Onegin in the West Village for Upscale Russian Fare

My then girlfriend (and now fiancee!) and I had a date night and wanted to have some nice warm, stick to your ribs food on a cold night earlier this winter.  I had gotten a Groupon deal for an upscale Russian restaurant called Onegin in the West Village since I enjoy Russian food, and I was glad I did.

The deal consisted of two drinks, two apps, and entrees.  To start we both ordered our apps.  I started with the Solyanka, a warm soup filled with smoked meats, which was great for the cold.

My fiancee never had pelmeni dumplings before, and these delicious little dumplings are some of favorite dumplings of any cuisine.  These ones were made with veal, then boiled and served with sour cream which pairs perfectly with them.  Sooooo good.

For our entrees, she ordered the braised short ribs with truffle barley risotto and endive.  This dish was hearty and the short ribs were tender.  Using barley for the grain was also a nice twist.

I had the chicken and veal cutlets, which were served with a mushroom cream sauce.  The cutlets were very juicy and again, a very hearty dish.  

The deal also involved two flavor infused vodka shots.  These were tasty and strong, but not quite as strong as the drinks from The Russian Tea Room (one was enough to make both of us a little tipsy!)

The meal was great.  While the food doesn't completely blow you away, it was still solid and satisfying.  The portions were huge as well, and we couldn't even finish all that was served.  The ambiance was really nice and is a nice spot for a date. I believe the deal was for $55 for all that you see above, and as of this writing it's still up on Groupon.  

Onegin

391 Avenue of the Americas

(West Village)
New York, NY 10014

Phone number(212) 924-8001

Rouge et Blanc for Upscale Vietnamese Fusion at a Cozy Location in Soho

Saw a feature for Rouge et Blanc on Mike Colameco's Real Food show on PBS about a month ago and the food looked phenomenal and the plating was absolutely gorgeous.  The head chef used to work at Eleven Madison Park, and it shows.

Rouge et Blanc serves French-Vietnamese fusion cuisine, and the show featured a dish that I HAD to try....roasted bone marrow with baby octopus.  The bone marrow was sweet and acted like a jelly.  It's slathered with just a little plum sauce for some tartness.  You also get a scallion roll where you're supposed spread the yummy bone marrow.  There's also a fennel salad that was tart and cut through the richness of the bone marrow.  The octopus looked cool on top for presentation but went well with the marrow as well.

Another featured dish on the show, as well as our waitress' recommendation was the yellowtail sashimi with grapefruit and black truffles.  Wooow...Oh my Gah this dish was amazing and just exploded in your mouth.  The tart ponzu-esque sauce brought out the fish and truffles and the grapefruit was a nice surprise since it went so well.  Easily one of the best bites of food I've had this year!  It's a must order dish if you go there.

Off their "wee plates" menu we got the house cured salmon with basil oil, soy, shaved parm, and almonds.  Another super pretty dish that tasted solid, but the flavors were more familiar.  (Maybe the yellowtail was a tough act to follow...ha!).

We split an entree of skirt steak with a maitake mushroom ragout, sea urchin, veal just, and grilled sweet potatoes.  A pretty and yet super rustic dish.  The maitake mushrooms were great and grilled whole scallions made the dish super earthy.  As much as I love sea urchin, the dish didn't really need it.  You probably could've cut the cost of the dish by close to $10.

For dessert, we were talked into ordering the caramelized foie gras dessert.  Foie gras?? For dessert? Seriously?!  As weird as that sounded it actually went really really well with the pears and ice cream!  It kinda works the same way as bacon (savory) does in dessert since it goes with sweets.  Another surprising dish!

Rouge et Blanc is a great place for a date since they serve beautiful food in a cozy, romantic, yet unpretentious setting.  They actually also are open for lunch and serve banh mi sandwiches...am curious to see how those are and will stop by at sometime!

Rouge et Blanc

48 Macdougal St

New York, NY 1001

(212) 260-5757

Bareburger in NYC...Great Organic Grass Fed Burgers!

For a NYC burger chain, Bareburger (various locations), stands out from many by not only using quality organic ingredients, they also have a huge variety of ways you can customize your burger.  We ate at the Greenwich Village location on LaGuardia Place near NYU.  The restaurant was spacious and the decor was pretty good for a burger joint.

Bareburger has a number of pretty interesting burger flavors, but you can also not only customize any burger with the usual beef, turkey, or chicken, they also have unique proteins such as lamb, elk, bison, and even ostrich.  For vegetarians you even get two options, a veggie patty or a portabello mushroom.  Choices of breads include brioche, multi grain, lettuce wrap, wheat tortillas, or gluten free rice buns.

It sounds like a healthier, more conscious burger option, but how does it taste???!  

Pretty good!  I ordered the Bareburger Supreme, which comes with applewood smoked bacon. 

 I got it with elk meat on brioche.  The elk was leaner than beef but the brioche was a bit dense and bready for me.

The burgers come with a choice of one side.  A word of caution that if you order fries, it comes with a literal MOUNTAIN of fries.  The supreme also comes with some onion rings.  The fries themselves were great!  Real crisp and not greasy at all, but if you can't tell from the picture, it's best to eat only some of it or split it with another person...unless you want to go into a french-fry induced food coma.

The other order was for a Bacon Blue Cheese Burger.  The protein chosen was ostrich and served on multi grain bread.  The side chosen was salad.  Also delicious but definitely a healthier and more sensible choice than mine!

All in all, Bareburger won't be the best burger you've had, but for a chain it's very solid and has healthy options.  They have multiple locations in the city, including in Astoria and Brooklyn.