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“Sugarcane”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	Flatiron	Moderate	Good

the tongue. The second section of the menu, Castirons, offers skillet cooked dishes like Shrimp with Aji Amarillo (a chile-fired cream sauce), NY Strip Toban Yaki ($13), and Baked Lobster with Creamy Yuca ($14). The Baked Lobster looked like a skillet of marshmallows—and tasted like nothing. The lobster was moist, but it had no discernable flavor and the fluffy yucca topping—that resembled a quilt of mashed potatoes puffed up on Botox—was also bland. The Strip Steak was good, though not great—nice slices of tender meat sautéed with mushrooms and scallions that could still use a hit of salt and pepper.

Far better were the skewers. The Miso-Glazed Sea Bass ($10) was great—caramelized hunks of bass, like black cod with miso from Nobu, in bite sized pieces for pop-in-your-mouth pleasure. Ditto with Hudson Valley Foie Gras threaded with fat tender cubes of duck and grilled figs ($13). We also liked the Farofa Toast with Short Ribs and Olive Salsita—think bruschetta, but the bread is made from farofa (Brazilian yucca flour), and the crunchy platforms are topped with buttery dominos of glazed short ribs and an olive relish that seemed to have nicely harnessed all of the flavor left out of those Castirons skillets. The sushi, along the lines of the Sushi Samba menu, is fresh and tasty and served Carnivale style—in big bold rolls with color-coordinated dipping sauces.

After our dinner, we finished off our sake and wine and were all fired up for our night with Super Diamond. It was hilarious. Love on the Rocks—great stuff people.

While Sugarcane is a Fling Restaurant—it does not have the internal dimension that warrants more of a serious relationship—it knows what it is, and that’s fine. It’s not masquerading as one thing, pretending to be a serious relationship restaurant, when it’s not. It is honest with what it is, and in that way, you don’t get let down or hurt. While the food was hit or miss, what was a hit was tasty. The place has a good energy, and the service was quite attentive and knowledgeable. Our waitress was gorgeous (duh), and knew her sake, wine, and cocktails, and had a commanding description of each dish on the menu. (Clearly this is one actress who is excellent at memorizing her lines). At the end of the evening, Sugarcane will give you that flush of pleasure you are looking for, and there ain’t nothing wrong with that. And ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 20, 2005

Other restaurants in Flatiron :
+ Suenos   + Amuse-- Closed   + Dos Caminos   + Lucy-- Closed   + Gramercy Taver   + Veritas   + Fleur De Sel   + Bolo -- CLosed   + City Bakery   + Shake Shack   + Kalustyan's Cafe   + Devi   + BLT Fish   + Sugarcane   + BLT Prime   + Barca 18-- CLOSED   + Beppe   + Barbounia   + Boqueria   + Eleven Madison   + Lonesome Dove-- CLOSED   + Hill Country   + Olana   + Wildwood   + Primehouse   + Allegretti   + Bar Breton   + Aldea   + SD26 by Bao Ong   + ABC Kitchen   + Ciano   + The NoMad   

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