Niche Restaurants in NYC

Just a brief interruption to highlight this article about what makes dining in this city so great.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/nyregion/29onefood.html


In case you didn't feel like reading this (or can't, NYtimes can be funny about their content), it is about the singular dining fest that is cropping up in this city.  The ubiquitous burger places.  A place with 20 varieties on Mac and Cheese.  The meatball shop---incidentally is on my list for must eats in the next couple of months. 

"What they sell is usually made well, often in several different ways, with top-notch components and at least a side dish or two. But the bill of fare is decidedly limited, if not downright obsessive. Take it or leave it.
Many New Yorkers are taking it."

If I want a place with a lot of choice because I don't know what I want, there are still many to find.  But if I want perfect dumplings, or mouth watering maduros, or 3 varieties of meatballs, I'm heading to specialty restaurants. 

And the best part?  In most cases. these places are gloriously affordable.

Fresh Taco

Fresh Taco, Ridgewood

799 Cypress Ave
Ridgewood, NY 11385

freshtaco.com

Yelp Review

From the website

In order to fulfill my promise to "not be fancy" in my type of reviews, I wanted to talk a bit about the local taco joint in my neighborhood.  It was after a night of watching a movie in Central Park, and therefore skipping the traditional dinner hour, we were starving by 10pm.  Neither of us were in the mood for pizza, and fast food like McDonalds and Burger King no longer hold me in their fatty grip.   so it was a choice between bad Chinese food, a chicken joint, or Mexican.  Given our neighborhood, there is a lot to choose from in those 3 options.  We decided on Fresh Taco.


The prices here are low, so I wasn't too optimistic on the quality.  But it really wasn't bad!  I had a grilled steak taco and a quesadilla.  The taco was small but tasty.  I wish they used thinner tortillas for the quesadilla, it was a bit too doughy for my taste.  He got a nachos and burrito.  The nachos were really large and loaded.  The burrito is actually more like a huge soft shelled taco, unlike the more traditional rolled up variety.  If I were to go back, that would be my choice.  

Forlini's Restaurant

Forlini's restaurant, Chinatown

Menu, sorry no website that I can see :)
http://www.menupix.com/menudirectory/menu.php?id=301201

From Tripadvisor.com

93 Baxter St
New York, NY 10013

Yelp Reviews










I couple of posts back, I said I would especially recommend the exemplary Italian restaurants to visit in Little Italy.  Well, technically this restaurant is in Chinatown, but I lump this into that category since it is so close by.  I think I love this place.  If only I lived closer, I would consider this a hometown, go-here-often kind of place.  As I read some of the reviews, I have to agree that this place is almost like stepping back into time a bit, an old school Italian joint.

So me and my friends (this is the same day as from the Ferrara review) were kind of undecided about dinner.  We were in Chinatown and the obvious choice would of course be dim sum, but dim sum to me is always a kind of lunch outing, and besides we couldn't get a feel for which one would be excellent and vegetarian friendly for the boyfriend.  So there we were walking along, talking, and waiting to hear back from another friend if she would be joining us. We walked by here, took a look at the menu and decided this will be dinner tonight.

Now we would have sat in the formal dining area if we had our full party.  Instead we went to the back room to sit at the bar (which also had some tables and booths) while waiting for our friend.  2 others were also at the bar, separate, both chatting with the bartender and occasionally watching the Sunday football game on the tv.  We ordered beers and continued talking.  Both the other people had ordered food, so they got breadsticks.  Krystle and I looked over, looked at each other and said "that looks good!"  The guy who had it overheard us and was all, "here take it, I don't want it."  We laughed and said thank you because indeed we were hungry.  After about 5 minutes, the bartender came out with another set of breadsticks for us.  Really the whole thing was really cute.

So for the next half hour or so was spent chatting with each other, the bartender, watching the game, chatting with the manager when he came by.  Right before our party was complete, we decided, screw the front room, we'll grab a table here and eat where we were.  Because our party was kind of large, the only table that could accommodate us abutted the door leading outside, so the manager kindly locked the door so everyone had to enter through the other entrance.  That is some excellent service.

Now to the food! I believe the prices were reasonable so I opted for something I never tried before.  I had the Forlini's diced pork chop with a side of spaghetti and marinara.  The dish consisted of bite sized pork chop pieces, roasted potato cubes, green peppers, onions and cherry tomatoes.  It was large and fantastic and something I would want to cook for myself someday.  My friends were also pleased with their choices (at least I believe so, haha).

So with the atmosphere and the food and the people, I highly recommend this place and I know I will be returning!

Ferrara Bakery and Cafe

Ferrara, Little Italy

From the website

http://www.ferraracafe.com/nyc/

195 Grand St
New York, NY 10013

Yelp Review












On a brisk but sunny Saturday afternoon, my friends and I were walking around Chinatown, but with all that walking and browsing we decided that we needed a bit of a pickmeup.  A good place to go for some sugary treats and caffeinated beverages? Little Italy of course.


We walked along Mulberry Street and turned down a cross street, where we saw the gelato truck right outside Ferrara Cafe.  Apparently the claim to fame is that this cafe is America's oldest espresso bar.  But this cafe is also replete with yummy Italian desserts, different kinds of coffee and tea, and a nice place to sit and chat for awhile.  I had the cappuccino, my boyfriend the Italian soda and a trio of gelato in a dish that we both shared.  The gelato (gelati?) I chose were raspberry, hazelnut and chocolate.  My boyfriend liked the chocolate one the best, but I preferred the hazelnut.  It had this smooth nutty taste that went really well with my coffee.  My friends took the trio of miniatures option to share.   I would like to come back and try their other desserts.  When I go back to Chinatown for cheap buys, I most definitely will be stopping back here to rest up.

Casa Bella Restaurant

Casa Bella Restaurant, Little Italy

From the website

http://www.casabellarestaurant.com/index2.html

127 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013-4603 (212) 431-4080 () ‎

Yelp reviews








Needless to say, Little Italy is awash in Italian food and owners desperate for your business.  I do wonder if there is constant turnover and each trip is different from the next.  As I was a tourist I never knew, so I should keep an eye out from now on.  Anyway, the restaurants are all quite similar: a waiter or maitre'd beckoning you in, spinning you tales of wonderful meal and wine specials.  Really if you want to feel special, walk down Mulberry St, you will never feel this wanted at other restaurants.  I haven't had bad service or bad food at one yet.  There's always one or 2 that stands out from the rest.  I will be sure to mention those exemplary ones in other posts.

My friend, Bre and I went here on my birthday weekend for dinner.  Like I said, it was just a random choice, mainly because as we were looking at the menu outside, I suddenly was pulled in by one of the staff with "Bella, come come, fantastic specials tonight!"  Pause for a second and that's what happens.

It was a pretty standard experience.  The wine was good, the waiter was attentive.  Bre decided on this fantastic appetizer to share, the bufala fritti.  So awesome.  It is fried buffalo ricotta with marinara.  Absolutely delicious and if there is an opportunity to eat that, jump on it.  For dinner, I had the lobster ravioli.  It was in a creamy wine sauce, and while not the best I ever had it was good enough that I wish the portion was a bit larger.

So my verdict is that this is a good meal, although not a place I imagine coming to again and again.
This place also isn't as bad as some yelp reviewers made it out to be.  The food was delicious, the people were nice and the check was reasonable.  Enough to keep me happy.