

Becca with her friend Jackie.


Becca with her friend Jackie.

If you are anything like most of my Manhattan friends and you’ve been trying to put yourself on a budget for ‘09, then you should definitely check out Bao on 23rd and 2nd Ave.
The food is awesome and very reasonably priced, and the ambience is pretty great too. My friend Lisa and I went this week for dinner. As it was pretty busy (prime time seems to be between 8 and 10 pm) we decided to sit at the bar.
They offer a lot of specialty cocktails (saketinis etc), and their main bartender, Ash, is one of the best in Manhattan. If nothing on the menu catches your eye, he’ll create something for you on the spot. He makes a killer Lychee martini, $9.00, which Lisa and I both ordered.
For appetizers, we split the Taro Fries ($5.95) which come with a side of spicy sauce and Asian mayonnaise. I usually avoid fries at any cost but because they’re made of Taro root and cooked in a wok as opposed to being fried, they are actually not too bad for you. After that we moved on to the Sweet and Sour Chicken Soup (made with tomatoes, shrimp, pinapple, ochra, bean sprouts and herbs in a spicy seafood broth - $5.95), and shared the Jicama Spring Rolls (made with steamed jicama, lettuce, Chinese sausage, dried shrimp basil and hoisin sauce.) Nearly full at this point, we actually decided to forego a main course in place of dessert … very naughty! We had the banana pudding (bananas, chocolate pudding, whipped cream and strawberries- $6.95) it was SO delicious.
I would absolutely suggest Bao for a casual dinner with friends. The food is awesome and inexpensive and the service is great. My only recommendation would be to make sure to head in before the rush dinner crowd if you want a guaranteed table. However the service at the bar was incredible and if I went back I’d definitely want to try some more of the Mr. Ash’s custom cocktails.

Rebecca tastes the banana pudding.

Tasty spring rolls from Bao.




We began with the spicy crab sushi pizza (crab, avocado, radish sprouts & red miso: $16.00 pictured), and the ginger cream spinach ($6.00). Next we had the shrimp and chicken robata. This is a small plate that comes with two skewers and five dipping sauces (shiso pesto, spicy plum miso, sesame mustard, scallion ponzo and kimchee $12.00), not as delicious as the sushi pizza but the dipping sauces did add interesting flavor combinations.
As a huge carb-ophobe, I feel that one of Ono’s best features is the selection of riceless rolls. We shared the tuna yaba roll (yuba seaweed, chopped tuna, seared tuna and tempura flakes $16.00) and the eel avocado roll (crabmeat & cucumber wrapped in nori and soft crepe $14.00). Feeling rather full from all the small plates and rolls, we passed on dessert but they did have an extensive menu, including a citrus tart, miso cream and plum sake sorbet that sounded very tempting…
Though the prices are a bit high (rolls are around the $16.00 range) the ambiance and creative plates (ie the spicy crab pizza) make this sushi worth the splurge. Ono is great for a weekend date, especially due to the proximity to the Gansevoort’s infamous rooftop bar. If your dinner ends before midnight, you can access the hotel elevators via the restaurant’s side door and avoid the outside lines.
ONO
Hotel Gansevoort
18 9th Avenue (at Gansevoort st)


Rebecca enjoys the snapper at Double Crown restaurant.
By Rebecca Simzak
This past Saturday I went to Double Crown restaurant with my girlfriend for dinner. Double Crown offers English/American fusion cuisine with Asian–influenced sauces and seasonings. The restaurant is dimly lit with an interior that has the personality of a “high class pub.” A long communial table and oversized bar seem somehow glamorized by Double Crown’s Asian and Art nouveau accents. I could totally picture Madonna here in her Guy Ritchie days …
The restaurant lends nicely to either a romantic evening out or a group get together, due to double or communal seating. However it’s the food at Double Crown that is absolutely their best-selling feature. To begin, the wait staff brings a platter of thin bread crisps with three dipping sauces: one tsaziki based, one with sweet red pepper and another made with cilantro lime. A full bar is also offered, with tons of unique drink specials. I had the Gooseberry, Red Chili and Elderflower Smash which is made with level vodka, gooseberries, lemon and Elderflower foam ($12.00). It was very light and refreshing without being overly sweet.
My girlfriend and I shared a bunch of small plates as we had a hard time deciding what to order from the menu. We started with the Crispy Drunken Quail (with cinnamon tamarind sauce, carrot and cilantro: $13.00), and the Pigs in a A Wet Blanket (pork with lychee and coconut sauce: $6.00). For Dinner we Shared the Steamed Snapper (with prawn dumplings, sesame broth and bok choy: $27.00) and the Brussels Sprouts (with cinnamon and fenugreek glaze: $5.00). These were AMAZING!!!
Now, I usually have the willpower to restrain myself from the dessert menu, but the small plates and entrée were so amazing that we just had to try out at least one dessert. We decided on the Pumpkin Bread pudding with a pumpkin-vanilla crème sauce ($9.00). It was incredible and a reasonably small portion which helped alleviate any guilt.
I HIGHLY recommend checking out the food at Double Crown ASAP… but be sure to make a reservation. I called a week in advance for our Saturday night dinner and was still given a relatively later (10.00pm) dinner time. Luckily the staff is super friendly and made a note that I would prefer an earlier reservation. They called me back the day before with a 9:15 opening.


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