The Breslin

There are some restaurants where everything on the menu looks so appetizing, it's nearly impossible to make a decision. The Breslin is one of them.

When I was in NY for the Summer Fancy Food Show, I did a lot of my eating inside the Javits Center--some cheese here, a little prosciutto there, maybe a bite of energy bar or kale something or gluten-free whatever, and then a bit more cheese, washed down with organic coffee or fancy tea or a shot of mezcal (or three). But even with all that snacking it's possible to be hungry for a sit-down meal. Even after snacking AND having a plate of pasta and a beer at the opening night cocktail party, there's still room for more, particularly if it's fried.

The Breslin, April Bloomfield's Michelin-starred British gastropub in Midtown's Ace Hotel, seems to specialize in fried food. There is a lot of it on the menu, and we ordered most of it, plus oysters on the half shell and a salad. You know, to be healthy.

But first - a cocktail. This one was called Life on Mars? and contained Virgil Kane rye, hibiscus, Cardamaro (a cardoon-infused amaro) and pressed lemon. It was bright, both sweet and tangy, with a lovely lemon aroma.

We enjoyed six petite Puffer's oysters, salty little diploid Wellfleets from Cape Cod. The dilly pickle juice we spooned on top was a refreshing accompaniment.

The salad was a simple affair of butter lettuce, cucumber, radish, scallions, crunchy sunflower seeds, and creamy ranch dressing. It wasn't our token vegetable though; we also ordered radishes. They were cooked, possibly lightly deep fried, juicy and tender, with a darkly piquant sauce.

We also enjoyed the beef and Stilton pie. It was a tiny little thing, bursting with shredded meat and the mellow funk of that famed British blue cheese. I wished it was bigger.

We also shared the Scotch egg. I'm not the biggest Scotch egg fan in the world, because I have a thing about plain pork sausage. We ate a lot of "breakfast" sausage growing up and I never did like the flavor. That's usually the kind of sausage used as a wrapper on a Scotch egg, and of course this one was no different. What was different was the nicely crispy crust on the outside and the perfectly gooey soft-boiled egg on the inside. Cooking an egg like that, peeling it without making a mess, then wrapping it in sausage and deep frying it is a bit of culinary engineering that I can admire.

Similarly crispy was the fried duck leg. Meltingly tender on the inside, the meaty confitted leg had just the right amount of luscious fat. Unlike the beef and stilton pie, the duck leg was plenty enough to share without feeling deprived.

While the savory part of the meal was quite delicious and satisfying, the dessert felt like a cheat. As in we were cheated. The menu description simply said "carrot cake/compressed pineapple/coconut ice cream." The words "carrot cake" conjure up a thick slice of moist brown cake studded with shreds of carrot, nuts, and maybe even a little pineapple, topped with cream cheese frosting. I suppose what we received somewhat evoked the real thing, but was in reality a fussy little arrangement of bits and bobs. Two tiny, crouton-sized, pieces of actual cake, a thumb-sized quenelle of ice cream, some powdered coconut milk, toasted coconut, and a few chunks of pineapple. For $12.

I have nothing against fancy plated desserts, but they really need to be exquisite to earn the hefty price tag they usually wear. The cake was ordinary, the ice cream wasn't particularly flavorful, and coconut milk powder can be purchased in any Asian supermarket, so I hope nobody wasted time and effort producing it in the restaurant kitchen. Considering that The Breslin is very much like an English pub, the arty-farty desserts are not in keeping with the whole theme of the place. Disappointing.

Dessert aside, I enjoyed our meal at The Breslin enough to go back for breakfast the next day.  There were pastries to choose from, lighter dishes like yogurt and granola, and heartier, eggier, options like a full English breakfast.

I went for creamy and rich Greek yogurt with tiny, sweet, strawberries, local honey, and pistachio praline, and a house-made buttered English muffin and a cup of Stumptown coffee. It was a satisfying start to the day.

The Breslin
The Ace Hotel
16 W 29th St
New York, NY 10001
(212) 679-1939



Posted on Minxeats.com.

Bahama Breeze

Sometimes the best antidote for a completely crappy day is a good, stiff drink. So we were incredibly happy that after a particularly bad afternoon, Bahama Breeze invited us to celebrate International Pineapple Day (April 2) at their Towson location, complete with complimentary cocktails and a sampling of happy hour appetizers.

Mr Minx and I had eaten at Bahama Breeze not long after they opened, and I must admit, we were not impressed. The atmosphere seemed chaotic, and the food was not memorable. But ten or so years can change things.

The restaurant, though tropically themed, was cozy and dark, particularly where we were seated in the bar area. And the place was hopping, yet everything seemed under control. Not long after we reached our table, we were brought the first of two pineapple-based cocktails we would receive that evening, the Painkiller. Made with Pusser's Dark Rum, cream of coconut, pineapple and orange juices, and a fragrant grating of fresh nutmeg, the drink was big and strong (like I like my...drinks). Often tropical drinks are uber sweet, but this one was just right.

Our second drink, which came about halfway through the meal, was a Goombay Smash, comprising Captain Morgan Original Spiced Rum and Myers's Original Dark Rum mixed with fresh orange and pineapple juices. Again, not overly sweet and nice and strong. The orange was a bit more prominent in this drink.

With our drinks, we enjoyed a plate of Bahama Breeze's fried coconut shrimp (because fried foods are as essential to lifting one's mood as alcohol) with a spicy citrus mustard sauce. They were pretty good, but maybe a bit bread-y.

We also received a plate of their Jamaican chicken wings. Culinary manager Kevin Morton says they are marinated in authentic spices, then baked with additional seasoning, and finally served with a dip that has more of that jerk flavor. We thought these were dynamite. The wings were large and meaty, perfectly cooked, and super crispy. And while jerk seasoning can be intensely hot with the fire of scotch bonnet peppers, the wings at Bahama Breeze were tailored to fit a palate more accustomed to milder foods.

Kevin then suggested we order whatever else we wanted off the menu. He had just finished talking up their burger, so we decided to split one. To keep with the International Pineapple Day theme, we ordered our Wood-grilled Cheddar Burger with some pineapple chutney on the side.

The burger was a thin patty, which we prefer, cooked to just a shade past medium. The bun was somewhere between a typical squishy fast food bun and a brioche bun in that it was nice and soft, but had a pretty glazed appearance. The chutney added a bit of sweetness, a la ketchup, but wasn't quite as sweet. Overall, we enjoyed the burger for its simplicity. Bahama Breeze might not be the first place one would think of to order a burger, but if nothing else on the menu tempts, the burger can satisfy.

We also opted to try the conch fritters, which came with more of the citrus mustard dipping sauce. They were nicely meaty, crisp, and piping hot.

Bahama Breeze was really a nice surprise. We don't eat at chain restaurants often, not because we are snobs, but because there are so many other options these days. Bahama Breeze is owned by Darden, which also operates Red Lobster and Olive Garden. They also own The Capital Grille, which routinely makes "best of" lists in Baltimore, so don't judge. Bahama Breeze only has 30 or so outlets, so they don't have as much of the corporate control as some of Darden's other restaurants. Kevin Morton says that while some menu elements come from corporate (the onion rings, for example, which Kevin said were breaded in-house until recently), he can cater other menu items to the tastes of his patrons. He seemed to have real passion for his job, and runs the restaurant as if it were his own. That attitude, coupled with the sunny dispositions of the staff we came in contact with, makes a big difference in a customer's dining experience. I can think of some locally owned-and-operated, non-chain restaurants that could use that approach.

Bahama Breeze
100 E Joppa Rd
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 821-7090
http://www.bahamabreeze.com/







Posted on Minxeats.com.