More Than One Critic Loves Tuome, Plus Review for Skal, Marta, GG's and More

Yesterday Ryan Sutton awarded three stars to the latest Torrisi project, Dirty French, and Robert Sietsema gave three stars to Uzbechka in Bensonhurst. Now here's a roundup of the rest of the week's big reviews:

Pete Wells is impressed with Thomas Chen's culinary skills at Tuome: "Serving cooked with garlic chives and shiitakes, Mr. Chen doesn't try to sex up his homey inspiration, congee; he just makes it more layered and modern, surrounding the chicken with a dark basil jus, and lets the flavors quietly win you over." Two stars. [NYT]

Tejal Rao also reviews Tuome, and counts many of the same dishes among her favorites: "The [deviled] eggs almost have the look of Thai son-in-law eggs, which are hard-boiled, fried, and split. But his feature a deviled yolk and a mound of chile-garlic sauce. There's a fine crunch to the panko-breaded exterior and the flavors are long. All the other deviled eggs can go home." Two stars. [Bloomberg]

Zachary Feldman is impressed by the new chef at Skal, the Icelandic restaurant on the Lower East Side: "The pork chop, cut in half to expose a perfect pink center, is nearly as tender as the quivering mass of braised bacon that commandeers a plate of seared scallops, whose sweetness mimics an accompanying pile of late-summer corn seasoned with serrano chiles." [VV]

Michael Kaminer is disappointed by the "bland" offerings at Andy Yang's latest project, Sachi Asian Bistro: "Arid and fatty lemongrass poussin ($14) tastes more like saccharine soy chicken, with no hint of galanga and Asian herbs promised on paper. More intriguing is its accompaniment of black rice, chewy and tangy. Don't bother with sushi. A yellowtail-filled Korean roll ($12) contains pickled daikon and kimchi sauce, but they're lost in fistfuls of rice." Two stars [NYDN]

Christina Izzo reviews two of the newest pizzerias in town, Marta and GG's. She adores the former, but is less impressed with the latter: "The great-looking grandma pie ($18), with thick, brawny sauce, oozing mozzarella and puffed-up half-moons of pepperoni, arrives seemingly as a saving grace. However, that thick sauce is found to be woefully muddled, almost muddy, with neither oregano nor basil singing on-pitch-beneath it, the crust shuffles between overdone and focaccia-spongy." Four stars for Marta, two for GG's. [TONY]

Steve Cuozzo rounds up some of his favorite restaurants near Madison Square Garden. Stella 34, Keen's, and Cafe China are all among his picks for pre-show dining, while after-show winners include Gaonurri and the Nomad. To avoid: the TGI Friday's on 8th Avenue. "This might be the worst of the world's 992 TGIFs. Chemical-tasting shrimp and steak almost terminated my intestines." [NYP]

THE ELSEWHERE: Ligaya Mishan takes a very thorough tour of the city's many doughnuts, both old and new. Hannah Goldfield likes the Acadian fare at the East Village's new King Bee. Gael Greene is overall not impressed with Kappo Masa.

THE BLOGS: Andrew Steinthal still loves Empellon Cocina, though it's become less upscale with age, Restaurant Girl is just as much a fan of Tuome as everyone else, The Pink Pig dines at Alder and Empellon Al Pastor, Chopsticks + Marrow dines on Uzbek dumplings at Rokhat Kosher Bakery, Goodies First recommends the more traditional dishes at Kitchen 79, NYC Foodie checks out Cosme, NY Journal likes the food and loves the wine list at Claudette, The Food Doc likes all the tacos at Empellon Al Pastor, and Chekmark Eats is totally on board with Dirty French.