PrintCity Bakery's New Bad Economy Beer Menu
City Bakery
3 West 18th Street, New York NY 10011 (b/n 5th Ave and 6th Ave; map); 212-366-1414; thecitybakery.com
Service: A solitary barkeep who's been reasonably well-briefed
Setting: The lighting and layout make the space still feel like a bakery, not a lounge
Compare It To: Nothing I can think of
Must-Haves: Vanilla Custard, Pig in a Pretzel-Croissant Blanket
Grade: C+
The City Bakery's Maury Rubin is indisputably one of the city's great pastry chefs. His tarts, his cookies, and, yes, his hot chocolate, all make me very happy. On the other hand, the savory offerings at City Bakery have never reached the heights of his sweets.
City Bakery savory chef Ilene Rosen's focus on local, sustainably grown ingredients is laudable in theory but often falls short in execution. So when they announced they were extending City Bakery hours to 8 p.m., and serving what they are calling the New Bad Economy Beer Menu, I was intrigued. Could they make the transition from hot-chocolate mecca to lounge? The Serious Eaters, as always, were on the case.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the lighting, which still screamed bakery.
There are ten items on the menu, and we sampled them all.
Old Bay popcorn ($4) is great in theory, but more than a little soggy in reality, in all likelihood from too much local butter.
Deviled eggs ($4) had a touch of curry powder and paprika. They needed a little more sweetness to really taste like the deviled eggs I know and love.
The fried bread heels with pimento-horseradish cheese ($4) were way too tough.
Chips and dip ($4) on the day we were there consisted of fried cassava crackers and Japanese dip. As a vegan option the chips were mighty tasty if a little strange. They tasted like vegan pork rinds.
A bacon and chocolate sandwich ($5) featured Allan Benton's bacon. Sounds great, right? As a lover of Benton's bacon, I was surprised by just how smoky it was in this sandwich. The smokiness of the bacon overwhelmed the chocolate, which is saying something.
Deflation chicken bones ($10) turned out to be fried chicken backs with their necks attached. Not much meat on these bones, but anything well-fried, well-salted, and sufficiently crunchy is all right with me.
The Pig in a Pretzel-Croissant Blanket ($10) featured one of the City Bakery's pretzel croissants stuffed with a big, fat turkey sausage. With a little good mustard this would be a fine, fine sandwich.
A grilled Pawlet cheese and Benton's bacon sandwich ($10) was glazed with maple syrup. It would be a really good breakfast sandwich.
The meatloaf in the heritage turkey meatloaf sandwich ($10) was mealy, dry, and tasted like it was leftovers from lunch.
Beer-braised heritage pork ribs ($10), made in one of the four beers featured here, were mighty tasty comfort food. The could-have-been-more tender-ribs had plenty of pork flavor, and the braising liquid was mighty tasty.
One dessert is featured at the bar every night. The vanilla custard was sublime, ridiculously creamy, very vanilla-y and blessedly not too sweet. It reminded me of everything I love about the City Bakery.
I'm hoping the City Bakery's happy hour eats will improve once Rubin and company work out the kinks. Rubin and Rosen are simply too talented for me to believe otherwise.
Read more of Ed's reviews.
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8 Comments:
that is the most ridiculous menu I've seen in a while.
alktraz at 11:19PM on 12/09/08
The pig-in-a pretzel looks great. But what about the beer?! Hopefully he has matched his menu to his beer.
beersnob at 2:54AM on 12/10/08
$10 for fried chicken backs? That's good for someone in a bad economy, but I'm not sure it's the customer.
drosendorf at 7:47AM on 12/10/08
A comment about comments....If you haven't actually been there what's the point. I was, and it was the first night the bar was open. And because I'm not a food reviewer I just had one dish and one glass of beer. The ribs were great the beer selection although small was interesting and best of all tasted wonderful. Plus you can get a shot of dark beer and make your own black and tan. The bar area is small and lends itself to good conversation....which I had......Deviled Eggs? I didn't even know! I for one will go back for seconds. And if you leave a comment at least go once !!
stingem at 8:57AM on 12/10/08
My friends and I were there on Monday night as well (we even saw the Serious Eats team!), and we were pleasantly surprised by how much we enjoyed everything that we had. I would agree that the deviled eggs were somewhat flat in flavor, but the crunch of the radish was a great addition. The spiced and lightly candied (but not cloyingly sweet) pecans on the bar were addicting, and my four friend and I may have consumed two pretzel dogs while we were there, they were so good. Like a full-size (and much better) version of bar mitzvah pigs in blankets. The chicken backs and necks were pretty glorious as well with some lemon and Tabasco mayo. I'll definitely be back and recommend it to colleagues.
alainakunin at 10:24AM on 12/10/08
I don't agree that "Ilene Rosen's focus on local, sustainably grown ingredients is laudable in theory but often falls short in execution." I think the savory food at City Bakery is amazing . I've eaten there a lot and everything has always been really tasty and fresh. My only complaint with it is that it is a bit expensive.
justhungry at 10:34AM on 12/10/08
@justhungry..I'm with you on that. I adore everything about City Bakery. I think there lunchtime offerings make wonderful use of local fare. I eat there with some frequency and never tire of their menu. I am quite surprised by this review and just imagine they have a few kinks to work out before the evening menu is up to par.
izzy's mama at 2:18PM on 12/11/08
This bad economy menu looks as overpriced as everything else is at CB. A couple chicken wings for $10? A hot dog for $10??? Please.
I work down the street from CB and end up going more often than I would like since its close. With few menu exceptions (hot chocolate, tortilla soup, and a few other items) I feel cheated with food that is presented great for a buffet, but its never as good as you anticipate. After filling your paper-plate half-full and $15 later, you are left hungry. I also object to the high-prices coupled with the most flimsy plastic utensils you can imagine. The kind of forks that buckle under the slightest pressure.
Also, who says CB pastry chef is one of the best in the city? I wonder if he knows what a good chocolate chip cookie tastes like. The CB ones are oily (not buttery), and almost always tend to have baking powder pockets hidden in them. And the chocolate chips in them arent even all that good! And to wash it down -- bad coffee.
Sorry to rant, but man, hasn't anyone else noticed these glaringly huge holes in this cash-cow operation????
DudeLovesFood at 9:31PM on 01/10/09