Rating: 💋 💋 💋
Following college, I was very excited to learn my older sister would be moving to New York City to start her new job. My oldest and longest-running roommate and I were back at it again, this time to take New York City by storm with our new apartment!
Except, between lease planning and work requirements, we ended up having the most insane moving schedule we could have possibly planned. Why choose the easy route when you can make life more challenging, am I right, ladies??? So we moved into our apartment on June 29 and we both started our jobs on July 1. I don't know who we thought we were. Maybe it seemed like starting everything new at once would be a good way to rip off the band-aid and dive right in.
We're elastic, we can handle it!
But there were horribly broken appliances and a broken sink that needed fixing and an MIA super to deal with.
Air-conditioning or fans? Nope! Ninety-degree city? Heck yeah!
Wifi? It was considering working for us, if we were nice.
Then there was the fact that we had no furniture.
Then we had furniture, but some of the building instructions were a little more convoluted, or just not present, than others.
You know, normal fun moving in things everyone has had to deal with. Paired with learning our new jobs in the professional world. Welcome to adulthood, baby!!
We handled it.
Finally, after three weeks, we had an apartment that was at least half-furnished and livable. We responded to this happy news as anyone would: popping open a bottle of champagne and making dinner reservations. Our restaurant for the occasion? Bowery Road, right by Union Square.
The restaurant had a lovely interior and everyone there was very friendly and accommodating, plus the drink list was so fun. It was hard to choose, but the waiter was really good about describing each cocktail I was considering in order to help my decision. Great customer service all around!
I went with the banana daiquiri. I have to say, if you don't like sweet, this is not the drink for you. It looked pretty, I'm a fan of rum so I try to find cocktails with that base, and it was exciting to have my first ever non-frozen daiquiri. It was good for a single drink though, not one you order again and again. When we decided to do another round, I had to switch drinks because you cannot just drink banana syrup all night. Or maybe you can, but I cannot.
So for my second drink, I strayed from the rum and ordered the Secrets in the Spring cocktail. I was seduced by the elegant title and promises of lovely chamomile and spiced maple. I was betrayed by the bourbon. So if you're a bourbon fan, great choice. I struggled. Still, the other flavors were a lovely complement and I would definitely recommend if it is something that sounds good to you. If you are not sure about bourbon though and think you will live on the edge and go for it, I don't know. It could be a risky move...
Shannon - my sister- really liked her cocktail though, so if you do like bourbon and fresh drinks, the Kentucky Buck with strawberry, lemon, ginger beer, and mint is the one for you!
And then we received our orders. Shannon's cheeseburger and fries looked divine, juicy and crisp and perfect for a girl famished from long days of wacking ill-fitting boards together to make a sad nightstand. Next time, that will be my order. Get the cheeseburger, you guys. It's a solid choice.
I ordered Roasted Salmon because I am in love with salmon and was treating myself. The salmon was not dry, although I might have preferred it a bit juicier. The black barley was a fun change of pace, the lemon-saffron butter provided a fantastic tang, and I am crazy about chorizo, with no disappointment this time around.
More betrayal though, and this time on the part of the restaurant for keeping ingredients secret! What is that pile you see obscuring my fish? The menu did not say anything about fennel, and I certainly did not need a heaping mound of it. It was too bitter and took away from the rest of the dish. A grievous injury to my palate, and my heart.
It was quite disappointing, because everything else set it up for success. It pained me actually to report tepid reviews when my parents asked how our meal was. They were so excited my sister and I had a special night out, and I wanted to meet them with five-star ratings, but I could not. Why couldn't the menu just be upfront with me? If I had known, I might have enjoyed the cacio e pepe instead, knowing to opt out of the fennel dish thanks to the menu's advance warning, and this review might have glowed.
I really wanted to like Bowery Road too, because I love the farm-fresh concept and I so wanted my first post-grad dinner in the city to be a smash-success. Alas, it was only three stars. Pretty good, but not quite everything you would hope for. I could go to Bowery Road again, but if I never do, that's fine too. Time will tell.
The moral of the story is, the drink dissatisfaction was my fault, but the meal issues were on them. Don't be sneaky with your menus!! I want to be punched in the face with your flavor, but tell me what your flavor is! A wishy-washy review is just no fun.
Fortunately, I have faith that many positive dining experiences are to come.
Until next time
XX,
MK
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