Restaurant Week Lunch

I was in a mood to splurge, so my friend Janet and I went for a leisurely lunch for Restaurant Week ('week' being a suggestion more than anything else, as it lasts practically a whole month). This is an event where dozens of restaurants in New York offer up a special menu at a special price. And although many of the menus are hit or miss (smaller portions, boring choices, etc), this is still an opportunity to visit a fancy pants place at a fraction of the cost. After some deliberation, we decided to make reservations for the Maze restaurant at the London Hotel.

The restaurant is located just off the main lobby of the hotel. Brightly lit with modern furniture, this was a comfortable (but rather touristy) room. We were presented with the special menu, which offered a nice selection of dishes for the 3 courses.

After a consultation with the waiter, I decided to get the beet salad to start and the risotto as my main.

The beet salad was beautifully presented, and accompanied by deep fried nuggets of sweetbread. The sweetness of the beet worked well against the fattiness of the sweetbread. A tiny, thin sliver of lemon on top of the beet added a much-welcomed acidity to the dish. A lovely start to the meal.

Close-up of the dish (the overhead shot ended up fuzzy).

The risotto was done well... not mindblowingly delicious, but a solid entrée. The grains of rice were cooked to a perfect al dente, but most of the mushrooms were of the unexciting variety (crimini?). The mushrooms sprinkled on top though were amazing; earthy and very flavorful.

Oops; took a tiny bite before I remembered to take a picture.  

Since there were only two dessert options, Janet and I decided to split them. They were interesting choices because they were so very different: one a standard chocolate dessert, and the other with a tropical flavor profile. Both were well constructed with distinct flavors; I will have to give the edge to the chocolate one, as all the flavors blended together better.

From left to right: Mango sorbet on a bed of crumbles, pineapple chip,
and coconut mousse filled with pineapple compote. The mousse
component confused me a bit; there was too much gelatin in it (probably
so it could be molded more easily) and so didn't feel 'mousse-y'
enough on my tongue.

Good chocolate tart. The ganache was quite soft, and the dollop
of caramel on top was a nice addition. I also liked the peanut butter
ice cream more than I anticipated. It added an interesting saltiness to
the dessert that helped elevate it from being just blandly sweet.

Since I've been on a budget lately, I really haven't been able to eat fancy meals very often. Today was a nice little splurge, and I'm glad to have gotten a chance to try a restaurant that I haven't been to before.