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“Bun (boone)”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	Lower East Side	Moderate	Good

ould have a dinner that was a meal not just a snack. Kudos to the staff at Bun, particularly their lovely manager Julio, who made every effort to construct dishes without animal stock or parts so that we didn’t need to do a tofu run after dinner. The vegetarian Bun soup (not on the menu but should be) was a warm and soulful broth loaded with meaty (in a veggie kind of way) mushrooms.

That being said, I was surprised that David (my brother) didn’t get up and take leave of the table when the casserole of—hold on—duck hearts and tongues ($8) arrived. This was a gift from the chef (someone who I have written about and know from the business). I’ve gotten many gifts in my life, and I can honestly say that this was the first one that consisted of duck hearts and tongues. I don’t really see this as a popular Red Envelope choice. While I shook my head and held my hands over my eyes, Alison boldly went in, proving to be the most adventurous of all of us. (Who knew?) She pulled a few tongues out of their small cherry red Le Creuset pot, and stared at them for a while and then licked them (claiming she was making out with the ducks) and then took a bite, very pleased with herself that she had tried them. I was impressed because I couldn’t do it. The tongues looked like distorted pinky fingers and the hearts were literally (yikes) heart shaped, but the size of sugarplums, I know it’s hypocritical to eat the duck and shun the heart, but I couldn’t do it. I know they were glazed in seven warm spices, with lime and chile salt, which sounded so good to me, but I am weak. Tony Bourdain I am not. There will be no hearts eaten by this critic.

I did partake of the duck confit, however, tucked inside an egg pancake (brilliant) served over a daikon radish and potato tortilla (as in Spanish tortilla) with a red vinegar and soy dipping sauce ($12). This is a must-have dish and something I hope I will see on a brunch menu somewhere soon.

All dishes at Bun are called “small plates”, and while they are smallish, they are still big enough to share with one or two friends. They are served as they are ready, which means your meal will be a rather randomly ordered hodge-podge of skewers, summer rolls, salads, plates, cold noodles and broths, which is fine. I don’t recommend Bun for groups of larger than four, because the narrow space is really not big enough. We were seven and occ ... [more, click below]

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Posted: November 5, 2007

Other restaurants in Lower East Side :
+ Mojo   + WD-50   + Schiller's Liquor Bar   + Azul Bistro   + Barrio Chino   + 71 Clinton Fresh Food-- Closed   + Little Giant   + Kuma Inn   + Falai   + The Stanton Social   + The Tides   + Thor   + The Orchard   + El Bocadito-- CLOSED   + Bondi Road   + Rayuela   + Suba   + Bun (boone)   + Sorella   + The Fat Hippo   + Pulino's   

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