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| - Love that this place is on East 13th!
The restaurant has a slight contemporary feel with modern lines and traditional bar. It has a fairly large layout with the tables a bit more spread out than at some of other Bruell restaurants. There are slight pops of color through the restaurant. The best part is that this restaurant was not overly packed like many of the other restaurants downtown, as the crowd depends on the shows at the theater a bit more than some of the other area restaurants. You can actually breath and enjoy your meal without worrying about others waiting for a table!
The service was friendly and relatively quick. I ordered an Aviation, an Ian's Manhattan and a Bacon Man. The Aviation was delicious with the lemon providing a nice zest to break up the heavy Woodford Reserve. The Ian's Manhattan was slightly heavy on the gin, but it still had a nice smoothness to the whole drink. The Bacon Man smelled a little too much like rancid bacon for my taste, which is unfortunate since it was a great concept (bacon and maple infusion)- perhaps poor execution.
The appetizers were really tasty- we order Foie Gras Donuts and seafood dumplings. The foie gras donuts are warm, crispy outer shell and sweet with a savory inner of foie gras. The foie gras was room temperature while the dough surrounding the foie gras nugget was a luke warm; it was a bit heavy for an appetizer so the foie gras to dough ratio is a little off (more dough than foie gras). I would have appreciated more foie gras and less donut. The $18.00 price tag on the 3 donuts warranted a little more foie gras in the donut. The seafood dumplings were a hit with plenty little bites of shrimp/lobster in a relatively light sauce.
I also got a plain Romaine Wedge Salad was that good, but a it was bit heavy with the crust and vinaigrette, which defeated the lightness of the salad.
For entrees we got the Red Fish, Seared Salmon and Breaded Veal Pillard:
The red fish was awesome with a nice crispy brown sear on the outside with soft, moist, flaky inner. The fish was seasoned nicely, not overwhelming, but just enough to bring out the light flavor of it. The creamed cauliflower hits the spot without as much guilt as I would have with mashed potatoes. The dish overall is tasty, but a bit heavy with out some very much light vegetables to break it apart (its topped with few grated carrots).
The salmon is your basic salmon, nothing too amazing. The sides were a bit boring for my taste buds- sauteed spinach with miso rice. It reminds me a bit of an elevated Miso Salmon from Cheesecake Factory.
The breaded veal pillard was SOO SOO SOO good, can I emphasize how good? The pairing with the side was perfect with a nice light salad to help cut some of the heaviness in the breaded veal. The veal is tender, pounded to the perfect 1/4 in thickness that gives it a great mouth feel. The baby artichoke salad give it a light sour kick that you would get with a lemon in wiener schnitzel.
My whole bill including the 3 drinks, 1 appetizer, 1 entree, 1 salad and a side of fries came out to $90.00. It's not too bad- about average for this caliber for this restaurant.
I will definitely get the veal and the red fish again; I cant wait to try their other dishes and have room for dessert.
3.75-4 stars for 2 tasty entrees, few good drinks and prompt service; it didn't get the full 5 stars because of the small amount of foie gras in the appetizer, boring salmon and bad Bacon Man.
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