Restaurant Week at Le Cirque

Hello readers!!!  I am back after an almost 2 week hiatus.  Work has been busy and this month has been craaaaaaaawling by at a snail's pace.  Apparently February is the shortest month of the year but it sure as heck doesn't feel like it!!

Now, although I've been busy at work during the week, that doesn't mean I haven't found the time and opportunity to eat!  I've mentioned several times already that I LOVE living in Midtown East.  Not only is my apartment ultra-close to 3 subway lines, but it's also within walking distance to so many wonderful haute French restaurants.  French food is without a doubt one of my top three favorite cuisines (my other two favorites being Japanese and Chinese [and all its variations], since I can't live without rice!) - there simply isn't a better combination than the top quality food and top notch service inherently found at most classy French restaurants.  La Grenouille (53rd between Madison and 5th) and Daniel (65th between Park and Madison) are located in our neighborhood, and a recent discovery, Le Cirque (58th between 3rd and Lexington), is a stone's throw away as well!

My fiance and I headed up to Le Cirque last Friday evening for dinner.  They had extended the duration of their Restaurant Week menu, so we were lucky enough to be able to experience it.  I've tried a few restaurants during Restaurant Week (ie. Butter, Brasserie, Dos Caminos...) and although it's a wonderful concept for us middle-class folk, the food usually doesn't deliver.  Choices are minimal and unoriginal and the quality is not so good, to say the least.  In my almost 5 years of living in NYC, I can only recall 2 excellent Restaurant Week experiences I've had, and they were at One if by Land, Two if by Sea, and now Le Cirque.

Le Cirque
(58th Street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues)

The only negative thing I have to say about Le Cirque is that upon walking into the lobby, the receptionist directs you to a coat check section before bringing you to your seat.  Rather than wait in line to check my coat (which reminds me too much of going to a nightclub), I think it'd be much classier if they had someone at the receptionist counter take our coats for us and check them in on our behalf.  

Le Cirque is on the ground floor of a section of the Bloomberg building.  The Bloomberg building is a very unique, circular construction, and as such, the restaurant is built in the shape of a semi-circle.  The interior feels like a warm and high-class French restaurant, me likey.  :)  I can't remember what I had for an appetizer (something shrimp-based) but my fiance enjoyed his lamb shank terrine.  You can always tell when my fiance is in fine-dining mode when he starts eating reaaaaaally.... slooooooowly... in bite-sized morsels.  Usually my eating pace is half as slow as his is (eating family-style with the 3 men of his family is always a harried experience! lol) but when we are eating out at fancy joints, a mysterious sense of calm comes over him and then I'm the one who looks like Miss Piggy.  No joke.

My favorite course at Le Cirque was the entree: Berkshire pork belly.  I believe this was the second time in my whole life I'd ever had pork belly (the first time being at Casa Mono) and it was PERFECT.  Just the right amount of fat crunchiness on top, followed by braised soft texture beneath.  I know "pork belly" doesn't exactly sound the most appealing, but I guarantee you will find it has the most delectable combination of softness and crunchiness all in one.  Not in the least bit overwhelming.  Double credit goes to Le Cirque for offering something as unique as pork belly on their Restaurant Week menu.  They could have so easily followed all the other restaurants and had your standard fish and beef prime rib available.

Dessert was also a delight!  It was called "milk chocolate milles feuilles" which consisted of soft and delicious milk chocolate sandwiched between two lovely wafers, I think.  It was complemented with salted caramel ice cream and was very, VERY good.  Sweet, but not rich, which is good for me!  Hubby-to-be chose the tiramisu but he definitely preferred mine!  So what else is new?  :) 

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 4.5 out of 5 (lovely red and gold undertones made for a warm and classy dining experience... minimalist decor is so overrated these days!)
Food: 4.5 out of 5 (10/10 on the entree and dessert, but their bread rolls could have been better...)
Service: 4 out of 5 (not in the 5 star league of Jean Georges and La Grenouille)
Value: 5 out of 5 (GREAT quality 3-course meal for only $35!)
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5

Bottom-line: We were HUGELY satisfied and very impressed with this meal.  Will definitely be back when I'm next in the mood for pork belly!

Hubby Corner: Primehouse

Primehouse

(27th Street and Park Avenue)
 

Hello A Manhattan Food Story readers. I am the “hubby-to-be” and part-time blog correspondent for this exceptional website. We thought it would be a good idea to add a man’s perspective every once in awhile, especially when we visit a restaurant that serves lots of beef!

My first dispatch comes from the steakhouse hot-spot known as Primehouse on 27^th and Park Avenue. We paid a visit to Primehouse with another couple during the summer of 2009 and I have been plotting my return ever since. It turns out due to a reservation snafu at another restaurant (Gilt - which we will be dining at later this month), my fiancée and I were making a mad scramble to find a destination for Saturday evening. Luckily, we both decided Primehouse would be a perfect place for an upscale evening and we were not disappointed.

 

We arrived promptly at 7:30pm and were seated immediately. The restaurant décor is very trendy with high ceilings, a black-and-white color scheme, and slate walls which add a nice touch. The restaurant was mostly full with an upscale crowd of all ages. The general attire was casual, no need for anything more than jeans and a dress shirt. Now onto the best part, the food:

I have to admit we cheated and viewed the menu before we left our apartment. We had our eye on the chateaubriand for two, which also came with two sides. After briefly glancing over the menu at the restaurant, we put in our order as planned. We were pleasantly surprised by the bread which soon followed, especially my fiancée. The bread reminded me of a bagel, but sweeter. Throw in some whipped butter and you are good to go! I also ordered a beer. The wine selection was obviously much more expansive than the beer selection, which although moderately priced was rather narrow in scope. While my fiancée and I engaged in pleasant conversation, our chateaubriand was cooking to perfection. A few minutes later our main dish arrived. The meat (cooked to medium) was a beautiful sight. The pinkness in the middle made my jaw drop (I am being a little dramatic) and the combination of the smell and the sheer size of the portion made me smile. The waiter’s assistant cut the meat tableside in fine cuts, and also dropped off our two sides, steamed asparagus and truffle asiago fries.  A quick note on the sides: The asparagus was huge. I have no idea where they grow these vegetables but they were big and covered in butter. The asiago fries are highly recommended. They are big steak fries with cheese on top. We soon dived into our meal and I couldn’t have been happier. The beef was mouth-watering good, a must have for any meat enthusiast. The sides were a nice addition and complemented the beefiness of our meal. We finished strong with a bananas foster sundae, which in true steakhouse fashion was humongous. By the end of the meal I must have consumed an unspeakable amount of calories, with my fiancée not far behind. 

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 4 out of 5. Décor is excellent, location is relatively trendy, and the crowd is a mix of young wall street types paired with older no doubt well to do New Yorkers.
Food: 4.5 out of 5. The beef is simply outstanding. I have been to a fair share of steakhouses in the city and Primehouse’s steaks can compete with any of them.
Service: 4 out of 5. Certainly no La Grenouille, but our waiter was prompt and courteous. No complaints in this department.
Value: 4 out of 5. The Valentine's Day menu was a fairly good deal ($78 for the chateaubriand for 2 people), but otherwise, be prepared to pay anywhere from $35-50 for a steak.
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5. Primehouse is a great destination for a date, a dinner meeting, or taking out-of-town guests out for a New York City night.
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5. A wonderful night of meat eating at a great restaurant. I withhold 0.5 stars only for the lack of 5 star service. But overall I cannot recommend this place more!

CNY Take #2 at Chiam

Chiam
(48th Street between 3rd and Lexington Avenues)

Since 2009, it's been a tradition for my fiance, sister, her friend (let's refer to this friend as "Emma Bella") and I to get together for Chinese New Year dinner.  Last year, we went to Peking Duck House (which I just reviewed) and this year we wanted to try something new.  Emma Bella had suggested Chiam, a rather high-class establishment in Midtown East, for peking duck and overall Chinese food.  I guess he (yes, Emma Bella is a boy) had been there previously and thought it was close to nirvana for peking duck fans around the world.

Of course, being a peking duck fan, I was very keen and signed up for the dinner right away!  Between the four of us, we ordered one peking duck, one kung pao chicken, one dry sauteed string beans, and one grand marnier prawns.  According to several people on yelp and menupages, the grand marnier prawns are a must-try, so that was definitely on my radar.

The waiter brought out the roasted peking duck for our approval, and then went away to slice it up for us and roll them into pancakes.  There was no tableside carving, but that didn't bother me too much.  We each got 2 peking duck rolls... the pancakes themselves looked off.  They didn't look like normal peking duck pancakes, but more like burrito tortillas!  (I give my fiance credit on that one this time.)  They were charred and not soft like normal.  The duck inside was no better - where was the skin/fat/thinly sliced duck?  It was more like duck chunks inside.  The texture was yucky.  Plus, they had the spring onions in there which I really don't like.  I would've rathered they let us pack and roll our own peking duck.  Anyway, that was a definite bust... by far the worst peking duck I've ever tasted.  No offense, Emma Bella!!  This in no way affected my opinion of you as a friend... Haha!!

The other 3 dishes were served to us rather strangely by Chinese standards, and by that I mean not family style.  They actually divvied up the 3 entrees into 4 separate plates so we each had our own plate to eat from.  The remainder of the food was okay, but definitely not anything to write home about.  The grand marnier prawns were cooked with mayonnaise, which I've had before... but it wasn't review-worthy by any stretch of the imagination.  I was not impressed with anything regarding the meal, aside from Emma Bella's stealthy arm.  He was amazing at re-filling our tea cups from across the table without anyone noticing!  :)

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (the decor looks relatively classy, and there are private rooms near the entrance)
Food: 1 out of 5 (I don't know how this really counts as Chinese food...)
Service: 2.5 out of 5 (there were a few waiters who barely understood English)
Value: 1 out of 5 (the $40 peking duck was downright awful)
"It" factor: 0 out of 5
M&M's overall satisfaction: 1 out of 5

Bottom-line: It was really fun hanging out with friends and the overall conversation and joviality fortunately distracted from the fact that the food was terrible.  You couldn't pay me to come back here!

 

A mirror in the middle of the restaurant makes the hall look doubly long

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year!!!  May you all have a happy and prosperous year of the tiger!

I'm sure Chinese New Year means a lot of different things to different people.  Growing up in Taiwan, I had the luxury of experiencing an authentic CNY experience for 13 years.  When my sister and I were young, our dad would buy a myriad of fireworks/firecrackers/sparklers and set them off in our backyard.  It was loud, dangerous and awesome all at the same time.  CNY also always meant angpows (red envelopes with money) would be coming our way!  That was definitely a highlight for my sister and me, and we'd often stay awake until midnight so that we could collect our angpows.  My dad would always host a CNY party at our house for his work colleagues, and every year we would cater a different kind of food.  Sometimes we did Mongolian BBQ (with the big grill and all!) and I remember one year we had Indian food (don't ask me how that makes sense...).  My dad and his buddies would always be sitting around the table playing poker and gin rummy, while the ladies would be chatting with us and our mom.  Those were fun times.  :)  As we got older, fireworks/firecrackers became illegal for purchase... but the fun didn't stop there.  Instead of obliging by the law, our driver would take us to hardware shops and after some schmoozing, the storekeepers would lead us down to their basement where whaddya know, they had a large contraband stash of firecrackers that they were happy to sell to us!  Oh, what great times we had in Taiwan.
   
In New York, celebrating Chinese New Year is a little bit tougher, especially if you're someone like me who doesn't fancy being swallowed by the crowds in Chinatown.  This is where Peking Duck House comes in.  A few friends wanted to get together for a triple-date last weekend and the only somewhat-classy Chinese restaurant I knew of stands right across the street from my apartment! 
 
Peking Duck House
(53rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues)

I am highly biased to Peking Duck House because 1) I looooove peking duck - there is nothing better than stuffing roasted duck skin, cucumbers and sauce (hold the spring onions) into a delicious Chinese pancake (or as my fiance calls it, tortilla... *smacks forehead*) and 2) with "Peking Duck" as part of its name, this restaurant I assume has got to be one of the best in town for peking duck, right? 

Mmm... I can taste the skin and fat already...

 
ARGGHHHH!!!!  I just googled 'peking duck' images and this popped up on my screen!!!

 

Apparently this is what live peking ducks look like, just wandering the farms of China!  How adorable????  I had no idea real peking ducks were so... cute... I mean, this duck is smiling, for crying out loud, and doesn't have the slightest inkling about what is to hit him!  He's so white and clean... almost like a little swan or goose.  AWWW... I am feeling quite a bit guilty at the moment, I must admit. 
 

Anyway, Peking Duck House was great.  We ordered the set menu which is basically around $30 per person and you get appetizers, soup, one peking duck for the entire party, plus 4 entrees and rice.  Really quite a good deal!  The peking duck was sooo good... too bad we only got 2 rolls each though, since we had 6 people.  (I recommend going with a small party so that you get to eat more!)  Haha.

M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (classier than anything you'd ever find in Chinatown)
Food: 4 out of 5 (peking duck is to die for... although the accompanying entrees are only so-so on average, depending on what you order.  Must admit that the non-Asian people in our group wanted to order the General Tso's chicken and orange beef - these ended up being better than the 'authentic' Chinese dishes, believe it or not!)
Service: 3 out of 5
Value: 3 out of 5
"It" factor: 3.5 out of 5 (the peking duck is the "it" factor!)
M&M's overall satisfaction: 3 out of 5

Bottom-line: The peking duck is spectacular for NY standards, and the $30 set meal comes with all the bells and whistles.  We will be back next Chinese New Year!

After dinner, we all went our separate ways and my fiance and I ended up at Bill's Gay Nineties pub, on East 54th Street.  I am a huge fan of live music (especially of the Frank Sinatra/jazz variety) and I was thrilled to find that there was a bar with live music a few blocks away from our apartment.  Sidenote: I looooooove living in Midtown East!!!!  Best neighborhood ever.  I will never leave until we move out of NYC.  :)

We had a great time.  We were only two of maybe six patrons, so the pianist/singer wasn't playing all that much music at the beginning.  Everyone was scared off by the upcoming snowstorm, we think.  Once he did start to play though, he was incredible.  He performed "Your Song" by Elton John, and several songs by Frank Sinatra ("Mack the Knife," "The Way You Look Tonight," etc.).  I always admire anyone who can play the piano.  I used to play the organ but it's extremely difficult buying organs nowadays.  Parents don't seem to make their children play instruments or cultivate any classical talents anymore... but I'll leave that to a separate post.  I'd like to learn the piano someday.  :)

Tapas at Casa Mono

Casa Mono
(17th Street and Irving Place)

If you're ever in the mood for Chinese/family-style eating but minus the Chinese food, look no further than Spanish tapas!  I know of 2 places in the city that serve great tapas - Alta (on 10th and 5th) and Casa Mono.  Today's review will cover Casa Mono, where my fiance and I enjoyed the pleasure of dining last night.  To summarize our meal in one phrase, all of the tapas are served with contrasting but extremely complementary flavors which make for a delicious, unique and memorable dining experience!


There was a little bit of drama that ensued before our arrival at our final destination.  Our dinner reservation was at 5:30pm (hey, early birds catch the worm!) which meant that we'd have to leave work at 5 on the dot.  On an average Friday, that is no problem, but I almost had to work late because of missing data for a client report... through no fault of mine, of course.  I called Casa Mono and they said their standard policy is to give a 15 minute grace period, but after that, they would have to let my reservation go.  Fortunately, I ended up only having to work until 5:15, which gave us exactly a half hour to get from Midtown West to Union Square!  I had decided to dress up a bit yesterday and so I was wearing boots with 3-inch heels... as you can imagine, that did not make for easy walking/trotting/running down the streets of Manhattan and tunnels of Grand Central!  Fortunately, the 7 and 4 trains came within seconds, and we actually made it to Casa Mono no more than 5 minutes past 5:30.  PHEW.  I had already missed a prior reservation at Casa Mono (which I was originally going to with my sister but then I fell ill) and I was not going to let that happen again!  Not after I booked this reservation more than two weeks in advance!  So phew... all was well in the end.  Now back to my review.


I adore Irving Place (quiet, quaint, near to Gramercy Park...) and Casa Mono lies in the heart of it.  It is a tiny, darkly-lit and intimate restaurant of no more than 10 tables.  There are also two bar tops - one in front of the open-air kitchen and one by the drinks.  My first time at Casa Mono, my friend and I sat at the bar top in front of the kitchen and it was a delight to watch all the food being prepared! 

 

(I stole the above picture off a Google search... I'm not sure how my fellow patrons would've felt about me taking flash photos in the darkly lit restaurant!)

I didn't know this until recently, but Casa Mono is owned by Mario Batali and was awarded one Michelin star in 2010!  Prices are fairly high (expect to pay around $15 per dish) but the flavor combinations are amazingly complementary and synergistic.  Also, due to its size and popularity, Casa Mono gets booked up VERY fast... I don't even know if it's possible to make a reservation on Monday for a dinner that upcoming Friday.  Your best bet is to plan ahead... way ahead, like I did (and I still got stuck with a 5:30 table).

After some good ol' fiance-to-fiancee decision making (where he chose the skirt steak and then knowingly deferred to his better half!), we ordered:

• Duck egg with mojama - this is one of Casa Mono's specialties and for good reason!  The duck egg is served sunny side up on top of cured ham and the most delicious potatoes.  A MUST-TRY!
• Chopitos with white beans and salsa de tinta - chopitos = fried baby calamari.  I never thought white beans would go so well with calamari but hey, it was a burst full of flavor!
• Skirt steak with onion mermelada - this was my least favorite, as I thought the steak tasted a bit gamey... however, hubby-to-be enjoyed it very much.  I did like the salsa that came along with it, as the flavors complemented very well.
• Quail with gingered cranberries - they gave us a whole quail with wings and legs outstretched atop a pile of cranberries and stuffing.  Again, the salty and sweet flavors went together very well. 
• Crispy pork belly with greenmarket apples and guindillas - this was another one of our favorites!!  This was our first time trying pork belly and it was sumptuous.  Crispy... fatty... soft... it had the perfect texture.  It's not something you would eat a lot of, but this plate came with 4 small pieces, which was enough to get a good taste for it but not enough to get sick of.  The apples were a great contrast.  Mmm... I would recommend this dish as well!  

5 dishes ended up being the perfect amount for the both of us.  I don't think we could have handled anymore!  We also had 2 glasses of Merlot and for dessert, we shared the torte de chocolate with apricots... a great way to clear the palate!  :) 


M-Stars:
Decor/ambience: 3 out of 5 (it's dark and intimate... but I can't say the decor is especially unique.  Tables are somewhat crammed so my elbows actually brushed the patrons to my left and right, who were technically at separate tables.  I would also recommend dining at the bar - it's entertaining!)
Food: 4.5 out of 5 (again, the flavors were extremely complementary even in areas that you would never deem possible... calamari and white beans?!  We loved the originality of each dish on the menu - it's not everyday we find pork belly or duck egg at a restaurant.  We tried many new foods and combinations last night!)
Service: 2.5 out of 5 (nothing spectacular, but nothing horrendous)
Value: 4 out of 5 (we spent $135 total, so it wasn't cheap.  However, the food is a delight and we were mmm-ing the whole night!)
"It" factor: 4.5 out of 5 (the food says it all, my friend)
M&M's overall satisfaction: 4.5 out of 5

Bottom-line: We loved it and mark our words, we will be back!  Maybe next time we will have the courage to order the cock's combs and bone marrow!