Monday, March 5, 2007

Lunch at Landmarc

After no breakfast and a morning full of meetings, I was starving, as was Dave, who kindly accompanied me as I ran all over town from one office to another. We rewarded ourselves with a meal at Landmarc, and boy, it was a treat–for the most part.
Nestled on a busy street in Tribeca, Landmarc was also another one of those restaurants that looks like it was converted from a warehouse–with its metallic beams and grayish overtones, the exterior stands out very simply on the street. Yet, when you enter, you’re enveloped in warmth. With soft brown wood floors, flowers, and earth tone wall fixtures, it’s like you’re walking into your own home, which adds an interesting dimension to what is typically a modern place.
We went crazy with the food and ordered:
Goat Cheese Profiteroles with Frise Salad: Basically, it was puff pastry stuffed with a goat cheese cream and accompanied by a light salad in vinaigrette. I think Dave thought these were pretty good and I’ve had to agree–to a certain extent. After one puff pastry, it got a little overwhelming because there was just too much goat cheese. For me, goat cheese is to be enjoyed in small portions with a bread or vegetable, but a tablespoon of it in a small piece of pastry is a bit too salty and tangy for an appetizer. But, for extreme cheese fans, this is for you–it was definitely well prepared in that the goat cheese was served firm and cool against a puff pastry that was light, crispy, and not too crumbly.
Caesar Salad with Ahi Seared Tuna: It’s hard for me to be write prolifically about a caesar salad and ahi tuna, except to say that a) the caesar dressing was flavorful, yet not overwhelming, and used in moderate amounts on the salad (earning it a gold star from me–I hate more than 2 tablespoons of dressing on a salad); b) the ahi tuna was seared just right as its texture was soft, buttery, and tender. The portion was huge for an appetizer, though.
Moules Frites with White Wine and Shallot Cream Sauce: HUGE PORTION. I was expecting a little dish of mussels to come out, but instead, the waiter plopped a huge bucket full of them on our table. The fries were shoestring style served with a side of garlic aioli. The fries were buttery and garlicky, fried to a crisp, yet tender texture, but the aioli did not taste very appealing. It was oil layered on mayonnaise, if you ask me, and made for a bland, synthetic tasting sauce that didn’t do anything to add to the already flavorful fries. As for the mussels, they were just okay in that they were overcooked. The meat was slightly dehydrated, taking away from the plump, juicy appearance and taste that they could have taken on, and unfortunately, the sauce that the mussels were drenched in was diluted towards the bottom. This made for dry mussels on the top and oversoaked mussels on the bottom, so the flavor was not evenly distributed throughout the dish. However, I’m not disappointed I got them, though. I need me some mussels!
Ribeye Steak with Butter Sauce: When the steak was delivered to us, I think we about fainted. The cut of meat was bigger than our heads (not combined, but bigger than our individual heads, nonetheless) and steam was radiating off the plate, indicating that it had just come off the stove. Props for freshness and timely delivery! Upon first bite, my mouth went from a big smile to just a flat line–the smile was for the fact that the stead was cooked to perfection in terms of its texture. It was tender, medium well, and full of flavorful juices from the meat itself and the seasoning. But, the disappointing aspect of the dish is that the flavor was not maintained throughout. Each bite would start out with flavor from the exterior, but as you bit deeper, it turned into tastes of pure fat. It was a slight miss. Yet, for what we paid and the quality of meat that sat before us, it was not a lost cause by any means.
Overall impressions: This is worth a go. True, I sorta nit picked at minor things, but the dishes were quality and good overall, plus you can’t beat the warm ambience on a cold NY day.

Dinner at Xunta

We met up at this joint with Zach, Amy, and Cindy for tapas and I have to say that it was difficult for me to enjoy this place because a) I was still incredibly full from Landmarc and b) the cold weather dampered my appetite. But, I trudged on for the sake of having good times with friends and adding another restaurant to my list.
Honestly, I can’t remember all that we had because I ate only a small plate’s worth of food out of the many tapas I ordered, plus the three glasses of sangria that I had probably contributed to the lapse of memory that night. I do remember, though, that I didn’t particularly enjoy the tapas, even though they were supposedly authentic. Why the sad face? Again, I don’t remember..
But the sangria was very sweet, refreshing, and obviously like juice if I was able to stomach three glasses :P
Dave, how about you write the review for Xunta? :)