For a recent Midtown Lunch Happy Hour, I chose Loreley as our venue because SpB had whispered in my ear… “meatballs. frites. same basket. wtf. wtf. wtf. MEATBALLS AND FRITES IN A BASKET” – this sounded ridiculously appealing to me – hello!? – so I quickly made plans to drag my HH lush friends.  Plus, I’d been to Loreley years ago and enjoyed the quirky atmosphere; a German biergarten right outside Chinatown?  Sold. 

It wasn’t that difficult to convince everyone of the greatness, either; as with any biergarten, the beer selection was pretty decent (though I’m sure Beer Boor will speak up and confirm or deny this, as I, um, stuck to drinking hard cider or something along those lines…). 

When I arrived, everyone was enjoying large steins of beer, though I didn’t bother to ask what they were drinking.  TT was sitting next to me, and we began discussing the merits of ordering food.  “Meatballs and frites,” I said.  He responded, “No meatballs.  Meatball’d out.  No meatballs!”

So he ordered a burger.  He said it was good, but not life changing.

Hungry also ordered a platter of some sort, while CheeeEEEeeese ordered soup.  I didn’t take pictures nor did I happen to hear how they liked them (they were sitting at the other end of one of the long picnic tables in the outdoor back patio area), so hopefully they will speak up and share their opinions… 

Meanwhile, Nommables’ Dean and I both went straight for what we’d come for: meatballs and frites. 

When the basket arrived, I was pretty surprised by how many meatballs there were – 8, I think.  I’d expected a low number – 3-5, perhaps, just tossed in with my frites.  Plus, these were pretty huge! like small hamburgers that hadn’t been flattened (pre-cooking, I don’t press on my burgers once they’re on the grill, I’m not crazy). 

What really struck me immediately as I placed a ball in my mouth was how soft they were.  I knew they were pork from the menu, but just how succulently soft each piece was; it was along the lines of biting into a meat cloud, a burst of meat juice released into your mouth along with the lovely flavor of happiness.  Provided with each basket were small cups of ketchup, mustard and curry ketchup; but the surprise win was definitely the curry ketchup – a slight kick of curry in there, the smell of curry, and just yum.  The frites were pretty tasty too – properly fried, crispy, and great to munch on while chatting with everyone; since the portion was so generous, it was easy to share as well.

Yvo says: Well, that was a win.  My cider was $5, and for $10, that ginormous basket of meatballs and frites was an excellent value that totally stuffed me.  I’d say it stuffed me for the night, but I’ll be honest: directly afterwards, we headed over to Quickly Shabu Shabu because I wanted hot pot.  Mostly cuz I’m a pig, though, not because I wasn’t full already.  With a pretty extensive menu for a biergarten, I can’t imagine why I wouldn’t return to Loreley sooner than later… mmm!  
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Post tags: frites, Meatballs

UPDATE: I am becoming a blogging machine, so I will also be reporting on Thursday afternoons for you.

CT’s sister and her brother-in-law are not only high school sweethearts, their birthdays are a week apart. Isn’t that cute? I was invited to the dual-family brunch to celebrate both of their birthdays at DBGB Kitchen & Bar. It is one of the newer restaurants in the building Daniel Boulud empire. The restaurant’s name is a homage to CBGB, the pioneering music club that used to be a few doors up on Bowery. It is quite amazing how this neighborhood is changing. Bowery used to be one of the most rundown streets in Manhattan, but with DBGB, Whole Foods, and now Pulino’s, it has become quite gentrified. Is that a good thing? It remains to be seen. There ended up being 10 of us, so it was quite a large brunch crew, so I wasn’t able to document all of the food, but I got most of it.

Since it was brunch afterall, we started with some cocktails.

CT got the blood orange spritzer with gin. She could have gotten it with vodka, but I think gin was the better choice.

I got the Aztec. It had tequila, jalapeno, and cucumber slices. Quite strong, but quite tasty.

One of the stars of the menu is the selection of sausages, nine to choose from. The birthday girl decided it would be best to order a whole bunch for the table to share as appetizers.

Chipolata- pork sausage link, pommes mousseline, burgundy truffle. (below center, with truffle on top)

Espagnole-fresh chorizo sausage with piperade, basil oil. As expected from a chorizo, this had some nice heat to it. (below, right, red)

Boudin Basque- spicy blood & pigs head sausage, scallion mashed potatoes. One of the most unique sausages on the menu. I haven’t had blood sausage in a long time. It was quite good. The black blood was nice and creamy and worked well with the chunks of pigs head.

Tunisienne- spicy lamb & mint merguez, lemon braised spinach & chickpeas.

Vermont- smoked pork & cheddar link, hash browns, red onion crème frache. This was also very good. Pork + cheddar = WIN. I really like the hash browns too.

As if this wasn’t enough to start with, we got some other appetizers too.

Charcuterie plate- tasting of pâté, saucisson, rillette, & fromage de tête with sourdough toast. All of the items here were very good. I think I might have a heart attack before the end of the meal.

Housemade blintzes- ricotta cream, poached rhubarb. I had a taste of this and it was pretty amazing. So rich and creamy. Quite better than the frozen blitzes I am used to.

The Viennoiserie was also ordered for the table. It is a basket of fresh baked pain aux raisins croissant, pain au chocolat, & madeleines with butter & jam. Fortunately for CT & I, the other end of the table grabbed most of these items, so we were able to hold off. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture.

For mains, CT & I decided to get two of the burgers on the menu and share them. Daniel’s Piggie & Frenchie burgers have gotten some good press since the restaurant opened. He even gave out the Frenchie back in January in a food truck as part of a NBC contest.

The Piggie- 6 oz beef patty topped with Daisy May’s bbq pulled pork, jalapeno mayonnaise & boston lettuce on a cheddar bun with mustard-vinegar slaw & fries. I like Daisy May’s pulled pork a lot and used it get it from their cart when I used to work near there. To have it on top of a burger? Yes please. The burgers are pretty small, but the flavor is big. Very tasty and all the ingredients work quite well together.

inside shot

The Frenchie- 6 oz beef patty with confit pork belly, arugula, tomato-onion compote & morbier cheese on a peppered brioche bun with cornichon, mustard & fries. WOW! Pork belly on a burger! Basically it is the most decadent bacon cheese burger you ever had. I think I liked it even more than the Piggie. Take note too that the fries were amazing. Perfectly crisp and then give you a ton of them. I am so glad CT & I decided to share these burgers.

inside shot

Since it was a birthday celebration, we were getting dessert. I was pretty full and used this opportunity to get something light since I probably ingested enough salt to kill a small dog. Their sorbet of the day was grapefruit. I got a scoop. Boring for some, but perfect for me. It was nice and tart- very grapefruity.

CT got the strawberry sundae. Unfortunately the DGBG website has an old menu listed, so I can’t give you an exact description. The ice cream was basically strawberry cheesecake in ice cream form. There were also marshmallows, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. CT was quite happy with her dessert. I thought I took a picture, but I guess I accidentally deleted it.

CT’s sister got Mymi’s Rhubarb Tart- italian meringue, rhubarb ice cream. She liked it a lot. Her husband got the cheese plate and was also quite happy with it.

The design of the restaurant is very cool. It is a slightly open kitchen, but the star is the copper cookware that lines the shelves. Each item was donated by a world-renowned chef. There is a tag above each one to show where it came from. Here is shot of the pot donated by one of my favorites, Anthony Bourdain.

All in all a great meal to celebrate a special occasion. Everything was delicious. It was very generous of CT’s father to treat us. I would definitely recommend this if you have a special occasion coming up, but not if you have a doctor’s appointment. They also have a great beer list, so The Beer Boor may have to make a visit.

© TT for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: TT

Yet another one of my last days down in the Financial District, and the Wafels & Dinges truck finally showed up!  I was so excited to get to try them finally before I left for good.  (Actually, I’m pretty sure this was my last day ever down there, so it was excellent timing.)  I wound up having a long conversation with one of the guys working there while they made my wafel fresh… they were both very cool and fun to talk to, but of course, held my wafel hostage! 

Yes… come to me, my preciousss

A BACON WAFEL! with the bacon embedded, banana slices and maple syrup.  All that’s missing is peanut butter, or it could have been an Elvis take (which I told them, so if they’ve started selling that combo in the time since, it was MY IDEA YOU CAN THANK MEEE!).    I have to say, I was really impressed by the wafel.  I hadn’t expected to like it that much, eat half, get rid of the other half (my coworkers surprised me with a red velvet cake that day, actually), but I totally inhaled it all.  Crisp bits of bacon littered throughout a crisp but soft wafel (I waited a bit to eat it, so I’m sure the maple syrup absorbed into it, softening it up a bit)… the banana did amazing things with the salty, smokey bacon… I just really enjoyed my wafel more than I’d thought would be possible.  I don’t like waffles in general, but was game to try this Belgian kind.  I was very happy.

Yvo says: Pleasantly surprised by how this turned out to be so tasty!  I liked the combination I got, but I would love to go back and try more things.  Yum!
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© Feisty Foodie for The Feisty Foodie, 2010. | Permalink | 5 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: pastries

SpB’s birthday passed recently, and after a day of feet-measuring, ice skating, karaoke, a ton of fun, we headed to Resto for some grub.  Yeah, we’d been there before – three years ago – but hell she wanted frites and we were nearby. 

And I’ve been dreaming about these deviled eggs since three years ago… they were even more amazing this time around!  Of course, since I’m also way more conscious about my weight and health this time around, I opted to share these and only eat one piece.  That ‘pork toast’ bit on the bottom? crisp with a delicious fatty center, and just. amazing. omg. I wanted to cry from joy.  Then AB pointed out the trail of fat drizzling its way down my hand, down my arm, and I thought “Maybe I can live without that…” 

NAH!!! 

AB and SpB both opted for the chorizo moules frites this time, and surprisingly, neither liked it very much.  The flavor was pronounced much too muted, too bland and unremarkable for what they wanted.  FAIL.  Last time, she’d liked the moules very much, so this was a bit of a surprise. 

The frites, however, were delicious per usual.  Crisp on the outside, potato goodness on the inside – perfect frites with some great dipping sauces.  In fact, they both began using the sauces (lime pickle & sweet chili) for their moules, saying that bumped the flavor factor of the moules much better. 

ShB ordered a burger?  I didn’t really get her opinion unfortunately, but here’s a terrible photo of her food.  She made no comment about the dish, so I presume it was sufficient. 

I have this really great affinity towards pappardelle, so when I saw the pork ragout pappardelle on the menu, of course I ordered that.  The pork ‘sauce’, a super soft, succulent mash on top of the wonderful pappardelle… let’s just say, I was very quiet as I cleaned my plate happily.  So. Good. 

I really like to have vegetables with my meals, so I opted to add on a side dish of beets with creme fraiche.  (I could have sworn that I read somewhere creme fraiche is actually a style/type of cheese, but I guess I am wrong because Google tells me otherwise, d’oh!)  The beets were delicious with the creme fraiche, though some of the herbs were a bit pungent, while others went excellently.  Since I couldn’t identify the herbs on sight at the restaurant, I can’t tell you which it was, but the dish was delicious in either case.  Yum! 

Yvo says: I really love Resto’s casual atmosphere, and the place is just fun to grab a bite.  They have a huge selection of beer – if you’re into that sort of thing, heh, which you know I’m not – and some solid offerings, though apparently, skip the chorizo/saffron/potato option for the moules frites.  DEFINITELY get the deviled eggs, if you like fat, pork, deliciousness… with deviled eggs on top of that   Yumm- I have to go back sooner than 3 years from now!
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Post tags: frites

Clearly I haven’t been eating out a lot lately, hence the lack of posts, nor cooking anything new. After the new year, however, exciting news and exciting plans will be announced… and Feisty Foodie will once again be updated more regularly!

In any case, after the last dance class of session 1, my friends/fellow classmates decided to have a graduation dinner. Being that we’re apparently anti-social, we didn’t invite anyone else besides ourselves. StB chose Markt, since it’d crossed our radars ages ago but we hadn’t the chance to go yet. Reservations were made and off we went.

The inside was extremely spacious, and gave me the feeling of being in Europe in a beer hall or a big airy German… beer hall. Not that I’ve been to one, but the dark wood beams, the high ceilings and the dark wood booths just gave me that feeling. We were definitely not crowded on top of our neighbors or anything like that.

Since there were 3 hours between the end of dance class and our reservation, all three of us noshed a little between and wound up not being very hungry. StB opted to order a small plate for her dish; she actually thought it was a salad as the description read “poached oysters atop spinach”- honest mistake. We all thought it was strange that the waitress didn’t bother to mention this when StB only ordered this, but just as well.

HB ordered mussels and enjoyed these. Her fries were totally yummy as well, and they came with mayo to dip in… delicious and fatty. (I know, we celebrated dance class by… pigging out. Well, we all graduated to level 2!)

Though I previously mentioned my aversion to ordering pasta at Belgian/French restaurants, I just had to order it this time- pappardelle with a veal ragout (which means sauce). It was really good, and not overly filling or heavy, just right. I really enjoyed it and despite having eaten a bit before as well, I cleaned my plate. Yummy.

*For StB’s perspective, click here. (I just re-read her review and it’s nearly the same as mine, with the major difference being pictures, haha.)

I enjoyed my food and the conversation, as always, was fantastic. Always a good time with these girls. The bill wasn’t expensive- we all had ordered beer as well- about $30 a person. No one bothered us for sitting there for ages chatting, and the waitress was very nice (we didn’t order dessert).

Yvo says: I liked the place, and it’s fairly conveniently located on 21st and 6th Avenue. The overall experience and the above-average (though not excellent or particularly innovative, or at least not what we ordered) food is definitely worth a try and maybe a revisit later.
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Post tags: Bistro, Chelsea