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2015-02-28
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A few days ago a friend of mine asked us out for a drink and suggested The Crafty Cow, as it is relatively near where we all live. I had never heard of it or seen it before then. While we had our drinks I perused the food menu and several things caught my eye. Now it's been a couple of days and we needed dinner out, so we decided to Crafty Cow it up. Moo yeah!There aren't a lot of veggie options at CC, but they do have an avocado and tomato salad (and two other salads, another one that's pricey
There aren't a lot of veggie options at CC, but they do have an avocado and tomato salad (and two other salads, another one that's pricey and one that's boring-- mixed greens). Personal preference here, but I'd have preferred more avocado, tomatoes that were in smaller chunks, and a removal of the tomato seeds. This didn't make the salad bad, I just thought there was room for improvement. Personally I also thought the tomatoes were a little overripe for a salad. Still, I thought it was pretty good-- C+ to B-
The calamari was the last dish we decided on, being the least interesting to us. It came with a wasabi dipping sauce that I didn't enjoy, but you should ignore that fact, because I simply can't handle wasabi, and it's no reflection on the quality of the sauce. The calamari themselves were impressively tender and salty in a perfect way. The breading was less crisp than usual-- as you can see it's more of a "meal" than a "crumb" breading-- but that's not a bad thing. You won't go wrong ordering this: B+
Pan-fried duck confit foie gras gyoza: normally I'm down on things like wagyu and foie gras and cat poo coffee beans and truffles and... hopefully you get the idea. Hong Kong's "trendy" version of shark's fin and bird's nest-- rare things, priced exhorbitantly, all the better for conspicuous consumption, animal torture, and environmental degradation. But c'mon-- gyoza?? duck confit??? Those things are awesome. And these gyoza are pretty good too. I thought the wrappers were a little limp and less crispy than desirec, but the filling (which did involve a fair amount of cabbage, not in a bad way) were quite flavorful. I have had better gyoza than this in HK, but it's a genuine rarity. Great, B+
The initial thing that attracted us to this place was the duck confit "poutine." I have already announced my love of duck confit. "Poutine" here occurs in scare quotes because genuine Quebecois poutine is cheese curds, frites, and gravy, whereas this is "cheese trio," spaetzle, and duck confit w/ gravy. I'm no stickler for authenticity and I've often remarked upon how I prefer the New Jersey version of poutine ("disco fries" http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=disco+fries) to the Quebec one. This version has a number of virtues: first, you might think spaetzle is unsuited to a role in poutine-like substances, but actually (a) if you hadn't told me this was not fries, I might never have noticed and (b) the spaetzle tends to not get as soggy as fried potatoes in the relevant circumstances. What's more, the gravy is quite good, and neither runny nor congealed. The cheese makes it slightly difficult to manage, as it pulls off in long strings, but, y'know, you lie in the bed you make. Final verdict: Great, B+.
Our favorite dish of the night was the bone marrow with sichuan peppercorns. In case you didn't know, bone marrow produces red blood cells, and also plays an integral role in the immune system. Also, it's tasty. This version is particularly tasty-- very "melt in your mouth and then proceed to numb your mouth." I can't describe it fittingly, but I recommend that you order it. Excellent, A.
I wasn't allowed to join the US Navy after college because I have flat feet. That may sound ridiculous, but I will say that at my tender young age, I have back problems. They're not super-serious, but sit me down for two hours in a stool with a back for ants (pictured), and I'm not comfortable at the end. Take that as you will.Final verdict: this place is great. Not excellent, but the pantheon is reserved for only a few. I didn't dislike anything, and the beer selection is rather nice (though do note that they seem to be out of 10-20% of their beers at any moment). We got several IPAs and a belgian beer, all of which were at least pretty good, some somewhat better. The servers are nice and helpful; the lighting is a bit dank. I probably would come back for drinks, but ah, I feel I've tried enough of the food, and won't be craving it. Recommendation for management: get some real chairs. Recommendation for patrons: get some bone marrow.
Other Info. :
I believe it was $852 for 5 dishes and 4 beers; 0 minute wait time on a Friday at 8pm.
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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