It’s been four months since I started working on the boarder of Chinatown, Tribeca and SoHo, and in all that time, I’d only gone out to eat once. And it wasn’t even in a Chinese restaurant! In fact, I’d even forgotten that it’s customary to have a hot pot of jasmine tea waiting for you at your table.
My friend Ryan helped me break the eat-at-my-desk pattern by joining me for lunch in the neighborhood last week. Our destination: 456 Shanghai. It came highly recommended by my friend and coworker, Matt; Sam Sifton also wrote a rave review of the restaurant last year.
The review raved about many of the 456′s pork dishes (notably, the steamed soup dumplings) but Ryan took one for the team and shared an order of steamed vegetable dumplings.
For our entrées, Ryan ordered the eggplant with pork, while I had sautéed bok choy with yuba (tofu skin). I don’t remember ever having yuba in the past, and boy oh boy was it good! Rich, buttery, and the perfect chewy but paper-thin consistency. Each dish came with hot and sour soup to start, but I passed on mine (it’s not vegetarian).
Tons of leftovers for the next day! A hearty, if somewhat monochromatic, lunch in front of the keyboard. Overall, I’d give the meal a B. It was good, but not mindblowing. However, the bill came to a whopping $17, so we left happy!
B and I have been pretty good about eating at home lately (buying new pillows and closet solutions adds up!) so we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at one of my old favorites, Rest-au-Rant.
They’ve gotten a bit of a makeover since the last time I visited, but it was just as good as I remember! They have a great selection: hot and cold tapas, cheese + charcuterie, fondue, paninis, entrée-sized salads and large plates. Their wine list is also pretty extensive, and they have some really good beers both in bottles and on tap. And there’s comedy and live music every week… free! It’s a pretty cool place.
Almost every time I’ve been to Rest-au-Rant, I’ve ordered the chili-rubbed grilled shrimp salad over baby arugula, corn + avocado with orange dressing. B and I split it, along with a new menu item: Maine lobster roll served with parmesan crusted grilled corn. Both were fantastic, and made me feel both as though I were transported to a beachfront in summer and in a cozy chalet in Switzerland. The Merlot I had was smooth and jammy, too… much better than the bottle of sulfite-free stuff we picked up on the way home.
On Saturday, after our party, B and I were both pretty tired of cooking, so we ordered ourselves an Indian feast. We dined on masala crab cakes, baingan bartha, aloo gobi, garlic naan, and plenty of rice! We set up a fun little TV dinner and watched Magic Mike. (Yes, I selected the movie, but B was more than happy to watch it!)
It’s midway through December! Have you been feeling more cozy or restless?
