Going Dutch

My first “real” restaurant meal of the New Year (unless you count ordering in from the Chinese noodle place as a real restaurant meal) was a return to the once white-hot Soho spot, The Dutch.

The Dutch opened last April, and for a while it was deemed so hot that we didn’t even bother trying to go. Then one night we managed to snag a table, and it was good, but certainly not mind-blowing, though I think the friends we were with really liked it. Me – well, I have higher standards – at least that’s what I’m told - either that or I’m told just how annoying I am because of my, ummm, higher standards.

Fast forward to a few nights ago, and as far as I could tell, The Dutch is still a fairly hot spot. As a matter of fact, walking west on Prince St., practically every place I poked my head into was packed…but after all it was Wednesday, which I think is the new Thursday, which was the new…well, you get the picture. 

Anyway, I liked it just fine this time. No, nothing blew our foursome away, but some of the food was very good.  For starters, this “Steak Tartare” was one of the group’s faves, a 6 oz. burger-size of nicely-seasoned, hand minced beef. It was topped with a Caesar dressing and romaine leaves, flavors which go perfectly nicely, it turns out, with a mound of raw meat…

The beet, apple and horseradish salad was better than the usual beet salad, available, oh everywhere - probably because of the addition of a tasty smoked egg…

I was confused by the name of a dish called "Fried Chicken Chicken Wings;" I thought it was a typo, but it was simply chicken wings prepared in the style of fried chicken, which used to be on the menu, but isn’t any more. All that is fascinating, but I wish the wings had some more flavor, because they were sure crispy enough. They photograph well, though, so…

Unfortunately, the pasta dish that we ordered didn’t really hit the spot, bordering as it was on the too salty side of the question: “Is this pasta too salty?”

But my “Beef Rib Pot Roast,” which was braised in stout and served over a rutabaga puree, might’ve been the hit of the night.  A big hunk of moist and tender meat, it had picked up the flavor of the stout nicely and was made even more interesting by the hit of caraway in the gravy...

Desserts were a gift from the kitchen, and they were good…the “Devil’s Food Cake” was paired with White Russian Ice Cream…

And the “Holiday Sundae,” which was loaded with cranberry-pomegranate sorbet and cinnamon ice cream, was topped with a maple caramel sauce and cubes of toasty brioche…

So while The Dutch has taken lots of slams for not being everything it could be and though it’s opening buzz was perhaps a bit much (go ahead, search Eater and the rest of the boards to see what I mean), I thought that our meal was pretty tasty and the service just fine. And I'd say it's still worth a shot - if anything, you can say you finally went to The Dutch.