35 replies to this topic

[Wilfrid]

I thought Oakapple had already posted in a thread about this place, but maybe it was elsewhere. I couldn't find one.

I just put up a review at The Pink Pig. It was based on a meal by invitation, and I almost wish it wasn't because I liked the place and would have been pleased to boost it without being comped. I was intrigued by Oakie's review. It's instructive to see how two people can eat essentially the same food but draw somewhat different conclusions.

Whereas he found the mofongo "forgettable," I was captivated by it; but quite possibly because I've spent years thinking mofongo ought to be better than it is. I see he also found the food snacky, whereas I thought it hearty. I probably didn't share as much.

Bottom line, I thought it was an interesting and adventurous place, and certainly stands out from the formulaic restaurants along that block.

[oakapple]

I probably chose the wrong word. By "snack," I didn't mean unfilling: there is more than enough food here to leave full and satisfied, and at a fair (really, better-than-fair) price. What I meant was that I thought people might wind up putting The Toucan & The Lion into their rotation as a place to share a few plates while drinking, as opposed to becoming a dining destination. That's just a guess.

I was trying to figure out, "Who would go here? What would they order?" Which was somewhat confounded by the fact that the place was literally empty, so I couldn't look around and see what others were doing.

[Orik]

I've also often thought mofongo is a deficient version of itself.

We haven't gone yet as they opened just as we left for Tokyo, will probably try it tonight.

By the way, there's less of the old 6th Street by the day - I just noticed that Angon (what used to be Spicy Mina's cousin's uncle in law's place) is done, and the restaurant above it (Taj Raj something or another) is also gutted, while Brick Lane seems to be moving to 2nd Avenue.

[Wilfrid]

I probably chose the wrong word. By "snack," I didn't mean unfilling: there is more than enough food here to leave full and satisfied, and at a fair (really, better-than-fair) price. What I meant was that I thought people might wind up putting The Toucan & The Lion into their rotation as a place to share a few plates while drinking, as opposed to becoming a dining destination. That's just a guess.

I was trying to figure out, "Who would go here? What would they order?" Which was somewhat confounded by the fact that the place was literally empty, so I couldn't look around and see what others were doing.

Oh, wow. That's another interesting contrast. When I visited, it was absolutely slammed. I wouldn't have got in if they hadn't been holding a table for me.

[Wilfrid]

I've also often thought mofongo is a deficient version of itself.

We haven't gone yet as they opened just as we left for Tokyo, will probably try it tonight.

By the way, there's less of the old 6th Street by the day - I just noticed that Angon (what used to be Spicy Mina's cousin's uncle in law's place) is done, and the restaurant above it (Taj Raj something or another) is also gutted, while Brick Lane seems to be moving to 2nd Avenue.

Yes, I noticed Brick Lane was on the move. We got takeout from the Raj Mahal the other day, so maybe that's not the gutted one.

[Orik]

The mofongo is delicious, and a clear winner of the 2012 "So much better than it looks" category. In fact, everything meaty - ribs, goat curry, and, I'm told by another MFer - meatballs, is delicious if a bit on the sweet side*. Vegetable dishes don't work as well - a green mango and blood orange salad didn't work on many levels - strong flavors of chili, thai basil, orange, radishes, and who knows what else (was there some fish sauce there?) clashed instead of integrating as they would in a green papaya salad, and after a couple of minutes the color turned a sickly pink. Araka Waka was fun to say but not so much fun to eat (like a vaguely oriental ghivetch) and oozed turmeric yellow. Farro risotto was terrible in too many ways to describe. Cocktails are fine. The menu could do with some restructuring, or at least relabeling - I really didn't notice much of a difference in size between mains and "share" plates, nor were the share plates fundamentally more share-able - probably part of the same confusion that places like The Beagle faced when trying to work with the contrived concept of cocktails paired with small plates.


* is the current Asian fusion trend related to the cocktail trend? find an excuse to make the food sweet so that cocktails appear to be a good match?

[Wilfrid]

You liked it more than I expected. Yes, the goat curry is a little sweet. The salad was recommended to me, but I demurred.

My reaction to the plates is that they were all pretty hearty; certainly in comparison to the tweezer portions at The Beagle.

[Orik]

I just decided to think about it as some sort of Malaysian place, and then the food kind of makes sense.

By the way, they were running a half-off promotion on the share plates last night, which meant they were practically free.

[Sneakeater]

I'd forgotten that Orik had said that he and Sivan were going to eat here last night, so it was a pleasant surprise when Sivan kind of materialized in front of me as I was having my first cocktail.

Since the place was doing a half-off all "share" plates promotion, I elected to order three "share" plates rather than one "share" plate and one "main", as I otherwise would have. (As Orik and oakapple both have said, there's nothing particularly "sharey" about the "share" plates: they just seem like what we used to call "appetizers".)

I found the food very enjoyable. Maybe it could have stood to be less sweet, but I kind of expect that from this kind of "fusion." The pork ribs, for example: I'd have been surprised (albeit not disappointed) if they weren't sort of candied. They were very eatable.

The meatballs were actually better than I expected: very light and well made (I have zero idea what the meat was). The "curry dijon" gravy wasn't particularly sweet.

As Orik indicated, the famous duck-confit mofongo looked horrible (like a pile of mush) -- but it was very good; the best thing I had. It tasted like mofongo, despite its having been made with taro root rather than plantains. The Chinese sausage added the toothy crackly bite the assemblage of mush would otherwise have lacked. The salsa verde tasted very good.

The fried pickles (a "side" dish) brought very little to the party.

Cocktails did NOT fall down the sweet hole. A problem with this kind of food is that it really goes better with cocktails than with wine or even beer. So you end up drinking too much. It's a problem.

This is surprise. A nice place to have around.

[Wilfrid]

I accused them of sneaking plantains into the mofongo - but apparently not. Very interesting dish.

[Sneakeater]

Also, as a point of information, at about 10 last night (a Monday), the place was NOT crowded.

[Wilfrid]

Figures. 9 on a Thursday, packed.

[Sneakeater]

It wouldn't take much to fill it up. (Especially the bar area.)

[Wilfrid]

Tiny bar, tiny stools. I usually like to hang out at a bar while having a pre-dinner drink, but I was happy to be taken to my table.

[oakapple]

Also, as a point of information, at about 10 last night (a Monday), the place was NOT crowded.

The photo near the top of my blog post is how crowded it was when we were there, around 6:30pm on a Thursday.