Here are the four restaurants I went to over the holidays and what I thought about them. In no particular order...
De Cero- One of my greatest friends was in the city over the holidays to meet up with other friends that were in town from London. She and her husband graciously invited us out to dinner so we could catch up too! Even though Sarah says she had no say so in the restaurant choice, I still wonder since we had her absolute favorite- Mexican.
De Cero isn't really a tapas place, but they have a taco platter that works out well for sharing. Even though Bill and I usually disagree on food choices, we chose to share a platter. It comes with 8 tacos that you order in pairs from a list of 15. We went with the Big Eye Tuna, Tres Queso (x2), and the Chipotle Chicken. I dove in to the Big Eye Tuna first which was a huge mistake. I am a complete weenie when it comes to spicy food, and the habaneros in the mango salsa absolutely kicked my butt. My mouth was on fire so bad that it was hard to enjoy the rest of the meal. The flavor of the taco was delicious, so I was disappointed I couldn't forge on and eat the second one. I just couldn't handle the heat! The second one I went for was the Tres Queso. It was good too, but I would start with it next time. By the time I got to it all the gooey cheese had hardened, so I don't think I got to enjoy all its greatness (it's Sarah's favorite). The guac and salsas we started with were very good (but spicy also), and there were other tacos I didn't try that I would like to. Overall I would go back again but wouldn't order the tuna. Rating: C+ Spiciness: A++
DMK Burger Bar- We have passed this place a few times and vowed that we would try it out ASAP. With a different Sarah in town for New Year's, we decided a big burger was the perfect meal to prepare our bodies to handle the mass quantities of alcohol we would later consume.
I had the Patty Melt (smoked bacon, burnt onions, Leroy's remoulade, smoked swiss on grilled rye), and if I would have been smart enough to take a picture of my plates, post-consumption, you would know what I thought about it. Considering I had to stop eating to take a picture, here's all I got.
Oh. My. Gosh. It was the perfect burger:bread:onion:remoulade:swiss ratio. I would go back and order it 100 times, and judging from the clean plates and consistent "oh my God's" coming from Sarah and Bill, I would guess that the turkey burger and #1 (aged cheddar, smoked bacon, charred balsamic red onions, a BBQ sauce) were pretty amazing as well. Plus, anyone that has sweet potato fries gets an A+ from me.I can't wait to go back and try something else very soon. Rating: A+++
The Drawing Room- Bill and I were headed downtown to meet a friend and decided to try something new. He got on Open Table, found The Drawing Room, and since it is listed as "American", we figured we couldn't go wrong.
"Swanky" doesn't seem to describe this place. It's underground, dark, funky chairs and a bar menu that is "taken as seriously as their food" according to our waitress. They have a limited, seasonal menu, and nothing was really jumping off the page for us. We decided to go with soup and a drink and call it a night. The smokey cheddar soup was really delicious. It had a hint of red pepper, and they didn't lie when they said "smokey". It was super smokey, but really a great soup. There was a nice crunch on top with some scallions.
On to the equally as important drinks. Since it was our first time there we went with the waitresses recommendations. It was a little scary since they contained bourbon and tequila (respectively), but we went for it. I had the Jack Rose and Bill went with the Monkey Business (see their drink menu here). I would like to add that everything is made in-house, from the grenadine all the way to the tonic water. The drinks were really delicious, and I wouldn't be afraid to try anything on the drink menu with how well-crafted they really were.
I would take someone there for a pre-dinner cocktail, but I'm not sure I would go back to have a complete meal. Rating: B-
Papa Ray's- What else do you do on New Year's Day other than find someone that will deliver a greasy dinner? Bill used GrubHub, and we found Papa Ray's Pizza. You can build your own mac and cheese! Need I say more? We added bacon (it was the real kind-not bacon bits) and extra Parmesan cheese. YUMMO!! I was super cheesy and super delicious. The only downside is that it could have used just a little less bacon. I know that sounds crazy, but it really was A LOT. We also shared some parmesan garlic boneless wings. What I loved about them is that they weren't dripping in a greasy sauce- it was more of a dry rub. They were huge (we shared the order of 15 when we could have shared 7) and didn't have a lot of breading, which I find to be a problem with boneless wings. Overall it was the perfect lazy Sunday delivery meal. I would definitely order from them again!
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