Madras Mahal
104 Lexington Avenue between 27/28th Streets
New York, NY 10016
(212) 684-4010
Subway: 6 to 28th Street
Bus: M1/102/103 to 28th Street


One Friday evening, a friend and I were Google chatting as to where to eat. We were focused on Asian food, but more importantly, we had restaurant parameters guiding us: inexpensive, BYO wine and not too far in any one direction. Our search landed us at Madras Mahal, a (practically) indistinguishable, vegetarian/Kosher joint on the Curry Hill stretch.

We entered a dimly-lit, comfortably-small and almost-empty room and were seated immediately in a booth. While we examined the menu, the waiters hovered and paced between the back and front of the room, stopping to pour water, open wine bottles and give us glasses.

Our first dish, samosa chaat, which is two samosas split in half and covered in a spicy yogurt sauce, was served cold and came out quickly. To our surprise, Madras Mahal began on a great note... the chaat was absolutely delicious with the perfect level of spice.

We took a bread recommendation from our waiter who suggested alu paratha, a flaky bread stuffed with a thin layer of potato, which came with raita and chutney. We couldn’t stop taking triangles of this wonderful suggestion, which I would’ve liked to eat with our curries, but came out beforehand.

I love palak paneer (also called saag paneer), which is a spinach curry with cheese, and this one, heavy on the paneer and spinach, was quite good. The vegetable korma was less successful. Korma is my favorite curry, and I’ve yet to figure out the exact ingredients, as it seems everyone has a different recipe (I’ve asked friends, parents of friends and many a cab driver), but the general consensus is that it includes cream, tomato and ground nuts. I think Madras Mahal’s korma was too tomatoey which took over the entire dish.

We also chose the Madras thali (combination dinners) to get a sampling of the restaurant’s other offerings; iddly (a lentil/rice cake), vadai (a lentil donut), a mini utthappam (a pancake of rice/lentil with mixed vegetables) and the mini masala dosai (a crepe stuffed with potato and onion) were all served on a round silver tray. I’m not that thrilled by utthappam in general, and this was no different. The dosai (also spelled dosa) was large considering it was supposed to be “mini”; otherwise it was unremarkable.

As we were finishing our meal, a couple Indian friends met up and joined us. Although not really hungry, we raved about the samosa chaat, so they ordered one for themselves, and it was quickly devoured. They also chose the dahi vada, lentil balls served cold in a spicy-sweet yogurt sauce. I had a bite, and the combination of flavors was amazing. I think this may be my new favorite snack food.

The service was friendly enough (although after our friends arrived, they made it abundantly clear that they wanted us to leave), the food was pretty good and the bill came to $24 per person with tax and tip. Is it the best vegetarian Indian food I've ever had? Maybe not (Dimple on 30th and Saravanaas on the next block are both excellent). But considering I’ve already thought of an instance where I can return to Madras Mahal, I think it's worth keeping in the rotation.

The Stanton Social
99 Stanton Street between Orchard and Ludlow Streets (Lower East Side)
NY, NY 10002
(212) 995 0099
http://www.thestantonsocial.com/

My New Year’s resolution for New York City restaurants is, “Please someone, feed me.” I always thought New York City was the trendsetter city of all restaurant cities in America. How come the small plates concept has been hot for two years in San Francisco, but it’s now catching on in New York City? Who, besides restaurant owners trying to make money, ever thought conning diners into getting tons of small plates instead of two to three decently sized plates was acceptable? Actually, I have a new, New Year’s resolution for New York City restaurants, “Please leave small plates for tapas.”

It was a Wednesday evening and yet another large dinner with friends on the Lower East Side. It was ten of us on the second floor of the restaurant, next to the bar, and the place was only half-crowded. Since The Stanton Social is a small plates restaurant, we decided to split the table in half, five and five, so that each could get a reasonable portion of each plate. The restaurant also creatively allows you to order additional pieces in a plate, which we found out after ordering unfortunately, but we implemented our new knowledge during our second round of orders.

We started with the edamame with spicy miso and ginger which someone at the table (who had dined at the restaurant previously) exclamed was excellent. The grilled edamame comes topped with a thick sauce that is tasty albeit salty. Overall, though, it was much too messy for a food that is shared by a group of people and shared by numerous hands. The chicken and waffles was unpleasant although no one else at the table agreed or disagreed. It tasted burnt and the syrup, which came on the side, didn’t add much flavor or moisture. Two friends didn’t even see the syrup it came with. I tried it with and without syrup. Both were serious let-downs. You can’t name something chicken and waffles and do that to me, c’mon! The wood grilled pizzetta was simple and good, yet uninventive. It’s a fun addition to the meal considering there’s so little food on each plate, you need to carbo load somehow. Which brings me to the french fries. They were yummy but the servings were even smaller than Core 191 (could things actually get smaller than Core 191?). As a result, the fries don’t help you in your grand scheme to carbo load. Shucks.

The hanger steak was unremarkable, which at that point, didn’t surprise me much. The meatballs and manicotti were fine – again, unremarkable. The best additions to our table were pierogies that were not outstanding but tasty and easy to eat, share, and enjoy and the charred squid lettuce wraps. The lettuce wraps were very good, fun, and interesting. They were, by far, the best dish we had ordered.

For dessert, we shared a chocolate tasting which came with ice cream – too spicy, pudding – delicious, raspberry chocolate cake – decent but dry, and peppermint patties – a cheap addition to the dessert that we only ate out of sheer hunger.

The ambience of the The Stanton Social made up for what the food lacked. Sound level and lighting were well managed on the 2nd level (however, who’s to say what the other floors are like). In addition, the restaurant catered to a group of 10 quite well. Overall, the food was not earth-shattering but was dependably fine. A couple of decent dishes amongst some real snoozers. Perhaps next time, I’ll go to The Stanton Social (to order the lettuce wraps) after eating at Bereket.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House
1221 6th Avenue at 49th Street
New York, NY 10020
(212) 575-5129
Subway: B/D/F/V to 47-50th Street/Rockefeller Center
Bus: M5/6/7 to 49th Street; M27/50 to 6th Avenue


There’s always much debate as to the best steak in Manhattan (and Brooklyn, if you include Peter Luger’s), and with steakhouses popping up all over town, it’s hard to even keep up. Some go to such great lengths to have a favorite steakhouse for each cut of steak (yes, I really know this person)! As for me, I’m partial to ribeye and porterhouse, and when I’m eating out, I enjoy these most at MarkJoseph downtown. When one of my girlfriends suggested dinner at her favorite steakhouse, Del Frisco’s, somewhere I’ve never been, I happily agreed.

Housed on the ground floor of a corporate building in Midtown, Del Frisco’s doesn’t wow you on the outside. However, upon entering, you are greeted by a grand staircase, incredibly high ceilings and a vast open dining area surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows. Upon my arrival, the hostesses were overwhelmed, disorganized and less than friendly. No one offered to take my coat, and I had to ask multiple times about my reservation before I was assisted.

There are two bars for drinking and waiting (one on the ground floor, one on the balcony), and the former, the large main bar, was bustling. I headed upstairs to the smaller balcony bar, which was completely occupied, yet not overwhelming, and had a bird’s eye view of the dining space below as well as of touristy Sixth Avenue through the soaring windows. I’ve also heard that the upstairs bar offers a Bloomberg terminal to accommodate their typical clientele (I didn’t notice it).

I was disappointed that neither bartender knew how to make my favorite aperitif, the Negroni, but neither quibbled when I corrected them. I liked the small-bar, almost café-like feel that the upstairs bar gave, which is a difficult feat at a massive steakhouse. After our party was complete, we barely waited or barely felt like we had waited at all when we were ushered by an attractive hostess to a table in a small nook on the balcony level next to a private enclosed cigar lounge. Our server, Anna, was attentive and friendly, and service was excellent.

Immediately upon sitting, we received a small loaf of bread sprinkled with sesame seeds that was steaming hot, and absolutely delicious. Have you ever noticed that warm bread always tastes better? I don’t understand why all restaurants don’t freshly bake or even heat up their bread. Del Frisco’s bread would only have been improved had the butter served with it been even slightly softened or at room temperature.

Appetizers were served incredibly quickly, almost too much so. I’d read everywhere that the crab cake was the not-to-be missed starter, and I understand why: this single crab cake has no filler and is basically a seasoned mound of lump crabmeat served with a delicious Cajun lobster sauce. The marinated shrimp, similar to a shrimp cocktail except laid out on a platter, consisted of five ginormous shrimp in an herby marinade and were tasty, although unmemorable. The fried oysters were also good, but they wouldn’t hold a candle to those from Pearl Oyster Bar.

Our appetizers were barely cleared when our entrees began to arrive. A friend and I chose to share the signature 22 oz. bone-in ribeye which was a “special” – I learned later that although this cut cannot be found on the menu, it is always available, which I think is a strange practice. Well-marbled, incredibly tender and perfectly cooked, this was a good, large steak, which was definitely enough food for two fairly hungry people with appetizers and sides. After the fact, I was slightly offended that the waitress tried to sell us on the $89.95 Tomahawk chop because she felt the ribeye would not be enough food. This gargantuan cut of meat, which the table next to us did order, could have easily served all four of us and had a HUGE bone that almost ran the length of the table.

The porterhouse was not good and lacked the flavor and depth that you expect from a top steakhouse. We went with three sides, which was probably excessive, but it was hard to narrow it down as they all sounded delicious. The macaroni and cheese was incredible. Even when I was full, I couldn’t help but take another scoopful. The creamed spinach was one of the best I’ve ever had, and I’m positive it’s cooked with bacon (and let’s face it, bacon makes everything better). The only disappointing side was the potatoes au gratin, which were large cubes of potato covered with cheese. It didn’t work.

On a service note, I overheard a conversation that the table behind me was having with their waiter (not Anna). The couple had ordered a bottle of wine and asked him how the wine was. The waiter, rather than offering to bring a sommelier or someone knowledgeable, responded with “I’ve never tried it, but the label looks really nice” and proudly showed off the bottle to the couple. Obviously Del Frisco’s could train this guy a bit more.

We went with lemon cake for dessert for the table, which was a nice light finish to a heavy dinner, but it too disappointed. The cake itself was moist and lemony, but it didn’t really impress.

With a couple cocktails, a glass of wine and two bottles of Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine (the least expensive bottle of sparkling wine or champagne – $50), the damage was $130 per person including tax and gratuity, which sounds pricey, but I think Del Frisco’s was well-worth it.

Relish

225 Wythe Avenue at N. 3rd Street (Williamsburg)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 963-4546
Subway: L to Bedford Street; J/M/Z to Marcy Avenue

Living in Manhattan, I rarely cross the river in general, but I will travel for good food. While perusing New York magazine’s "Where to Eat 2007", I was intrigued by this place Egg in Williamsburg that serves delicious breakfast (housed in Sparky’s All-American during morning hours) so one Sunday morning, I got up early, picked up some friends and crossed the Williamsburg Bridge. Much to our dismay, by the time we arrived at Egg, they were no longer accepting people. Egg closes at 12pm (so they can reopen as Sparky's), and unfortunately, we missed our window.

Since we were already in Brooklyn, we decided to stay, and one of my friends suggested Relish, which was just down the road. We pulled up to this adorable, vintagey railcar diner, and I hoped it was as cute inside as out. We were greeted by a tall, lanky hipster who seated us in a cozy booth in the corner of the front room.

Inside, it did not disappoint, and I loved the counter that spanned the entire front room although no one was seated there when we arrived. As we lingered, the restaurant filled up rapidly, and the counter and empty back room were completely full by the time we left.

We were really hungry when we arrived, and no one could decide, since each menu item sounded appealing. We basically ordered as much food as we could without looking ridiculous.

Grilled hanger steak served with two eggs over easy and homefries was exactly what I needed. Hanger steak is generally chewy, but this one was served in nugget-size chunks and was perfectly cooked and tender. I requested egg whites rather than eggs over easy, but I was told that the restaurant was unable to accommodate me. I subbed French fries for homefries, and the former tasted great with the tangy red pepper sauce served with the corned beef hash. Unfortunately, the sauce did not complement the corned beef hash as well. The actual corned beef hash was fine, but I prefer mine in a smaller dice with less peppers and onions, more meat and potato.

The baked Spanish eggs were delightful and light with its spicy tomato sauce, tender potatoes and gooey cheese. Classic eggs Benedict were unremarkable, and although I enjoyed the brightness of the hollandaise sauce, a fluffier English muffin and a bit more Hollandaise sauce would have benefited the dish. The crab cake version which we also ordered had the same issues; continuing the dish’s mediocrity, the crab cake itself was just ok. Although well-seasoned, it lacked an outer crust and tasted more like its spices than crab.

The side order of cheddar grits were quite good, creamy, but eat them fast as the consistency changes quickly to congealed. Chicken sausage was tasty, slightly rubbery, not memorable. Biscuits and gravy, which I was really looking forward to, were a mess – two large biscuits covered with a layer of scrambled eggs and then doused in a white chicken-sausage gravy. After taking apart the pieces, the biscuits turned out to be decent, not crumbly, a bit fluffy, but they were good enough with the modest amount of average gravy served atop. Scrambled eggs should be light and airy. These, on the other hand, were an overcooked, dense mass.

Bloody Mary’s had an amazing kick with the addition of red chili puree, but the virgin Bloody Mary was noticeably better than the one with vodka which was so diluted that the kick was gone (yet lacked the alcohol kick as well).

Service was inconsistent, ordering was fine, coffee and water were only refilled upon request. Dishes came out in waves, but I think we may have confused the waitress by ordering so many dishes for so few people.

I still want to go to Egg.