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hungry bunny likes...
Tiffany Lauren Q.
Location: New York
Blog Posts: 17
Member Since: 10/2/2007
Favorite Cuisine:
i try not to play favorites
Recent Eats
Jun 30th
Jun 21st
Jun 20th
Jun 15th
Jun 14th
Sharing is Caring
My cousin, Allen recently arrived in NY for culinary school and as a way to welcome him to the big city, we took him to this little Spanish restaurant in our neighborhood.
The restaurant is pretty small, but it makes fantastic use of the space with sleek, modern furniture and a beautiful skylight ceiling that definitely made the place look brighter and seem a little bigger. At night, the rustic dark wood adds an extra touch of sophistication.
One of the aspects of this restaurant that stands out up to now is their impeccable service. The waitstaff here is so friendly that my cousin, Ginger ended up making friends with one of the girls during a previous visit to the establishment. Maybe it was a good night when I went but they seemed to be the happiest people to ever be working in a restaurant.
Their dishes, while pricey were very flavorful and delicious. For starters we had skewers of chorizo wrapped in shrimp, and an amazing mac and cheese made with manchego and black hog ham which was one of my favorite dishes that evening.
We then ordered two different kinds of paella, the first of which was this decadent arroz cremoso negro made of black rice, white truffle oil and drunken goat cheese. That first bite was just an explosion of flavor and probably the standout dish for the night. The second paella was their traditional paella with prawn, chorizo, clams, mussels and squid. Dishes like these run the risk of certain parts being undercooked or overcooked but this dish was just right.
The cochinta, their crispy pork belly with roasted peaches dish was also a favorite dish of the night. It was moist, juicy with a delicious crunch on top. We also liked the croquettas trio with pork and spicy black bean, crabmeat with goat cheese and quince, and truffled cauliflower. The crispy flat bread with serrano ham and seedless grapes was a great mixture of salty and sweet.
I know those dishes above seem like a whole lot, but in reality because of the nature of these tapas dishes (small portions), anyone could realistically order all of these and still have room for desserts.
Yes, definitely save room for their desserts. We ordered the flan, the sangria granita and the churros which were all big winners in my opinion. Each had just the right amount of sweetness which allowed you to end the meal on a great note.
With its great atmosphere, wonderful service and flavorful food, Islero is the perfect place to take your family, your date (great lighting? food sharing? score!), or a small intimate group of friends.
Islero
247 E 50th St (between 2nd and 3rd Avenue)
New York, 10022
Tel: (212) 752-1414
This Little Piggy Gets 4 Stars
Date nights are a little monthly tradition that Karl and I have in order to keep the spark alive. We don't want to settle into a pattern where we take each other's presence for granted so we always try to make time to get dressed up as if it were the first date all over again. As comforting as delivery-and-couch-time can be, there's something refreshing about being able to still generate (and get) the little butterflies-in-the-tummy feeling upon seeing each other.
Typically, he lets me pick the place because I have a ridiculously long list of restaurants that I want to try out but on this particular night he decided he wanted to steer the direction of the evening and surprise me with his choice- a mysterious restaurant that he said was not on my list.
When we got to the restaurant, I was surprised at how cute and cozy it was. You could only realistically fit 20-30 people tops in this little establishment. It also had the quiet family dining room charm that I find many restaurants in the city lack.
Hakata Tonton is famed for its pork dishes. Its mascot is (not surprisingly) a pig, and the logo is a pig snout in its simplest form. What I found was that their non-pork dishes were probably even more of a standout than their pork ones. They serve their dishes in tapas-size portions which allows you to sample a variety of flavors without getting too stuffed.
For starters we had the Spicy Tuna Carpaccio with scallions, fried garlic chips and spicy mayonnaise, which was a light, tasty start to the meal and easily one of the favorites. We also ordered the Snow Crab and Avocado Spring Roll with Spicy Mayonnaise which was probably one of the standout dishes that night. It was deep fried with actual and not imitation crab which left us fighting over the last roll. We continued with a Seared Scallop and Sea Urchin sashimi which was just so fresh and decadent. Not a highlight, but a definite favorite. We also opted for a soup dish, the Homemade Gyoza Japanese Style Sauteed Dumplings which was so flavorful and soothing. The soup was a great way to cleanse the palate, and the dumplings were delicious. It was another standout dish in our opinion. In an attempt to be healthy we ordered a fish dish of Grilled Black Cod with Mushed Sweet Potato which was very moist, tender and butter. It was also a favorite dish.
We also ordered two pork dishes which, while delicious just didn't seem to be the highlights of our meal. We ordered a Slow Roasted Pork in Baked Kakuni Puff Pastry which I liked but Karl wasn't too impressed with, and a Fried Pork Tonsoku withScallions and Spicy Yuzu Paste, Ponzu Sauce which wasn't as good as we'd anticipated.
Overall though, I would definitely return and give other pork dishes a chance. The reason this gets 4 whopping stars is mainly because of the non-pork dishes that we loved so much. With each bite we took we were looking at each other and nodding our heads in approval- a sure sign of a quality meal.
Hakata Tonton
61 Grove Street (between Bleeker and 7th Avenue)
New York, 10014
Tel: (212) 242-3699
Little Owl = Big Winner
One of my favorite couples to double-date with, Henry and Shari, are unfortunately in a long distance relationship. Due to (really dumb) visa regulations, she was relocated to London where she currently has to stay until October when her work visa gets reactivated.
In an effort to keep our tradition of double dates alive, we do "virtual double dates" which allows us to still stay in touch and spend time together. It may be cheesy but it works for us.
It all started out with the idea of finding a restaurant with wifi so that we would be able to webcam with her. We found a bunch of places, but Little Owl was definitely our top pick (and we were waitlisted for it).
As luck may have it we did manage to secure a spot in the restaurant but was unfortunately unable to connect to Shari via webcam (we just dialed long distance and spoke to her for a bit).
Ok, enough back story, onto the food.
There is a reason this place is always crowded and let me tell you, it's not all hype. We ordered 4 different dishes. The first was a seared duck breast with arugula, almonds, parmesan and truffles which was moist, succulent and flavorful. The second dish was a soft shell crab on a bed of aspargus risotto which was surprinsingly delicious (Henry's not a fan of risotto, I'm not a fan of soft shell crab and we both loved this dish).
The winners for all of us were the grilled scallops, the side of spiced ailoi fries, and the gravy meatball sliders with beef, pork, veal and pecorino. Holy wow. I would go back just for those three things. The fries were a huge highlight mainly because the flavor combination (the kick at the end) was just so surprising.
And of course, desserts. We have serious sweet teeth so we ordered three separate dishes: warm molten brownie cake with espresso gelato, the most perfect and buttery strawberry rhubarb tart you could ever imagine, and the big winner -- raspbery beignets with nutella.
My pictures definitely don't do justice to the quality of the meal. Come over to Little Owl and taste it for yourself. The living room atmosphere and the delicious dishes will make you feel right at home.
Little Owl
90 Bedford St. (Grove St.)
New York, 10014
Tel: (212)741-4695
A Long Wait For Comfort Food
In the summer, I tend to be more adventurous with food and locations. Unlike the winter months where I tend to stay within my comfort zone, I like to take advantage of beautiful summer weather to trek out to different neighborhoods and discover new restaurants.
I'd read a lot of great reviews for Egg so I dragged my sleepy boyfriend out to Brooklyn early one morning in an attempt to beat the lines and try the food. When we got there, the place already had a pretty long waiting list, but we figured since we trekked all this way to have some breakfast we might as well just stick it out and wait.
An hour later, deliriously hungry and sweaty, we were finally able to wrangle a seat at the restaurant. The weather may have played a bit of a role with my less than stellar rating of the place as it was an oppressively hot and humid day. Believe me by the time I sat down, I was no longer in my usual happy, sunshiney mood.
My spirits did rise a little bit when I saw that the place had crayons. My inner 5 year old just had a blast drawing all sorts of random things when it finally dawned on me the reason the crayons were there for the sole reason of distracting pastons from yet ANOTHER ridiculously long wait for food.
It took approximately 30 minutes before our food came out and by then I was apologizing profusely to my boyfriend who looked like he was going to pass out in his hunger and the intense summer heat.
I will say this though- had it not taken us an hour and a half to get the food, I would've probably given it an extra star. The food was incredibly delicious, and the portions were generous but in perspective not worth the time it took the get to it.
For starters we had cinammon doughnut holes which were a sweet way to open up the meal. I ordered the Eggs Rothko (easy cooked egg in a slice of brioche and topped with cheddar), while Karl opted for Biscits and Gravy which was, in my opinion the winning dish for the day. It was biscuits smothered in gravy with bits of mushrooms and pork sausage and it was just such a flavorful and savory dish.
The reason I docked two stars was that my dish, while yummy wasn't exactly a "wow" inducing dish, and the waiting time both to be seated and to be fed was pretty insane.
All in all, I would still recommend this place to other people, but warn them to find ways to keep themselves occupied before the meal. I may return and give this place a second chance- I've heard wondrous things about their fried chicken.
Egg
135 N 5th St (Between Bedford Avenue and Berry Street)
Brooklyn, 11211
Tel: (718) 302-5151
Iron Chef Goodness
Last night, I watched an episode of Iron Chef America on Food Network where Chef Mario Batali showed his skill and duked it out with a very worthy challenger, Chef Andrew Carmellini of A Voce. The competition was so tight that winner won by just one point- Chef Batali took the honor.
Babbo is the only restaurant of his that I've had the pleasure of trying. The first time I went was with two foodie friends who ordered so much food for the three of us that even our waiter had to step in and say "Maybe you should rethink your choices.. these are all very rich dishes..." or in other words "your cholesterol level is going to skyrocket and you WILL die if you order all of these, don't say I didn't warn you!"
He was right, we did order a somewhat ridiculous amount of food but the memorables that stood out in my head were the pig's foot milanese, the veal osso buco and the dessert of this "tongue twinkling green apple sorbet" as one of my friends felt so compelled to say after this bite. Let's just say that this meal was worth me missing David Blaine in Lincoln Center holding his breath for 8 minutes in a big bubble of water (and I really wanted to watch that happen).
Armed with such happy memories of the place, I decided that this would be the perfect place to take Karl, who balances my gluttony for overpriced yet delicious food with his healthy dose of skepticism for celebrity chefs. A gift card generously given to us for Christmas by my cousin and her husband also allowed us to enjoy the meal without having to worry about paying for it, definitely a huge plus.
Babbo blew him away (more than Per Se may I add) and that to me is enough to give this place 5 big stars.
We ordered the Grilled Octopus with spicy limoncello vinaigrette, the famous mint love letters, the beef cheek ravioli and the cod -- which were all extremely yummy. I am a big fan of stuffed pasta and those two (mint love letters and beef cheek ravioli) were definitely the highlights of the meal. The mint love letters had a very interesting combination of mild mint and spicy sausage which worked very well together, and the beef cheek ravioli with custed squab liver and black truffles was just such a winning dish.
For dessert we had- the chocolate hazelnut cake with orange sauce and hazelnut gelato, and the pine nut crostata, the latter having the perfect balance of salty and sweet in one bite.
Mario Batali = Iron Chef. The man is simply a legend.
Babbo
110 Waverly Place (bet. MacDougal St. & 6th Ave.)
New York, 10011
Tel: (212)777-0303
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