Peter D.
Brooklyn, NY
- 3817 Friends
- 2490 Reviews
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“All in all not a bad guy...if looks, brains, and personalities don't count.”
Reviews
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There were wings, burgers, reubens, corn dogs, and fried chicken sandwiches on the menu, and I ordered a salad. So it's my own fault, really.
I do have a penchant for ordering dishes named after the restaurant, as I assume they are specialties and thus among their best options, and the Dakota Chopped Salad sounded delightful:
It was to have organic baby field greens, Persian romaine, AND iceberg lettuce. I was intrigued by this foreign romaine, and excited to see how it differed from regular old hearts of romaine. Unfortunately, iceberg was all that was to be found.
Promised were heirloom cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, regular tomato, carrots, avocado, grilled corn, crispy bacon, garbanzo beans, feta, and a yogurt dill dressing. Of all that, there was a bit of tomato (neither heirloom nor cherry), maybe three bits of bacon, a smattering of feta, cucumber, and several kernels of corn. There was no carrot, maybe a tiny morsel of avocado, and the dressing was nowhere to be found (upon asking for some on the side, I received a tasty ramekin full of it, although it was unappetizingly separating).
There were plenty of garbanzo beans, which is a statement I don't relish making.
Essentially, I ordered a salad with all the things, and it only had a few of the things, not the ones I really wanted, and not nearly enough of them. To be fair, my friends' fried chicken sandwich and steak salad looked infinitely more appealing.
The clear lesson is to never order a salad again. -
3800 E Sky Harbor Blvd
Phoenix, AZ 85034
Bad Decisions I've Made in 2017:
1. Picking up a skillet fresh out of the oven with my bare hand.
2. Believing the NY Giants were going to win.
3. Leaning into the trunk of a cab too early, and gashing my head on the rebounding door.
Good Decisions I've Made in 2017:
1. Getting the Sonrisa Burrito before I got on a plane back to NYC.
(Clearly killing it this year.)
Admittedly, my Phoenix airport eatery experience is a bit limited, but after drinking liquor of questionable quality until the wee hours of the morning, this burrito quite possibly saved my life.
Although the menu only lists bacon and sausage as meat options, chorizo was a nice surprise choice. Beware, it's going to take 15 minutes for this thing because it's real food, and they have to grill the burrito. Which is so, so worth it, even if you have to miss your flight and live in PHX for the rest of your life.
Well, maybe not then. -
The key to happiness is letting each situation be what it is, instead of what you think it should be.
Someone far wiser than I am said that. They were probably meditating on the meaning of life, and gleaning enlightenment from difficult, complex situations. I'm not that deep, so I'm just going to apply it to food.
Forget about the pre-conceived notions of what you think food should cost.* I'm happy for you that you took a trip to Tokyo, and Ichiran was far cheaper over there. Let it go. This isn't Tokyo. Rents are high in Brooklyn, and quality ingredients cost a lot of money.
All I want you to do is step into your flavor concentration booth, and realize that you're getting a bowl of rich, fantastic ramen, customized to your liking, for ~$19** all in (because tip is included).
And be happy.
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*This also goes for all you people that think tacos should never cost more than $2, and that Chinese food should never rise above a certain price point.
**That is not a crazy price to pay for a full, high-quality, delicious meal in NYC. And it's certainly cheaper than flying back to Tokyo. -
My friends who live on the West Coast are always blathering about how much better sushi (and Mexican food, and weather) is out there. I can forgive their regional bias because in my benevolence, I'm tolerant of people that are obviously inferior to New Yorkers in every way imaginable.*
And I've had sushi out there. It's largely the same as it is here.
So when a few of my co-workers that used to live in California (and wisely moved to NYC) were hyped up on Sugarfish coming east, I tempered my expectations. I patiently waited with them before we sat down to our first lunch here.
And then I was blown away, because Sugarfish is truly on another level. In all seriousness, this is some of the best sushi I've ever had in my life, and that is no exaggeration. It is buttery, melt-in-your-mouth perfection, and it doesn't cost me over $100 for lunch. These are things that don't often coincide in the sushi world. This is the elusive, magical Manhattan sushi that lives in the middle (absurdly high quality, without the corresponding absurd prices).
The most popular choices on the menu are various forms of Trust Me, and you should trust them. They care about their food, and your enjoyment of it.
They make pointed suggestions as to how and when to eat each course.
They insist you eat the hand rolls while the nori is still crisp.
They made me like hand rolls (unheard of).
They said nothing as I shoveled tuna sashimi into my face, uncontrollably.
They served us albacore (sustainability!), and it was fantastic.
They have two different hand soaps in the bathroom, unscented for before your meal, and scented for after. FOR PETE'S SAKE.
So to my West Coast friends who insist that your sushi is better...is this what you were talking about? If Sugarfish was the only sushi joint in California, I might believe you. Even though I don't like being wrong.
We actually had more than a few service issues (the host needs some training on how not to ruin everything, our server stole my water glass and gave back one that was probably tainted by one of my dirty companions, and said dirty companion kept having to wait while the rest of us were given our deliciousness several minutes before him**)...but I can't justify docking them a star, despite all that. The sushi is just too good.
I guess the bright side of being wrong is that I never have to go to LA again, because Sugarfish is here now.
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*What is this hypocrisy you speak of?
**This was kind of funny, but only because it was him. -
1. Has open reservations for a group at decent times.
2. Good food in a nice atmosphere.
3. LES/East Village.
Usually, you only get to have two of these three things at the same time. Balvanera offered us all the things, and I am duly grateful.
I am even more grateful for fantastic sangria, stellar service, excellent empanadas, and all the chorizo I could ever want. -
Jean lint, people.
My phone stopped charging itself properly, and the headphone jack was equally fucked. I stopped by, chatted with my new best friend A-Aron, and he:
1. Informed me that lint from my jeans was the culprit.
2. Used some magical little tool to remove said jean lint.
3. Didn't even shame me for my obviously flawed practice of shoving my phone into my jeans without regard for the thick, blue lint and its debilitating qualities.
Not only was this service free, but it saved me the cost of buying new chargers and headphones, which was now unnecessary. In fact, I was able to return the two I bought immediately, and without hassle.
Throw in the fact that I had two helpful, fluent, Spanish-speaking geniuses at the Genius Bar next to me, and I think this is probably the finest Apple Store in the nation. -
Like any other red-blooded American male that won his fantasy football league, my immediate thought was: "Let's blow this cash on a vegetable-forward tasting menu!"
And that's what I did.
Let me preface this review by assuring you that of all the things I love eating the most, meat is involved in at least 90% of them. But I understand the problems facing our meat-eating culture such as climate change, factory farms, sustainability, etc., and I love seeing people do amazing things with vegetables.
And that's what Semilla is doing.
To be sure, there are non-vegetarian elements scattered throughout this tasting menu. But the cooks here are intent on letting the vegetables shine, and relegating the animal products to a supporting role. Bits of sea urchin and foie gras make a rich honeynut squash soup just a bit richer. Smoked trout roe is hidden between shaved folds of butternut squash, layered around granny smith apples. A hint of crab gives body to the rice and peas flavored with bergamot.
And it works, for the most part. I appreciate that instead of being militant, they use flavors sparingly to make the whole dish better. The overall effect is delicious, and adventurous, and in my opinion, worthwhile (although the cost may be prohibitive for you; it pretty much is for me, barring fantasy sports victories). That's something you've got to decide on your own.
Keep in mind before you make your reservation, the food is almost rigorously seasonal (tons of squash, since it's winter), with the only spring and summer ingredients being pickled and/or fermented (like the ramp aioli served with the salt-baked sunchokes). Your menu may vary, but rest assured that the talent in this kitchen is huge.
My favorite dish of the evening was the Long Island cheese pumpkin with za'atar spices and squash vinegar, but the Bánh Xèo with fermented hot sauce and turmeric vinaigrette nearly took the crown as well. I even thoroughly enjoyed the desserts, particularly the miso butterscotch that came with the sweet potato ice cream.
If you're on the fence about springing for the $60 beverage pairing, we did and we weren't sad about it. They have a lot of interesting ciders on the menu, and the Syrah served with the burnt cabbage roll, preserved lemon and coffee jus, it made the whole dish make sense, which is all you can ask from a sommelier.
Oh, and before you expend brainpower (extremely limited, in my case) on trying to remember each and every dish: the team here is kind enough to e-mail you the menu after you dine.
Have fun. -
Sometimes I wonder why I ever eat in places that aren't Chinatown (and ever eat things that aren't soup dumplings).* The value to taste ratio is virtually unbeatable.
We rang in our New Year's Day with Green Bo's scallion pancakes, various vegetables, xiao long bao (the aforementioned soup dumplings), Shanghai noodles, General Tso's chicken** and more.
Surprisingly, the scallion pancakes (do it), noodles, and the White Man Chicken all eclipsed the soup dumplings for me. This isn't to say the latter were bad, just not on par with some better versions I've had the pleasure of trying lately, and outshined by the other excellent dishes.
If this is any indication, 2017 is going to be the most delicious year yet.
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*Then I remember that I don't want to weigh 400 lbs.
**Going forward, I will be calling this White Man Chicken, as we decided it should be dubbed during this meal. -
It's a good thing they trademarked their slogan of "Fast Slow Food," because it was definitely in danger of being stolen.*
Tagline aside, Essen is the best super deli in the vicinity. By super deli, I mean a place where you can get salads, sandwiches, sushi, noodle dishes, snacks, smoothies, hot food buffet, and really anything you could think of for lunch. I'm pretty sure these places only exist in NYC, so while you're here, you might as well take advantage.
The sushi is typical deli sushi (nothing special, but it's fresh enough and kills your craving), the sandwiches are solid, and the salads are as good as you'll get from Chopt or Just Salad or one of those chains. I usually avoid the hot food bar because I end up getting about three pounds of food because I can't resist, but I imagine it's pretty good too.
If you have a bunch of people and you need to feed them lunch quickly, you can do a lot worse.
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*Not really. -
This is the falafel you want.
If you have any sort of falafel craving, and even if you don't, Taim has you covered. I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, but here's how you should live your life:
Don't get weird with it.
Don't mess with the smoothies.
Just get a classic falafel sandwich with everything on it, use this as an example to your wife that you sometimes do eat meatless meals and that you aren't going to die of a heart attack at 40, and then try and tell me you've had better falafel somewhere else. You haven't, so I don't know why you're trying.
Did you forget to tip your falafel guy (or girl)? Go give him a dollar, he has to stand there all day and he just gave you the best falafel you've ever had.
Now call your mother and tell her you love her.
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