oh, talde, i really wanted to like you... but unfortunately, you didn't live up to my expectations. perhaps it was my own fault for having lofted expectations. i've never watched top chef, so i have no idea who dale talde even is. but the reviews, including some from people whose opinions i respect...i was underwhelmed.
many know that i've been a bit narrow-minded when it comes to traveling outside of manhattan in the past; however, i've changed my tune. how? i went to fette sau in williamsburg about a month ago with my pork-loving friends, and i thought, "DAMN, i am missing out on really yummy food by not traveling to brooklyn!" ummm, yes, it's that good.
back to talde... very easy to get to from manhattan - F train to 7th ave (in brooklyn), 2 blocks, and voila...you're there. and the restaurant has a great corner location with a fantastic bar. we went early, like 630PM early, and there was no wait for a table of 3 (FYI: when we left around 830PM, they told a 2-top that the wait was an hour). if i hadn't been
super hungover after a soju-filled korean dinner + karaoke the night before, i would've been all over cocktails at the bar pre-dinner.
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| talde menu |
after our server gave us our menus and confirmed that this was our first time at talde, she came back about four seconds later and was like, "are you ready to order???" ummm, no...i've barely had time to say hello to my friends - do you really think we've had time to seriously discuss the menu? at that point, we figured we should spend some time with the menu... it was a no-brainer that we'd order the pretzel pork & chive dumpling, but the rest of the apps took some deciding... we settled on shrimp toast, octopus a la plancha, and hawaiian bread buns (filipino sausage, crispy long island fluke, market vegetable - which was shiitake mushroom). and then we waited. and waited. and the server didn't come back. when she finally did return about 15 minutes later, i was so hungry that i decided it was time for a cocktail (hair of the dog, right?). i asked her if the 'king of siam' was sweet (i hate sweet drinks) and her response was "no, it's really well-balanced."
she lied. i took one sip of that king of siam and couldnt take another. and i am not one to leave a cocktail unfinished.
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| judy's cocktail: the navy grog - less sweet than mine |
onto the food...they tell you up front that everything is sorta family-style, and that things will just come out when they're ready... and i'm fine with that. i'm korean - i'm a firm believer in family-style. and i was super happy that the dumplings came out almost instantly. the appetizers were strong - dumplings, tasty (love the mustard sauce with it)... octopus, decent... shrimp toast, weird with the poached egg and gravy, but still good.. hawaiian bread buns, all good (i even liked the fried fluke, even though it reminded judy & viv of mcdonald's filet-o-fish...is that a bad thing? i think not.) the guy who served the food was really chatty, describing each dish in detail - but it was as though i was the only one at the table... he spoke only to me. odd.
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| pretzel pork & chive dumplings |
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| meaty innards of the dumpling |
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| shrimp toast |
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| shrimp toast smothered in the gravy |
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| hawaiian bread buns (shiitake, fluke, sausage) |
it took us a while to sort out entrees, but we went with the whole market fish (i can't remember what kind of fish), which i think we mostly chose because it's served with mu shu pancakes - yum, fish tacos!, singapore chili soft shell crab banh mi, char siu smoked pork spare ribs, tai pan butter bread (which our server described as white bread meets texas toast meets the most delicious garlic bread ever), and 369 (market vegetables).
at some point during the meal, i couldn't help myself, and i ordered the crispy oyster & bacon pad thai to go (uhhh...for the husband!). we had thought about getting it, but it didn't make the cut. the husband and i shared this at home, and it was pretty good - very smoky bacon, yet somehow the dish was light. and the fried oysters were delish (i ate them separately).
i might go back for apps & cocktails at the bar if i was in the neighborhood (but really, why would be i be in the neighborhood, unless i already had eating plans?), but this is definitely not a destination-worthy restaurant. one other thing of note - dale talde's already opening another restaurant called 'pork slope'. now that's clever.
369 7th avenue corner of 11th street
brooklyn, ny 11215
347/916.0031
reservations for parties of 6+
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