Winter RW 2018 - Ortzi and Victor's Cafe

My Secret Santa from work gave me a lovely present last year - a lunch during Restaurant Week!  After looking at the list, and our schedules, we opted to try Jose Garces' new restaurant in the Times Square-area, Ortzi.  My SS and I both enjoyed eating at Garces' former restaurant in Chicago and I'm a big fan of Amada downtown, so I was greatly looking forward to our afternoon.

Of course we had a great time at Ortzi!  Oh, heck, I always have a great time with my Secret Santa.  Anyway.  Ortzi is a new-ish restaurant, and our server was also new-ish, so maybe there were a few hiccups, but I thought the food was delicious and the space had a very nice atmosphere.  Ortzi is inside the Luna Hotel, so it's on the small side, but it's also very cozy and friendly.  The menu is based on food from the Basque region in Spain, so it's not just traditional tapas, but other flavors and sauces are brought into the mix.

The appetizers are served tapas-style, so the whole table has to choose the RW menu, which wasn't a problem for us.  What was a bit of a problem was that one of the dishes was tuna.  Have I ever mentioned my complete and utter aversion to tuna?  When I travel abroad, I always make sure to know the region's word for tuna so I can avoid it at all costs.  So I did not want the tuna.  Nor did my SS.  The server got quite perplexed and had to go talk to the chef.  He came back and confirmed that we could indeed get two plates of the other appetizer, so...whew.  Why that confused our server, I don't know.  I later found out it was our server's third week on the job - that explained a lot.  Moving on.  The appetizer course was a very nice plate of serrano ham, manchego cheese and a garlic lavash.  I thought all three components were fresh, rich and delicious; my SS found the lavash a little wanting, but that's ok.  I just love serrano ham and manchego cheese together; it was a pretty filling appetizer-course, at least for me.

For my main course, I chose the pepito bocadillo, which was a sandwich with braised short ribs, roasted mushrooms, picked onions, and a la peral fondue sauce.  I'm not normally fond of blue cheese, but the la peral sauce was delicious and went well with everything else on the sandwich.  The sandwich was delightful - the braised short ribs were tender and fatty and SOOOOO good, and were just enhanced with the sharp onions and the earthy mushrooms and cheese sauce.  The sandwich came with shoestring fries, which are my favorite.  They were super-crispy and super-yummy.  The sandwich was also really filling, so I decided to eat only half and take the other half in a doggie bag, since I wanted to have room for dessert.

I loved the dessert, my SS didn't (in the interest of full disclosure) - it was a pastel vasco, which is a Basque-style custard tart, with apricot, olive oil, and pistachios.  I found it the perfect ending to the meal - not too sweet, but deliciously rich and satisfying.  It was also nice that our young server told us we could have coffee or tea, on the house, since I'm such a good customer of the Garces family of restaurants.  I tell you, Jose Garces knows how to do customer service.  I loved using the drink coupons for my birthday and I very much appreciated being able to get some tea with my dessert without having to make my SS pay more for my holiday gift.  For me, the meal was delightful and I'm so grateful to my generous co-worker for giving me exactly what I would want for Christmas - yummy food and time with him.

My other boss wanted to get into the act, so he and I went to Victor's Cafe, a Cuban restaurant a little uptown from Times Square.  So you're getting two RW reviews for the price of one!  :)

He and I were on the same page about trying restaurants we wouldn't ordinarily seek out, so since neither one of us eat Cuban food all that often, Victor's was an easy choice.  The restaurant is very pleasant - we sat in the back dining room, which is like a solarium, with flowers and skylights and pretty light fixtures.  And bamboo fans.  It was very nice.  Our server was sweet and brought us a serving of fried plantains and dipping sauce pretty quickly.  They were quite tasty - the fried plantains were crispy and salty and yummy and the dipping sauce was pretty earthy.  A nice nibble before getting our meals.

I got the croquetas corral as my appetizer - crispy smoked ham croquettes, with tomato-cachucha pepper sauce.  They were very tasty, very smoky and nicely crisp.  The serving was six croquetas, which were too many for me, so my dining companion was happy to be able to try them.  He got the ceviche, which I sampled; he and I agreed it was a little bland and needed way more acid.  Ah well.  I'm glad I got the croquetas.

I actually thought about getting the ceviche as my starter, but since I decided on the salmon as my main course, I opted to not have two courses of seafood.  On their menu, it's known as salmon carnaval - Atlantic salmon, with charred pineapple salsa, Cuban polenta, alongside rice and black beans.  I thought this dish was delicious!  The salmon was perfectly cooked and had really crispy skin, and the charred pineapple salsa was to die for!  The perfect bite of fish, salsa and polenta was SOOOO good together.  I tell you, I could probably eat a tennis shoe if it were served with charred pineapple salsa.  Delightful dish.  My dining companion didn't enjoy his beef dish as much, unfortunately.  I guess I just know how to order.

For dessert, I got the arroz con leche, or rice pudding.  I love rice pudding.  And this was excellent.  (my photo is horrible, though, sorry.  it's hard to get a good pic of a dish of rice pudding.)  Very rich and creamy and thick, with just a hint of spice.  Really really good.  Again, the portion was too much for me, so my dining companion was happy to try it.  He enjoyed it too, as he also enjoyed his flan.  Dessert was a hit for both of us.  Victor's Cafe was a very nice lunch spot and I might be tempted to go back and try some of their other menu items - I do adore a good Cuban sandwich - and their cocktails sounded amazing.  Since we had to come back to the office, I opted to skip the cocktail (darn it).  But all in all, it was a very nice RW lunch!  I am three for three!  Looking forward to trying some new places next week...