Tinasbeen

Ironbound restaurant reviews: Mompou, Brasilia Grill, Galicia Spain

Well, since I came down with a cold and won't be tasting anything for a while, maybe this is a good time to review some of my recent food adventures in the neighborhood. I'll start with last night's visit to Mompou, a "tapas-wine bar-lounge" at 77 Ferry Street: www.mompoutapas.com . I had noticed it on previous walks down Ferry because of its cool decor (one of the walls is made of cross-sections of logs), its noisy happy hour crowd, and the fact that it seemed newer and trendier than most places in the neighborhood (which can always potentially be good or bad.) Fortunately it was a good thing, especially given that we were out with a vegetarian friend - this is definitely the best place we've found in the Ironbound for non-carnivores.

We got there around 8, got a table right away, and ordered a couple of glasses of wine - the list had lots of selections by the glass, with most around $6-$9. We then ordered five tapas dishes to share between the three of us for dinner, which turned out to be plenty. The salad came with "mescaline" greens (hee hee), pine nuts and macadamia nuts, fresh raspberries, and grated cheese; "black and white" fettucine (the black one had squid ink, I believe) with shrimp, scallops, and clams in a creamy white truffle sauce, eggplant with fresh tomato sauce and cheese, piquillo peppers stuffed with cheese, and a vegetable terrine with toast rounds to spread it on. The terrine was a little bland, but otherwise everything was delicious, and was exactly enough food to leave us sated but still willing to walk down the street for a quick snack at the bakery. With the wine and tip, the bill for the three of us came to about $60 - a just a little too pricey to go to frequently, but certainly a good deal considering the quality.

But for those meat-eaters out there, the options abound. I'll start with a couple places on the pricier side - Brasilia Grill and Galicia Spain - then cover some of the cheaper places in another post.

Brasilia Grill (http://www.brasiliagrill.com/) is a huge, fairly new place at 99 Monroe St (just off of Ferry) with a bright neon sign that you can't miss. We went on a Saturday night and it was packed, but we got a booth right away - good luck, maybe?

Brasilia Grill is best know for its "rodizio" - Brazilian-style "continuous meat," as the menu put it. Waiters bring big skewers of roasted meat to your table and carve off pieces of it, which you take with your own set of tongs. I especially liked the sirloin with garlic and the skirt steak, but there were also skewers of sausages, roasted chicken, pork, lamb - and even chicken hearts, if you're into the organ meat thing. (Which I'm not.) There's also a big buffet in the middle of the room with dozens of hot and cold dishes (I liked the okra and plantains, didn't like the seafood salad - too slimy) - but be sure to save room for the meat!

Going on weekends is a little more expensive - about $25 per person for the rodizio and the buffet instead of about $20 on other nights - but has the added benefit of a live band wandering around playing samba music. The little girl at the next table had a great time getting down to "Happy Birthday" samba-style - very cute. Anyway, the total bill for the three of us, including a small pitcher of very tasty sangria and a tip (included in the bill) came to about $100. Again, too expensive for me and Bill to go to very often, but a fun night out!

For a much more low-key experience than either Mompou or Brasilia Grill, I'd recommend Galicia Spain at 72 Bruen St (which has the added benefit of being right down the street from us.) We went around 9 on a Tuesday, and were one of only two tables of people there, but the service and food were great anyway (always a good sign). We started with a couple of glasses of the house red (generously poured at $5.50 a glass), a salad of greens, manchego, and delicious spanish ham, cheese and crab stuffed piquillo peppers, and a few bowls of soup - Bill and my friend got the very tasty soup of the day with their entrees, which had white beans, greens, and a few other things. I got the garlic soup, which was a highlight of the dinner - light tomato broth with slices of roasted garlic and strands of lightly cooked egg white. If you like garlic (and I do), you will LOVE this soup.

We also ordered a couple of entrees - Bill got the short ribs, which were good but nothing too exciting (especially in a neighborhood filled with so much fantastic meat). My friend, however, got the pork elbow, which was amazing - four inches across, 8 inches long, full of bright pink salty smoked meat - plus two whole boiled potatoes and what looked like half a cabbage. It was very tasty but too much for any mortal to finish - she took most of it home to make soup. Altogether, the bill came to about $85 for the three of us, including the wine and the tip, and we had enough food left over for a couple more meals - not too bad.

Anyway, more on the local food later!

posted by Tina @ 1:56 PM