3.5,  american,  celebrity chef,  east village,  french,  meat sweats,  restaurant reviews

DBGB – French/American – East Village

When my friend Kim saw a four-person dinner at DBGB pop up on GiltCity for $150, the first thing she thought was, “SUNDAE!!” And the second thing she thought was, “Can I eat four sundaes by myself?” And the third thing she thought was, “Guess I have to invite Katie.”

I’d had a very so-so experience the first time around at DBGB, but my subsequent tasting menu at Chef Boulud’s flagship restaurant, Daniel, was so outstanding it changed the way I rate all other restaurants; naturally, I was interested in a second try at DBGB. So Dr. Boyfriend and I met Kim and her friend Kelly on Friday night to share what we’d read wouldn’t be enough food but turned out to be so much we couldn’t finish it all. Nor did we want to, in the case of the final course, but more on that later.

DBGB NYC

DBGB NYC
petit plateau de fruits de mer

Shrimp, mussels, clams, oysters, snails, tuna tartare and a whole crab claw. All things I was completely terrified by a mere couple of years ago. And it’s not that I exactly salivate over any of them now, like my boyfriend does, but I was perfectly willing to try everything on this platter. Luckily, the fact that there were only two of some of the items meant that I only had to try a few.

The mussels were perfectly cleaned, which is a major issue for me, because eww, please don’t try to feed me sand and stomach leftovers if I’m already going out on a limb by eating seafood at all. The fact that they were covered in a cool, creamy sauce with herbs didn’t hurt anything, either. The tuna tartare was well-appointed with fresh herbs, and the crab claw looked so fresh I didn’t even bother dressing it with lemon. Wait, no, that was because the server took the lemon away before I could dress the crab. Anyway.

I tried one of the larger and one of the smaller oysters, but Dr. Boyfriend and Kim handled the apparently veeeery-oceany-tasting clams and the giant snails, a process which began with excited faces,

DBGB NYC

quickly switched to determined faces when the snails refused to let go of their shells,

DBGB NYC

and ended with whatever you call this face once they actually tasted the things:

DBGB NYC

I’m still not entirely swearing off trying snails drenched in butter sometime in my life, but I’m a little less sure after this.

DBGB NYC
Iceberg & Blue: tomato, walnut, bacon bits, herbs

Very classic, and an excellent palate-cleanser. The iceberg wedge is one of the only salads I actually enjoy, because:

a) it has bacon,
b) it has cheese, and
c) iceberg lettuce is basically water.

I like to think of it as a vehicle for moving fatty things to my mouth.

DBGB NYC
Beaujolaise: pork, mushrooms, onion, bacon, and red wine link, lentils du puy

I think we all agreed that though this was a rich, hearty sausage, the lentils were really the star. Which is good, since we ordered lentils, glazed carrots (undercooked for my taste and not nearly sugary enough), and ham and crayfish gumbo (flavorful but too thin) as our sides without anyone telling us we were already getting lentils.

DBGB NYC
Allemande: veal bratwurst, beer-braised sauerkraut

This one was too sweet for me. When I see beer-braised, I want the lingering stench of Guinness on my breath for days; I think this might have been soaked in O’Doul’s.

DBGB NYC
Coreanne: Korean-style pork sausage, cucumber-bok choy pickle, spicy kim chee coulis, shrimp chips

This was the most complete of the sausage plates in that there was a lot going on but that the theme was so evident. I loved the homogenous texture of the sausage, more like bologna than ground meat, and the crunchy pickle that was such a divergence from the cooked-until-mushy accompaniments on the other plates.

DBGB NYC
Espagnole: fresh chorizo sausage with piperade, basil oil

Easily my favourite, just because it had the most flavor. I was in need of some spice, and I might have liked the peppers more than the sausage itself because of that.

DBGB NYC
Boudin Basque: spicy blood and pigs head sausage, scallion mashed potatoes

I’ve always been scared of but interested in blood sausage, and after having tried it, I can’t believe I ever even considered it exotic. The texture was crumbly and dry, the taste earthy and rich. It was like eating fake meat, or textured vegetable protein, which I did for four years as a vegetarian. I wouldn’t say I liked or disliked it; it was boring enough that I was just sort of neutral about it. And that’s the last thing I ever thought I’d say about sausage made of blood.

DBGB NYC
Caramel-Pear: ginger marshmallow, roasted pears, shortbread cookie, brandy caramel sauce, whipped cream

DBGB NYC
Cherry-Chocolate: vanilla marshmallow, brownies, chocolate fudge, kriek-braised cherries, whipped cream

DBGB NYC
Blueberry-Mint: candied brioche, olive oil cake, blueberry compote, toasted almonds, whipped cream

We were there for the sundaes, and once again, they were so good they’d make me come back to DBGB again despite the otherwise just-okay food. I went for the blueberry-mint after my first wonderful mint-chocolate experience and again found the mint flavor so fresh and herbaceous. Dr. Boyfriend and Kim said it was like eating ice cream salad, but I loved the savoriness of the mint coupled with the olive oil cake. The candied brioche added crunch and sugar to the very natural-tasting berries.

I would’ve been equally happy with either of the other sundaes, though. Kim and my boyfriend both got the caramel-pear, which had the most flavorful marshmallows and pears that tasted like they’d just come out of a pie, while I almost got drunk on Kelly’s beer-soaked cherries. These were adult sundaes.

DBGB NYC
Grand Marnier soufflé, creme anglaise

I had another soufflé this bad once. The server asked us how we were enjoying it, and I said we weren’t, and he brought us another dessert. This time, the server was basically absent for all of our meal, so we just left it sitting.

I was the first to poke my spoon into it to make a hole for the creme anglaise, and I described the bite as “exactly on the edge of egginess”. Well, of course, the farther we got down into the soufflé, the eggier it became, so once everyone had a bite, the rest was inedible. It was the very opposite of the Grand Marnier soufflé we had at The Mark by Jean-Georges. Egg when you want cake is disconcerting.

Rating One StarOne StarOne StarOne-Half StarBlank Star

As with my last visit, this was a mixed bag. The sausages–which are of course supposed to be the focus of the restaurant–are good, but none of them had me mmming in disbelief like so many of the dishes at Daniel did, and for $13 to $15 per sausage, I should’ve been. The place is borderline hip (what we could hear of the soundtrack was all indie rock), but the noise level is obtrusive, and the service suffers because the servers can’t interact with diners. Not that they’d want to, apparently: our server seemed like the classic NYC wannabe-actor who’s annoyed by customers, and the waiter at the door who looked like a greeter was actually just waiting for us to move so he could leave. Luckily, the sundaes were incredible at $9, and I can see myself popping in just for dessert some night if I’m in the Bowery.

DBGB
299 Bowery
New York, NY 10003 (map)

12 Comments

    • donuts4dinner

      Right? I totally did it because I thought it would make me cool. And I got a lot of attention for it, so I guess it did. And also everyone loved me because I always gave them the pepperoni off of my pizza. That’s what separates a mediocre friend from an awesome one.

      How about a little blood sausage sundae for the lady?

  • Kim

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shortbread

    I still can’t believe none of you knew anything about the wonderful history of shortbread. Good thing I was there.

    Also, HA I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THAT NON-GREETER. I was totally like, “Hi! … Oh …”

    I don’t think I caught on as to how adult our sundaes were, and now I’m thinking I really was drunk off Kelly’s cherries (ummmm …) because I remember marveling at how surprisingly tipsy I felt off my unabashedly caramel-streaked beer later that night.

    I definitely did not catch on to that one sausage being veal, because now I’m having a crisis of guilt.

    Your photos are lovely. Even in poor lighting, and even with the gigantic watermark!

    • donuts4dinner

      I still don’t believe you, but I do want some shortbread.

      I’m glad you said hi to the greeter, too! Although that means that by the time he got to me, he should’ve felt guilty about you and said hi to me for sure.

      Baby cows LOVE to be eaten, and yes, Kelly’s cherries is a terrible euphemism.

      Thank you, and is it bad that I actually LIKE the watermark on some of these? Like, I think it actually adds to the picture. I know that’s gross.

  • Dishy

    “This one was too sweet for me. When I see beer-braised, I want the lingering stench of Guinness on my breath for days; I think this might have been soaked in O’Doul’s. ”

    HAHHAHAHAHHHH!!

    Sorry.

    Your sundae looks and sounds amazing – they all do, really – but I have a *thing* for mint. Just not growing in my garden, dammit.

    • donuts4dinner

      Glad you got that. I just found out today that Guinness actually makes a non-alcoholic beer, though. Funny.

      I have a *thing* for mint, as well. We should really get together and have a four-course mint fest.

  • Heesa Phadie

    Sausage & Sundaes!!!! Count me in. This is definitely a place I need to frequent. I would have a whole Sundae Tasting Menu.

    • donuts4dinner

      Yeah, why aren’t there more nice restaurants just offering ridiculously gluttonous meals for the people who can handle them? Forget a salad course and a soup and all that. Give me three courses of sundaes. One of them can even be savory if it has to.

    • donuts4dinner

      Nice! Can’t wait to see your pictures. Meanwhile, I’ll be busy trying to convince my boyfriend that I ALSO need a pint of Haagen-Dazs after our tasting menu Saturday night.

  • Mrs. Bachelor Girl

    I’m so jealous that you can have dinner with Kim, like, ANY TIME YOU WANT.

    Also, despite being from Louisiana (where one is expected to love such things), I hate boudin.

    They’re probably going to kick me out now.

    P.S. It makes me giggle when people say “crayfish.”