影片
更多
2010-03-14
14 浏览
Last year, I visited Red Bar & Restaurant in IFC for dinner. I can't help but remember being fairly disappointed. Everything looked amazing but tasted wrong. The salads were bland, the main courses - meat and fish were not any good either. I have learnt that they have since added/swapped some items on and off their menu, but I am thinking there are other restos in IFC worth my trying first....Anyway, our party of three had originally wanted to dine in Central rather than Soho...but the few resta
Anyway, our party of three had originally wanted to dine in Central rather than Soho...but the few restaurants I called were all full until 9.30pm on a Sat night...I don't blame them. So i tried my luck here and they had space!
We arrived to be welcomed by extremely friendly staff. I know some restaurants in Soho have very friendly waiters/managers, whilst others are known for their extremely poor service. I would say the staff here are all knowledgeable plus friendly! I also couldn't help but notice they had staff of different ethnicities, which is helpful for some who may like to communicate in Chinese.
After studying the menu I selected the few of the dishes I heard they were famous for: Crab cake, mushroom soup, Grilled fish of the day plus a lobster roll.
Bread selection
This was complimentary upon ordering. I wanted to include this in my review because not only was the bread fantastic, but the condiments that came with it were fabulous!
There were two varieties of bread, I preferred the roll with the poppyseeds on top as it was soft and slightly sweet. There was also two condiments (see one of the reviewer's pictures) - salted butter and garlic tahini. We concluded that the butter wasn't anything like the normal French ones, but it was more saltier which tasted even better than regular salted butter. The tahini was my favourite - it was slightly tangy and very flavourful!
Mushroom Soup with Truffle Cream
The soup was well generously portioned, and well-seasoned - tasted like a blend of wild mushrooms rather than the 'cream of mushroom' type you get in many restaurants. It beats Brivo by a little =P. The cream was drizzled on top, but I couldn't taste the listed truffle? I may have to try again some time later.
Crab Cake
The crab cake was smaller in size than I expected, it is about the size of 3/4 of a blackberry curve/bold 9700 . It was however, very lightly dusted in bread crumbs (only the outer layer), the inside being mostly crab meat! It was served with a tartar sauce which was good but I thought unnecessary as it would mask the flavours of the crab meat.
Grilled Fish of the Day (Seabass) inclusive of two sides; Cauliflower & Cheese and Steamed Garden Vegetables $4xx
This arrived after the starters, together with the lobster roll. The fish was quite big - similar to one I've had in Dot Cod. It was served with a lemon-butter sauce, a whole roasted garlic head, fresh lemon, potatoes.
The fish itself was grilled perfectly. Best I've had I believe! Seabass is my favourite fish, and so I was only too eager to order it when I was told this was the fish of the day and hoped not to be disappointed. The fish meat was sweet and flaked very well. The skin when the fish arrived was crisp on the top being just off the grill. The sauce I thought was again, not needed for a sprinkle of lemon juice and pepper was all that was needed to highlight the freshness and sweetness of the seabass.
The side of roasted garlic was really good - it had been cooked until tender with olive oil and complimented the grilled fish when eaten together.
The cauliflower and cheese was really really rich but tasty. The cauliflower had been cooked till soft, which is how I like it, and the sauce was very creamy and had bits of cheese I think (?) in it. Very tasty indeed....I'd give it an A*.
The steamed garden vegetables were quite sad amongst the other dishes - it arrived in a tiny bowl, with a few broccoli pieces, green beans, carrots and diced potato. Firstly, I think potatoes should't have been included because they are technically starches and not vegetables. Secondly, the other vegetables were slightly over-cooked, bland and simply uninspiring.
Lobster Roll
This was composed of a diced lobster meat and mayo mixture, sandwiched between a hotdog bun. Whilst I could see that the hot dog had been grilled on the inside, the sandwich was already cold when it arrived at the table, so the grilling doesn't actually make any difference.
The lobster filling was tasty enough but for more than $200 the serving was really small. I guess I expected something more than 4-inches long, with a tastier bun perhaps.
By the end of this meal the three of us were too full to look at the dessert menu...perhaps another time
The restaurant is well designed, spacious and hip albeit slightly too dim. There are tables which are low in height with sofa chairs, tables which are medium, and tables which are higher with bar stools. I appreciated the variety as they suit the various purposes customers have (drinking, gathering, dining).
The bill came to $9xx with 2 bottles of sparkling, and with the 10% discount. The value rating below is affected by the water + lobster roll.
张贴
