A Turkish-Med delight – A review of Bistrouge
BY CAROLYN ONOFREY
Bistrouge
432 East 13th Street
East Village
212-677-2200/bistrouge.com
I was excited walking into Bistrouge. It was a cozy little hole in the wall complete with a bar, a small open kitchen, exposed brick walls, and red leather banquets. The crew, including the visible kitchen staff were young, no older than 30 years old. My boyfriend and I were promptly greeted by our friendly waitress who can only be described as cute. Everything down to her lovely accent (somewhere out of the Netherlands perhaps) was charming, sweet, and sincere. She presented us with our menus, simple parchment paper on clip boards and scurried around the corner to her waitress station out of sight.
“Tender” lamb skewers at Bistrorouge - Photo by Carolyn Onofrey
The menu was comprised of mostly Turkish and Mediterranean inspired fare including Turkish beer and wine. Although not overly inspiring, the menu items sounded simple and light and so I was eager to try the tender lamb skewers ($16).
Our drinks came first, cocktails of Maker’s Mark and Carpano Antica outfitted with chunks of Japanese cut ice (large, hand-cut ice cubes), which our waitress was quick to inform us was for a colder and less watered down drink. Strong, aromatic, and sweet, the Kentucky Sunrise 2.0 ($12) was a wonderful drink to sip on and had me wishing I was sitting under the hot Kentucky sun at the horse races. [Read more...]
