The Mermaid Inn

On a snowy day earlier this year, I splashed through the puddles down to the East Village for dinner with Ms. O and Mr. M.  I was super excited to finally dine at The Mermaid Inn. We sat in the main dining room at the back of the restaurant. Although it was cold outside, it was quite warm in the nautical themed restaurant. Since the office closed early, our dinner was before 7 which means we were able to take advantage of the amazing happy hour specials! To kick off the night, we started with the Grand Platter. 

We are definitely seafood lovers so we were thrilled when the platter arrived. They oysters were fresh, the clams were flavorful and the shrimp were fantastic!  The lobster was a nice touch, but the star of the platter was the chilled bowl of Tuna Crudo. 

Holy moly! The sushi grade tuna was chopped in bite size pieces and mixed with avocado and jalapeño. It was like eating the best spicy tuna roll you've ever had but without the rice or seaweed. From that point on, it was non-stop food at our table. We were curious about the Lobster Knuckles Escargot, after all you can't combine two of the most delicious items without piquing our interest.

Le sigh. The tricked us! It was really lobster knuckles served escargot style.  Still delicious, but not as exciting as the advertisement would lead you to believe. The Mermaid Fish Tacos were as advertised!

Lightly fried beer battered tilapia in a tortilla filled with red cabbage for crunch, pickled jalapeños for spice, and pico de gallo for liveliness! The pickled jalapeños were the most powerful part, which was perfect for me. Definitely not for the uninitiated though. The biggest disappointment was the Boston Bibb Wedge Salad.

No surprises from me that generally, a salad is disappointing, but the specific complaint was the blue cheese. Too overpowering!! I suspected as much because Ms. O never lets her salad linger and this one lasted the entire meal. Mr. M ordered the grilled octopus which had some pork product that I couldn't eat.

Judging by how quickly the plate was emptied, I imagine it was quite good.  He also ordered the Mini Clam Chowder. 

The baby cup was done in no time. I of course ordered more oysters, because I just couldn't help myself. They were phenomenal.  We also ordered Steamed Maine Bouchot Mussels.

They were cooked with prosecco and although I liked them, because after all, it's difficult to be dissatisfied with mussels, they weren't spectacular. The fries that came with it were good, but with so many other choice items on the table, it was difficult to eat too many fries. Ms. O enjoyed her Fried Clam Slider.

I enjoyed The Mermaid Inn so much, I was back there within a few weeks, but this time I went to the upper west side location with MM and AAA. We had a glorious time. I ate too many oysters, but also sampled other items.  AAA tried the Shrimp Corndogs.

Too much Corndog, not enough shrimp. We also tried the Lobster Slider.

Yummers! It was filled with lobster, so much so that it was falling out.  Yessss! I hope they'll be at this year's Lobster Roll Rumble!  We also ate two orders of the Fried Calamari.

Yup, we were loving it. Lightly battered and lightly fried but heavily flavored - YUM! I also ordered the mini clam bake.

A bite size version that was well spiced - especially the potatoes!  The shrimp corndogs were a no go.  Stay away! 

The Mermaid Inn is high on my list of favorites of this year. I highly recommend their happy hour, because the specials are just too good to pass up. It also runs late enough that you don't feel like you're force feeding yourself early in the day.  The service was also incredible both times. They were very responsive and reminded you when happy hour was about to end. Although they have no dessert menu, I have no complaints because they serve everyone a little chocolate pot and a fish fortune.

Awesome.

Hungry yet?

Smorgasburg!!

Where do I even begin?! Last year was the first time I heard about Smorgasburg. I’m not sure what prevented me from making it to Williamsburg last summer, but this year I’ve already been to Smorgasburg THREE times and I’m pretty sure I can get one more visit in before it ends in November. Smorgasburg is a delightful food market on the Williamsburg Waterfront. It happens every Saturday on the Williamsburg waterfront between North 6th and North 7th St., at the East River, from 10am to 5pm. There is also a Greenmarket with 5-10 farmers.  Part of the reason I went so many times is because of an amazing Gilt City deal that gave me access to more food than I probably should have consumed each day.  Lucky for me each time I was accompanied by fantastic friends that also had an appetite.  We tried a variety of items each time and I was left wanting more. By far my favorite each time was the Lobster Roll at Red Hook Lobster Pound.

That is the Maine style served cold with mayonnaise and perfectly seasoned. It costs $16! Thankfully my Gilt City tickets helped me out. $16 is pretty steep but I must say they pack it with LOTS of lobster so it might actually be worth it.

The Connecticut style served hot with butter was also delicious, but IMHO not as good.  Bite Size Kitchen also provided some exquisite eats.

Grilled Chicken Wings with Red Curry Sauce.  The chicken was tender and the spiciness was perfect. They also had pork buns, which I was told were good but a little salty.

The meatballs got rave reviews.  Juicy and well seasoned.

My first trip, I didn’t make it to Asia Dog, but Ms. O and Mr. M did.  Asia Dog had a lot of great selections.

Ms. O and Mr. M ordered the Mel & Steve and The Vinh.  

They were very satisfied with their purchase.  On another trip, I ordered The Mash.

It was so good, I ordered it twice!  The chips were a great crunch on my chicken hot dog and the combination of spicy ketchup and jalapeno mustard was perfect!  Bestie ordered The Ginny.

She loved every bite! I was especially pleased with Asia Dog because they offered so many different types of hot dogs.  As a non-beef eater, it was great to have the chicken option! Ms. O and Mr. M also stopped by the Brooklyn Oyster Party.  They were able to sample 3 delightful treats. 

Cooks Cove from Malpeque Bay, P.E.I., Canada, Beau Soleil from New Brunswick, Canada and Malpeque from Prince Edward Island, Canada.  Apparently the taste was just like the description. 

We also stopped by Kumquat Cupcakery for a quick cupcake break.  There was a wonderful display of delicious treats.

I couldn’t help myself and quickly devoured a couple of Red Velvet Cupcakes. 

I stayed away from the Bacon cupcakes, but I’m sure others would be interested.  By far the most disappointing thing I ate was the Fish Taco at Choncho’s Tacos.

It was dry and flavorless.  The best part of it was the cilantro. The corn tortilla was dryer than usual the fish was lacking…quite frankly it just plain sucked. I thought maybe the fried cod was just a bad choice, but Bestie tried the grilled salmon.  It was so dry that the salmon was almost brown – not a hint of pink. She choked on it!! It was quite frightening to see her struggling. I couldn’t believe how terrible it was.  Thankfully Salud! provided delicious smoothies and eventually washed away the painful experience. One of the best parts of Smorgasburg was Dough.  

When we walked into the gated area, there was a long line forming by Dough’s stand.  Ms. A had warned me before hand and also told me this was a must have. 

Based on this display, there was no way I could leave without getting my mouth on a donut. I devoured the Lemon Poppyseed, but also enjoyed the Cinnamon Sugar donut holes.  

Ms. O also let me sample her Blood Orange.  

The donuts were fantastic! Everything I hoped for and more.  Sweet but not overwhelming.  The second time around, I was too stuffed to eat it so I ended up having it for breakfast the next morning.  Awesome, much?

Smorgasburg is AMAZING! I highly recommend you head over to Williamsburg before they close up for this year.  For more pictures of the various treats, check out the facebook page.

Hungry yet?

Lupe Cantina

After good times at the spot next door we were famished! The manager or owner of Lupe Cantina stopped us outside and asked our group to come in. We negotiated a pretty good deal and decided to enter. The menu had a lot of options but our table ended up with a lot of repeats.

The Soft Tacos were my dish of choice.

I requested the flour tortillas stuffed with chicken. It included lettuce, cilantro, onions and pico de gallo. I wasn't expecting much but the chicken was surprisingly well seasoned. It was served with rice and beans which only made it better.  Ms. S and her Mr. K ordered the Chicken taquitos.

Three corn tortillas rolled with marinated chicken and deep fried.  They definitely enjoyed it. A little crunch goes a long way. Enchiladas were also a favorite at our table. 

Corn tortillas green or red lupe sauce. It was served with rice and refried beans.  Mr. S ordered the Fajitas.

The sizzling platter of sweet peppers, onions and cilantro was served with three tortillas, rice and refried beans. Ms. G and Mr. S ordered the Chicken nachos.

I must admit I had a little food envy when their Molcajete plate arrived.  The homemade tortillas chips were topped with refried beans, melted mozzarella, lettuce, guacamole, salsa, jalapeños, queso fresco and sour cream. Presentation wise, this was definitely one if the better looking dishes that we ordered.

Overall Lupe Cantina was uninspiring. The food was fine but I've eaten a better version of each dish elsewhere. The atmosphere is lively and if you bring the right group of people with you, you could end up staying there for a while. That's exactly what we did.

Hungry yet?

RED

One of my absolute favorite parts of warm NY days is outdoor dining! I also love the way warmth garners spontaneity. So last weekend while the sun was shining bright, I sat around in Union Square reading. Since I was already that far downtown, I figured why not go see my favs who live WTFDT (hehe). Mr. M was on his way out but Ms. O was on her way in so I hustled to their apartment and saw them both!  Then Ms. O and I headed out to the Seaport in search of some good eats.  We decided on RED because the menu had enough items on there that sounded tempting.  Our eyes both zoomed in on the Fiery Chicken Wings so I was thrilled that they soon appeared on our table.

They were awesome! They were definitely marinated in a delicious sauce which for some reason I thought had hints of buttermilk but turns out it was bleu cheese - close enough. We were very happy with the flavor and the fieriness of the wings.   Ms. O ordered a salad.

She was pleased with the dressing but the server definitely lied about the size of the salad.  I ordered Chicken Tacos.

I was very excited about the tacos, but sadly they did not meet my expectations.  The chicken was pretty well seasoned but a little bit of salt would have gone a long way. Generally, corn tortillas don’t do it for me – these were mad worse by the dry cold cheese that fell across them. The suuuper runny guacamole didn't help the plate either. The rice and beans were tasty though.

Refried beans are awesome and every time I eat them, it takes me back to my days at UMD and the delicious burritos at Jalapeno Grill. YUM!

RED was not the best Mexican food I’ve had. The service was subpar and at one point our regular water was replaced with flat seltzer. I don’t know who goes around carrying a pitcher of seltzer but something definitely went wrong there.  The wings were delicious and had we stuck to our original plan of appetizers we would have definitely won. Alas, my eyes are too big and when I see food I can’t help but want to eat it. I recommend the wings but not much else.

Hungry yet?

Red Rooster Harlem

After months of anticipation waiting for them to open and weeks of anticipation for Ms. J’s return so I could finally go, I went to Red Rooster.  ::sigh:: Chef Samuelsson definitely made my night when he came over to greet us while we waited for our table.  He also stopped by our table after we were seated.  Red Rooster is beautiful.  The bar area has a couple of high tables where I could certainly see myself eating if I don’t get a reservation or just needed a quick fix of something delicious.  The main dining area is sprawling yet the warm colors make it feel like an intimate setting.  Considering we didn’t have reservations and it was only week 3, I was impressed by how quickly we were seated. 

Although the menu is pretty straight forward, there were several options and I had a hard time deciding.  Eventually, we decided to start with the Corn Tacos and Tostadas Ceviche.

Those little guys are topped with yellowtail, salmon and avocado with a small red onion to finish it off.  The tacos and tostadas were crisp and had some spice to them, which was a welcome surprise.  The fish was properly “cooked” and had a nice tart taste.  My only complaint was that they disappeared so quickly!  Our entrées definitely took a while to arrive, but we had a slight mix up which also played a roll.  Ms. A ordered the Shrimp & Red Grits.

It was an impressive display and certainly didn’t look like any shrimp & grits I’ve ever seen.  The combination of shrimp, basil and sausage was welcomed by Ms. A, but the poached egg was immediately removed.  Ms. J ordered the Hearth Baked Mac and Greens.

The display was beautiful – I truly do love personal sized dishes.  The Mac & Greens are made with Gouda, NY Cheddar and Comte.  Ms. J was not too impressed because apparently there was a lack of salt in the dish.  It tasted fine to me, but she was right about the salt. I didn't get a chance to sample the greens but they looked fun! 

She loved her side of black vinegar cauliflower. I didn't get a chance to try it but she was raving about it.

I couldn’t have been happier with my Fried Yard Bird. 

It was served with White mace gravy, hot sauce and shake.  Shake is a tin of seasoning that is pretty amazing.  The chicken  was crispy but the inside was extremely juicy.  The hot sauce is spread on the plate and I didn’t realize that’s what it was until I dipped into it.  It was incredible. I would definitely buy that sauce if they bottled it up. I was initially concerned that it wasn’t going to be enough, but I was quite satisfied with the portion.  I also tried the black-eyed peas. 

They were well seasoned and a welcome accompaniment to my chicken, but I would have preferred if it was served with a little less liquid.  Of course we had to leave room for dessert.  All the desserts were incredible and I can’t even begin to adequately convey how fabulous they tasted.  I highly recommend that you try as many as you can.  Ms. J ordered the Whiskey Fudge with macadamia nuts.

It didn’t photograph as well as it should have and the portion seemed a little small, but Ms. J made a good choice because it was quite rich.  Ms. A had the Sweet Potato Doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, creme fraiche and vanilla bean ice cream.

Wow sugar on a platter - awesome!  The doughnuts were actually filled with sweet potato goodness.  I would have loved to try more of Ms. A’s dessert, but was too busy enjoying my delectable Black and White Mud.

OMG definitely the best dessert EVER.  If you’re looking for chocolate heaven, this is the fastest way there! I will definitely take a trip to Red Rooster just for another slice. The combination of black and white was made even better with that amazing crust and the sea salt.

I thoroughly enjoyed exploring Red Rooster’s menu, but wish I could have ordered many more items.  Dirty rice & shrimp, red snapper and crab cakes – I’ll be back for you.  Thank you Chef Samuelsson for bringing such a wonderful restaurant into the neighborhood. I can't wait to try brunch!

Hungry yet?