Riingo

[SobaAddict70]

Miso soup is gentrified, with a dense fragrance of enoki mushrooms and truffle oil. My spoon went in search of tofu and found, instead, a delicately poached oyster, clam and slices of tuna that shock with the flavor of iodine.

Riingo (Amanda Hesser) (from today's DIGEST update. You may have to scroll down for the appropriate link.)

Sidebar: Click here for an earlier report by our New York News team.

On the whole, a much better review this time around.

I thought this line was particularly encouraging:

Beneath Riingo's clutter, then, is a three-star restaurant trying to get out.

So, has anyone been there recently?

Soba

[Jinmyo]

Nice job, Amanda.

[Jason Perlow]

Nice job, Amanda.

I agree, great writeup.

[Bux]

It's hard to comment on a review without having some familiarity with the food being reviewed, but it seems here that Amanda Hesser has managed to write much more objectively while allowing her tastes lend a depth and personality to the review. If that's the case, I'm encouraged.

[bourdain]

It's hard to comment on a review without having some familiarity with the food being reviewed

It should be.

[bpearis]

The Daily News prints restaurant reviews irregularly, though. Or at least that's my impression.

Restaurant reviews are every Friday, though I find them hard to find in the paper (it's always buried amongst the classifieds and business section). Much easier just to bookmark the food section of the website.

[bpearis]

Adam Platt is not as impressed.

[Todd36]

Had dinner there tonight, as a walk in. Almost no other dining room customers.

1. Chicken dumplings. Well overpriced at $10. They actually taste like high qualitity chicken. But for three small dumplings, steep price.

2. Soft shell crab roll for $15. Very good, the crab was meaty and fresh, the rice was very good and the roll also had fresh aparagus. The best example of a spider roll I've ever had, and worth $15.

3. American Kobe Beef salad. Good greens. Beef had good flavor, but a little tough and chewy. Cost something like 13, maybe worth the money.

4. A main dish of snapper. Very good, seared really. Crispy skin, served with a neat eggplant puree. A steal at $23.

5. Fruit salad in rhuburb soup for $8. Very good, loved the soup.

They may have a heavy hand with the salt. Overall, I thought the food was quite good.

[grahamR]

I had the pleasure of a week’s holiday in New York last week. Of all the meals I had, Riingo is the one that was the most fun. The beer braised ribs were a terrific surprise, the meat taken from the bone and transformed into a delicious (what I can only describe as) “brownie”. The belly pork was a magnificent main course of the most yielding and delicate quality.

The (complimentary) edame bean dip was a real revelation too.

One of the reasons that Riingo will remain a favourite meal was the simple fact that I couldn’t work out the cooking process that had been used to create the food. I simply couldn’t fathom how the rib meat, for example, had been rendered as a moist coherent block while also keeping a light, beautifully crispy, texture.

If anyone has seen recipes from Riingo, please do let me know! I’ve already ordered a copy of the Aquavit book in hopes of some insights.

[lambretta76]

Anybody been here in a while? Any updates?

[raji]

I went there for dinner during NY Restaurant Week. We ended up only ordering half off that menu. Nevertheless, the food was absolutely fantastic. The service was OK, but they were trying to rush us out towards the end, although it was past close. Great wine list too. I would wholeheartedly recommend it, and I am an admitted and recovering Japanese food snob. I'll post a full review later -