L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon (NYC)

With a long Memorial weekend, we decided to take a drive to NYC for a short road trip. We booked a hotel in Jersey City for one night, and stayed in NYC for two days. On our first night, we went to L’Atelier for dinner. This is one of the famous restaurants by the famous chef Joel Robuchon. The place is pretty small with only a few tables and a u-shaped counter around an open kitchen. We got seated at the counter which has about 12 seats. We find this setting quite similar to a sushi bar because the waiter serves us from the other side of the counter.

L’Atelier is known for their small dishes. My husband and I both ordered three small dishes for dinner. Here is our selection:

1) Pressed Duck Foie Gras, Toasted Bread. My husband and I both love foie gras, so we ordered two foie gras appetizers. One is the foie gras pâté which is spread over toasted bread. The foie gras pâté is smooth and not too rich in taste.

2) Seared foie gras, Grapefruit Gratin. The seared foie gras is the much richer of the two. The foie gras is crispy on the outside and extremely soft on the inside. This cooking style really brings out the strong taste of foie gras.

3) White Asparagus and Crisp Poached Egg. The white asparagus is in season in the spring time. We prefer the white asparagus that we had in Germany which is softer. The sauce on the white asparagus is too strong which covered up the original sweet taste of the asparagus. The crisp poached egg is deep fried quickly and still running from the inside.

4) Lightly Seared Kampachi, Fine Aromatics, Crispy Onion Rings. The Kampachi is a kind of Japanese fish similar to Hamachi. It is very soft with a light taste. It is lightly seared and served with some soy sauce. This is quite an oriental dish.

5) Organic Loche Duarte Farm Salmon Tartar, Caviar. This is the highlight of the night. The salmon tartar is very fatty and soft. It is served with an extremely generous portion of caviar. The caviar is slightly salty. The way that the caviar pops, it reminds me of salmon roe. It is like a salty and condensed version of the salmon roe. What makes this dish spectacular is that it is served on dry ice. The dish comes out with lots of smoke from the dry ice which is pleasing to the eye.

6) Beef and Foie Gras Burgers, Caramelised Bell Peppers. This is one of the signature dishes of Joel Robuchon. The burgers are very tiny. Foie Gras matches very well with beef. However, the strong taste of foie gras overpowers the beef. This is served with a side dish of french fries. Our waiter also brought us some complimentary mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were extremely rich, soft, and buttery.

The service is excellent, and our server gave us a complimentary dish of the Braised Veal Cheek with Thai Jus and Crunchy Vegetables. The Braised Veal Cheek was slowly cooked for 5 hours. It was so tender that you do not need a knife to eat it. This is another oriental style dish.

For dessert, we shared an order of the Le Souffle. This is Yuzu Soufflé served with Okinawa Sugar Ice Cream. This is one of the best soufflés that we have ever had! It is definitely one of the top two. The soufflé is risen perfectly, and baked to perfection. The taste of the yuzu is citrus but not sour. The soufflé is so incredibly soft that it is like eating foam. The sugar ice cream adds creaminess to the soufflé.

Overall, we were extremely satisfied with the meal. Both the food and the service were excellent. However, we can’t come here often because of the dent in our wallets.

HOKAT Rating:
96/100

Address:
57 East 57th Street, New York, NY
212-758-5700
http://www.fourseasons.com/newyorkfs/dining/l_atelier_de_joel_robuchon.html

Abe & Louie’s

Last Saturday, I went to the first game of the 2010 Celtics Playoffs with my husband and brother-in-law. Prior to watching the game, we went to Boston for an early dinner. We went to a famous steakhouse called Abe & Louie’s. Abe & Louie’s is known for its steaks and prime ribs. The atmosphere of this steakhouse is rather formal. It is located on a busy street in the city, and many tables were filled by 6pm.



For appetizers, the three of us shared half a dozen oysters. The oysters are big and fresh, with a slight salty taste.



My husband and brother-in-law both ordered the bone-in ribeye steak which is cooked medium rare. The ribeye steak is extremely tender inside with a strong aroma on the outside. The grill marks are beautifully done which gives it a charcoal taste. It has a very strong meat taste because it is dry aged. Due to the high quality of the meat, it only had to be marinated with salt and pepper. The ribeye steak is extremely juicy. While they were eating the steak, the juice kept rushing out.




I ordered their famous boneless prime rib which is cooked medium rare. It is the best prime rib in Boston. It contains just the right amount of fat. Just like the ribeye steak, the prime rib is also dry aged which gives it a very strong meat taste. The prime rib is very tender and juicy. While I was eating the prime rib, the au jus kept flowing out. One slight compliant is that the prime rib is a little on the rare side. For side dish, we ordered the sweet potato with brown sugar. The sweet potato was so soft and sweet that it was the perfect side dish.




For dessert, the three of us shared a chocolate soufflé with raspberry sauce. The soufflé was soft and nicely baked.




After a very nice meal, we went to watch the first game of the Celtics Playoffs. The best part of it is that Celtics won the game.

Abe & Louie’s is one of the top steakhouses in the Boston area. However, we would prefer its sister restaurant Coach Grill in Wayland because of the location and fresh bread bowl.

HOKAT Rating:
92/100

Address:
793 Boylston Street, Boston MA 02116
(617) 536-6300
http://www.abeandlouies.com/

Yoki Japanese Restaurant

Last year we bought a $20 Groupon that is worth a $50 meal at Yoki Japanese Restaurant in Medford. After a fun day of board games at my brother-in-law’s house, we went to Yoki for some sushi. The restaurant is opened by Vietnamese owners and has a high-end Chinese décor. The prices are relatively high in this restaurant, with the most expensive maki at around $14. Some of the makis are named after Boston’s sports teams, such as the Red Sox Maki, Bruins Maki, and Celtics Maki.

We placed an order of Uni Sushi. The Uni is pretty creamy but it does not have a sweet taste like the best ones we have had.

My husband and I shared the following makis:

1) Crazy Maki: Shrimp tempura inside with salmon and avocado on top. The tempura is lightly fried and very crunchy. The fresh slices of salmon and creamy avocado matches pretty nicely with the crunchy shrimp tempura.

2) Spider Maki: Soft shelled crab tempura with tobiko, avocado, spicy mayonnaise, and sweet soy sauce. There is nothing special about this maki, it actually does not have much taste at all.



3) Red Sox Maki: Spicy tuna and avocado roll topped with fresh sliced tuna and a mixture of tempura flakes and baked chopped eel. It is finished with tobiko, scallion, glazed sweet sauce, and spicy mayo. This is one of the most expensive makis, but is well worth the price. There is a double effect of tuna in this maki, with tuna inside and outside. The avocado adds a touch of softness and creaminess. The baked chopped eel on top has a sweet taste which matches very well with the taste of spicy mayonnaise and makes it truly magical. It is then topped with tobiko which adds an extra crunchiness kick to the maki.



4) Bruins Maki: Spicy cooked salmon and cream cheese roll topped with fresh sliced salmon and a mixture of crispy tempura flakes and spicy white tuna. It is finished with tobiko, scallion, sweet sauce, and spicy mayonnaise. This is another wonderful maki. Salmon and cream cheese matches together extremely well. I could not really taste the spicy white tuna. However, I feel that the variety of citrus and black tobiko really did the trick in this maki. The citrus tobiki is slightly sour while the black tobiko is slightly salty. The tobiko is mixed with spicy mayonnaise which adds a spicy touch to the maki.

My brother-in-law ordered assorted sushi, including tuna, salmon, uni, and scallop sashimi. The fish is pretty fresh, but the portion is not generous enough.



Overall I enjoyed most of the makis. However, the prices are a little too expensive. For this price range, we would rather go to our favorite sushi restaurant in Boston, Oishii.

HOKAT Rating:
88/100

Address:
62 Station Landing, Medford MA 02155
617-381-6688
www.yokirestaurant.com

Paani Pure Indian Cuisine

There is an Indian restaurant in our neighborhood that has received pretty good online reviews. My husband and I have been together for 14 years but we have never eaten Indian food together. We have both had Indian food before, but with other people. So, we decided to give this neighborhood restaurant a try. The restaurant is very tiny, and it is painted in a bright orange color on the inside. As décor, it has a huge abstract painting on its wall and a few drop ceiling lamps.

The waitress is also the owner of the restaurant. She told us that she used to host a local TV show, while her husband is a retired scientist. She is very friendly and nice to talk to. She brought us a complimentary plate of chips and two mini samosa. It provides a nice start to the dinner. We ordered the mango lassi as our drinks. The lassi is made from liquid yogurt.



For appetizers, we ordered the vegetable samosa. Everything in the restaurant is homemade. The samosa is fried nicely and not too greasy. It is filled with potatoes, mashed peas, and ground spices. There is a bit of curry taste in this dish.



Our main dishes are the chicken tikka masala with mangos and the lamb boti kabab. The chicken tikka masala with mangos is rather sweet. Although the mangos add a nice touch to the dish, I would prefer chicken curry instead. The lamb boti kabab was definitely not worth $20. The lamb meat was quite rough and too dry. The Indian rice was also quite dry.




To go along with the main dishes, we ordered the garlic naan. The naan was fresh and baked just right. I like the aroma of garlic in the flat bread.



Overall I feel like the dinner went downhill after the appetizers. Although the owner is very nice and we like the décor, the food is not good enough for us to go back.

HOKAT Rating:
81/100

Address:
621a Boston Post Road, Sudbury MA 01776
978-443-8100

La Campania Italian Restaurant

To celebrate Easter, my husband and I went to an Italian restaurant called La Campania in Waltham. Although it is an Italian restaurant, it serves many French influenced dishes such as foie gras and rack of lamb. The ambience is quite warm and cozy. It felt like walking into someone’s home in Italy that has rustic furniture.



One of the appetizers that we ordered is the crudo of yellowfin tuna with blood orange. There is not much taste to the tuna, but luckily the blood orange adds a nice sweet touch. The second appetizer that we ordered is the pan seared foie gras with puff pastry and roasted peaches. This is the best dish of the night. The foie gras has a melt-in-your-mouth creaminess to it and was pan seared to perfection. The puff pastry was very light and crispy. The roasted peaches add a sweet taste to the dish so that it is not too heavy.



The main dish that I ordered is a Neapolitan style flat bread pizza with lobster meat. It is a very nice surprise for the night. The pizza is light and not greasy at all. The cheese is infused inside of the flat bread. The lobster meat is served with a light lobster broth on the pizza. It feels high class to have lobster as an ingredient on pizza.



The main dish that my husband ordered is the Colorado rack of lamb, cooked medium rare. The serving contains two ribs of lamb. The lamb meat is quite moist. However, for the price of almost $40, it is way too pricy. We did not like the sauce that is served with the rack of lamb at all. The sauce tasted like some kind of meat sauce, like the ones served with pasta. This dish would be much tastier if it is served with red wine sauce instead.



Our dessert had to be pre-ordered because it requires 35 minutes of cook time. We ordered the hot chocolate soufflé with vanilla bean gelato. We had high expectations for the dessert because it is baked to order. When the dessert arrived at our table, it looked really good. However, the moment that we put our forks into it, we found out that it is not a soufflé! It is actually more like a hot piece of brownie with ice-cream on top. What a disappointment. The proper method of making a soufflé is to use egg white and beat it continuously to make it soft and fluffy.



HOKAT Rating:
88/100

Address:
504 Boston Post Road, Waltham MA 02452
781-894-4280
www.lacampania.com

Coach Grill Restaurant

To celebrate the “people’s day” of Chinese New Year, my family and I went to a very popular steakhouse in our neighborhood for dinner. Since moving in six years ago, we pass by Coach Grill every week, and we always see flocks of older people going into the restaurant starting in the early evening. Outside of the restaurant, there is a sign of the restaurant’s name with has a big carriage on top of it. When we arrived at six o’clock for dinner, the whole parking lot was already filled. We were grateful to have found the last parking spot available. The décor of the restaurant is very American style, with soft lighting, paintings on the walls and a big fireplace on the side. There is an open kitchen where you can see the action by the chefs. It is definitely a high class restaurant with some people dressing up with a jacket. Unlike places like Capital Grill, this restaurant is not pretentious at all and the ambience is warm. The wait staff is friendly and the service is pretty good.




The waitress brought us a big bread bowl, which is one of the best bread I’ve ever had. The bread is crispy on the outside and not hard at all. It is very warm and soft on the inside. When I put the butter on the bread, the butter melts right away. It was so good that we asked for more. I ate two pieces of the bread, which is quite unusual for me. My mom almost ate the whole bread bowl by herself.



For appetizers, we ordered half a dozen oysters from New Hampshire. The oysters are fresh with a slight salty taste. I personally prefer oysters that have a sweeter taste. My husband ordered a Caesar salad, which was alright.



For main courses, my mom and I both ordered the Prime Rib, cooked medium. It was a generous cut of Prime Rib. Even though the Prime Rib was so thick, it was surprisingly tender and juicy. It was served with au jus which is the natural juice from the meat. There is some fat near the edges of the Prime Rib. I can say that this is the best Prime Rib I have ever had. It is definitely a notch above the Prime Rib at Ken’s Steak House or Texas Roadhouse. We also ordered a side of pan seared sweet potato as side dish.



My husband ordered the Rack of Lamb, cooked medium. I love the strong distinct taste of lamb meat. It was served with mint jelly which adds a refreshing taste to this dish. There is a side of mashed potatoes in the middle of this dish. The mashed potatoes have a strong garlic taste. My husband likes it but it’s just not my cup of tea. The only imperfection is the inconsistency of how the chefs cook the different meats. We ordered both the Prime Ribs and the Rack of Lamb to be cooked medium, but the Prime Rib looks more like medium rare while the Rack of Lamb looks more like medium well.



This was a great night out, and we all left with our stomachs extremely full with boxes to take home also. The quality of the meat at Coach Grill was excellent, and we would love to come back when we crave for some tender and juicy Prime Rib.

HOKAT Rating:
93/100

Address:
55 Boston Post Road, Wayland MA 01778
508-358-5900

Texas Roadhouse

Last night my family and I went to Texas Roadhouse in Worcester for dinner. We love the atmosphere at Texas Roadhouse because it is free-style and boisterous. There are buckets of peanuts everywhere and you can take as much as you like. People can dump the peanut seed coat onto the floor. Whenever there are birthdays, the waitresses would stand in a line and dance for the birthday boy or girl.




What we love at Texas Roadhouse the most is their bread. The bread is freshly baked and is extremely soft. It is served with cinnamon butter which adds a sweet buttery taste to the warm soft bread. I am usually not a bread person, but I find myself cannot stop eating the bread at Texas Roadhouse. Sometimes after eating the bread, I am already half full and I would wonder if I need to order main dishes at all. We usually ask for another basket of bread because it is so good.



Besides the complimentary bread, we also ordered the baby blossom to share. The baby clossom is hand-battered onion that is deep fried and served with a Cajun Horseradish sauce. It is deep fried perfectly in golden brown color. The strong zingy taste of Cajun Horseradish sauce matches perfectly with the fried onion. It is better not to eat too much of it though, because it is very oily.




For main dishes, the three of us ordered a 12 ounce rib-eye steak and a 12 ounce prime rib. We asked for them to be cooked medium rare. However, it must be an off night at Texas Roadhouse because the rib-eye steak was too rare while the prime rib was cooked medium. The rib-eye steak is very juicy with a strong taste from the grilled meat. The portion of the prime rib is huge. We believe that they ran out of the 12 ounce prime rib and gave us the 16 ounce instead. Since the prime rib is so big, the meat is a little rough and not moist enough. When we went to the Texas Roadhouse in Everett a few weeks ago, the quality of the prime rib was much better and much juicier.




Each main dish comes with 2 side dishes. We asked for 2 caesar salads, a mashed potato, and a baked sweet potato. Of these side dishes, I enjoy the sweet potato the most. It is very moist and the cinnamon butter on top adds to the sweetness. The caesar salad is very creamy and even my mom (who is not a vegetables person) likes it.



We love coming to Texas Roadhouse for its freshly baked bread with cinnamon butter, side dishes, and great quality steak for a very reasonable price.

HOKAT Rating:
92/100

Address:
535 Lincoln Street, Unit F, Worcester MA 01605
508-853-7266

or

31 Mystic View Road, Everett MA 02149
617-381-9598