The Dalloway

I'm so sick of testing out sub-par restaurants. Everywhere I've been lately has been good, but none of it has been exceptional. Am I spoiled? Have I refined my palette too much? Or, have I become a snob?
I don't know.
What I am beginning to notice is that New York, especially Manhattan (I would agree with anyone that argues Brooklyn is otherwise) is more of a restaurant culture than it is a food culture. The difference?
 In the restaurant culture extremely focused on well designed, trendy and cool establishments that are accompanied by young, hipster and somewhat good looking wait staff to complete this very hip vibe. The food is beautifully presented, french fries and chips in tins, clean white plates, and modern glassware on rustic tables and chairs with hipster looking walls and bars. The restaurant is created for the scene and sometimes it seems as though there is more invested in the decor and the vibe than in the actual food and ingredients. Don't get me wrong, the design and the restaurant's atmosphere is a huge part of the experience, especially for me, but where is the food quality? Where is the fresh food? Where is the meal that isn't buttered to the bone and fried in tons of oil that leaves diners feeling heavy, full and ultimately unsatisfied? 

I'd say this was pretty much my experience at The Dalloway.
And honestly, none of the food was bad or terrible, it never is at these places. I'm just coming to realize the sub par food at trendy and write-up restaurants is surprisingly more ubiquitous than one would believe and which, most importantly, brings me to the subject of this post.  

The Food at The Dalloway

It comes in small portions, and when I say small, it's extremely small and for the same price as standard portioned food. It's meant to be tapas style, as the waitress explained when we mentioned our hunger after the first few dishes. This then entails ordering the entire menu because after each round of food (appetizer, main course), we were still famished.

One of the best items was the Persimmon Carpaccio (photo below) which I recently Instagramed  and found to be an extremely cool concept and also tasting fresh and light.

Love this dish, it looks like art

The flat bread pizzas were ok. The brussel sprouted salad with truffle oil wasn't my cup of tea but the sweet potato chips with garlic aoli were a favorite on our table. Essentially they were Terra chips reincarnated, and I think we all love Terra chips, but I'll give The Dalloway some more credit for claiming to create them on their own. The chipotle tuna was great and the mini smores at the end were a cute and gimmicky final touch. 

Ahi Tuna 

Veggie Flatbread Pizza

Sweet Potato Chips

Brussel Sprouts Salad With Truffle Oil

Mini Smores

The Grilled Cheese
*recommended

Ambiance

It's pretty much that rustic vibe with hard wood tables, dimmed lighting and fire place-esque atmosphere, without the actual fire place of course. The brick walls and hipster type, mismatched pictures and "art" are scattered throughout the restaurant to compliment the rusticity. Essentially, it's that typical trendy vibe I mentioned earlier. There was some sort of loungy scene going on in the basement and honestly, if you aren't a lesbian I don't think this is really where the scene is at. If you are, then I'd recommend it. It seemed pretty happening actually.

Some Final Concluding Thoughts
The food was good, nothing special but nothing terrible. The ambiance was young and trendy but the food wasn't anything to rave and write home about. And to be completely honest, at the end of the meal we were all discussing which leftovers were waiting at home in our fridges. We left yearning for a fresh and light home cooked meal, or second meal of any sort, for that matter.  

Wait Time & Resos

Although we had a reservation, on a Wednesday evening there were loads of empty tables and mostly a drinks scene in the basement on a dark and wintry night. 

Good For: 
Dinner/snack with friends or a low key date. 

Don't come too hungry!!

The Dalloway 

525 Broome St. 

Between Thompson & Sullivan 

(212) - 966 - 9620

Obnoxious People & Good Food, Balaboosta

Image via NY Mag

Great food and obnoxious staff yields quite the irritating combination. Does one boycott the establishment because the staff are so rude? Or ignore and get over it because the food, the vibe and the location are great?

You can be the judge. I've already tried it a couple of times and have formulated my own conclusions. 

Balaboosta is the sister restaurant of Taim and Taim mobile. The second Taim has now opened  its second location two storefronts down from Balaboosta. I've been to Balaboosta twice for lunch, once for breakfast and once for dinner. Meaning all three meals of a day have been experienced at this eatery. In all of my experiences, the hosts were obnoxious as hell in person as well as on the phone and if you can get past this, as I was quite put off at first, then take the plunge and make the reservation. 

The Food

Mediterranean

Well, this very category is what had me coming back for more, (along with the fact that I lived around the corner), although I did not need to drag my family here for graduation brunch or my grandmother for Mother's Day lunch if the food and atmosphere weren't appropriate and impressive.
Balaboosta's food is super tasty, light and fresh. Yes, as are most quality places in this city. At this point, if a restaurant's food cannot be described by those three latter adjectives then it is NOT worth the bother(ahem ilili). And, more than anything, it is doubtful whether anyone is interested in leaving  a restaurant feeling too full or heavy either. At Balaboosta the latter is something one does not need to worry about. 

They say, the lamb burger at Balaboosta is the best dish and its been raved about by the reviewers left and right. Sadly enough for you carnivores (although not for myself of course), it isn't something I'll ever be ordering but I do recommend it as everything else is great, and would only expect the most sought after dish to be just as fabulous.
One thing to skip is the zaatar potatoes. Each time I expected them to be crunchy and zesty and each time I remembered that they never really live up to either. The cauliflower salad, fried olives and mortar and pestle chummus (don't make fun, I love saying chummus with the chhhhh), are all FAB and I definitely recommend the carrot puree pizza as an entree as well. Most importantly if you're there for brunch go for the shakshuka. Yes, I said it a thousand times, I hate brunch food, but kids, I LOVE SHAKSHUKA and this is some good shakshuka! 

Fried Cauliflower

Mortar & Pestle Chummus 

Image via Google Images
Carrot Puree Pizza

Image via Google Images
Shakshuka

The grilled whole Branzino and the Red Snapper are filling and tasteful entree options.
Finally, you MUST MUST MUST, order the chocolate mousse dessert. Its served with crunchy pieces of milk chocolate at the bottom and the perfect combination of thick and thin chocolate mousse on top. It's a unique type of chocolate mousse that isn't as fluffy as the usual mousses one may have tried. Regardless, the taste and the consistency are too difficult to pass up tasting so make sure to save room for dessert. I embarrassingly wipe the cylinder clean every single time!

Wait Time & Resos

THEY ARE SO OBNOXIOUS, as has been mentioned multiple times in this post already. I've been here a number of times and their obnoxiousness is continuous  If you don't make reservations then don't bother. They wont even attempt to seat you at the bar. Actually, they might. They've lightened up a bit recently. Oh! and once you arrive with a reservation the hosts still make your party wait. Honestly, if the food, vibe and location weren't all that great then I wouldn't have come back so many times. Oh, I will admit that I did show up with my mother, sister and grandmother at 4pm on Mother's Day and it was pretty empty and so they were obviously "forced" to seat us immediately. Because, quite obviously, who would EVER want to ever have an empty restaurant in Soho on a Sunday, or at any hour for that matter?
It's terribly bad for business.
Otherwise, it's hopeless without a reservation. 

Ambiance

Downtown, casual and chilled is how I would describe the atmosphere. 

The scene is young to middle aged. I'd say there is a mix of bobos, carnivores who are there to sample the lamb burger and neighborhood locals. It's in Soho, what else would you expect?
Overall, it's not too scenie and you don't need to be all too dressed up to eat here without feeling out of place.

Image via Google Images

If you're looking for something downtown and quality Mediterranean food, I'd try it out. 

Good For: Groups, vegetarians, brunch, lunch, dinner. I wouldn't recommend coming here on a date, unless you've been dating for a while. The lighting is weird and the vibe is a tad too casual, unless its a day-date. 

Location:

Balaboosta

Mulberry St

(between Prince & Spring)

http://balaboostanyc.com/

Trick-or-Chocolate-Treats

Not having work due to Hurricane Sandy brought about a day of tasting and re-tasting some of the best chocolate chip cookies on the ever so vibrant Upper West Side. Unlike the eerie and powerless downtown, the Upper West was packed with people roaming the streets, kids dressed up and ready to trick-or-treat, people sitting down for lunch in overly packed diners AND, most importantly, people waiting in line for some of the BEST cookies.

I was quite nifty and cut the entire line at Levain Bakery (not the most approvable move, but hey, who wants to wait on a line) to taste their famous chocolate chip cookies. I am overly obsessed with scouting out the best chocolate chip cookies and had heard about Levain forever but, for some reason, had never made it there. 

Oh My God, people! These cookies are of another world. 

They are absolutely perfect. 

I feel like I have been searching for this cookie all my life and it has finally landed on my local doorstep. 

The cookie is the most absolute combination of soft and crispy. They are thick, warm and soft inside but still remain very crispy on the outside. I've never tasted a chocolate chip cookie that has been able to accomplish this very combination. Ever. 

If you are only planning on tasting one, then go for the Chocolate Chip Walnut and your day will feel complete. Otherwise the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip is quite as amazing and a must-try as well.

Location

167 West 74th St.

New York

(212) 874 6080

(there is another on 117th St. as well) 
http://www.levainbakery.com/

THEN... being that I was on a role already, I decided to head over to Jacques Torres and scope out its Upper West location only down the block from Levain. 

Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookies are no Levain. Levain is its own breed of cookie. BUT, the Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie is extremely unique tasting. Its a larger and flatter cookie that has dark and bittersweet chocolate chip chunks inside. They warm the cookie for you before hand so it falls apart in your mouth. The basic chocolate chip is great, as is the chocolate chocolate chunk and the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies as well. I always go for the basic chocolate chip but would recommend doing the chocolate chocolate chip if you're a hefty chocolate person. 

Jacques Torres has a location in Dumbo as well and is great to check out if you're roaming Dumbo and looking to have a warm Winter snack or wandering the halls of Rockerfeller Plaza. 

Both Locations Good For: Date Activity, Chocolate Lovers, Cookie Lovers 

Locations

285 Amsterdam Avenue

New York

(212) 787 3256

Dumbo Location 

62 Water Street  

Brooklyn

718) 875-1269

Website for additional locations
http://www.mrchocolate.com/

Jack's Wife Freda

I've come here a couple of times and since its opening and they've changed around the menu a bit only to improve it for the better (they got rid of some items that really weren't all that great. A definite good sign of a restaurant looking to succeed). Its Israeli owned and has a cosmopolitan Tel-Aviv x French Bistro vibe. I've alway ended up here on a chilly Sunday afternoon and never regretted it.

Food

The food tastes home cooked. Buuuuut.... imagine it's a home cooked meal by a friend or family member that you can always rely on to make really tasty foods that is fresh, light, very simple but also quite flavorful. Other than the french fries which are pretty standard, I had green shakshuka, made with green tomatoes, (yes I'll eat sunny side up eggs in a shakshuka ANY DAY), an amazing tuna salad of Italian tuna mixed with avocado, mushrooms and arugala and an amazing sweet vinaigrette and a Cafe Gitane style avocado toast that was served on a whole grain sourdough type of bread and was not nearly as bland or tasteless as Gitane's. It was served with a sweet tomato sauce on top that the perfect final touch. I'd also recommend the kale salad and the eggplant sandwich.

Ambiance

As I've already mentioned, its got a bit of a warm French bistro/cafe vibe and can feel really intimate.

Its casual and trendy and a no reservation type of spot.

Wait Time

I've never had to wait, but I've also never gone at peek hours. I hear it gets busy though.

Good For: Lunch with friends, casual date, Brunch, casual and trendy

Jack's Wife Freda

224 Lafayette St.

(212) 510-8550

http://jackswifefreda.com/