Hot Plates Restaurant Tastings January 25th

Elaine, Emily W., Melissa Z and yours truly all happened upon each other at the Hot Plates new restaurant tasting on the 25th. The tastes were generously portioned, but it was a definite case of quantity over quality! There was Good, Bad and Boring. Nothing life changing, but it was fun to get through 10 restaurants so quickly.

The sliders from Mark were good, but it is pretty hard to create a bad slider. My favorite were the lobster rolls from Luke's. Not life changing, but really tasty! The lobster was not overcooked, and anything drenched in that much garlic and butter is going to be delicious. Emily W.'s favorite was the octopus and potato stick from Corsino. She felt that the flavors and textures were more interesting than anything else there. Elaine and I liked the toasted tortillas topped with beans and pigs feet from Ofrenda, though the pig's feet were lacking.

The biggest loser of the night had to be the saffron pasta from Spina! Elaine has been to Spina and eaten that very dish and enjoyed it. Tonight the dish they served was a mushy, bland bowl of orange pasta. It was truly terrible. Another disaster was Artisan Cannolis. Their cannoli stuffing was not the delicate, subtle mascapone you would expect. It was thick and overly sweet frosting. The nuttella cannoli clearly was nothing but piped-in nutella. As much as I love nutella, I don't want to eat an entire cannoli full of it!

The others were just not really worth feeling one way or the other about. Bia Garden's hash was fine, just pretty unmemorable. A crostini is a crostini, perhapse not the best choice for Corsino to define itself. The beef rib from The Norry was too fatty for my taste and had okay flavor. The whipped cheesecake from Spot was fine, but lacked the lushious, richness that makes cheesecake so good. The pretzels were thick, over seasoned and though we are a bit ashamed to admit it, we ladies agreed that we would take an Auntie Anne's Pretzel over a gourmet Sigmund pretzel any day!

Bia Garden- Crispy Pork Belly, Daikon Hash, Pickled Vegetable

Verdict: Eh

Corsino- Crustini w/ goat cheese and honey, octopus and potato stick

Verdict: Crustini: Eh, Octopus: Emily Approved

Luke's Lobster- Shrimp, crab and lobster rolls

Verdict: Good

Mark- Fresh sliders w/ homemade sauce

Verdict: Good

The Norry At Kampuchea- Beef Rib

Verdict: Eh

Ofrenda- Toasted Tortilla w/ pinto beans, braised pig feet, rice and green tomatillo salsa

Verdict: Fine

Sigmund Pretzel Shop- Caraway Pretzel w/ horseradish sauce and Gruyere-smoked Paprika w/ mustard

Verdict: Wah, Wah, Wah

Sina- Saffron-in fused malloreddus, hand rolled and topped with bolognese

Verdict: Almost unforgivable

Spot- Whipped cheesecake with huckleberry, walnut and passion fruit foam

Verdict: Eh

Stuffed Artisan Cannolis- Chocolate Peanut Butter and Nutella

Verdict: Super Boo from Felicia (I love cannoli and took this affront personally)

At the end of the day, I have actually been back to two of these restaurants: Mark's and Luke's. Though Mark's dish was a lowly slider, you cannot beat their concept during this recession. They offer $2 sliders, $3 fries and $4 beer and wine. Their simple, cheap concept in the heart of the East Village is a winner. Perhaps not the most innovative, but just what the broke hoards of hungry and thirsty New Yorkers need right now!

The same goes for Luke's. Not as cheap, but still a slammin' deal for lobster and shrimp rolls compared to other places in the city. $9 for a good quality seafood roll works for me!

As always, we had fun tasting, judging and talking about our favorite subject: food.