Good food, great atmosphere nice staff, however the food was not great. The food was exciting on the menu, but somewhat disappointing on arrival. The bread was not fresh and while it still tasted good, i would have perfected it reheated/baked slightly instead of the the cold somewhat chewy bread we got. It did come with a good olive mixture.
I started with a salt cod (Bacalao) over polenta. This was very good, the highlight of the few dishes i tried. They removed almost of the salt, very nicely done. It was in a pile, broken up almost like crab. They could have done alot more with the flavor, but the fish was excellent and went well with strips of grilled polenta. Very large portion, nearly the size of an entree. My fiance had the prosciutto and mellow which was good, but instead of wrapping the melon in prosciutto they just piled it on top it, kinda strange. People at my table said the Onion soup was not very good.
For the main course I had the veal cannelloni which was strange. 2 large cannelloni with a veal and cheesy type filling. There appeared to be 2 sauces, a Béchamel, which was way to thin, and a brown sauce that might have been drippings from the meat. It was almost sour like they used vinegar, i did not love it. There was something a bit off about the taste. Overall a ok dish.
My fiance had the Gnocchi in Gorgonzola sauce. This was a big disappointment. The sauce was weak, and a poor match to the bland Gnocchi. It did have a very nice texture, to often from restaurants its gooey and mushy, this Gnocchi had a bite to it. Aside from it being a bland dish with thin sauce, there was no color variation at all and no herbs added. Off white pasta on a white plate with off white sauce. Very boring and kind of shocking they would serve it like that. Jazz it up!
Over all the food was decent but lacking something. it is also too expensive for the quality of food, although to portions are big. It is very cute and you can eat outside. They do have a nice menu with many options, so i might be have to try something else. Slightly recommended.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Mombar
This was such a wonderful meal! I'm a big fan of the Kebab Cafe so i figured i needed to try his brother's place... We walked in and were greeted with big smiles and welcoming attitudes.
My friend and i had the tasting menu, fantastic deal! $30 for bread, appetizer, and THREE entrees... Sure they were smaller than your usual entrees, but only slightly... We walked out of there totally stuffed!
The meal started with farmers bread in a sauce that i think had balsamic vinegar, hot fresh and wonderful. The chef asked us what we like and we told him he could surprise us. He asked if we ate tripe and feeling adventurous we said we would try it.
The appetizer was kinda like sausage stuffed with rice and other things... Like someone mentioned below it was a little bland, but overall very good. It was definitely stuffed in some sort of Offal. Good start to the meal. The first entree was some sorta fish dish, perhaps tilapia, with tomatoes and peppers with couscous. This was fantastic. Moist fresh fish with wonderful flavors. Excellent dish.
The next 2 meals were almost identical to each other which was a slight disappointment. They were both with rice tomatoes, peppers, carrots, zucchini, chick peas served with rice. The first dish was Lamb tagine and was just incredible! The lamb was very noticeably Lamb, meaning it has that funky lamb taste that i love. It was extremely tender, moist and lean. The second dish was the tripe. This was my first time eating tripe and thu i'm proud that i tried something new and sorta adventurous, i really did not enjoy it that much. I've never had something so soft yet chewy at the same time... Very very strange texture. Not much flavor to the tripe itself beside the sauce, which is guess is a good thing considering what it might have tasted like were it not cleaned properly! It was disappointing that both the last 2 dished were basically identical, thu they were very good.
The house wine was $4 a glass! Decent wine to. The waitress was the chef's wife and was very nice. They were both thankful for our business and i will certainly be back. We had a feast of a meal for $30 each... No room for dessert, but we did walk up the block for some mint tea and hookah. Wonderful evening. I highly recommended this place for those that want to dine. I believe the meal took over 2 hours, which is fine with me! If it were possible, this would be 4.5 stars.
My friend and i had the tasting menu, fantastic deal! $30 for bread, appetizer, and THREE entrees... Sure they were smaller than your usual entrees, but only slightly... We walked out of there totally stuffed!
The meal started with farmers bread in a sauce that i think had balsamic vinegar, hot fresh and wonderful. The chef asked us what we like and we told him he could surprise us. He asked if we ate tripe and feeling adventurous we said we would try it.
The appetizer was kinda like sausage stuffed with rice and other things... Like someone mentioned below it was a little bland, but overall very good. It was definitely stuffed in some sort of Offal. Good start to the meal. The first entree was some sorta fish dish, perhaps tilapia, with tomatoes and peppers with couscous. This was fantastic. Moist fresh fish with wonderful flavors. Excellent dish.
The next 2 meals were almost identical to each other which was a slight disappointment. They were both with rice tomatoes, peppers, carrots, zucchini, chick peas served with rice. The first dish was Lamb tagine and was just incredible! The lamb was very noticeably Lamb, meaning it has that funky lamb taste that i love. It was extremely tender, moist and lean. The second dish was the tripe. This was my first time eating tripe and thu i'm proud that i tried something new and sorta adventurous, i really did not enjoy it that much. I've never had something so soft yet chewy at the same time... Very very strange texture. Not much flavor to the tripe itself beside the sauce, which is guess is a good thing considering what it might have tasted like were it not cleaned properly! It was disappointing that both the last 2 dished were basically identical, thu they were very good.
The house wine was $4 a glass! Decent wine to. The waitress was the chef's wife and was very nice. They were both thankful for our business and i will certainly be back. We had a feast of a meal for $30 each... No room for dessert, but we did walk up the block for some mint tea and hookah. Wonderful evening. I highly recommended this place for those that want to dine. I believe the meal took over 2 hours, which is fine with me! If it were possible, this would be 4.5 stars.
El Jamon (CLOSED)
One of my favorite places in Astoria, never ever busy, closed not long after it was open, but it was amazing...
Review #1
I called up, the person on the phone was really nice and explained a few items to me, being one of my first Spanish meals. For appetizers or Caciones we had the Datil (Dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with bacon), this was incredible. Really rich, and layers of texture. The outside bacon was perfectly crispy, the date was soft and juicy and the almond was a nice crunch to finish it off. Really unique flavors, excellent appetizer.
The Queso Frito De Cabra (Fried Goat cheese with honey and Sweet onion) was also very good. It amazes me how many countries have a fried cheese dish... This was great, i like the combination of honey and cheese. It was not greasy at all either. Although we did not order it, in our bag was something that might have been the Patatas Bravas, (Fried Potatoes with spicy sauce)... Although it was more like sweat potato and there was no spicy sauce. This was very rich, kinda heavy, but not greasy, good stuff.
We skipped on main courses and instead got 3 Tostas (toasts). I really did not know what to expect, they were offering expensive ingredients for cheap. I was really impresed with what arrived. Each order was 3 peices of bread with topings... We had Hogaza De lomo (Melted Manchego Cheese topped with grilled marrinated pork loin and piquillo pepper). The meat was very lean, flavorful and jucy. The Pechuga De patp (Grilled Sliced duck breast with a balsamic vinegar and shallots soy sauce) was excellent, the duck was cooked well, and it was a generous portion on each piece of toast. I like soy sauce in dishes outside of asian cuisine, it made this dish really stand out, compaired to the other flavors. This was my favorite of the three. The last one was also very good thu, Gambas al ajo blanco (shrimp sautee with scallions and almond puree). No suprise here, a very nice portion of small juicy shrimp. This one was the lighest on flavor, but still very good, maybe some lemon would have helped. The bread used for the toast was excellent, very fresh.
Most of the food was inexpensive, the Tostas were $6-7 each, the dates were only $5, the fried goat cheese was expensive at $8. I want to sit down for dinner and check it out, the pictures on the website look nice. Highly recomended at least for delivery/takeout!
Review #2:
Since writing my first review, i've ordered take out 3 times as well as visited the restaurant for a sit down meal. I cant speak highly enough of this place. First off its owner is a very nice person who is a great host. I brought my father here who is very picky and he described the food as "phenomenal", which is rare for him.
Beside what i have previously mentioned, i've tried many other things. The shrimp with garlic app is small perfectly cooked shrimp that arrives at your table in what i would describe as an oil bath! its bubbling hot and very garlicky when it arrives at your table, nice presentation. The lentil soup is the best i've EVER had, its smokey and meaty due to the churizo they added. For only about $11 we had a half chicken with crispy potatoes and what i believe was broccoli rabe, fantastic juicy chicken for cheap.
Review #1
I called up, the person on the phone was really nice and explained a few items to me, being one of my first Spanish meals. For appetizers or Caciones we had the Datil (Dates stuffed with almonds and wrapped with bacon), this was incredible. Really rich, and layers of texture. The outside bacon was perfectly crispy, the date was soft and juicy and the almond was a nice crunch to finish it off. Really unique flavors, excellent appetizer.
The Queso Frito De Cabra (Fried Goat cheese with honey and Sweet onion) was also very good. It amazes me how many countries have a fried cheese dish... This was great, i like the combination of honey and cheese. It was not greasy at all either. Although we did not order it, in our bag was something that might have been the Patatas Bravas, (Fried Potatoes with spicy sauce)... Although it was more like sweat potato and there was no spicy sauce. This was very rich, kinda heavy, but not greasy, good stuff.
We skipped on main courses and instead got 3 Tostas (toasts). I really did not know what to expect, they were offering expensive ingredients for cheap. I was really impresed with what arrived. Each order was 3 peices of bread with topings... We had Hogaza De lomo (Melted Manchego Cheese topped with grilled marrinated pork loin and piquillo pepper). The meat was very lean, flavorful and jucy. The Pechuga De patp (Grilled Sliced duck breast with a balsamic vinegar and shallots soy sauce) was excellent, the duck was cooked well, and it was a generous portion on each piece of toast. I like soy sauce in dishes outside of asian cuisine, it made this dish really stand out, compaired to the other flavors. This was my favorite of the three. The last one was also very good thu, Gambas al ajo blanco (shrimp sautee with scallions and almond puree). No suprise here, a very nice portion of small juicy shrimp. This one was the lighest on flavor, but still very good, maybe some lemon would have helped. The bread used for the toast was excellent, very fresh.
Most of the food was inexpensive, the Tostas were $6-7 each, the dates were only $5, the fried goat cheese was expensive at $8. I want to sit down for dinner and check it out, the pictures on the website look nice. Highly recomended at least for delivery/takeout!
Review #2:
Since writing my first review, i've ordered take out 3 times as well as visited the restaurant for a sit down meal. I cant speak highly enough of this place. First off its owner is a very nice person who is a great host. I brought my father here who is very picky and he described the food as "phenomenal", which is rare for him.
Beside what i have previously mentioned, i've tried many other things. The shrimp with garlic app is small perfectly cooked shrimp that arrives at your table in what i would describe as an oil bath! its bubbling hot and very garlicky when it arrives at your table, nice presentation. The lentil soup is the best i've EVER had, its smokey and meaty due to the churizo they added. For only about $11 we had a half chicken with crispy potatoes and what i believe was broccoli rabe, fantastic juicy chicken for cheap.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)