Adam Platt Likes the Appetizers at Dirty French; Tejal Rao Doesn't Mind the Retro at Cherche Midi

Yesterday Ryan Sutton reviewed Gabrielle Hamilton's classic, Prune, and Robert Sietsema reviewed Botequim, Marco Moreira's Brazilian restaurant beneath The Fourth. Now here's a roundup of the rest of the week's reviews.

Adam Platt, still stinging from getting kicked out of ZZ's Clam Bar, checks out the latest from Mario Carbone and Rich Torrisi, Dirty French: "[M]any of the most successful recipes tend to come during the hors d'oeuvre portion of dinner, before the relentless heaviness of the cooking sets in. In addition to berbere spices, the crunchy-topped roast clams are garnished with almonds and gouts of brown butter, and if you order the $24 foie gras terrine, you'll find that it's been wrapped, ingeniously, in a warm sleeve of brioche dough and brik pastry and dusted with tiny flakes of burnt lemon powder." Two stars. [NY Mag]

Zachary Feldman reviews Brooklyn Belly, a soul food seafood shack in Kensington: "As for [chef Odeis] Stephenson's cracked conch, it shines on its own, as one-third of a 'Bellyful Seafood Combo' with whiting and shrimp, or chopped and tossed into herbed batter for airy Bahamian fritters destined for dipping in hot-sauce-spiked aioli." [VV]

Tejal Rao visits Keith McNally's Bowery bistro, Cherche Midi: "Lobster ravioli ($28) was tucked under a blanket of ginger beurre blanc and piquillo peppers, that could have been stitched with the phrase, "I [heart] the 90s." And while it tasted good, it had the look of something you'd polish off at the front of the airplane." Her pro tip: go for the specials. Two stars. [Bloomberg]

Update: Michael Kaminer's review ran late today, but he reviewed Humboldt & Jackson: "The kitchen soars even higher with meats. Chicken liver mousse ($8) is velvety - in texture and flavor - and perfect with a blob of delicious housemade apple-nut butter on top." Four stars.

THE ELSEWHERE: Amelia Lester likes most of Justin Smillie's California cooking at Upland. Gael Greene runs down a meal at her "favorite Indian restaurant," Tulsi.

THE BLOGS: On The Infatuation, Calais Zagarow complains that Arrogant Swine is not authentic, while Chris Stang finds Il Buco Alimentari as good as ever under its new chef. The Pink Pig dines on mostly chicken at Torishin, Chopsticks + Marrow tries out a large format Korean goat feast at Ban Ga Ne, Goodies First eats arepas, oysters, and chaat around Queens, NYC Foodie visits King Bee, NY Journal is pleasantly surprised by By The Hudson, The Food Doc runs down Alex Stupak's latest Push Project dinner, a collaboration with Rick Bayless, and Chekmark Eats finds ABC Kitchen as solid as ever.