La Sirene: Delicious French Food in an intimate, cozy setting!

Hi foodie followers and friends! I wanted to apologize for my hiatus from writing, as I have been overwhelmed with wedding planning and trying to eat healthy! I recently went to this amazing French restaurant that was romantic and quaint, but also jam packed with flavor. La Sirene (558 Broome St., New York, NY) is located on a quiet street in Hudson Square. The menu offers a wide variety of French delicacies and new ways of preparing traditional fare in a more modern flavor. 

La Sirene offers an extensive wine list, while also welcomes guests to BYOB (one bottle of wine per couple for a $10 corkage fee). You can enjoy your favorite wine alongside a very impressive meal! 

I went here with a group of people, and we all tried each others' dishes, which allowed me to taste many items on the menu :) 

Sautéed Baby Octopus with Garlic, Parsley, Olive Oil, Tomato, and Mushroom

The sautéed baby octopus appetizer sounded amazing on paper, and was even better in conception! It was served warm with a very good amount of octopus pieces that were cooked and seasoned perfectly. This dish had so many mushrooms in it, that perhaps for most people could be overboard, but I loved it! Since my fiancee, who is allergic to mushrooms was not there,  this was my opportune time to enjoy in a colossal amount of mushrooms. The sauce that this dish sat in was nice and light and full of the garlic flavor. I definitely soaked it all up at the end with bread. If I didn't have bread, I may have considered drinking it!

Roasted Escargots in the Shell with Butter and Garlic Sauce

The escargot was served in the shell on a plate with butter and garlic. I can't remember the last time I had escargot in the shell, versus served in the pool of garlic and butter sauce that is standard at most restaurants. I hate to say it, I kind of prefer it without the shells, but  I did not dislike this dish. I love sauce, dips, and garlic, so the other way is more to my liking! The rest of my friends at the table did prefer it served this way with the shell, and liked that the snail was not overly covered in garlic sauce and that you could taste the snail's flavor more. I guess everyone has their preference!

Mussels Creoles (Appetizer Portion)

The mussels served Creoles style were amazing! These mussels had the most unique flavor of any mussels I have had, and were packed with flavor. The sauce tasted like a dream and had all senses of sweet, spicy, savory, and creamy. The sausage pieces that were served with the mussels were an extremely welcome surprise and were very plentiful. The appetizer portion was very large and my friend could not finish it all! She had to ask for a lot of help from me, which I gladly gave :)

Seared Filet Mignon Topped with Foie Gras (Pate Style), Shallots, Port, and Red Wine Truffles Sauce 

The Seared Filet Mignon topped with Foie Gras was by far my favorite dish at the table, and luckily was mine :) The foie gras was extremely creamy and rich and probably one of the best foie gras that I have had! The combination of the foie gras with the steak and the red wine truffle sauce was so divine and heavenly! I had never seen this type of combination before on a menu, and it was exceptional. On top of the foie gras sat a piece of black truffle, which was a nice surprise to this dish and made this dish a home run in every category! The only negative I could mention is that it was a tad bit overcooked, and could have been served a little more pink in the center, but otherwise exceptional!

Frenched Rack of Lamb with White Wine Rosemary and Truffle au Jus

The rack of lamb was cooked perfectly and very tender. The meat was seasoned perfectly and served over a white wine rosemary truffle sauce, which was nice and light and perfect for dipping! The portion of this dish was very good, and perhaps a great one to share around the table!

Cassoulet Toulouse's Style (Signature of the House) 
Cannellini Beans, Carrots, Tomato, Garlic Duck Confit, Slab Bacon and Pork Sausage all braised with Noble Duck Fat, White Stock and Foie Gras Jus

I only had one bite of the cassoulet, but from what I could tell, it was hearty and full of flavor. I loved the crunchy top coating, which kind of reminded me of macaroni and cheese in texture. The bacon and pork sausage were a nice addition to this dish and added so much savory delciousness! This is definitely a man's kind of meal (on a cold winter night) because of the size and heaviness, but definitely delicious!

Rabbit Stew with Wild Mushrooms, White Wine, Carrots, and Herbs

The rabbit stew I didn't taste, but at least here is a preview of what it looks like! All I know is that everyone who tasted it enjoyed it.

Side of Four Vegetables for the Table  (accompanies every dish)

We received two long plates of vegetables for the table to share, that accompany every dish. The assortment on these platters was nice and also healthy. There was one vegetable I am unsure of what it was, but it was tasty. The other vegetables were squash, green beans, and pureed carrot. I appreciated how these were displayed, almost as if it was a vegetable tasting menu!

Dark Lava Chocolate Cake and Homemade Coconut Sherbet 

Dessert in a French restaurant cannot be missed since the French definitely know their pastries and their chocolate! I had to order the Dark Lava chocolate cake because that is always my favorite dessert on every menu! This one was one of the best I have ever had because of its richness, airiness, and also its decadent fudgey center! The coconut sherbet that was served alongside this added some freshness to the plate since the rest of the dessert was warm and rich! The whipped cream side was amazing and light and was definitely made in house!

The gooey inside of the Dark Lava Cake...MMMM!!!

Tartelette aux Fraises
Short crust, fine pastry cream, fresh strawberries, whipped cream

The Tartelette aux fraises was more refreshing and sweet, but not my favorite kind of dessert since I tend to lean towards chocolate desserts. The crust was crunchy and soft all at once, with flavorful cream and tart strawberries on top of it. I know that everyone enjoyed this one.

Choux Chantilly
Choux puff pastry stuffed with home light vanilla whipped cream and sugar

The Choux Chantilly was delicious and super creamy, but not my type of dessert either. In my opinion, this dessert needed some type of chocolate element to it. But according to Chantilly lovers, this one was is one of the best! So not to be missed, if this is your thing.

Big Profiteroles
Puff Pastry with Ice cream, chocolate syrup, and hazelnuts

The Big Profiteroles were huge! This dessert was definitely a sharable one and reminded me of an ice cream sundae, but on crack! The puff pastry "sliders" that surrounded the ice cream were nice and soft, and soaked up the chocolate syrup that was extremely rich and plentiful. The hazelnuts added a nice crunch and saltiness to the dessert, and all in all was a great combo of sweet, rich, and refreshing!
I definitely would love to return to La Sirene, and just found out that they are participating in NYC French Restaurant week, which is coming up in a week from July 13-July 19th. I know I was just there, but I may return sooner than later!

In case anyone is interested in checking out the NYC French Restaurant week, here is a link:
http://www.opentable.com/s/promolist?metroId=8&promoid=616&ref=10558

I will be back soon for more blogging now that most of the wedding stuff is out of the way and I can get back to work!

Marche du Sud: Their New Tapas Menu is a hit!

My fiancé and I stopped in at our favorite neighborhood happy hour spot, Marche du Sud (1136 First Ave. New York NY),  recently after not visiting for a month or two. We experienced a whole new happy hour experience and tapas menu. We were a little disappointed that the $1 oyster special is no longer available on weekdays anymore (it is still available on weekends), but loved the new tapas menu and also the new half price wine special for happy hour! We had always wondered why there was never a special price for wine during happy hour, so this was a pleasant surprise!

Ben and I love coming to Marche du Sud because it is convenient, pleasant, and always has exceptional service and food. It is almost like an addiction, because we want to go all the time!

New Tapas Menu

The new tapas menu is an amazing update to the menu, because we used to order pizza and an appetizer and leave it at that. We loved how there was much more of a selection of small plates on the new menu, so we could try more of a variety of items instead of sticking to our go to items.

Mini French Pizza 
Marinara sauce, black olives nicoise, fresh herbs, and gruyere cheese

The mini French pizza was delicious and crunchy with the thin crust pastry-like dough that Marche du Sud uses for their other pizzas. This version was more simplified for the tapas menu, but extremely delicious and gave into my craving for one of their pizzas without having to order the regular size pizza. The marinara sauce was light and went perfectly with the gruyere cheese. The fresh herbs on top added crunch and freshness to each bite!

Poelee de Poulpe 
Sauteed octopus with garlic, cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs

The Poelee de Poulpe, which was sautéed octopus, was our favorite dish! It was sautéed with garlic, cherry tomatoes, and fresh herbs and was extremely flavorful. Also, there were plenty of garlic slices in this dish that my fiancé and I appreciated since we love garlic. At least we both had bad breathe together?! The octopus was perfect in texture and slightly charred on the edges which made the meat very flavorful and mouth watering good.

Shishito Peppers
Sauteed Japanese Shishito peppers, topped with truffle sea salt

The Shishito peppers were very delicious! They weren't exactly the hottest shishito peppers, but that is all based on luck, so we will let it slide this time! They were topped with truffle sea salt which added a lot of truffle flavor to each bite. I wanted to lick the paper they were sitting on after we were done because of the rich truffle flavor.

Boulettes de Boeuf en Cassolette
Chef's spiced beef meatballs in a tomato sauce, in a clay dish

The Boulettes de Boeuf en Cassolette, which was beef meatballs in tomato sauce were very moist and tender and cooked perfectly. They sat in a clay dish with tons of tasty marinara sauce, which was the perfect dip for bread when we were done :) The meatballs were flavorful and seasoned so that they had a little bit of a spiciness to them. They were delicious!

Croquettes du Marche
Lardons, caramelized onions, french herbs, on a bed of chipotle mayo

The Croquettes du Marche was one of the two croquettes options on the tapas menu. We originally were going to order the Goat Cheese Croquettes, but based on the suggestion from the bartender we decided to order this version with pork, onions, and fresh herbs, served with chipotle mayo. They were quite delicious, but probably our least favorite of all the tapas we ordered. They were lightly fried and almost like a savory donut. The chipotle mayo was a great pairing to this because the creaminess of the mayo moistened the fried croquette while the chipotle made gave it a little bit of a kick. 

I already can't wait to go back and try some of the other items on the new menu paired with the half off wine! 

Boulud Sud : A Birthday Dinner to Remember!

We wanted to check out one of Daniel Boulud's restaurants for my boyfriend's birthday dinner, and Boulud Sud  (20 West 64th St.) was the perfect choice!

From the moment we arrived we were escorted directly to our seat, however the hostess did not give us the prix fix menu that we saw being offered online and we had to wait for the waiter to come over and check on us to receive it. 

The prix fix menu had decent options, however most of the table chose to order a la carte because we wanted the opportunity to order freely. 

The main menu was divided up in 3 sections, the sea, the garden, and the land, with each being divided into courses. I thought this way of displaying the menu was quite interesting and unique. In some ways it made it harder to order because you had to look at each area for the appetizers and entrees to see all the options. In other ways it made it easier because you could make sure you were ordering appetizers from each area. 

The bread that was placed on the table while we were analyzing the menu set the standard for the meal from the very beginning because it was perfection. It was extremely garlicky in a great way with seasoning and salt giving it that extra added flavor and bite.

As per usual, my boyfriend and I ordered an assortment of appetizers instead of a main course to make sure we could taste as many different things as we could! 

Octopus a la Plancha - Marcona Almonds, Arugula, Jerez Vinegar

We started with the octopus, which is one of our favorite dishes to order when offered at a restaurant. It was prepared in a very unique way, where it was over an almond puree with clementines, arugula, and crunchy almonds. The almond puree was the consistency of smooth hummus, which offset the crunchiness of the actual almonds in the dish. The clementines and vinegar gave the perfect level of acidity to the dish and made me want to lick the bowl! And of course the octopus itself was cooked perfectly and there was a lot of it!

Mediterranean Mezze - Spicy Moroccan Hummus, Herb Falafel, Babaganoush

Secondly, we were given the mezze platter, which consisted of spicy Moroccan hummus, falafel, and babaganoush. I actually could have gone without this platter, as it was more disappointing than enjoyable. The hummus and the babaganoush were too seasoned with spices and just tasted weird. It was almost as though they had used whole bottles of spices on this dish and it was just too much!  The falafel was flavored with mint and cilantro, which was a nice touch and a little more unique than most falafel that I have had, but still too seasoned!

Sea Urchin and Crab Tartine - Green Olive, Lemon, Seaweed Rye Bread

Next we have the sea urchin and crab tartine which was the appetizer that I was most looking forward to because it sounded so unique! The crab and sea urchin itself was amazing with lemony citrus seasoning, however it was on top of rye bread that got a little soggy if you didn't eat it immediately upon arrival to the table. We unfortunately waited to eat this appetizer third, and wished we had eaten it first to preserve the crunchiness of the bread. We each got 1 crunchy tartine, and 1 soggy tartine, but all in all still delicious!

Stokes Farm Heirloom Tomato Salad - Watermelon, burrata, arugula pesto

Next we had the Stokes Farm heirloom tomato salad that was burrata atop a pesto puree and surrounded by heirloom tomatoes, croutons, and arugula. This dish was supposed to include watermelon and when we were all done eating we realized they were missing, which was quite disappointing because the sweetness was missing from the dish. The burrata bled out like it should when pricking it with a fork and was just what we were hoping for! The pesto made a very nice addition to the creaminess of the burrata and the tomatoes added the acidity that was needed. All in all, it was burrata done right! I would definitely reorder this one.

Chilled Lobster Salad "Catalan" - Artichokes, chorizo, crispy bomba rice

Oddly, the chilled lobster salad was the worst dish at the table! Normally lobster dishes are my favorite. The description made it sound great on paper, but in reality it was missing all the flavor and the addition of the artichoke was weird. The dish also did not have nearly enough lobster as it probably should have, as it basically was non existent. The crunchy bomba rice that sat atop the dish was a nice touch and added some nice texture. Additionally, the chorizo was delicious, but we didn't order a lobster salad for the chorizo!

Hand-Cut Beef Tartare - Charred scallion, eggplant, choron, espuma

 Lastly, the hand-cut beef tartare was delicious. It was prepared in more of a puree type of consistency with charred scallions mixed in. I didn't taste the sauces on the plate that came with it, since it was not my appetizer, so I cannot speak for that, but the actual tartare was divine and had a beautiful presentation.

Charred Broccoli Rabe - Pepperoncini peppers, crispy shallots

On the side, we had charred broccoli rabe which was served with pepperoncini peppers and crispy shallots mixed in. Definitely a dish that screamed "Carlen" because of the addition of spicy from the peppers and the crispy texture of the shallots to a savory dish. This was definitely a perfect way to enjoy already delicious vegetables. They were prepared in an oil base and we all enjoyed them.

Olive Oil Crushed Potatoes with Garlic Chips

For the other side, we had olive oil crushed potatoes with garlic chips mixed in. We originally thought we were ordering garlic chips based on the description, but were somewhat surprised when we received more of a mashed potato. They were the perfect level of garlic with many other spices that seasoned it quite nicely. The potatoes had a nice texture since they were not truly pureed like traditional mashed potatoes are.

Grapefruit Givre - Sesame halva, rose loukoum, grapefruit sorbet

For dessert, we ordered this dessert that we kept seeing everyone in the restaurant order and figured this must be the one to order! The grapefruit givre had phenomal presentation with even better taste! A grapefruit was stuffed with grapefruit sorbet and then topped with sesame halva. I don't even like grapefruit and I loved this dessert! The sorbet was so fresh and tart and the addition of the sweet halva was amazing. The halva had a cotton candy consistency which was pretty unique and made it fun to eat!

Chocolate Mousse

Lastly, we had the chocolate mousse. This dessert was equally beautiful and was rich as rich can be. It was creamy and tasted like the most divine chocolate mousse you could ever have. For chocolate lovers, this is your dessert!
I would definitely come here again, and would not skip dessert even if I was full because it cannot be missed!