Midtown – Page 5 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Landmarc at the Time Warner Center

Third floor of the Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle
212/823.6123
about $75 for brunch for two, with mimosas and coffee, with tip
â™¥

Baby strollers of different sizes and colors almost blocked the entrance. One of the babies being held by its father burped and threw up a gooey substance on the floor. Where were we? We were standing outside Landmarc in the Time Warner Center on a Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, we were seated immediately at the bar which kept us away from any more cranky babies and parents with their hands full. We both stayed out late the night before, so we needed to start our day right. Mimosas were in order–about three glasses apiece, in fact, until the small champagne bottles were empty. I ordered the smoked salmon peppered with capers. I was craving a toasted plain bagel and cream cheese, which I rarely eat, so I was more than happy to eat something unexciting. The salmon was tasty, though, and even the Philadelphia cream cheese was good.

Cameron chose the very filling eggs en meurette, poached eggs served with bacon, onions and mushrooms in reduced red wine sauce. The bacon was chunky and the crusty bread was softened by the sauce. It could have been a classic dinner option because it was so hearty. This stood out among the other breakfast selections. We also split the blueberry pancakes with warm maple syrup. I’ve had a lot of bad pancakes before and I have to say that the Landmarc pancakes were pretty good. Real blueberries peeked from the soft cakes at every slice with a fork. Even with our first two dishes, we didn’t have a problem doing damage to them.

We raved about the coffee. I had to call the restaurant two days later to ask for the source. The coffee is from La Colombe and roasted in Philadelphia. It is also served in restaurants like Daniel and Le Bernardin. It’s $15 for a pound in the Chelsea Market, so I’ll just visit this weekend for dinner and order it after my meal. Babies sleep early, right?

Public House

140 East 41st Street between Lexington and Third
212/682.3710
if we paid, about $150 for two, with two drinks, with tip
â™¥

I was invited by the Public House to a tasting this week. I don’t usually hang out in the midtown area but I was curious to taste what bar food could mean to chef Robert Dziekonski, a native New Yorker who has cooked with Tom Valenti and Danny Meyer. A very large American flag drapes the wall near the bar and sets the tone for the rest of the space. Booths are for small groups, while a lounge off the side is available for bigger parties. I’d equate the interior to a steakhouse more than a pub. The clientele falls in that range as well: suits who come in for business meetings and for after-work drinks.

There really isn’t a good phrase to describe the Public House menu but “bar food.” And it’s not the gastro-pub type either; it’s straightforward, all-American bar food. I’ve been on a meat-eating binge lately so I was quite excited to eat some burgers and barbeque ribs. With a request to serve everything in smaller portions so I don’t have to be wheeled out of the restaurant after eating, my companion and I started with the famous hot spinach and artichoke dip and grilled pita triangles. The Public House version was roasted in a baking dish with four kinds of cheeses. This made the top a little burnt and crispy. If the manager didn’t push for it, I would have ignored it. Thank god for outspoken restaurant managers.

The mussels were one of my favorites. Cooked with shallots and garlic but steamed in Brooklyn lager rather than wine, they also came with slivers of jalapeÃ±os which added a nice kick to them. I was good enough not to dip the bread in the broth lest I get too full too early. The scallops were a hit. They were perfectly seared and meaty, drizzled with vinaigrette of bacon and whole-grain mustard.

Public House is probably not the first place I would go to for crab cakes and barbeque ribs. Their St. Louis ribs had great texture but I could have done without the sweet sauce on them. The crab cakes were more delicious without the avocado aioli which was too creamy and salty. They came with a good combination of watercress and caramelized onions, however.

The other main courses fared better: our Angus burger didn’t come with the bacon we ordered but the sautÃ©ed onions were excellent with it. I appreciated that English muffins were used which made the burger less heavy. The filet mignon sliders shouldn’t be missed. The onion brioche were small, light and toasty and brought out the beefy taste of the medium-rare filet mignon. The onions and blue cheese were good touches. The fries that came with both dishes were addictingly crispy.

The “bar” in bar food is supported by specially-concocted drinks like a martini with olives stuffed with blue cheese and a summery spiked lemonade. Decadent dessert choices included chocolate cake and cookie dough servings. We opted for the blueberry-peach crisp topped with vanilla ice cream instead of the espresso martini. They did end up wheeling me out of Public House after all.

Sushi Zen

108 West 44th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
212/302.0707
$190 for two people with sake, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

You have a favorite spot when you’re craving something and you just know that whenever you go, it would not disappoint. This is how I feel about Sushiden, my restaurant of choice when I crave sushi after having been away from the city. When the Dr. and I return from a vacation, the first full meal we eat the next day is sushi. It’s like a cleansing ritual for us; to rid off a lot of fried foods from Central America or decadent meals eaten in Europe. When we came back from Nicaragua, Sushiden was closed, but we found Sushi Zen a few blocks away.

And what a find it was. The fish of the day was a special kind of yellow snapper flown in from Japan. It tasted like Japan was only ten minutes away. It was so fresh and so buttery, I couldn’t help but order two pieces. (Which probably explains our bill at the end of the night.) The bowl of seared tuna with yuzu, sprouts and pea shoot leaves was a great indication of a great meal. The pea shoot was a little peppery and it gave a nice contrast to the citrusy flavor of the broth and highlighted the freshness of the tuna. We were impressed with the salmon tagine, which simmered only in Japanese scallion broth, some miso and hot peppers. It reminded me of Korean chigae, only more pure than any stew I’ve ever tasted. The giant clam was sliced to look like enoki mushrooms waving on my plate–tender with good texture. The jack mackerel wasn’t as oily as I expected and the kelp rolled with the fatty tuna helped me from rolling my eyes in superlative appreciation.

And Anthony Bourdain said sushi on Mondays is a bad thing!

Related post/s:
My favorite sushi place, Sushiden

Aburiya Kinnosuke

213 East 45th Street between Second and Third
212/867.5454
$104 for two, with two drinks, without tip
♥ ♥

There are two ways you can order your grilled food at Aburiya Kinnosuke. The robata grill is right at the bar where the Japanese chefs set skewers next to burning coals (not on top of) and take about 30 to 40 minutes to prepare. If you choose the shichirin grill, your meat will be served on top of a little clay pot and you can grill your food yourself. The portion is small you won’t be grilling like you do at a Korean restaurant. It’s all done that Japanese way: simple and understated.

When we reserved two seats at the bar, the fish of the night was yellowtail and the specials board noted that they were all flown in from Japan. The restaurant’s specialty is fish collar and because the yellowtail probably flew in style, it was priced at $30. We were interested to try it even at that price but thankfully, they were all out of stock by 9pm. We opted for the sea bass collar instead for $7. For collars, I don’t care if the fish came from another country. If it’s a cheap cut of fish, it really shouldn’t be more than $10. That said, we imagined our $7 sea bass collar was as good as how the $30 one would have tasted. It’s grilled the same way and it probably had the same amount of meat as the yellowtail.

But we started with the monkfish liver first. We never fail to order ankimo when it’s on the menu and Aburiya Kinnosuke’s is as delicate as they come. Another item we don’t skip at Japanese restaurants is the uni. The sashimi was served in a small woven basket with two kinds of kelp. I couldn’t help but order the fresh sea eel minus all the familiar kabayaki sweet sauce. They were served with the eel bone deep-fried with a dollop of wasabi. The eel meat was soft, yet very meaty, and it really had its own sweet taste without the dressing. The pork cheeks were delicious. They were chewy but tender enough to make us forget that cheeks, too, are considered cheap cuts. The offal taste was offset by the sweet seaweed and lemon juice. The fried chicken balls came with grilled peppers, something we’ve come to love after Barcelona, and powdered sea salt. They were crunchy without being too heavy. Next were the beef slices on the shichirin grill. They were atop a dried magnolia leaf and a handful of miso chiffonade garnished them. We cooked them for only a few minutes, rare and juicy enough to eat.

The servings were small so Aburiya Kinnosuke’s pacing was key. There were short pauses in between our dishes that allowed us to enjoy our Sapporo and plum vodka. Our dessert was one of the best things I’ve had since my visit to ChikaLicious: white sesame pudding with vanilla ice cream. The sweetness was so restrained and the nuttiness so addicting that I could have eaten another serving even though we were so full.

The crowd at Aburiya Kinnosuke is more adult and more moneyed. In fact, you can reserve a booth behind small curtains where a lot of the Japanese men probably conduct important businesses. (Since the initial reviews were published in 2005, they have employed English-speaking staff. The white girl who answers the phone is as fluent in Japanese as any of the chefs.) I understand that I have to go to midtown to have a real Japanese meal because of the proximity of the United Nations building. If I count how many times I eat Japanese food in a given month, I would group the restaurants in midtown as the best ones. Aburiya Kinnosuke is just one of them.

Related post/s:
Desserts at ChikaLicious

Wondee Siam

792 9th Avenue between 52nd and 53rd Streets
212/459.9057
$52 for two, BYOB, without tip, cash only
♥ ♥

I never make it to the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood but before a My Morning Jacket concert at Roseland Ballroom, we wanted to eat dinner. Wondee Siam came recommended from an out-of-towner. Forgive me for being cynical, but I usually would not take a recommendation from a tourist, especially for Thai food. But I stand corrected. Not only did Wondee Siam offer traditional Thai food, it also offered the good kind. So what if he got the advice from Zagat’s?

When we were ordering our meals, I told the waiter I wanted duck so I asked for his opinion between two dishes that had roasted duck in it: Yum Ped Yang and Duck Ka Prow. He said he likes the Yum Ped Yang one (or so I thought) so I nodded to order that. When it was time to eat, he brought both dishes to us. When I told him I only picked one, he apologized but left them on the table. When we realized he was not going to take the other plate away from us and from our bill, we just asked him to pack it for us to take home. Some battles should be left untouched especially if the Yum Ped Yang with slivers of green apples and cubes of pineapples was really good.

The duck wasn’t roasted, it was deep-fried, and it tasted more like bacon than it did duck. (It looked like bacon, too!) But I was all over the fresh combination of the chili pepper, lime juice and cashew nuts that I didn’t really care if it wasn’t the dish I ordered. The duck Ka Prow tasted familiar because I cook it at least once a month with chicken. Fresh basil is always a nice touch with sweet soy sauce even though the menu listed it as oyster sauce.

The mixed seafood roll was like a deep-fried version of shumai and was served with that sweet orange dip Chinese restaurants call duck sauce. The menu listed it as plum sauce which I thought has a darker color. I barely tasted the crab which is featured as the main ingredient but it was still a pretty good appetizer. The chicken was good, too, drowning in all the sauce which makes your mouth numb in a good way.

We had a good meal at Wondee Siam because their selection was also better than Pongsri’s downtown, so I’ll give them two stars even though what we ended up eating were not exactly what we initially wanted.