Uncle Vanya 09-19-2012

Location: 315 W.54th St.
Time: 12:30pm
People: LM, MS and myself

Feelings: Who could really say no to $8.99 Russian lunch special in Midtown? Uncle Vanya is a hidden gem conveniently located across the street from a police precinct in case you had one too many vodkas. With relaxing atmosphere and bar at the front, this dimly lit simple spot welcomes Russians as well as adventurous midtown workers.

The service was rather slow as only one guy was working all the tables, but I somehow did not mind under this unusual, almost dingy-sexy ambiance. The lunch special is served from noon to 3pm and consists of a choice of salad, soup or borscht and one entree. The bread was pillowy soft, and we were pretty much just satisfied with the bread basket and carrot salad that was heavily seasoned with garlic, lemon juice and mayo.

LM and I ordered "Village Appetizer," home fried potatoes with mushrooms and onions, which was flavorful with fresh ingredients and delightful dollop of sour cream. MS also enjoyed her Pelmini, warm dumplings, saying that she would certainly come back here with her boyfriend.

The quality of the dishes was much better and more authentic than I had expected, considering the price and the location. This type of dark, kitschy restaurant is rather ubiquitous in East Village, but it is indeed a rare find in Midtown. So if your office days are rather dull, why not head out to Uncle Vanya for a little fun culinary adventure?

Elza Fancy Food 11-06-2011

Location: 3071 Brighton 4th St.Time: 2pm

People: 9 Ramen and Friends: Sekita from KiKaEats, Binx2, JLam from MeSoHungry, Todd & Elisa, StevenC, Effie, RB and myself

Feelings: When I heard about the Korean-Uzbek restaurant in Brighton Beach, I made sure to have our monthly outing at Elza Fancy Food. I managed to skype my dad, a retired history teacher before our adventure. "What's the deal with Russia and Korea?" He explained nearly 20 minutes about ethnic Koreans and their mass deportations to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It's a good thing Skype is free. It is fascinating that one restaurant could represent a piece of history...and make my dad speak non-stop for such a long time.

My Russian friend and I called several times to make a reservation, but we were all told, "No reservation." However, upon arrival, I was told they do indeed take reservations, so keep calling if you are going with a big group.

The space is a typical Brighton Beach Russian eatery. Women in rather flashy coats wash down their food with BYOV (vodka). Two Russian men quietly eat while watching Russian pop music videos on the wall. We don't see a hint of Korean influences except some kimchi-like objects in the display case.

I looked through the menu and found that half of the menu consisted of salad, which was similar to Korean banchan. The eggplant hye ($3.99), funchoza noodle salad, fish salad ($6.99), and carrot salad were all refreshing and flavorful. They were not spicy by any means, but bright red chili colors were displayed everywhere.

While StevenC was underwhelmed by their food, RB thoroughly enjoyed borsch and braised cabbage with rice and meat ($4.29). He thought the borsch was delicate and delicious, and the braised cabbage was a tastier version of what his mother used to cook.

I know I should have ordered the Korean noodle dish, Kuksu ($5), but it seemed too beef-tastic so I decided to skip. The pilaf section of Plov ($6.50) was delectable with greasy and vinegary flavor from all the lamb juice on the top. As you may have noticed, it is not a vegetarian friendly spot.

If you don't feel like bringing your own alcohol, apple compot ($.75) is worth a try. It is rather mild and weak, but still sweet and refreshing. If you do feel like BYOB, the corner store offers a large variety of Eastern European beer. RB, JLam and Todd came back with a bag full of 99 cent Ukrainian beer they seemed to enjoy.

With $16 each (They added 18% service charge), we left full with a few bags of leftovers. "Definitely worth the trip, and I'd actually prefer to go there over Veselka if I have enough time in a day," said Effie. Elza shows us the glimpse of the culinary history of the ethnic Koreans, and even further to their cultural history. They survived the brutality of Stalin and created some of the most memorable dishes that can warm up your souls-- Only Orson Welles' line in Third Man could sum this all up. "In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love-they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock."

Karloff 04-23-2011

Location: 254 Court St. BK

Time: 1pm

People: MKang, RB, CK and myself

Feelings: Next to one of RB's favorite local spots, American Beer Distributing Company, there is a quintessential Brooklyn eatery that is filled with brunch crowds. Karloff, known for their artisan ice cream and coffee, also serves Eastern European comfort food like latkes, goulash and blintzes.

We sat at their large communal table, and I appreciated that the wait staff was well prepared with a high chair. It was unfortunate that while I enjoyed their friendliness, the service was incredibly slow. We must have waited for our food for about 30 minutes, so if you are hungry, I recommend ordering their Sarsaparilla Vanilla Root Beer Float as MKang did. This float was incredibly tasty and decadent, so much so that the Manhattanite MKang said she would trek to Brooklyn just for this tasty beverage.

The brunch food was overall decent but unspectacular. My vegetarian wrap, MKang's omelet, and RB's "Egg in a Hole" ($6, fried egg inside brioche bread) were something we could easily prepare at home, that is if I ever decide to enter our kitchen.

Their ice cream selections, including the selection of cones, were overwhelming. They even had lavender ice cream for those of you who want your breath to be garden fresh. We chose salted pretzel cones with peanut butter ice cream and banana cookies and cream. The mixture of salty crunch and icy creaminess created an ideal dessert for a warm Spring afternoon.

My neighborhood ice cream favorite, Blue Marble is nearby, but if I want an interesting flavor or cookie cones with a side of delicious coffee, I would definitely go back to Karloff.

Banquet Spectacular at Sim Sim! 11-10-2009

Location: 312 Ditmas Ave. BK
Time: 7:30pm
People: 13 Ramen and Friends: JLam from MeSoHungry, Rich, MLev, Binx2, TM, Alev, KaV, MGru. CEbert, BLee, PMont, RB and myself

Feelings: Ramen and Friends celebrated the Thanksgiving and holiday season early with an elaborate banquet style feast at Sim Sim in Ditmas. Reserving the feast for 13 people was a little difficult, especially at a quite authentic Azebaijani restaurant in which no one speaks English quite well. We had to pick a menu, pay deposit, and call them several times to confirm. But all the preparation was worth it. We experienced a four hour marathon of dishes followed by more dishes. It was an epic.

There were two or three plates for each dish, so everyone at the table was definitely able to have more than few bites of every taste. We started off with a salad course consisting of fresh vegetable salad, Stolichniy salad (potatoes), eggplant salad a la Baku, feta cheese, marinated mushrooms, Lobio (red beans), and marinated vegetables. JLam thought this was the entire meal and said it was a good amount of food for 13 people. My favorite was the Stolichniy. I enjoyed the creamy flavor as well as the small, cube size vegetables. It definitely carried more flavor than a standard potato salad.

We moved on to the cold appetizers with brined trout with potatoes and assorted meat platters. BLee especially enjoyed the trout saying, "It was clean and delicious with a great texture." However, some at the table mentioned it being a bit too rich for their taste. Around this time, the only vegetarian at the table, myself, started to realize that I might not be able to eat the rest of the dishes and held on tightly to the remaining dishes from the vegetarian first course.

For the hot appetizer course, we had pan fried potatoes with chanterelle mushrooms. When you have a chance to go to Sim Sim, please make sure to order this potato dish. The mushrooms had a fibrous texture of meat, and the potatoes had the most amazing crispiness on the edges and soaked up all the flavor from the mushrooms and onions. The other hot appetizers were pelmeni (dumpling) with meat, kutabi (crepe) with ground lamb, and dolma (grape leaves) with lamb. The creamy and delicious pelmeni was many people's favorite as well, as MGru described, "Encapsulated chicken noodle soup." The kutabi was extremely greasy, but everyone at the table raved about the dish.

When we thought we couldn't possibly eat anymore, we got our main dish: a giant platter of shish kebab which consisted of lamb ribs, chicken, lamb pulp, lamb lyulya, and pork neck with french fries and onions. The meat was tender and flavorful and wonderfully char grilled. I was surprised to see that after everyone commented how full they were, they still managed to finish. We finished our meal with tea and coffee and a round of applause for the chef and staff. We left with greasy smiles, warm cheer, and full bellies.

Many of us woke up next morning with terrible food hangovers vowing to skip breakfast and lunch. With great friends, an amazing and never ending meal, and BYOB, Sim Sim successfully brought us one of the memorable nights I won't soon forget. I actually felt like I was in a part of a scene in a Fellini movie where family and friends are enjoying themselves over dinner, except the smiles and laughter were more than real...and no one spoke Italian.

Bravo, Sim Sim.