Dylan Prime

I went out of my comfort zone today by going to a steakhouse. Granted, Dylan Prime probably isn't your old style New York steakhouse although the philosophy may be more common nowadays. Situated on Laight Street in Tribeca, it definitely has a downtown trendy vibe. Upon inspection, it is filled with the same wall street types that dominate any of New York's steakhouses.

At 8pm, the place was full with the exception of one two-top...ours. The crowd did make for a pretty noisy restaurant. I'd been here once before several years ago. The main part of the menu has your steak options (ribeye, porterhouse, strip, etc), then your sauces which were $2 each, then your crusts which were $3 each. Craft started this trend of putting together your own dish but steaks are expensive enough without adding another $5. I'd seen the menu before but the waiter didn't bother to explain anything to us. It would have been nice if he'd at least asked if we'd been to the restaurant previously.

We skipped appetizers and went straight for the main courses. I ordered the "Bacon Chop": smoked pork belly on the bone with bbq baked beans with a sunny side up quail egg and brussel sprouts. My wife ordered the surf and turf. The portion size of the pork belly was way more than I expected. I love pork belly but this dish was just way too much fat for one sitting. It was adequate but it's hard to compare to the pork belly from Tailor. The roasted brussel sprouts were cooked just right. Again, too many but I suppose that's a rare complaint from a steakhouse patron.

The surf and turf on the other hand was terrible. Since there was no suggestion on the sauce, there was no sauce. Both the filet mignon and the lobster were overcooked. It seemed like they had perhaps been sitting under a heat lamp since they were dry. The consolation was the lobster and white truffle mac and cheese side that we ordered. With crusted cheese on top, this dish was amazing. At $16, I'm sure we didn't have real white truffle shavings but the flavor was there.

Feeling full at this point, I had an espresso and we called it a night. Perhaps we didn't give this steakhouse a chance by ordering straightforward steaks. However, at that price point, I thought it could have been better. Still, the place was packed and you can't argue with success. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

La Taza de Oro

This past Saturday, after spending the day cooped in the apartment, we headed down to Chelsea to sate our spanish craving at La Taza de Oro. This hole in the wall is one of three Puerto Rican restaurants that we frequent, although we do visit Taza more often because the rice and beans is more flavorful. Unfortunately, we've yet to match the tasty Puerto Rican food that my sister-in-law makes. We may need to do some searching up in Spanish Harlem.

Upon arrival, we did have to wait briefly for a table. The place is like an old style coffee shop with basic tables, a counter with stools, and yellow walls. There was some Latino artwork on the walls with a business card to call if you were interested in buying any. I didn't remember that being there before so it might be new.

The menu contains many standards as well as specials that change depending on the day of the week. Saturday night included the oxtail which is absolutely one of my favorites. So with the oxtail, we also ordered the bistec encebollado (steak and onions) and the culetas fritas (fried pork chops).. Normally we order tostones (fried green bananas) on the side but since the wife wasn't that hungry, we went with my preferred maduros (fried sweet plantains).

This must have been a bad night for the restaurant. Don't know if the regular cook had the night off. The fried pork chop was still good: fried just right and very flavorful. The steak was tough and dry. Normally, I do describe Puerto Rican steak as "cooked shoe leather" but Taza de Oro usually does a reasonably job. Not tonight. The oxtail, my favorite, was also off. Tasted slightly sour...maybe it was bad? Even the maduros were wrong. It looked like the cook couldn't decide between cooking maduros (soft and sweet) and cooking tostones (hard and flat). Very strange. Each dish also came with the requisite huge portion of rice and beans. We always go with white rice and pink beans and they were good as usual.

I'm not quite willing to write off one of my favorite Puerto Rican spots, especially at their dirt cheap prices. I'm sure we'll be back but if they fail to please again, we'll have to head up to Old San Juan in Hell's Kitchen.

The Bar @ Etats-Unis

The Bar at Etats-Unis has been one of my favorites restaurants on the upper east side for several years now. I say restaurant but it's really the wine bar across the street from the actual Etats-Unis restaurant. While the restaurant has a very interesting menu, we have for some reason never gone. However, we've been to the bar several times to enjoy their duck confit and their chocolate souffle.

Since we were going to be on the east side for my daughter's orthodontist appointment, we decided to try to have an early dinner there. Since the Bar doesn't take reservations and only has seating for 18 plus 6 at the bar, the wait can become pretty hefty. We arrived at 6:30pm and managed to get one of the last tables. One of the benefits of eating at the Bar (as opposed to at the bar) is that you can order from the bar menu or the restaurant menu. While there are items on the restaurant menu that are appealing, including a seared foie gras and a white truffle gnocchi, the bar menu is significantly cheaper.

We started with a tempranillo (can't remember the vineyard), a nice medium bodied red with blackberry flavors and a touch of spice. We also ordered the hummus which had toasted pine nuts and chile de arbol infused oil. The accompanying hot pita bread gave us a nice start to the meal. We've always liked the hummus at Etats-Unis and last night was no exception. A little more pita bread and I wouldn't have had to lick the plate. :)

The three of us then ordered the macaroni and cheese (cheddar and parmesian), the chilaquiles (a chicken, tortilla, and poblano chili casserole), and the beef stew. I would have liked the macaroni to come with a better combination than cheddar and parmesian but my daughter was well satisfied. The beef stew was just satisfactory. Reasonably tender and seasoned but it was not the duck confit that I was expecting to order. Unfortunately, the weather has not gotten cold enough for the duck to reappear on the menu....soon. The chilaquiles was very nice....a good combination of chicken, pepper, spices, cream, and tortilla in a stone pot. An excellent winter dish...again wondering where the duck was.

Finally, for dessert, we had both the chocolate souffle for two and the date pudding. The souffle, as usual, was outstanding. For me, last night, it was too rich since I'd already overindulged in the rest of the meal. The date pudding (actually a bread pudding) was perfect. Not too sweet, a nice date flavor, very moist, to die for. They've only two desserts on the bar menu and they'e both winners.

I cut through the dessert and food with an espresso while my daughter had a glass of milk to offset the chocolate and we were off. Another satisfying dinner knowing we'll be back again when I need to kill myself in duck fat and chocolate.