Today's review roundup includes: Landmarc, Spicy and Tasty, BLT Steak, Istanbul Seafood Restaurant, ChikaLicious, Masa and Bar Masa, Taboon.
NYTimes Restaurants Amanda Hesser gives Landmarc one star (179 West Broadway; 212-343-3883):
Landmarc's Chinese-restaurant-size menu reads like a studied survey of America's mainstream styles of cooking. Risotto and pastas mix with a section on mussels. Steaks are served with a choice of sauce. If you are in a bistro mood, there is foie gras terrine, and if you are hankering for American fare, there is a grilled pork chop with spinach and apples.
The best dishes percolate with detail. Fried calamari stings with a kick of pepper and is tempered by fried paper-thin slices of lemon. On a frisée salad, shrimp are sautéed and glazed with white wine. They mingle with sweet slices of artichoke and a sprinkling of capers. But the capers are fried, making them extra-salty and crisp, a smart textural element.
. . . With the huge menu, it is hard to do everything well, to keep every dish under control. Spaghetti Bolognese, with braised short ribs in a sweet rich sauce, would have been delicious had the spaghetti not been overcooked. A mushroom risotto suffered the opposite problem: the rice was grainy in the middle.
But two of Landmarc's elements made me feel kindly disposed to the place. One is the "No Substitutions" printed at the bottom of the menu. In other words: we aim to please but don't try ordering frisée aux lardons without the lardons! It may be a friendly neighborhood restaurant, but it has a backbone. The message reminds you that the whole point of eating out is to expand your horizons, to relax and choose trust over control.
Landmarc's other great virtue is its wine list, which could serve as a model for many others around New York. Included among a stimulating selection of mostly reasonably priced wines is a strong list of half bottles, just the thing for a weeknight, when you are out with friends in your favorite new neighborhood restaurant.
RECOMMENDED DISHES Sautéed shrimp and artichoke salad; salmon carpaccio; leeks vinaigrette; smoked tuna sandwich; egg and pepper sandwich; foie gras terrine; and endive salad.
