Burger & Barrel and Venieros Pastry

Manhattan is really a miserable place to live, so when I really hate it, I go to a really chic restaurant so I feel like I'm living in a romantic comedy.

At Burger & Barrel, I got beef tartare, which is raw ground beef mixed with various condiments. This was really good; the seasoning was very simple and didn't overwhelm the meat. The beef itself was very rich, so the escarole, capers, and pickled radish balanced it very well.

Is it weird to get so excited about toasted bread? I feel like most restaurants can't get toasted bread right; it's usually too thin and flimsy, or not charred enough. However, the toasted bread that came with this was so perfect. It's the perfect dense texture, charred, and buttered.

I also got duck lasagna. The edges of the noodles were really crispy, which was pretty interesting. Although the duck was very tender, the dish was just very bland. Although there's tomato sauce underneath, the lasagna itself is filled with very basic bechamel sauce (basically white cream sauce), which really masks the flavor of the duck. The only time I actually tasted the duck was when I burped 20 minutes later.

I'm really starting to wonder if I can get good truffle fries anywhere in New York. I've had some pretty incredible truffle fries (like at Umami Burger), but this one was just plain fries with three drops of truffle oil sprinkled on top. Once you eat through the top layer, the truffle essence is gone.

I was getting pretty sad towards the middle of the meal (yes, food can make me sad) so I decided not to stay for dessert. Instead, I went to my favorite pastry shop, Venieros in East Village.

Venieros has the most fantastic pastries and cakes. I got tiramisu cake, which is a big wedge of chocolate cream with small chunks of cake in it. It's just a delicious, fatty dessert that's not too heavy and always makes me happy.

The best part of being 21 is being able to drink alcohol mixed with coffee in a public place. I ordered Bailey's Irish Cream coffee, which is exactly what it sounds like. Bailey's itself tastes like chocolate milk, so this just tastes like an alcoholic mocha, which is never a bad thing.

Burger & Barrel
25 W Houston St
http://www.burgerandbarrel.com/

Venieros Pasticceria
342 E 11th St
http://www.venierospastry.com/

The Smith

My food friend and I love this restaurant, so we'll come here together once every month or so--so I have pictures and a review of my latest meal here. But it just so happened that one morning a few days later, I woke up very, very early and desperately needed breakfast that was not instant oatmeal. Hence, I have pictures and reviews for both breakfast and dinner for The Smith.

Let's start with breakfast. Apparently they give you a complimentary cheese scone, which was so good. It's flaky, moist, and not overly cheesy (which is nice first thing in the morning). Absolutely worth the calories.

I got the smoked salmon eggs Benedict, hot chocolate, and chicken sausage. The hot chocolate was pretty mediocre. It's a little too watery and thin for my liking, and that goes for the flavor and the foam on top as well. Plus, it was like $5, so I would rather have just made some instant hot chocolate instead for 50 cents.

I really don't think the smoked salmon eggs Benedict was anything special; although all the components were well-cooked, it wasn't particularly appetizing or good. I also found the smoked salmon to be way too salty, which in turn made the whole dish seem way too heavy for first thing in the morning.

For a side, I got the chicken sausage, which are in a medallion shape. These were my favorite part of breakfast; so juicy, and slightly sweet. My only complaint is that, for a side dish, the portion size was really big; each medallion was the size of my palm, and quite thick, and then you're getting three of them. I feel like, in this case, a "side dish" is a main course without garnish.

Now let's talk about dinner. I've been consistently impressed with The Smith's entrees. They used to have spaghetti and meatballs, which was the best thing on the menu; I'm not sure why they took it off the menu, but I'm just praying it'll come back. The Smith changes up their menu pretty often--about once a season--but there are basic items that will stay, and just the garnishes will change, like salmon and chicken. For this dinner, I got the pork chop (also a staple), with tomato chutney (aka. fancy tomato sauce), and a warm salad of grilled cauliflower, red onion, and mushroom. The pork itself was delicious; incredibly moist and tender, and it had so much flavor. I loved the garnish as well; the tomato chutney was so smooth and tart, and the vegetables were nicely cooked.

The Smith had just recently (quite dramatically) changed up their dessert menu--they used to just have sundaes--and I was so excited to try the sticky toffee pudding. However, I was just really disappointed at both the flavor and texture. It's so intensely sweet--they add dates in the pudding to enhance the toffee flavor, but it's just way too much. You can see in the picture (towards the right) that there's a small pool of toffee sauce as well, which was so heavy, sweet, and syrupy. It's baked in a small skillet, and the edges are quite nice and crisp, but the center was incredibly mushy and too moist--soggy, even. So you just end up getting warm, mushy, sugary batter in a skillet. I just don't get it; the entrees at The Smith are so nicely balanced, what happened to its desserts?

The Smith is a great restaurant, but certain items can be a bit hit-or-miss. Come here for dinner; they have some great entrees. In addition to the pork chop, I also recommend the chicken pot pie, salmon, and the potato waffle and chicken special on Wednesdays. The Smith also happens to be Jane's "sister restaurant," and you'll notice that the style of food and prices are pretty similar. However, I prefer The Smith just because there's a lot more variety on the menu.

The Smith
http://www.thesmithnyc.com/
Various locations

Bodhi Tree

I always walk past Bodhi Tree and they always have a sign outside advertising some kind of fantastic deal, on lunch and noodles at dinner. I had to find out if it was really a bargain.

For around $8, you get a noodle/rice dish and two appetizers--the price will vary depending what protein you choose. My main dish was chicken pad thai. It definitely has a lot more flavor than most pad thais I've had in New York, but it's pretty heavy--it's so sweet and sticky, so it may not be suited for everyone's tastes. However, it's still good, and the chicken is quite moist, so it might be worth trying if you're feeling adventurous and want something a little heavier than the bland, Americanized Thai food that is so common.

My two appetizers were the crab cakes and tofu tom yum. The crab cakes weren't very good, I'm afraid. They don't have very much flavor; I'm not sure I would've known it was supposed to be crab if it wasn't called crab cakes. They're fried with some kind of batter too, and there is much more fried batter than filling. However, I liked the tom yum a lot. The tofu was nice and soft, and the vegetables were well-cooked but still had some bite. The broth itself was very flavorful, and the sourness really boosts your appetite.

Last week I posted about another Thai place, Spice. I would say the noodles at Bodhi Tree and Spice are pretty much the same "level;" they're well-cooked and flavorful. The tom yum at Bodhi Tree was better, but just ever so slightly. The fried appetizers at both Bodhi Tree and Spice were misses for me, and were really not worth getting. Although the food is pretty similar in these two restaurants, I would definitely choose Bodhi Tree, for the much more reasonable prices, as well as the decor; Bodhi Tree feels much more cozy and not as gimmicky-trendy as Spice is.

Bodhi Tree
58 3rd Ave. (between 10th and 11th St.s)

Cha-An Japanese Tea House

Cha-An is an occasional indulgence for me for afternoon tea. I would usually only get one item each trip, but for blogging's sake, I got two.

My first dessert was the scones. Each plate comes with one earl grey-flavored scone, one chocolate scone, sake-chantilly cream, and blueberry compote. The scones are very different from what you would expect from a regular, English scone. They're not flaky or buttery, but rather moist and crumbly, kind of like a dense cake. I prefer the earl grey scone; the chocolate is just a bit too sweet, while the earl grey is aromatic and has a mild, slightly woody flavor. The sake-chantilly cream is amazing--really light and airy, and just sweet enough to add flavor to the scones. The blueberry compote, on the other hand, is just fine. It has a nice, smooth texture and a warm, sweet flavor, but it's nothing special.

My second "dessert" was the smoked salmon toast. It's a thick toast with smoked salmon and watercress, and the sauce is mayo, mustard seeds, and lemon. It's one of the more expensive items on the menu--$12--but well worth it. The smoked salmon was perfectly fatty, and the bread was fluffy and moist and had an incredible buttery flavor. The dish was also nicely balanced--the sauce added an acidic kick, and the watercress added lightness and crunch.

Overall, Cha-An is not the most necessary place to go eat (you don't have to have dessert or afternoon tea) but it's well worth a trip and the price.

Cha-An Japanese Tea House
230 E 9th St, between 2nd and 3rd Ave.
http://www.chaanteahouse.com/

Peels

I've had my eye on this place for months; every weekend, I see hoards of people lining up outside for brunch. I knew I had to try it when, a few weeks ago, the same number of people were waiting outside when there was supposed to be a blizzard that day.

Whenever I eat brunch with my boyfriend, I always get biscuits with gravy, because it is delicious. But then by the third bite I always make him promise to never let me get it again, because it's so heavy and rich that I will never finish it. The version at Peels, however, is much, much lighter--biscuits with sausage gravy for skinny girls, if you will. The biscuits weren't too special; not buttery or flaky, just kind of beginner's biscuits. The gravy wasn't as thick or flavorful as I would've liked, but it was light enough that I could finish the whole plate (but judging from the gummy, sticky texture, the thickness comes from cornstarch, rather than from fat). The dish also comes with poached eggs, which were perfectly done--firm whites and runny yolks. However, the egg whites were a bit sour; you can put a capful of vinegar in your poaching water to help the egg white set, but any more and you can taste it.

For dessert, I got the chocolate hazelnut pudding. The pudding itself was smooth and creamy, and not too sweet. The hazelnuts were so nicely toasted that it left a nice roasty aftertaste. However, you will almost definitely feel gross and greasy and fat after you've eaten half of it--after all, a good two-thirds of it is whipped cream. There are not nearly enough hazelnuts to balance the creaminess of the large amounts of fat. My suggestion is, take off the whipped cream on top, and add another tablespoon of hazelnuts.

I'm not sure if Peels is worth the brunch hype or an hour-long wait, but it is the place you imagine yourself in when you think of lunch in East Village. It's the perfect place to go for a lazy-afternoon lunch.

Peels
http://peelsnyc.com/
325 Bowery, at 2nd St.

Luke's Lobster

My friend and I have been talking about eating here for over a semester, and we finally came on a less-cold day.

We each got a lobster roll and I got a clam chowder as well. It's a standard, simple lobster roll; really fresh lobster with butter, mayo, salt, and pepper. But even better than the lobster, I think, is the bread. It's so nice, buttery and toasted. I just wish that they would toast both sides, though (they only toast the outside), because if you don't eat it fast enough the inside can get a bit soggy.

The clam chowder was pretty nice--not the best one I've ever had, but it's good (my trip to Boston last year really ruined a lot of seafood for me). It's not too overly thick or salty, and the clams don't have that "fishy" taste. I did bite into a few grains of sand, though.

I don't know about the other stores, but the one in East Village is really, really tiny. It has nine seats, but because some seats are awkwardly cramped into corners, it can only really seat five or six people. It's a great place for two or three friends to come during the week (on weekends, people really cram in there and will eat standing).

Luke's Lobster
http://lukeslobster.com/
Various locations

Momofuku Milk Bar

Milk Bar is right across the street from Momofuku Ssam Bar, which is why Ssam Bar doesn't offer dessert!

Momofuku Milk Bar is most famous for the compost cookie and the crack pie, both of which I got.

The crack pie, I think, is the most oversimplified item on the menu. The filling is butter, sugar, cream, and egg yolk, which is quite off-putting for some people but is also the point of the item: it is a blend of everything that is good about dessert. But to balance the buttery sweetness of the filling is the crust, which is salty and made with oats (which also adds some texture to an otherwise smooth, creamy pie). It's sticky, light, and the pie equivalent of a sugar cookie.

The compost cookie is just a mix of everything: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, potato chips, coffee grounds, graham crumbs, and pretzels. People will usually make faces when they hear the potato chips and coffee grounds part, but all the flavors meld together to make a really balanced cookie. All the add-ins are fine enough that you don't get one very large chunk of anything. The texture is perfect; the edges are quite crisp and chewy, and the center is malleable and soft.

I feel like many of the other items on the menu are overlooked. My favorite underdog is the blueberry and cream cookie, which is pretty much a soft plain cookie with blueberries.

Overall, I really like Momofuku Milk Bar. Although the items and combinations are unusual, each dessert is really balanced and mild--I hate when a dessert is overly sweet. I will definitely come back when it's warmer to try the ice cream and milkshake!

Momofuku Milk Bar
http://milkbarstore.com/
Hours vary by location