Restaurant Reviews: Early February 2008

Brasserie 8 1/2 (9 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019 nr. Fifth Ave, (212)829-0812)

Jackson Diner (37-47 74th St., Jackson Heights, NY 11372 nr. 37th Rd., (718) 672-1232)

Poodam (44-19 Broadway, Queens, NY 11103, (718) 278-3010)

Some restaurants are just conducive to a glamorous entrance, but few do so efficiently as midtown's Brasserie 8 1/2, with its Hollywood spiralling staircase - a mile wide it seems - from the host station to the mid-level bar and lounge below. Another short set of steps takes you into the open and vast dining area, tables luxuriously spread wide apart in a room flanked with banquettes and crowned with towering floral arrangements. Bright, airy spaciousness without overhead glare made for a perfect lunch ambiance as Cafe Drake and gal pals Thordis and Susan treated ourselves to a luxe mid-week lunch recently. Good bread and butter and a very reasonable bottle of Sangiovese ($38 plus 20% discount for Restaurant Week 2008) started us off just right; even more engaging was the conversation and happy frivolity that appears when good friends join for mealtime. Thordis was resplendent in a turqouise plunging neckline and Susan channeled Rosalind Russell to a Tee with a beehive hat of her own design and creation (note: we may start selling these through Cafe Drake! - please). Starters were quite good if not stellar: bonus points for originality go to the Sea Trout Tartare with Lemon Vinegar and Horseradish Ice Cream (a symphony of textures and fishy/salty/sour/spicy/creamy flavor interplay. The Lobster Consomme had a gorgeous deep richness, though the lobster dumplings within were proclaimed "gummy" by Susan (we'll trust this excellent judge of all things culinary). Far better were the entrees - roasted skate with French lentils and pineapple, braised veal cheeks with roasted fennel and a lucious risotto chocked full of black truffles and rabbit ragu. Dessert didn't disappoint either, from a dense chocolate cake to a blood orange tart to a gingerbread bread pudding with roasted pineapple.

Far less grand but still indulgent, a perfect midweek lunch can also be had in the melting pot section of Jackson Heights, Queens at Jackson Diner, long heralded as one of NYC's most authentic Indian eateries. A mere $9 buys you a buffet line longer than a cruise ship (and much better than pleasure boat fare), with two or three dozen dishes divided almost equally between vegetarian and meat options. We love the Pakora Curry and fiery Lamb Vindaloo, but Cafe Drake gets truly excited by the "masala bar", where a deft-handed chef makes fresh lentil flour crepes before your eyes then fills them with stuffings of your choice (go for the minty potatoes, studded throughout with cashew bits and red chiles). Top THAT Norwegian Cruise Line!

Genuinely spicy food, the stuff of unrestrained heat non-diluted for Western palettes, is a birthright of Thai cuisine, yet most serve up the same sticky drek - overly sweet and limited to masamman curry and that dreadful Americanized slop known as pad thai noodles. Yuk. Poodam, on the far reaches of Queens' sprawling Astoria section, was a specific destination this week for Cafe Drake and Thordis and David Herbert. Prepared for heat, these unusual and unique dishes from the impverished northeast corner of Thailand blew even fire-eaters such as ourselves out of the lagoon. Hell to some, Heaven to others, a Seafood and Green Papaya Salad ($9.95) arrived tableside as a sculpted mountain of shredded veggies and fruit and all manner of sea creatures (in-shell mussels, shrimp, calamari); a quick glance belied the painful shock of the chile-laced dressing. Tongues ablaze we plowed through, forever quenched with an endless supply of Thai beers. Curried Clams ($12.95) were far less hot but delightfully tasty, tiny specimens cooked in a thick brown curry redolent of coconut and peanuts. Most exotic was a platter of Catfish Larb ($9), the fish shredded and pan-crisped and decked out with onions, chiles and deep-fried lime leaves.