I tried these spots yesterday at lunch. Both will be Favorites. The first is on Brookhaven Dr behind Santiago's Bodega on Virginia. The second is in the old City Pub space on North Orange Ave.
Bark Haven - They opened around Thanksgiving. It combines dog grooming, dog park, ale house and restaurant. I know. Weird. Open plan. High ceilings. Black. Two large arced booths and a few regular tables inside. Maybe ten tables outside in front of the dog park. A bar in between with around a dozen seats on each side. TVs. Ceiling fans everywhere (on too high). You can bring your dog anywhere. I had the Big Rich for $17. It is a 1/2 lb burger with Mediterranean (not sure how) pimento cheese, onion rings, tomato, arugula or cress, sweet pickles on a brioche bun. It was excellent. The best I've had in a while. Much better than the one they sell at Papi's Burgers (a part owner). I asked for medium rare and it was closer to rare. Fine by me. They hand form it. Maybe hand grind it. Not smashed. Nice crust. I took off the veg and onion rings and ate them as sides. The veg were well seasoned and dressed in a vinaigrette. Fresh tomatoes. The onion rings (one small and one large) were crisp. Some of the best of those I've had in years. Not oily. Pickles seemed homemade. It came in a little cardboard tray with metal looking plastic silverware. The menu is small. Around ten apps and six pizzas and six mains. Only two of the pizzas have "Italian" cheese (burrata). The one I saw was plate sized and looked good. Mid-teens. Other mains are a brisket Cuban in pizza dough, a Lebanese burger, grilled shrimp, etc. All around/under twenty bucks. A steak frites was $24? I don't think any come with a side. They asked if I wanted to add fries. Apps were things like three types of wings and grilled Caesar wedge. Local beer, wine, martinis, cocktails. Most things have a Mediterranean influence. They had six female servers. In black unis. They add 20% automatically. The food seems to be cooked in a "food truck" in the parking lot. On site parking. Open 11am-9pm. 7D. Dogs don't make me uncomfortable. I think I was one in a past life. Their presence made me happy. The place was pretty packed before noon. I think you will enjoy it.
Talay - It means "sea" in Thai. It means we finally have some differentiation in this category. I tried the Gam Pu Tod (crispy crab claws) for $8 and Pad Pak Boong with chicken (water spinach in fermented bean sauce) for $17 to go. Both because they were things I had never had/seen. The crab claws (4) are covered in fried rice paper. They came with an orange colored plum sauce. They reminded me of a dim sum dish at HSF in Chinatown NY. They trim the claw/shell down and mush some crab meat mixture over it and bread it and deep fry it. So good. These claws were cut down closer to the stem and weren't as "bushy". They didn't have a ton of flavor on their own. And that flavor was mostly frozen claw meat tasting. But, it's a fun snack when dipped in the sauce. Crunchy. Not greasy. Decent crab would just make it better. The main dish was good. Pounded, white meat chicken. The sauce was thin. Like a black bean sauce with garlic. Hot because I asked for it that way. More chicken than Queen's Cup. Wok prepared (I'd assume). Came with basmati rice. The kernels seemed short (I'm seeing this more often). Sticky. But, maybe because I left it in the container until dinner. It came out in minutes! Scary quick. Packaging was first class. The menu is GREAT! If I lived nearby, I would eat here once a week. Three soups ($19-$27). Six starters ($7-$14). Four raws ($18-$34). Three salads ($15-$23). Three grilled ($16-MP). Eleven signature ($21-$59). Four curries ($22-$29). Nine classics ($17-$22). Three sweets ($9-$15). Some interesting items were: river prawns, cuttlefish, raw oysters, roti, hand pressed shrimp cakes, marinated picanha, green papaya salad, pork jowl, black mussels, red snapper, sea bass, omlette, soft shell crab, duck and scallops. As you can infer from the types of things and prices, this is not your usual Thai restaurant. I can't recall seeing its equal (amount of seafood dishes). Not even in Phuket. If they don't abuse or purchase poorly or over keep these ingredients, we may really have a sleeper here. The fact that only three other couples were dining at midday on a Saturday makes me worried. What if no one finds them? Will their freezer be working overtime? Will the menu shrink? They did a great job on the makeover. They didn't change the layout. It's a central bar with seats around it and a patio if you have never been. It looks like they just repainted and recovered. But, you couldn't tell if you hadn't been here before. A shade of off white. Some gold accents. Sandalwood. Darker stained wood above the bar. Subtle. Sophisticated. Some white cushioned areas. High ceiling. Seats 133. Twenty tables of four or two inside. Some bar seats. Maybe ten tables outside. Open 11am-10pm. They may close for an hour after 3pm. The internet says so, but, I think their door sign said no break. 7D. Parking is a bitch around here. No problem this day. Maybe four wait staff. White unis. Pleasant. Thai. Unsure if they have alcohol. Opened recently. I would make the effort. They seemed to have.
*The receipt had Noir on it as well. Maybe that is the same owner? I think that's a bar nearby. Beignets and Brew down the street doesn't seem close.
**Here are some flavor combos I stumbled upon out of boredom and chance: Bauducco toast ($1.69 at Winn Dixie) with hot sauce and cheddar (good), Iberia vanilla wafers (99c at Publix) with cheddar (good), Iberia vanilla wafers with cheddar and hot sauce (good), Iberia vanilla wafers dipped in red wine (not good), Iberia vanilla wafers dipped in plum sauce (average).
***I was told at Winn Dixie that they put the old (ever shrinking) baguettes on the top shelf by the bakery. I also looked at the sticker on them. It read $3.184 a lb for $1.99. I will be keeping an eye on that ratio even though I know they have been cheating us since Aldi took over. It's almost pi, so, I should remember.
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