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“P*ONG”


  Occasion: Cuisine: Area: Cost: Rating:
  Night Out New American West Village Moderate Good

h. Yes, tuna can stand up to big flavors, but in this case, it recoiled.

But restraint in other places that made up for these missteps. The organic mushroom salad was spot on. Pichet roasts Japanese wild mushrooms with ginger, garlic, shallot, soy and yuzu juice—and those mushrooms act like sponges sopping up all those flavors. Then ‘shrooms are bedded on a nutty, chewy black rice cake (these should be a side dish), dotted with feta and served over red lettuce from Satur Farms. The sweet Maine crab ($15) was also treated right. Lovely lumps of pulled crab were perked up with tarragon, chives, lemon and olive oil, and rested on a whipped dollop of green apple mousse garnished with crisp julienned apples and mint oil. Ta Da! Perfect. The foie gras brulee ($18), while closer to a dessert in flavors, was also quite good. A foie gras custard is caramelized so there’s this crystal cap of sugar on top, and then served on housemade brioche showered with slivered cherries macerated in cognac, with pistachio biscotti crumbs. This was symphonic.

The transition from sweet to savory is done gently and slowly, by way of a few dishes from the “savory and sweet” section of the menu, including the Stilton soufflé with basil ice cream ($12). This dish held so much promise that it did not fulfill. I was expecting a tall, fluffy airy cheese soufflé, which was not the case. The soufflé was thin and crunchy from walnuts, and the Stilton flavor seemed almost baked out of it. The ice cream was good, actually, fresh and creamy and herbaceous. But that soufflé, poor thing. Miso ice cream was the satisfyingly salty frosting that sandwiched an extra virgin olive oil layer cake served with summer strawberries and a strawberry sorbet that practically had a heartbeat it tasted so fresh ($10).

Full on sweets arrive last, and they ran the pendulum between Wow and Eh. The chevre cheesecake croquette ($10) was lush and creamy and crusted in walnut cookie crumbs with a side of lime zest and pineapple salad. (Wow.) But the Vietnamese coffee tapioca affogato layered with mango whipped cream and walnut cookie crumbs ($10) didn’t work for us. (Eh.) “I like bubble tea, and I like affogato,” Carol said after a slurp through a wide pastel-colored straw. “But I don’t like affogato in my bubble tea.” Indeed this was not a peanut butter and jelly moment. But the finale of t ... [more, click below]

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Other restaurants in West Village :
+ Jefferson-- Closed   + La Palapa Rockola   + Sumile   + Babbo   + Tasca   + AOC Bedford   + Home   + The Spotted Pig   + Barbuto   + Numero 26   + Mas   + August   + Alta   + Cru   + Blue Mill Tavern-- Closed   + Employees Only   + Lassi   + Metropol--Closed   + Turks and Frogs   + Bellavitae   + Yumcha-- CLOSED   + Gusto: SEE EARLIER REVIEW; THIS CHEF HAS LEFT GUSTO   + Perry Street   + Home   + Ditch Plains   + The Little Owl   + Cafe Condesa   + Cafe Cluny   + Gusto   + The Waverly Inn   + Morandi   + P*ONG   + Perilla   + Soto   + Market Table   + Centro Vinoteca   + Barfry   + Dell'Anima   + Bar Blanc   + Smith's   + Commerce   + Elettaria   + Bar Q   + Cabrito   + 10 Downing   + Minetta Tavern   + Braeburn   + Scuderia, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Bar Blanc Bistro by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Joseph Leonard   + Bar Henry, by Guest Reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Kin Shop   + Monument Lane   + Wong   + Bin on Bleecker, by Dara Pollak   + Ristorante Rafele   + Cole's Greenwich Village by Guest Reviewer Claire Jaffe   


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