Restaurant Notebook: December 14, 2005

Every few weeks I will give a list of recommendations based on notable and recent dining experiences I've had.

Recommended, You'll love it

Centrico - Simple, flavorful Mexican inspired cuisine, with Iron chef competitior Aron Sanchez visible in the open kitchen doing the cooking.  Great drinks - really enjoyed a pineapple jalapeno martini. Fellow diners loved the sweetbreads. A seared rare tuna appetizer pretty much what you'd expect - not remarkable. Queso fundido with poblano was very good.  Nice ceviches - again simple and straight forward citrus based dishes. Fish tacos are again simple, clean flavors very well executed. A phenomenal braised short rib dish in an ancho chile broth.   Very nice wine list and the prices are pretty affordable.  Nice space, nice atmosphere.

D'or Ahn - What a great little space.  The owner was very lovely, exceedingly humble yet clearly passionate about her restaurant.  She gives each table her time and attention.  Nice sake and small but nice wine list.   Tasted a few dishes that were really nice - a fried beef app was crunchy, a touch sweet and had a great beefy flavor.  Braised short ribs in celery root puree was nice - tender and flavorful.  A ribeye main course was phenom, with a mung bean/oxtail cake that I found inspiring for my own experimentation in the kitchen.  An excellent braised pork belly dish with a risotto made of millet.  Finally, a Korean bouillabaisse had lots of great flavors, saffron being the star of the show. Also really loved a grilled cheese savory dessert - crispy, crunchy and cheesy.  I will be back here again soon.

Cesca - I love eating at the Cesca bar.  One of the best bars for eating a meal in my opinion.  I've been to this restaurant possibly ten times as it's my neighborhood stand-by of choice and it is remarkably consistent.  Love the meatballs in brodo, virtually all of the pastas and if you can make it there on a Sunday, get the Sunday sauce.  It's the shizzle.  Had a sausage dish with polenta that was new to the menu last week - perfectly done.  I thank Cesca at least once a day for making the UWS a better place.

Recommended.....but

5 ninth -  I did a special tasting of 6 or so of their dishes and then we had our agency holiday party here last night.  I think they are a bit inconsistent, but overall pretty good.  The sturgeon dish we had one night was phenomenal, then fishy the next.  Crispy chicken with a version of mac and cheese was phenom on two occasions. Braised lamb excellent on two occasions.  Fried oysters with an Asian type of slaw was mealy and soggy on one occasion, perfect the next.  Monkfish with an uni sauce was excellent as well. Great space, fun atmosphere, good service.  I think now that the buzz of this place has simmered down, the atmosphere and service has been improved vs previous critical disses.