RAMEN SETAGAYA

RAMEN SETAGAYA
141 First Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 529-2740

When most people like me think ramen soup, they tend to reminisce, remembering their broke college days, eating dinner from a styrofoam cup that was bought at the 7-Eleven in the aisle next to the 36 packs of Busch. Beer, Camel Lights and a heavy dose of gas station MSG may have gotten me through many a final exam, but since then, my palate has become somewhat more refined. Subtly so, of course. I'm no snob. So when I walked past an entire restaurant that existed seemingly solely to remind me of college, I knew that I'd eventually have to walk through those doors.



But nostalgia and the Nissin Corporation joined forces to warp my understanding of what a real ramen soup should be.

Ramen Setagaya serves pretty much one type of soup, either with the noodles soaking within, or placed in a bowl alongside. Since you get about a gallon of the stuff, I suggest not eating for about two days before you show up. Bro an I ordered the same dish (obviously), and in spite of what we thought was about a combined thirty years of experience with ramen soups, we were in no way expecting what wound up in front of us.



Clearly, Ramen Setagaya is doing a good job. I have never walked by to find it less than packed. And almost everyone eating there is Japanese, a good sign that you're in for the real thing. The seating here is all at the bar or at communal tables. Very traditional. The service was pleasant and attentive and we instantly got two ice cold Kirins to ward off the heat and humidity we had just escaped outside.

First, Bro and I decided to get an order of Gyoza, vegetable, meat, and seafood dumplings. They were excellent and gave me high hopes for the meal to come. That said, I guess my Euro-American tongue is to blame for the sad truth that I just didn't really care for the soup.



For starters, the dish is verrry salty. Very salty and very fishy. Thank goodness for the beers. Everything was cooked perfectly, I could tell. But it simply wasn't to my taste. The soup, Pork BBQ Imperial Soy Sauce Ramen, came complete with pork, vegetables, mushrooms, fish skin, and half of a mostly cooked egg. I suggest using the condiments on the table to adjust for your personal taste. But again, it was very fishy. You really have to enjoy the kind of fish-oil aftertaste one gets from a sardine-topped pizza to enjoy the ramen here. You have to be far more salt-tolerant than I am as well. The pork was fine, and I wasn't even complaining with the egg, though I was somewhat weirded out by the fact that it floated in some middle ground between hard-boiled and raw. And of course, I enjoyed the noodles. I appreciated the fact that I knew that the chefs did nothing wrong. But appreciation aside, even though I got through about half of what appeared to be a never-ending bowl, I really never enjoyed what I was eating. Bro even less so. Try as he might, it just wasn't happening. But we ate as much as we could and can hardly say we didn't leave full.

I still have to recommend Ramen Setagaya. Just because I don't know what I'm doing doesn't mean you won't, and for a change of pace away from the typical popular sushi place without having to open your wallet very wide, this might just be the place for you. Give it a shot. You'll either love it or hate it, but you'll be stuffed either way.

The gyoza was amazing.

The two soups, two beers, and an appetizer, plus tax and tip was about $40.

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PIG 'N' WHISTLE

PIG 'N' WHISTLE

951 Second Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(212) 832-2021

On one of the rare few lazy Fridays that we've managed to get in recent months, Pike and I decided to take our intern (whom, I will name, sheerly out of laziness, Bintern (subject to change)) out to lunch. Okay, that's not true. We didn't TAKE him out to lunch. We went to lunch WITH him. It's cheaper this way. But what to get? You can only have salads so many times in a row and warm Chinese food served from a trough at a deli is only so appetizing. Bar food was the consensus. And Pig 'N' Whistle would be the bar. Sadly, this would not be a liquid lunch, my craving for a Guinness notwithstanding.



We went to the Pig 'N' Whistle On Second. There is also one On Third. This one is has, like most bar/restaurants in the immediate area, a second dining floor and at happy hour fills to the brim with people who, unlike me, get out of work early enough to go to happy hour. I call these people "lucky bastards". One of the reasons that we chose Pig 'N' Whistle this sunny afternoon was for its outdoor seating. It was a gorgeous day and why escape the office if you have to go back inside to eat?

Here's the thing about Pig 'N' Whistle. It's a bar. It serves bar food and the menu at one bar is, nine times out of ten, going to be virtually identical to the menu at some other random bar. So don't go thinking that we ordered some crazy litany of courses that you can't get anywhere else. Far from it. Unfortunately, PNW isn't really a standout.



We decided to split an order of Fried Calamari. I don't know anyone who doesn't like fried calamari. I mean, sure, there are bound to be a few freaks out there, but they're not normal people. Bars always give you one of two types of appetizers. First, those that are tiny and make you wonder why you bothered ordering it at all, like mozzarella sticks, which usually come with maybe five pitiful fried cheese cylinders and leave you hungrier having finished the dish than when you started. And second, those that are so massively huge that there's no way that one person could possibly eat it all. Normally, the nachos fall into this category. PNW's calamari platter was like this and was therefore a good size for the three of us to share, especially since we also ordered lunch entrees.





I ordered Pig ‘N’ Whistle’s Shepherds Pie, which, while not bad, was nothing to write home about either. The sauce was somewhat too tomato-based for me to really go nuts over, but I can’t say I didn’t eat the whole thing. I have the nasty habit of trying to find the perfect shepherd’s pie (similar in nature to my quest to find the perfect key lime pie) and it eludes me. From now on, I’m not going to expect perfection except from an actual, authentic, certified Irish Pub where the staff’s Irish and the wood paneling’s dark. Pike chose the South West Chicken Wrap, a standard wrap of ranch dressing, bacon, onions, avocado, cheddar cheese, tomato, and lettuce in a warm flour tortilla. Pike felt that it was a wee bit heavy and, for calorie count reasons, felt that he should have gotten the Chicken Caesar Wrap instead. Nonetheless, he liked it. I guess the moral of this story is that you should order it if your waistline isn't a concern. Bintern's choice was the French Dip Au Jus sandwich on a french baguette with horseradish aioli. He shared the au jus sauce with his slacks. Bintern wasn't the world's biggest supporter. He thought it was decent, but not fantastic. Somewhat bland. Both the wrap and the sandwich were served with french fries.

PNW wasn't cheap. Expect to spend $15 for your meal, plus drinks, and while nothing was bad, nothing was really special, either. Maybe they're better for drinks, and maybe they have a great evening atmosphere, but next time I want lunch, I'll probably find another place.



One appetizer, one shepherd's pie, two sandwiches, and three sodas, plus tax and tip ended up at a whopping $75.

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CA TCH DEF ISH

CA TCH DEF ISH
147 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10003
(212) 477-7799

For Father's Day, the fam decided to take DudeMan out to dinner. There was much consternation and hand-wringing about where to go. We wanted a place that was different but not weird, tasty but not stupid expensive, nearby and not a bus ride away. I happen to have a little black book of restaurants and, from among my rather large list, Shrink chose Ca Tch Def Ish, an oddly-named Thai seafood house. I will, hereinafter, refer to said oddly-named Thai seafood house as "Catchedefish" or "Catch De Fish" (what the other blogs call it... but that's not what the name on the window says), which is, really, almost just as funky.

One thing about Catchdefish that I didn't see coming was just how good it was. It was, to be blunt, amazing. Not one dish was bad, and almost all were great. I'm not one to give out stars of thumbs up, or any of those other BS ratings that lots of critics and Michelin guides like spooning out, but without hesitation, Catchdefish should be at the top of many of these lists.

Catchdefish is BYOB, and I didn't notice a corking fee on the bill. Sweet. I like BYOB places. I bought two bottles of vino, one pinot grigio for the appetizers and one rioja for the entrees, and spent under $30, which is about what each bottle would have cost had I bought it through the restaurant. All restaurants should have a BYOB option. Because, frankly, most people couldn't tell a merlot from a cabernet franc and to presuppose such is a silly exercise in pomposity. But hey, whatever makes a buck, right?

Anyway, the only downside to Catchdefish was the service. By the way, for what it was, the service was excellent. I will not dis the service. Here's the problem. It was terribly slow. This is because there was one (1) overworked waitress serving all of the tables as well as meeting guests and filling up the water glasses, and one (1) overworked chef making every dish from the soup to the salmon. So let's all cut them some slack, shall we? Go to Catchdefish to relax and have a good meal, not to grab something before a show or some other tightly scheduled thingamabob. I guess you could also make the argument that the acoustics were horrible and you almost had to scream across the table, but actually, that just made it more laid back. You weren't worried about disturbing the people sleeping at the next table, as was my experience at DB Bistro Moderne.

Wine aside (and I should have bought a third bottle), what did we get? Well, the menu at Catchdefish is not your standard variety. First, you pick the type of salad or sauce that you want your fish or meat served with, then you pick your fish or meat. This allows you to have a menu combination of somewhere between 60 and 100 things, depending on what's available. You could literally eat there every day for three months and not have the same thing twice, not counting specials, even if they didn't touch their menu.

For starters, Dudeman ordered the Hot and Sour Lemongrass Soup with Sea Bass. Truly a great soup. Possibly one of the best hot and sour soups I have ever had. Not so spicy that you couldn't finish it, but spicy enough to get just the right amount of runny nose. The sea bass was perfect and the whole soup begged to be twice the size so you could eat it for another ten minutes. I will say this though. Remember my comment about the one overworked waitress and the one overworked chef? Well, the soup had come and been eaten by the time that the rest of the appetizers showed up. And it took a verrry long time to get the wine corked. But while things started off spotty, the food was good enough that we kept out mouths shut and our minds open.

DudeMan also ordered the Crab Cake, served with a spicy tartar sauce. To be fair, he was not very impressed. I, on the other hand, along with everyone else, thought that it was delicious. This isn't the standard crab cake you'd get at a European/American seafood restaurant. Instead, it was almost a crab cream. It was exceptionally smooth and flavorful. Those who prefer something heavy on the breadcrumbs will be disappointed. I was not. Shrink ordered the Grilled Jumbo Shrimp. This dish, while liked by both Shrink and DudeMan, was something that bro and I felt was generic. Not bad, but I can make my own grilled shrimp at home and it'll taste the same. There just wasn't any oomph to this dish.

Meanwhile, Bro ordered the Fresh Rolls, a shrimp and crab and basil roll, wrapped in lettuce and served cold instead of deep fried and served greasy. The fresh rolls won't be for everyone, but they are an extremely light, clean-tasting dish (if that makes any sense) and your friends on a diet will certainly appreciate this as a recommendation. Many of you will have had similar lettuce rolls in other southeast Asian restaurants and while this may not be remarkably different from those, the end result was nothing I could possibly complain about. Everyone at the table liked them. My choice was the Clam Soup. The broth, made from beer, broth, butter and garlic, was so amazing that I can't fully describe it to someone that hasn't actually had the dish. Picture the butter you dip lobster in, add that garlicyness that comes from good escargot, couple it with a seafood broth and fresh cracked pepper and maybe you'll get the gist of what I ate. Oh my God was this good. That's all I have to say. I'll come back just for the soup.

My entree was the only non-fish item we ordered during the entire meal, save the dessert. And I chose duck... which lives on the water. So there. This dish the Duck with Green Curry Sauce was very good. Not fatty, but somewhat on the tough side. I suppose that ducks generally are somewhat gamier than, say, chicken, due to their being entirely dark meat, but I have certainly had more tender examples. It came with asparagus, peppers, zucchini, and eggplant. The sauce paired with the duck very well and gave it some tang. Shrink felt that it was too spicy, but I thought it was fine. I also ordered a side of Sticky Rice and Coconut Rice. I would have liked sticky coconut rice, but alas, none was to be had. Both rice side dishes were good compliments to the meal and I think that everyone felt that the decision to order them was a good one.

Bro chose the Avocado and Mandarin Orange Salad with Red Snapper. Shrink opted for the similar Mango Salad with Red Snapper. Bro's orange salad came with avocado, oranges, olives, shallots, raisins, mint leaves and a chili-lime juice. Delicious and very light. I had a similar feeling about the mango salad, which came with shredded mango, sweet peppers, shallots, tomatoes, raisins, mint leaves and a mango-lime juice. As I mentioned, both Bro and Shrink ordered their salads with Red Snapper, which was served perfectly. So moist and tender and light and almost fluffy. Both are excellent hot summer dishes. Add a glass of cool white wine and you won't be disappointed.

The weakest entree, which was still by no means bad, was DudeMan's choice. He ordered a special, the Catch De Basil, a mixed shellfish stew. New Zealand mussels, little neck clams, jumbo shrimp and scallops served over broccoli, pepper, chives, and green beans in a chili-basil sauce. He felt that it was just okay, if not somewhat mediocre. And I have to agree that it's not going to win any awards. Nothing in the dish stood out and all of its flavors just blended into each other. With so many other outstanding dishes on the menu, this item can be easily skipped.



Finally, we ordered desserts. I ordered an iced coffee, which unfortunately came sweetened, and Bro ordered a (weak and rather generic) jasmine tea. I also ordered the Tiramisu, which came in two slices and was delicious. This may have been one of the best tiramisus that I've eaten in quite some time and Catchdefish isn't Italian. It was so light and smooth that it felt like you were eating a big triangle of fluff. I absolutely recommend it. Bro and Shrink chose the Lychee Sorbet, which Bro and I liked a lot, but which the Rents thought was just okay. I think that perhaps they have never had any lychee dishes before and weren't expecting the odd bitter raspberry tang. Dudeman picked the Green Tea Iced Cream, which he wasn't that fond of but which everyone else liked. Very smooth and creamy. Very bittersweet. Very green tea-ish. All in all, a successful dessert on top of a successful meal.

Two Soups, three appetizers, four entrees, two sides of rice, four desserts, one coffee, and one tea, plus tax and tip was just a bit under $180. (BYOB wine not included)

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JOSIE'S

JOSIE'S EAST

561 Third Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 490-1558

I tend to self-police the places I eat at and write about. As a result, there aren't terribly many places I've eaten where I can say that, from the moment I sat down to the moment I stood up, I ever regretted sitting down at all. In fact, there are precious few. Josie managed to make this exalted list.

Pike and I were looking for a place where we could sit outside. We'd wandered from the east 40s and were fully prepared to merely plunk our butts down on the patio at Duke's for some burgers. Suddenly, out of the corner of our eyes (well, really I can blame Pike on this one... his eyes. Uh, though I concede agreeing to try it.) we spotted Josie, a somewhat trendy, more-expensive-than-I-thought-it-would-be comfort food restaurant that looked enticing. Sitting outside was, in retrospect, a poor choice with the early spring evenings still in their chilly phase and my jacket in a closet at home. Add the chill to the fact that the tables were too close together, forcing my knees to press up against the table pillar, and we were not off to a good start. Add a waitress who oozed disinterest and we were off to a worse one.



Josie bills itself as organic and wholesome. This implies that the food is fresh, all natural and delicious. Well, while I can't speak for the freshness or all-naturalness of the grub, I can, unfortunately, speak for my opinion of its deliciousness... or lack thereof. Like I said, Josie is organic comfort food. The menu had burgers (beef, as well as veggie and salmon), salads, chicken, meatloaf, etc. They also felt some bizarre need to add a sushi selection to the menu.

Online reviews of Josie from Yelp.com seem to flip-flop between from bad to superb, from "Do not go if you have taste buds, you'll only regret it" to "Josie's is always good for a solid experience".

We started the evening off with a selection of bread. I chose the cornbread, a favorite of mine, and Pike decided to have a go at the focaccia. Allow me to say that these were both just plain awful. To add insult to injury, you're not even given the option of drowning the taste in butter. Instead, the bread comes with some sort of sweet potato dipping-mush. Don't ask me why I felt compelled to eat either the bread or the mush, but there I was, forcing it down. Don't take my word for it, test it yourself.

Pike and I split an appetizer, an order of Steamed Organic Potato and Broccoli Dumplings. Served in a tomato pesto sauce somewhat like a vodka sauce, this appetizer actually wasn't too bad. We used the sauce from the appetizer to replace the mush and had high hopes for the rest of the meal. These hopes would not be dashed for about 20 minutes or so, since that's roughly how long it took between courses.



At last, the food man cometh. Pike ordered the Natural Turkey Meatloaf. As described by the menu, it is an herb-spiced, lean ground natural turkey loaf (au jus), sweet potato mash, Asian long beans & cranberry-apple chutney. I sounds soooo good. It sounds mouth watering. Sadly, sometimes one's imagination can get the better of them and this was one of those times. What should have been a moist turkey meatloaf was really closer to a tasteless slab of turkey-based sawdust with some cranberry apple chutney (this was pretty good). Instead of Asian long beans, it came with bok choi, which I normally love. But somehow, even that was bungled and instead the bok choi was absolutely flat. Pike's expression was one of regret. Regret at not getting a hamburger at Duke's.

I flipped a coin to decide my entrée. Heads, the Brandt Natural Beef Cheeseburger; tails, the Roasted Natural Half Chicken. Tails, I got the chicken. This is my standby dish. I almost didn't order it since I've ordered it at so many other restaurants. From Danny Brown to Quaint to HK to Metrazur, almost every restaurant has a version of this dish. Josie's came with "smashed" potatoes, strips of sliced zucchini, and carrots. The vegetables were overcooked to the point that they had no taste whatsoever. The mashed potatoes came with the skin, which I like. They also came in the thick consistency of Elmer's paste, which I didn't. It was like trying to swallow caulk. Though I ate a good chunk of the potatoes, the main reason is because the chicken was just so bad. It was extremely dry, and whatever glaze the chefs used was bitter. I had about a half a breast and then gave up.

Even though we were expensing the meal, we just couldn't bring ourselves to have dessert. I really, really want to say that I went at a bad time and that if I ever went again, I'd have a totally different experience. But the odds of my return are slim... to none. If you had a better experience and these opinions of mine are reflections of some bizarre anomaly, then please say so. I don't like to give a bad review. I mean, these meals aren't free. But while I'm willing to give a pass or two to a mediocre dish or highlight something about the restaurant that I liked, in this case few good things can be said. The service was very slow and the waitress's attitude was poor (the busboy was very nice though). Even if the food was good, which it wasn't, it was too expensive.



One appetizer, two entrees, two sodas, and no dessert, plus tax and tip was $64 too much.

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