My First Roti Experience Left Me Underwhelmed

Ali's Trinidad Roti Shop - Bedford Stuyvesant
1267 Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY

High reviews on the Internet and proximity to our apartment meant checking out Ali's Trinidad Roti Shop was inevitable. When I inquired if I should order the lamb, chicken, or beef, the friendly man behind the counter suggested chicken--it's the most popular.

Just a few minutes later we walked back to the apartment, roti in hand, to enjoy them on the couch. As this was my first roti experience, I was surprised to pull out a large pouch. Not open like a gyro or falafel, not neatly wrapped like a burrito, roti is corn tortilla stuffed to bursting with meat, potatoes, and a sauce that reminded me of the Indian style potatoes I ate with zeal at my Indian friend's house growing up. All the ingredients are packed in and messily folded into a full-bellied pouch.

Not quite as flavorful as an indian curry, the roti left me wanting. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the "umph" just wasn't there--only chicken, potatoes, and sauce. No tang of tzatziki, no subcontinental spice, no Mexican picante. Of the ethnic wraps of the world, this one didn't do anything for me.

Ali's Trinidad Roti Shop was friendly, convenient, and good--but just not great. I won't be rushing back for more.

Corner Grind Is Where Worker Bees Type Quietly With "Good" Coffee In Hand

Corner Grind - Bedford-Stuyvesant
1183 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11216

Currently, I sit at a round, marble table at The Corner Grind. There are six patrons--myself included. There are six computers. (Three Mac, three PC, which represents surprising technological diversity for what I can only call a hipster hang).

Having ordered an earl grey tea, I dropped some whole milk and honey into the plain white, cafeteria style mug and sat down. My Breakfast Cup ($5) arrived, and I smiled as the sunny egg yolk looked up at me atop a bed of cheesy grits and fatty bacon. 

"Looks good. I think I approve." I said.

"I have to question their form of serving it. That looks like a hospital cup." My roommate responds.

She's right. The V shaped wooden wall panels, wooden benches, communal oak table, stout leather blue armchairs with silver studs, and graphic chalkboard menu are a bit offset by the cafeteria mugs and hospital paper cups.

But everyone is just quietly enjoying their coffee. (My roommate says its "good" coffee that "doesn't have that sour taste" coffee gets from not changing the filter. She's non-discerning when it comes to caffeine intake). Everyone is typing away, plugged into their headphones, getting into the grind. 

The Corner Grind isn't a place I'll come just to relax, but next time I have some work to do, this seems like a peaceful spot with good food to boot. 

Stroll Over To The Park For A Glass of Wine Under Illuminated Trees

The Park - Chelsea

118 10th Ave., New York, NY 10011

Firefly lights illuminate the indoor trees at The Park, a multi-purposed bar in Chelsea. My friends and I sat in relative quite under the twinkling lights while a steady bass pulsed from a nearby room (from which we could see drunken people stumble out from the crowd). The space is composed of not only The Garden, where we were sitting, but also the Main Room, the Atrium, the Red Room, and the Penthouse. 

For my friends and I, this was a quiet last stop to a laid-back evening of cocktails and banter; so we were in no mood to join the fray of boozy club goers. It was also too late for dinner--or even dessert. However, the calm of nature brought under the warmth of the indoors, friendly waitresses, and reasonably priced drinks (for Manhattan) indicated this would lend itself to a very pleasant mid-day repast.

As they also serve brunch, lunch, and dinner, I intend to go back to The Park  to experience it under a different light. It's particularly tempting when the cold and rain-drenched city is begging for a spring that just isn't quite ready to blossom yet.

Spice Market Left A Sour Taste In My Mouth

Spice Market - Meatpacking District

403 W 13th Street, New York, NY 10014

In a faux Thai style Spice Market's dimly lit wooden interior is adorned with carvings and canopy ceiling beams. But the reference to the classic teak wood that panels much of Bangkok is where the authenticity ends. "Pan-Asian", which can be a vague description of fusing Western ideas of an exoticized East, is a generous description of Spice Market. The waitresses walking around in Keds and salmon colored backless shirts only added to the cultural confusion.

Dinner started off well with appetizers, though my cold jumbo shrimp arrived at least 10 minutes before my friend's crispy grain salad.

The entrees were disappointing. My salmon arrived a bit underdone but alright to eat. Having made a bet with my friend that he would be unable to eat the Mapo Tofu he ordered--start to finish--with chopsticks, I was peeved to find that his dish neither was served with chopsticks nor, frankly, was Mapo Tofu. What's more is that he had waited an additional 15 minutes from when my entree first arrived.

Sichuanese in origin, Mapo Tofu is typically a very spicy Chinese dish with red pepper flakes, minced meat, scallions, and tofu so thin and slippery Westerners are almost never able keep the tofu from falling between their chopsticks. Spice Market's version, however, was an inedible and bland noodle dish with rigid chunks of bean curd. It wasn't that my friend couldn't eat his dinner with chopsticks--it's that he didn't want to.

Restaurant Week makes the city's best restaurants an affordable treat. I would expect any participating restaurant to offer fine dining. So, when I paid $40 (pre tax/tip and excluding my wine) for a mediocre meal at an establishment that was supposed to be of even higher quality than I'm used to, I was quite disappointed. When we called over the manager to express our concern--affirming that the service had been quality despite the kitchen's failures--the manager was apologetic. However, she offered the following excuse: the dishes in traditional Asian style are meant to come out when ready--not necessarily at the same time.

She pushed the wrong button.

In China, at least, restaurants serve dinner "family style" in which everyone over-orders and shares everything--if one dish comes out before the other it doesn't matter. So, in addition to the tofu's poor adaptation of Asian style, so, too, was the service.

Eventually, the manager comped our wine, and the server delivered our dessert. But I will not be returning to Spice Market.

DBGB Kitchen & Bar Served An Enjoyable Birthday Brunch

DBGB Kitchen & Bar - East Village
299 Bowery (Between Houston and 1st St.), New York, NY 10003 

We elected DBGB Kitchen and Bar as my birthday brunch destination. With a reservation we secured a side table--a cozy booth on three sides inlaid from the restaurant. The menu, which consisted of a la carte brunch, lunch, and dessert as well as a prix fix option for restaurant week, had enough diversity on a single two-sided page for everyone.

Starting with appetizers of oysters and a grapefruit chopped salad and ending with sweet notes of pomegranate and chocolate, from start to finish it was a lovely brunch.

My roommate boldly took on the recommended cod sandwich, swearing upon the first bite of lightly fried fish it was indeed a surprisingly delicious choice. The sweet brunch was just as well done as the savory, as experienced with a bite of my dad's fruit and whipped cream topped Belgian waffle. The warm waffle melted in my mouth without any crisp exterior to break through, yet it was firm enough to hold the berries and (real) whipped cream without becoming soggy.

The one obvious flaw lay in the poached eggs. Presented in a white square bowl as part of my dish of bacon, sausage, and greens, one poke with a fork showed a hard yoke of muted yellow. However, after I politely asked the chef to try again the waiter returned with runny eggs, an apology, and a confirmation that hard poached eggs should not have been released from the kitchen.

And after a chocolate praline dessert topped with ice cream reminiscent of creamed mousse, the egg episode was long forgotten. I would certainly go back.