demandalicious

Does anyone have recent experiences to share from travel in Portugal? I am heading to Lisbon in June and will likely also be traveling to Sintra and the Algarve (am leaning towards Lagos at the moment). Am looking for great places to eat, drink, etc....

For brunch, I really like Northern Spy in the east village. If you don't mind making the trek to Brooklyn, I can recommend The Vanderbilt in prospect heights (close to the Brooklyn museum if you want to make a day if it), or Northeast Kingdom in bushwick.

If there is a wait at Death and Co, you can easily sneak over the Mayahuel - which is in the same "family". I stopped in on Saturday night for a pre-dinner drink and was able to be seated upstairs within seconds. Service is top notch while having a great relaxed east village vibe, and the drinks are strong and well balanced. More importantly, you get less of the douchey/B&T vibe that comes with Death and Co on a Saturday. After Mayahuel, I made my way around the corner to Degustation where I had one of the best meals that I have ever had in my life, ever. And that is saying a lot. There are about 15 seats in this tiny east village restaurant that is modeled after a sushi bar, but serves french-inspired tapas. It's been around for a while but seems to be flying a bit under the radar in the press, blogs, etc. That said, there is about a 2-3 week wait for a reservation, so be mindful of that if you want to check it out. As for the food, my boyfriend and I did a 5 course side by side tasting ($50 pp) - meaning that we each did 5 courses, but each course was different so we were able to sample many things on the menu. First courses were ham/cheese croquettes and hamachi crudo with serrano peppers. It was funny to have two dishes on either end of the spectrum - one was exquisite and light, while the other was total stoner food. Second course was a winter salad (beets, shrooms, fried brussel sprouts, bitter greens) with housemade ricotta and mackerel with pineapple and chinese radish Third course was squid stuffed with short rib meat on top of squid ink oatmeal risotto (OMG!!!) and seared black bass with matsutake mushrooms. The squid dish was ridiculous and amazing. Fourth course was rabbit trio (fried rilletes, loin and leg ravioli) and bacon wrapped lamb loin on top of eggplant puree, farro and pomegranate. Fifth course was a torija (condensed milk soaked brioche with caramelized sugar on top) and pot du chocolat with marshmellow All the while, we recieved amazing service and watched the chefs prepare our food in a completely open kitchen. This was seriously a 'next level' experience for a price point that is beyond affordable (approx $100 pp for tasing menu, two glasses of wine each and coffee). People who are traveling to NYC and want a great meal in a fun neighborhood should not sleep on this as an option.

I echo jparrot in recommending Cochon. I went back in October (based on his suggestion in this board, as a matter of fact) and was blown away. It's a bit off of the beaten path, so you will want to be mindful of that it you're not going to be driving. Get the escargot if they have it on the menu. Best that i've ever had!

I was back in DC for business recently, and decided to check out the "new" back room at Palena with a friend. We opted for the taste of the season option, which seems to be the way to go. I don't really understand the recent posts that are....shall I say 'complaining' about the front vs back room menu policies and out of reach salt shakers. The $80 price tag for 4+ courses (including some with "luxury" items like oysters, truffles, foie gras) is reasonable even by DC standards, and is actually less than what I've paid ordering al carte at restuarants that aren't even close to being on the same level as Palena. I noticed that the 3-course menu is even more reasonable - only $69 - I would even say that it is a steal! And totally worth it for the quality. I think that having a second kitchen benefits those who are eating in the dining room. The people who are cooking are able to focus solely on the back room guests without compromising for the hamburger & chicken crowds. Now, on to the food... We had two hors d’oeuvres: horseradish bavarois with smoked steelhead trout roe first and a fried kale ravioli. Next up was the Squab liver parfait with a salad of faro, pickled cranberries, slices of roasted squab breast and toasted brioche - which is just as delicious as everyone has said. Though, I do wish that it was served with more bread! Then we had celeriac soup with pumpernickel croutons, marcona almonds and roasted foie gras along with the fluke crudo with lime and black truffle. Second course was was cocoa pici for me, and my friend had the foie gras boudin - which was very good, but a little bit rich for my tastes. I didn't find the pasta dish to be oversalted by any means, but maybe that is just me. For mains, I had the roasted hake with Sardinian pasta, broccoli and pomodorini. My friend had the chicken with salsify and truffle sauce. My Hake was easily one of the best seafood dishes that I have had in a while, and was my favorite dish of the evening We ended with the chocolate torte, and the caramel/chocolate parfait. Then came the petit fours, at which point I wanted to explode, so I may have shoved them in my purse (nothing but class over here).

Has anyone been to Matyson or Marigold Kitchen recently? What about Bibou? Am taking a quick trip to Philly this weekend and want advantage of some of the great BYOB/prix fixe deals that the city has to offer.

i haven't eaten there, but they do have a decent happy hour. be warned that there are black lights and the music was a bit too loud/high energy for 5:30pm on a weeknight...but i can get past that for good drink specials!

ohhh! I love a good starhunt!! Elizabeth Falkner was there on Wednesday.

We checked out the scene at Churchkey and it was absolutely packed, so my group and I decided to hang out downstairs rather than deal with the crowd. We were seated right away. An almost 10-minute wait for our drinks was my only complaint of the evening - and certainly understandable, since it was their first night open to the public. Our server, Max was polite and knowledgeable - and brought us a few free beers ('mistakes' from the bar) to make up for the wait. We tried a few different beers between us, and my favorite was the pumpkin cask ale. Between five of us, we started the arctic char tartare, the octopus and the scallops. The tartare was standout dish of the three. Breads were brought to the table around that time - a "pretzel" roll, and a bacon/sage bun which was beyond delicious. As far as I am concerned, all bread should be made with bacon. For entrees, we all either got the burger or the cod. The burger was very good - made with prosciutto and topped with cheddar and pickled red onions. Cod was also tasty - served with green beans, fingerlings and and preserved lemon. These are very solid versions of classics. The desserts are big enough to share and worth saving room for. We tried the apple beniet and something called a confection plate which featured "upscale" versions of classic treats like a "Hostess" cupcake, oatmeal cream pie and a pudding pop. Holy crap. These are some delicious sweets! And then we got the bill...they were only $5 and $6! In fact, the entire meal was very reasonable - about $200 including tip for the five of us. This is a great addition to the neighborhood and I have a feeling that they are going to do very well.

I love the rooftop, but I am definitely not feeling the indoor lounge. Gaudy - yes. Sick? It depends on your definition. I've been there a couple of times and while the service/drinks are generally fine and the view is spectacular, the space really is hideous. The way that the bar is set up - with the bartenders towering above the guests - is not at all uncomfortable. The fuzzy faux zebra chairs shed white "hairs" that end up all over the outfit of the person sitting there (this especially annoying since it's the sort of place that calls for dressing up a bit). Having that "see and be seen" vibe with velvet ropes and a "guestlist" at 4pm in the afternoon on a Saturday when the bar is empty seems unnecessarily pretentious. If it's at night and there is a line...then I get it. Otherwise, it's all a little bit lost on me. As for the food, the only thing that I've eaten was the bacon/avocado BLT - which was delicious. Fries appeared to be of the frozen SYSCO variety, but then again, I wasn't really there to eat...

I heard a rumor that the Townhouse Tavern was sold. Is there any truth to this? What's the story? Hopefully the plan will include putting something other than Morrissey on the jukebox upstairs.

Moot point, since Lady Gaga and her cameltoe don't eat.

Amen! I believe that there is a world of dinner-appropriate fashion between a suit and a pair of sweatpants, but flip flops are never okay, ever.

Nothing says that you've given up on life like wearing flip flops and/or sweatpants out to dinner.

So...I know almost nothing about NYC, and have been tasked with finding a good, reasonably-priced restaurant (median = $20/entree) close/within a couple of subway stops to Midtown/Times Square. This is where it gets a bit dicey: I need a place that can accommodate a party of 15 on a Friday evening (we are seeing a 7:30pm show, so we're planning on eating around 5ish). To complicate things even more, I have at least two vegetarians in my group, and one person who doesn't eat anything green. Should I just throw in the towel and plan to eat at Subway or is there something out there for me? HELP!