BryanZ

The interesting thing is that my friends preferred the lean. Of course, one could argue that they're dumbasses and I'd likely agree. Still, perhaps in this catering-to-the-masses setting a mixture is the right way to go. We definitely ate more than $25/person, so in that regard it was a good value. With that said, we could've ordered a la carte, spent less, and come away totally satiated. To each their own.

So Hill Country has been doing this AYCE special on Monday evenings. $25 for all the pork spareribs, brisket, and chicken you can eat. And all the sides you want too, minus a few that carry a $2 supplement per order. A few friends of mine descended upon this most excessive of recession specials, and, a full 24 hours later, I still am oozing barbecue out of my pores. That's either very attractive or incredibly disgusting, depending on your worldview. This was my first visit to Hill Country, so I still haven't tried the sausages or the beef prime rib or spareribs. What I sampled I really enjoyed, but I wasn't blown away. My formative barbecue experiences were of the NC-style, so I'm still of the opinion that chopped whole hog or shoulder is barbecue. I can do cow, but, like, to me that's kind of missing the point. I digress, however. Hill Country's best offering of the night was, not surprisingly, the brisket. The sauce is a nice balance of acid and sweet, but I'd prefer more heat. The type of brisket one receives in the AYCE format varies widely. At the beginning we got a mix, tending toward the lean. Our second tray, we got predominantly moist, obviously my favorite of the bunch. The third tray was very lean. Not quite dry, just not as pleasant in the mouth as the two previous batches (palate fatigue was surely setting in by this point, too). Of the sides, the corn pudding and German potatoes were the consensus favorites. The lowpoint among these was, unquestionably, the green bean casserole. It's as white trash Americana as your worst nightmares, too soft beans in a sticky gravy of cream of so-and-so soup, topped with fried onion bits. I thought I could appreciate it. I could not. Not sure if that's a fail on my part or the restaurant's. Besides that, I enjoyed all the other sides just fine. The ancho-honey butter with the cornbread is a bit cloying, however. The place is huge, cavernous even. Our server was fine and got us our food in a timely fashion. They ditch the meal ticket system for AYCE and instead you get a tacky wristband, like you're at an all-inclusive resort or something. I definitely couldn't do this all the time (or ever again), but I had a very good time. It's a fun place with some pretty solid 'cue.

You have a choice between the skillet special or one of six a la carte items. See Fat Guy's original Sunday Supper post.

Just got back from Beacon and, ugh, I'm full. In a good way though, so all is well. We really enjoyed ourselves, and I must say it was quite the bargain. This is not complex or overly ambitious food but it is satisfying. I think these Sunday suppers find a nice balance between quantity and quality that is hard to beat. We got in there for the last of the $35 pp events, but even at $44 it's a good deal. With that said, it would make me very happy if for some reason this $35 offer was extended for another month of so. The service was very accommodating. We brought three bottles of wine, one of which was a bit older and not cellared all that well that was decanted without hesitation. Requests for mutltiple wine glasses and the like also were graciously accommodated. I did feel that the servers were stretched a bit thin--perhaps on a relatively lazy Sunday they had less servers on the floor--but once we got their attention nothing was too much trouble. Any technical quibbles on the service front were more than made up for by a feeling of genuine hospitality. As for the food, it was all very agreeable. Not the best I've had by any imagination, but the kind of food you wish you were served at a dinner party but aren't. The soup, to me, was the weakest dish. Too thick and a bit one-note. Other than that, no real complaints. I might want a bit less cheese on the pizza or a lighter hand with the red onion on the oysters, but I'd happily eat these again and again if placed in front of me. The salad serves as a nice transition course of sorts. We had two plates with our appetizer and another plate with our main courses. The skillet special on this evening was jambalaya. To be honest, I wasn't super psyched about this offering going into the meal. Duck confit or braised venison sounded more exciting. I must say, however, Beacon over-delivered on this dish. Very large shrimp, hunks of sausage, crispy chips of ham, and pieces of chicken sat atop a rich rice and spicy gravy mixture. We ordered two rounds of this. We also tried the chicken and the salmon, both of which, I believe, are cooked in the wood-burning oven. I can't fault the cooking of these dishes, but both could've used a bit more salt. To my mother they were fine, but I thought them a little underseasoned. The dessert was simple and satisfying. Of the make-your-own sundae components, the strawberries were the consensus favorite. A really nice and satisfying meal. Exactly the kind of thing you want on a Sunday evening with family. I confess, since this was the last week the Sunday supper was being offered at $35 I felt the need to go. Still, I intend to go back when the right skillet special comes into rotation.

Going tonight for some jambalaya. Will report back.

Don't get me wrong, I liked it. It's a very solid concept, but if I was choosing between D:FF and Halfsteak, I'd choose the former. If you order intelligently it is, however, a very good value, no matter how you look at it.

Craftsteak is located at 85 10th Ave., around 16th St. 2009 would seem to be a tough year for a steakhouse where most steaks come in at over $50. We're not talking about steaks for two or three here; a simple, single serving of beef at $50 is on the low end of the price spectrum. I'm not really one for steakhouses and I've never eaten in Craftsteak's main dining room. The debut of Halfsteak, a restaurant-within-a-restaurant concept in the bar area of Crafsteak, however piqued my interest. Much like Damon: Frugal Fridays (D:FF) attempted to make use of Craft's oft-empty private dining room, Halfsteak's new offerings are putting butts in seats that might otherwise go unfilled. The menu Having just eaten at D:FF a couple weeks ago, I feel that comparison is unavoidable. I'll say it straight out, however, I enjoyed Damon: Frugal Friday a good deal more. This isn't to say that eating at Halfsteak is unpleasant. It's really quite good and a fair value. I just think that the offerings at D:FF appeal to me more. There's more variety, more interesting, composed dishes. Halfsteak largely takes steakhouse/comfort foods as a foundation, reframes these classics slightly, then scales them down in portion size. A smart formula, just not the most exciting one. I wrote of my meal at D:FF that one could easily arrange a balanced tasting menu from the menu provided. This isn't so much the case at Halfsteak. All the dishes are hearty, well-seasoned, but a bit heavy. There are no crudi, for instance. And while no single dish called out for acid specifically, the meal on the whole hit many of the same umami, salty notes over and over. Even when acid was provided, it was usually in the form of a creamy sauce, be it a cucumber raita, a chunky tartar sauce or a thick tomato-garlic vinaigrette. As for what I ate specifically, we tried the sliders, lamb ribs, cod, tripe, brisket patty melt, halfsteak, and chicken-lobster pot pie. Just reading those dishes back to myself, I think "Tasty" but then, immediately after, "Heavy." Minus the salads--and who eats salads?--you can't really order a lighter meal. Favorites were the cod, very, very tender; the pot pie, light on the lobster but technically extremely proficient; and the halfsteak, not the most tender cut but with some nice dry-aged funk on the bone. The tripe is a good dish, just very tripey. My friends, tripe virgins, weren't really turned onto the experience. I ate the rest of the plate with gusto, however. Weakest dish was the order of sliders. Nothing wrong with them per se, just not that exciting. Truffled pecorino was a bit skimpy to my eyes and taste buds. Lamb ribs were a bit dry, as oakapple/NYJ reported, but served really, really hot, in contrast to what oakapple/NYJ reported. Luck of the draw it seems. Really liked the beverage program. This is definitely beer food and trying two small beers for the normal price of one big one worked just fine for me. Service was fine throughout, but the inability of the kitchen to get three items to the pass at once kind of frustrated me. At D:FF it's not so much an issue because none of the items are large enough to truly be called mains, so you really have to share and such. The same could be said of the small items here. But the sandwiches, halfsteak, and one-pots are main course-sized. If three people order three different items I'd expect them to be served to the individuals who ordered them, at the same time. I asked if this was possible and my request was denied. All in all, I like the concept and think it should be successful. I'm still waiting to go back to D:FF, but I think one visit to Halfsteak was enough for me, if only because I can only eat so much of this kind of food.

If one logs onto Googlemaps there are two Pho Bang entries on Mott St. One is at 157 Mott, the other is at 102 Mott. I'm not sure which is the "right" one, but I stopped in at the 157 Mott St. location for a snack this evening. I got the steamed rice crepe and a bowl of the basic pho, #1 on the menu. I liked it fine, but I feel like NYC can do better. The veggies across the board were fine but not exactly vibrantly fresh. My crepe, a favorite of mine, was a bit bland. Fish sauce helped, but I think the pork filling needed a bit more salt in the cooking process. A generous portion, however. As for the pho, the broth was tasty but not terribly complex. This is also a pho that skews toward the savory as opposed to the spiced or the sweet. To be honest, I was looking for a bigger anise hit and more sweetness to round out the dish. Also, while there was plenty of eye round, the tripe was chewier than I'm accustomed to and there was a definite lack of tendon. I only found one small piece. I feel like I'm complaining a lot here. I liked this place. It was pretty cheap. I'd go back. I'm just not sure it's a step above any decent pho shop that you might hear about from a friend or read about in passing online.

Have been meaning to check out Halfsteak and wanted to go yesterday since Tom was supposed to be there with all the cheftestants watching part 1 of the finale of Top Chef. But, naturally, I couldn't get anyone to go with me. Woe is me. I'll start a thread once I finally make it, however.

For barbecue connoisseurs this is probably the case, but as a business decision it makes sense. For one, the promotion has gotten them a lot of press over the past couple weeks on the blogs and message boards. Furthermore, it's a way to get butts in seats, if only for the marketing power that the phrase "all-you-can-eat" holds. On the consumer side, it's another option and that's a cool thing. It also might encourage casual customers to visit intending to pig out only to find out that they actually like high-level barbecue.

Ha, it seems likely after a loss-leader like that. markk, you should've invited me. I was trying to go on Sunday too, but my family was stranded in O'Hare and thus I was dining partnerless. Oh well, perhaps in a couple weeks.

Six, however, represents a 50% increase over the four in each category the restaurant first offered.

I recommend you drop by his Flickr stream again. This trip we're referring to added quite a bit. UE might chime in here, but he does use a DSLR with no flash. Different thread, but flash is a no-no in my world.

If you want a ridiculous survey of what's going on at the top level of Paris fine-dining I highly suggest you check out ulterior epicure's Flickr stream. He recently returned from a trip to Europe and the photo documentation there is, to put it lightly, epic.

The Redhead is too easy to eat at. It's there, it's solid, and it's affordable. After a show tonight at Webster Hall we wanted dinner. Ssam Bar a bit pricey, Ippudo risked a lengthy wait. Redhead it is. For this kind of meal, the place is ideal, though I am still of the belief it's not the kind of place you want to go with a big group given how crowded it gets and how small the room is. Tried two new, to me, dishes: the pork chop and brisket. Both very solid. Portions not overly large but nice plates of food for $19. As one might expect, this isn't particularly complex cooking, just good food at a fair price. 85% as ambitious as the front room at Gramercy Tavern for maybe 75% the price. A fair value proposition if you ask me. I think we may have been comped an order of grits (didn't really look at the bill, so I can't be sure). They were nice and buttery. It was late and uncrowded, but the servers seemed a bit scarce. A request for a second beer went unheeded until after our main courses were finished. Not exactly a travesty but not exactly confidence inspiring either.

I love me some comfort food for the right price. $35/person definitely sounds like the right price to me. Perhaps Ad Hoc is an unfair comparison given the restaurant's unique place and pedigree, but I loved my meal there. My dining companion and I were the only people in the restaurant that evening to finish two full rounds of main courses, then finish everything else. I hope to repeat the experience at Beacon.

To be fair you need to compare the more expensive menu at LeB at $185. Then Per we includes service, so the price isn't that much different. Right now Leab seems to have some momentum going for it. Bruni said it was bus favorite meal of the year, and people I trust have raved in the latter half of 2008. But Per Se is the "better" restaurant if meta consensus is to be believed. Do you, umm, like seafood?

Looks very interesting and a killer deal, too. Certainly shades of Ad Hoc but more generous. If the food is as good as you say it is, this is one of the more appealing Sunday prix fixe deals out there. Perhaps I'll try to round up the troops and make it there before February is out.

Chinatown. Eat there gratuitously for super cheap. There are threads. Lots of great "deals" in the two- to three-star restaurants now. Though not exactly cheap eats, more like great value abound for relatively less money. Then there's the burger joints. In May Shake Shack should be wonderful, though the lines will be long. And there are hot dogs to eat. Criff Dogs, the Papaya locations.

I was under the impression that the tri-tip comes from the back half of the cow, in the bottom sirloin section. At least that's what Wikipedia tells me.

I'd throw deckle* in there just because it's trendy. But, yeah, I agree with the rest of your post. I'd probably order balls before tenderloin at most restaurants. And you throw some lips in a terrine, I'm more than game. *By which I mean the cap of the ribeye, not the part of the brisket, as the term is also used for. One could argue, that because the deckle is part of the ribeye it's accounted for in your list. If, however, we're listing the strip as separate from the porterhouse, then the deckle can, too, be a standalone cut.

Yeah, simple but so good.

How much is it?

Shame to hear about the food. I liked my meal but didn't love it. Felt that the service didn't quite live up to the intimate surroundings. Re: the soundtrack, you probably had your first encounter with a hipster's iPod set to shuffle. I would not be at all surprised to hear the Ghostbuster's theme (just listened to a dancey remix of it the other by some Brooklyn DJ that I'm blanking on the name of). And while Carl Douglas seems a bit out of place, it certainly has some ironic appeal. They love that kind of stuff.

I'm not sure it's even on the menu. At least, they don't have a website to my knowledge that updates whatever the "special pie" might be. I assume you heard about it from the JGV blog post. What JGV eats there, as JGV and an investor, might not be what the rest of us get. With that said, given your eating experiences in Europe, this is probably right up your alley. Truffle sandwich, truffle pizza, are truffle nachos next?