Bar Pa Tea

I've only tried the soft serve here, but the flavors (oolong and black tea) are both great.  The tea flavor really comes through strongly, and there is just enough sweetness without being overly sweet. The tapioca pearls (bubbles) are also perfectly cooked with the right amount of chewiness, so that's a good sign for the drinks, which maybe I will try next time.

Szechuan Mountain House

Excellent first try, and now I must come back to try more dishes.  

My favorite was the beef with enoki mushroom in sour soup (金針酸湯肥牛).  It felt surprisingly light and was not overwhelmingly spicy.  Even my husband who doesn't normally like sour enjoyed the dish.  I kept insisting the soup was not that spicy (more sour than spicy; just a bit of a kick on top of the sour), but then I made the mistake of eating what I thought was a pickled vegetable but was actually an extremely hot pepper.  Pretty sure I lost a lot of taste buds after that.

The stir-fried chicken with dry red chili pepper (辣子雞) was also great.  Unlike other places, the chicken was not too dry, and there was a good amount of chicken.  Great flavor and heat.

Finally, we had the stew fish in chili oil (水煮魚).  This is in general one of my go-to dishes at a Szechuan restaurant, and it did not disappoint here.  Tender slices of fish and good amount of veggies.  That said, we did have to do quite a lot of fishing in the hot oil, as it is quite hot and is the numbing hot (ma la), so it's not really a drinkable soup (as is typical of the dish).  I would order this again if we have a larger party, but it was hard to power through with just two of us.

DaDong

I was so excited about DaDong that I made two reservations the first day they opened up reservations, and I'm sad to report that after the first visit, I've cancelled my second reservation.

On the good side, the food was pretty good on average, the duck was served traditionally the way I like (albeit a bit dry), and the plating/presentation was beautiful.
  

On the bad side, let's start with...where was the rest of the food?  Beautiful presentation is nice, but it's a bit obvious that the portion sizes are extremely small when the food takes up less than half the plate...as if they're trying to remind you of how you're overpaying for teeny tiny portions.  Just look at the pictures.

            


As for the duck, it was not carved tableside, and it seems the chefs have set carving spots along the walls so they don't block foot traffic.  Okay, fine.  Nicely plated, but it was the slowest carving ever, and worst of all, there was a bunch of meat left on the bone and we watched them cart the duck back.  At $98 for a duck, I expect the whole duck, not just the skin/outside pieces attached to skin.  Traditionally 1 duck is served across multiple courses (e.g., soup, another dish for the meatier pieces), and if DaDong NY isn't going to offer multiple preparations, at least do a better job of carving the meat off the bone and serving it all with the pancakes.

Finally, the service was a disaster.  Our head waiter was super nice and attentive, but everyone else did not have their ducks in a row.  They brought out the pancakes over 5 minutes before the duck came, and then one server came and asked why they were there and tried to take them away (maybe he was as confused as we were by a lone basket of pancakes on an otherwise empty table).  Obviously the pancakes got cold, so our head waiter was kind enough to bring us two fresh baskets (if one is the standard serving, it is definitely not enough for a whole duck).  At another point, another server took away a drink that still had a good 1/3 left without even asking if we were done.  Yet another person knocked a jacket onto the floor and turned around to see us getting up to get it, and then proceeded to walk away...not even acknowledging he knocked it over, much less an apology, and forget about picking it up.

Sadly disappointed.  Hope they improve and really think hard about what they're charging vs. what customers are getting.  Would love to have a proper Peking duck place in NYC, but at this current state, I'm not sure I would come back.

Hanoi House

--Updated--
I came back for the beef pho and am glad I did.  I often think of pho as a light meal, but this was definitely not that, especially since I got all the extras.  The broth was rich and flavorful, and there was a really healthy portion of very tender beef, be it filet mignon, brisket, or oxtail.  Bone marrow is also always a good idea.  As a carb lover, I was pretty excited about the crispy bread stick, which was similar to a Chinese fried cruller (you tiao), but I found it to be a bit dry.  Overall I would give the pho itself 5 stars though.

I also tried a beef stew (special of the night) with vermicelli and really enjoyed the spices and heat in that dish.  Great for a cold winter night.


The last new item I tried was the little uni pancakes (not on lunch menu), but unfortunately that fell a bit short for me.  You can't really go wrong with uni and quail egg, and there was nothing bad about the dish, but the uni wasn't the most flavorful and the dish overall wasn't too memorable (I've already forgotten what the rice and coconut pancake tastes like...feel like it got masked and lost under the uni/quail and lettuce wrap).


Much more enjoyable experience this time, and I would probably come back for dinner again over brunch.

--Original--
We came for brunch and were really excited to try their beef pho, but were crushed to find out they ran out...at 12:30pm very shortly after opening.  Something about an unexpectedly high number of customers the previous night because of the snow.  (This was last weekend, so I hope they planned better for this weekend, given there's even more snow this time around!)

Overall, the service was a mess, but the food was pretty good on average.  Besides not having the pho, there were quite a number of service errors -- forgetting drink orders, bringing out appetizers we already had instead of ones we were still waiting for, long lag time for one entree when everyone else was already halfway through their dishes.  

As for the food, my favorite was the beef tongue sandwich.  The bread was perfectly crispy (it's fried) while still being chewy, the meat was tender, and overall flavor was terrific.  


I also liked the bun cha (grilled pork vermicelli bowl) and spring rolls, both of which were classics done really well.
  

The breakfast crepe was decent but not that standout. 


The crispy pig ears were extremely crispy and fried; didn't really have any of the usual chewiness of the cartilage anymore (just an observation; not saying it's good or bad).  I did enjoy the dish overall though, albeit I found the pig ears to be a tad salty.



Finally, I personally didn't like the spam summer rolls that much, but I'll admit summer rolls are usually not my go-to item, so maybe others will like it more. 


The owner was very nice and stopped by to apologize for the lack of pho and left us with her card to arrange another visit, so I'll be returning in a few weeks with my out of town in-laws for take two.  Will update review for the pho/as needed.

Marea

Marea has been a reliably good Italian seafood restaurant over the years and is one I don't hesitate to recommend to friends for a nice meal out (to splurge on). 

I appreciate that the menu of options is extensive and differentiated, whether it's the crudo, antipasti, pastas, or secondi.  This most recent visit, we had the polipo (grilled octopus), cavolfiore (roasted cauliflower), and tonno candito (confit tuna belly and razor clam) for antipasti.  The polipo was good as always, but the roasted cauliflower surprised on the upside -- great balance in both flavor and texture between the cauliflower, mushrooms, apple, capers, and almonds.  The tuna belly was good, but I think I would've liked it better raw (as opposed to confit) to better appreciate the quality of the fish.
    

The pastas are always cooked perfectly al dente, but note the sauces tend to be on the heavier side.  I personally quite like them overall, but my mother-in-law thought the pastas were all too salty.  Anyway, as noted earlier, the pasta offerings are sufficiently differentiated from other Italian restaurants to make them standout and memorable.
    

Finally, we also tried the salt-baked branzino (for two), which was nicely prepared.  They brought out the whole fish before cooking to show us our prize, although it was directly filleted and plated in the kitchen before serving, so we didn't see the whole fish again.


For dessert, we had the crostata di pere (red wine poached pear with mascarpone semifreddo) and affogato.  The crostata di pere, while beautiful and good, was sadly not an entire poached pear.  It was brought out beautifully shaped like a pear (covered in chocolate), but when we broke into it, we realized it was only shaped like a pear but actually had very few pieces of poached pear.  It tasted good, but we ordered it wanting poached pear, and not chocolate and mascarpone and cream.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts Salad Recipe

Ingredients
1 pound brussels sprouts
1/2 cup chopped dates (or other sweet fruits, e.g., pomegranate seeds, dried cranberries, etc.)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts for crunch)
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
3 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Other optional ingredients: avocado, cheese

Instructions
Wash and then thinly slice brussels sprouts.  Roughly chop dates and walnuts.  Place in a large bowl with sprouts.  In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, shallots, and garlic, and season with salt and pepper.   When ready to serve, pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.