Sorely disappointed.
After reading about the uni panini in New York Mag – wait, it gets better – StB and I decided, per usual, to try it. Cheap eats, we thought. Okay, so $15 for a panini isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s uni, and it’s from a tapas place. (Am I whining?) One of our favorite foods (seriously, search either of our sites for uni or sea urchin, you’ll see) and served in a more casual manner at a Spanish place – why not? Sounds interesting, we’re game, and we went.
StB does a fantastic job of describing our experience and I shared the same exact thoughts as her, so I’m going to make both of our lives easier by directing you there instead. My only difference is pictures and side by side comparisons.
They (New York Mag) said we’d get:
THE ABOVE TWO PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEW YORK MAG.
But instead we got:
I seriously thought it was complimentary bread to dip in the olive oil.
Gackkk… though I don’t deny it was tasty, it was so not worth $15! Uni, a schmear of a tangy oil (New York Mag says Korean Mustard Oil; we guessed a slight kick of wasabi, actually), and ficelle (which, btw, I love this bread- they sell some really good loaves at Trader Joe’s for a buck or two! so good, crispy on the outside with a nice soft chew on the center, without being too heavy, though be warned: it goes bad very, very quickly).
For the grand total of $35 a person, including a generous tip for less than stellar service (though not rude, just inattentive and deaf? StB attempted to get the bartender’s attention numerous times to no avail), we also received:
Olives- not sure if these were house marinated, they were alright, nothing spectacular.
A glass each of cava rosado. Again, nothing special.
None of the other dishes on the menu really were special – if you’ve been to any tapas places in the past few years, they were all standard items; the only item of note was the uni panini. And we already know how that turned out.
Disappointing. We were still hungry, so we continued our journey to a nearby diner for pie.
Yvo says: Bleghhh, why even bother? If you really must try it, I guess, but you can also easily go to Trader Joe’s and pick up some ficelle, then head over to Sunrise Mart (only a few blocks away) and pick up a whole container of uni for $13.99 – 29.99 (there are different grades of quality), and make your own uni paninis. Mehhh.
not really recommended
soopling says
How disappointing! I was eyeing this sandwich too after reading about it in NY Mag, but I guess it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Sob.
Ann says
aww. it does look tasty. just, definitely not worth the price. it reminds me of when i had a $15 bowl of ramen at momofuku. no bowl of ramen worth that much. lol after my friend and i spent our $30+ tip and tax, we thought of all the stuff we could’ve had for $15 instead.
RP says
Wow.
A: This is New York. If you don’t want to spend money eating out, stick to Grey’s or Ray’s.
B: I live around the corner from Quinto Pino, and love it even more than Tia Pol. The uni Sandwich is remarkable, and deserves every bit of credit its been given. Sorry it didn’t come out of a cramped and busy kitchen looking like it does in a photo shoot, these are the breaks I guess.
C: The dishes at Quinto Pino are NOT like any other Tapas. The Pig’s ear salad (recently renamed “country head cheese” or something like that) is almost stand-alone for delicious piggy gelatinousness in NYC, and the rest of the menu is short, precise, and focused on being more authentic than any other Tapas in New York. Did you even try the Cracklings?
D: For a restaurant with that little space, no seats, and a packed house every night, the staff is as attentive and friendly as they could be. Obviously you’ve neither waited tables, nor been to Bar Jamon, where a similar setup results in markedly worse service.
This is why food blogging is so disparaged. People with no experience, expertise, or authority get to belch out opinions that other, even more ignorant people, actually listen to.
Yvo says
Hi RP,
A: If you read my site at all – which you clearly don’t – you’d realize a couple of things about me. Including that money isn’t the issue when I eat out. It’s the quality and whether or not I like something.
B: I wasn’t WOW’d by the sandwich. Period. I post here what I think and what I like or don’t like. Period. You like it, that’s great. I won’t be back to take up space where you could be standing instead.
C: Did you even read my review? I was there to try one thing and one thing only.
D: Again, you don’t read my site. I don’t like Batali. In fact, I detest him. And yes, not only have I waited tables, I’ve tended bar at a tiny place – probably around the same size as El Quinto Pino – and managed to do just fine, thanks.
Food blogging is disparaged. There is a lot of ignorance out there. But the bottom line is that with any review, it is another person telling you their *opinion* on something very, very specific to each person. No one in the world has the exact same tastes as any other person in the world. People can read my reviews and think “She sounds like someone who likes the same things as I do; I trust her opinion,” or think, “This girl has no idea what she’s talking about, I’m not going to bother reading this anymore,” and move on. Obviously you belong to the latter group. Thanks for stopping by and reading!
Anonymous says
sounds like this previous extant comes from the restaurant itself. You are right, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion. it is just that. An opinion. Someone with no experience, expertise or authority gave their opinion so you have to take it at that. If you are an experienced eater then you should know the difference, it shouldn’t matter to you. Now if you were to say, review, then your comment rates merrit and you can now go into details why you disagree with an experienced, expert with authority. What ever “authority” means.
Anonymous says
I completely agree. This sandwich is overhyped. I am an uni fanatic but the truth is that I have never found an uni dish I thought did justice to the uni. This is why I have also been so reluctant to go to Soto… I don’t know if uni should really be treated in any other way than as sushi and sashimi.
Christine says
omg, i saw the article and was going to make a trip down there. forget it now!
Anonymous says
Don’t listen to any of the negative BS that the reviews spew.
This place is awesome, Uni is my favorite food, besides lardo and this is the ultimate sandwich. I eat for the taste and not some photo of a sandwich downloaded from my cheap cell phone.