The Brunster has officially checked out and it's still weeks until Sammy Sifton starts filing. Meanwhile, Betsy Andrews does a round-up of exotic Staten Island Eats for $25 and Under. Among others, she visits Sri Lankan restaurant San Rasa:
For $11, eat all you can of fragrant chicken, mutton and kingfish curries; eggplant with pineapple, sweet green bean, warm beet and mellow garlic curries; torn stir-fried rice noodles called string hopper kottu; yellow rice with cinnamon; and shredded coconut and fiery onion-chili sambols for condiments."
The Plattster files a double-header on Daniel Boulud's DBGB and Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte. He drops the onespot on both. On DBGB: "With the exception of an ingenious creation called “asparagus and fried egg” (a fried hen’s egg wreathed in lots of salty duck cracklings served on poached asparagus), the standard appetizers are dreary by comparison. So, the assembled burger hounds at my table were distressed to report, are the chef’s latest haute hamburger creations, like the “Frenchie,” dressed with greasy pork belly confit plus Morbier cheese, and the $19 “Piggie,” which is muffled in jalapeño and too much pulled pork."
On Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecôte: "Non-addicts might notice that their salad is scraggly, that the cheese plate appears to have been bought at the Food Emporium, and that the bread brought to the table by their un-French waitress is dry. But hopeless junkies (like me) won’t care. The dizzying infusion of fatty richness makes dessert superfluous. And at $24 for a steak, salad, and all the fries and sauce you can eat, the fix is relatively cheap."
Ryan Sutton visits The Standard Grill and awards it two stars: "Arrive late and skip the wait. The $14 burger is on the after-hours menu. The dense, hefty patty comes with fries and a heady, almost musty collection of aged cheddar and thick bacon; the extras are a welcome rarity in the a la carte burger era, when ground meat often pretends to be steak. "
THE ELSEWHERE: Robert Sietsema is mostly happy with Joseph Leonard. Jay Cheshes reviews Prime Meats and awards it 3 out of 5 Stars. Alan Richman compares the restaurants of serial restaurant opener Michael Bao Huynh.. Gael Greene is pleased overall with the soft open Oceana, and Ruth Reichl pens a brief but positive review of it as well for Gourmet. The New Yorker’s Shauna Lyon reviews Locanda Verde and Metromix awards 3.5 Stars to Brooklyn Bowl.
THE BLOGS: Easy Ed Gives Prime Meats an A-. The Hungry Roach reviews Joseph Leonard. Writing With My Mouth Full reviews Brooklyn Fare and Feisty Foodie checks out Mama's Empanadas in Flushing.