EpiQueerean: 2007

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Udom

I have now tasted this new Thai spot on Washington Ave. (Brooklyn) on two occasions, and I am happy to announce that it is now one of my new favorite neighborhood restaurants. Delicious. There have been some mixed reviews on other websites, but I am putting my vote in for the positive.

I first had a lunch special delivery order to my apartment, which consisted of pad thai w/vegetables, and udom basil w/beef. These both came in sectioned take out containers, which I love, because certian foods should simply not touch. Each entrée was accompanied by a spring roll, vegetable dumpling, and salad.

I found the pad thai to be underwhelming, but the udom basil was very good, and spicier than I expected after hearing many heat-related complaints. And the beef was well-prepared too. Neither the spring roll, nor dumpling caught my attention, and the salad dressing was just peanut sauce (too heavy), but the salad itself was very fresh and crisp. This experience gave me mixed feelings, because that Udom Basil was just so good, but everything else was underwhelming. But I should add that for some reason, the reheated pad thai the next day seemed much tastier than I recalled.

Then we went in to the restaurant, which turned out to be a totally different story. We ate at the bar because it is a small room and all the tables were full. They opened our bottle of prosecco for us, and while the service was nothing great, they definitely have a very friendly and outgoing staff. This time we ordered the lemongrass tom yum soup, the chicken/shrimp dumplings in peanut sauce, the stripe bass chili, and the spicy basil noodle with chicken.

These dumplings were far superior to those that had come with my delivery order, and the peanut sauce that came with them paired very well in comparison to its original pairing with salad. The soup was nice, but not as spicy as I would have liked. It had a very
predominant lemongrass flavor (citrus-y), which I found overdone, but my companion enjoyed it quite a lot. Then the entrees. The stripe bass chili came whole, topped with a saucy sauté of vegetables, and it was absolutely fantastic. The fish was cooked perfectly, and was incredibly moist. The seasoning was subtle yet encouraged you to keep eating. The spicy udom basil noodles were perfectly spicy and really excellent. The chicken was cooked well, and the noodles weren't gummy. I couldn't decide which dish I liked better, but I think the noodles won in the end due to their excellent spice and flavor.

Perhaps Udom's problem is that it is simply hit or miss, which is a common problem for new restaurants. But for a grand opening, I was very impressed, and will definitely be going back as soon as possible. The best part of all? Our check was about $25 with their grand opening discount.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Congee Bowery

We tried Congee Bowery today with 16 friends.

(I'm going to use the royal "we" sometimes, like Perez Hilton, because I want everyone who reads this blog to assume that, like him, I have a "staff" of people with nothing better to do than follow me around and entertain my most absurd whims)

Dim Sum/Chinese family style. Amazing. Their squid tempura was some of the most tender squid I have been served in a restaurant in a long time... nearly ever. And the "House Special Chicken" was incredibly moist, yet with a delicious, crispy skin. All the dishes were at least good, if not amazing. And their $5 lychee martinis were strong.

With more food than we could eat, the bill came out to a very reasonable $25 per person (tax and tip included)! Surprisingly, the Congee, a type of rice pudding/soup dish for which the restaurant was named, was my least favorite. Still, I will be back as soon as possible, with as many people as I can gather.

www.congeevillagerestaurants.com