The food at the “modest and wondrous strange” Takashi “is probably not for everyone,” Sam Sifton concedes. But “its eccentricity is honest, its atmosphere winning and its food quite good.” [NYT]
Hecho en Dumbo “is a full-fledged hot spot,” says Jay Cheshes. The restaurant has “killer drinks, an ear-splitting soundtrack and very good food.” [TONY]
Related: First Look: Hecho en Dumbo on the Bowery
Tamarind Tribeca “might not please those with rigid notions of Indian cooking, or who think they know it from spending a week’s vacation in a nation of 1.4 billion people,” Steve Cuozzo writes. “But for the rest of us, it’s the year’s first bona-fide, exotic thrill on a grand scale.” [NYP]
The hamburger at Savoy “deserves a place in New York’s burger pantheon,” declares Ed Levine, who deems it “one of New York’s top three or five burgers.” [Serious Eats NY]
The food at Ted’s Montana Grill “was so unappealing I dismissed the place as yet another inconsequential chain restaurant,” says Alan Richman. On a second visit, “the meal was considerably better, which didn’t make it good.” [Forked & Corked/GQ]
Cienfuegos is “ever so-slightly theme-parkesque,” says Ryan Sutton. It’s “sometimes a New York riff on Cuba or Cartagena, sometimes New York imitating a Vegas hotel imitating Cuba or Cartagena, except with better beverages at tri-state prices.” [Bloomberg]
Earlier: Inside Cienfuegos
Robert Sietsema finds “a certain elegance” at Sheepshead Bay Turkish restaurant Halikarnas, while neighboring Marmaris is “nothing short of spectacular,” where the “onion-laced adana kebabs are great, smoky from the grill and long enough to be used as fencing swords.” [VV]
Gael Greene visits Bar Artisanal, where “the paella alone is definitely worth [the] trek downtown.” [Insatiable Critic]
Related: What to Eat at the Newly Spanish Bar Artisanal