THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY’RE MISSING

Last night I had dinner with a bunch of relatives at Glatt a la Carte in Boro Park. This place is touted as one of the premier eating establishments in the neighborhood. If so, I feel sorry for Boro Parkers (?), because they really don’t know what they’re missing when it comes to fine dining.

First the good news. The ambiance of the place is pretty good – spacious and modern – but the piped-in “chasuna” music was a little off-putting, even though it was relatively quiet. As for the food – the portions of everything were more than adequate. Some of the food was good – the ribs were a big hit (one portion was enough for all 7 of us!), the liver was deemed good, and everyone liked the fries – both regular and sweet potato.

Now the not-so-good. This family likes “bassar” (my son says that’s different from “meat”, but I don’t know how) so most of us ordered some variety of steak. No matter how we wanted it done, everyone’s food came medium rare. The quality was variable as well. My son said his rib steak was tasty and juicy, while his wife’s was tough and tasteless. My Romanian tenderloin tasted fine, but it was so tough that I could barely cut it, much less chew it (should it be called toughloin?). As for the vegetables, they were a disaster. Green beans were so overcooked that they were no longer green; the grilled veggies were so overcooked that they were a soggy mess; and the tomatoes in the salad must have been frozen and then thawed, because they were soft and mushy.

Of course I’m saving the desserts for last. Skip the pareve ice cream, it’s not worth the calories. The brownies were pretty good. But the “chocolate chip souffle” – a chocolate chip cake filled with warm chocolate sauce – was to die for. I should have skipped the meal and just had that.

(DW)