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“Riingo”

Occasion:	Cuisine:	Area:	Cost:	Rating:
Night Out	Asian	Midtown	Moderate	Great

Riingo

Let me get right to the point with this review of Riingo, Marcus Samuelsson's new Asian venture at the Alex Hotel. Call now. Make a reservation. Stay on hold for as long as it takes. Hire friends to call if you must. GO NOW. This place is fabulous. But first, a bit of bad news. I don’t love the restaurant design. It is small, and cramped and it just doesn’t really make as much of an impact. The bar is compact and modest, with bare bulbs hanging down to give the room a moody glow, but other than the lighting, there is not much to it. To the left of the bar you’ll find a windowless wood-paneled dining room (just past the narrow passageway that is also the sushi bar) that is strangely shaped so there are just a few tables in the space. The upstairs dining room feels lonely and like an abandoned land. The room lacks that sexy, heated vibe that you crave when you eat out. The design just doesn’t pop. Perhaps that is even more noticeable because the food does, and then some. In a nutshell, the eats at Riingo were quite amazing. The food is deliciously creative, the flavors are visionary, well-articulated and balanced. Many of the dishes are challenging, yet they present the sort of challenge that invites you in, and doesn’t make you run in the other direction.

The menu is divided between sushi and Japanese-American dishes in several categories—soups, salads, fish and meat appetizers, and entrees sized for one, or for two. We started with the Japanese-American side of the menu, with a salmon salad—thick, earthy planks of fresh raw salmon crowned with watercress, and set on ribbons of cucumber and bits of cabbage dotted with chiles, and refreshed with grapefruit segments. We moved onto the braised pork belly with honey-roasted garlic ($14), listed as an entree for one. (It was big enough for two; portions are generous.) The minute I took my first bite, I was not prepared to share, and I usually share everything. But it was so tender and soft, and so completely saturated with moist, sinful fatty flavor, and was served with this unbelievable honey-roasted garlic, tossed on the pig’s crispy-skinned back in soft sweet caramelized nuggets, that I almost took it away with me to another table and refused to share it with the new boyfriend. (He is really sweet, but a girl has to draw the line somewhere, and this was one really good pig.)

Next we tried the nori-wrapped foie gras ($16), an appetizer, served on a long sleigh bed style ch ... [more, click below]

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Posted: February 1, 2004

Other restaurants in Midtown :
+ Lever House   + Aquavit   + RM   + Joseph's (formerly Citarella The Restaurant)   + Town   + Artisanal   + The Oyster Bar   + Geisha   + David Burke and Donatella Restaurant   + Riingo   + Amma   + Cafe Sabarsky   + The Stone Rose Lounge   + BLT Steak   + V, The Steakhouse-- Closed   + Bar Masa   + Cafe Gray   + The Bar Room at The Modern   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + The Cafe at Aquavit   + Bistro du Vent-- Closed   + Shaburi   + Xing   + The Modern   + Bar Americain   + Alto   + Park Blue   + Mainland-- Closed   + Nobu 57   + Quality Meats   + Dona-- CLOSED   + Daisy May's   + 7Square-- CLOSED   + Amalia   + Fireside   + Anthos   + Patroon   + BLT Market   + Toloache   + Mia Dona   + Park Avenue Summer   + Convivio   + The Oak Room by guest reviewer Julie Besonen   + At Vermilion by guest reviewer Elaine Weiner   + Lunching at Inakaya, by guest reviewer Kathleen Squires   + Marea, by Guest Reviewer Susan Kane Walkush   + Le Bernardin   + New York Central -- A Reason To Eat at the Grand Hyatt Again   + Pampano Botaneria by Dara Pollak   

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