On Saturday we had a 12:45 reservation for brunch at Asiate on the 35th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. We'd enjoyed this unique brunch, overlooking Central Park and the city, every Saturday since 2010.
The Asiate brunch includes tasting portions of four first courses, two second courses selected from a menu ranging from breakfast-like to lunch-like offerings, and two desserts. We always start with a Bloody Mary.
It wasn't long before a tray arrived containing our four starters, each in its own individual vessel.
The presentation wasn't as "pretty" as usual, and the visual was a precursor to the taste. The onion cappuccino was good; the tuna and the hamachi were tasteless, the tuna overpowered by the black olives; the frittata was not good at all.
We were served a mango sorbet intermezzo, after which we ordered glasses of Sancerre to accompany the rest of our meal.
We each chose the same two breakfast-like second courses, which were served in a partitioned plate.
The pancakes were yummy; we finished every bite. The tostata was not good; the pork was dry and tasteless, even bathed in the poached egg. We left it mostly untouched. Our two desserts looked good and tasted better. They were definitely touched; we didn't leave much behind.
The brunch at Asiate disappointed. But since it had always been wonderful in the past, I'm sure we'll give it another chance. We had 8:00 tickets to The Village Bike at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in the Village. The term "village bike" is English slang for village slut. If your interest is peaked, you can read Ben Brantley's New York Times review of "this erotic tale of one really hot summer in provincial England." We enjoyed the play from our front row seats!
The two-act play finished at 10:25, and it was a short one-block walk to our 10:30 dinner reservation at The Little Owl (photo taken before the theatre).
The restaurant website states, "Located in the historical land marked Greenwich Village of NYC, the little owl offers bold flavored Mediterranean cuisine and casual, friendly yet professional service that captures neighborhood dining in New York." The website is right on; both the food and the service were excellent. After being seated at a nice candle-lit table for four, we ordered a delicious Valpolicella, and then decided to dine on an assortment of appetizers and sides. We started by sharing the sardine filets and the gravy meatball sliders.
Sardine Filets - salsa verde toast, olive-dijon sauce
Gravy Meatball Sliders The sardine filets were served on salsa verde toast with an olive-Dijon sauce; there were four of them and they were very good. The meatball sliders are billed as a Little Owl original.
The meatballs contain ground beef, ground pork, ground veal, eggs, molasses, roasted garlic, Spanish onion, fresh garlic and more. They were fantastic. We each finished with the soft-shell crab appetizer and shared two sides, sautéed kale and French fries.
Soft Shell Crab Du Jour - a seasonal preparation
Sautéed Kale - toasted garlic, lemon and chile
French Fries - chile aioli The soft shell crab was lightly breaded and fried, served over a fresh salad. It was meaty and delicious. The sautéed kale was nicely seasoned with garlic, lemon and chile. The fries were crisp on the outside and soft on the inside — addictively perfect. We chose The Little Owl because of its proximity to the Lucille Lortel Theatre. Next time we'll choose it for its food and service. It was an excellent finish to our marathon week of New York City dining. Well, almost the finish . . . Sunday, June 29, 2014 We had one last meal to enjoy. We had a Sunday morning breakfast at our apartment of nova and bagels from Russ & Daughters. Yum!
And after three plays, thirteen meals, and lots of walking, we took a taxi to the airport and flew back to St. Louis. Copyright © 2014 TwoForTheTable.com |
