Resto

A lover of Belgian beers, frites, and hamburgers, I was very excited to try Resto, a Belglian "gastropub" in Gramercy. I had heard good things about their burger and so Justin and I arrived with high hopes and hungry bellies. The restaurant had a nice feel, with tin ceilings and wooden tables. We didn't have a reservation, so we were told there would be a 30-40 min wait and we headed to the bar. Their beer menu is quite extensive, which is why I was disappointed that there were no alcohol content or descriptions next to the beers, save for the categories: draft, christmas, abbey blond & trippels, abbey dubbles & brown ales, saisons, amber, white, red, pilsner, lambics, trappist, and "large format". They have a wine list as well, but at a place like this, I'll skip the wine. We each started with a Kwak($10) an amber ale on draft. I wanted to try them simply because of the hourglass it's served in, placed in a wooden handle.

Soon after receiving our beers (maybe 15 minutes) we were told that our table was ready. I love efficiency.
On to the appetizers. I had heard about the deviled eggs on pork toast ($8), so that was a must.

Pork toast must be the world's most wonderful invention, although I'm not sure I want to know what's in it. I thought this was delicious, although as Justin remarked, it could have used more of an edge. Either more spice or more acidity. Both the egg and the pork toast were salty and creamy. Maybe a dash of lemon juice would have brought perfection.
We also tried the appetizer special - a pulled pork sandwich with pickled carrots and tomatoes ($12).

This was good. The bread was a little greasy, but the meat was slightly sweet and the pickled vegetables made it vinegary and tangy. We only ate 1/2 of this because we wanted to save room for the mains.
Of course we had to split the burger ($13).

It was served with gryuere, red onion, sweet pickles, and frites. It was good, but for a burger that had some hype behind it, I wanted it to be great. And I wanted it to be served on a better bun. This one could have come from McDonalds. As Justin noted, the pickle improved the burger. It also tasted good when accompanied by a swig of our new beer, Chouffe Houblon ($10).

This was a dry and hoppy abbey tripple. We asked the waitress for something comparable to delirum tremens (a favorite of ours). I though the beer could have used a floral or sweet aftertaste, but Justin pointed that those flavors would have made it even more similar to delirium or leffe. All that said, it was a good pairing with the burger.
And back to the food. We also went out on a limb last night, splitting the beef cheek carbonade with mustard spiced carrots and frites($23) for our other main.

I wanted this to be incredible. It had been marinated overnight in all sorts of delicious liquids and spices, and the meat itself was incredibly soft, fatty and tender. However, it lacked in flavor and there was no real sauce to help with that. Such a disappointment, so Justin and I took most home in leftovers to try to do something with at a later time.
And then there were the frites. Accompanying both of our meals, the frites were unlike any I'd seen in a Belgian restaurant, because they were fat. Big fat, steak fries style frites, not the crispy and thin double fried variety I'm used to. And not what I want in a Belgian frite.

Overall, Resto was alright. It has a very nice atmosphere and some pretty adventurous items on the menu. I am keen to try other burger spots in my endless quest for the perfect burger, and I would probably go elsewhere for my Belgian fare. But, if I wanted a large selection of Belgian beers to go with my deviled eggs on pork toast, Resto would be the spot.

Resto is located at 111 East 29th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues
212-685-5585