Oh Yes to Food, Ono to Service

I had a friend from home in town this weekend (who was also with me at Pompano) who used to live in New York. This seemed like the perfect reason to cash in some of my AmEx In:NYC points. These points provide gift certificates to a host of restaurants and bars around the city...some of them my friend and I have already been to and are more run-of-the-mill, and some are very upscale and ones I probably wouldn't frequent except for a special occasion. Between having a gift certificate to use at a high-end spot and a good friend visiting, Ono fit the bill.

It goes without saying that Ono is definitely one of those uber-trendy Asian fusion restaurants. Its locale alone (both in the Hotel Gansevoort and in the Meat Packing District) is enough to make this a hot spot. On top of that, as soon as you walk in, you are accosted by trendiness. The lighting is dim, the decor is modern, the DJ is spinning house music, the bar is packed. Pure swank.

We were seated on the 2nd floor next to a huge window overlooking the Ono garden and the heart of the Meat Packing District...such a great vantage point. We started with the cocktail list and both were in the mood to try something unique. I ordered the Raspirinha...a Caipirinha with muddled raspberries, except they were out of raspberries so I got strawberry instead. Cachaca is a very different-tasting alcohol, definitely nothing I'm used to, but it was a really good drink. My friend ordered a cucumber margarita that could only be described as "refreshing."

We began to take a look over the menu and noticed that a majority of it was made up of small plates and sushi, with a few large plates at the bottom. We decided to share a few things (shocker!) and ordered the chicken and scallop robatas, a spider roll, and wasabi mashed potatoes. The robatas were two skewers of each meat served with five dipping sauces. The chicken and scallops were both cooked very well and had a great grilled flavor, but it was really the sauces that made these dishes. We sampled all five and really liked them all: shisho pesto, spicy plum miso, sesame mustard, scallion ponzu, and kimchee. The spider futomaki was delicious...the crab was so fresh and fried to perfection, and the spicy japanese mayo gave it an extra boost of flavor. And as generic a side item as it sounds, the wasabe mashed potatoes were fantastic. They were creamy and garlicky, with a wasabi flavor that wasn't too overpowering. Wasabi peas were mixed in, which gave it a surprising crunch.

I never go into restaurants like this expecting the service to be phenomenal. I think it's part of the job interview that the wait staff has to prove it can be snooty. That is unless the diners are dropping hundreds of dollars, in which case they are your best friend. When our waitress heard that we weren't ordering anything else (even though our tab was close to $100), she went very quickly from friendly to pushy. She left the bill with us immediately and proceeded to stop by three times to ask if it was ready. But, then when we were actually ready to pay, she was MIA and couldn't be bothered.

But, Miss Menu is never one to let mediocre service ruin an otherwise great experience. It was the perfect opportunity to try a great new place with a great old friend.

One quick Miss Menu pointer: If you are planning on dining at Ono and want to make your reservation through Open Table, be sure to go to the site directly, not linking from Ono's website. If you do it via Ono's site, it will tell you that dining points are not applicable to that meal. Sure it's only 100 points, but with all of the dining out I've been doing lately, I'm hoping to have another gift certificate heading my way!

Ono
at Hotel Gansevoort
18 9th Avenue
b/t 13th & Gansevoort Street
website
Menu Pages listing

This Buddha's Belly Deserves a Good Rub

Now, there are dozens of trendy sushi/Asian fusion restaurants in NYC, but there are only a few that fall into the "uber-swanky" category. I usually don't frequent those types of restaurants all that often, but they are great for special occasions like birthdays, graduations, or anniversaries. Friday night, I went out to celebrate one of my best friend's birthdays and we decided to go all out at Buddha Bar.

I hadn't been to the Buddha Bar in New York, but I celebrated my 21st birthday at the original Buddha Bar in Paris. Excited to go to the NYC location, I knew what to basically expect, but still managed to be blown away when walking into the restaurant. To say the decor is phenomenal would be an understatement. They have thought of everything...from the entranceway lined with statues to the 20-foot Buddha at one end of the dining room, the wood-carved dragons to the ornate chandeliers and wood-beam ceilings...the entire place just oozes swank (just take a look at the photos on their website if it's hard to imagine!).

We had a reservation and were seated right away at a fantastic table right next to the Buddha. It gave us a great spot to take it all in...the atmosphere, the food, and the crowd (especially the party of 40 made up mostly of 6'2" models!).

Since there were so many fantastic appetizers and sushi rolls on the menu, we decided to order those, rather than entrees. It was a great way to try a few different things on the menu from each part of the Asian fusion. We each ordered the Buddha Bar Chicken Salad. So, you're probably thinking, "a salad at a place like this?" I k know, I know...but it was really delicious, I swear! Pieces of grilled, marinated chicken were mixed with crispy wontons, cabbage, and an Asian sesame vinaigrette.

I had heard from a friend that the Chilean sea bass was fantastic at Buddha Bar, so it was great to see that there was a specialty roll with sea bass in it. The BBQ Chilean Sea Bass Roll had cooked sea bass that was coated in a sweet miso glaze. On the side was a Japanese bbq sauce to dip the roll in, rather than soy sauce. It was absolutely delicious.

To round out the meal, I ordered a side of Wok Fried Vegetable Chow Fun. I was hoping/expecting that it would be different from the chow fun I order from delivery Chinese places. And, it was...VERY different. The wide noodles were cooked perfectly and the sauce had a great flavor. Even better, there were actual vegetables in the dish (asparagus, red peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, and onions), which differs SO much from the delivery "vegetables" of onions and sprouts.

Since it was my friend's bday, we couldn't pass up ordering a dessert...especially so she could blow out a candle! We ordered the Espresso and Lemongrass/Ginger Creme Brule duo. I'm not a huge fan of coffee or coffee-flavored things, so I only had one bite of the espresso one. But, I really enjoyed the lemongrass and ginger one, which was surprisingly delicious. And, the dessert even came with a "Happy Birthday" wafer on the side.

All in all, it was a night of fantastics...fantastic scene, fantastic food, and fantastic company. If you are looking for a restaurant for a special occasion, Buddha Bars fits the bill...even if that Buddha has a big belly!


Buddha Bar
25 Little West 12th Street
b/t 9th Avenue & Washington Street
website
Menu Pages listing

Mamma Mia

When my cousins invited me to join them for dinner, I was really excited to hear that we were going to Nero. I had always seen it when I've been out in the Meat Packing district, but had never been. At first glance, it was hard to tell if it was a trendy Meat Packing restaurant, or if it was an authentic Italian restaurant. Let's see which it turned out to be...

The atmosphere at Nero is very cool...feels like a dark wine cellar with exposed brick walls and most of the lighting coming from candles scattered around the restaurant. 1 point for "authentic Italian restaurant." The music got a little louder as the meal went on, which is when I noticed that all the sudden Kayne West was playing. 1 point "trendy Meat Packing restaurant."

Nero has a great list of Italian wines to choose from. Each glass comes with extra wine in one of those mini-carafes. Just like at Snack Taverna, I butchered the pronunciation of the wine I wanted to order, when the waiter corrected me with a heavy Italian accent. 1 point "authentic Italian restaurant."

The food itself was fantastic. The appetizers we shared were great...and the pasta dish I ordered was even better. 2 points "authentic Italian restaurant."

Turns out I shouldn't have questioned how good the food would be just because of the restaurant's location. "Authentic Italian restaurant" is the clear winner! We were 9 people, and they had our table ready and seated us immediately. Definitely a great restaurant pick for a big group. But because of the ambience, especially with the candle lighting, it would also be a great place for a date.

Some suggestions:
- Be sure to try (or ask for) the white bean salad that they bring out with the bread basket. Nice change of pace from the usual olive oil.
- Going back on what I said about the philosophy that everything fried is good not always holding true, the fritti mista (I think that's what it was called) appetizer was to die for. Fried artichokes, fried zucchini, and fried shrimp, and fried calamari. How can you go wrong?!

Nero
46 Gansevoort Street
@ Greenwich Street
website
Menu Pages listing

HAPPY NEW YEAR!