catching up on june eatings

Fort Lee, NJ: Somyun in homemade dashi, with zucchini and a semi-poached semi-scrambled egg. You add spoonfuls of a sauce of soy, sesame and chilies to taste. I can be heavy handed with this condiment.

Palisades Park, NJ: Pile of veggies and fishcakes ready to get Shabu Shabu'ed at Pho 32.

Hot tub time for a piece of napa cabbage, a clump of enoki mushrooms and a fishball.

Thinly sliced beef ready for dunking.

Park Slope, Brooklyn: The house omelet at Moim is filled with kimchi, steak, onions and mozzarella cheese and partially bathed in a sort of demi-glace sauce you'd find in a yoshoku style restaurant. The home fries were perfect - super crisp on the outside without a trace of wetness, soft and warm on the inside. And most importantly, they were well-seasoned.

Inside view of the omelet. I'd definitely get this again, but would probably ask for it without the cheese.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn: The fruits of a quick trip to the Brooklyn Flea. Even with the chili pepper on the label, these are a lot spicier than you'd think.

Cobble Hill, Brooklyn: A pre-bocce dinner at Hibino started off so positively, with this duo of obanzai. The chicken meatballs were moist and had a pleasing char. The eel croquettes were like arancini with a decidedly Japanese twist (panko breading, tonkatsu-style sauce drizzled over). Unfortunately, our main dishes took nearly an hour to arrive and one of our orders didn't even make it from notepad to kitchen. We had to rush and were late to the start of the game And we wound up losing.

Edgewater, NJ: Gyoza and congee combo from China Table Tokyo Hanten at Mitsuwa. I almost always opt for ramen here but was in the mood to expand my horizons. This was yummy, but not as satisfying as a bowl of noodles. I did really like the mug of consommé.

Fort Greene, Brooklyn: Pupusas (whoops, I've been spelling these with two As) from a Red Hook ball field vendor at today's Brooklyn Flea! Brought home a bean and cheese and zucchini and cheese a little before it started pouring. Only $4.50!

The bean and cheese pupusa was dry and seemed like it may have been sitting on the griddle for some time, but the zucchini was wonderful. Maybe the water content of the zucchinis helped to keep it moist? By the time I got home, some of the sour cream had melted and mixed in with the salsa to create a delicious cream sauce. Pickles make everything better, and in this case, it was pickled cabbage.

Two Things I Won't Miss When We Move

I've enjoyed every meal I've had at Bogota Latin Bistro. The food is always solid and the service has always been quite friendly. So it pains me to have to call them out on this, but I think it's worth mentioning. The other day DMR and I met at Bogota for dinner. He went with the plantain crusted chicken, I the ropa vieja and we split the entrees half and half. Both were great, especially the chicken which I had never tried before and would definitely consider ordering again. I ordered a Michelada to drink and Dan decided to have one as well. The Michelada at Bogota is made with Negra Modelo beer, lime, hot sauce and served over ice in a glass with a chili-rubbed rim. I think beer cocktails are delicious. They charge $7 for the drink, two dollars more than ordering a regular Negra Modelo, which I imagine comes in a bottle. Imagine my chagrin then when the drink is served in a smallish high ball glass that's packed with ice and the remaining beer is nowhere to be found. It's enough of a price gouge to charge $2 more for ice, a few shakes of hot sauce and a lime wedge. Actually I take that back since many places serve Negra Modelo with lime. To then serve it in a small glass that probably held at most 6 oz of liquid between all that ice and not give you what's left of your beer is completely lame. If our table had only ordered one, would I have gotten the beer that couldn't fit in the glass? It always made me angry when you'd order a shake or ice cream soda and the store would throw away the part that didn't fit into the glass. Which is why a place like Tom's in Prospect Heights, where they bring the metal mixing cup out with your lime rickey or milk shake, is so great. I mean, did the bartender see this as an opportunity to squeeze an extra drink out of one bottle of beer? Does the restaurant feel good about this frugality? I was so shocked I didn't even know what to say. Next time I'll order a bottle and ask for a glass with ice and lime. I'll use the hot sauce that's provided for free liberal dousing to make my own Michelada.

In other Park Slope bullshit, I'm completely done with Palo Santo. I guess they are no longer serving food during the day since Dan and I tried to meet there for lunch again this past week and they were not open. Yesterday we tried to eat brunch there. A two-top that's floating in the room, practically in the way of the front door is where they wanted to seat us. I didn't understand why this table was placed where it was. I asked if there were seats available in the back room. There were not. There were two four-tops available in the front area as well but we were not offered those tables. Understandable, but it was also on the late side for brunch. We were offered a sorry, so we left. Perhaps I overreacted by not wanting to sit at the reject table but all those times the restaurant has not been open during promised open hours has really soured me. All these attempts to eat brunch here and that's the only seating they can offer? Oh well, we're moving in a few weeks anyway.

Palo Santo, Finally

Palo Santo is easy to miss and that's just what I must have done for the first few weeks it was open. It's tucked away on the ground floor of a brownstone on Union Street so if you're not looking for the restaurant, you'll walk right past it. DMR and I tried to eat here with Mr. Glen and Jane on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, only to be faced with a closed gate. Closed for Thanksgiving weekend. A few weeks later, we walked over to Union and 5th before I decided I didn't want Latin for the second night in a row. And most recently, the restaurant was inexplicably closed on a weekday, erroneously leading me to believe the restaurant had shut down for good. Finally, right before the new year, we were able to try Palo Santo with the fresh from Mexico and newly engaged Skippy and Cortney.

The first thing I noticed after being seated: no noshes, no nibbles, no nothing. It was close to 9PM. I was pretty damn hungry and would have loved a little something.


Our appetizers. Since I was famished, I was too busy eating to remember to take a photo. Remnants of an incredibly tender pork belly on the left. I found the chicory salad topped with a poached egg on the right a little on the bland side.


Skippy shows off his asopado, which was chock full of mussels, lobster and other tasty sea creatures. The soupy rice was buttery and addictive and possibly the best thing I tried all night. In the foreground is a baked platano maduro that DMR ordered, which was presented whole and in the peel.


DMR's steak was fatty and gristly, the least impressive dish of the night.


My whole grilled trout sat atop a bed of thinly sliced radishes. A few wedges of purple potato accompanied. The fish came deboned and the flesh was quite tender, both which I greatly appreciated, but it could have used a little more seasoning (meaning salt).


Cortney got the rabbit in a mole sauce. It was a mammoth serving.


For dessert, we had only one option and that's what we ordered. It was a panna cotta, quivering atop a barely sweet, thin grapefruit sauce, actually more like a glaze or simple syrup and topped with supremes from the fruit. I thought the combination of citrus and cream was rather interesting. It was a fresh and light way to end the meal.

The restaurant is beautiful with a lot of rustic but warm touches. We were the only diners in the front room and greeted with a blast of cold air each time the door opened. Aside from the handful of tables in the front, there's also a bar you can sit at and order the $45 chef's tasting menu. Unfortunately, it's not publicized and I only learned of it post-meal. I guess it's one of those things you just have to know going in or stumble upon. I think our group would have been into that. There is also a back room to Palo Santo. It's where we had asked to be seated, but the hostess couldn't accomodate us. I'm not sure how many diners they can fit back there, but only two or three other parties passed by us to leave the restaurant.

Palso Santo also serves breakfast and brunch, which I've heard raves about and are very reasonably priced. It's at these meals where you can imagine yourself being a regular. Dinner may be a little tougher to do that at. Expect to shell out some clams.