Passover Play-by-Play: Day 6

Hopefully, you read all about yesterday’s brunch, but it’s time to recap the rest of Day 6.  Dan is in town for a very short visit but managed to squeeze me in for dinner with Matt and Karina.  Since they were driving into the city from Queens, they said we could do dinner by my apartment to make life easier for me.  That would have been a great deal on any night, but it was especially nice not to travel last night because it started raining right around dinner time.

The problem with dinner in my neighborhood is that there is a plethora of Italian spots, a few Asian restaurants, and not much else.  Pizza, pasta, and pad thai are all anti-Passover, so I had to do a little thinking to come up with someplace that worked.  Then I remembered Dardanel, a Mediterranean seafood place that I’ve ordered from before.  The food was always good when I had it delivered and the restaurant is only two blocks away – more than enough rationale for me. 

We got a large shepherd’s salad for the table (chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, and feta), though I’ll admit, I ate the lion’s share.  The veggies were fresh and crunchy, just how I wanted to start the meal.  I was jealous watching Dan sop up the extra feta and salad liquid with his bread.  I’ve had the bread and know how good that would have been.  Sadness for me.  Dan ordered the manti, little lamb dumplings in yogurt sauce.  I’ve had the dish before and it’s not bad, but a little too heavy on the yogurt and seasonings.  I think if you go to Dardanel, the fish is the way to go.  I ordered the dorado and Matt got the branzino.   For the most part, the fish was fileted nicely, but I found a few bones in the middle - nothing I couldn’t work around.  The fish was char-grilled so there were some nice crusty bits with that good grill flavor.  I believe grilling fish adds some depth to the fish so I often gravitate toward it on a menu and in the case of Dardanel, it was a good move.

On my way out the restaurant, we noticed they have a nice little special going.  If you dine at the bar, you get a glass of wine and entrée for $19.  Considering my fish alone was $22, this is quite the deal.  Next time I’m craving Mediterranean, I’ll grab my book and sit at the bar instead of ordering in.  It’s definitely a neighborhood place with lots of parents and families.  It wouldn’t be a place to run across town to, but if you’re a Midtown East-er, I would definitely consider it a good dinner spot. 

Once again, it looks like fish has won out as the go-to Passover meal.  Just down to two more days and since I've made it through the decidedly more difficult weekend, I'm in the home stretch!