Vieques: Media Luna

The "concierge," a lady with crazy braids or dreads, maybe both, I cannot remember, called on our behalf, and go us a table in one of the terrace nooks. We ordered some kind of a cod dish, and some kind of a pizza dish. The cod had a noodle and the pizza had a sausage. The food wasn't nearly as important as the setting.

It was actually relaxing. It was actually romantic.

Vieques: Trade Winds

The food was pretty good. It was like eating at someone's house. I think there was a pork chop and a fish. Maybe a salad.
You can't be picky in Vieques.

Vieques: Bananas

This is hands down the worst meal I have ever had in my entire life. The grouper sandwich would have bounced if I tossed it on the floor. Kai ordered a burger medium, but it came back a hockey puck. The fries were cold. It was abysmal.

Stranded in San Juan

The San Juan International Airport seems to shut down at 6PM. We got stranded at the airport, wondering why we didnt eat a quesadilla when we had the chance.

The local beer, Medalla, tastes like a poor man's Coors Lite.

We finally had dinner at The Bravo Beach Hotel. The fried calamari was above average. The skirt steak was tasty. The local lobster salad, so so. Why do we have to pay for bread? Or olives?

The mosquitoes had me for dinner.

Village Yokocho

Village Yokocho
8 Stuyvesant St (Cross Street: Third Avenue)

Can we talk about how disgusting the food here is?

We don't need to. Ive been coming here for 12 years, ever since NYU, when I lived across the street. Back then, coming to Yokocho was a treat, a night out with friends, maybe before Decibel. If I was eating alone, of course, I'd just go to Sunrise Mart next for and get something frozen and microwaveable.

The irony is, all the food at Yokocho is frozen too. I can taste the freezer burn. The pork dumplings, doused with wasabi flavor, is definitely frozen. The yakitori was not spectacular. The chicken wings weren't bad, but really, how can you screw up chicken wings on skewers?

Everything else - chinese broccoli stir-fried in oyster sauce, chicken meatballs, octopus salad, rice balls - too sweet.

Again, I don't go to Yokocho for food, I go for the company. I wish I lived nearby, so that I could have convinced my friends to get frozen food to nuke and enjoy at my place.

Honmura An

Honmura An
Mercer Street
SOHO

I was deeply disappointed by this experience. The service was wonderful. The Seaweed Salad was wonderful, with a kicky mustard dressing. Sansai Ni was a bit strange, a bit too soft and a bit too sweet.

Then there is the soba. The soba was mangled up into bits. It was like the bottom of the bowl at the beginning of the bowl.

Was it great in the 90's and just sucking now? I've got to go back and see if it was an off night, or if it's a has-been. Or do I out Reichl on a pedestal?

Kampuchea

Kampuchea
Allen/Rivington

What the hell do I know about Cambodian food? Nothing. So maybe I'm completely stupid, or my taste buds have expired, or I don't know anything about food. In general, the flavors were muddled, the hot not hot enough, the cold not cold enough, the sweet not sweet enough, but things were plenty salty. Its somewhere in between really great street food and mediocre street food in SE Asia.

Chicken wings were fatty. The pickles and daikon were too sweet. They should have had an acid tinge to offset the fatty wings.

The green papaya salad had chive or green onion shoots, I think. Not sweet or clean enough. This is something I added at the last minute, in desperation for a vegetable. Bad choice.

The pork crepes not special. Reminded me of banh mi meat. Wrapping in lettuce leaf did nothing for me. Made no sense to wrap something that was already wrapped.

The filet bowl of whatever was tasty, but the broth didnt move me. The meat, however, was tender and perfectly cooked.

The oxtail stew - again, the meat was excellent. The carrots were not overcooked, and the okra was not gummy. The broth tasted strangely of Swanson's beef broth.

I'm determined to try some lighter dishes.

The Hideaway

The Hideaway
Tribeca

Where did this little place come from? It's a cute little place, jazz, b&w photos on the wall, a crying baby. Parents must feel good about bringing their kids to this place, because it feels safe, and well, cozy.

I had an amazing red oak lettuce salad, with candied pecans, and blue cheese, wonderful dressing. I saw a plate of calamari go by, which was soon devoured by a couple in 4 bites, so I ordered some too. It was all gooey - crispy meets calamari goo, and the breading tastes much like the calamari - but great bar food, at $7 a plate. Don't remember the sauce, I think it was a chili oil thing, but not memorable.

brgr

brgr
26th Street and 7th Avenue

First there was STK, and now there is brgr. What's next, a frnch frts?
I'd like to buy a vowel, please. And a better burger.

I had a mediocre turkey burger, badly shredded lettuce, a pretty tasty bread and butter pickle on a squishy sesame bun. It might have been better if we went earlier than 1/2 hour before quittin' time.

The furniture, the high ceilings, the idea is wonderful. Next time I must go for the beef.

Bar Americain

Bar Americain
52nd Street between 6th and 7th

There's nothing like hot potato crisps. Americans call them chips. I call Bobby Flay's version delicious. His chips (Americans call them fries) were tasty and crisp, but nothing beats the crisps.

The sweet potato gratin was, to be sure, sweet. The creamed kale was interesting, the fatty cream offsetting the bitterness of the kale.

I had an excellent asparagus salad, with gorgeous pencil thin asparagus.

Washed it down with a taste of a Schramsberg rose, a glass of cava rosat. and followed by some kind of non-cloying dessert wine. Not bad.

La Lunetta

Smith Street
Boerum Hill

I miss Taku.

This restaurant would have been perfect if they'd just had a ramen with Berkshire pork on the menu.

My calamari was tasty, but too bready. Genius to thow on top of pomodoro. But I like my calamari crisp. The panzanella salad was a good time - lots of textures and contrasts in flavor. The bolognese should please meat lovers - you'll find chunks of it surrounded my miles of bucatini.

I don't think I've ever actually ordered a plate of linguine with clams - I've been stealing bites from people's plate for years. But the linguine with clams that I got in my bowl was not the same stuff that I'd been twirling on my fork from other people's plates. This was an eggy linguine, in a salty and garlicky clam broth, with glimmering, beautifully cooked clams and bites of escarole. Delicious, but no hot oil, no heat from red pepper.

I'm debating whether I need to go back. Like Taku, this food is too intelligent. Taku was no ordinary Japanese restaurant - it was high-end ramen, complex chicken wings. Neither ramen nor wings are supposed to be complicated like this. This Italian food is a meticulously prepared thinking Man's food, which, I'm not sure I want or need.

All I wanted was a carbo-load on the first cold wintery day, and I got thoughful Italian food.

Gordon Ramsay @ LondonNYC

151 W 54th Street
New York, NY

I'd just had the most amazing breakfast in Tokyo at the Cerise/Gordon Ramsay there, so I figured I'd have a pretty good breakfast here in NY.

Wrong.

I made a reservation Friday afternoon for a breakfast on Saturday morning. No hassle, no attitude, so far so good.

I walked into the lobby and headed into the dining room - empty except me and my breakfast mate. The buffet was closing at 10:30, precisely for when we'd made reservations for breakfast.

When were they going to tell me?

The usual continental breakfast - granola, fruit, cereals, pastries. Some charcuterie, some cheese, some smoked salmon.

At $30, it was a complete rip-off, not to mention that I felt unhappy about the fact that I couldn't get up for my 14th plate if I wanted to, since they were hauling it away before my eyes. Maybe I wasn't hungry, maybe I didn't like serrano ham for breakfast, but on principle, buffets are all about access, abundance, and indulgence.

Sad.