Monthly Archives: May 2014

New York City

All’onda (NYC, NY)

I cannot believe I made a horrible choice of coming to All’onda. Of all the great Italian restaurants in NYC, I pick All’onda! First of all, it’s a small restaurant with bad service and small portioned food for over the top prices. In other words, this place sucks.

FOOD: 
Appetizers: So I really like to try different foods, and I like raw fish, so I ordered the himachi. It was good, but more of like a pre appetizer. It. was. so. tiny. Little cubes of raw fish and a tiny bit of red kuri squash, in a soy blend. Over powering on the soy and the Himachi didn’t taste fresh. Honestly, I very easy going with fish…but I have to say, this was really disappointing. And guess what: they charged me $20 for it! I mean, who do they think they are? Per se? Any way. To get my mind off the Himachi, I ordered classic razor clams. Coming from a New Englander, I expect them to be at least decent. They were served with sopressata and miso, along with herbs. I mean, it was pretty good! I had a little “party of flavor” in my mouth, but only for a second; there was a very fish aftertaste.

Main Courses: So for a main course here, we ordered the “Lumache” which is a duck ragu with chocolate. Yeah, I know right? Chocolate? Who puts chocolate in pasta? Well, we thought it would be interesting to try…Crap on a plate. It was horrible. The ragu tasted like cardboard and the chocolate added unneeded sweetness to the dish, completely ruining it. So after that, we were kind of edgy on what else to order, but after hearing such great things about the rest of menu we gave it another shot. Apparently, the “house specialty” is the Bucatini, which is a smoked uni pasta with spicy breadcrumbs. All right. First things first when naming the food. If an Indian doesn’t think the pasta’s spicy, then it’s spicy. But when an American Indian doesn’t think the food is spicy, we have a problem. “Spicy” is like “rotten” here. The dish lacked flavor and the uni was bits and pieces of chopped up uni, flash fried. It was way too creamy (I felt like I was eating a bowl of oatmeal) and there was no protein whatsoever. So much for a “house specialty”…Anyway! After that, we were sick of their so-called pasta, so we ordered the Monkfish. The monkfish was served with sea urchin polenta, arugula and squid ink. We couldn’t even taste the monkfish because of the unappealing squid ink and basically a soup of polenta. The only average dish here was the risotto astice. It was served with lobster, saffron and fennel. The saffron gave it a nice color, but the lobster was a bit chewy. Again, the portion was really small.

So at the end, we left the restaurant hungry. We then ended up going to Eataly, Joe Bastianich and Mario Bitalis food hall. Now that was real Italian food. Do. Not. Come. To. All’onda.

New York City

Annisa (NYC, NY)

Okay. Manhattan is home to thousands of culinary experiences, ranging from Classy to  Hole in Wall. Annisa takes classy to a whole new level, treating us with a culinary we will never forget.
A quaint, but formal ambiance suits the food and the location (West Village) in a perfect manner, along with a dressy attire.

FOOD: On a rainy day, a nice, hardy piece of meat will suit us just fine. The seared Buffalo shell steak with marrow, vegetables and horseradish is a must have at Annisa. The steak is served rare, but upon request may be cooked to a different level; you can never go wrong with medium well. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium well; so juicy, and the vegetables complimented it just fine. For our fish fans out there, the sautéed filet of rainbow Trout, is another smart choice. The fish is served with artichokes, chamomile and enoki mushrooms. Just the right portion with just the right components, set out the perfect dish for me. The mushrooms went perfect with the chamomile and the fish was a light delicacy. Also, try the seared scallops with Foie Gras, Asparagus and hazelnuts. This dish blew me away, with it’s unique turn out of such delicate, yet simple ingredients, that transformed into a unique, one of a kind dish. As well as that, try the pork loin. The pork loin is served with radishes and smoked avocado. It’s a grilled Koji-Marrinated Berkshire Pork Loin. It was very tender and the radishes balanced out the meal with a nice vegetable touch of avocado.

So Annisa is very formal, but they only seat 13 tables, so book your reservations quick!

New York City

Le Colonial (NYC, NY)

New York City is filled with thousands of cuisines, ranging from French to Asian, but why have one, when you can have both? Le Colonial brings the elegance to 57th Street, giving the tourists and New Yorkers a taste of unique fusion to wow our minds.
Beautiful plants line classy tables, with outstanding service and a sheik ambiance, making us feel like we’re in France and Vietnam at the same time.

APPETIZERS: For appetizers, we ordered the Ca Bam, which is minced monkfish with turmeric, basil, roasted peanuts and sesame crackers. First of all, I could tell that the monkfish was fresh, and second…WOW. All the spices, herbs and flavors blended so well together, converting simple household ingredients into a five star dish. As well as the monkfish, we needed to try a classic Asian delicacy: spring rolls. Spring Rolls are found all over Eastern Asia, and have a huge variety of different kinds. Coming back to classic, of course we’ll have fried. “Cha Gio”, the spring rolls at Le Colonial, are filled with pork, shrimp and crab, and are served with lettuce greens, fresh herbs and Nuoc Cham sauce. We each had one spring roll, wrapped it in lettuce and mint, then dipped it in the sauce and ate away. This dish blew my mind. Hands down to the best spring rolls I’ve ever had! They were light, flavorful and very refreshing.

MAIN COURSES: At Le Colonial, there are two options: One, is a classic entrée menu, and Two is a pre fix called the “Express Lunch” ($20). If you order the express lunch, you have a choice 2/3 of a soup, salad or sandwich. The soup is a Pho, a Vietnamese classic soup, served with rice noodles, scallions, beef, all cooked in a hardy ox tail broth. The soup was quite nice actually, but not too light. A perfect sized portion was served along with a burst of flavor, but remember to pace the soup, it’s a bit filling. The sandwich, is a twist on the typical American Slider, turned into a beautiful Vietnamese sandwich. I was very surprised when I tried the slider, mostly because it had Kim Chi, a pickled Korean vegetable. It gave the sandwich a nice “tangy” taste, also complimenting the beef and vegetables served under the toasted french roll. For our meat lovers out here (Oh and yes, I know there are PLENTY of you) the pork shoulder is your way to go. Tender pork served with bean sprouts, lily buds and a Vietnamese Jus, is honestly one of the best meat dishes I’ve ever had. It’s SO flavorful, but simple. Also, you need to order some rice to go with it; you can’t have an Asian meal without rice. It’s basically the number one Asian cuisine rule. Anyway, turning to another side of the world, a French lemon grass chicken is a nice, hardy but light delicacy. Served with roasted corn, Shitaki mushrooms  and cilantro, with a coconut basil sauce. The chicken was very tender, but the sauce made it seem like I was dining in Paris; well, that and the ambiance. The mushrooms balanced out the dish, leaving me full but not too full, and the corn complimented the chicken; balancing the textures with the dish, as well.

So when you’re in the New York area, you must come to Le Colonial. Even if you’re in New Jersey, this is worth the trip, because you’ll never find anything else that’s as unique as Le Colonial.