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July 27, 2006
Little Dishes and Stinky
I had such big plans for Little Dishes, newly opened on 7th Avenue. The name suggests tapas that are not necessarily Spanish. Little decadences.
Some little dishes do deliver. The pork butt is yummy. It's a little on the spicy side, but good and meaty and sweet, and great when eaten with the crusty bread underneath. The special cucumber soup we had the first time we went there was fabulous -- it was a perfect cooling summer dish.
As for everything else, it's uneven. The sardines, which I expected to be grilled, are more like ceviche, which just wasn't as exciting. I like the fishy oiliness of sardines, and when they're boned and soaked in citrus, they lose whatever it is I like. So, no go. The salt cod cakes were okay. The cheese plate was good, with a nice Spanish goat cheese and a wonderful fig cake to pair with the cheese. The stuffed squid we got was disappointing -- it was overdone, and the stuffing was bland. The mushrooms are interesting -- good near the cap, rather slimy at the stem.
I think we may go back to try things we missed -- watermelon and cheddar, for instance, or the meat and cheese plate. I could also go any time just for some wine and oysters. I've liked their oysters better than what I've had at Bar Minnow, but that could be related to what was available -- I'm not an expert in this area (or any food area outside of what tastes good to me, for that matter, but this is beside the point).
One more thing, though -- a new cheese shop called Stinky is open on Smith. I must, must, must go, because all I look for at cheese counters is the stinky stuff. If I use the word "stinky", though, I get condescending stares and no help at all elsewhere. Stinky labels their cheeses according to stinkiness (one nose, two noses, or three), so it was clearly established just for me. They also offer interesting pickles and a good selection of sausages. It's like someone stocked a store with all of my favorite things (aside from the pickles, which I'm mainly only interested in for D's sake, but still).
Posted by csageday at July 27, 2006 01:58 AM