Tabla/The Bread Bar at Tabla

[glenn]

Not quite 52nd St. :), but we have reservations for the first time here, first time in the main room that is.  Any suggestions?

[tommy]

good for you.

i've never had anything bad here.  in fact, it's one of my favorites, on many levels.  there will be 2 or three tasting menus offered (one vegetarian, and probably 2 "regular", perhaps a 5 and a 7 course).  the 7 course is a *lot* of food.  chef cardoz doesn't skimp on portions.  i've found it's too much, but very good.  pace yourself if you go this route.

it might not be the season yet, but he generally has a fish in a watermelon sauce of somesort.  sounds offputting, but it's very good.  

he does fish well (although the crabcakes, which have been on the menu since day one, don't "wow" me).  he does meats well.  he does everything well!  :p

if you could, give some feedback after you've digested.

fyi, it's generally not that difficult to get reservations here during the early part of the week, or on sundays.

[glenn]

Hmmm, I'm not sure if you're saying steer clear of the crab cakes and order any other fish, though crab cakes seem so ordinary for such a special restaurant.  I got the menu faxed and there's no watermelon-flavored fish, bumma.  There's only 2 tasting menus, both 5 course, though it appears you can only get the wine pairings with one of the tasting menus.  Anyhow, I'll let ya know.

[tommy]

sorry for the confusion.  order anything you want, it's all good!  i was suggesting that while the crabcakes are one of their signature dishes, it never wowed me.  however, it's different than any crabcake you'll get elsewhere, and it might be worth a shot.  it's quit good actually, but i guess i'm a purist when it comes to crab cakes.  hmmm, giving it some thought, i guess i don't really like crabcakes all that much to begin with.  :D

[Wilfrid]

This is a restaurant where I too would recommend a tasting menu so you get an overview of the different things the kitchen can do with spices.  The big plate of amuses bouches is terrific - I am not sure whether you get that if you go a la carte.

[glenn]

if you could, give some feedback after you've digested.

Well, take this from where it comes.  I'm no reviewer and frankly I hate spending a 2 wads of dough on dining out. Therefore, I go to upscale places infrequently.  With that caveat, we both thought our dinner was among the best ever and I have no regrets about emptying my wallet.  Actually, I got off better than I thought I would at just over $200 for 2 for everything (I had 2 glasses of wine).  I've read some complaints that the spices are a little too wild, not authentic or not well balanced, but it was nirvana to me.  Indian food is among my favorite, a close second to Thai [mental note to self, try Vong some time] We each tried one of the two 5 course tasting menus giving me a chance to try 10 dishes, well, we each had the same fabulous dessert, so make that 9 dishes.  The big hit was the shrimp dishes, one with coconut and the other black pepper, and yes, watermelon.  Each dish was remarkable and different, but the menu was obviously well thought out and the dishes complemented each other.  I absolutely adored the duck curry entree.

Service was what I would expect from a Danny Meyer establishment, attentive and friendly.  Upstairs is absolutely gorgeous, not that downstairs is an eyesore.  I admit to getting a shiver down my spine when I replied "yes" to the waiter's question if we wanted water (bearing in mind the experience posted recently at GT).  I had visions of them bringing a hose over and filling up beer mug size glasses with sparkling water :) Much to my relief, we rec'd tap water.  Very surprising -- we were never even asked if we wanted bottled water.  I guess the waiter read my mind.

Oh, the place was half empty at 8 PM.  I guess the holiday had a lot to do with it.

[tommy]

i'm very happy you enjoyed yourself.  and thanks for reporting back.

note to you:  don't get too excited about vong? ;)

actually, vong is fun, and good, and nice looking, but it's probably less thai than tabla is indian, which some will argue is very little.  do, however, try pam's thai, on 49th off of 9th.  very good stuff.

cheers.

[Wilfrid]

Ooh, I'm excited now.  I wanted to go to Tabla this weekend, but thought I wouldn't get a table.  I forgot that I am in the minority in completely ignoring just about every holiday in the calendar.  This should be a good weekend for grabbing tables! :)  :)  :)

[ajay]

Glenn,

Forgive me for prying, but i'd like some more details of your visit.

Did you leave Tabla feeling full/sated?  I remember my very first visit we decided to order a la carte and all three of us left feeling hungry.

Was a 7 course menu offered?  A recent examination of the maind dining room menu yielded the discovery that chef cardoz offeres(d) a 7 course suprise menu that seemed to be a bit more 'Indian'.

I would be much obliged if you could provide a bit more information of the dishes you enjoyed...the duck curry for example, was it in a gravy or simply dry spices many people think should be included in a curry?

Also, I'm interesed in what dessert you had...you seem to have enjoyed it.  HOwever, I've often felt that the indian ingredient metaphor probably shouldn't extend to the dessert.  (the only dessert i've ever liked has been renditions of the vanilla bean kulfi).  So I'm wondering if your dessert felt heavily Indian influenced or more straightforwardly western.

I'm glad you enjoyed your experience.

[glenn]

We both left satisfied, not bloated.  However, I could understand if others may have felt the portions were skimpy.  I'm usually too full for dessert after an appetizer and entree (though the old fat glenn would order it anyway), but at Tabla it was the perfect ending.  I don't recall what I ordered when I ate downstairs last year, but I do recall leaving somewhat unsatisfied.  

A 7 course menu, Bada, was offered.  The menu didn't list the dishes, and I didn't inquire, so I can't answer if it was truly a surprise menu and how Indian it truly was.  It was only $10 more than one of the 5 course menus, but I instinctively knew it would be too much for either of us.

It's too bad Tabla doesn't put their menu online.  I wonder if it's just Tabla or all of Danny Meyer's establishments.  Here's a brief summary..

Spring Menu

Black Pepper Shrimp - Salad of cucumber, Daikon, Watermelon Radish, Lime-Jaggery Vinaigrette.

Rice Flaked Black Sea Bass - Long Squash, Silk squash, buttermilk "chass"

Seared Sea Scallop - Hen of the woods mushroomms, young Chinese Greens, bacon, tamarind jus

Tandoori Lamb Chops - Spring garlic, somoked eggplant, peanut-bblack cardamom crust

Dessert

Regional Flavors of India: Kerala

Lentil Dumpling [dal vadi] raita of green mango, pumpkin and beets

Baby halibut curry [meen melee] - cashews, vermicelli, young carrots & curry leaves

Coconut baby shrimp [konju thoren] - steamed rice cake, mustard seeds & tamarind

Duck curry [ishtow] - lacey rice crepes, spring beans with )urad dal payaru)

Dessert

The spring menu came with an optional pairing of 4 oz glasses of wines and the wine was listed on the menu after each dish.  I'm not sure what the item in brackets is after each dish on the Kerala menu (the region in India??), and there's also something in parentheses after the first, second and forth dishes on that menu which I can't make out from the fax.

Also, the desserts listed for each menu were Petits fours, coffee and tabla's teas.  However, we were allowed to choose whatever we wanted from the regular menu.  I don't recall the name of the dessert we had, but it was a very western rich chocolate cake with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.  If I recall, most or all the desserts appeared to be western though they all had Indian names.

Lastly, the coffee --- the one thing I do claim expertise in --- was incredibly good.  It's Sumatra from a place in Beverly Hills.  I was surprised the waiter knew this.  [fyi... it's Graffeo, 310-273-0817 / www.graffeo.com -- yes, I liked it so much I made sure to get the skinny]

[ajay]

Glenn,

Thank you for the detailed reply.

Kerala is a region (actually a province in India).  I would assume that the words in parenthesis are the names of the dishes in Malayalaam, the regional dialect of Kerala--but I can't say for sure as i have only slight knowledge of South India.

[Wilfrid]

I ate the seven course menu a few months back, and certainly wasn't struck by any Indian authenticity - good, though it was, and filling as I recall.

I am going tonight, but I doubt if I can get my dining companion to sit still for seven courses.  I think we'll try the two five course menus, and thanks, Glenn, for posting them :)

[glenn]

I am going tonight, but I doubt if I can get my dining companion to sit still for seven courses.

I was there 2.5 hours for the 5 course meal, which is about my limit for a restaurant.  A 7 course meal would bring it up to close to 3.5 hours, which would cause me to contemplate suicide.

[Wilfrid]

Alain Ducasse was a very full three and a half hours, and my Beloved kept still because it was my birthday.  I can sit in a restaurant all night, but I know it's not for everyone.

[robert brown]

I am curious to find out what Suvir likes, thinks, whatever. Suvir, if you have already commented and don't want to make a fresh post, can you tell me where the original post is?

[Fat Guy]

Suvir is in India and probably won't post for a few weeks. However, I encourage talking about him behind his back.

[anil]

Try Maaki-ki-Roti, their intrepretation of saag, and a raita made of eggplants.

Doing vegetarian dishes right is more difficult than non-veg.

[Steve Klc]

To Glenn and others--Graffeo is in 3 locations--SF 800.222.6250; San Rafael 800.962.7885 and Beverly Hills 800.367.9499--though I "thought" their beans were roasted and shipped from SF.  I also "thought" that they only did two coffees, both blends--a light roast and a dark roast. I use their dark roast for espresso and, like Glenn and apparently the powers that be at Tabla, am a huge fan.

Wilfrid, you are not alone in sensing that Tabla lacked deep Indian influences or "authenticity," as you described it.  (I do have a personal problem with that term.)  It was, however, interesting, flavorful and excellent modern cooking overall.  I recall Suvir agreeing in principle--and sensing that Tabla was but a baby step toward some type of true advancement, a more faithful merging of Indian cuisines with the West--a merging that hasn't happened yet.  The rest was food media and marketing.

The desserts at Tabla were quite good, but they were made by Jackie Riley who hasn't been there for some time.  She had a fine fruit soup with lemongrass and other Asian touches that still sticks in my mind years later.  I didn't like the oft-photographed, oft-praised kulfi--molded in a plastic cone.  It was still a kulfi, albeit a "good" one, but still icy, less refined and inherently less satisfying than French frozen creams.

[Wilfrid]

I went a second round with Tabla on Friday night.  For some reason, it was full of tourists, so we were about the best-dressed couple in the place (hmmm, how many people did I just offend?).

Copied Glenn in sharing the two five course tasting menus.  Last time I thought Tabla was exceptional, this time I found it just okay.  The place was busy, and I had a sense that the food had been shuffled onto each plate pretty hastily.  But we enjoyed both shrimp dishes, and the scallop with mushrooms.  Overall, we found the meal sufficiently copious, but we did have a problem with the duck curry.  It was leg meat, and I would estimate there was about one quarter to one third of a duck's thigh on the plate.  The waiter was visibly surprised when I pointed this out to him, and returned with a dish of extra meat, thus correcting the problem.

One surprise was finding English mead on the dessert wine list.  It's years since I've drunk mead even in England.  It can vary from being viscous, syrupy liqueur to being a lighter, but still sweet, drink.  This version, from the Lurgashall Winery was on the light side, but certainly had a kick.  At $15 the half bottle, who could resist?

'Ere be their web-site, turned to the relevant page:

http://www.lurgashall.co.uk/meads.htm

I note that the English Mead is fortified with spirits, which would explain a lot.   I imagine the Christmas Mead is more towards the syrupy end of the scale.  And at 3 pounds 75 the half bottle, you can see the room for the mark up!

[SobaAddict70]

Dinner tonight at The Bread Bar at Tabla:

Apps --

1.  Dal Saag (BBatT's version of spinach with lentils -- I didn't think it worked well, although it was certainly a new take on what is usually a creamed spinach/lentil dish -- stewed spinach with yellow lentils and mildly spiced, although I should note that my palate can take a lot more spicing than the typical "American-meat-and-potatoes" palate, so take my qualifiers with a grain of salt).

2.  Lamb Kebab with a mint and tamarind sauce (what you would expect a kebab to taste like, but in sausage form).  Sauce was a bright note in an otherwise boring composition.

3.  Tabla Chopped Salad -- kohlrabi, radishes, carrots and cucumbers in olive oil and citrus juice, mildly spiced (includes slivers of red chili rings).  Nothing special, although I'd say it might make an interesting choice of panchan if BBatT were a Korean restaurant.

4.  Sourdough Naan.  Not really that much sourdough flavor; it seemed to me more of a souped up version of the same tandoori naan most of us have seen in clone Indian restaurants all over town.  At least they didn't go overboard on the ghee and salt.

Mains:

1.  Lamb Tandoori with lemon chutney and greens.  The one main I didn't try, although it looked good on the plate (and fork tender too, I might add).

2.  Goan Beef Curry.  A mildly spiced souped up version of beef stew.  Yes, yes, I know this isn't exactly authentic, but it reminded me of a spiced version of Dinty Moore's at a hefty $16, it was that boring.

3.  Chicken Biryanni (we ordered two).  Now this is what I've always thought chicken biryanni should taste like -- chicken and rice baked together with onions, raisins and slivered almonds, along with sweet spices (cinnamon, cardamom and cloves).  Sheer heaven, in fact, the only standout the entire evening.

Preserved lemon chutney -- preserved lemons, mustard seeds, white wine vinegar.  A little too sweet there for my taste, I think the kitchen went just a little overboard on the sugar.

They were kind enough to make a sweet lassi at my request -- basically yogurt and sugar, although BB's version has ice.  FYI, their version of mango lassi is pureed mangoes, orange juice, yogurt and ice.

As for dessert, well that's what Haagen-Dasz is for...

Note from Soba:  I don't usually eat dessert if I can help it.

Note from Soba, part the second:  my companions aren't exactly adventurous in terms of "spicy" dishes, but I wanted to introduce them to something new that they might not have considered before.  One of them has spent a good chunk of time in India, so he has some background even if he doesn't have a similar set of gustatory experiences.

I haven't been to BBatT in a while.  A second visit is in order -- maybe I'm expecting too much, or the kitchen was off this time around?

[talentedone]

You go to Tabla to get Indian food?

Please... wake up.

They have hired Indian chefs who can cook Indian food to work downstairs.  But still, no self respecting poor Indian chef would want to work at Tabla.

It is a mess.

Neither here nor there.

The Plotnickis of the world can be charmed at Tabla maybe, for the real, there is nothing there.

Bad food, in a noisy setting, great service though.

Food sucks at best.

Horrible at other times and inedible when bad.

[jeunefilleparis]

Hi everyone

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I m here to report about my spectacular valentines day lunch at Tabla

First of all, the people there are just lovely, so friendly and down to earth unlike some other downtown eateries where they think they are doing you a favor instead of the otherway around,,,

anyways, we were seating upstairs, right by the opening that allows one a view of bread bar. Our waiter, a very cute waiter I might add was very helpful as I couldnt decide on what to try this time. I always have difficulties there since it is all so delicious.

My appetizer was seared mussels and calamari on a bed of frisee in this curry sauce, i hhave the weakest tongue in the world for spice but i ate it anyways bc the first intial bite was just so scrumptious. We also ordered champagne, dont recall the brand, green bottle though,,,,

main course was the special of the day, a pan roasted fluke with smoked bacon, and an assortment of veggies, this dish easily ranks up there on one of the most amazing dishes i ve tried. I cant even describe all the flavors, it was also in a type of curry sauce, though not as spicey as the app.

Dessert was also incredible, a chocolate chai semi freddo with home made whipped cream, it just melted in your mouth, my date had the vanilla bean kulfati ( is that spelled anywhere near right?) which is a very dense whole milk dessert its in the shape of an upside down cone, this was in a blood orange sauce with blood orange slices,, her dessert blew me away, it was quite orgasmic actually ( is that word allowed on the board) it was amazing, the whole meal, start to finish was exactly how every upscale meal should be,

i remmeber when i was 19 and first moved to NYC and I ate at Union Sq cafe i still remember my warm chocolate tart with mint icecream there,,, Gramercy tavern has never ever let me down, the rabbit entree and hamachi appetizer are the only things i get there, they are just so so good. 11 Madison Park was great too, though the crowd was a bit stuffy there for my taste, service again was excellent

i have yet to go to blue smoke, bc i have a favorite southern place in the west village, the pink tea cup, but i ll check it out eventually

ok , thats all for now, sorry if this was too long, i m not aware of all the posting rules yet

Lauren

[Beachfan]

Sounds super! Welcome to the board and thanks for sharing!

[Jinmyo]

Lauren, there's no rule against a long post. Especially a long and enthusiastic one.

Welcome.

[CathyL]

Terrific post, Lauren! I love Danny's restaurants too.