Jua (NYC)

All courses were equally at a high level, so I don’t have much commentary. This place is fantastic.

Tasting Menu

  • Caviar Kim: very good and I’d eat it again in a heartbeat, but this is the only dish here where the hype exceeds the quality by a little bit.

  • Striped Jack: I finally loved a beet!

  • Jook

  • Branzino: felt like I was eating at an Italian restaurant for a moment. Probably will be the least memorable dish for me by a small margin.

  • Galbi & Chan: gorgeous presentation. The bites of banchan were all fun. The little ball of perilla was interesting—I thought it was pretty mild, but my mother nearly died after putting it in her mouth. She said it was the worst thing she had ever tasted in her life. Possibly related to her aversion to cilantro? Anyway, she loved the rest of the meal, and the perilla in the next course was completely different, so it didn’t bother her.

  • Perilla

  • Goguma Juak: the benefit of going to a tasting menu with someone who has a limited appetite—I got to eat two of these! Extremely underrated dessert based on the other reviews I’ve read.

  • Passion Vibe (non-alcoholic drink; passionfruit, calamansi, basil)

Rating: 9/10

Lysée (NYC)

Signature Menu

  • Corn

  • Lysée: both this and the Corn I’d say fall more into the “interesting” category than the “tasty” one for me.

  • Strawberry Tart: my favorite here.

  • Kouign Amann: very good, but I‘m not sure I’ve ever had a bad kouign-amann outside of a grocery store.

Rating: 6/10

Rolo’s (Brooklyn)

The food I had was very underwhelming, and I wasn’t a fan of the service. It started off with me making a Resy reservation for a table outside. I specifically had been waiting for the weather to shift before visiting this restaurant—finally, I had the evening free and it was forecasted to be a rainless 70 degrees (which came true; it was gorgeous outside). But at 11am the morning of, Rolo’s switches my reservation to indoor dining for no apparent reason. Are they not allowed to have tables outside anymore? It made no sense, and the lack of explanation rubbed me the wrong way. Then, at the table I order a “Panoma,” a non-alcoholic grapefruit drink. I misread the name as “Panama” (all these places with weird names; I totally thought it could be named after the country). But to make sure he knows what I’m talking about, I say, “Could I have the Panama, the nonalcoholic drink?” He says sure and then takes the drink menu. Then a couple minutes later, they give me a piña colada. They did switch out the drink after I said something, and ultimately it doesn’t matter, but it’s just annoying. There are only two or three nonalcoholic drinks on the menu—can’t you use some deductive reasoning to figure out that I switched an “o” with an “a” instead of ordering a piña colada, a drink with two more syllables than Panoma?

  • Wood-fired Polenta Bread (olive oil & flaky salt): decent bread, nothing special.

  • Cheesy Potato Croquettes: absolutely nuclear hot in the center. Burned the roof of my mouth pretty substantially. I cut the second one in half, left it out for a few minutes, and it was still inedibly hot. Did they microwave these? The fact that it was so incredibly hot in the center but practically cold to the touch makes me think it’s a possibility…

  • Double Cheeseburger (grilled onions, dijonnaise, pickled long hot): it’s fine. One of the better burgers I’ve had, but it didn’t blow me away (but no burger ever has). At least it is sensibly priced at $18 unlike other “limited availability” burgers at hip places. They didn’t ask me how I’d like it cooked which is totally fine since I figured they would just go for the normally recommended medium rare, but it was practically medium well. It still tasted good, just odd.

  • Panoma (a non-alcoholic Paloma)

Rating: 4/10

Shinn West (NYC)

Omakase Menu

  • Hamachi

  • Madai

  • Botan Uni

  • Ikura

  • Zuke Akami

  • Chu Toro

  • O Toro Caviar: this was probably my favorite (as expected).

  • Hotate

  • Saba

  • Kampachi

  • Salmon

  • Unagi

  • Toro Hand-roll

I was comparing this to Takumi the whole time since it was my last omakase in NYC. Basically, from a food perspective, the fundamentals are more solid at Shinn West while the highs are higher at Takumi. Additionally, I’d give the entire experience award to Takumi—the ambiance was odd at Shinn West. The house lights were so bright, it felt more like when you’re setting up a restaurant before opening rather than when you’re actually presenting it to customers. For the first ten minutes, I was the only patron, and then I was joined by one pair of people—it was just the three of us for the rest of my time at the restaurant. Almost entirely empty at 6pm on a Friday… isn’t that a bit strange? I’ve heard about Shinn East/West way more than Takumi, but they had five times as many people in their restaurant. The music was odd, too. Top 40 hits, but stuck in 2008. They played Baby by Bieber, Monster by Eminem. The vibe, the music, the free sake, definitely puts Takumi above, plus certain bites there were more memorable. But that’s not to denigrate Shinn West. The omakase was very solid and incredible for the price.

Rating: 8/10

L’Industrie Pizzeria (NYC)

I’d call it vastly overrated, but my incredibly subjective taste in pizza seems to not line up with others at all. Although, calling the $15 I spent on two slices a crime is about as objective a determination as food gets.

  • Sausage and Pesto: no different than any other sausage pizza I’ve had in NYC.

  • Fig, Jam, and Bacon: I like jam on things you wouldn’t usually expect to have jam (like jam on a meat sandwich). This was good, but in need of more jam (of course).

Rating: 5/10

Misi (Brooklyn)

  • Spinach and Mascarpone Filled Tortelli (brown butter, ricotta salata)

  • Sheep’s Milk Ricotta Filled Occhi (bottarga, lemon): it’s a very simple, one-note dish, but that one-note is spectacular, undeniably. I lean toward restaurants that do a bit more within a single dish, though.

  • Fettuccine (buffalo butter, parmigiano extra vecchio, black pepper): I didn’t love my first few bites, but as the taste mellowed out, it grew on me. And then I ate it as leftovers the next day; both the best and most expensive leftovers I’ve ever had.

  • Olive Oil Gelato: savory ice cream is a cheat code. Very much enjoyed this. But probably not particularly different than any other good gelato places out there.

Rating: 8/10

Gramercy Tavern (NYC)

Summer Restaurant Week

  • Hamachi (sungolds, ponzu, lime): prepared very similarly to the arctic char I had at The Modern recently. Given my next course is also arctic char but in a different preparation, this meal rhymes with that one. Pretty good dish, but I preferred The Modern’s version because of the peaches.

  • Pan-Seared Arctic Char (asparagus, crab, basil): I’ve read that char is somewhere in between salmon and trout, but it seems to me much more salmon than trout. It felt like classy salmon. Very good skin, excellent sauce—turned into a bit of a swamp a few bites in, but it stayed tasty. The trout at Oriole (which was also topped with roe and had a similar sauce) still tops this by a country mile, but this is a top-notch dish.

  • Plum Shortcake (green tea, honey, lillet blanc): the classic sort of dessert at these sorts of restaurants, but it delivers. I could have used one or two more bites. The size is what it is probably because they’re serving it at lunch.

  • Bread and Butter: they actually served this WARM because they’re sane and know what tastes good. They also offered me a second roll, and I said of course. Stuffing me with free bread is an easy way into my heart. They capped off the meal with a small bunch of wild grapes. I’m also a sucker for fresh fruit, especially in NYC where practically every time I buy fruit, it’s either already moldy or tastes terrible.

  • Rockaway Peach (bourbon, peach)

Their restaurant week meal is a verifiably good deal based on the normal price of the same dishes added up. If I ate the same thing next month, it would be $23 more expensive.

Rating: 8/10

Dirt Candy (NYC)

Fantastic! Yet another vegetation place this meat-lover loves!

Summer Tasting Menu

  • Lettuce (pickled iceberg, arugula, celtuce, puffed rice): a list of things I’m on paper not much of a fan of… completely transformed into something I am. Simply the perfect distillation of why food is fun.

  • Tomato (smoked feta, tomato doughnut, yellow tomato jam, cherry tomatoes): the best dish. Unbelievable. A little odd to put this dessert-adjacent course toward the front, but I’m glad they did considering it’s a bit heavy and I wanted to enjoy it fully. They focus on one genre of ingredient per dish, but they somehow milk out the entire rainbow of flavor. The tomato jam with its sweetness playing against the savory of the cherry tomatoes.

  • Corn (corn orecchiette, hominy scallop, avocado, finger lime, corn broth): this was like a clam chowder. Definitely could have drunk the broth. This felt like the only real attempt to directly imitate a non-vegetarian product, and so it felt a bit less creative.

  • Eggplant (chinese eggplant, eggplant sausage, coconut curry, dill): grew on me as I was eating it. Long satisfying aftertaste. With this dish came one of the largest service snafus I’ve encountered in fine dining—will describe in my notes.

  • Onion (caramelized onion ice cream, framboise, balsamic caramel): once again, a dessert that plays on the whole palate. I loved it!

In addition to those five courses, there were two additions not listed on the menu. One was this cream-ified carrot in a cute little ice cream cone with seaweed imitation caviar. Might have been the best carrot thing I’ve put in my mouth (I’m not a fan of carrots). The second dish I wasn’t too fond of; kind of a basic serving of radish. They should probably present it as just a palette cleanser or something because it was very unremarkable.

I also had the wine pairing. I have zero understanding of wine, so who knows how good it is. But I mean damn, it’s $55. If it isn’t just gutter water, then it’s probably worth it.

While overall the service was totally fine, there was one major service mistake during the eggplant dish—the server is supposed to pour the coconut curry in front of the guest, and when my server did, he did it way too enthusiastically and spilled a ton of it on the table. He apologized, went to the back, got a napkin, and started wiping it up. But the napkin was completely nonporous, so he ended up pushing a bunch a bunch of the curry into my lap. Stained my shirt, and he didn’t really acknowledge it. I didn’t cause a fuss at all because I don’t really care (it’s a $50 t-shirt I’ll throw in the washing machine), but I know that would be a big error for some people. Personally, if it means I get a cheaper meal (this is the cheapest one-star tasting menu in NYC by a long shot), I’ll let the server punch me in the face.

Rating: 10/10

The Bar Room at The Modern (NYC)

Restaurant Week is often derided, and I get it. Most of the meals are scams. However, I’ve read that a couple places do it well, particularly Gramercy Tavern (which I’m going to try to hit up soon) and The Bar Room at The Modern. The vibes were great, and they sat me at a table rather than the bar! Very comfy chair.

Summer Restaurant Week

  • Cured Arctic Char (peaches): they didn’t rely on just the flavor of the cured fish which is often the failing for this kind of dish for me since it tends to be very subtle. Instead, it’s boosted by a ton of flavor from the peaches and its juices along with whatever seasoning they had going on. I probably only needed about half of this course, though.

  • Artichoke and Lobster Ravioli (sweet corn and sorrel): it’s lobster sauce, not lobster, so they kind of got me there. Also, where was the artichoke? Bit of a confusing dish, but it was tasty. Probably in the decent b-tier of pastas I’ve had in NYC. This was my safe boring pick of the prixe fix.

  • Lemon Pain Perdu (wild blueberries and granola): can’t stop thinking about how bad the dessert at Foxface was. This puts it to absolute shame.

  • Bread: I saw the people around me getting bread, and I was very jealous. I didn’t say anything, and it eventually came between my first and second courses. A bit odd. Everybody else had the bread while they were eating their first course. If fine dining is insistent on cold bread, then this is how you do it. Excellent. Came with some spread, not butter, that I can’t remember.

  • Ko-Pilot (non-alcoholic, Duché de Longueville sparkling cider, yuzu, maple, sea salt): as I’ve said, I’m a whore for non-alcoholic drinks. It’s a serious problem. This was fantastic, potent. Can’t help but wonder if I can make any of this at home.

  • Verbena (non-alcoholic, bax botanics, bay leaf, sparkling Sicilian lemonade): given the savings of the restaurant week menu, I went for a second glass of liquid. Not as good as the other one. Pretty watered down.

Rating: 8/10

Casa Mono (NYC)

  • Creamy Eggs (sea urchin, walnuts, and ancient anchovy oil): don’t really like the uni and egg combo. It also seems like it’s common to throw walnuts in a dish that otherwise has little texture, I guess to give some crunch, but it never works for me. Feels lazy.

  • Bone Marrow (trout roe, horseradish crema, and everything bagel spice): excellent. Really I could have just ordered this. Was extremely full by the point of finishing this dish, and yet I still had the richest food to come.

  • Foie Gras (cinco cebollas): not a pleasant thing to eat right after the bone marrow. But that was my own miscalculation. This is why I like a tasting menu—take those decisions away from me. I’ll definitely revisit this place at some point and maybe not order the heaviest things on the menu in one sitting.

Rating: 7/10