39 replies to this topic

[StephanieL]

I went here last night for a special Gastronauts dinner. About half the items are on the regular menu and the other half I think they cooked just for us. We had loads of white and red sangria (as Daisy mentioned above, the white is very refreshing), and there was also white and red wine available, though I made it through 2 glasses of sangria and called it a night for booze.

Somewhere I have the menu with the rest of the Basque names:

1. Morcilla pastries. Yes, these are little spring rolls. I didn't think they were too greasy at all. If you've never had blood sausage, this is a good introduction.

2. Piperrak: blistered peppers with sea salt. I don't have anything to add what people have already noted. I need to come back and have these with a glass of sherry.

3. Mock elvers and slivered garlic on bread rounds. I never did figure out what these were made from, and since I've never had real elvers I have no benchmark for comparison, taste-wise. I did like the texture.

4. Headcheese. Too spongy and fatty for me. It had almost no personality on its own, and greatly needed the relish of chopped onions and hard-boiled eggs and the little dollops of balsamic mustard. (In fact, I gave up on the headcheese and just ate the condiments.)

5. Squid in ink sauce with rice. This was far and away the best dish of the evening. The squid rings & tentacles were tender and the sauce was just addictive. I don't know if cream or butter was added, though the sauce was so black that I don't know if it had been diluted with anything.

6. Pil pil: cod jowls in olive oil. Very simple and plain. The cod was cooked well, but I found myself running the fish through my leftover squid ink sauce.

7. Tripe and chickpeas in vizcaina sauce. I don't think I will ever warm up to tripe, no matter how it's prepared. But the sauce was great--a nice rush of paprika.

8. Morros prensados: terrine of veal cheek and jowl. Another fail for me; again, too spongy and fatty. I did like the pickled onions that came with it.

9. Tongue in a tomato-onion-garlic sauce. I've usually had tongue sliced (in deli sandwiches) or shredded (in tacos), so having it in little cubes was a new experience. The texture changes quite a bit when it's in thicker portions. Another great sauce--I used up a few of the (small) bread slices sopping up as much of it as I could.

We had one other thing that I just can't remember now. This was the first time I've had food here, rather than just a drink, so I will need to come at an off hour and try more things.

[Daisy]

If they have specials of oyster mushroom carpaccio or the pinxto with swiss chard, order them. Both are fantastic.

[Anthony Bonner]

any of the salad and salad-like specials we've had have been quite good. The bocaditos and pintxos are usually pretty good as well. I'm less enthralled by some of the cooked stuff- however they've got a squid ribbon encebellado dish on the menu that is outstanding.

mock elvers are usually pollack no?

[Orik]

surimi? (of what fish, I dunno)

I assume the veal cheek terrine is the same as Tia Pol used to serve back in the day... loved that stuff.

[Anthony Bonner]

surimi? (of what fish, I dunno)

I assume the veal cheek terrine is the same as Tia Pol used to serve back in the day... loved that stuff.

yes and yes

(surimi is usually pollack unless we've managed to fish the hell out of that as well)

[StephanieL]

The one dish I'd left out: periwinkles done "Chinese style" (with garlic & ginger). Really small, a pain in the neck to extract from the shells, and kind of rubbery meat once you finally got it out.

[Sneakeater]

This goes right to the top of my "why don't I eat here more?" list.

Its Basque focus makes it more interesting than its sibling and former sibling. And while you won't think you're eating in San Sebastian, the food seems generally to be remarkably well prepared.

I started with some very nice fried onions (cooked as balls rather than as circles), with a good spicy aioli for dipping. This is the kind of thing that's either disgusting or excellent; happily it wasn't disgusting.

Then, a salad of fried tiny silverfish over "baby" arugula (believe me, there was nothing babyish about it), with a poached egg buried deep inside. It was a little bland; sprinkle on some pepper (which my passive-aggressive self failed to do) and it would have sprung to life. As it was, it was enjoyable.

The cheese plate was fine.

The by-the-glass wine selection is fun.

No, not earth-shattering. But very pleasant, and very very good.

[Anthony Bonner]

After an epically bad brunch here a few weeks ago I was worried this place might have taken a hit from La Vera opening, but another MFer talked me into revisiting it for lunch. We split Lamb and Lomo sandwiches that were quite good, but they had a Veg special of Favas and Artichokes that if SE had been served it at Franny's he'd still be posting about it three days later. Very simple, very well cooked. It seems like some evidence my brunch was aberration

(And yes, Brunch is still for assholes but it was my mother's birthday and she wanted to go for lunch near the high line)

[Steve R.]

After an epically bad brunch here a few weeks ago I was worried this place might have taken a hit from La Vera opening, but another MFer talked me into revisiting it for lunch. We split Lamb and Lomo sandwiches that were quite good, but they had a Veg special of Favas and Artichokes that if SE had been served it at Franny's he'd still be posting about it three days later. Very simple, very well cooked. It seems like some evidence my brunch was aberration

(And yes, Brunch is still for assholes but it was my mother's birthday and she wanted to go for lunch near the high line)

Went to La Vara a couple of nights ago and liked it. Do we have a thread yet?

[Sneakeater]

Now we do.