Rub BBQ

Originally we were set on Dallas BBQ’s over at Times Square but my sense of adventure for new BBQ sparked me to ignore my mate’s desire and headed to Rub.

It’s a Friday night, the place was packed, and we were seated promptly to a table in the hall by the restrooms— with a side view of peoples’ rear ends at the bar. The seating was UN-dine-ABLE for any night—no less for a full house Friday night. (FYI, the hall to the restrooms were also a waiting area so we were surrounded by vouchers and drunks— many that were in between.

All the food came at once, the appetizer: BBQ Bacon Chunks house cured and triple smoked berkshire black pork belly bacon (nitrate free) 7.95 can not be any fatter and damaging to the arteries. The presentation was god awful, 6-7 chunks of lard, no way crispy nor tasty but flabby served with 3 stingy yellow cut slices of pickle—at first I thought it was a side but it was indeed the 8 dollar app. that was highly unexpected. Very very poor choice.

Under the specialty menu was the Szechwan Smoked Duck the baron goes eastern. It has a little heat and a little sweet (1/2) 14.75. Not bad. Half of duck roasted with the bones cut in the bias. Though, Duck is naturally sweeter than chicken, the skin was marinated with sweet sauce which enforced a shine to the layer. The duck was tender.

The meat platter: Told that the Pulled Pork, and BBQ Beef Brisket was the most popular, I ordered the two meat with two sides of Super Fries and Cornbread for 18.75. The Pulled pork was very straight forward, shredded pork moist in BBQ sauce. The BBQ Beef Brisket was dry and very disappointing and quick bland. I had to pour in more BBQ to the Brisket to pretend that I was not eating Brisket jerky—even jerky retains more flavor. The super fries were surely superbly over fried, there is a fine line between crispy fries from burnt thus hard fries. Cornbread: similar to the ones you make from the box.

After the entrees, who would have thought about dessert????? Deep fried Oreo: Four deep fried dough stuffed with an ‘Oreo’ powdered with sugar. We couldn’t eat the dessert because it was steaming hot. Given our poor seating, and a human barricade by the bar and hungry impatient patricians, I had to push my way through to the counter and pay my bill.

Everything with an ice tea summed to $55 including my most poorly tipped tip. Oh was I 'rub'-bed the wrong way...

Insider tip: Try for a seat in the very back of the restaurant to avoid the incoming traffic and drunks.

Ordered Dishes:

BBQ Bacon Chunks house cured and triple smoked berkshire black pork belly bacon (nitrate free) 7.95

Szechwan Smoked Duck the baron goes eastern. it has a little heat and a little sweet (1/2) 14.75

Meat Platter: Pulled Pork, and BBQ Beef Brisket, two sides 18.75

RUB -Barbecue, Bar Food 208 W 23rd St, New York 10011 Btwn 7th & 8th Ave Phone: 212-524-4300

Deborah

A row of tables aligned in a space proportional to the perimeters of a hallway. The small dining space does not mean small prices. The décor can be compared to any boutique trendy restaurant. The kitchen is situated in the middle of the restaurant where you can pass by as you head to the restroom, and there are seating in the back with tight spacing. The prices are definitely above average, the portions are below average. The dishes are tasty but not satisfying to the pocket. I personally expected more from the dishes for the prices we were paying for. Aside from the excuse that the portions were not large enough (which many may argue to be very weak), the dishes did not show any innovative, avant-garde emphasis nor organic ingredients.

That said, lets dish it out:

Deborah's bbq Glazed Half Duck slow cooked and basted till crisp, served over sweet smashed potatoes $23: With the bone intact, surprisingly sweet plus extra boost of sweetness from the potatoes served in a soup bowl--(very awkward for a serving bowl).

Grilled New Zealand Lamb Kebobs skewered, served on salad of watercress, haricot vert, marinated tomatoes, parsley, red onion and hot house cucumbers tossed in a feta-yogurt dressing topped with crumbled feta $22: I asked for median rare but I got median well instead… part of the reason may be because the lamb were sliced thinner than average kebob sizes. It was practically close to being sliced lamb but in squares.

With these two petite entrees, a glass of red zinfandel that goes well with the duck and 15 percent tip, the bill came out to approx. $80. Oxymoron.

Deborah 43 Carmine St., New York, NY 10014 nr. Bleecker St. 212-242-2606

The Brooklyn Restaurant Week

Come out to Brooklyn for The Brooklyn Restaurant Week starting from March 24 to the 31st. Get dibs on pre fixe dinners for as less as $23 per person.

http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/restaurantweek/brooklyn/

Supercore Café

Supercore Café

Housing both a contemporary approach to Japanese home cooking dishes and western influenced café menu—sandwiches—by young hip Japanese; the décor was deceiving; no indication of any celebratory Japanese collectables or samurai pictorials; the restaurant could have passed for a French Bristo at first glance. In fact one would not have guessed it was a Japanese restaurant without looking at the menu posted outside.

Expect no California roll—no sushi or sushi chef behind the counter making you any sashimi. I got a sense that the owner(s) are very westernized but still carry their fond memories of slow home cooking when their moms are somewhere in suburban Tokyo.

Food: In the platter section was the curry beef stew; I can not say the presentation was appealing. The stew was not consistant; I had a very finely shredded beef and discovered big chunks. The texture of the sauce was married in water and clump. The taste was rather different than typical stew; it hinted a touch of bitterness. A strong and distinctive flavor; a dish you either love or can do without. It’s a dish that screams out; I am Japanese! and oh how this reminds me of my childhood. In my case, I exchanged it with my dining companion.

I traded my stew for the chicken-niche ~ (something-to be corrected) listed under the classic Japanese section (I’m thinking why isn’t the stew under here?). There were some very Asian vegetables in this soup dish. But the broth was so sweet that it hardly gave any credibility to the vegetables’ natural sweetness.

Along with the entrees, was also a separate order of the kimchee tofu; it was nothing fancy—a 3x3x3 tofu cube sitting in a soy sauce base topped with kimchee with finely julienned seaweed wrap. One side called hijiha; another version of seaweed, this type was not the green kind but thinner, shorter and black. It takes getting use to.

There goes the dessert, I rarely go for a dessert, but the sesame cheesecake made its way to the table. It was hard—overly crusted on all sides, it was like a sandwich cheesecake but made in a pie form. Clearly it was in the fridge too long; thus, hard to eat.

The tab was not bad; in fact very do-able; similar to the cost of going to china-town and going all out (splurging in C-town). Anyhow for a table for two with a beer came out to $37 not counting the tip. The prices are modest, but Supercore sticks to the traditional Japanese portion control. You come out not overly stuffed but a good feeling that it was “just right.”

305 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 between South First and South Second. 718.302.1629

The Spotted Pig

The Spotted Pig

So the idea and the movement of the gastro-pub started with this west village joint. Very well settled place where servers are hip and yet attentive, decor preserves that cute comfort theme and the food…was well- presented but— a bit salty. However, kudos to the chef; she captured an interesting balance of texture.

Food Analysis:

We started out with an appetizer, aka ‘the plate.’ Sheep's Ricotta Gnudi with Brown Butter & Sage. Gnudi are basically gnocchi stuffed with ricotta in a ball, semi- soaking in a pool of creamy butter and brown-doses-of-contrast and garnished with crispy baked sage to add great texture to the dish. The sage did wonders for the dish, in terms of waking the gnudi’s flavor up!

The entrees arrived. We ordered the house favorites; the two that are almost always in the menu. I ordered the Char-grilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestrings. Presentation was great; the shoestring potatoes were piled up high. Though the bun was bigger than the burger itself, the patty was cooked just as asked; medium rare. Toped with the patty was a strong dose of Roquefort Cheese. Personally I would have the cheese on the side; the Roquefort was overwhelming the goodness of the meat. Back to the shoestrings, very good, the combination of toasted garlic and rosemary infused into the deep fry of thin laces of potato was smart and very flavorful—yet the salt was given too generously.

Next up was the Grilled Calf’s Liver with Onions and Crispy Pancetta—props to the chef. Who would ever think calf’s liver would make it to an American restaurant—oh it’s a seller. This dish is unique in two ways; one: the calf liver was cooked medium rare which brought out the tenderness and buttery sumptuous flavor, I would say the texture of the liver was playing tricks on my taste buds—highly sensational. Secondly, the crispy pancetta neutralized the buttery liver with a salty crunch to balance that saturated fixation as well as pairing the lovely artery clogging agents with a refreshing, lightly bedded balsamic vinaigrette dandelions. The texture on the liver dish gets high marks, the salt content of this dish gets low marks for its high level of salt content.

For two people, the three dishes and a glass of homemade draft beer (Spotted Pig - Bitter) came out to $80 (with tip). Not cheap, not even close to cheap. It is more like paying for the experience and appreciation of the unimagined edible parts of a pig and ‘good’ and ‘high quality’ ingredients that are placed on your dish (there is detail involved) then perhaps you will find it worth the money.

Sheep's Ricotta Gnudi with Brown Butter & Sage $ 15

Char-grilled Burger with Roquefort Cheese & Shoestrings $ 17

Grilled Calf’s Liver with Onions and Crispy Pancetta $16

The Spotted Pig. 314 W. 11th Street @ Greenwich St. New York, NY 10014 Tel: (212) 620-0393

Havana Central

This was written on March '07, not sure how accurate it may be today but helpfully it may be useful.

Once the West End, the new management has spinned the American restaurant/bar where mostly freshmen flocked and breed as a night spot into a Latin Cuban fare. Decor and ambiance was better than I thought. The place was full, the bar situated in the center, there are booths on the each sides, with another dining area at the back. The place had a good vibe and the smell of brand new furniture.

The food
The yellow rice made a great debut--tender yet not overcooked, actually just right. The red beans were at par as well. I ordered the Havana - Style B B Q Pork Ribs with mango habanero ginger sauce aka "best almost barbecued ribs in NY" by the Village Voice. I would like to DISAGREE, it was by far the BLAND-est ribs I've come across. I was disappointed by the weakness in flavor. It was obvious that the ribs were not marinated while it was cooking. The signature sauce tasted like sweet and sour pork in a Chinese take out. The sauce failed to meet the demands of the ribs. Ribs require a great deal of spices to bring out the tenderness of the meat. Thus the drizzle of the mango habanero did not cut it-- it was simply not strong enough to bring out the potential for the pork. Lackluster.

Recommended: Go for the rice and beans.

2911 Broadway (between 113th & 114th Street) Phone: 212 662-8830

Kasadela

Discovered one of my childhood unknown English-existent word veggie from motherland china; lotus root, sliced as thin as potato chips and tasted just like them. I'm not sure if that was worth $3.50, you can get over 3lbs of lotus root in C-Town or get a big bag of gourmet route 66 chips for the price of this less-than 4ounce of Kasadela's chips but I do commend them for their creative. Ordered the Tebasaki Nagoya 8pcs, Japanese style chicken wings, a quite over-fried that might have even shrank the wings but well seasoned--I mean that in a good way--infused with fresh grind pepper with a sweet and sour base. Ordered one of the specials, tofu Dengaku, steamed tofu covered in a smooth but plain oyster sauce-- maybe they thought the sprinkle of sesame seed would do the trick but it was not appealing nor tasty enough to be considered a special. The end was with dolce, I usually don't, but I figured we had light entrees, what the heck and they claim its homemade. The green tea tempura ice cream, where should I start... well I noticed it was pre-made and imagine your typical tempura--but now with a fulling of ice cream--it wasn't as crispy in fact it got soggy in a bed of whipped cream topped with two slices of kiwi. The presentation was a little out of context but I'm not complaining. In addition we ordered the sesame seed ice cream, the good thing about this is that there's real sesame seeds and it does taste like they're in it.

Its a chill place, not rushed-or at least that was how we felt or maybe cos it was a slow nite either way, the music is smoothing so you can kick back and chat with sake. I give them credit to paying some attention to detail on the dishes, so don't feel like there isn't any skill involved. The portion of dishes vary in size so do the price. Will I come again? Sure, but not for a while.

larger than tapas, jap style.

Kasadela, 647 E 11th St, Btwn Ave B & Ave C