e a t e r y R O W

EMMANUELLE

1052 North Hancock Street (at Germantown Avenue)

Philadelphia, PA 19123

(215) 791-8090

My New York friends always groan when I write about a place in Philly, but I spend enough time down there these days that it hardly makes sense not to. Plus, I like cocktails. I like cocktails even more when I don't have to walk too far to get to 'em. Emmanuelle, on the edge of Northern Liberties' Piazza is just what I've been craving. Good drinks, five feet from where my brother lives. 

Emmanuelle sits semi-hidden in a windowless room on the backside of the Piazza. Semi-hidden because while the door is barely visible and there's no sandwich board, there is a huge "Emmanuelle" logo; almost so large that you might think it's a billboard. Inside, it's pitch black. There are some tables, and fewer seats at the bar, but it was far from crowded when Bro and I went, adding to its intimacy. If I had a date to take, I'd take her here. 

Bro and I didn't go crazy with the drinks, what with dinner yet to be had, but the few we did have were excellent. Emmanuelle says that their drinks are French-inspired, whatever that means, and there's both top shelf liquor as well as craft beer. Our drinks were strong, rich, and well deserved after a day of wandering Old City antique shops looking for things that don't exist anymore. The staff was pleasant, ESPN was no where to be seen, and an eclectic mix of rap and jazz was the soundtrack. Emmanuelle clearly is not following in every footstep of the neo-speakeasy scene, but it manages a good mix of both the present day and the past. If you're ever in Northern Liberties and are loathe to wind up in either a sports bar or a crappy Mexican place, if you want a drink without it having to come equipped with a television screen being screamed at by frat guys or equipped with a cask-ale tap manned by a hipster in a beard, Emmanuel has just become your destination.

For a cocktail one should expect to pay anywhere from $9 to $12. Reasonable coming from my neck of the woods. The downside is that Emmanuelle is cash only. They say that it's because they're so new, but from what I hear, they're owned by the folks next door at PYT, so I'm going to go with laziness. That doesn't mean I won't return and make Emmanuelle a regular place to stop when I'm in Philly.

[ © Copyright eateryROW 2012 ]

11 West 17th Street

New York, NY 10011

(212) 255-7260

Rye House. See, when a restaurant calls itself Rye House while existing on the same temporal plane as both myself and Elbie, it's bound by destiny to attract us as customers. We like our whiskey. Once I had brought it up as an option, there was almost no discussion that it was where we were going to have dinner. Hence, it pains me to say that it's a hit or miss place. 

The interior is dark and heavy in its use of weathered wood, so it feels like eating dinner in an oak barrel. So far, so good. We were showed a seat in the back and ordered some cocktails. While nursing those, we started figuring out the menu. Elbie and I have almost identical tastes in food so usually whatever I want she wants, and vice versa. This means we never have to argue about the courses. Ah bliss. It was almost natural for her to order the Pickled Quail Eggs as I picked out the Rye House Hennepin Beef Jerky. Oh sweet Lord, so good. Coupled with my stout ale, as black as tar and twice as thick, these two appetizers were simply sick. I would return for either, and often. The beef jerky, complete with whole peppercorns literally raining orbs upon the table may well have been the best that I have ever eaten. I might have actually been mad at the world that we ran out of it. No. I was mad.

Sadly, the main dishes were not where Rye House shone it's brightest light. I ordered their French Dip, which was mediocre. The broth one is apt to dip the sandwich in was more salt than anything else and the sandwich was mostly bread. While the salad was passable, it was basically just a pile of arugula. Elbie dove into the Drunken Mussels and Fries. These could have been very good, but there was virtually no broth. The broth, my friends, is half the point of ordering mussels. You pull open that shell, you use it like a spoon to pull up a hearty dose of broth, maybe there's a baguette slice to play with (nope not here) and you imbibe on that mixture of wine and celery and onion. Well, mostly we just had onion. Lots of onion. Lots and lots of onion. The fries were okay, but they were clearly not double-fried as they should be. 

For dessert Elbie and I ordered coffees, and while she was in the bathroom, I snuck in an order of Espresso Panna Cotta. My goal was to keep her up all night. The panna cotta was good... with a big but. BUT next to the panna cotta, which you cannot see in the photo, is a huge dollop of what looks to be dark chocolate creme, but is in fact espresso slime. As one is wont to do, we each smeared the tip of our finger in it and recoiled with the unexpected flavor of burned dirt. So keep that in mind if you get this.

238 East 14th Street

New York, NY 10003

(646) 669-8889

A lot of hype has floated around Baohaus. The times wrote a glowing review, all of the ingredients are allegedly organic or fair-trade or local or have some other such cutesy label, the owner seems to enjoy being belligerent to people... lots of stuff I couldn't care less about. I wanted lunch and I wanted cheap. So when I saw the run-down exterior of Baohaus on 14th street, I figured that was where to go. And it almost was exactly what I wanted.

Baohaus is small and dingy. There's another location on the Lower East Side, but I hear that it's not very different. There's a long shelf along the back wall to eat against and a couple of small tables. The staff is very nice, very friendly, and they cook from scratch everything once your order is placed. Oddly, for all the hype, the few times I've visited in the past couple of weeks, I've been the only customer. All these folks in the photo are just friends of the staff. The place is like a lounge with people gossiping and joking around, listening to loud gangsta rap. And that's another thing. If you don't want to do takeout, you better love rap. It's on, it's loud, and it's nonstop.

A Bao, just to fill text-space since I'm sure you're been told a thousand times already, is a flat-steamed bun. Baos are fast food on the other side of the Pacific; here, it's usually only something people will find in Chinatown (but in Chinatown, it's everywhere). In recent years, it's started getting a bit more mainstream. Typically it's an empanada-style ball with fillings, but occasionally it's also made taco-style. Baohaus makes them taco-style.

There are dishes on the menu, such as rice bowls and noodles, that aren't Baos, but I didn't bother. How many carbs do I need? That said, I tried as many bun tacos as I could on my visits. The best, hands down and with neither question nor debate, is the Birdhaus Bao: fried chicken, cilantro, peanuts and sugar. The chicken was moist with a flakey crust and worked well with the cilantro and peanuts. My biggest complaint was that they add sugar. The bao bun is already twice as sweet as Wonder Bread with jelly. In fact, this complaint stretched across the menu. Each bun was excessively sweet. 

I loathe celebrity-named food. At best, it's a cheap way to milk someone else's fame and, at worst, it's a cheap way to get them to visit your restaurant so you can mount a photo of their kisser on your wall. So when I saw the... ugh, Jeremy Lin Bao, I almost refused to order it just on principle. But I did order it. It's a fried pork chop with some radish and carrot and tastes almost exactly like the Birdhaus Bao. Pork really is the other white meat.

The Haus Bao, a braised beef cheek wasn't bad, but wasn't great. The thick bun and the toppings (including more sugar) meant that the beef got lost in there somewhere, like it blended into the bun. It was a sweet sauce bao in a beef-flavored bun. The Adobo Bao, a shredded chicken bao with sweet chili, daikon, and cucumber was pretty bad. Again, it was so sweet that I might have diabetes now. But beyond that, the chili overwhelmed the flavor of the whole dish. Chairman Bao, pork belly, cilantro, relish and, yay! more sugar, actually could have been very good (despite the sugar) save for the massive line of fat at the top of the pork belly. This might be something that will appeal to certain people who demand that their pork belly be 25% solid fat. I'm not one of them. BUT, once I cut of the fat, the bun was pretty good. The biggest surprise was the Uncle Jesse, fried tofu with peanut and cilantro and sugar (these ingredients are literally in almost everything) and the haus sauce. It was far better than I was expecting. The tofu was excellent and fried to perfection. If anything, the rest of the ingredients weighed it down, especially the haus sauce. Half the amount of that stuff and it could have been perfect.

With tax, expect to pay about $4 per hit-or-miss bunwich. Cheap, but relative to Subway and given their small size, expensive.

[ © Copyright eateryROW 2012 ]

NAI TAPAS BAR

174 First Avenue

New York, NY 10004

(212) 677-1030

On this particular night, Nai was relatively calm, though still lively. You don't get tapas and expect subdued hushed conversations. You expect sangria, people laughing, couples on dates, friends having fun. All for a reasonable price. Bro and I sat near these crowds as we BSed about whathaveyou and ordered a few rounds of drinks. A Spanish beer for me, a tempranillo for him. Everything at a tapas restaurant is effectively an appetizer, but most of the dishes at Nai are also available in larger entree size (or perhaps larger-group-of-friends size), should you be so inclined to want more food.

The dishes started coming out one at a time with just enough time between each so that you could finish, or at least put a good dent into, the previous one.  Spanish food is complicated with a lot of flavors competing for room on your tongue. The Pintxo de Chistorra con Huevo de Codornix was one such complex dish. Chorizo, piquillo pepper, and manchego cheese over toast and topped with a fried quail egg. The salt and the fat played well against each other, as did the texture difference between the crisp of the toast and the soft oozing of the egg. Unless you shy away from runny eggs, you're bound to enjoy this dish. The weakest of the plates that we ordered were the Esparragos Navarros, white asparagus drizzled with a pink tangy sauce. The asparagus was extremely soft. A sponge. I prefer my asparagus with a bit of crisp, but this was soft enough to be cut with a dirty look. The following plate made up for it though. The Empanadillas de Carne, classic street food beef empanadas. A crispy but not brittle crust filled piping hot spiced beef. It's almost the perfect winter food.

When the Mejillones Rellenos arrived at the table, I almost thought that they gave us the wrong food. But no. They're stuffed mussels with bechamel sauce that is then deep fried until it gets a thick crust. Inside this shell is the actual mussel shell along with boiling hot sauce. If you decide to pick it up an chomp down like it was a chicken nugget, you'll break your teeth and scald yourself pretty good. So let 'em cool. They're an acquired taste, for sure, at the very least given the texture if not the taste. I'm glad we got it to try, but I can't see myself ordering it a second time.  That said, the Pan Tumaca,  toast with tomato, manchego and a layer of Serrano ham, was fantastic. In Spain, this is technically a breakfast dish, but it works wonders here surrounded by empanadas and sangria.  The final dish was the Pulpo a la Gallega, Galician style octopus. Very tender, and perfectly spiced, but a little too oily. If only there was some soft bread alongside it, this paprika-laden seafood tapa would have been perfect. 

Our meal of six tapas and four drinks, plus tax and tip, came to about $85. Bro and I were too full to have dessert, but somehow managed to find our way to De Robertis' next door to pick up Italian pastries for the next evening.

[ © Copyright eateryROW 2012 ]

HADRAMOUT

172 Atlantic Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11201

(718) 852-3577

Seth, having just returned from a summer in the Jordan, was craving Yemeni food. Yemeni restaurants are everywhere there, he told me, and the food is so cheap that it might as well be free. That's certainly not the case here, but it's far from expensive either. His cravings and my desire to spend very little money led us to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, an enclave of Arabian shops and restaurants. 

Hadramout sits below street level and with all the junk and trash sitting on the street, doesn't look like much from the outside. To be honest, it doesn't look like much on the inside. A mural of the old country  graces one wall. The furniture is dingy and old and there's not much about the place that makes one feel like they'd actually want to eat there. As soon as Seth and I walked in, the volume exploded. The patrons were sitting in one large group of clustered tables yelling screaming and pointing their fingers in  conversation. Some guys would get up and walk over to another table, sit down, shoot the breeze for a bit, then go back to their first table. Hell, on more than one occasion, they'd just wander into the kitchen. Save the two American girls at the table next to us, there were no women. It was like eating in a boys-only clubhouse. Toss in a tap for cheap beer and some cigarette smoke, and you have the American version. Our waiter didn't notice us when we walked in, took his sweet time giving us the table we sat at, and then vanished. It was an effort getting to order. I don't want it to sound like I was uncomfortable, but I certainly felt like an outsider invading the social space of another group.

When you order food at Hadramout, it comes when it comes. Appetizer, entree, it's all the same. Seth and I ordered an appetizer each and an entree each and a bread. Our waiter's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "No. It's too much." That's fine, I told him, we'll just take the leftovers to go. "Are you sure? Very much food." It turns out, he was right and we were wrong. See, at Hadramout, when you order food here, they also give the table a huge salad to split. And they give you a boiling hot bowl of what I believe to have been a cumin broth. It was very good. When the bread arrived, I nearly had a heart attack. It was the size of a small pizza and we got four of them. By the time the real food started arriving, I was already pretty satisfied. For an appetizer, we ordered the Falafel and a Hummus. It turns out that the hummus was a completely redundant waste because the falafel came with its own hummus. Unfortunately, the falafel was bland and dry and the hummus was mediocre. I've honestly had far better of both at the Maoz chain.

For an entree (again, we didn't eat these in the order I'm writing about them), Seth ordered the Mendi with Selta, a lamb dish served in a cast iron pot. It arrived at the table literally boiling like brown oil and it took about twenty minutes to cool enough to be edible. The dish itself was somewhat bland, to be blunt, though Seth didn't think so. I would have added far more spices. I chose the Chicken Ghallaba. Almost everything came with rice or bread so, since we had a year's supply of bread already, it seemed to make sense not to get more. Chicken ghallaba is basically a diced chicken and vegetable stew. It was pretty good, but very greasy. Way too much fat. Utensils were few and far between. Most everyone ate with their hands.

If you want a non-traditional dining experience, one like in the movies where guys yell and scream and eat with their hands and you basically just lounge for four hours stuffing yourself to oblivion, Hadramout might be what you're looking for. But if you want even the smallest amount of refinement, then it's not for you. Seth enjoyed the place way more than I did so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I left wanting to have liked it more than I did, or even at all, but it just wasn't for me.

LIC MARKET

21-52 44th Drive

Long Island City, NY 11101

(718) 361-0013

LIC Market is a small, cozy place nestled among the Long Island City brownstones. But for the towering Citi building a block away, the neighborhood almost can feel like in Park Slope. Known mostly for its brunches, I was concerned that Elbie and I would arrive only to find the place shuttered. Luckily, it was open and not at all crowded this particular Friday night. 

Walking in past happy folks chatting it up with the bartender, we were given a seat in the back. It wasn't quiet, but it was hardly loud. One could have a conversation without the fear that either everyone else would be paying attention or that you'd have to scream for the rest of your party to hear you. The dinner menu at LIC Market is a small one (and very seasonal), which I like because that tends to mean that the chef paid close attention to those dishes rather than try to fulfill the desires of every possible customer. Although the prices seem reasonable at first glance, the plates aren't very large, so it's actually more expensive than meets the eye. That said, you do get enough to be satisfied. In fact, you feel neither hungry nor gluttonously guilty when the end comes.

Elbie and I split our appetizers since we both wanted to try the same two: The Barnegat Bay Scallops and the Blowfish Tails. The scallops, seared with fava beans, radish, beets, and parsnip were decent though she liked them more than I did. She would have preferred that they be a bit more well done. The blowfish tails, served in a vinaigrette with beans and scallions, were the reverse. I liked them more than she did, but they were, in Elbie's defense, very bony. If you're willing to sort through the skeleton to get at the meat, you'll have a nice little reward waiting for you. The fish is heavy and rich without being fishy and oily and, unlike what rumor might imply, they weren't poison.

Elbie's entree was the Long Island Monk Fish with saffron, fennel, and tomato, while I ordered the Crescent Duck Breast with brussels sprouts, pomegranate seeds, and mushrooms under a light vinaigrette seasoning. Again, we were both somewhat taken aback at the smallish size of the entrees (the photos don't show it well) but, again, it turned out not to be beneficial. Elbie liked the monkfish more than she liked the duck, but in the end, she summed it up as a little forgettable as a dish. Everything worked well-enough together, but it couldn't stand out as a fish entree that she would rave to friends about. On the other hand, I loved my duck. I would have preferred a crispier skin, but hey, I shouldn't be eating the skin anyway. I thought that the pomegranate was a nice touch and I liked how the seeds would pop little bursts of flavor as you bit into them. I also happen to have loved their contrast with the otherwise bitter brussels sprouts. On a whim we ordered a side dish of Romanesco, which is basically a huge plate of broccoli, bacon, and cheese. So naturally, it was good.

Dessert wasn't initially on the list, but Elbie and I chose to try the Apple Fritters for dessert (and coffee). And they were amazing. Warm little apple-filled doughnuts coated in sugar with fresh whipped cream to spoon on top of at your leisure. You could probably eat these for hours and not even notice, and we held back getting a second round purely out of caloric guilt.

Two appetizers, two entrees, two coffees, a dessert, and three drinks, plus tax and tip totalled about $140.

LITTLE MUENSTER

100 Stanton Street

New York, NY 10002

(212) 203-7179

A couple of years ago, there was a small but growing and noticeable trend of restaurants that focused on one dish and built a menu around that. The trend seems to have plateaued, but meatballs, cupcakes, hamburgers, french fries, and grilled cheese sandwiches are among those that I've written about while it was hot. Little Muenster is in this crowd and, like Melt Shop in midtown, it focuses on the ever popular, hard to go wrong dish, the grilled cheese sandwich.

If Little Muenster is anything, it's little. There are a few spots inside, a few stools, and, if the weather's nice, you can steal the lone outside table. The menu, which changes over time and over the course of the day, is entirely grilled cheeses and tomato soup. In my travels here, I've tried four sandwiches and, while some were just okay, some were flat out amazing. I haven't tried the tomato soup and there's a good chance that I might be the only one. Each time I've eaten at Little Muenster, everyone else had soup with their sammie. They also sell beer.

The Candied Bacon grilled cheese (granny smith apples, cheddar cheese, jack cheese, and bacon) was one of the just-okay ones. It was over-grilled, so maybe that's why, but was also far too sweet for my taste. The Chipotle Chicken grilled cheese, on the other hand (grilled chicken, Jarlsberg cheese and a chipotle crema sauce) was insane. I inhaled it in five seconds. One minute it was in front of me, and the next, all that I could see was a grease stain on the plate. The chipotle sauce might raise and eyebrow to some, but fear not. It's far from spicy. It's just a factor of tanginess and adds a little smoke. The White American Singles with Tomato and Bacon grilled cheese is just that, a grilled cheese with tomato and bacon, just like mom used to make except not free and on better bread. So it was, naturally, very good. Finally (though ironically the first one I ate), the Prosciutto with Fontina and Gruyere. It was good without being great. Too complicated I think. But don't quote me on it because my half-assed notes only have the word "okay" next to it. 

I'm a big fan of Little Muenster. For a little bit of money you can have a very satisfying snack that will take you back to a more childlike time. Especially if your childhood included comfort food cooked by a gourmet chef.

OKTOBERFEST SPECIAL 2012!!!

Greenwood Park

Hofbrau Bierhaus

La Birreria

Pilsner Haus & Biergarten

Zum Schnieder

Welcome to the third installment of eateryROW's Oktoberfest special. For the past two years, I've been  trying my best to find time and space in my belly for a few gallons of beer and a few pounds of schnitzel to celebrate this seasonal drinkathon. This year I've been to five new places on both sides of the Hudson and East Rivers. Some were good. Very good! Some less good. At the bottom of the post, you'll find a MAP of the all of the places I've included in my travels that you should find your way into this fall. Go there, eat, drink, be merry. It includes locations found in the 2010 Special and the 2011 Special.

GREENWOOD PARK

555 7th Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11215

no phone

Situated in what was obviously a renovated shipping depot, there's little to Greenwood Park that screams traditional beer garden. Really, it's a large bar with a lot of outdoor seating. Filled with gravel, poured concrete, and within a wall of recycled cargo palates, this particular beer garden is the least inviting beer garden that I've ever been to. It's not a loud party space like Studio Square, it's not cute like Loreley, it's not traditional like Bohemian Hall, and it's not relaxing like Berry Park. It's boring. 

Maybe I was put off by the beer served to me in plastic cups, as though they were used to the customers getting tanked and breaking the glass ones. Maybe it was the menu of bar food standards like onion rings. Maybe it was the crowd that was half kids who looked like they were still in high school and half guys who looked like they watched Jersey Shore for a living. Maybe it was that the beer list was disappointing. Maybe it was a lot of things. In the end, Bro and I came, had a pint, left, and made no plans to return.

HOFBRAU BIERHAUS

712 3rd Avenue

New York, NY 10017

(212) 580-2437

Hofbrau Bierhaus is the New York location of the Hofbrau Brewery restaurant group based out of Munich. The story goes that they opened the original in the late 1500s in Munich. When the post-WW2 era created a global demand for German beer they expanded, and there are now Hofbrauhauses all over the world. Truth be told, that they're a chain doesn't feel surprising once you take a step inside. Like most chains, the waitresses all wear uniforms, though this time the uniforms are D-cup-creating beer-garden-girl outfits. Alongside the Bavarian folk music playing loudly, there are a dozen television screens lining the ceiling (all tuned to ESPN). Being in midtown, the crowd was mostly tourists or bridge and tunnel businessmen drinking their lunch.

Hofbrau's menu was, at least, very honestly German. Plenty of sausages and schnitzel sandwiches and no one was offering up Sriracha instead of mustard. I tried their bauernwurst and Elbie ordered a standard bratwurst. Along with just-okay sides of saurkraut and potato salad, neither was especially mind-blowing, but it was heavy and you get a lot and we left with a to-go bag. Maybe some of the other food is better. The beers, all Hofbrau brand, were beer. Mine was something dark, hers was a light wheat beer. They were fine, if a bit thin. We left for home feeling let down. What should have been the most interesting and authentic beer hall in the city was the most boring, tourist-trappy one of all of them

LA BIRRERIA

Eataly

200 5th Avenue

New York, NY 10010

(212) 937-8910

If Hofbrau Bierhaus is a tourist trap, Birreria is a tourist magnet. Situated 14 stories above the street in Flatiron, Birreria is Eataly's rooftop, outdoor beer (and wine) destination. Half of the crowd here were Europeans, winding down after a day of sightseeing. Although large and outside, La Birreria is the farthest from a traditional beer garden of any of the places in the list this year, and it closely resembles a wine bar. For one, there's table service. Then, there's wine. And cheese plates. Elbie and I ordered beers, but we also ordered the cheese plate. Seven cheeses for $17, with bread and honey. Very posh.

If you're a beer snob, La Birreria might be your thing. A few microbrews, some foreign stuff, but specifically three cask ales, served just slightly cooler than a late September's room temperature, naturally carbonated, hand pumped from an unpressurized keg.

PILSENER HAUS & BIERGARTEN

1422 Grand Street

Hoboken, NJ 07030

(201) 683-5465

One of the better beer gardens in the metro area is in Hoboken. I know that all of the NYers reading this have just cringed. But it's sadly true. Sure, there are some Jersey-trash types there in minidresses and seven inch stilettos or with turned up collars talking about the Devils, but look past them if you can. Although the music may flip between the Shins and smokey French jazz, Pilsener Haus is among the more "traditional" beer halls you could wander into. It's large, with a really good German menu and sells beer by the two-liter boot. I arrived a half hour after they had opened and the outside seating area had been filled to capacity. So get there as early as possible, if you can.

If you ever find yourself in Hoboken wanting beer, or you just want a real good bierhalle, Pilsener Haus should certainly be on your list. A word about location: while Pilsener Haus is pretty close to the NY Waterway ferry stop on Hoboken's 14th Street, it's a solid half hour walk to the PATH train on the other side of town. I walked from Pilsener to the train and, after two liters of beer, was dead sober by the time I swiped my MetroCard to head home. Yes, PATH takes the MetroCard.

ZUM SCHNEIDER

107 Avenue C

New York, NY 10009

(212) 598-1098

Less a beer hall than a German restaurant, Zum Schneider is where you should be for Oktoberfest. The staff is German, the customers are German, the food is German, the beer is German. It defines Oktoberfest. I sat here one lazy early evening reading a good book, eating a great red wine soaked steak and just having a pleasant relaxed time. The space is small relative to many of the other locations I've been to for my Oktoberfest travels and it fills up fast. Zum Schneider opens at five and there are people waiting to get in as soon as they do.

Being far from the touristy areas of midtown, Madison Square, or Meatpacking, the folks at Zum Schneider are just local people chatting away with their friends. It's not fratty like some or pretentious like others. It's just a chill place to eat and get beer outside under an umbrella. Zum Schneider's one bad part, since the staff was great and the food was delicious, is that it's cash only. There's a ATM across the street at a bodega that they will direct you to, but then you have to pay a few bucks in ATM fees.