We’ve been here in NYC since Thursday and have pretty much stuck to our usual restaurants, like Thai Basil, DJ Reynolds, and Mitali. All three were excellent as always. But tonight we set out to try something different and ended up at Zerza Mediterrano on 6th St between 1st and 2nd Ave (a few doors down from Mitali, as a matter of fact). The menu looked interesting and it looked like a nice place, so in we went. We had no problem getting a table. In fact, for a while we were the only patrons. There were several tables taken when we left.
Zerza serves Mediterranean and Moroccan cuisine. Most dishes come with couscous. We started out with a Baby Greens and Fennel salad. We had wanted the Baby Arugula and Roasted Pear salad, but they were out. The Greens and Fennel salad was tasty, but not exactly inspiring. For entrees Sarah ordered the Vegetable tagine, which is a veggie stew, and I went with the Mrouzia Beef Short Ribs. It was a large portion of beef ribs without the bones in a delicious prune sauce (think sweet prunes). Both meals came with sides of couscous. I also ordered a Casa beer from Casablanca, Morocco. It was light and went well with the beef. Sarah’s tagine was good and not too filling. And as I mentioned, my beef was really tasty. I would gladly order it again. For dessert Sarah had fig ice cream and I had baklava with a shot of Bailey’s on ice. Perfect ending to a great meal.
As graduation at the U of I is this weekend, we decided to avoid the crowds in Champaign and head over to Terre Haute, IN to try Gerhardt’s Bierstube Restaurant on Lafayette Ave. We had tried to eat there once several years ago, but we were there on a Monday and Gerhardt’s is closed on Mondays. Today we finally made it back. We got there about 5:30PM and had our choice of tables. We chose a booth in one of the side rooms. Gerhardt’s atmosphere is obviously modeled after a typical German gastehaus, but you won’t forget for a second that you’re still in Terre Haute.
Gerhardt’s has a wide selection of both German and American cuisine. As we went there specifically for the German food, we stuck to classic German dishes. We started off with Kartoffelpuffer (potato pancake) appetizers, which were decent and not too filling. I had a Warsteiner dunkel (dark beer) and Sarah went with Diet Coke. She ordered Sauerbraten with Rot Kraut (red cabbage) and Spätzle while I opted for the Schweineschnitzel with Kartoffel Salat (potato salad) and Rot Kraut. Sarah’s sauerbraten was pretty tasty, although the beef itself was on the dry side. Her spätzle was a little bland (although they do offer it with gravy) and the rot kraut we both had was ok, but not nearly as good as the rotkohl at La Gourmandise. My schweineschnitzel was huge. It covered the entire dinner plate. It was very good, though. The potato salad was ok, but a bit heavy on the vinegar.
If you’re in Terre Haute, then Gerhardt’s would be a good choice for German cuisine. But if you’re in central Illinois, there are better choices; one being the aforementioned La Gourmandise in Urbana.
This afternoon we finally made it to Milo’s at their new location on Philo Rd. in Urbana, just south of Windsor. The last (and only) time we had eaten at Milo’s in the past was well before I started this blog. We’ve been meaning to try them again, but just haven’t made it until today. We got there at our usual early dinner time (around 5PM) and had no problem getting a table. It was busier when we left, but there were still tables available. The new place is very nice with pleasant views of the landscaping and ponds around the restaurant.
Sarah wasn’t particularly hungry tonight, so we thought we’d split a salad and then each order one of their signature pizzas. But then our waitress told us of the special of the day, which was halibut on a sweet corn sauce with mashed potatoes, a duck-based hash, and a dab of pesto. That sounded great, so no pizza for me. Sarah decided to skip the salad and just got an Upside-down Pizza with artichokes, olives, spinach, five cheeses, and chunky tomato sauce. It was that last ingredient that missed on the pizza. There were tomatoes, but really no sauce. It was what is known as a “white pizza” with no discernable tomato sauce. It was well prepared, but Sarah was disappointed with it. My halibut was just a tad on the dry side, but the sweet corn sauce and duck hash and mashed potatoes made that not too noticeable. My meal was otherwise delicious. I had a nice glass of Riesling with it.
There were a couple of ambiance/service misses tonight, though. First, the evening’s soundtrack was Motown oldies. I’ve always been of the opinion that restaurant music should be instrumental and entirely ignorable. If you choose a style of music like Motown or country or rock or easy listening or oldies, you are bound to have patrons who really don’t like the music, which detracts from the experience. There were at least two songs this evening which I cannot stand listening to. That may seem petty, but some music really grates on my nerves. Better to have something that fills the silence, yet remains forgettable.
And secondly, when I’ve finished a meal and the table has been cleared, I like to be able to pay and be gone in less than 10 minutes. Tonight we sat for nearly 20 minutes before we lost patience, retrieved the credit card, and cobbled together enough cash to cover the bill (minus a few dollars in the tip). As we left, we saw our waitress chatting pleasantly with new arrivals at another table. It wasn’t all that busy, but she seemed to have forgotten about us once the bill was delivered.