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.

Skippy and Cortney Get Married and We Get Stuffed!

This year we had four weddings and three were conveniently located in Park Slope. The 2007 circuit came to a conclusion with the union of Skippy and Cortney at the aptly named Union Hall. Of course with these two in charge, there were delicious foodstuffs to be eaten.

I'm not exactly sure who catered the event, but I heard it might have been Ditmas Park's the Farm on Adderley, a restaurant high on, if not at the top of, my to-eat list. Guests were greeted with drinks and snacks seconds after entering. The bartenders churned out Pimm's Cups and Bloody Marys, the latter featuring lots of produce - celery stalks, cornichons and spicy pepperoncinis - which is how I like 'em. We also noshed on stuffed dates and crostinis with pulled pork and pickled onions before the ceremony began.

After quite possibly one of the best, if not the best wedding ceremony I've witnessed, the spread appeared! There were plates of cheeses and charcuterie and various salads, including a warm chickpea salad which may have featured some bleu cheese. Throughout the night, more plates appeared. Shell-on shrimp poached in a butter sauce! A sauteed dish of squid and potato! Yummy brussel sprouts!


And there was a taco fixin's corner. A big bowl of stewed beef was flanked by smaller bowls of finely diced red onion, cilantro, sour cream and flour tortillas.


Here's the plate I made glowing in the candlelight. Of course I went up for seconds, especially since new dishes were being rotated in.


Then it was time for desserts - mini key lime pies and delicious cupcakes. Dan and I split one of each, but then later in the evening I had another cupcake all by myself.


Congrats Skippy and the People's Cortney!!! I hope you're eating lots of plate lunches, SPAM musubi and poke in Hawaii!

We move out of Park Slope and a Korean restaurant finally moves in

When I lived in Park Slope, I dreamed about the day that a nice bakery or Korean restaurant would finally open in our neighborhood. It was just my luck that both moved in when Dan and I were on our way to Clinton Hill!

The Korean place I refer to is Moim, a very modernly designed restaurant housed on the ground floor of a Garfield Place brownstone. Moim, which means gathering in Korean, is owned by a Park Slope family who in 1991 made the real estate decision we all wish we had. They purchased a full brownstone for less than the price of what a 500-600 square foot 1-BR apartment in the same area goes for these days.

Dan and I got to Moim a little early so we sat at the bar and had a drink. I was delighted to see they had Hite on tap. Hite is a Korean lager that's not really great, but I love it nonetheless. It's pretty similar to OB, which is like the Bud of Korea. Anyway, Hite reminds me of being in Korea last summer with my best guy. Christy and Carl arrived and we were seated at a table towards the back of the restaurant. We noticed a lovely, renovated outdoor space that was empty and pondered its function.

I had read that banchan was not really served here (a big pet peeve of mine with newer, more Westernized Korean restaurant) so I suggested we order the namul (seasoned vegetable) trio to start. But we did get served a trio of house banchan, so more to eat for everyone. There were little black beans (콩) in a sweet, sticky soy glaze, a favorite from my childhood, some kimchi, marinated beansprouts and tangy shreds of snow-white radish.

The rest of our meal was highlighted by how many dishes with kimchi we could order. To start we shared the stir-fried kimchi with pork and tofu, and the kimchi dumplings stuffed with our favorite fermented spicy cabbage and even more ground pork and tofu. The dumplings came five to an order and we let Carl have the extra one - he was psyched!

Our entire table opted for the dolsot bibimbop, but then we decided to order a fifth entree of kimchi fried rice for everyone to share. I love fifth entrees!

The bibimbop is served very regally here, with the stone bowl sitting atop a pedestal.


I was a little wary because I had also read the bibimbop came pre-sauced and that the bowl wasn't hot enough to create the much desired rice crust at the bottom. The former turned out to be true - the kitchen places a dollop of red pepper paste atop your rice. I think this is really ill-advised. There's nothing wrong with offering it up in a side dish, where the diner can add and adjust to their desired level of spiciness. My rice was a little spicier than I normally like it to be. The latter turned out to be a false alarm - it couldn't have been further from the truth. My dolsot bibimbop created one of the best crusts I've ever had for this dish and I've had plenty in my life. There was a period when I was in my pre-teens where I probably ate this practically every Saturday or Sunday, as I accompanied my parents to dinner, or at lunch after church.


The portions are smaller than what you'd find in Koreatown so the fifth entree was a wise choice. I think the fried rice came with shrimp, but I don't remember eating any.


For desert we shared some green tea ice cream and a tangerine (or was it orange?) chocolate cake, which Christy astutely pointed out smelled just like Froot Loops!

I'm hoping this place will succeed. It's got charm, the food is good and I don't think the prices are out of line with what the rest of Park Slope charges. Moim doesn't offer a take-out option yet but they should consider it for the items on the menu that could travel ok. If I still lived in the neighborhood, I'd probably be calling in for a pick up once a week.

Lotsa Eating, Little Writing

Some meals of late:

Taro Sushi - Jim popped his sashimi cherry this night, while Beth and I tried the omakase here for the first time. I went with the sushi and sashimi combo, while Beth was sashimi all the way. We started with an appetizer of monkfish liver atop a ponzu dressed sunomono. The liver had a really interesting texture. It was denser than I thought and reminded me of a smooth version of mentaiko, which I ate a lot of when I was younger. Anyway, everything tastes great with ponzu, IMHO. Next came the fish parade, including sardine, mackerel, butterfish, hamachi and a red-skinned whitefish which I think was called kinmae. Following that was a fatty tuna roll and a California roll made with real crab. But there was still so much more to be had, including variations on tuna such as bonito, which I love and some uni, which is not really a favorite. The uni nigiri was composed of two small orange oblong pieces atop the seasoned rice and I ate one of the pieces but left the other. I was incredibly stuffed after the meal, which I feel does not happen often when eating sushi.

Jim tried many new tastes and I think hamachi and mackerel came out on top as favorites. Hooray for Jim for trying new tastes!

Kushi Q - I discovered this futuristic hole in the wall Japanese place the other week when I had to stop by a friend's office to drop off Mets tickets. Though only half a block from Oms/B, where I go for lunch from time to time, I'd never noticed it before.

I ordered a atsuage tofu bento set with salad (you can also choose rice) and miso soup for $6.50. There was a trio of sticks, each with three cubes of battered tofu. Underneath the light and crispy shell was soft, creamy tofu. The salad was basic, composed of chopped romaine, carrots and corn, but filled me up nonetheless. I'd like to go back and try the butabara (bacon) and so-se-ji (little Berkshire sausages with pineapple). I've read some complaints about the portions not being big enough, but I felt more than satisfied.



Hibino - I did a bunch of small plates with the CLC and Dani before heading over to Floyd for bocce practice. The presentation on the fresh tofu is so cute, it's hard to pass up. It's amazing how rich and nutty tofu can taste. On this night, it was like eating a custard. It's also difficult to pass up the beef kakuni, a big hunk of braised short rib sitting atop a round of daikon. I rounded out the meal with one of the special daily obanzai - shitake and shisito pepper tempura, which unfortunately came sitting in sauce. I prefer to keep the tempura as dry as possible to maintain crispiness and do my own saucing.



Brio - I had lunch at this Upper East Side restaurant on Thursday with my coworkers Molly and Kendel to celebrate the latter's birthday. Molly knows the family who owns it, so we got treated to some lovely surprises, like a bottle of Prosecco and these two ginormous portions of tiramisu for dessert. To begin we noshed (am I allowed to say that to describe an Italian restaurant?) on a cheese plate and carciofi fritti, pan-fried baby artichokes. The cheese plate featured aged provolone, parmegiano and a deliciously milky salted fresh mozzarella. Kendel and I then shared the garganelli in salsa aurora rivista, which was a tomato-bechamel sauce, green peas, prosciutto and porcini. It was super rich, so a half-portion was the perfect amount. Then I wanted to take a nap, but I had to go back to work. Boo.

Sura - This Korean restaurant has undergone a bit of a makeover since I've last been. The setting seems a lot more serious and mature as the servers now dress in hanboks. The food was just as tasty as I remembered. Heidi and I shared the "pear and pork delight" to begin with. Layers of barbequed pork alternated with slices of Asian pear to create a nice contrast in textures. I just wish the kitchen was a little stingier with the sauce, which was a mixture of chili miso, raspberry and soy. It was too much and too gloppy. A light brushing of one of those flavors would have been more than sufficient. My main, the doobu kimchi bokeum suffered from the same over saucing but otherwise it was pretty damn tasty. The kimchi was gently sauteed with discs of rice cakes and surrounded by wedges of plain, steamed tofu. It was served with a small ping pong sized ball of mashed potatoes with cubes of Asian pear, what I guess is one of their trademark touches. It sounds weird, but provides a nice, cooling crunch in between bites of spicy.

Circular things eaten at a wedding

Christy and Carl were married over the weekend and for the reception Nils made 200 cupcakes in chocolate, almond and ginger. I really wanted a ginger one, but I knew it would be tough as he only made 40 of them. I picked up a non-chocolate one thinking I had the elusive ginger in my midst, but it turned out to be almond. It was still delicious. DMR and I shared that and a chocolate one, which was also delicious.

Nils is no joker in the kitchen. He makes his own gravlax. Who does that?



As day turned into night, 10 pies from Joe's showed up! I don't know who ordered these but you're the best! A fresh mozzarella slice helped to soak up all the alcohol and allowed me to keep on truckin'. Then DMR and I shared half of a buffalo hot wing slice that Blaine couldn't handle. In his defense, it was a lot hotter than expected, with no bleu cheese to provide a cooling effect. Then another food miracle happened.


SkipJackBonito appeared before our eyes carrying a bunch of these delightful treats and we scored one! I've seen these in the freezer case at Bierkraft and have always wanted to try one. Delicious creamy gelato from Il Laboratorio sandwiched between chewy discs of brownie. Yum. We shared ours with Christina and Charles. The rest of the night is a blur.

What's For Lunch?

All I seem capable of eating for lunch lately is mozzarella + protein. And usually that protein is roast beef or chicken cutlets. What I am getting at is that I've become completely beaten down by my lunch options. If you're in Park Slope you can usually see me wandering aimlessly up and down 5th Avenue between 1-2PM. Nothing sounds overly appealing to me (taste + price) and when I do decide on something specific I seem to get foiled a lot (Palo Santo & El Pollo, I'm looking right at you!).

I had a hot roast beef with mozzarella and roasted red peppers yesterday and a chicken parm the day before. I limit myself to half a sandwich because they are pretty big and filling. I have eaten whole ones in the past and come to regret that choice. DMR usually takes the uneaten half with him to work the next day so it works out well. Both were from A&S Pork Store, which I like quite a lot and will totally miss when we move. The butchers always mistake me for someone else and recently asked how the baby was. I don't have a kid nor am I pregnant, so that was amusing. I nearly got another mozzarella + ? sandwich today but decided against it. Then I decided I wanted El Pollo and hooray, they were open for lunch! They had a few lunch specials written out on a board outside, including a 1/4 rotisserie chicken combo with curly fries. Curly fries? I wanted tostones to accompany my meal but didn't feel like checking in to see if the substitution was possible so I just kept walking.

North of Union Street, I began to feel really stressed out. I had done this exact same quest for lunch route a few days before and settled for something I really didn't want. Today I decided on Nana before I had a breakdown on the street. DMR and I will order delivery from Nana once in a blue moon. They aren't a go-to for us, but it's where we get our roti canai fix. I ordered a lunch special combination of wontons with balsamic soy and a chicken curry laksa. The dumplings were encased in a nice thin skin and stuffed with chicken or pork. I wasn't really paying attention but it wasn't a typical meat + chive/green vegetable mixture. It could have been a chicken meatball even. The dipping sauce came applied to the dumplings (boo!) which unfortunately made all the crispy shallots that were sprinkled atop soggy. Other than that, these were pretty good.

The laksa seemed promising. There was a little fire symbol next to this dish on the menu to indicate its spiciness. I'm still waiting for the spice to kick in. I do give them credit for packing up the sauce/broth separately from the noodles and chicken, but overall the laksa was a disappointment. The curry lacked spice and flavor for that matter! I liked the thick egg noodles, which reminded me of skinny udon. I wasn't expecting fried potato chunks but those were in the container along with Japanese eggplant, scallions and bean sprouts. I don't like eggplant in non-babaganouj form, but have learned to accept it. Maybe potatoes aren't uncommon in a laksa, but these looked like home fries, hence the confusion.

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.

New on Fifth: Willie's Dawgs

The tiny storefront across the street from IS 51 that's been promising hot dogs for months has finally opened. I happened to be walking by on the first day of operations at Willie's Dawgs and picked up a couple to sample. They use natural casing Karl Ehmers, which have a nice snap to them. The guys behind the counter hadn't yet found their groove, but the dogs were solid. Willie's offers an afterschool special for the kids but there were no combos for the adults, something I hope will change soon as two dogs cost a little over $8 with tax.

I went with the Heidi - swiss cheese, sauerkraut and mustard on a multi-grain roll.


For DMR, I picked up a Frankie, loaded with bacon and caramelized onions on a challah roll.

Disappointments

DMR had Tuesday off as part of a four-day weekend, so we decided to head over to Palo Santo for lunch. Once again, they were closed and we were foiled. I guess they are no longer serving breakfast and lunch? According to the website, they're open seven days a week, but there's no mention of breakfast and lunch. Menupages has daytime hours as Monday - Friday from 7AM-3PM, but with dinner only served Wednesday - Sunday. I don't understand this place, which is a sad thing because I really liked going for lunch.

Our consolation prize, or should I say, booby prize was to have lunch at Moutarde. This place just isn't very good. It's not terrible, but as I like to say about many restaurants in the area, it's passably mediocre. Occasionally, the kitchen has its shit together and you get a decent meal, but more often than not, it's a combination of lax service and underwhelming food. I ordered a croque madame with fries and DMR went with the banana pancakes with a side of bacon. The bacon, while a generous side portion of about 5 strips, was completely overcooked. The pieces had curled up like ribbon candy. My sandwich came with greens instead of the fries I had requested. Although the missing starch situation was quickly remedied, there wasn't a french fry on the plate longer than an inch and a half. I must have gotten the last remaining fries in the bag. Dan's pancakes were just bad - nothing fluffy about them at all.

Which brings us to the past weekend in Silver Spring, where DMR and I had the blandest Chinese food ever at the China House restaurant, and unbelievably bad service at the Bombay Indian restaurant. Nearly every dish we had at China House was devoid of flavor which apparently customers are ok with, judging by the brisk takeout business. The food at Bombay was on par with or better than most of the Indian restaurants in this area, but the service was atrocious. The restaurant wasn't even that big and there were 3 servers on the floor plus a manager who didn't appear to be helping to pick up the slack when things fell behind. We had to wait forever for menus (which we had to ask for after twiddling our thumbs for 10 or 15 minutes), plates, our food (Stone Groove's entree came out about 10 minutes after everyone else's), refills on water (I asked one of the servers who just didn't want to acknowledge me. When she was again in our vicinity, I repeated my request and she responded with a deer in headlights look) and of course our check. There was a lot of head shaking as patrons got up from their tables to leave. All the tables seemed to have the same combination of amusement and annoyance. In addition to getting into a productive rhythm in the kitchen and the room, these guys could also stand to be a little more generous with the sauces and chutneys. Ramekins the size of pre-portioned creamers cups you get at the diner doesn't cut it for a table of 5, or even a table of two!

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.

Can't a girl get a decent burger around here?

We recently visited two new burger joints in Brooklyn. Burger stands seem to be to new restaurants what "wolf" was to indie rock during the past 12-16 months: Wolfmother; Wolf Parade; Wolf Eyes; Peter and the Wolf; etc. Yesterday's lunch was at the Brooklyn Burger Bar in Park Slope, in the space formerly occupied by Bar Minnow, and where they tout hand-made black Angus beef patties. We were hipped to it by the Larrys a couple days ago, although you couldn't miss the garish yellow awning if you tried.

The first sign of trouble was when the waitress took our order without writing it down, a huge pet peeve of ours. I went with a medium burger with bacon and mozzarella, while DMR went with provolone and caramelized onions on the side, cooked to medium as well. She came back a few minutes later to confirm the cheese type and double check whether or not I had ordered bacon. Can readers with wait experience chime in on why there's such an abhorrence to taking a pen to paper, especially in a casual restaurant setting? Our burgers arrived on plate with a mound of shoestring fries (though special house fries are offered on the menu, they were inexplicably unavailable on this day), lettuce, a slice of tomato, a thin ring of red onions and a new pickle wedge. When our server asked if we needed anything else, I answered with black pepper, mayo, mustard, a couple place settings, oh and the top bun for DMR's burger!
I was appalled. I don't think Dan nor the server noticed and when I pointed this out, she in all seriousness asked Dan to check under the lettuce leaf! I wasn't sure whether to bang my head on the table or burst out laughing. I wish the missing brioche half was the only shortcoming of the day. Despite the burgers looking solid appearance-wise, there's not much else positive to report.
The fries were cold and a bit too oily. The burger was void of flavor and juiciness. The caramelized onions had been reduced to a sickly sweet jam, so off-putting I had to scrape it off my burger. When our bill arrived, we noticed we were charged $4 for a glass of fountain root beer. GTLO! We were trying to think of an explanation for this exorbitant charge. Perhaps there were free refills, although the menu doesn't note that (or the price). We needed an explanation and what we were told was that the root beer served used to be the more premium bottled Abita. Used to? Meaning when the Brooklyn Burger Bar was Bar Minnow, a completely different restaurant? So they just haven't gotten around to reconfiguring Ordertron 2000? DMR and I both got the impression that we weren't first customers to point out this price gouging. Why don't they just charge $20 for a burger and hope that most people won't say anything or won't even notice. Oh, and where does a restaurant get the nerve to not give back coin change? It's one thing if you get shorted a penny or two (although I still find that to be really arrogant and aggravating - if you don't want to deal with unrounded numbers, alter your prices to include tax and even it off), but seriously, where was my 27 cents today? I wish Bonnie's was open for lunch.

On the flip side, we are going to give 67 Burger a second shot even though the CLC, DMR and I weren't blown away on the first try. There were some problems with the food preparation and overrall flow of the place but also a couple of little quirks and glimpses of greatness they can build on. I was a big fan of 67 Burger's fountain beverage choices. On tap were RC Cola, Diet Rite, Bosco Chocolate Soda and Stewart's Root Beer. The $1.95 price includes a free refill, possibly even refills, because the drinks were casually filled and never to the top. The french fries, when not sitting on the counter, waiting to be delivered to your table, were piping hot and delicious. Unfortunately, one of our orders of fries had the misfortune to sit out too long and lost its crispiness. All three of our burgers were way overdone. The CLC had ordered hers medium rare, while DMR and I went with our usual medium doneness. Only my burger showed any hint of pink. The outsides were charred and hard as a rock, as were the buns (note the bottom right of the plate). The insides though surprisingly remained somewhat juicy, which combined with the sauteed mushrooms and onions, aided in the disintegration of the bottom bun.
These guys should really ditch the table service. It doesn't make any sense at any time, but especially when there's a crowd, as was the case when we ate here. You order at the register, so why then sit around and wait for someone to deliver your food? Was I supposed to wait for a server to come around to ask for a drink refill or was it kosher that I turned around, stood up and took the three steps to the counter to ask for one? Service issues aside, our pal Balgavy was shocked upon hearing of our not too stellar experience, as he's had a number of perfectly cooked rare burgers here. That gives us hope.

Octopus Salad at Stone Park Cafe 12/8

One of my new favorite dining routines is eating at the bar of Stone Park Cafe on Friday nights, when our downstairs neighbors have their salsa parties. On this particular night, I was headed to a Christmas party but needed a little something beforehand. This is a grilled octopus salad, with shaved fennel, frissee, cherry tomatoes and capers in a tomato beurre, topped off with a duo of tempura'ed caper berries. The octopus was really tender and I really enjoyed the beurre. DMR got a burger, OF COURSE!

4 on Fifth

Friday's Lunch: Taro Sushi (ok, technically on Dean, but steps from 5th Avenue)

I took a personal day from work on Friday and wound up having lunch with the China-Latina Chowhound. She was fiending for some sushi, so I suggested Taro, a tiny spot around the corner from O'Connors. Taro offers up some great deals during the day. I went with lunch special #1, a bento box of unadon, whitefish tempura and 4 pieces of sushi along with miso soup and salad for $8. My box was portioned off into four squares: a mount of rice with two pieces of glazed eel; two pieces of fish, a broccoli floret and a small slice of acorn squash all tempura'ed up; a dish of tempura dipping sauce (the wonderful combination of soy, mirin and dashi) with a healthy amount of grated radish; ebi, tuna, salmon and mackerel nigiri. Beth went with a sashimi appetizer and combination #4, which was a plate of chicken teriyaki, dumplings and spicy tuna roll (you can also choose a California roll, but why would you want to?). While neither of us would go out of our way to order chicken teriyaki, Beth needed some additional protein and seemed very happy with her choice. I already had a bounty of food in front of me, but would up eating one of Beth's spicy tuna pieces, all of her noodles that came with the chicken, half of her salad and also one of her peppery dumplings. Wow, that makes me sounds like a pig! Oink, oink.

Friday's Dinner: Bogota
The rain started coming down pretty hard during lunch so afterwards the CLC came over and we had a plan to watch something great on television. By something great, we were hoping for Glory Road or While You Were Sleeping, but instead cable television decided to play a joke on us and only offer up real crap like Must Love Dogs. We wound up spending the rest of the afternoon YouTubing "We Are The World" and Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton duets, and creating a special rainy day playlist that included lots and lots of Rod Stewart. Obviously, we worked up quite an appetite and decided to meet up at Bogota for dinner with DMR, who would be coming from his squash game.

We started with an order of plantain chips with cilantro black bean dip which was really flavorful. For my main, I went with the ropa vieja, simmered in a cilantro red wine sauce here, accompanied by a side of tropical slaw and garlicky kale. Man, this was a tasty dish. I love shredded meat dishes, whether it's barbacoa or yook gae jang. Each bite was juicy, as the meat retained the sauce well. The crunchy slaw was composed of shredded red cabbage, coconut flakes, mango and a couple other fruits. Thankfully, I spotted only a single raisin in the dish.

DMR ordered the skirt steak with chimichurri sauce, which turned out to be a very nice portion of meat. There were three thin strips of beef on his plate, half of which he placed on my plate in exchange for a mound of ropa vieja. He went with rice and beans and sweet plantains for his sides. The CLC went with a taste of Bogota, the Bandeja Paisa, a smorgasbord of Latin treats including: grilled skirt steak, an arepa, rice & beans, fried egg, maduros and best of all, glorious chicharron.

By the way, the folks at Bogota really couldn't be nicer. DMR had stopped by his work to pick up a package before dinner. On the way out, knowing the weather was terrible, one of the co-owners stopped him and went to get a plastic bag to cover up the box. By the time we stepped outside, it had stopped miraculously raining, but it was still a very thoughtful touch. Also, we were seated moments before Happy Hour was to end, so the same guy rushed over to our table to see if we wanted to put in an order while there were still specials going on.

Saturday's Dinner: Stone Park Cafe
DMR and I were planning to attend a fundraiser in lower Manhattan, but instead decided to stay in. Then we decided to go out and get dinner in the neighborhood. We decided to try Palo Santo again, but once we arrived at the corner of 5th and Union, I realized I didn't want Latin cuisine two nights in a row for dinner. So we headed back south and decided to eat at the bar of Stone Park Cafe. Overall, DMR and I have had our most satisfying dining experiences here sitting at the bar, whether it's for brunch or dinner. I'm a big fan of the night bartender - I think his name is Cliff or Clint. He was also tending the other time we had dinner at the bar. DMR ordered a bacon and jack cheese burger and a pint of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale. Very DMR. I once again went with the frisee salad, which I love for its ingredients list: lots of bacon chunks, crisped shitake mushrooms, Yukon Gold potatoes cubes and a poached egg with a breadcrumb coating. I also ordered a side dish of homemade tagliatelle with pork belly. The sauce in this dish reminded me a lot of the broth in tonkotsu ramen, which is made from cooking pork bones for a long time. It had that same thickness and stickiness to it. I remember feeling a little overwhelmed by the broth in that ramen, but here it seemed just right, coating the light noodle strands and tiny squares of pork belly with velvety richness. We ordered a root beer float for dessert. The menu touts Virgil's root beer, so I was somewhat disappointed when a bottle of Olde Brooklyn showed up - not exactly my favorite as I find it a tad syrupy. We're both big fans of the chocolate chip marshmallow sandwich cookie that accompanies the float. With a little more than a quarter of the cookie left, DMR declared that he was going to eat the rest of it, which made me laugh so I didn't put up a fight. Oh, one more thing about the dessert that wasn't great - in addition to vanilla, there was chocolate ice cream! Who wants chocolate ice cream in a root beer float? Certainly, not I.

Sunday Brunch: Perch
I want to like Perch but having to wait 20+ minutes for a couple of egg sandwiches to go, doesn't so much to help that. There's something oddly inefficient about this place despite so many servers zipping back and forth and so many people behind the counter. The egg sandwiches were good (his: eggs, cheddar, bacon, caramelized onions, jalapeños; mine: green eggs, ham and cheddar), but they're not exactly cheap and not really worth waiting all that time for. When my sandwiches were up, I was kind of taken aback when the woman behind the counter asked me if I wanted a bag. It's our own damn fault for being lazy.

I guess at most places, if you order for delivery or take out, your ticket in the queue jumps. Maybe I'm just spoiled by places like Joya, where it barely takes 10 minutes from hanging up the phone to having your doorbell rung. The coffee was nice and hot though.

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Taro Sushi 446 Dean Street (b/w Fifth Avenue and Flatbush)
Bogota Latin Bistro 141 Fifth Avenue (b/w St. John's Place and Lincoln Place)
Stone Park Cafe 324 Fifth Avenue (at the corner of 3rd Street)
Perch 365 Fifth Avenue (b/w 5th and 6th Streets)

Last Night's Dinner: Biscuit

Ok, technically Friday night's dinner. We're a little behind here these days.

Anyway, we had set ourselves up to be mildly surprised by Biscuit, the new Park Slope restaurant in the former Night and Day space that is a resurrection of a simiarly named place that had a short run Flatbush Avenue before closing recently. I didn't love Biscuit, but I do love bbq and like so many others, am desperate for a halfway decent place in the neighborhood.

We started off with a plate of deviled eggs. Deviled eggs are not really hard to make, and make delicious! These deviled eggs were boring. On the dry side and not even close to the ones from S&C's Halloween party which were a million times better! On this menu, they are referred to as Huevos Diablos, which I really couldn't understand. Was it meant to imply spiciness or something Mexican about the recipe? I sure didn't taste it.



I had noshed earlier in the evening at Applewood (dirty onion martini and a shared domestic cheese plate - thumbs up on both, esp. the martini) so I wasn't super hungry. I still went with a quarter rack of ribs with 2 sides - choosing mac and cheese and french fries. I had asked if I could have deviled eggs as my side seeing as how they were the exact same price as ordering a side a la carte, but was denied.



I thought my plate had a generous portion of food. The fries were skin-on and cooked to golden brown perfection - they were the best part of the meal. The mac and cheese was a tad on the bland side (there I go with the salt again), but good enough. A couple of the ribs featured a nubbin of tender meat with a lovely smoke ring but they were also kind of fatty. The meat on the other ribs was sparse and cooked to much lesser success.

Dan went with the Braggin' Rights Brisket sandwich. It came with a side of rough cut slaw which I traded my fries for. I love the slaw, Dan does not. I added a squirt of the house mustard sauce to the slaw for extra tang. As for the brisket, we can both say without hesitation that it was some of the worst either of us had ever eaten. Maybe even the absolute worst. It was grey. It was gnarly. There was nothing worth bragging about this pile of tough, rubbery , flavorless meat. It was awful. How long was it even cooked for? How could they be serving this we wondered. You couldn't even chew through it! Horrible.

Last Night's Dinner: Blue Ribbon Sushi

The following bad things happened to me yesterday. First I learned I needed another root canal and my dentist yelled at me (but in a caring, funny, Eastern European sort of way so I didn't mind that much). Then my cute little orange umbrella I purchased earlier this year at UNIQLO broke! The piece de resistence? My laptop at work totally got busted. I installed the latest iTunes and QuickTime updates and it wouldn't restart! Why does every Mac I touch go haywire? And I hate PCs so I refuse to switch.

So I called up the Listmaker to tell him about my crappy day and he suggested we go to Blue Ribbon Sushi for dinner, but we had to not go overboard because I had just eaten at Al Di La the night before (see BrooklyVegan) and spent some money.

We both started off with the miso soup, which I love at BRS because the miso paste comes on the side and you can add to your own taste. For dinner we went with a maki combo of tuna, california roll and mackerel supplemented with a negi hama roll (yellowtail with scallion) as well as some nigiri a la carte (2 pieces of broiled fresh water eel, 2 pieces of regular eel, 1 piece of spanish mackerel, 1 piece of smoked yellowtail). Green tea and a large bottle of Asashi was shared to wash things down.

For dessert, someone at the table who is not me really wanted to get the chocolate bruno with green tea ice cream, but I started getting some stomach pains and we instead skipped dessert and just went home. The stomach pains were not a result of the food not being good, I think I just ate too quickly. Big surprise!

Park Slope Gastronome #14 - I'm Dining With Elsa

A new addition to our neighbhorhood is called Night and Day, named for the Cole Porter song. When the awning was first raised I imagined the place to be more of a noveau diner, judging by the font. Instead, it's a slightly upscale, but appealing to an entire family, kind of place. Meaning there won't be crayons on the table to entertain the kids for a couple minutes, but expect tons of Bugaboos blocking the path from your table to the bathroom. (By the way, I only saw one, that can't be right, can it?) A few weekends ago we tried out their brunch. We both opted for the prixe fix ($14.95), which included an entree, coffee, cocktail or orange juice and a muffin/mini-chocolate croissant to start. The bloody mary was nothing to get overly excited about but it was decent. Thankfully not too thin and not too vodka-ey, two things I hate in a bloody mary. You have to get the perfect balance between tomato and vodka and I've found in my research that bartenders more often than not can't do this. I'd be foolish to not mention the bloody cajun mary's of the Jones in any post that references this cocktail. They are simply the best in the city - teeming with bits of horseradish, flecked with black pepper and enough spice to wake up your tummy.

But I digress. Dan opted for the french toast for his entree, while I ordered the frittata with cheese, potato and spinach. What I got was a dried out, barely warm flattened disc of overcooked eggs. Any time I came across cheese (I think it was gruyere) in my frittata, it was already coagulated. There was no melty dairy joy, or even a bit of stringiness; the cheese was completely solidified. The accompanying roasted red potatoes suffered the same fate - dried out and tough. There were also maybe only 6 chunks on the entire plate. Dan's french toast was a joke - two limp square pieces of thin battered bread that looked so lonely on its plate. Oh wait, there were a couple pieces of honeydew to keep the french toast company.

The service, while pleasant, was very scattered. We had to ask twice for syrup to be brought to the table when it didn't show up with the food. Maybe we'll come back to Night and Day for dinner, but there's no sense in going back for brunch, when there are other options with more inspired food and at lower prices.

Park Slope Gastronome #9 - The Return of the Pig

Don't worry, I have been stuffing my face like I always do, just not writing about it. Anyway, last night's dinner experience has motivated me to write about 3 places I have recently dined at. Let's start with the most recent.

DeMarco's Pizzeria
So last night, the Listmaker (my huband, for any of you bibimbop newbies) had dinner at DeMarco's Pizzeria. DeMarco's is sort of an offshoot of the legendary DiFara's. I think some of DiFara's children or in-laws are the proprieters of DeMarcos but other than that, the two restaurants are not related. I'm sure Slice can give you the skinny.

There are actually two parts to DeMarco's - one is smaller and used for take-away orders, while the building on the corner is a sit-down restaurant. We chose the sit-down option and although the pasta offerings were tempting, we of course had to opt for a pie. The first sign of trouble was the price - DeMarco's charges $18.50 for a round pie of 8 slices. The second sign of trouble was when we got our pepperoni pie. While we approved of the type of pepperoni (smaller, thicker coins that curl up into little cups - favored by the best coal-oven joints), we were disappointed to see no more than 20 or so slices on the entire pie. That comes out to less than 3 pieces per slice. There was even a slice that was pepperoni-less. Unacceptable! The restaurant was not busy - we were the first diners to sit at a proper table, so it's not like the kitchen was busy throwing one pie after another. When we entered the restaurant, there were a couple diners eating at the bar and for a second I thought they were employees having their staff dinner. It prompted me to ask, "Uh, are you guys open?" and have my question go unanswered.

Both Listmaker and I were less than impressed with our $21.50 pie (most toppings are $3). While the sauce was tangy and the grated hard cheese sprinkled atop a nice touch, we both found the crust to be way too hard. When I first picked up a slice, I was struck by how firm it was. It amazingly didn't bend or sag. After the first slice, eating the crust became a chore and hurt my jaw. There was no chewiness to it. The final nail through the coffin was when we got the bill. The bottle of Peroni consumed by Listmaker cost $7! We could only laugh it off and promise to never come back to DeMarco's ever again.

We wonder how long this establishment will last with its mediocre food served at outlandish prices and poor layout of tables. As Listmaker remarked, a restaurant shouldn't feel cramped when you're the only customers.

I was amused by the party of three sitting at the table next to us (2 Japanese women, and a British man) erroneously talking about how this place was written up in the Mug Newsletter with pictures of the tops and bottom of the slices.

Food: C
Service: I'm going to stop grading service. If it sucks, I'll just write about how awful it is.

Kenka
Let's just say I only spent $20 and got stuffed on the following:
- glass of shochu
- pint of Asahi
- bowl of beef curry and rice
- plate of Japanese pickled vegetables
- half an okonomiyaki (shared with margie j.)
- third of an ear of sweet and salty corn cob
- miso covered grilled rice ball
For dessert, they present you with a little plastic cup of granulated sugar. By the entrance there is a cotton candy machine. Self-serve fairy floss! Brilliant! That day's flavor was grape.
Food: A- (didn't love the pickled vegetables. it was not the variety of oshinko i was expecting)

Stone Park Cafe
This is the foofy resaturant that recently opened up at the end of our block. Listmaker and I have hemmed and hawed about eating dinner there a bunch of times, but it wasn't until they started servicing brunch that we became fully motivated. While Stone Park's dinner menu is a bit on the pricey side, the brunch is rather reasonable. We've beben there 3 times in the last 3 weeks - twice during one weekend, even! Each visit has been very satisfying, which is a positive sign, since despite all the restaurants in the area, a good brunch remains elusive. It was the first visit that really knocked our socks off. FIrst off, we liked the music - while we were there we heard Elliott Smith and Low. Second, it was not baby carriage central. As you all know, I love love love the children, but sometimes when you dine in Park Slope, you just get so overwhelmed by the fleet of Bugaboos and scent of baby powder. Third, the wait staff was pleasant. We both opted for omelets and we each got to choose up to 4 fillings! Listmaker chose garlic, jack cheese, sausage and one more filling which I can not remember. I chose garlic, house-smoked bacon, mushrooms and bleu cheese. Choosing garlic was a bold move, but one that proved to be out of this world. I'm equally in love with the bacon at Stone Park Cafe. It's thick and has a full smokey flavor. The omelet was really perfectly done, with all the fillings portioned out equally throughout. Nothing worse than starting on one end of an omelet and realizing halfway through, you've eaten all the mushrooms and only have tomatoes left or something like that. The eggs were served with chewy sourdough toast and delicious roast potatoes with sauteed onions. Coffee was included in the $11 price. The one minus I would say is that I really wanted a bloody mary but did not want o pay $9 for one. That's just ridiculous. Anyway, having Stone Park Cafe just a few steps from our front door is a very welcome addition. Now we can be even lazier on the weekends!
Food: A (for the first visit)

Park Slope Gastronome #7 - al di ladi, we like to party

Who says you have to travel thousands of miles for a declious Northern Italian meal? We only had to travel 5 blocks or so to finally try Al Di La, what a bargain. Al Di La is a neighborhood joint that doesn't take reservations so of course we had to wait. I like this policy though - you gotta earn your meal! We arrived around 7:30 and it was already a full house and a full list of diners ahead of us. We were told it would be about an hour wait or so and contemplated going back home before deciding to go to the newish wine bar around the corner. A quick look through the window made us change our minds - the place was tiny and packed - so we would up heading to Great Lakes for a pre-dinner drink. About halfway through our beverages - a Stoli Oranj and soda for the lady, a Brooklyn lager for the gentleman, my phone rang. Our table was ready more than 30 minutes early. Hot stuff!

I was immediately impressed with the service. We asked for water and was given glasses and a carafe to pour our own refills (though the waiters and busboys did an excellent job of tracking this themselves and often times did the chore). Everything on the menu sounded delicous, as did the evening's specials. For the appetizer, the sardines special was really enticing we but we opted for the minestrone soup with canneloni beans and softened Italian greens, as well as the taleggio cheese special. The latter was a slab of the fragrant cheese with a wedge of warm, delicate foccacia along with a side of greens. The greens were dressed with an aged balsamic and its sweetness made a nice contrast to the herby heartiness of the bread and the pungency of the cheese. Aged balsamic rules. It's delicious over just about everything. I once had fresh strawberries drizzled with aged, syrupy vinegar. Wow. The soup was some of the best I've tasted - the tiny shards of parmesaen that topped it off was such a perfect touch and one that I'll probably ape from now on. Whenever you got a bite of slightly melted cheese, it just set off this bolt of sharpness. If there was ever a taste that could be three-dimensional, it might be parmigianno-reggianno.

For our past course, we shared the house made tagliatelli with meat ragu. The husband and I love our meat sauces, yes we sure do. I've probably raved about fresh pasta before, but no dried pasta could ever come close. It had this amazing chewiness to it that it just so pleasing to one's palate. The ragu was rich, but somehow light at the same time. Probably because the pasta wasn't overdressed with sauce. I like my pasta sauce in moderation - I'd like to see the noodles please.

By this time we had also consumed an entire loaf of bread as well and without even asking, a busboy whisked away our near empty basket (one end piece left) and brought us a new one. This was a restaurant after my Atkins-hatin' heart.

Ok, now on to the main course. The roasted pork shank special sounded amazing and looked and smelled even more amazing when a waiter walked by with it. However, the steak tagliata with arugla won out and while it was a simple dish, it was certainly a winner. We had ours cooked medium and it was served pre-sliced in shallow pool of a balsamic reduction. Once again the addition of balsamic made the taste soar into space.

So now we're really stuffed but someone we think ordering two desserts is a good idea! I picked the pear cake with bittersweet chocolate while Dan chose the rice pudding. Even though my choice was initially slagged, it was the clear winner between the two. I thought the rice in the pudding was a little undercooked, making for really hard and nutty rice. It was nice to have rice pudding with bite, but in this case, it was too much bite, too much chewiness. It was a good effort by the chef though to offer something more than your average gummy rice pudding.

I need to go back soon so I can sample more of the menu, like the sardines and the pasta con vongole. One of Al Di La's best quality is its affordability. Nothing on the menu seems overpriced or should I say nothing on the menu makes you feel like you are overpaying for it.

Food: A
Service: A

Park Slope Gastronome #6

oh moutarde, how did we ignore you for this long? as previously noted on the park slope gastronome, we've detailed a number of disappointing brunches in our neighborhood. with recently transplanted brooklynites dave and jennifer in town from LA, we wanted to brunch at a nearby establishment that wouldn't break our hearts. the four of us wound up at moutarde, a(nother) french bistro on 5th avenue. when dan figured out where we were going, he groaned, "this place?" not like he's ever even eaten there!

we are greeted by friendly workers who whisk us away to our table in the back. as we take our seats, we are given shot glasses of freshly made fruit juice (strawberry, in this case) garnished with a chunk of canteloupe. we are already having a better experience even if the busboy spilled water on me! i ordered the wild mushroom and goat cheese omelette, as did dave and jennifer. dan could not stray from his habit of ordering french toast, so that's what he did. the trio of omelettes arrived before the french toast and the waitress was aghast and apologetic and asthamtic. just kidding about the last thing - that my have been me. dave had also ordered a side of toast, which turned out to be a basket of toast, plump butter croissants and mini chocolate croissants. thanks to dave's mysterious aversion to flaky deliciousness, dan and i got to eat the mini-cho-cros. yum!

i'm getting tired of typing so let's just wrap things up. the food lovely and the service was delightful. thank you moutarde.

Food: A
Service: A

Park Slope Gastronome #4

This past week the Park Slope Gastronome had brunch at the restaurant Belleville. Its location made for an easy choice when we were trying to figure out where to have brunch on a glorious Sunday afternoon. The walk to Cousin John's was a bit more than we wanted to flex our legs for. Cocotte stinks. A recent meal at the Mexican Sandwich Company helped me get acquainted with our bathroom and forced us to miss the Atlantic Antic.

Belleville is a French bistro, similar to the ones down the street (Moutarde) and a few neighborhoods over (Patois). There's a sprinkle of quaint, a dollop of shabby chic, a pinch of old-timeyness and steak frites on the menu. We were seated and given our menus immediately. Dan ordered the french toast, only to be told it was sold out. He then ordered the croissants, and was again told it was sold out. "We've had a busy morning" our waitress explained. Finally we both wound up ordering the waffle with eggs and bacon. Along with our meal orders, we requested water, which would not show up until about three-quarters of the way through our meal.

Our dishes arrive and we're both a bit bummed out to see our waffles are pre-syruped. Not only was it imitation maple flavor syrup but the pre-syruping also made the waffle soggy. I like my waffles crisp and I also don't like to drench it in sugar. The eggs on the other hand were really nicely scrambled. They were a golden yellow color without any browning, loose, but firm enough that they didn't have that uncooked, phlegm-like texture to them. The bacon on the other hand was way overcooked. When I bend a bacon strip, I like for it to do just that and not snap in half. Finding good bacon is an impossible mission these days. I'm convinced our meal was to be accompanied by greens and potatoes. Two of the brunch options, the smoked salmon platter and the french toast were above the line that read something along the lines of "the following come with green and potatoes." The waffle was listed under this line and I positive I did not see an asterisk listed next to it saying it was excluded. We asked our waitress about this, not because we were hungry, but because we thought we were missing a part of our meal. She didn't know her menu. She had to check. We still didn't have water by this time. A waiter came by with a pitcher and asked us if we wanted some more water. Then he noticed the lack of water glasses on our table and turned red, apologized and sent someone to get us glasses. We were never offered a refill on coffee.

p.s. The glass of orange juice we ordered was some sort of from-concentrate-crap served with ice cubes. En francais!

Food: C
Service: C-