welcome to my new favorite vegetable. I've raved about brussel sprouts on more than one occasion and showed you many different ways how we've ordered them. But after having these at Thanksgiving I was hooked. Something about smothered in butter, or oil or balsamic oil. I don't know. These were awesome, bite size and explode in your mouth with a silkiness texture. Brussel sprouts you have competition.


Spare rib. I think?
Notice the singular. It had a red sauce and was very uh, "meaty". But I'm not sure if the picture shows well. It was one rib. Uno.



And this is what they are known for. Mr. Broad picked out a couple of cured meats and we were in business. I definitely could not tell you what these were but they melted in our mouth.


Oh here we are.
Brussel Sprouts. Sprinkled with an animal that oinks. Delish but yep, Cipollini Onions may have won this match up.



Review:
Salumerai Rossi was a fun find on the Upper West Side. A small space that crammed numerous tables to maximize the revenue, the service was lovely, and I must say Mr. Broad and I felt rather European eating Italian meats and sipping on sparkling water. I mean "flat" water. We can pretend. There were numerous items on the menu of this cafe that I would easily try. From salads to brunch-like items we may just have to go back... Now if we can only figure out the damn subway.
Rating: 7.5

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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

NYC's Best Sandwich?

It's almost with some irony that I blog about this next place during Passover. Have no fear Mr. Broad and I went there well before our bread-free holiday started. But alas, I still wanted to rave about this place. And while I can't eat the food right now, I might as well post some pictures to get me excited in the next two days.

Recently there have been many lists that have popped up about the "food's best" in NYC. And amongst those are the best sandwiches in NYC. New to the list in our favorite area, the East Village, is a small shop with just a few items on their menu.

Porchetta
110 East 7th Street

I told you. This post is soo not kosher, in more ways than one. Mr. Broad met me for lunch one Friday on his day off and we walked to this small hidden gem. There was a gathering outside so my guess is the secret is out. I'm sure the New York Magazine article didn't help. Damnit.
Inside the restaurant (Sidenote. If it has 5 bar stools can you call it a restaurant??) was porchetta in glass cases- the main attraction.

Why, Mrs. Broad-- what IS porchetta?
Glad you asked. It's a savory and relatively fatty portion of pork (okay very fatty) coming from Italian tradition. And we all know how Italians love their meat. There's a lot more to it but I'll just defer you to wikipedia at this time. And my crappy pictures.

Mr. Broad ordered for me. I guess there are more things on their menu but really you order one thing. And we got the potatoes to share.
Porchetta sandwich
Many angles here as I am fiddling with the settings of my camera.




Crispy potatoes and burnt ends
Potatoes with bits of burnt ends of porchetta mixed in?


Review:
Overall this meal was overly and completely satisfying. A wonderful, juicy sandwich that heightened my taste buds like I've never had before. Yeah Mr. Broad and I were in a good place. The potatoes with burnt ends were really something special, and my picture just does not do it justice.

Actually note, none of my pictures do this meal justice. For the record I fiddled with my settings and can NOT GET IT BACK TO NORMAL on how to take the best foodie picture. If you know, enlighten me. I'm thiiiis close to breaking out the manual. Although that would require me to find it. Right. Anyway for more excited pictures of our new favorite sandwich the Porchetta head on over here, and here.
The sandwich was not as small as it may have looked. Or maybe it was but it was loaded with yummy goodness that really was on that heavenly level and pretty heavy. I've also never had porchetta before but obviously this won't be my last.
For breaking Passover, may I throw in the suggestion of Porchetta. Because when breaking Passover with just bread just isn't enough.
Rating: 9 Add in a couple tables at a bigger place and we'd be a bit higher.

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