Tonight commenced our Family Restaurant
Review Project and first on the menu was Social Eatz. According to New
York Magazine: Top Chef toque Angelo Sosa rebounds from the shuttering of
Xie Xie with this casual eatery focused on American comfort food with an Asian
twist.
The restaurant, located at 232 E. 52nd
Street, near 2nd Avenue, was not exactly what I expected when I arrived.
Less than 2 miles from our home, it seemed like a world-away, as we are never
in midtown Manhattan, especially on a Sunday evening. The restaurant probably
seats about 50 people and looked a bit like an airport lounge, so I wasn't so
sure as what to expect. There were about 20 guests dining and all seemed fairly
happy with their experience. So begins ours.....
We started
with appetizers:
CHOP-CHOP SALAD
with TANGERINE VINAIGRETTE
Bite-size
cut romaine, mixed with avocado and tomato, sugar snap peas and a six-minute
egg. Drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and the tangy juice of a tangerine
CRISPY SPRING
ROLLS
Chunks
of shrimp with ground chicken, diced jicama and shredded cabbage. And
mushrooms.. And scallions... And cilantro. With a duck sauce made from
calamansi, a citrusy Filipino fruit with a sweet and sour essence
SMOKED RIBS
Asian
soul food, St. Louis pork ribs marinated in mesquite-smoked tamarind, slow
cooked to perfection. Comes with a pineapple bbq sauce laced with gochujang, an
aged Korean pepper sauce.
HOT WINGS
Crispy
wings glazed in a sauce of tamarind, garlic, shallots, palm sugar and
togarashi, a Japanese spice blend of red chili, roasted orange peel and black
sesame
And
shared tapas-sized entrees:
KOREAN
BEEF TACO: Vintage skirt steak marinated in
sweet/savory sauce of
cane
sugar and gochujang.
Served
in warmed corn tortillas with spicy bean sprout kimchee
CRISPY
FRIES Straight cut local potatoes crisped golden
brown. A tasty sidekick to any burger.
CHICKEN CORN
& COCONUT TACO: Organic chicken, sweet corn,
tender coconut relish in lime, cumin, and chipotle. Topped with onion,avocado,
cilantro and jalapeno
We all seemed to find something that we
like, although Cyrus seemed the least happy with the choices. The salad was
okay, but lacked something. The dressing was bland and needed a dash of salt,
but the helped to give the salad a few bonus points and we never have eggs on
salads. The spring rolls were a hit with each of us, while the ribs and wings
had mixed reviews. The french fries were excellent. The portions were great for
sharing as we didn't overeat. We split some ginger beers (pomegranate and a
flower-flavored), which I found much too sweet. Everyone else seemed to really
enjoy the drinks. I should mention that Grady loved absolutely everything that
we ordered.
The tacos were okay,
although I've had much better and even made some that would put these to shame.
We each had a bite of each taco and it was plenty. Again, I should mention that
Grady absolutely loved everything.
We ranked the
experience as:
Dad: 6 out of 10
- Papi: 8 out of 10
Grady: 10 out of
10 - Cyrus: 1 out of 10
Total: 25/40 or
62%
Overall, it was a
mixed bag of tricks, full of highs and lows. Would we recommend it, probably
not, but Grady certainly would.
Social
Eatz: 232 E. 52nd Street, near 2nd Avenue 212.207.3339
