Galanga Garden (New York, NY)

136 9th Ave
Manhattan, NY 10011
(212) 675-3330

Don't confuse Galanga Garden in Chelsea with Galanga in the West Village. Evidently, they share ownership, but where Galanga serves competently made, if not always perfectly authentic, Thai food made with fresh ingredients, Galanga Garden serves food that I would be embarrassed to admit I made. (Anyone who's eaten my cooking can verify just how dire an assessment this is!)

We ordered a variety of dishes to share: corn fritters, chive cakes, summer roll, grilled pork chop, a dish with the strangely titillating name "149 W4 Breast", and drunken noodles. How were these terrible? Let me count the ways...

The corn fritters and chive cakes were deep fried in insufficiently hot oil and not drained at all, which meant they came out soggy and dripping with grease. Despite having a name that evokes robot anatomy, the 149 W4 Breast turned out to be just grilled chicken breast, named after Galanga's West Village address. The chicken and pork were tender, but had been insufficiently (or just not) marinated prior to cooking, so flavors were very superficial. Both of these dishes and the drunken noodles were imbalanced, made with too little salt, little if any fish sauce, and too much sugar.

The litany of complaints continues: The drunken noodles didn't contain any basil that I could detect. The rice wrappers on the summer rolls were hard and brittle (having been made in advance and then left to sit in the refrigerator). The glutinous rice that came with the pork was hard and dry; the curried rice that came with the chicken tasted acrid the way powdered spices do when they haven't been tempered or cooked enough. I could go on, but you probably get the point.

I'm thrilled that Thai is becoming more common in NYC -- it is a deservedly popular cuisine -- but the downside is that terrible, dumbed-down restaurants like Galanga Garden are proliferating like Gremlins in water.

Kashkaval (New York, NY)

856 9th Ave
New York, NY 10019
(212) 581-8282

Kashkaval and I go way back. Years ago, when I first moved to the city and could only figure out how to go uptown and downtown on the 1 train (if I was lucky and didn't go the wrong direction), friends would invite me to dinner at Kashkaval. They figured that room for navigational error would be minimal given its proximity to the Columbus Circle subway stop. Of course, they underestimated my powers of of misnavigation, but I did make it to Kashkaval once or twice and fell head over heels in love. Later, when I moved to the neighborhood, I went to Kashkaval because it was just affordable enough on a grad student's budget and a tad classier than other neighborhood favorites like Empanada Mama and Wondee Siam. But it's been years since I last lived in Hell's Kitchen and I hadn't seen my old friend, since.

Out of nostalgia, I went back the other day -- and sort of wish I hadn't. It was like meeting an old paramour, again, years later, and realizing that he was not quite as wonderful as you'd once believed him to be. Once upon a time, the very idea of a wine tapas bar seemed rather glamorous and sophisticated. Now, with Casa Mono and Tia Pol and Sakagura and all the other hundreds of tapas / small plates restaurants around, concept has given way to execution as the distinguishing feature. And execution is where Kashkaval fails to really excite.

Kashkaval has a so-so selection of cheese and cold cuts that you can order in combinations of three or four. The list is fairly extensive, but quality is middle-of-the-road and I do wish the menu included some sort of information about origin of the cheeses and meats. (Also, a newer neighborhood standard, Casellula, does much better cheese & wine pairings IMHO.) On the plus side, Kashkaval has (probably domestically produced) gjetost, otherwise known as brunost, a Norwejian/Scandinavian caramelized cheese that has the texture of fudge. It's delicious, desserty and not common on NYC menus.

Tapas are all served cold, but the staff will nuke many items for you if you ask nicely. Most of the tapas are competent, but some don't survive advance preparation as well as others. The stuffed grape leaves, tabouleh and orzo all have a tendency towards mushiness, for instance. Panini sandwiches are pricey, but generously sized, and come with a well balanced, texturally perfect potato salad. Fondues are middle-of-the-road, but fun to share with friends on a cold wintry night.

And that brings us to Kashkaval's real charm. It's not so much the food that draws as it is the fact that it's an accessible place to come with a group of friends. Though the restaurant is as crowded as... well, as my own personal version of Hell, if you make reservations in advance and snag one of the larger tables.... and don't mind rubbing elbows with the next table over... and don't mind the noise / heat... the tight quarters and low-key digs do have a certain charm. The menu is vegetarian tolerant and group friendly: cheese plates, tapas plates and fondues come in relatively large portions that are meant to be shared.

Will I be traveling far out of my way to go to Kashkaval now that I no longer live nearby? Probably not. But we'll always have Paris.

Westville (New York, NY)

210 W 10th St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 741-7971

Every so often, after I've seen too many cute l'il cows and chickens on Farmville and get to contemplating the strange moral (il)logic of how I would rather feed myself to my dog than eat him if we were both starving, yet regularly eat smart, adorable animals like pigs without remorse, I start to lose my appetite for meat a bit. On one such recent meat avoidance kick, my SO and I sauntered into Westville for dinner.

Despite sounding like another cutesy Facebook application, Westville has many redeeming characteristics. It has an extensive, well made list of vegetable sides, many of which are fairly high protein. The current list includes zucchini with grape tomatoes and mozzarella, kale with shallots and white wine, roasted cauliflower dijonaise, roasted Brussels sprouts, beets with chevre, artichoke hearts with parm, etc... Most are quite good, perfectly roasted to bring out sweet undertones of vegetables. I didn't love the dijon dressing used with the cauliflower (it's strangely sweet and tastes like a brand of bottled commercial salad dressing that I personally kind of hate), but the cauliflower itself is nicely done, roasted to a beautiful golden brown.

Westville has a very short list of wines by the glass, which seem to be uniformly well maintained and completely palatable based on the reds I've tried. It has greasily delicious fries that remind us of the kind we used to get at Food Court in college. And they make a mean sausage sandwich according to my SO.

Since I seem to be prone to telling people about my numerous neuroses, today, I'll disclose another one. Every once in a while, I'll try something i know I dislike just to see if I still dislike it. I drink root beer and eat black licorice about once a year just to make sure I still hate them (I do). I try nut loaf every once in a while, knowing that it was one of the least delicious foods to me, ever, even when I was a vegetarian craving any source of protein I could find. Nonetheless, in a moment of madness, I decided to order Westville's version of the nut loaf, made out of quinoa, garbanzo, lentils, red beans and brown rice, served over garlic mashed potatoes and under a mushroom gravy sauce. To Westville's credit, the dish wasn't entirely horrible; it was merely non-delicious. The funny thing is that though I like all of the listed ingredients, individually (quinoa is great prepared like tabouleh, I love garbanzo hummus, etc...), they don't seem to like one another enough to work as a dish. I understand that the dish was supposed to evoke comfort food (meatloaf), but I guess I wanted something bolder, something not masquerading as meatloaf minus flavor, but rather more comfortable in its own, more vegetabley skin.

In any event, perhaps it's unfair to judge Westville on the basis of a dish I didn't really like to begin with. The garlic mashed potatoes were pretty good and had bits of red potato skin in there (good in my book -- I like "rustic" mashed potato preps). The green salad that came with the loaf was beautifully dressed and delicious enough for me to eat every bite out of desire and not obligation. On previous visits, I remember liking the fried chicken fairly well (not currently on the menu).

Overall, Westville is a decent enough neighborhoody restaurant with nice staff. Food is comforting and solid and healthy, it's somewhat accommodating of vegetarians (temporary or otherwise). I wouldn't really take a new date there unless I didn't like him very much, though. You have to contend with very tight seating, probably a wait to get in and a drafty entrance that somehow lets in a lot of cold air despite the double doors and curtain.

Fireside Cocktail Cuisine (New York, NY)

19 E 52nd St
New York, NY 10022
(212) 754-5011

Fireside Lounge is one of those places you walk out of wondering how it isn't better known. It is an *excellent* place to go for cocktails, with house specials as precisely and deliciously mixed as at the Modern Bar Room, my long-time midtown Manhattan fallback. Fireside has a more extensive selection, however, and isn't afraid to use rather less rarefied ingredients. Where the Modern serves drinks with rose petals, Fireside has one that comes with crushed Lifesavers on the rim of the glass -- though the latter can go highbrow, as well, with offerings that include elderflower syrup and prickly pear puree, added with a moderate hand.

The bartender is a distinguished-looking gentleman who looks like he could be Merriman Lyon from the Dark is Rising series, with ferocious white eyebrows and craggy features. Don't worry if you work for the Dark though; this guy uses his powers of good solely for the purposes of mixing a damn fine cocktail.

Major bonus points to the good folks at Fireside for: (1) pointing out that they were out of Maker's when I ordered a drink with it as an ingredient and offering to sub Jack Daniels, instead. Some places would've just subbed without asking and I do appreciate a place that recognizes the difference. (Maker's is much sweeter than Jack.) (2) Graciously letting my buddy and I stay and talk while nursing our drinks for hours without ever pressuring us to purchase more drinks and food. (3) Not typecasting me as the sort of scrawny person who drinks weak, sweet drinks, which I happen to despise. :)

The place isn't immediately appealing from outside. It's in the bottom floor of the Omni hotel and appears, at first, to have faint hints of hotel sterility. On the inside, though, the space is warm and inviting, though slightly better lit than your average cocktail lounge. The bar and a number of lounge chairs are on the front side, along with a large, but unobtrusive wall of TV screens simultaneously showing CNN, college basketball and two other channels. The back of the space, separated from the front by a few columns, houses an attractive restaurant. [This review is based on cocktails at the bar, only; I didn't eat at the bar or restaurant, though the menus looked appealing.]

Noise level is moderate. You can hear each other talk, but won't worry that everyone in the place is listening in on your conversation.

Locanda Ottoemezzo (London, UK)

2/4 Thackeray Street
London W8 5ET
UK
+44 20 7937 2200

A really nice neighborhood find, this place. Despite the stiff competition for great food in the vicinity (Launceston Place and Min Jian, among others), Locanda Ottoemezzo holds its own. Food is simple and nothing on the menu will blow your mind, but the restaurant is noteworthy for sourcing exceptionally fresh, high-quality ingredients and then not screwing them up.

My last meal there, a few months ago, began with a timbale of crab, pomegranate seeds, rocket greens and orange dressing, a well thought out combination of flavors. The portion was generous.

My main of monkfish medallions was moist and tender and came with asparagus (fresh, seasonal at the time, simply flavored) and a strongly flavored green apple / ginger chutney. Surprisingly, the monkfish stood up to the stronger flavors of the chutney pretty well, though I wouldn't call the two a natural match.

I didn't love the wine list, which was fairly abbreviated and singlemindedly Italian, but did love the service, which doesn't hurry you out the door. Decor is interesting and at times, mildly racy, advertising classic (but pointedly non-classy) Italian and American movies from the '40s or so. Seating is fairly tight; the upside is that overheard conversations can be pretty interesting.

Overall, this is a completely solid place for dinner if you happen to be in the neighborhood.

The Highlands Scottish Pub (New York, NY)

150 W 10th St
New York, NY 10014

This is a friendly, charming and an all around good l'il pub -- possibly the only Scottish pub in Manhattan. My initial assessment is that Highlands is about on par with the Spotted Pig, though thankfully with a lot less hype (for now). The beer list isn't extensive, but it's well chosen, with a number of harder-to-find Scottish beers on tap. Wines by the glass are fine, though not a strong point, and there are also a good variety of wines by the bottle available. Cocktails are fair to judge by the three that I tried.

The kitchen is capable of beautiful things. A wine-braised leg of lamb with roasted Brussels sprouts and roasted fingerling potatoes was excellent, as good as any I've had in NYC. The lamb had been well browned, prior to braising, a step that some places seem to skimp on. As a result, the outer layer was caramelized and incredibly flavorful, while the meat was delectably tender. Sprouts and potatoes were both perfectly roasted to the point of sweetness with a nice sprinkle of sea salt for added crunch. Cod with rocket greens, bubble & squeak (potatoes with cabbage) and capers was solid, though less exciting. Appetizers of cullen skink and arugula with goat cheese and walnuts were also fair. Next time I intend to try the haggis.

The waitstaff that we had were completely competent and very, very nice. Overall, the place feels wonderfully non-pretentious, the sort of neighborhood joint you'd want to saunter into every night, the sort of place where you'd want to get to know the bartender.

Super Tacos / Sobre Ruedas Truck (New York, NY)

14th St and Seventh Ave
New York, NY 10011
(347) 995-0583

I just moved back to the West Village from the UWS and although the culinary landscape down here is far better in so many ways, I was feeling some pangs of regret for having left behind my dearly beloved Super Tacos truck. It'd bedded down my belly for so many long, inebriated nights out with my buddies and been the source of so many late-night meals when I'd stumbled home from work too late to even think of making dinner. Super Tacos was always there for me, staffed by three or four smiley, sweet guys and sometimes a very nice lady who patiently humored my truly sh*tty Spanish.

So imagine my surprised delight on finding the very same trusty taco truck I'd so loved, uptown, down in my new nabe, parked on 14th St. during the day! Thank goodness the truck is Sobre Ruedas: "on wheels".

It's no secret that Sobre Ruedas makes a mean taco. Taco fillings are consistently moist, nuanced and well spiced. They're made with the flavorful, fatty parts of animals that gringos sometimes shy away from. The lengua is fried to a crisp, yet wonderfully tender. The carne enchillada tacos are beautifully spiced, the goat tacos are pleasantly gamey... And though the tacos al pastor pork isn't spit roasted, it is pretty darn good, anyway, and comes with just enough roasted pineapple to stir things up a bit. Like other taco trucks, Sobre Ruedas only uses packaged tortillas, but they grill the tortillas so nicely before serving that you almost wouldn't notice.

You can order any of the tacos with gringo toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, cilantro) or have them with the de facto sprinkle of cilantro and chopped white onions. There are always radishes and red and green salsas available as garnish.

I am, to be honest, a bit less fond of their tamales, which can be a bit soggy depending on when you get them. But the tacos, especially when you order them to eat at the truck itself, are almost always beautiful.

Go get 'em, tigers. It's one of the best street eats in the city, IMHO.

Xi'an Famous Foods (New York, NY)

88 E Broadway
New York, NY 10002

(212) 786-2068

Lamb "burger", photo courtesy of Xi'an Famous Foods

I considered writing a bad review of Xi'an Famous Foods because I don't want the lines to get any longer than they already are -- but actually, the place is pretty awesome. The lamb "burgers" (braised lamb in Xi'an flatbread), lamb cumin noodles and lamb stews are authentic, belly-warming comfort food, perfect for this cold weather. The lamb cumin noodles and liang pi, a rice and/or wheat noodle-like dish that translates rather unappetizingly as "cold skin", are hotter than Hades, though, so be careful. There's a lag between your first bite, when you think "Oh alright, this isn't too bad" and the smackdown when the heat really hits you.

Lamb "burger", photo courtesy of Xi'an Famous Foods

The place is a bit hard to find. Although the address is on East Broadway, the entrance is actually on Forsyth St., around the corner from the entrance to the 88 East Broadway Mall. There are only two seats in the TINY place and when it's busy, you won't really want to eat there, since all of the other customers will be squeezing up against you as they order / wait for their orders. So be prepared to (1) wait outside (in the cold) for your food for up to 10-15 minutes; and (2) take your food to go.

Can't wait to come back and try the lamb face and pig blood salads!

Babbo (New York, NY)

110 Waverly Pl
New York, NY 10011
(212) 777-0303

It's hard to objectively evaluate Babbo without taking into account the backdrop of every gushy thing I've ever heard about the restaurant in the past. I suspect that if I'd walked in without preconceptions, I'd love the place. Babbo does have a lot to recommend it: Servers are friendly, it's a very low-key, non-pretentious place with a classic rock soundtrack (not too loud, at least downstairs; I'd heard that it was deafening). The wine list is strong with a number offered by the quartino, food competent, pacing perfect, prices more than fair.

But given that my expectations were likely inflated by all the hype, I'm not sure I did end up loving the place. I also very likely didn't order the best dishes they had on offer, since I was attempting to avoid post meal food coma and Mario Batali's genius extends more to the very hearty, red-meat / offal / pasta centric dishes.

I had the warm lamb's tongue vinaigrette with chanterelle mushrooms and a 3-minute egg to start. The tongue was really nice and tender, with a nice balance of rich and sour elements. But the egg was a little past the three-minute marker and sadly the yolk wasn't runny enough to really mix into the tongue properly. The SO had the Chianti stained pappardelle with wild boar ragu, which must've been pretty good given that I wasn't able to wrangle a single bite away from him.

My main, the whole grilled branzino with radicchio in pancetta and lemon oregano jam was just so-so. I'm admittedly a bit of a snot when it comes to fish, but to me, the branzino did taste fishy enough that it probably wouldn't pass muster at a more seafood-centric restaurant. On the other hand, the skin was wonderfully crispy and the fish was not overcooked in any way (a common problem at restaurants). The service wrt the fish also deserves mention: One of the servers brought out the whole fish for me to see before taking it to the prep table in the dining room and deboning / beheading / betailing it for me. I thought that was a nice touch, though I personally don't have any trouble staring down the fish as I devour it. (If one is going to eat an animal, at least don't be a hypocrite about where it comes from, right?... Right?... Bueller?) Raddichio was also grilled -- a bit overly oily -- and tied attractively in some delicious, house-made pancetta.

My SO's main was Thumper with Brussels sprouts, parsnips, Babbo pancetta and carrot vinaigrette. The rabbit was simply spiced and incredibly tender, so tender, I almost suspected it was chicken. Brussels sprouts were nicely roasted and crispy -- all Batali restaurants seem to excel at Brussels sprouts preparation for some reason -- though the vegetables were a bit overdressed and again a bit too oily for my tastes.

Our side of roasted beet tartare (actually listed under the appetizers section) was attractive, but pretty run of the mill tastewise. The "beet tartare" was made of cooked golden and red beets, finely chopped, and served with garnishes on the side of mustard, anchovy, sea salt, and a few other things. The garnishes didn't really make sense to me and flavorwise didn't taste as though they really went with the beets.

Ended the meal with a really wonderful maple and mascarpone cheesecake with maple cream and saba... Saba? There was no mackerel in the dessert, thank goodness, so I never figured out what the saba was (banana? didn't taste banana, either). The cheesecake did come with an absolutely luscious maple sauce and crumbles similar to what you might find on, say, an apple crumble. I am not usually much of a sweet dessert person -- I prefer to overindulge in the form of salty grease and alcohol -- but this one was undeniably delicious.

Portions were *massive* for NYC. The lamb tongue appetizer was large enough to be an entree at most other restaurants. As at other Batali establishments, red meats and offal are far and away the strongest part of the menu. Next time, I plan to clear the rest of my evening so I can gorge on pasta and red meat and then go home to sleep it all off.

Soto (New York, NY)

357 6th Ave
New York, NY 10079
(212) 414-3088

Soto must be one of my favorite restaurants in the world, or at least NYC. The food is nothing short of phenomenal and it's always a pleasure to sit before the unassuming Sotohiro Kosugi-san when I'm not dining with a group at a table.

Uni is the restaurant's raison d'etre and any preparation where it appears is going to be good. I think Kosugi-san sources most of his from Santa Barbara, but sometimes does have uni from Hokkaido, as well. Regardless of the source, the uni is impeccably, reliably fresh and as sweet as can be.

It's not really accurate to call Soto a sushi restaurant, though it does serve sushi. While the sushi is decent to good, the non-sushi preparations far outshine the sushi. Each plate is an individual art composition -- visual and gustatory -- a brilliant combination of vivid flavors that never overwhelm delicately flavored fish and crustaceans. The compositions are plated beautifully, with translucent, sweet fish offset by bright, slightly bitter greens or crispy, barely vinegared Japanese cucumber slices or a pretty, light green wasabi tobiko. This is some of the most beautiful, nuanced and delicious food I've had anywhere in the world.

My favorites on the current menu:

- Uni tempura with uni powder (creamy... amazing)
- Uni Ika Sugomori Zukuri (sea urchin wrapped in thinly sliced squid and shiso served with quail egg and tosa soy reduction)
- Geoduck Clam Salad (ginger marinated giant clam, japanese cucumber, daikon and shiso, spicy radish sprouts)
- Kampachi Tar Tare (chopped hawaiian amber jack with wasabi tobiko, pine nuts, served with soy foam -- note that this is pretty accessible for non-adventurous eaters)
- Steamed Lobster With Uni Mousse (layers of steamed Maine lobster and uni mousse in lotus wrap garnished with smoked uni and caviar; the smoked uni is a perfect foil for the sweet lobster)

Do note that portions tend to be small and they are not inexpensive as other reviewers have pointed out -- but Soto is very much worth an occasional splurge, I think. It's probably the only place in NYC that I can always count on to have very fresh uni. Even Yasuda-san sources uni of variable quality at his restaurant; Kosugi-san has never served me a bad piece. I can't rave enough.

p.s. Soto doesn't serve dessert except for mochi ice cream (a platter of five half-pieces of green tea, red bean, strawberry and two other flavors).

p.p.s. They do have a short, but well chosen sake list, all served at their individual, optimal temperatures and kept this way in the back until refills are needed.

p.p.p.s. Check out the motorized R2D2 shaped trashcan in the bathroom. I spent a good five minutes playing with it.