Marcony

As many NYers know, Murray Hill has a severe shortage of desirable restaurants. When I told my friend Matt I had moved to Gramercy, he recommended that I try Marcony, an Italian restaurant just a short walk north of my apartment. So Sunday night, we skipped the Oscars and met our good family friends at Marcony (who needs to watch a four hour show when the dresses are in the newspaper the next day).

Marcony has two floors and heated out door seating. If you are on a date, try to snag a table upstairs in the area adjacent to the dining room. This romantic alcove consists of few cozy tables surrounded by wine bottle lined walls.

The service at Marcony was attentive, although the food took a long time to arrive (perhaps due to a large birthday table order placed shortly before ours). Because of the bounty placed on the table (and our desire to catch up with friends), we didn't mind the slow pace. Upon being seated, our waiter promptly filled our water glasses and delivered a basket of bread with focacia and Italian bread, a dish filled with garlic sundried tomato spread AND a platter of fried ravioli filled with cheese and topped with homemade tomato sauce (yes, one of the raviolis is missing because it was in my stomach). We were off to a good start.

Because I have been suffering killer jet lag from our honeymoon and am fighting a cold (no doubt a result of the killer jet lag), I passed on wine but I would definitely recommend perusing the list. There were over a dozen good choices from several regions in Italy. Also, due to exhaustion, we skipped dessert but I plan on going back if nothing else to order a bottle of Tuscan wine and the chocolate souffle.

I was expecting some of the dishes to wow me a bit more than it did but perhaps I made a few bad picks (The gnocchi or chitara primi might have been better choices then the octopus app, which was good, but nothing special). Also, I ordered the tagliarini pasta special with artichokes as one of our entrees, and was disappointed when the waiter set down an uninspired bowl of angel hair with asparagus. Because there are so many restaurants in NYC, I rarely return to restaurants where the night resulted in an average experience but something (besides its proximity) compels me to return (ok, it's probably the chocolate souffle I didn't get to order).

What to eat:

To start, the Tuna Tartare special was a surprisingly decadent choice. As you can see from the picture, the presentation was beautiful. The Tuna Tartare was made with a mayonnaise aioli base, giving the appetizer a creamy texture.

For an entree, The Osso Bucco Milanese Special was definitely the table winner. The Osso Bucco melted off the bone. Marcony provides a generous helping of the Milanese sauce for the accompanying buttery risotto.

Any one interested in joining me to give this place a second try? Stay tuned for the follow up,

Your foodie friend

Chinatown Brasserie

While sitting at the Sri Lankan airport (long story), I thought I'd get a post out for a restaurant I tried before I left for my honeymoon. Sorry it's a bit late but it is frequently on NYC Restaurant Week.

From the outside, I had judged Chinatown Brasserie harshly, believing it was a touristy, kitschy Chinese restaurant. About two months ago, I was walking by Chinatown Brasserie with a fellow foodie. I wondered out loud if the restaurant was all overly fried and overly breaded food but he scoffed, informing me that Chinatown Brasserie had the best dim sum north of Chinatown. I noticed Chinatown Brasserie was on NY Restaurant Week and boasted an impressive menu. Armed with a few close friends in from Los Angeles, I thought it was time to see if there was substance behind the shiny lanterns.

The NY Restaurant Week menu offered an assortment of seafood, poultry/meat or vegetarian dim sum as an appetizer. Each assortment included several different dumplings, egg rolls or potstickers. Each piece was interesting and tasty. I was happily surprised to find the dim sum light and not greasy.

For the entree, the menu offered six different options, featuring various poultry, seafood and beef dishes. This was much more exciting than most NYC Restaurant Week menus that are typically limited to a few entree options.

The food came out very fast so if you are not part of the business rush lunch crowd, you may want to ask the waiters to slow the pace (good call Michelle!). Also, when we asked our server about how the food was prepared and what certain items were (e.g. Pao Pao-turns out it's a Chinese vegetable), she was hesitant to provide us with helpful answers. It took several follow up questions to understand how each entree was prepared.

Each dish used various vegetables (Chinese brocoli, red pepers, etc) to create a colorful food palate. The Chinese inspired martinis were equally colorful (and delicious). We enjoyed the Bellini Martini, which was the perfect balance of peach puree and a vodka kick.

What to eat:

Each dumpling in the dim sum was delicious. I ordered the seafood dim sum but enjoyed a few bites of my fellow diners vegetarian dim sum as well. The dim sum came out very hot so be careful taking your first few bites.

For your entree, go for the Pao Pao Beef. The beef is cut into thin shreds and tossed in a scallion sauce. The portion was generous.

For dessert, we savored the Chocolate Mouse. For my fellow chocolate lovers, this creamy chocolate mouse will do the trick, it is layered with different types of chocolate and finished with a cookie crust.

If you are one of those rare birds that do not like chocolate, try the Custard Bao for dessert. I'm not much of a custard person but I suppose if you make anything taste similar to a cinnamon roll with icing, I will find a way to enjoy it. These warm cinnamon buns are filled with just enough custard for flavoring but not enough to overwhelm the cinnamon flavor.

Missed my restaurant reviews? NYC, I'm coming home,

Your foodie friend

Marble Lane

The restaurant Marble Lane appears frequently on Page Six of the The New York Post (lovingly referred to by my husband as "the idiot paper"). The newish restaurant in located behind the lobby of the trendy Dream Downtown hotel. While perusing NY Restaurant Week menus, I noticed that Marble Lane was participating and offering an enticing menu. After sending an email around to my girlfriends, we decided to check out the "steak joint."

Marble Lane is dimly lit and plays music ripped from Z100's play list, which is also the ambiance in the lobby and watering holes at the Dream Downtown hotel. I would recommend asking for a table towards the back of the restaurant when you make your reservation, otherwise, you may feel like you're sitting in the hotel lobby instead of the restaurant.

The ambiance was fun and the food was delicious. My only gripe about Marble Lane was the wine. Marble Lane's wine menu offers very few high quality, affordable wines (although I suppose not surprising for one of the hottest new restaurants in NYC). We ordered the bottle of cabernet sauvignon recommended for pairing with the filet minion and it was incredibly underwhelming. It lacked flavor and body. Unless you are prepared to spend close to $100 for a bottle of red, you will have a hard time finding a satisfying bottle of red wine to accompany your steak.


What to eat:

The Tuna Tartare. The tuna tasted fresh (a must) and was accented with black pepper. The portion was very generous for an appetizer.

The Pepper Crusted Center Cut Filet. I requested the steak medium rare and that's how it arrived. The meat was so tender, you could have used a butter knife. The crust is heavily peppered so you should either be prepared to enjoy the pepper or trim the top off (I went for the latter). The portion was generous enough that you did not feel short changed by trimming off of the pepper crust. Only a few sweet vidalla onions shared the dinner plate with the filet so make sure to order a few sides.

For a starchy side, check out the Duck Fat Souffle. These are potato pillows cooked in duck fat. Dip these sophisticated fries in ketchup. We enjoyed each air filled pillow.

For a veggie, go for the Buttered Baby Carrots.

Even though my doctor would probably kill me for writing this (luckily he doesn't know about this blog ;), butter does make (almost) everything better. Marble Lane's multicolored Buttered Baby Carrots were delicious and a nice contrast to the potato sides we ordered.

While there were several appetizing dessert options on the Restaurant Week menu, I had long scouted out the chocolate cake. The Rocky Mountain dessert was the perfect decadent end to a steak dinner. I took this shot at a bad angle so it does not do the portion justice. This was a large slice of moist devils food cake, topped with peanut butter popcorn. The dessert also included vanilla gelato and candied peanuts on the side, to complete Marble Lane's take on a rocky road dessert. I should have taken an after picture, the only thing left was my fork scrapings in the butterscotch on the plate

What to avoid: The Peekytoe Crabcakes. I wouldn't call them disgusting, just disappointing. Thia appetizer consisted of two overly fried, overly breaded small balls, filled with mostly red pepper and breading, oh, and a few shreds of crab.

At $35 for three courses, this is definitely a steal.

In the mood for steak AND a fun night out? Check Marble Lane out this week before the end of NYC Restaurant Week,

Your foodie friend