baw

I just returned from a week in Maine. We ate at a number of place in/around and on our way beterrn Portlan and Bar Harbor. The following reviews aren't super informative, but it seems like there isn't too much posted about Bar Harbor eats, so maybe someone will find it helpful! George's: Fairly upscale dining. I ordered 3 appetizers: wild mushrooms with grits and bacon, butter poached lobster, and spaghetti "George's Way". My SO ordered corn soup with blue potatos, the signature lobster strudel, and blueberry creme brulee. The mushroom dish was really good, once the incredibe undersalting was remedied by me. The corn soup was the best dish.. nice flavors, good mix of textures. Neither of the signature dishes were particularly good (spaghetti or strudel). The service and the ambience were both quite pleasant (although there were 2 young children loudly playing outside the window right next to our table for extended portions of the meal). Our food, plus a bottle of Cava and a glass of whisky came to ~$150 after tax (I think). I would go back and pair a few of the more creative sounding apps with a bottle of Cava for a nice dinner. Donohues: A pub serving basic food and burgers. We each got a burger and fries. Both burgers were served medium-well, although ordered medium and medium rare. Despite this, they were both very satisfying and somehow juicy. The fries were crisp. Service was great. I would definitely go back here for a burger and a beer. The burgers+fries were ~6-7 bucks. Ben&Bill's Ice Cream: We tried the lobster ice cream. It has chunks of lobster. Wierd, but not as grody as you might expect. Thurston's Lobster Pound: Really good chowder, 2 yummy 1.5 pound lobsters, 2 beers, and corn on the cob for a bit under $50. The butter served with the lobster (and the food overall) was the best of the 3 places we ate lobster (also Young's and Red's, see below). Nice ambience and would go back, but ambience not as good as Young's. Downeast House of Dogs: In Southwest Harbor on Mount Desert Island. *so good*. So very, very excellent. Extensive menu of grubby eats, but focussed on dogs. They have 30+ different "specialty" hot dogs you can choose from. The dogs range from Oscar Meyer (ok, specialty is used loosely) to dogs from Maine micro-doggerys to Reindeer dogs from Alaska. You can order them as you want, from a list of many toppings, or order one of the many pre-designed dogs. I first ordered a chili cheese dog with a Maine dog in a natural casing (forget the vendor). I was not at all impressed with the dog itself, but the warm griddled buttery bun plus the slice of cheddar tasted like grilled cheese. That combo topped by the dog and hot dog chili was delicious. I ordered another chilidog, this time with a conservative Hebrew National dog. Great again. One huge drawback of this place is the training of the service. While our waitress was very friendly and attentive, she did not know enough about the dogs. I wanted info on the house dog, but none was to be had. I needed a hot dog sommelier. A selection of dozens of dogs is great, but I wanted some guidance into finding a dog that fit my preferences. I would go back here again and again. Beer+3 dogs+a sandwich with chips was $30-some. Red's Eats: Huge letdown. About 40 minutes between getting in line and getting food, which didnt bother me since Ive done the same here in NYC at the Shake Shack. Service was impressively efficient and friendly. We shared a lobtser roll and a large serving of fried clams. The clams were tasty, but nothing special (and pretty spendy, I think $20 for our large serving that day). The lobster roll just wasn't good in my opinon. Good points: It looked very attractive, has lots of lobster, the lobster was well cleaned and mostly from the tail. Bad points: Bun wasn't that great, lobster was neither tender nor flavorful, butter didnt taste that fresh, too hard to eat big hunks of lobster as a sandwich. To be fair, if I was served that sandwich in NY, I wouldn't be complaining. But I was in Maine and had been eating way tastier stuff all week. Young's Lobster Pound: In Bernard (I think). Awesome atmosphere. Just big picnic tables outside and huge lobster tanks. BYO. There were a number of locals there with coolers full of beer and their own food. Foodwise, not as good as Thurston's; bathrooms, not as clean as Thurston's, but I would go back here first just because I liked the atmosphere so much. We also ate at a couple of places in Kennebunkport. Ill post those to the appropriate thread.

Thanks for the lunch recs! We just enjoyed a really great lunch at JG. 3 courses plus dessert. I tasted: egg caviar, asparagus with morels, foie/strawberry dish, shrimp with spiced carrot broth, sea bass with sweet/sour broth, scallops with cauliflower + caper-raisin emulasion, chatham cod with lemongrass broth, veal tenderloin with parmesean and artichoke. The egg caviar was standard, but I always love it. The asparagus and veal were the other two standouts to me. The foie also went over well, but Im just not a fan of it in general. The cod and scallops were my least favorite, but they were enjoyed by my parents who ordered them. I highly recommend lunch at JG. I enjoyed the food far more than the 1 dinner I had there and the service was great.

bryanZ - Im heading there next week for lunch. Any highlights or lowlights aside from the foie dish? It will be a special meal for my parents visiting from Pittsburgh, so any tips to help them order wisely would be great!

I was exaggerating a little about the whole week .. but I did go nuts eating ham and cheese when i arrived in Spain :) . Some was my own fault, but for 4 days I was at the observatory on La Palma (Im an astronomer) and had little control over my food. Ham and cheese baguettes were the best offering for night lunch!

We ate lunch at Commerc 24 this past week. Our experience echos those of paulbrussel and Silly. Good lunch, good service, but below expectation. The food wasnt as unusual as I expected. I thought some of the courses would have been better presented at different temperatures, such as Silly mentioned above with his Sepia course. There were only 3 other customers at the lunch service, and they all were English speaking and also taking photos of the food. We had the festival menu, with 8 waves of food that amounted to about 13 different dishes. Bruce and Silly gave such wonderful descriptions above, and I wont be able to do the food the same justice, so Ill just highlight a few of our favorite mini-courses: 2nd wave: dish 1 - Thyme Soup with an egg foam and a parmesean crisp on the side. Bite the crisp, then sip the soup. dish 2 - Artichoke heart topped with a quail egg and a black truffle sauce. 4th wave: dish 1 - Warm skewers with a snail and Jamon, on pumpkin puree 5th wave: dish 2 - Mini squids (chipirones, I think) on a bed of risotto-like black rice. 7th wave: Cheese Course. I dont remember the cheeses .. but they were interesting. 8th wave: The dessert course was pretty underwhelming, but one of the bites was a very enjoyable lemon-ginger marshmallow sweet.

Hey- Im not sure if this is the appropriate thread for this .. but a few days ago I ate at the FoodBall associated with the Camper hotel in Barcelona. It was what it is .. an organic, healthy type snacky fast food restaurant. I liked the seaweed/tofu and bean rice balls that I had with a curry dipping sauce, but if you dont like organicy, uber-healthy tasting food you probably wouldnt. I was suprised that the balls couldnt be eaten with your hands without falling apart. I probably wouldnt go back, and I really didnt like the dessert ball (tasted like a mushed up Power Bar), but after a week of Jamon y queso I was glad to try it out.

I just returned from a few days in Barcelona .. thanks a lot to tjdnewyork for the Tactica Berri rec! We ate there on our last night and loved it. We got there right at 8:30 and scored a great spot at the bar and indulged in (too many) pinchos: some cold pinchos of boquerones and different smoked fishes, followed by several croquettes, the best tortilla we had in Spain, lomo and pepper, bacalao, sausage, cocktail weenies in bacon, blood sausage, chicken skewer, another type of fish ... All of that and 4 glasses of Cava and a glass of wine and some bubbly water for 29Eur. It was easily one of the most fun culinary stops on our trip!

Its really hard to find a decent old-fashioned (esp at the type of bars I frequent)! I rarely even try anymore .. unless Im somewhere particularly known for cocktails or somewhere that advertises an old fashioned on their cocktail list. I randomly had a really good old-fashioned at the restaurant Inside in the West Village (the food .. not so good) .. I thinkthe simple syrup was infused with ginger. Eleven Madison Park also makes a great old-fashioned. I ordered an OF once at Angel's Share, and IIRC it was missing some important ingredient (mebbe cherry?) but looked very attractive with the single large ice cube it was served over.

Pan - I havent eaten at Arturos in sooo long .. I can't remember what I thought of it! From weinoo's comments, i really need to get back there. Wannabechef - 'soupy' isnt necessarily a good thing :) But had I such a great memory of that first soupy slice from Demarco's that I really wanted another like it. I agree with the Lombardi's not-so-great sentiments. But I can be convinced to go if I have munchies from after work beer. I am a bad pizza eater .. I should have taken photos with my new, fun digital camera, but I was embarassed. Ill get some next time! (slightly OT: I tried to eat at Frannys tonight, and they were closed for the holidays :( )

I just went to Demarco's again.. this time for a sitdown lunch in the restaurant part. I've been dreaming of the soupy not-so-saucy round slices, and the saucier sqaure slices for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed in the pizza today. It was good, but nothing I will dream about tonite. We ordered a whole square and a whole round pie. Both pies were served with the same sauce/cheese ratio. The cheese was not at all soupy on the round piece and there was quite a bit of sauce and the crust was crisp. The sauce was tangy and good and the 4 cheeses were very tasty, but I had readied my stomach for the soupy slice. The square pie was half sausage and half garlic. The sauce tasted like it was the same sauce as on the round, and there was a *lot* of cheese on the pizza. The pizza was quite greasy and most of the pieces needed to be eaten with a knife and fork. Quite different than the slice I had before, but still good. Overall, people liked the round pie better . Ive never been to DiFara, so I have no comparison to their pizza. But if I wanted to get a pizza in my 'hood, I would go to Demarco's and get a round pie instead of going to John's, Lombardi's, or any of the other local places Im familiar with. Has anyone else been there this week? I wonder if they changed they way they are making the pizza, or if there are just inconsistencies because the place is new and different people are making the pizzas.

Sullivan street bakery is great! I'm in quite a rut .. every time I go, I get a piece of potato pizza and a pear nectar. And every time, the pizza is as exciting to eat as ever. However, I did have a bad Sullivan Street experience on New Year's Eve .. the potato pizza I got wasn't good! The crust was tough and the potatoes were sort of mealy :( That was true for both a single piece and for the whole pizza I ordered for a party.

I tasted a slice of square and of round pizza at DeMarco's today. I was pleasantly suprised .. I went with somewhat low expectations. I thought they were easily the best slices I've has in the neighborhood (which isn't saying that much). The sauce was the star of the square slice.. but the crust was pretty good as well. The round pie was fresh from the oven. The cheese on top was really liquidy, which made it difficult to eat. But once I figured out how to eat it .. I was quite favorably impressed. The mix of 4 cheeses + olive oil (we saw the guy making a pie) was really quite tasty. Im looking forward to going back and ordering some whole pies! (fyi .. they are running with a very limited menu right now.)

Despite my initial skepticism about the whole Zen-like scene and the "food for the five senses' tag line (give me a break!), I've eaten at the downtown Gobo several times and thoroughly enjoyed it every time. I went just this past Saturday with my friend who could not imagine a veggie/vegan place worth eating at .. but was convinced otherwise by our meal (although he was not as enthalled as our veggie dining partners). I particularly like the roti canai (ask for an extra piece of roti), veggies with pine nuts and lettuce wraps, and the grilled asparagus and musrooms. Im not a big fan of the dumplings or the sweet and sour soy nuggets. I also like the bread they serve with pumpkin spread at the beginning of the meal. I look forward to your report on the uptown branch!

Admittedly I've only been to a handful (6?) of Michelin starred restaurants, but I would say that a Michelin 'zero', 1 or 2 star could be an NYT 4 star. The Michelin 'starred' restaurants have a more refined service and atmosphere than NYT 3 stars and are judged on a scale expecting such. I see the dining scene in France as just so much different .. but again, I dont have expensive experience.

After reading this, my stomach demands a sandwich! I second gg mora's jambon/fromage/beurre combo, as well as all the avocado suggestions. But my favorites to make are: Hummus, roasted asparagus, and smoked turkey or Apples, sharp cheddar, sliced dark whole grain bread (the kind with actual bits of seeds and nuts in it)

I also love this place .. but have only been a few times. I always get the same thing - the empandada stuffed with shredded beef,cheese, and plantain. As Pan said, they're deep fried .. its really like eating a donut stuffed with meat, which is pretty awesome. And I like the byob policy too.

i went to jb makimono this past friday and thought the sushi was awesome. i had the same ass't as juuceman, but smaller: 6 different pieces of fish (tuna, yellowtail, whitefish, mackeral, eel, and salmon) + 1/2 a spicy tuna roll ($18). i also had a little amuse of salmon+avo wrapped in sesame seed dotted rice paper. the sushi were well presented, eatable in 1 bite, and had great garnishes. ive never been to jb .. im guessing these sushi are simila. ive been to tomoe and yama lately. never again.. i finished with the same mochi ice cream ($4) as juuceman. the service was very warm and attentive. i was there between ~7 and 8pm, and the tiny restaurant (7ish seats at sushi bar, 1 table for 4, 4? tables for 2) only had 4 other people when i arrived, and was about 1/2 full when i left. i will *definitely* be eating here as much as my thin wallet can afford before summer's over and the crowds arrive!

Count me in for the 21st! beth

sounds like a neat idea! .. im definitely interested. jamie .. i like the idea of lunching at luger's first. im a medium rare to rare girl.

I ate dinner at david burke&donatella last nite and the food was amazing! We had 5:45 reservations, so we were seated right away. The tables in the main dining room were very close together and the room got loud quickly, but it didnt interfere with our meal. I couldnt tell exactly what the amuse was .. it was OK .. a little puff pastry bite with a wee piece of dried prosciutto, some tapenadey type stuff and some soft white colored stuff. I started with 'spring pea raviolis'. The appetizer was served stew-style in a white ceramic lidded container. There were (put the adjective 'little' before each of these) 5 clams, 3 ravioli, 3 barely cooked garlicky duck sausage meatballs, and green and white asparagus in a delicious broth that tasted of lemongrass, garlic, and some other flavors that my tongue had trouble sorting out. I would have sopped it up with my bread, but I needed to save room. I was skeptical of how such an incredible number of ingredients and flavors in my dish would work, but they did. My dad had some caviar that came with yummy blini (they served his vodka in a tiny chilled mug .. very cute!) The friends we were with had the salmon pastrami and the gazpacho and raved about them. We had a '99 Trimbach Riesling with this course .. I wasnt blown away by the wine .. the dad said it was too cold so maybe that is why it wasnt as floral as I would have expected. For my main, I had homemade mushroom cavatelli and short rib. The short rib was placed on top of the 'shroomy pasta+some chanterelles (i think) and was covered with finely minced carrots/celery/something else. The waiter placed a dollop of white truffle mousse on the top. There were also some crispy wild mushroom chips on the plate. Everything about the dish was delicious! The short rib was tender and juicy .. completely melted in my mouth. Dad had a steak .. it looked 'medium', not the 'medium rare' that it was ordered .. but no matter because he couldnt stop raving about how buttery and wonderful it tasted. (The steak was gigantic .. half of it is sitting in my fridge now). With this course, we had an outstanding '95 Bordeaux (how do you spell that?). I dont remember which one.. Far too stuffed for dessert, one of us ordered some dark chocolate torte thing and we all had a nibble. The cake part was OK. The toasted marshmellows on top and the chocolate ice cream on the side rocked. The restaurant was absolutely packed by the time we left at 8 and that the bar area was crammed with people that I assumed were waiting for their tables. I was glad that we had an early res. Overall, we were all suprised at how delicious the food was. I couldnt help but mentally prepare it to the last high-end meal I had, which was at Jean Georges several months ago. Of course, they are entirely different dining experiences, but the enjoyment I got from the food at DBD last night blew my food experience at JG out of the water. Im sure that my different expectations contributed to that, but the food last night was truly first rate.

I've been to Risotteria a few times, and although I think the food is good and its a great place for a casual meal, I wouldnt call it 'the best'. I have had risottos there that were way too salty and I think that the flavor of the risottos lack depth or something. Its been awhile, so I can't remember my beefs more specifically. Ive generally steered risotto-snob friends away from that place. Sashimi, do you have particular favorites that you order there?

pan - have you been to veselka? if so, how do you think it compares to teresa's?

Otto, on 8th street near 5th Ave, is my favorite place to eat alone at the bar. I think they have a pretty good list of wines by the quartino (1/3 bottle) and a nice selection of anti-pasti, meats and cheeses. The bartenders have always gone out of their way to treat me well and to make good recommendations. There are usually other singles at the bar, and I often chat either with other patrons or the bartenders. I'd say its best to go early in the week when the place is less crowded, but even at crowed times I have been able to squeeze into the corner (although the service is pretty rough at the insane times) and hang out for a couple of hours. I'd love to hear a report back on wherever you decide to go!

From what I hear, my ex-man, who is not a big cooking fan, has become quite handy at several simple dishes since he no longer has my cooking to rely on. One is red coconut curry, using half a pouch of "Taste of Thai" red curry paste. Takes only about 15 minutes and gets you nutrition from whatever veggies/meat/tofu you like. Another is pesto chicken pasta ... but that is carbs. Another is what we called 'taco bar' .. if you are watching carbs then you could have a 'taco salad bar'. Pan cook a couple of boneless chicken breasts, shred them and simmer for a couple minutes in a store bought bottle of enchilada sauce (I know its pre-packaged, but it will make your life easy). Should only take around 30 minutes. Add some beans, whole or refried. Serve w/ lettuce, carrot, salsa, etc ... Its good to make a batch and eat for a few days of leftovers. Good luck!

Last night, I went to gobo on 6th ave near 8th street. I think it may be a good spot for your friends .. they bill themselves as vegetarian, but I didnt immediately notice any dish that wasn't vegan. I am neither vegan nor veg, but enjoyed the food quite a bit. Their menu is divided into quick bites ($4-8), small plates ($6-9) and large plates ($8-16). The meal began with a hearty wheat or cranberry bread with a sweet potato spread. My friend and I then shared a quick bite of roti canai, a small plate of cremini+white bean casserole with a cilantro crust, a large plate of grilled oyster mushrooms+asparagus, and a side order of yam+yucca fries. I have a small appetite, so most people would need to order a bit more than that .. but i felt stuffed. Although my friend really liked it, i didnt care for the white bean casserole but thoroughly enjoyed all of the other dishes .. the grilled mushrooms were especially delicious. They have an extensive selection of fresh fruit juices, teas, and other healthy type drinks made w/ fresh fruit+veg. They have a short beer+wine list (~10 bottles each of white+red, ~5 of each are available by the glass) with several appealing choices, although im not an expert! Gobo has a cool website with the full menu+some version of the wine list .. but i can't seem to find the darn thing right now. We ended up spending $27 each, after tax+tip, for the above food+2 iced passion fruit green teas. I haven't been to Zen Palate in years (since my days of dating a veggie), but if my memory serves me correctly, I think that gobo is a far better restaurant, without contest. Being a bit cynical, I was originally put off by their 'Food for the five senses' subtitle and the vegan/veggie thing. But im really glad i tried it and plan to go back!