Les Enfants Terrible

REVIEW

February 22, 2010


CUISINE: African, Brazilian, French, Moroccan
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lower East Side

Photo:Time Out NY

37 Canal St. at Ludlow St.

(p)212-777-7518

 

Walk in and prepare to get a serious once over from everyone in the place — bartenders and bus-boys included. If you return the favor, you'll see that mostly all of the gawkers are good-looking. 

 

Without a reservation, chances are you'll have to wait at the bar for a while, which isn't such a punishment considering the hot crowd.  However, space is tight. In fact, my only complaint about the restaurant is the extreme number of people they seat during peak periods. CONT'D

 

 

 


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Posted in FOOD on February 22, 2010 10:59am by Jena Steinbach | 2 comments





Mole

REVIEW

February 12, 2010


CUISINE: Mexican
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lower East Side

Photo: Nymag

205 Allen St. Near Houston St.

(p)-212-777-3200

 

Nothing says “party” like tableside guacamole.  The performance appeal has a few key elements: bravado, novelty, a bit of indulgence, and the final tasty result.  The Lower East Side’s Móle is a hole-in-the-wall that features the elusive art, where the waiters dutifully mash avocados for the sake of people who like margaritas. 

 

The restaurant is too small to compare to a cantina or any of the larger aggressive Mexican restaurants that dot the U.S., but it certainly captures the celebratory spirit that goes hand-in-hand with tacos and beer.  I wouldn’t venture to say the food is authentic, but the intimate restaurant is festive and cozy —as long as you are at home around the lewd ceramic figurines that pop up here and there.  CONT'D

 


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Posted in FOOD on February 12, 2010 8:44am by Rachel Hochhauser | 1 comment





Mikaku Sushi

REVIEW

January 29, 2010


CUISINE: Japanese, Sushi
NEIGHBORHOOD: Chinatown, Lower East Side, Nolita

 

85 Kenmare St.Between Cleveland Pl. and Mulberry St.

(p) 212-431-4820

 

Everyone has a secret comfort-food spot: the tiny hole-in-the-wall whose number is saved in your phone, the place you trudge towards at the end of a long day, when your thoughts become so food-centric you can hardly think about anything else.  In every neighborhood I’ve lived in, I’ve always found one of these places — and Mikaku is currently enjoying my embarrassingly frequent patronage.  

 

Mikaku is "worth it" in every way because it lives up to a humble promise: cheap, enjoyable food.  With no more than six tables, the restaurant itself is tiny — but their efficient delivery or takeout system is part of the appeal.  I can be in and out in five minutes, with a bowl of steaming hot udon ($6.15) tucked in a paper bug under my arm. CONT'D

 


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Posted in FOOD on January 29, 2010 2:09pm by Rachel Hochhauser | 0 comments





UO

REVIEW

January 21, 2010


CUISINE: Japanese, Sushi
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lower East Side

 

151 Rivington St. First Floor Between Clinton and Suffolk Sts.

(p) 212-677-5470

 

Located in an unmarked apartment building on the second floor of 151 Rivington Street, part of the fun of eating at this secret sushi place is finding it.  Your reward: a clean, modish room with white lacquered tables and black patent leather booths. 

 

The chic menu looks and feels like a party invitation. Divided into a few easily navigable categories, the first section, Plates from the Kitchen, reads like a tapas menu: smoked duck breast, boneless short ribs with roast fennel beer braise, buttered parchment roasted mushrooms.  The Sushi Bar offers tartares, carpaccio, and hamachi as well as a bunch of choices that beg for English translation.  And then there are the rolls, which range from the usuals (tuna, spicy tuna, eel avocado) to the more adventurous (lightly broiled whitefish, salmon tempura asparagus). CONT'D

 


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Posted in FOOD on January 21, 2010 1:22pm by Jena Steinbach | 0 comments





Falai

REVIEW

January 6, 2010


CUISINE: Italian
NEIGHBORHOOD: Lower East Side

 

68 Clinton St. Stanton and Rivington St

(p) 212-253-1960‎

 

The decor may whisper, but the dishes at this upscale chandelier-lit Italian spot are loud. Whiter than a gallery, the narrow dining room lets the brightly colorful ingredient-driven plates speak. The pasta tasting was sadly unavailable, but a 3-course meal at Falai is more than satiating. A sublime chicken liver stack hides dried dates alongside supple hedge-hog mushrooms. Generous portions of inventive pastas are creamy and loaded with fresh vegetables. The only slip up: one of us did find a (forgivable) tiny bone in the roasted rabbit with radishes and carrots, but it was otherwise perfectly cooked and too painterly to dismiss. Falai's thoroughly delicious molecular offerings make it an enjoyable place to drop your Christmas bonus.

 


Posted in FOOD on January 6, 2010 10:17am by Ashley Hoffman | 0 comments