Category American

Entries 95 Total Description

Reviews of New American Restaurants in New York City

Ed’s Lobster Bar

Mar 17, ’07 9:44 PM

222 Lafayette Street between Spring and Broome Streets
212/343.3236
$90 for three with Birch beer and two glasses of sparkling wine, without tip
♥ ♥

Ed McFarland, another Pearl Oyster Bar graduate, has opened up his own seafood restaurant and rawbar. (Ex Pearl partner, Mary, left to open Mary’s Fish Camp.) The location is great because it’s quite hard to find a decent place to eat in SoHo without straying away from Broadway. Ed’s Lobster Bar is narrow in front and opens up in the back. There is wainscoting on the walls and bricks are painted white. The space and the menu reminded me of the many seafood places I’ve tried during drives around New England. Three of us were seated in the back during its opening weekend where it was busy and pretty tight. We were next to the bathroom and the kitchen but the collective buzz contributed to a happier ambiance than not.

Press writeups laud the lobster rolls and everyone around us ordered them, but I just couldn’t get into all that mayo even after picking the fresh lobster pieces in it. The fries were a bit soggy and I ended up pushing the boring greens that came with it. The best thing on the plate were the homemade pickles. They were perfectly salty and briny. I know I’ll be back for a jar of them and skip the $19 roll altogether. All those years visiting New England never taught me what proper clam chowder is. I liked Ed’s version because it was runnier, but my companion told me she would have prefered it chunkier, Brooklyn style. We also ordered three oysters from Blue Point and three from Pine Islands. They were fresh, sweet and salty just like the ocean. We would have appreciated the scallops better if we weren’t painfully full because they tasted like they were seared in glorious bacon fat. We had visited two other places beforehand, so we called it an early night as if we were actually in New England.

Related post/s:
Mary’s Fish Camp
Brooklyn-style clam chowder

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Devin’s Fish and Chips

Mar 12, ’07 1:03 PM

747 Saint Nicholas Avenue between 146th and 147th Streets
212/491.5518
$12 for two fish and chips, take-away
♥

Harlem is far away from England, but Devin’s fish and chips come close to a good snack on a lazy and gloomy weekend afternoon. For $6, you can eat or take away three pieces of lightly breaded fish, red snapper or whiting, with a handful of fries. They don’t have malt vinegar but there’s tartar and Tabasco sauce. We bought two and sat down on the stools in the narrow space inside while people stood in line to wait for their turn to order. The other customers were ordering everything from broiled whole fish to calamari to crab claws. While we waited, we discovered that the store across the street had some of the best beer selections in West Harlem. We bought two bottles of Smithwick’s and drank them wrapped in paper while we ate our fish and chips. Sometimes, the neighborhood pulls through.

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Food

Dec 1, ’06 8:48 AM

1569 Lexington Avenue off 100th Street
212/348.0200
$25 for two, without drinks, without tip
♥

For brunch one Sunday, we took the bus to the east side of Harlem and sat at the bar of Food. We watched ice skating on one TV and that weird game of stone and broom called curling on the other. Jewel also happened to be playing from their satellite radio. Food is a restaurant that seems out of place in the El Barrio area of the upper east side but it’s also one of the sure signs that the neighborhood is really changing. Space and rent prices are two of the reasons why businesses are opening uptown. They are also trying to reach those customers who have moved up for the same reasons. No one could have imagined two Asian people being served by a French man in Harlem just a few years ago.

Whether these changes are accepted or not, what we ordered were enough to start our day right: turkey burger with fries and huevos rancheros with bacon and beans. They were good, not exceptional, but the ritual of brunch is always better than the meal itself. I’m just glad Food makes it easier for us uptowners to partake in it.

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The Red Cat

Nov 25, ’06 9:52 AM

227 Tenth Avenue off 23rd Street
212/242.1122
$102 for two, with three beers, without tip
♥ ♥

The red and white wooden paneling didn’t fit the stereotypical Chelsea mold. The laid-back staff made me completely forget I was in New York City. It was a Friday night and all the tables were booked but the maitre d’ politely told me over the phone that I can easily sit at the bar before 7:30pm. For the next two hours, people slowly filled the place with a buzz. We weren’t at all rushed by the bartender even though a few other couples stood at the door waiting to be seated. Where was I? I was at The Red Cat.

It was also the day after Thanksgiving and at The Red Cat, there were plenty of non-fowl choices. We ordered the fried oysters served with creamed spinach. The spicy tuna tartare came with mustard, scallions and potato chips. The grilled octopus with zucchini and prosciutto. The lamb sausage was heartier than the others with white beans and watercress. A couple of pints of Old Speckled Hen pushed everything down and a lemon tart closed our tab.

None of the dishes made my eyes roll back but they were delicious and safely executed. I visited The Red Cat and left all my expectations at the door. Do the same and you’ll also be pleasantly surprised.

Related post/s:
Tia Pol is also in Chelsea

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Mas (farmhouse)

Nov 20, ’06 12:42 PM

39 Downing Street off Bedford
212/255.1790
about $255 for four, with several drinks, without tip
♥ ♥ ♥

I reserved the bar for four people at 7:30pm and because it was before prime dinner time, we were seated right away even though it was a Friday night. We sat elbow to elbow, looked at each other via the mirror behind the bar and passed our plates to one another to share.

The people behind Mas pay attention to details most New York restaurants forget about these days. I couldn’t help but ooh and aah at everything. I loved the Red Berry Dinnerware from England, the knives with pearl handles and the Terrazzo placemats. A skewer stick holding a sliced lemon made squeezing it in my basil and strawberry cocktail easier. And you know how else you can score a point with me? Have some hooks under the bar for my purse! It’s surprising how only a few bars in the city think of doing this. Every time I brush my hand under the bar, I want to feel a hook I can use, not old gum. The olive walls and warm lighting made the space cozy even though an entire glass wall exposed guests to the street traffic of the West Village.

We started with wahoo, or ono, sashimi in olive oil, cilantro and lime. The Portuguese sardines were served with a Parmesan cheese sablé cracker, reportedly made in-house, and caramelized onions, both of which controlled the fishy taste. While some of us enjoyed the Maine lobster and the fresh oysters and scallops, I split the $36 braised pork belly in a cider reduction sauce served with puréed apple and cabbage. Cranberry beans, which are only named for their red speckles, accompanied the dish and gave it a heartier and nuttier taste. To cap the bill at $200, we ordered and devoured the gooseberries and fig in hibiscus soup and the yogurt panna cotta with grape juice and apricots.

The staff seem knowledgable without being hokey. Our bartender was extra nice. He poured us a glass of an Alsace dry reisling to match our fish appetizers from the goodness of his heart. When one of us expressed an interest in tasting some whites with his dinner, he served three different types in small parts, which included one from Reuilly, but only charged for one glass.

Chef Galen Zamarra’s experiences with David Bouley and Alain Passard probably defined him as a chef, but Mas is where he proudly shows off the skills he learned. Mas, or French for farmhouse, was over my budget, but it was also a feast to my design sensibilities. Mas also means more in Spanish and after my first visit, I wanted more. If you want to impress or be impressed, Mas is the way to go.

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