So for my mother's birthday last week, I had the bright idea to take her to dinner...because who doesn't like to stuff their face on their birthday? Decided to take her to a place I had been to before and am quite fond of called Spur Tree waaaaaaaay down at almost the bottom of Manhattan.
Spur Tree! Sounds fancy....what kind of place is this?
Spur Tree is a Jamaican and Asian fusion restaurant. Classic Jamaican meals and drinks with a little bit of that Asian persuasion.
How the hell does Jamaican and Asian food even make sense together?
First, you need to open your mind. Second, it's not like you have some left over pork fried rice and just so happened to buy some curry goat and you eat everything off the same plate. It's NOTHING like that! Think more along the lines of a steamed jerk pork bun. Or Red Stripe beer battered shrimp tempura. Or a Dark and Stormy beverage that's sake based. Think more along those lines. I'll agree that it may not sound like something that makes sense, but it works! TRUST ME!
That actually doesn't sound bad. So what did you and everyone in your party end up getting?
For starters we had the Jerk Chicken Wings and the Shumai with shrimp, which were both excellent. The entrees ordered were Jerk Chicken, Seafood Roti, and Grilled Salmon with Jerk sauce and a side of Mac n Cheese. Note that all entrees came with a side salad. And we washed everything down with a Dark n Stormy, Lemon/Lime Sakitini, and a Ting a Ling.
Sounds like it was a feast to me...how was everything?
Starting with the drinks, the Dark n Stormy was just as I remembered it. Mild to heavy ginger taste and a smooth kick from the sake. I just had a little sip of the other drinks, but they were good as well. The appetizers were really good! Out of the 2 I think the Jerk Wings may have been my favorite but the Shumai is definitely a solid choice that won't disappoint. And for the entrees...the Grilled Salmon and Jerk Chicken were amazing, but the award for meal of the evening HAS to go to the Seafood Roti. It was prepared in a way that I haven't seen before.
So if you've had roti before you're use to the contents being inside the actual bread or wrap or whatever you wanna call it. Not this one. The roti bread was rolled up and cut in half (so it kinda looked like a wrap) and the seafood (curry salmon, scallops, and shrimp) came in a bowl where it was just soaking in juice. Separately each item was great, but when you manage to pry your face out of the bowl of seafood goodness, take the roti bread and dip it in the juice. OH! MY! LAWD! Had me ready to steal my mother's food! Didn't even make any sense how good that damn roti was!
Glad to hear that everything went well. Anything else I need to know...service? Atmosphere?
Service is usually pretty pleasant. As far as the atmosphere...I love it! It's very mellow and laid back. Dim lighting, decent music...good for a quick rendezvous or an intimate dinner date. One HUGE issue that I do have with this place though is the size. Its seems like every time I go to Spur Tree, their popularity is becoming greater and greater and attracting more and more people. With that being said, the size is extremely limited! If you can get there at a time that when there aren't a lot of people, you'll have a great experience. But if you get there during their peak hours, you and your party may be sitting shoulder to shoulder with the customers sitting next to you. Other then that, this place is golden!
Good to know!
Spur Tree
76 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
(212) 477 - 9977
I think I can
get use to this restaurant week stuff. Select menu, discounted items, 3
course meal...I'd be a fool to not take advantage. Next up on my
restaurant quest...Haru!
What the hell is Haru?
Simply
put...Haru is a Sushi restaurant. Not like one of those $8 dollar Bento
Box kind of places. It's waaaaaay more upscale. Kinda sorta like a Blue
Fin or maybe Sushi Samba.
Ugh!
Sushi! There's something about raw food (especially fish) that just
doesn't do it for me. So you was over there eating a bunch of raw sea
animals?
SMH!
I was not. Even though I am a Sushi fan the items I chose to order
weren't typical Sushi items...actually I didn't order Sushi at all. To
start I had the King Crab Dumplings. For an entree I had the Filet
Mignon. And for dessert I had the Cheesecake Tempura.
Doesn't sound like the typical Sushi order! With a place catered towards Sushi, how were the other non-Sushi items?
A! M! A! Z! I! N! G!
The crab dumplings weren't what I expected. I thought it would be more
of a jumbo lump kind of crab meat, but it was more of a paste. Either
way I wasn't disappointed. The...Filet...Mignon! COOKED TO PERFECTION! So tender! So flavorful! Just an extremely well cooked piece of steak. And last but CERTAINLY NOT
least...the cheesecake tempura. I'm not much of a dessert guy. It's not
that I don't like sweets but during the course of a dinner outing, by
the time it gets to dessert I'm full! Knowing this, I rarely get
dessert. But since it came with the whole Restaurant Week special I said
what the hell. THAT CHEESECAKE TEMPURA WAS SO DAMN GOOD!
Looks like the best part of your meal was dessert. Did the other courses not measure up?
The
appetizer and entree were amazing! Like I don't have one single
complaint about either. But I'm convinced that sweet baby Jesus
himself...came down from the Heavens...and crafted that Cheesecake
Tempura! It was without a doubt the best part of my already amazing
meal.
What was so good about this damn tempura?
Let me paint a picture....
You're at an amusement park, carnival, fair, bazaar, etc. After looking all day you finally find the funnel cake stand. OF COURSE
you get some funnel cake because you don't know when you'll ever have
some again. You take that first bite and find out that your funnel cake
has been filled with sweet, warm cheesecake. But not just any old box
cheesecake that can be purchased from some random corner store. This is
homemade, hand-crafted cheesecake! So now you're sitting there with
cheesecake, wrapped in funnel cake, and some syrup at the bottom of the
plate that does nothing but complement. That right there ladies and
gentlemen...is what made that Cheesecake Tempura so damn good!
I kind want a piece of that right now! Obviously, the food was good...how was the ambiance and service?
Very
clean, dim lighting, pleasant staff, mellow vibe. The type of place you
could go to for a romantic evening or an after work get together.
Nice. Recommendations?
GO HERE! Whether you're in the area or not, you NEED to try this place out! And that's all I got to say about that.
Haru Sushi
220 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10003
