Zarela’s New York

Patrick Mexican, New York, Restaurants

On this trip to the States, I didn’t get my burrito fix. The plan was to head to the Chipotle Test Kitchen where a former Iron Chef contender was currently working. Instead we ended up at Zarela’s, apparently one the places to first champion the Mexican cuisine. I thought I only knew about this place through reading until I walked inside and realised that Gerrod and Kristy took me there for a pre-dinner drink many years ago.

If I had one or two of their frozen marghertia’s that probably explains it since they were so strong. A tried the guava flavoured one this time, and almost went an instant red (Asian blush) from the first sip. Tasty though.

Whilst we perused the menu, they brought a bowl of corn chips with salsa and coriander-based sauce (don’t know the name of it). Based on these alone, things were going to be good. The corn chips were light and crisp, and thick that I hope indicates they’re home made. The salsa had layers of complexity and easily out did anything you could buy off a supermarket shelf. A good start.

We weren’t quite sure what to get off the menu, but in the in decided for Chilaquiles (Crisp corn tortilla strips, shredded sautéed chicken, sour cream and white cheese baked in a casserole with either a tangy tomatillo or ranchera sauce). Pretty delicious though I thought that was a bit of a cheese overload.

I try to eat mole whenever I can, understanding how difficult the process is that goes into this complex, chocolate based sauce so I ordered the Enchiladas de Pollo (Corn tortillas filled with chicken and cheese, baked with a mole). It came even with a salad on top but I really enjoyed the complex flavours that permeated the enitre dish. The chicken was tender, the sauce deep although I wish it had a bit more of chilli kick.

For mains I got the Barbacoa de Carnero (Shredded lamb barbacoa slow-roasted in an ancho chile adobo over avocado leaves). The lamb was pleasingly tender, already cooked to the point where it fell apart with a fork. I’m glad that it didn’t have all the fatty bits as well because the texture of the dish was all soft, particularly since the entire dish had been plated on top of two whole soft flour tortillas. The sauce was great though.

Whilst my dining companion took it a bit less challenging with the Manchamanteles de Pato (Roasted half duck served with a tomato red chile sauce with dried apricots, prunes, raisins and pineapple), a dish I’d be happier to call “Sweet and sour duck”. The duck was a bit too fatty for my liking, but at least it was tender and cooked really well.

I’d really like to go back and try a number of other dishes on their menu. It certainly deserved the recognition it’s got for good food. I can’t comment on how authentic the Mexican tastes are but it seems a whole lot better than the meagre one or two places we have in London.

Name: Zarela’s (closed)
Former location: 953 2nd Avenue, New York, NY, 10022

Norma’s

Patrick American, Brunch, New York, Restaurants

Norma’s at Le Park Meridian came up again and again as a great breakfast place. Located uptown near the MOMA, this restaurant does breakfast/brunch meals until 3pm. I had a look at their menu on the net before deciding we should try it out. The prices are the first thing to strike you with most of their dishes equivalent of a normal main mean (entree in the US) at any other restaurant. Fortunately they are different enough and portions, naturally, massive enough to justify them.

The dining room doesn’t look anything that special. In fact, we were puzzled by the strange mish mash of diner-like tables around. Was this a diner-style breakfast joint? Is it that popular that people’s backsides have worn down many of the seat covers? It’s like this place had a multiple personality disorder and no single one yet dominating, resulting in confusion.

A good example of this was the complemetary juice “shot” that arrived at the table when we sat down. A fruit concoction, I hadn’t received one of these since my stay in the Marriott in Calgary three years ago. Fresh and a nice start to the service. Unfortunately our waitress failed to impress us the rest of our meal with us needing to ask for water several times and waiting at least ten minutes before we could ask for the bill.

Out of all menus I looked at trip, Norma’s looked the most interesting. With subsections such as “Mom can’t make this”, “Eggs cellent”, and “This shsould do it” … how could you not smile at it? Look closer and you start to see some weird and wacky concotions, “PB&C Waffle ‘Wich” or a chocolate waffle with a peanut butter and toffee crunch filling or maybe you want to splurge for “The Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata” with its most expensive incarnation costing you US$1000. I kid you not.

Anyway on to what we ordered. Here’s the Norma’s Egg Benedict (US$22) (buttermilk pancake layered with canadian bacon and grilled asparagus). Although the bernaise sauce was apparently very good the pancake apparently didn’t provide enough contrast that a classic toasted English muffin would and so the whole dish seemed a bit all of the same.

I went for the Irresitable Banana-Macadamia Nut Flap Jacks served with whipped banana brown sugar butter (US$21) . Thrown off by the use of flap jacks, I worried I would end up with these heavy, thick British style flapjacks that threaten to defeat you with a single bite. The waitress, almost immediately, assured me they are simply pancakes.

What arrived was a huge set of pancakes. This meal really should have been split in two. Even half would have satisfied for a meal on its own. However these pancakes, both dense and light at the same time were so more-ish they called to be eaten. And besides, does anyone do doggy-bags for breakfasts?

Name: Norma’s
Found at: Inside the Le Parker Meridien, 119 West 56th Street, New York, NY, 10019
Website: http://www.parkermeridien.com/normas.htm

D’Espresso New York

Patrick Coffee, New York, Where's the good coffee?

I first read about D’Espresso from a mailing list I subscribe to about interesting designs around the world. Seeing as I enjoy my coffee, I’m always up for some non chain coffee house that serves espresso.

We dropped into the one closest to Grand Central station, though struggled to find it as I was looking for it on Madison Avenue. It took us a while to triangulate it and find it located on 42nd Street. Watch out for that. They serve all kinds of coffees. I ordered a cortado being the closest thing they might make to a flat white.

They also had, on display, a great display of these bombolino’s – or donuts filled with various ones.

Although starting to get a little run down from all the people dropping in, this tiny store looks pretty amazing for the wallpaper that plasters the floor, walls and roof, effectively turning the store into a sideways library.

Pretty trippy but neat.

Name: D’Espresso
Found at: 317 Madison Ave on 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10017
Website: http://www.despresso.com/

Lunch at Gramercy Tavern

Patrick American, Michelin Starred, New York, Restaurants

I count myself extremely thankful to be able to dine at some of the places that we do on our trips. I have to admit this trip to New York has been one of our most decadent. My sister and I took our cousins out to lunch at the Gramercy Tavern, a combined restaurant and tavern awarded a one-michelin star for the past six years. Impressive!

Here’s a picture of their menu.

All of their plates and dishes had the same logo.

They provided butter and salt.

To go with a sourdough bread or the brown roll (which I went). Unfortunately we wanted more but the bread guy wasn’t around. This probably explains why the old man at the table next to us distracted the bread man when he came to our table.

This is the Cauliflower, red quinoa, prunes and peanuts dish.

Then the Red King Crab, Sunchokes and apples

Then the Calamari & Carrot Salad, Toasted Pine Nuts and Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette

It was still really cold outside from the blizzard and I needed something to warm me up so for my appetiser, I chose Red Krui Squash Soup, Brussels Sprouts, and Apples. On first taste, the soup simply blew me away. It was everything a think hearty soup should be, perfectly seasoned (not in the way the Brits like) and the brussels sprouts centred in the soup with additional leaves topping it off. The toasted squash seeds added plenty of crunch and the drizzle of, what I’m guessing as, pumpkin seed oil deepening the flavours.

For mains, there was the Roasted Hanger Steak, Fingerling Potatoes, Russian Kale and Bourbon Sauce.

As well as the Red Snapper, Toasted Green Wheat, Kale, Trout Roe, and Squash Sauce

In addition to the Pork Croquette, Red Cabbage, Aji Dulce Pepers and Spiced Port Sauce

And finally my dish, Braised Lamb Shoulder, Heirloom Beans, Wild Mushrooms and Brussels Sprouts. Lamb seemed to appear on many menus, much more than I remembered than ever before in the US. I hoped for a rich, deep, soft lamb minus all the fat and I got it in this umami-rich dish. I counted at least four different types of mushrooms and there was plenty of beans and sauce to go with the dish. I may have been the last to finish, savouring each mouthful.

On to desserts! Here’s the Dried Cherry Cheesecake, Black Pepper Cookie and Cherry Lemon Sorbet. Reports had it the black pepper didn’t really come through.

Next up, the Warm Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cocao Nib Ice Cream.

And apparently, a slightly disappointing Sticky Toffee Fig Cake with Coffee Ice Cream. It apparently didn’t have the toffee flavour it should have had with not much sauce. It does look rather dry doesn’t it?

Finally here was my dessert, Peanut Butter Semifreddo with a chocolate macaroon. Americans obsess about peanut butter, much to most Europeans distaste. I don’t mind it, so I always like to try it in different things. In this dessert it worked really well. You can see the semifreddo served atop half a macaroon and then complemented by yet another one on the side. It was also served with some lightly caramelised hazelnuts.

And finally, some petite fours with yet another macaroon and tiny orange chocolate tart.

I have to say, this place really earns its food. Despite the outward appearance of simple ingredients, each dish really came alive and other than a few misses on the desserts, everyone raved about each of their meals. They have a slightly more casual, dining tavern but I’d be pretty happy going back regardless.

Name: Gramercy Tavern
Found at:
Website: http://www.gramercytavern.com/

Hill Country Chicken

Patrick American, Fast Food, New York

I’d put Hill Country Chicken on the list because Hill Country also do some of the best BBQ in New York, and this Fried Chicken place had been getting some rave reviews.

Stepping in for a late lunch, most tables had people at them but we also didn’t realise there was a downstairs.

It took quite a while to digest what was on offer. Plenty of things screamed for attention although the people behind the counter had hugely warm faces and asked if we needed any help.

Here we are ordering their chicken, we tried one of each type – one piece, “Mama El’s Fried Chicken” was a skinless piece, dipped in buttermilk, herbs and then lightly batter before the deep fry, the other fried with skin on and dusted with a special seasoning.

The first thing you notice when biting into the thicken was the moistness of the bird. At least the chicken was well cooked. The skin on both pieces was a bit disappointing. Here I was expecting large crunch and although the one with the skin on just qualifies as crisp, wasn’t consistent throughout. The skinless batter seemed more like an artificial coat than anything.

The fries were nice though – you see them cut them in the open behind the counter and they are well known for freshly frying them and the buttermilk biscuit just as well done.

Name: Hill Country Chicken
Found at: 1123 Broadway (Corner of 25th) New York, NY 10010
Website: http://www.hillcountrychicken.com/

Second Trip to WD-50

Patrick American, Michelin Starred, New York, Restaurants, World's 50 Best

After cancelling plans at Daniel NYC due to the snow (they had a very limited menu based on deliveries not making it), we looked around at a few other options. I had previously eaten at WD-50 before, but my sister hadn’t so I called up and found that they had a table free for an early dinner at 6:30pm.

You can see from their fairly plain entrance that it doesn’t look that special from the outside. In fact, that small glowing neon light (their name) makes it fit into the rest of the neighbourhood. I remember walking past it last time in the heavy rain, so watch the street numbers at the same time.

We got a table that looked out on all the other ones. I felt it worked quite well until someone sat at the table directly next to us and fortunately they sat down as we were on our dessert courses. There’s some booths to the left as well that are kept for larger groups.

Mmmm. Here’s the menu. Not sure who’s lips they are. Maybe they should have had them licking their lips for what was about to come.

Here’s the wafer thin bread they brought for us to snack on. Covered in nutty toasted sesame seeds, it was a nice way to start the snack whilst waiting.

Our first dish, striped bass, gingerbread, plum and pickled ramp played around with a sweet and sour combination with earthy tones provided by the gingerbread sauce on the plate.

Next up was their playful take on a classic dish, the everything bagel, smoked salmon threads, crispy cream cheese. WD-50 is well known for taking classic ingredients and transforming them into things you’d recognise but not quite in the same way. Here, the tiny bagel is actually a small bit of ice cream. We wondered how they got it to look “toasted”. I wasn’t a big fan of the smoked salmon threads by itself, going much better combined with the other ingredients.

Next up, Foie gras, passionfruit, chinese celery. Here, they cleverly stuffed the foie gras with a passionfruit sauce, helping to cut through the richness of the dish.

Here’s another shot after opening the foie gras.

Another strange dish was the scrambled egg ravioli, charred avocado, kindai kampachi. On the side were tiny bits of crispy potato, all looking cut to the same perfection and toasted to a crisp shell. The scrambled egg “ravioli” looked like it’d been shaped in a mold. It wasn’t stuffed with anything though.

When asked about the next dish by our waiter, I told him the truth, that I wasn’t a big fan of the cold fried chicken, buttermilk-ricotta, tobasco honey sauce, and caviar. I really liked certain elements to the dish such as the tobasco honey sauce which I could have eaten all day. It had a kick to it like normal tobasco wouldn’t. The chicken, whilst tasting delicious, didn’t have the crispness you’d hope for a fried chicken. I think the small bits of crispy chicken skin were supposed to make up for it. I guess that’s the thing about experimental food – some things work, others don’t.

This dish was a bit harder to see, bay scallops, bone marrow, parsnip and black sesame. I’m a huge fan of black sesame. In fact, you could almost call me addicted. Here the black sesame formed a paste/sauce on the bottom with the scallops and parsnips on top and the gooey bone marrow grated on top before the whole bowl was heated under a grill. The result was a rich and soft dish with deep meaty flavours.

I think we both agreed our next dish turned out as one of the best, the beef and bernaise. Inverting the textures you’d expect, here we have a deep flavoured beef consomme, surrounding three bernaise dumplings. I savoured each moment slicing a small part of the dumpling that almost oozed as a rich bernaise sauce would as you cut through it. Mmmm.

I’m guessing our next dish was a take on the seasonal offerings, squab breast, cheese pumpkin, corn bread and pickled cranberries. We didn’t have the sharpest knife to cut into the squab. It really needed it too being surprisingly chewy and had to slice.

Desserts next! First up, White beer ice cream, quince, caramel and caraway. Here, the flavours of the beer really came through though well tempered with both sharp and sweet flavours from the quince and caramel.

Curds win me over all the time, so this next dessert turned out my favourite. Here we ate grapefruit curd, campari, hibiscus and sorrel The grapefruit curd is the solid, almost jelly like substance in the middle. Sorrel came in the form of a delicious ice cream with the sheets of hibiscus those rice-paper thin sheets. A mixture of hazelnuts and other crunchy stuff provided the addition of texture.

Almost done, I think the cocoa nibs won my sister over with soft chocolate, beets, long pepper and ricotta ice cream.

Finally as we had our coffee and tea, they finished up with cocoa packets and a milk ice cream coated in chocolate shortbread. The latter tasted like a small ball of cookie and cream, which I guess it is whilst the cocoa packets contained a powder-like crunchy substance that reminded me of milo.

Looking back at the meal, I think we did the best thing by going for the tasting menu. We sampled lots of different combinations and although I think some of the ingredients appealed to me more on the a la carte menu, it’s hard to really guess how a place like WD-50 delivers them. Next time, I would go back to the a la carte and then try the dessert tasting menu.

Name: WD-50
Found at:50 Clinton Street, New York, NY 10002
Website: http://www.wd-50.com/

Peking Palace

Patrick Asian, Restaurants, UK, Vegetarian

Tucked away on a busy street in Holloway Road, we ventured out into the extreme cold to dine at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant called Peking Palace (apparently now taking on the less appealing name, “Loving Hut”). Strange? You betcha. Good? Indeed. Our relatives in New York once took us to a similar place, apparently Buddhist run to typical Chinese dishes with mock meat. Here was us testing this small restaurant.

Things looked pretty good with this first platter of appetisers. Boy were we hungry. The ribs probably felt the least close though tasted strangely the same as one would expect. The “prawn” toast also felt a little bit gummy, as I suspected some sort of turnip paste instead.

We next went for the “duck” and isn’t it strange to see how close it looked like to the original. It even had whatever was the equivalent of the crispy skin and meaty flesh minus all the typical oil of the real duck. Served with spring onions, hoisin sauce and pancakes it really didn’t seem to be any different from the original.

Next up, “crispy beef”. We wouldn’t normally order this when dining at a Chinese restaurant yet wanted to see how it compared. Very close to the original as well. The “beef” was very thin yet the taste persisted even with its crispy coating.

Probably the weakest dish that we had, the meatballs seemed a little bit doughy if not slightly chewy and one jumped off the table as I tried to put my fork in it. We were also a little disappointed the sauce seemed to close to the our next dish.

The aubergine. No need for mock meat here.

We decided to have fried rice with “king prawns” and the wobbly equivalents sat on top of the rice when they first delivered it. Reasonable tasting fried rice.

Apparently the carrot cake was pretty good.

My toffee banana was devine, and despite asking if they had non-vegan ice cream it turned out surprising well. I think it might have been a soya-based equivalent instead of a rice milk that makes ice cream too gritty for my liking.

I really enjoyed myself at this restaurant and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a healthier Chinese meal equivalent. Everything tasted very light and surprisingly packed full of flavour. I think their other name was probably better and I’m surprised they changed the name after only a few weeks when we ate there.

Name: Peking Palace (now Loving Hut)
Found at: 669 Holloway Rd, London, United Kingdom N19 5SE
Website: http://www.thepekingpalace.com/

Caravan London

Patrick Brunch, Coffee, Restaurants, UK, Where's the good coffee?

Breakfast time is not something that the British do well. The standard, and most familiar, is the full English from your little cafe, to help ease the ringing from the night before. Fortunately many antipodeans are stepping into London to fill a void, with one of the latest yet another protege graduating from Peter Gordon’s well respected The Providores.

Run by some coffee-loving Kiwis, my respect for them extends beyond the normal appreciation of a decent flat white (pictured above) because they roast all of their own beans on the premises. Awesome!

I came along here whilst working on some writing for work because I got to work from home before flying out for the Christmas break. They open at 8am so out I went from home to brave the cold thinking a coffee and a decent breakfast would help kickstart the brain. My laptop came with me and it wasn’t as crazy busy as the queues that form on the weekend so they didn’t really have any problems with that all.

Above is the Corn bread french toast, bacon, rocket and avocado (£9) that proved a delightful breakfast. Slightly crispy egg covering combined with the salty bacon, soft richness of the avocado and the only thing that felt healthy on the plate, the rocket. I definitely couldn’t have this everyday but is worth going out for something different.

Service throughout was perfect. Dishes whipped away not immediately after I put my last fork down but without letting the plate linger. A constant check to make sure the caffeine quotient didn’t fall too low and a very prompt card machine when I signalled for the bill and left my card. It’s the sort of service I’m happy paying for the 12.5% they put on bringing the total up to £19.46 for two coffees, an orange juice, French toast. Not the cheapest of places.

Remember that places that do breakfast well are hard to find in London so are sometimes well worth paying for. This one wins another bonus point for offering take away coffees as well.

Name: Caravan Restaurant
Found at: No. 11-13 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QD, United Kingdom.
Website: http://www.caravanonexmouth.co.uk/

Melur

Patrick Asian, Malaysian, Restaurants, UK

It was a dark and stormy night… on Edgware Road. Roaring traffic and rain made it hard to make out the tiny passageway leading down to the the basement dwelling Malaysia restaurant known as Melur.

We sat down, in a rather dimly lit root. Cavernous on first look, it starts to fill with other diners as we peruse the menu. A popular haunt it seems, and it seems like they had some regulars. The menu offers an extensive range and was almost overwhelming on what to order. Fortunately their dishes are exceptionally priced and all very reasonable. I can’t remember seeing (m)any dishes over £10. Bargain!

Here’s the fried squid pictured below. Light, crispy and a really huge serve for an appetiser.

I’d convinced my dining companion to try roti canai since I hadn’t eaten this since my visit to Singapore many years ago. A light slightly spiced sauce quickly mopped up by a freshly cooked roti. Mmmm.

We tried this rather unappetising looking grilled chicken with curry sauce that tastes completely different from how it looks. Complex flavours and a real spice kick to it all. I could eat all this sauce with my rice alone; which I did when I finished the last piece of chicken.

Our vegetables of the evening aubergine though nothing to ring home about.

Here’s the rice ball and coconut dessert.

I indulged in the toffee banana with ice cream. A great way to push me from being full to way stuffed.

As far as Malaysian food goes, Melur delivers. It’s atmosphere isn’t the poshest place but then when the food is going at the price they’re charging that really doesn’t bother me. Flavours trumps that for me. I think I’d really enjoy bringing a much larger group so that we can try many more dishes from their menu.

Name: Melur
Found at: 175a Edgware Road, Paddington, London, W2 1ET (don’t believe the google map location – it’s located on the North West corner near a traffic intersection)
Website: http://www.melurlondon.co.uk/

Hawksmoor Covent Garden

Patrick British, Restaurants, Steak, UK

Any good foodie will know about Hawksmoor. Apparently it and Goodman’s are the biggest contenders for great steak restaurants in London. Don’t get go near any of those Aberdeen Angus Steakhouses, and don’t get me started on the terrible value of the Gaucho chain.

The good Italian family and I (in the role of honorary family member) arranged for a Christmas gathering at the second and newest location of Hawksmoor in Covent Garden. As much as they call themselves on the seven dials, it really doesn’t qualify. I looked forward to the evening since I’d heard so much about it and I’ve always enjoyed my steaks when dining at their Commercial Street location even despite the infamy of their Kim Chi Burger.

With a booking a 9pm, we decided to meet a little bit earlier. Unbeknownst to many people this location actually has a reasonably sized bar where you can even book a table to dine on. The bar was certainly busy when I sat down just after 7pm. Every table seemed busy though cleared down as the night went on. Their cocktail list seemed pretty exhaustive with plenty of inventive drinks and many pages to flip through.

Sitting in the bar area, everything is table service though unfortunately it took me about twenty minutes before I managed to order my first drink. A shame considering I sat in front of the maitre de with numerous waiters zooming between the bar and the dining room (pictured above in a poor iPhone-quality photo). On the plus side, I tweeted about it to the @HawksmoorLondon twitter who pleasingly responded (more on that later).

Our time for dinner finally arrived and quite famished from the waiting happily ordered after perusing the menu. Toni got the 6 Cumbrae Oysters (£10) (pictured above) whilst both Luca and I choose the ribs (pictured below). I’m happy to report the soft succulent flesh of the pig remained juicy and tender with plenty of flavour from the sauce covered around it. Don’t expect an American-style BBQ ribs – on the menu, they’re called Tamworth Belly Ribs (£9) so they are a bit more fatty than expected. It’s all worth it for the flavour though. Though happy with that dish, if I returned I’d try the Grilled Lamb Chops with Mint & Caper Salad £10) since I read many reviews.

Three of us decided to share one of the 900gram porterhouse steaks since we wanted something more juicy, although Marco decided to go solo on his 300g fillet (£30). Ordering it for medium-rare, we expected pink, juicy slices served on the tiny skillets. Unfortunately what arrived was a much more medium to well done steak. We noticed it only after grabbing a small slice and went to tell our waiter about the terrible fate this Ginger Pig-sourced piece found. We flagged the maitre de with our waiter nowhere to be seen, and with a single look, agreed with our observation before immediately sending back for another one. The second time around, we got a much better looking piece of meat, although they kindly let us keep the previous one. I forgot to take any pictures of this in action.

Fortunately all of the sides lived up to my expectations including this deliciously soft and creamy Mac and Cheese (£4) that arrives in its own little cast iron pot.

The beef dripping chips (£4), though really, really bad for you tasted amazing. Nice, crisp and full of flavour.

A couple of us also went for dessert. Here’s my decadent cornflake mini-sundae (£4) that worked to finish me off for the evening.

We finished off the evening with a round of whiskey (mmm, smoky Laphroaig £10.50) and an espresso (£3). The maitre de delivered the drinks and told us he would get them on the house apologising for the meal stuff up and the twenty minute wait earlier in the evening. Well done on Will from Hawksmoor for sending someone across.

Unfortunately the third strike arrived when we hit our bill and I scanned it to make sure it looked correct and found two desserts added that we never really had. Even though it didn’t have a huge impact to our bill because of the amount of food and drink we had, I found it particularly annoying to notice these two items slip in. Pointing it out to our waiter, he apologised acknowledging those dishes were for the table next to us.

I really wanted to love my Hawksmoor experience. I wanted great food, great service (which the 12.5% really did not warrant that night) with great ambiance yet they faltered a few too many times. Customer service did well to make up for a number of misgivings yet it concerns me that restaurants of such fame have these fundamental problems. Oh, and did I mention it’s not on the Seven Dials as much as they claim all over their website, it’s down Langely Street near the famous Pineapple Dance Studios.

Name: Hawksmoor Covent Garden
Found at: 11 Langley St, London, WC2H 9JG
Website: http://www.thehawksmoor.co.uk/sd.php