Reviews for Boulud Sud, The Beagle, Niko, and More

While Times critic Sam Sifton takes a week off to go fishing in New Hampshire, the rest of the New York critics have some restaurant reviewing to do. Cheshes, Sietsema, Gael, Sutton, and more offer slams, raves, and a couple of surprises (spoiler: The Trilby) ahead.

The Cuozz awards two and half start to Daniel Boulud's new Mediterranean spot Boulud Sud: "misfires and all, Boulud's first new restaurant since DBGB makes you wish he'd taken over this former bank location years ago...Baked cod emerged flaky and sweet beneath crisp zaatar herbs. Mild North African spices similarly made black bass special. Forget "Mediterranean" -- this is modern-American cookery at its chameleon best, the fish serving as a platform for uncompromised seasoning that doesn't nullify the main event." [NYP]

Ryan Sutton chafes at the service at Soho's Niko but enjoys the food: "Eating here can be a deeply unpleasant experience because Levy and his team seem to go out of their way to make commoners feel invisible...Come back, though, for the cherry glazed duck. It’s cut like a steak. Hefty slices of breast share space with crispy skin and silky fat." [Bloomberg]

Jay Cheshes wishes The Beagle would decide whether it's a bar or a restaurant and in the meantime improve its food program: "...Eagleton’s talents can seem as inconsistent as the Beagle’s premise. Panfried fluke, mealy and bland in a tepid main course, gets help—but not quite enough—from a smart, summery chutney..His brick-cooked half chicken, however, is a blockbuster dish..." [TONY]

THE ELSEWHERE: Ligaya Mishan files an Under on frozen desserts, Tables for Two dines on imaginative and delicious modern Korean fare at Midtown's Danji, Robert Sietsema finds some surprisingly solid (and also disappointing) food at The Cooper Square Hotel restaurant The Trilby, Gael Greene revisits Jean Georges and manages a meal at BLT Steak without breaking the bank.

THE BLOGS: EateryRow finds a damn good roll at Red Hook Lobster Pound, Plate of the Day has a fine time at Maison Premiere, Serious Eats awards a B to new Spanish spot Salinas, Goodies First tries the Basque fare at Bar Basque and Txikito, the Pink Pig is disappointed in Vandaag, NY Journal has a wonderful (but not a four star) meal at Del Posto, and Immaculate Infatuation writes that Brooklyn's Seersucker falls short.