Pies-n-Thighs – Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

4.5 Lizards (!!)

Pictured: Fried Chicken Box with Mac & Cheese and a slice of Lemon Chess Pie.

Well, I was all by my lonesome for dinner tonight. The super funny comedian boyfriend was hosting an open mic, and my good ole stomach started a-rumblin’. I was in the mood for some stellar comfort food, and you can ALWAYS trust DDD to recommend good eats.

The restaurant itself isn’t fantastically decorated and it has no air conditioning, which is pretty terrible when it’s hot out. However, they have a really nice, slightly hidden seating area in the back with a large open window. The service is decent – the waiters were pretty quick about coming to take my order and my plate when I was finished. I didn’t like that they wouldn’t refill my empty cup of water until I asked them to, though they clearly saw it was empty.

Let’s get to the good stuff though… the food.

The chicken box came with three pieces of fried chicken, a biscuit, and a side (I chose Mac & Cheese). Let’s start with the star of the plate, the chicken. The chicken has a nice coating fried onto it without being overwhelmingly fried. There is good, juicy, soft chicken underneath that is really delicious. The biscuit was buttery and flaky and really yummy as well. Last but certainly not least, the Mac & Cheese was to die for. They put a little bit of hot sauce on top, and the cheese is creamy and doesn’t taste artificial like many cheese sauces do. I highly recommend it.

Considering the name of the restaurant, I figured I had to get a slice of pie, or it would just be blasphemy. I got the Lemon Chess, which has a nice rhubarb jam and a dollop of whipped cream on top. The slice itself didn’t have a great presentation. The whipped cream looked sloppy, but tastewise, it was a good slice of pie. The rhubarb and lemon kept it from being too sweet. The crust could have been a little softer and flakier in my opinion – it seemed a little tough.

Overall, amazing food. Next time I go, I’ll try the chicken biscuit because the people next to me couldn’t stop ranting and raving about it. Honestly, the taste of the food greatly outweighs any of the negative aspects of atmosphere and service. I love, love, loved it here. Great spot for comfort food.

Kyoto Sushi – Greenpoint, Brooklyn, NY

2 Lizards.

                             Pictured: Vegetable Udon Noodle Soup, Spicy Tuna Roll, Spicy Salmon Roll, Spicy White Tuna Roll, Rainbow Delight Roll

Before I begin, I should point out that I’m kind of a sushi snob. That being said, I can recognize when what I think is mediocre sushi is considered amazing for someone who doesn’t eat as much sushi as I do.

Last night was a lazy, order delivery kind of night. My boyfriend and I ordered from here after seeing the positive Yelp reviews because usually Yelp is pretty trustworthy. In a city with as many restaurants as New York, it’s nearly impossible to choose a good one blindly. The delivery from Kyoto was pretty quick – it took about 35 minutes. Sadly, that was probably the only good part of the order.

As soon as I opened the delivery bag, I did not have high hopes for the sushi. Instead of fresh chunks of fish in and on top of the sushi, it was the mushy food-processed crap they serve when they want to cheap out on you. Many of the all-you-can-eat restaurants and grocery store pre-made sushi do the same thing. It’s probably about a 3:97 fish to I don’t even want to know what ratio.

The taste was similar to the look of it. The spicy tuna roll was particularly dreadful – it tasted like fish smells. That’s an indicator of old fish. Fresh tuna does not have an odor. The spicy salmon and spicy white tuna were slightly better in that they didn’t have a smell. The rainbow roll was mostly tobiko – I couldn’t even tell what fish was in this “special roll”. All in all, not good sushi. At all.

The vegetable udon was decent, but again, nothing special. The broth was watery and pretty flavorless. The noodles and vegetables were fine, but that would be pretty difficult to ruin.

I only gave the place 2 stars because the udon was okay, the delivery was fast, and I haven’t vommed yet, so no food poisoning! Yay! What high standards!

Overall: Do not recommend this restaurant, if that seemed unclear. The quality is bleeeeeeeech and the prices ARE NOT THAT CHEAP. Boooo, hiiiiss, you get it.

Estancia 460 – TriBeCa, New York, NY

                                     3.5 Lizards (for Brunch)

                                                        Pictured: Huevos Hombre and Breakfast Pizza

I went here for a weekend brunch with a friend after getting a manicure from the lovely salon next door (Tribeca Spa of Tranquility). We came on a Saturday at around 12:30 P.M. and the place only had a few groups inside. Maybe it’s more popular on Sundays, but a nearly empty brunch place always gives rise to suspicion on a weekend in New York City.

That being said, there is a charming little outdoor seating area, complete with pretty flowers and a view onto Greenwich St. The inside is mostly wooden with a bar that looked like it was copy and pasted from an estancia in Argentina. Having traveled to a traditional estancia in Argentina last year, I enjoyed the decor very much.

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Menu: The brunch menu had plenty to offer without having too many options. Everything sounded delicious! We ordered mimosas, which were the same as they are anywhere else. For food, we ended up choosing the huevos hombre and the breakfast pizza.

Presentation of food: Nothing special.

Taste: Both dishes had good flavor, though the breakfast pizza had a little too much arugula for my taste. The Hollandaise sauce on the perfectly poached egg had a nice creaminess to it, and the focaccia bread was a nice change from the usual English muffin. The dish is advertised as poached eggs “over prosciutto”, which actually just meant a slice of ham on top of each of the two eggs. I was not particularly impressed by the “prosciutto”, given that the restaurant calls itself Argentine/Italian.

The pizza, on the other hand, had a great thin, crispy crust with a nice mix of toppings. The egg on top was supposed to be sunny side up but came out a little overdone. What really added to it was the red pepper flake olive oil they brought out – it was delicious!

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Overall, I liked the restaurant, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to return for brunch. I need to come back and try lunch or dinner to see how authentic the Argentine cuisine is (did that sound pretentious enough for ya?).

La Goulette – N. Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY

With my first review post comes my rating system: Lizards! Yes, it’s based on my name.

On a scale of 1-5, one Lizard is a cringe-worthy place and five Lizards could be Michelin-rated (if I was a Michelin rater). Everything in between is in between. You know how numbers work!

La Goulette was a solid 4 Lizards.

Pictured: Chicken Shawarma, Tunisian Hand Cut Fries, Tunisian Merguez.

Firstly, the owners are Tunisian, which puts a unique spin on the classic Mediterranean foods. Both sandwiches had classic hummus and fresh, crunchy vegetables in a warm pita. The chicken shawarma was good, but not as impressive as some other shawarmas I’ve tried (and NYC has a lot of options).

The Tunisian Merguez was absolutely delicious. It comes with large chunks of beautifully seasoned lamb sausage with a nice semi-spicy sauce on top. This is the same sauce they served as the dip for the hand-cut fries, which resemble Rosemary Parmesan fries. The fries themselves were very nicely done – not too greasy, just enough potato flavor and texture without being too mushy.

As for ambiance, the place has a very homey, casual feel. The tables are clean and inviting, Middle Eastern music plays at a reasonable volume, and there are photos and mementos of the city for which the restaurant is named. All of the people working there were warm, efficient, and genuinely wanted to know if I enjoyed my meal.

The restaurant is full of heart and culture, and if you like Mediterranean food, I highly recommend you give it a try. I know I’ll be back!