Havana Alma De Cuba in New York, NY

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Cuban food has its charm, but not at Havana Alma de Cuba! We went there on a Saturday night and it has been a while I have been disappointed by a restaurant. I am not talking about one dish that I did not like, but several. So sad. It started well: we passed in front of this restaurant several times and it seemed to be busy.

The decor is very nice, modern with some paintings representing Havana: the old cars, La bodeguita del Medio, the famous club where Hemingway or Gabriel Garcia Marquez use to go (you can enjoy this club in many countries now; in the US, it is located in Palo Alto).

We just wanted to share some plates and picked few dishes from the menu that features Cuban, Latin and Spanish specialties. The first dish was the beef empanadas:

It was served with cachucha (small pepper) salsa. The empanadas were good, the filling being moist and very tasty and the shell delightfully crispy. I just wished there was more salsa with it.

The second appetizer was the maduros:

They were just ok, missing some crispiness.

Then, I got myself the calamares Tamarindo or fried calamari with cherry tomatoes, sweet plantains and tamarind sauce. 

I guess this is where it started to go down...The sauce was way too sweet and I could not eat it. Jodi was surprised because it is the first time I do not finish fried calamari. It is too bad because they were not rubbery and seemed crispy (they were drenched in this sweet sauce).

I thought it get be better with the Albondigas, meatballs with manchego cheese and tomato and oyster fricassee.

Que nenni: it was terrible. The meatballs had a weird taste and I did not like the texture.

But the worse was the montadito de chorizo:

It was Spanish chorizo that is sautéed with jalapeño and caramelized onions, served on a toasted baguette. When it came, there was like a smell that did not make it appetizing. In fact, even the presentation was not appetizing too. Well, I did not like it, the chorizo being lost in the sauce that did not taste good for me.

We were so disappointed that we did not even try desserts there. Havana Alma de Cuba was disappointing: the food was subpar and somewhat expensive compared to alternative like La Caridad in New York or La Isla in Hoboken. Would I go back? Hell no!

Enjoy (the post)!



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Café Blossom on Carmine, New York, NY

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Please note that the meal was complimentary. However, the opinions expressed in my blog are 100% my own!  

A few years ago, the idea to go to a vegan restaurant would have made me cringe. Today, I am kind of excited at the idea to try some new flavors. So yes, I was excited when I got invited to try Café Blossom on Carmine, especially after reading the statement from one of its founders, Ronen Seri:

My vision for Blossom was to create a place with outstanding food, not just for vegans, but for everyone to enjoy.

Yes, I am not a vegetarian and much less a vegan, so going to this kind of restaurant can be a real test.

I like the place: simply decorated, I love the contrast of the dark wood with the white brick wall, like the ying and yang.

They push the concept to having a communal table situated right in front of the open kitchen.

The menu offers small and large dishes, some of them looking familiar such as the Caesar salad or the pipette Margherita, but with a vegan twist if I may say: the cheese is for instance replaced by tapioca cheese, bacon by tempeh bacon.

We started off with some drinks. Jodi ordered their belvoir sparkling elderflower lemonade:

And I ordered the house brewed fresh ginger ale:

Then, we shared two appetizers:

The first one was the buffalo risotto croquettes served with pickled carrot ribbons and blue cheese sauce.

There were three croquettes that were divine: think about rice balls made with buffalo sauce that are deep fried and then topped with blue cheese.

This was a very successful dish, very flavorful and I loved the fact that these little rice balls were not dry.

The second appetizer was the taco trio:

It was made of roasted mushroom adobo, corn tortilla, cabbage, huitlacoche, carrot/onion escabeche and micro cilantro. I had no idea what huitlacoche was and later discovered that it was corn mushroom, corn smut or even called Mexican truffle (that's pushing a bit!).

This was a delicious dish: very flavorful, I did not mind at all that it was vegetarian. I love the crunch of the cabbage, as well as the bold flavor of the roasted mushroom adobo. Another great dish!

For the entrées, Jodi ordered the soy bacon cheeseburger:

She decided to have French fries as a side rather than field green: after all, it is a burger.

It was composed of seitan patty, tapioca cheddar, caramelized onions, grilled shiitake mushrooms, soy bacon, lettuce, tomato, chipotle aioli on a sesame bun. I admit that it was a bit messy to eat because of the soy bacon that was too hard and make it difficult to cut through. I also did not like the texture and taste.

On my side, I decided to order the huevos rancheros, curious to see how one of my favorite brunch dishes would end up.

The dish was made of tofu scramble, adobo sauce, tapioca cheddar, black beans, soy sour cream, served on a crispy corn tortillas.

This was a nice interpretation of that dish. Being eggless, it did not have the same smoothness that the egg yolk usually gives, but I found it quite interesting, the tofu being moist and flavorful, perfect mixed with the beans and sour cream. I wonder if the yellow color is coming from turmeric...

Last was dessert. We went for the peach and strawberry crumble, served with vanilla ice cream:

And the New York cheesecake, served with a peach reduction, strawberries and chocolate chips:

The desserts were quite good, especially knowing that they do not use butter. The crumble was the best one, although I would have liked more fruit in it. But the cheesecake was fabulous too, with its crust that was very coconut-ey.

My meal could not be complete without a coffee and, instead of going for an espresso, I went for a cappuccino, curious to see how they would pull it off without milk (they use almond milk in fact). And it worked!

This was a nice meal, surprising in a lot of ways. If you go to Café Blossom, I definitely recommend the buffalo risotto croquettes, the tacos and the desserts. You will not regret it!

Enjoy (I did)!



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Empellon Taqueria in New York, NY

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As we were craving Mexican food, we decided to go to Empellon Taqueria, located in the West village; a place whose staff has definitely a sense of humor...

Big place with beautiful mural on the wall.

That day, they were hosting a birthday party and I did not had time to have a look at the menu crafted for the event, but noted that this could be a good place for a group meal. 

To start, we went for the guacamole and chips.

The guacamole was definitely freshly made as could attest the chunks of avocado, chopped onions or fresh cilantro. 

I truly appreciated the fact that they put the jalapeño on top, so if one does not like it, it is easy to remove them. 

It was perfect: well seasoned, served with delicious tortilla chips. 

For her entrée, Jodi ordered the mixed mushroom tacos (she chose to get two instead of three, that are the two sizes proposed). 

This was a delicious dish that I recommend if you love mushrooms, because they put a lot of it and it is not mixed with any sauce or ingredients that would overpower the entire dish, letting the mushroom be the star. 

On my side, I was first set for tacos, but changed my mind when I saw that they were serving a churro French toast. Yes, you read that right and I was sure the combination of a churro and a French toast would be divine: I was not mistaken. 

First of all, it was a perfect French toast: the bread that was like a brioche or challah was perfectly soaked, and the churro created a crust that was delightfully crispy. It worked so well that I did not need to add any butter and maple syrup. 

This was a fantastic brunch there, all the dishes being very good and the service perfect. I am still ecstatic about the churro French toast that I definitely recommend. I will definitely go back as I saw some tacos I definitely want to try. I really enjoyed: oh yes I did! Sorry, I just drooled all over my computer...

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Empellón Taqueria

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Dinner at Left Bank in the West Village, NYC, New York

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Last week, I had a fantastic dinner with my friends from Tabélog, Sachiko, Kenta and Shouhei. If you read this blog, you probably remember my encounter with Tabélog, a year ago. Tabélog is a restaurant review site with over 40 million users in Japan, expanding now in the US. Their reviews are not anonymous, leveraging bloggers and putting an emphasis on photos, that is great considering that a photo is worth a thousand words. But, what I like also is that the team loves food as much as the bloggers they meet and it is always fun to exchange experiences and good addresses.

This time, we had dinner at Left Bank, a restaurant that defined itself as "an American tavern, inspired by Greenwich Village itself, and influenced by European sensibilities". At first, I thought it referred to the rive gauche (literally left bank) in Paris, that is, beyond a location, a movement of writers, artists and philosophers like Pablo Picasso, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Henri Matisse, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and many others. You many not know the term rive gauche, but, if you went to Paris, you probably heard about Boulevard Saint-Germain or the Boulevard Saint-Michel.

I arrived a bit early (I hate to be late) and toured the restaurant to take some photos. What I like is that there is a bit of space between tables and they did not try to maximize the space.

When I looked around, I could definitely sense a European feel, reminding me a bit restaurants in Paris, especially La Butte Aux Cailles, where I use to live.

The menu, crafted by Chef and owner Laurence Edelman, is of a good size, offering small plates as well as just few choices per section (raw bar, appetizers, pasta, meat / poultry /fish, vegetables), made with ingredients provided by local farmers.

We decided to start with drinks. On my side, I ordered a thyme and ginger cocktail:

We then shared few appetizers / small plates. First was the chicken liver pate:

The presentation was appetizing and rustic. You may wonder what the layer around the chicken liver pate was. Well, it was butter! And I admit that it went well together. This is definitely a dish I recommend.

Then, we had the Mongolian fish dumplings:

It had a nice acidity from the lemon and were perfect for me as I do not like when the shell is too thick.

Then, we shared the lobster puffs with champagne cream:

This is definitely an elegant dish, the champagne cream pairing perfectly with the fresh cream puff, but keeping the lobster the star of the dish.

For the entrees, we started first with the homemade parpadelle, served with sunchokes and fava beans:

That was one of my favorite entrees, the pasta being succulent and the dish being hearty.

Next was the suckling pig porchetta:

It was served with English peas, thumbelina carrots, ramps. This was a very good dish: the pork was very good, with a nice amount of fat, paired with a bold sauce that did not overpower the meat.

Last entree was the iron roasted split chicken:

It was prepared with roasted shitakes, escarole and puffed wild rice. I was not a big fan of the escarole, but certainly was of the chicken that had a crispy skin, heavenly salty, and moist inside.

To stay healthy (of course), we also ordered roasted cauliflower:

I admit that I just had a bite to try, preferring to focus on the meat...

Last was dessert. We went for the olive oil cake with candied hazelnuts:

This was sublime: not the lighter dessert, but a perfect one to end a wonderful and fun evening.

Thank you to the Tabélog's team for the invite and great evening at Left Bank, a place that is now on my list of restaurants to go back to! 

Enjoy (I did)!

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Restaurant Information

tabelog.us

	* Restaurant Name
	Left Bank
	* Overall
	★★★☆☆
	* Neighborhood / Cuisine
	West Village / American New
	* Street Address
	117 Perry St. (corner of Greenwich St.), New York, NY 10014
	* Phone
	212-727-1170

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