Surviving in Soho

I came back from this Cuban restaurant, and lemme tell ya, I'm mighty upset.

When I got there, I got the worst seat in the house. I mean, this tiny place is jam-packed, and they only had two active waitresses available. So scale it up in your head. This... Worst seat in the house. It was a little before the bathroom, so it was a high traffic area, and it was on the left wall, where the right wall was already packed with seats and tables in an already crowded hallway! Terrible.

I didn't like the food. I mean, I tried the roast pork, and the texture was good--very soft. But it was like... sour? Who knew? The beans and rice, eh... and who puts vegetables and lime in rice? Seriously.

Anyway, I keep comparing these places to the one in Bergenfield. The one in Bergenfield is the best there is! Maybe next time I'll try that Cuban restaurant I originally planned on going to, on Christopher Street...

As for you, Cafe Havana, you are not tops.

My dining experience was very informative. When my fraternity brother and I sat down, there were menus for us decorated with lunch specials and (here's my favorite part) a dictionary/glossary. It explained all the funny terminology that we non-Spanish-speaking folk have to endure. Very cool.

I ordered the ros con pollo, and I must say, it was mighty tasty. I'm usually very critical about what I eat, ready to point out flaws and such. But the food was served hot and fresh, and like I said, it was extremely tasty. It was a very full experience, both in the food and atmosphere. Even before the main course, they served soup, bread, and chips and dip.

Overall, I'd say it was a great experience. I look forward to eating there if the desire for good-quality Mexican food strikes again.

It was pretty quiet when I entered--easy music, not too bright light, just a very relaxed environment overall. And even the customers were not too dressy, but not too off-the-street either.

The waiters were extremely friendly, quick, and helpful. I'd say the only downside is that I was waiting for my check for quite a while. My guess is that it was in between shift changes and I lost my regular waitress.

The food was well-prepared, but maybe I wasn't ready for the juxtaposition of certain flavors. Regardless, it was a nice experience, even with its limited/simple selection. It's "prix-fixe", where you can choose a three-course meal from a set of choices for a fixed price.

I had the soup, battered chicken, and ice cream/bread dessert. It was the battered chicken that was throwing me off. There was salad, fruit, cheese, and the chicken. Hah, don't get me wrong, I ate every last bit of it. It was just... different.

But a $20 meal... quite the bargain. It was a three-course meal with great service. I'd say the experience was worth it.

When I went in and asked for a seat for one, the waitress had the hardest time finding me a seat, which was weird. Anyway, the service and the food was pretty straight forward. Free bread, mmm... Oh man, I just forgot, tucked away at the bottom of the menu was this reference to some tea that came complimentary with your meal. I wonder why they don't make that obvious or just give it to people up front? So if you ever dine at Spring Street Natural, be sure to ask for the free tea.

The meal was prepared pretty quickly, but I'm guessing that was because it didn't involve any meat. I had the scrambled tofu. The taste was kind of "eh." I'm not sure if it's them or if vegetarian food on the whole just doesn't have a lot of zing to it. Anyway, it was well prepared and went down easily.

I was just about ready to sprint out of there, so I asked for my check, which kinda took longer than I wanted. Maybe they're slow. Maybe I'm impatient. Maybe it's both.

All in all, I'd say, if you're a fan of vegetarian, organic food, or any of that sort of healthy specialty food, this is the place for you. It’s not too pricey and has enough variety to make me want to go back and try more entrées.

I decided go here with a friend. The moment we walked in, the host was extremely friendly. After a short wait, we sat down and were met with more friendly service. The waiters were quick and ran without a hitch. I guess the one bad thing I could say is that the bread was tough and hard to bite. But then again, aren't most breads?

My friend had the duck and chicken meal, and I, the vegetarian. The duck and chicken were cooked well and looked great, so much so that I was thinking about nabbing some from is plate. But I decided to retain a little decorum. Did I mention that the place seemed a little upscale? I guess the best way to describe it would be upscale without the hob-nobbery. People wore casual attire, with all sorts just coming in to enjoy some fine dining.

I kept my cool and didn't pick at his plate, so my vegetarian dish kept me company. The thought that ran through my head the whole time was how boring vegetarian food is. I'm a meat-eater on the whole, but I am now making an effort to expand (limit, actually?) my horizons to vegetarian food. The experience lacked a certain pizzazz. Maybe it's just that the oomph that meat usually provides was missing, but I will say that the dish itself was great. It was extremely well prepared, and unlike other places I've been to, also visually appetizing.

There are so many great things to say about this restaurant. I guess one thing to tell you about is how much I didn't have to worry. There are so many things that get cancelled out in a well-run environment. I didn't have to track down our waiter or worry about when our food was coming or if it was cooked properly. The atmosphere was comforting, and it made my job of entertaining my friend a whole lot easier.

So we had a great night, which also came at a high price. I guess that's what you get in these kinds of restaurants.

For a well-rounded dining experience with a load of quality servers, service, and food, here's to you, Union Square Cafe.

My journey to Amuse began at Meetup.com, where I joined The New York City Dining Out group, a collection of like-minded individuals who enjoy eating out in the city at restaurants. The hostesses were extremely helpful as they tried to decipher where I was from and who I was with. "I come from the Internet," I mumbled. See, that confusion comes from meeting up with strange people from the Web.

We were seated in the back, which might be considered their private dining area. From a sign or two outside, it looked like they had even more space available for private events. Private or not, the area was extremely cozy and well arranged/maintained. There were approximately 30 of us, and we sat on two separate rows of joined tables. It did not feel crowded by any means.

Since it was Restaurant Week, we had all of our meals from the prix-fixe menu. There were three courses and three types of items to choose from in each. For appetizers, there was the tomato soup, salad, or cod cakes. For the main course, there was the chicken, pasta, or salmon. And for dessert there was a chocolate item, vanilla ice cream, and buttermilk cake. I'm probably butchering the names of the entrées, since their descriptions were long and elaborate, but I hope you get the picture.

I had the cod cakes, chicken, and buttermilk cake. The cod cakes were actually like overrated fish sticks. Don't get me wrong, though, as it was extremely tasty and the tartar sauce was awesome. But, yeah, they're fishstick balls.

The cut of the chicken was great. I hate it when restaurants use low-grade or the less-desirable parts of chicken or beef in their food. In any case, the chicken was seasoned well, and it was accompanied by a few greens, mashed potatoes, and a brown gravy. The one thing that sticks out in my mind about this dish though is how tasty it was, almost too tasty, or salty even. I imagine chicken dishes to be initially bland, which are then aided with a hint of flavor from the spices, gravy, etc. I dunno. Maybe it was just me, but the chicken was fine with its own seasoning. The gravy was just so much extra. I could have easily just applied the gravy in moderation. Either way, the chicken was a solid choice.

The dessert was supposed to be buttermilk cake with ice cream and blueberries. I had to dash out of the restaurant to catch a bus, so I asked the waitress if I could get it to go. She withheld the ice cream, since it would probably get messy on the way home. The cake itself was nice, but I’m not a fan of blueberries, so oh well.

Amuse was a great place to dine out. The staff was extremely quick and helpful the entire time, especially our waitress Rosa. She rocks.

I and a group of acquaintances encountered the Noho Star after a Meetup.com event nearby. From the moment we went in, the staff was extremely courteous. One bad experience was the seating arrangement we got for five people. Tables normally sit four, and they didn't bother attaching another table so that we could sit comfortably. But the staff was awesome, especially our waiter, Michael. He's the man, always quick to respond with service with a smile.

The place itself was nice, but nothing spectacular. There was a high ceiling with low dividers between sections, which gave a very spacious feeling. The decor had this square, wooden feel to it, with enough round trimmings to not make it feel too blocky. There was a small bar area in the back where people could wait for their tables.

The each of us ended up ordering different things, which was great, since we could see the variety of what the restaurant had to offer. Our dishes ranged from burgers to Chinese food and an omelette. On the menu, they had various specials for every day of the week, as well as sections for American and Chinese food.

When our food came, we started to dig in immediately. The presentation was nice and not too over the top. It was very modern and bold, with big, colorful plates. All of a sudden, our waiter came by to tell us that one of the dishes was the wrong one. We weren’t too far into the meal, but it was an innocent mistake. The meal was quickly replaced, and we immediately felt bad for whoever’s food we *were* eating.

I had the meatloaf wrapped in bacon with mashed potatoes and tomato chutney. Truth be told, I really "loves me" some meatloaf. And this one didn’t disappoint, although we all agreed that maybe wrapping two slices of loaf in bacon was a bit over the top. Various parts of the meatloaf were a little pink, but it didn’t detract from the meal at all.

It was a pretty simple night. We got to discuss all weird technical things and new happenings in the world, so I’d say we were pretty well taken care of. Even stuff like the bathroom or cleanliness of the restaurant wasn’t something to worry about. We even had this whole complicated system of splitting our bill, paying with three cards and cash, but they took care of it easily.

So, any downsides to the Noho Star? I thoroughly enjoyed myself and can’t remember anything worth complaining or worrying about, which, to me, was a sign of excellence. The menu might be a little on the pricey side, at a max of $20 per meal, but with such great service from people like Michael, it was all gravy.

The Noho Star, it glows in the dark.