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?

Miss me?

I know my posting has been quite sporadic this past month.  I am sorry. I really do want to write a lot more often, but these days when I get home I hit the bed pretty quickly and in the morning I’m out.

Things are slowly returning to a manageable pace so my posting should be a little more frequent.  With a weekend of serious eating planned to celebrate my birthday this week, you can expect several posts showcasing the awesomeness.  For now I’m playing catch up so keep up!

In the meantime, if you want to know what I’m eating, you should check me out on foodspotting.   I’ve added the widget to my blog so you can get a peek at the things I’m eating but haven’t had a chance to blog about or isn’t blog worthy.  You can also follow me on twitter.  Of course the blog is still the best place to find me J

Hungry yet?

Revel NYC

Brunch fest continued last weekend.  I met up with the 7 lovely ladies who brunch and was really looking forward to dining at Good.  Alas, the 8 of us were too much to handle so I recommended walking over to Little West 12th and seeing if there was a place to seat such a large party.  We ended up at Revel.  It was an up and down experience that leaves me writing this lukewarm review.

Revel does have a beautiful space with an enclosed garden, high ceilings, exposed brick walls and LOTS of sunlight that's to the retractable roof.  However, the okay food and subpar service left much to be desired. Luckily, the conversation was lively and the sun shined brightly upon our table.  We were seated almost immediately which was great considering our large group.  As soon as the menus were distributed, I knew I would have a hard time deciding.  There were several options and considering how hungry I was everything looked great!  Since I had fantastic french toast the day before, I decided to go with the eggs.

Three eggs scrambled well were served with toast, potatoes and a small bed of mesclun greens.  Not bad.  I mean it wasn't great but I sure did eat every bite.  The greens were a welcomed addition on the plate.  The toast was also pretty good, especially because it was served with an assortment of spreads.  The eggs appeared as though they were cooked on the same pan as something else and in fact Ms. R found a piece of spinach in her eggs. Ugh I hope they don't just have one big griddle that cooks everything. yuck.  The potatoes were tasty but could have used a little more umph.  Ms. R ordered pancakes with mixed berries.

There was nothing spectacular about the way the pancakes looked. They definitely had the extra ring which appears when more batter is added after the pancakes have already started cooking. tsk tsk. Apparently the fruit made all the difference and the strawberries were spectacular.  After finishing my eggs, I assisted Ms. R with the rest of her pancakes.  They definitely didn't taste as good as my chocolate chip or pumpkin.  Even my buttermilk taste better. Ms. G ordered the Scotch Eggs

Two poached eggs cradled in brioche, fontina & truffle.  Truffle is always a good look.  Ms. M ordered traditional Eggs Benedict.

I gotta tell you all this brunching really has me thinking I may try the whole runny egg thing again. Not too soon though, I still love well-cooked eggs.  Ms. D and AA ordered the Garden Omelette.

It was "surprisingly good."  Ms. S also thought her French Toast was good.

But she did remark that it was warm rather than hot.  Which leads me to why this review is lukewarm.  I’ve said many times that my main objective on this blog is to focus on the food, but on occasion if the décor or service is notable, I will provide my comments. I was hopeful when we walked in because Revel was bright and sunny. However, the service almost ruined the experience.  There were multiple issues regarding the water. Dirty glasses, objects floating in water - things that you should not have to be bothered with while at a restaurant.  Ms. A ordered coffee and imagine her surprise when she started stirring and felt the grit at the bottom of her cup. Coffee grains? Seriously? It's unclear whether this was instant coffee or they had reached the bottom of the batch.  Either way, it’s unacceptable. As though the coffee incident wasn't bad enough, the orange juice and grapefruit juice were both served with ice.  I mean really Revel, are you trying to cut costs or does your staff not know any better? Shameful.

Last and definitely least was our waitress' inability to get it together.  She was super slow to come take our order which I can sometimes understand. When there's a big group you want them to have time to think about what they want, but in this instance, I saw her socializing with another table.  That's right not servicing, but socializing. Hugging and conversing while another table waits unattended is not okay. When she finally did take our order, she forgot to enter some items and brought some items for the wrong people.  When our check came, that was the final straw. 

There were two additional items on our bill that didn't amount to much, but was just enough to make our math a little more difficult. So we worked it out so each person would pay an even amount and once the extra items were removed, the waitress would actually end up with a little bit extra. Nice right? Wrong.  She came back and informed me that we had miscalculated, her manager had redone the calculations and the three credit cards were charged a little bit more.  Ordinarily I would take issue with this anyway because I don't think anyone should swipe my card if they are going to charge me more than I’ve instructed them to charge, but in this instance I was even more irritated because she had failed to remove the additional items from our bill.

Everything was eventually resolved and she came back to our table sheepishly and stated that we would all laugh about this some day.  Not funny. Brunch at Revel was nevertheless a success because it was the first time we all got together in far longer than I care to remember. It was a bright sunny day, which was a great contrast to the weather the day before.  The food was fine. Nothing spectacular, but certainly not bad. I'd reluctantly eat there again but only if there were no other options in the neighborhood and we could somehow arrange for better service.

Hungry yet?

Il Bastardo

I tend to write in the order I eat, but these days everything is jumbled up. Press dinners have come and gone and there are multiple blog worthy meals that I will write about later. Thankfully, for the first time in a long time, I had a weekend with almost as much play as work.  Two successful brunches and a housewarming of fun along with plans for a celebratory President’s Day weekend.  Eventually I'll update you on all these eats, but for now I'll start with brunch.  After a couple of reschedulings and a missed restaurant week opportunity, Z and I were able to get together for some brunchy goodness.  It was a rainy Saturday and I was still exhausted from my second trip to Memphis in as many weeks, but I hiked down to Nero d'avola on Greenwich and Gansevoort. After spending the previous day studying their menu, I was really looking forward to it. Imagine my surprise when Z and I discovered it was closed!! Not closed like oh it's too early on Sunday come back later, but closed like our sign is still up but we haven't been open for business in weeks.  Absolutely ridiculous. I was livid. Hungry, tired and getting drenched by the rain, Z and I explored options on Little West 12th but nothing struck our fancy.  We decided to head a little further north to Il Bastardo.

It's a sprawling restaurant that seats 150 and was packed for brunch. They had several desirable items on the menu.  We were starving so we immediately ordered the roasted potatoes.

They were piping hot! Well seasoned though and tasty.  They were the perfect appetizer.  Z ordered the Eggs Benedict with Prosciutto.

It looked delicious and apparently was cooked to perfection.  The egg dishes are all served with homemade potatoes.  I got a taste of them because I ordered scrambled eggs.

The potatoes are INCREDIBLE.  They taste as though they've been cooked in a delicious tomato stew.  I would go back just for the potatoes. Of course with my monstrous appetite, the eggs were not enough for me. After perusing the menu for a bit, I decided to order the French Toast with mixed berries.

It was mouthwateringly good.  Thick and fluffy loaves of sweetened bread, what's not to love?! My goodness it was like dessert! In fact, Z had a couple of bites as dessert.

We were so stuffed after this fantastic brunch that our plans to go shopping were abandoned.  I heart il Bastardo and in fact plans are already in the works for a return trip verrrry soon.  I recommend the potatoes and taking advantage of other brunch specials.

Hungry yet?

Sole Restaurant & Raw Bar

After a less than stellar night, thanks to Majestic Grille, I was looking forward to an easy comforting breakfast.  We went down to the hotel restaurant Sole.  The breakfast menu was pretty expansive.  My breakfast companion settled on granola and yogurt and fresh fruit.

It took quite some time before it arrived, but I decided on the Traditional Breakfast. Two eggs any style, I chose hard boiled.

A little bit of an explosion in the pot I guess. The traditional breakfast is served with bacon, but surprisingly they had turkey sausage!

The sausage was delicious and exactly what I needed. The breakfast also came with seasoned home-fries & toast.

The home fries were delicious and I scarfed them down pretty quickly.

After an uneventful subway sandwich lunch, we returned to the hotel pretty late. It was also snowing…yes in Memphis – snow follows me everywhere! We decided to dine at Sole again.  I really wish I had better pictures, but I’ll be heading back to Memphis soon and will definitely take better pictures next time.  I started off with the Lump Crab Cakes.

They were served with creole remoulade, field greens & tomato relish. Woweee! I was thrilled with the deliciousness. The crab was definitely the main ingredient in there.  I’ve had many a crab cakes that just don’t have enough crab so I was happy that this one was perfectly filled.  For my entrée, I ordered the Blackened Sea Bass.

It was served with potato gnocchi, wild mushrooms and vegetables.  The Sea Bass was amaaaaazing!! The gnocchi was a little tough so I didn’t love it, but the vegetables were well seasoned and tasted great.  I was really impressed with my entrée.  I still decided to order dessert. After all, the snow storm in NY meant my flight was cancelled and I would be leaving Memphis much earlier than I planned. The Molten Chocolate Cake was exactly what I needed!

I ate every single bite! The caramel goodness was also perfect.  Sole was an awesome dining experience.  All their seafood is fresh and even if it came from the gulf, it didn’t make me sick J The dessert was delightful and the service was spectacular.  Thank you Sole for redeeming Memphis in my eyes.  Now I have to figure out where to eat when I go back!

Hungry yet?