Another week in review

First some out of town places, then back to the home front:

Continental (Americana, Atlantic City Pier at Caesar's, $-$$, ++): I've always loved this place, American food with just enough fusion / spin /creative elements to set it clearly apart from even high-end diner food, with some other very straightforward dishes if you have a certain craving. Portions are pretty huge for some dishes (anything involving potatoes) and just right for others, presentation is well-executed, taste always comes first. The burgers and spin on comfort foods are always good, but unlike diners where you might be afraid to step up for a steak or seafood, that's exactly what you can feel comfortable doing here. You also get a sweet view of the ocean which during summer time is awesome, and you're right next door to buddakan, another amazing starr restaurant.

Longhorn Steakhouse (Steakhouses, Atlantic City, $$, -): I realize this is a well-established chain, but that's really not why I'm dinging it. Not only does the steak here comes up short when compared with places of the same caliber, but the sides and salads are also uninspiring and taste like they came straight from the box, with extra butter to try and hide that fact. See last review and then note, you could get almost the same quality food at a generic diner in terms of steak and you'd be paying less. Medium rare steak was solidly overcooked, although if you're running a place with this type of traffic it probably makes sense to play it safe all the time.

Sofia's Cucina (Italian, little italy, $$, ++): I've always had issues with the italian restaurants in hell's kitchen being somewhat touristy (medicore + overpriced), and i kind of assumed the same would be true of little italy, but this place was actually pretty good. The mushroom ravioli i had was probably a +, but the bruschetta / calamari were ++ and everyone else I was eating with insisted that their pasta was really good so despite my entree I'm giving this place a nod. This is italian comfort food but definitely prepared with attention to detail and presented with a small flair.

Riposo 46 (Winebars, hell's kitchen, $$, +): The wine selection here is eclectic but very solid, and the food (we had the flat bread) is also very solid, in the vein of a tapas place, not quite as much selection as some other places, but very well-executed using very fresh ingredients and no trickery in terms of over seasoning or buttering. Atmosphere / smallness makes this 100% a date place, spent 3 hours here with the food coming late at night and it was still pretty tasty.

Baba Louie's Organic Pizza (Pizza, Hudson [upstate NY], $, +): The health factor was evident here. The best part of the meal was actually the salad with figs and apricots and goat cheese. Everything was extremely fresh tasting, but the only issue is that when combined it tasted something like you make at home if you're not really a good cook, where the flavors are there but they don't really blend together. Overall thought it wasn't bad, just not memorable.

Hell's kitchen (Mexican, hell's kitchen, $$, ++): A more fusion approach to Mexican, vs. the more traditional tex-mex and or authentic places like Toloache, Dos Caminos. I've eaten here several times. It's like fine dining where you carefully cook and season everything and then randomly decide to throw some of what you make into tortillas or into shells. Both the appetizers and entrees are original and offer plenty of twists and surprises. Really good guacamole as well.

Pearl Oyster Bar (Seafood, west village, $$, ++): I was told after we came here that it wasn't oyster season, and I still thought this place was great, so I guess that says something. Raw oysters were decent, although I think my power of judgement are limited so until I get some more experience I wouldn't put a lot of weight into this. Salad was simple and well-executed, clam chowder was delicious, clam pasta and lobster roll were top notch (they give you the whole lobster tail as your sandwich), fried oyster roll was average. I would definitely come here again, especially during a month that has an "R" in it, since that's supposed to be the oyster quality litmus test.

Aureole (American, bryant park, $$$, +): I found this place to be a mixed bag, with more duds than hits, although the hits were pretty money. The bread, desserts, and chef's compliments soup (scallop and lime) were my favorites, which in general are not my favorite parts of the meal, but they were really well done in terms of combining divergent flavors, which is really what I think of when I think of high-end americana served in the formal dining setting. The pork belly and black sea bass were good, lobster tail was very average, and halibut, tomato terrine, soft shell crab were pretty uninspiring. There is a 15% discount here if you go before mid-september but I still wouldn't recommend it. Rumor has is there's a vodka, thyme, and ginger drink that's out of this world.

Quick reviews for before i was giving pluses:
Sugiyama, +++
Peter Luger's, ++

Word of the day: bait station