JOYA

UPDATED 11/18/11 at end of original article.

JOYA

215 Court Street

Brooklyn, NY 11201

718-222-3484

Cobble Hill is like one long stretch of restaurant options. This venture into New York's hippest borough was to Joya, a cool Thai place that clearly makes all of its money on the drinks, since it can't possibly be turning a profit on the food. Their specials aside, there are hardly any entrees that break $10. Plus, they give you so much food that you're pretty much required to take some home for tomorrow.

The first time I had been to Joya was months ago with Mr. Dogz in warmer times when the large rear dining area was open. I'd been dying to return, this time with a camera, but as Dogz was unavailable, I took along Bro and D. We had a great time. Joya's front half is occupied by a large bar and the music is so loud that you can barely hear the words coming from the person next to you. The wait, when we got there around 8pm was over half an hour. So we grabbed a seat at the crowded bar and proceeded to enjoy some libations until a table opened.

Once ordering, the food took no time to arrive. It was so fast that one could be forgiven for suspecting that maybe it was being reheated from earlier, except that the kitchen is wide open and you can see everything being prepared.

The first thing we ordered, other than booze, were some starters. I'm usually found ordering the coconut-based Tom Ka Gai soup, but this time around, I changed my tune and went for the Tom Yum Koong soup, a hot and sour soup with shrimp and mushroom. Very good, especially if you like spicy soups. It was light, but since they give you a bucket of it, pretty filling. D ordered the Fried Tiger Shrimp Rolls served with a plum sauce, which I got a tiny bite of and recall enjoying. She wolfed them down, so I'm guessing they were tasty. Finally, Bro partook of the Fresh Thai Summer Rolls, deep fried shrimp rolls with tamarind sauce.

Next up, we ordered was an entree for the whole table to share, Chicken Pad Thai, sauteed rice noodles with chicken, peanuts, sprouts, and egg. The good ol' stand-by dish. Everyone who goes to a Thai restaurant has to, by law, order their pad thai. Joya's pad thai was pretty good. I've certainly had better, but for the price, it'll be a long time before I start to complain.

Our respective entrees were all good and, for better or for worse, all pretty similar. I went with the Nuur Kartiam, sliced beef wioth broccoli, cabbage, carrots and onions in a fresh garlic sauce. D ordered the Nuur Kraprow, sauteed sliced beef with pepper, cabbage, carrots and onions in a chili basil sauce. Last, but not least, Bro picked the Koong Kraprow, shrimp with peppers, cabbage, carrots and onions in a chili basil sauce.

See how similar they are? No wonder they took all of fifteen seconds to make. I feel like I'm cheating by lumping them together, but the truth is, you order one dish and vary it based on the type of sauce and whether you want chicken, beef, shrimp or octopus. At least for the entrees. Joya has noodle dishes and curries. I can't speak for their noodles beyond the pad thai above, but I have had their green and red curries, from the time I was here with Mr. Dogz, and they were both good and plentiful. We'd have taken doggie-bags of leftovers home, but we were going to start bar-hopping and no one looks like a bigger tool than the guy at the bar with his doggie-bag of leftovers.

Our entire meal of three appetizers, four entrees, and four drinks came to around $70. No dessert this time. We were too full. Joya's cash only, by the way.

UPDATE 11/18/11:  So I returned for a quick bite after a couple of years since eating here and honestly, can't say I was impressed. I ordered a soup and it felt thin and listless. I ordered the grilled quid salad and it came in a soup of dressing. I ordered the garlic chicken and... meh. The upside is that it all cost only $25 with tax and tip, but man. What drop in expectations. I was really hoping for oh so much more.

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'WICHCRAFT

'WICHCRAFT

555 Fifth Avenue at 46th Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 780-0577

There are many things Midtown lacks, but somewhere to get a good sandwich ain't one of them. I've already written about a couple. What sets 'wichcraft apart, of course, is the "craft" part of the name. As in Craft, Craftbar, and Craftsteak, Tom Coliccio's trio of none-too-cheap fooderies that pepper the Chelsea/Flatiron parts o' town. Whether going here as opposed to Pax or Cosi or any other of a few thousand of other sandwich joints or delis is a matter of personal preference and brand appeal. I happen to really like 'wichcraft and when I've got the time to walk the extra distance and am willing to spend the $10 that each crafted 'wich will run me, I've yet to be disappointed.



The first time I ate at 'wichcraft, it was at the one in West Chelsea, buried in a renovated warehouse that had become home to small art and furniture galleries. I wandered around like an ass for half an hour until I realized that it was inside this vast echo chamber of a building. There was no sign. It was like one of those clubs where you had to know it existed to know it existed. The one on 46th Street between Fifth and Madison was far easier to find. And far easier to walk to from work.

'wichcraft has breakfast items, but never having had them, I can't say from personal experience whether they're very good. My guess is that one can use the Honda-Test. Since every Honda so far has been as reliable a car as one could imagine, there's no reason to think that the next version will be a lemon. And so I can assume that if the other food items I've had from 'wichcraft are any indication of the breakfast, I'm pretty sure you couldn't go wrong.



I have had, in recent memory (the last week) three sandwiches from 'wichcraft. Here they are, in no particular order. The Chicken Breast warm sandwich, served on grilled country bread with roasted peppers, mozzarella and pesto. This was delicious. The best of the three, easily. And that says something. The bread was toasted and buttery, like a panini, but not a panini. The chicken was far from the usual dry and bland breasts one expects to find in a lunch sandwich and the pesto was incredible. I very highly recommend this simply named sandwich.



Next I had the Grilled Gruyere sandwich, served with caramelized onions on rye bread. If you've ever had French onion soup, you've had this sandwich. The only thing that was missing was the broth. The Gruyere cheese, the bread, the onions, all parts of one of my all-time favorite French dishes. But it must be noted, this was a tangy-sweet sandwich. Almost too much so for me. But a little water will clear that right up. If you don't like onions, you won't be too thrilled with it, and if you need meat, you're out of luck.

Finally, I tried 'wichcraft's Slow-Roasted Pork sandwich. Pulled pork with red cabbage, jalapenos, and mustard on a ciabatta roll. They were out of jalapenos, so they substituted in some coppa and comped me a small coffee. The way I had it, which I don't imagine to be very far off the original mark, was delicious, but heavy, and very spicy. Nose running spicy. I like nose-running spicy, but some will undoubtedly be turned off by that.

As I said, there are a million bajillion kazillion other places to get sandwiches in New York. Some suck. Most don't. Sometimes you want a turkey and Swiss on rye, hold the mayo, or a BLT packed so high with B, L and T that you can't fit your mouth around it. But sometimes you want something a little more refined and different. Something you probably couldn't make at home the night before. And for that, 'wichcraft exists and is well worth the walk.

Other Addresses:
Chelsea: 269 11th Avenue
East Village: 397 Greenwich Street
SoHo: 568 Broadway
Flatiron: 11 East 20th Street
Herald Square: 34th and Broadway
Bryant Park: 11 West 40th Street
Murray Hill: 1 Park Avenue
East 40s: 245 Park Avenue
Rockefeller Center: 1 Rockefeller Plaza

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RIINGO

RIINGO

205 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017
(212) 867-4200

I'd not seen Turtle in I don't know how long and the extra-long hours I'd been at work had cost my going to his birthday party downtown at Havana Central. Add to that the fact that I've been too busy to go out much and along comes a recipe for dinner plans. I'd get a new review, and he'd get a free meal. It was win-win. I decided to take him to Riingo, the Japanese-Fusion restaurant at the base of the none-too-cheap Alex Hotel.

Riingo is a dark, modern place. While there were a few couples there, it's not exactly the first place I'd go to take a date. Its interior, while candle-lit and jazzy, has a sharp cornered, square theme on everything from the tea lights on up, making it far from romantic. Inviting, maybe. Romantic, no. Add to the atmosphere 20 foot high ceilings, and you've completely sapped the intimacy factor. Speaking of tea lights, in addition to the real ones, they project digital versions ten feet high on the back wall. Funky. In short, it's a great place for a corporate meal that will impress a client without making them think you're trying to sleep with them.

Riingo's front is a trendy lounge with cushy sofas and a long bar. It's dining room is in the rear, past the sushi bar. But if you want sushi, go somewhere that specializes in it. Don't go where's it's the sideshow. Turtle and I were here for the regular menu. There were no specials that day, which I found odd. I can't remember a time when my waiter or waitress didn't offer up that short little list. The first thing we did was get drinks.

Like clockwork, immediately after our order was placed came the bread basket, which was quickly devoured. I then realized that in the battle between eyes and stomach, eyes will always win. I silently cursed for having ordered an extra side-dish and drank some of my overpriced Japanese beer. Kirin Light, if you must know.

My appetizer was the Chicken Dumplings. Three were served atop a bed of scallions and ponzu in a bowl of vinegar. While the vinegar was well-paired with the dumplings, there was simply too much of it and the insides of the dumplings absorbed it like a sponge, making the taste far too tart for its own good. I liked it, but it could have been better. Turtle ordered the miniscule Beer Braised Short Ribs, served with an apple puree and sliced hearts of palm. His dish was excellent. Tiny, but excellent. Melt in your mouth tender with a wonderful apple undertone.

For an entree, Turtle chose the Steak Frites in a black pepper sauce. This wasn't the most Asian thing on the menu, but this is a fusion place, so the distinction is in the details. Here, the detail was the accompanying side dish: Taro Fries. These fries are not made out of potato. Instead, they're made from some sort of mixed vegetable puree that turns the fries lavender-white. They aren't bad, but growing up with real french fries means that my expectations are just not compatible with this twist on the classic. The lesson, don't mess with a good thing. The steak, however, was very good, even though Turtle ordered it medium-well, something I consider a crime. Had he requested it somewhat less cooked, I'm sure it would have been excellent. My entree was the Rare Tuna. And rare is just that. The dish is basically three two inch-by-two inch squares of tuna, seared on the sides only about two millimeters deep and served on a bed of pumpkin puree and tatsoi. Truly a great dish if you love rare tuna. Those who aren't of that ilk would want to pass. Since we were extra hungry when we ordered, we also asked for two extra side dishes: sauteed Baby Bok Choi, something I love, and the Riingo Fries, which are pretty much french fries but with some herbs sprinkled on top. Fancy restaurants love doing that. The bok choi was perfect. The fries were a tad overcooked.

We were extremely full by this point, so naturally we ordered dessert. Just to round out the meal, of course. Turtle ordered the Warm Chocolate Cake, a small lava cake with a side of vanilla ice cream. Chocolate lovers take heed. This is for you. Really heavy and rich, but very smooth. My recent experience at Lounge 47 made me wary of coffee themed creme brulees, but also curious. I needed to see if coffee and creme brulee just wasn't meant to be together or if I was just unlucky. I therefore ordered the Espresso Creme Brulee (and a regular coffee), which came with a small dish of chocolate sorbet. I, it turns out, was just unlucky. The chef at Riingo knows how to make one helluva smooth, not bitter at all creme brulee.

All in all a very good experience. The staff was extremely friendly and the service was attentive without being in your face all the time or hovering over the table waiting for any excuse to refill your water glass. Even the menu welcomes you with "good evening" on the front page. The stiff corporate atmosphere melted away once you sat down and realized you could talk loudly and no one would care, and I certainly can't make any but slight criticisms of the food. If you have an expense account, it's where to go. If not, you'll notice how much lighter your wallet is as you leave. I'd definitely go back and I certainly think it's worth a try for something a little different.

Our meals, which were a beer, a soda, two appetizers, two entrees, two side dishes, two desserts and a coffee, plus tax and tip, was an even $160.

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