Ocean Grill NYC

When Restaurant Week was still in its official phase, I took a break from a busy work weekend to meet with MM for dinner at Ocean Grill.  I was super excited because the menu had lots of great options and I knew it’d be a great time.  I had planned on ordering the restaurant week menu, but the Sea Bass was not available.  Drats! So instead we feasted on various dishes.

MM ordered the Chef’s Special Maki Roll. 

I wish I remembered everything that was in there.  I know there was seaweed and it was delightful.  I definitely had more than one piece.  I ended up ordering the Spicy Lobster & Hamachi Roll.

Oh lobster, you never fail to amaze me.  Especially when mixed with avocado, jalapeño, and topped with cilantro aioli.  YUM!!  I was actually surprised at how full I already felt after eating the appetizer.  Of course, that didn’t stop me from powering through to the main course.  The Oven Roasted Cod was spectacular. 

Cooked to perfection and served with shrimp wontons, hon shimeji mushrooms and thai curry broth.  The shrimp wontons were packed full of shrimp and soft but not mushy.   The broth was poured into the dish after it was served.  I’m a big fan of presentation so that was impressive.  Equally impressive was MM’s Thai Shrimp Salad with Blood Oranges & Green Papaya.

A wonderful mix of vegetables including edamame, fresh hearts of palm tossed in a chili-white soy vinaigrette. Food envy, much? I definitely had more than one bite.  MM also ordered the Shrimp & Lobster Spring Rolls.

They were a sight to be seen.  I didn’t love the spring roll itself but the chunks of lobster and shrimp were delicious and I happily picked them out of the shell.  After all that food, I was stuffed.  But by now you know my sweet tooth is no joke.  So of course I ordered the Orange Flavored Crème Brulee.

Since I’m a crème brulee connoisseur, I’m awfully picky about what tastes good.  This was pretty good. I wasn’t that hungry anymore though so I didn’t have as much as I probably would normally eat.  They also gave us some chocolately goodness.  I was definitely a fan!

Ocean Grill was another restaurant week success.  MM and I had a fabulous time and I couldn’t have been happier to get a break from the grind.  I will likely return, but with so many restaurants in NYC I’m finding it more difficult to repeat restaurants.  I know, I know, my life is so hard J

Hungry yet?

Max Restaurant

Sometime last week, I was fortunate enough to attend a press dinner* at Max Restaurant hosted by Susan Rike.  I had perused the menu a few times online and was really looking forward to dining at Max.  This East Village restaurant was established in 2000 and if you're fortunate enough to speak to the owner Luigi, he will tell you tons of stories about the restaurant, its food and other fun facts.  Luigi joined us for parts of our meal but mostly spent time shuffling in and out of the kitchen with one magnificent dish after another.  

The bread that we were served was pretty unremarkable, but the Salsetta (Max's complimentary dipping sauce) was excellent.  A delicious blend of tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, rosemary and citrus peels. As far as dipping sauces go, this is one of the better ones I have tasted.

Next we sampled the Crostino Toscano.  I'm not a big fan of chicken liver pâté so I didn't love this particular appetizer.  However, if you are so inclined this one was pretty good...I could definitely taste the liver.

Lucky for me the next appetizer was Melanzane a Funghetto.  Eggplant is not my favorite vegetable, but this dish was great.  Luigi mixed in the Parmesan tableside, which was awesome and made it taste that much better.  

I really enjoyed the Melanzane and finished every bite; unfortunately this meant that the next 11 courses would be difficult to stomach.  The Mozzarella di Bufala was pretty remarkable although I must admit that I am as much enticed by the story, as I am the actual flavor.

Apparently, Luigi gets his mozzarella from a small producer in Italy.  The product comes in on one plane every Tuesday. That's right, pretty exclusive stuff over there.  The mix green salad was a nice departure from everything else and the olive oil and balsamic vinegar livened up the greens.

The best part of most real Italian restaurants is the pasta.  Max's pasta outshined many of the places that I have been to and when you consider the price point of the dishes in the restaurant, I am truly amazed at how fresh, light and delicious the pasta tasted.  We started with the Ravioli di Porcini in Crema Tartufata.

From the smell alone, I knew I would enjoy this dish.  It is extremely rich so even the two that Luigi served was more than enough to keep me satisfied.  The truffle cream sauce was rich yet somehow tasted light enough to lead me to believe I could finish a plateful.  The next dish was Lasagna.

It contained ground beef, and since beef is not on my to eat list, Luigi was kind enough to serve me one of the specials for the evening Lobster Ravioli with spicy tomato sauce.  

It was round, cooked to perfection and well spiced.  The tomato sauce was INCREDIBLE.  Luigi imports his tomatoes from Tuscany and they truly are special.  He opened up a can for us so we could taste them. 

The sauce takes about 3 to 4 hours to cook and it definitely tastes as though it is made with great care.  After the Lobster Ravioli, I was definitely getting full.   Luigi then served Fettuccine al Sugo Toscano. 

Very good-looking fettuccine, but it was a beef sauce so Luigi prepared something special for me.  Black Linguine with Shrimp.

Oh Luigi! The linguine was perfect! The sauce had a little kick to it and was similar to the sauce used for the Lobster Ravioli.  I do recall singing a little bit after taking a bite of this particular dish.  After three pastas, I felt I had enough.  Luigi had other plans.  He served the rest of the table Spaghetti Chitarra al Ragu d’Agnello.

Nothing wrong with a little lamb ragu, but Luigi made sure that I had Gnocchi alla Sorrentina served with tomato sauce, basil and fresh mozzarella.

These bite size pieces of gnocchi were delightful.  Light and delicious. Even as I write this almost a week later, I am dreaming of the little yummy bits.  I must go back for the gnocchi!  About two hours after we started our meal, we reached the protein.  The Filetto di Baccala was perfection on a plate and I really wish it photographed better.

Salted Cod has never tasted so good.  It was served with a side of mashed potatoes.  They tasted like they had a hint of truffles in there.  The cod tasted like it was pan-fried but was very light so likely placed in the oven for a short time.  I had enough after eating the Cod.  However, Luigi had other ideas and served the Polpettone.

A large serving of meatloaf with a potato pancetta gratin and a side salad.  The meatloaf is actually stuffed with eggs, ham, and mozzarella.  

Apparently, people order this dish and actually finish it! Unbelievable! Lucky for me I got to sit that round out.  As full as I was from all the wonderful items I had consumed, I was still very much looking forward to the desserts.

The Tiramisu was by far my favorite.  The presentation was great and the consistency was perfect.  If you are a Tiramisu lover, this one will not disappoint!  The crème brulee on the other hand just wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be.  

I consider myself somewhat of a crème brulee connoisseur.  While the sugar was properly caramelized, the custard wasn’t as smooth and creamy as I like.  It was sweet, but still the consistency threw me off.  Unfortunately, the Panna Cotta was even less impressive.  

It just didn’t sing out with sweetness the way I expected it to. Although to be fair, I dug into it immediately after the crème brulee without a palate cleanser so it may have been too much for the flavors to follow each other.   Regardless, I was glad the Tiramisu was sitting on the table and I could enjoy more of it.

Max Restaurant in the East Village is truly a gem of an Italian restaurant.  The atmosphere is energetic without being obnoxious.  There are three areas to the restaurant including an enclosed patio that I would LOVE to dine in when the weather gets a little warmer.  The restaurant opened in February 2000 and I can see why it is still thriving.  The price points are reasonable and I will definitely make the trip down to that neighborhood just to eat there again.

* Although this meal was complimentary, that did not at all affect my comments or views towards this dining experience.

Hungry yet? 

Spice Market

I first discovered Spice Market last year.  I enjoyed a magnificent birthday dinner with my favorites in a private alcove room.  We ate like royalty and I hoped that someday I would return.  Since then, I’ve been to Spice Market a couple of times, but have yet to try the tasting menu.

That opportunity finally presented itself tonight. *  A few weeks ago, I received an e-mail from Ms. F, Mr. J’s girlfriend inviting me to a surprise birthday dinner for Mr. J.  I’ve known Mr. J since the first year of law school and as he is now “on the precipice of 30” a dinner at Spice Market was perfect.

In the Singapore room, 12 of us squeezed in for an intimate dinner in a relaxing atmosphere.  The picture is actually of the Kuala Lumpur room, our room looked used by the time we left J

There are two tasting menu options.  The 10-flavor and the 12-flavor.  Being the food lover that I am, I pushed for the 12-flavor menu and luckily so did many others.  12-flavor it is!  Get ready this will be a long post.

We started with the Shaved tuna with chili tapioca pearls, Asian pear and lime.  Oh la la!  What an excellent start.  The tuna was fresh (as though I could expect anything less).  The chili tapioca pearls were amazing; you know how I love a little spice in my food.  The Asian pear is light and is a great contrast to the chili tapioca pearls.  Definitely a great way to start.

Next up, one piece of a Lobster Summer Roll filled with Citrus-Dill Gelee and Sriracha Emulsion.  I wasn’t crazy about the Lobster Roll.  I’m generally not a fan of summer rolls though so this is not a reflection of Spice Market, just my taste.  The roll was small and not very memorable.  When we tried to recall everything we ate, no one remembered the Lobster Roll.

Luckily, the Black Pepper Shrimp with Sun-Dried Pineapple came in and saved the day.  My goodness, this is the most fantastic shrimp dish ever.  I absolutely love it and this was the main reason I pushed for the 12-flavor.  The sauce is deliciously spicy and has little pieces of Asian pear.  The pineapple is amazing! Although it is coated in batter, the batter is very light and doesn’t get in the way of the freshness of the pineapple.   If I knew how to make this dish, I would cook it every day!

Next up skewers.  Mr. G and I don’t dig the swine so we went with the Chicken Skewers with a lime dipping sauce.   The skewers were unimpressive.  The chicken didn’t have enough flavor and I didn’t love the lime dipping sauce.  I did enjoy the presentation though.  Can you see the little coals down there? 

Our friends were all about the Pork Satay and the picked vegetables (cauliflower and pepper).  They had all sorts of great things to say, including Ms. F’s comment that “it smells so piggy.”

Probably the dish with the most controversy was the Avocado and Radish salad served with Chinese mustard and topped with Tempura Onions.  There was a lot of debate as to whether they were tempura onions or onion rings and some objection to being served onion rings.  In the end, the avocado & radish was great.  The tempura onion was extremely crispy and the batter was flavorful.  Not my favorite, but definitely good enough to eat!

The Chicken Samosas came next.  Our last appetizer, definitely the best.  They were accompanied with a cilantro yogurt.  Woweee, samosa never tasted so good! This little pastry was filled with potatoes, chickpeas and chicken.  Couldn't be happier!

6 dishes in, I was starting to slow down, but right then things got lively.  Our server announced that he hated Will Smith, which caused a collective roar.  Seconds later, one of the women in the room next-door came over ready to start something, but quickly decided against it.  We had a few laughs at her expense and that of the other people in her group.  If only I had a video of one of the women singing Happy Birthday to Mr. J.

Back to the food…our entrees and side dishes started showing up pretty quickly.  Cod with Malaysian Chili and Thai Basil.  It was perfectly timed.  After eating so much, we definitely needed something light.  The Cod itself wasn’t full of flavor but its accompaniments were fantastic when added to the Cod.

The Baby Corn and Broccoli with Lemongrass and Chili.  Yummers!  I love broccoli and corn off the kernel is fantastic.  

I took a quick detour into the Vegetarian tasting menu and had some of the Chili Egg-Garlic Noodles.  It was incredible!  Definitely reminded me of our last lunch in SF.

Our Ginger Fried Rice also arrived.  The rice comes with a sunny side up egg on top.  You’re supposed to mix it into the rice and the steam helps the yolk cook at the table.  Mr. R, who is a fellow blogger, was kind enough to mix the rice.  I must say he did a great job.  He also was helpful in assisting me by making sure no one touched the food before I snapped a picture.

Next up the Char Grilled Chicken with Kumquat Lemongrass Dressing.  The Chicken was a HIT! Sadly, it was already 12:45 when the chicken arrived.  I had lost my ability to pick up my chopsticks and enjoy my food, but I managed to get a few bites in.

Finally, our desserts arrived.  The Ovaltine® Kulfi topped with Caramelized Banana and Spiced Milk Chocolate Sauce.  Although there was some objection to the idea of Ovaltine, it was pretty good.  Very rich though so I only had a couple of bites.

We also had the Thai Jewels and Fruits with Crushed Coconut Ice.  The fruit included papaya, but I cannot remember what else was in there.  It was alright, but too rich for me. 

Just as I thought I was losing my sweet tooth, I had a taste of Mr. J’s birthday Kumquat Cheesecake with Mandarin Sorbet and Fennel Tuille.  YUM! This was the best dessert and I would have loved to take some of that home with me, but we helped Mr. J finish it up.

As expected, Spice Market was fantastic! The food was delicious and while I loved the tasting menu, there are sooo many great things that we didn’t even get to eat.  You really have to go to Spice Market several times to enjoy everything you need to enjoy there.  If you’re ever having a group dinner, Spice Market is the place to do it!

Hungry yet?

* Note while this post is dated Saturday, the meal started on Saturday around 10pm and ended around 1:30am on Sunday.