 Urban comfort - New restaurant North is cozy and offers filling, familiar food
Brand-new North is located in the basement of
the historic Lenox Hotel. Reached by an attractive
separate entrance, it's snug, cozy and very urban
in feeling.
It's a kind of metropolitan oasis. There's a
big barroom as you come in, with the separate
dining room at the rear. Dark-red walls, formally
set tables and attractive art are its features.
The emphasis seems to be on comfort food. The
dinner menu has Southern Fried Chicken, Meatloaf
with Gravy (both $9.50) and two kinds of steak
-- that kind of thing. At lunch, the emphasis
is on hearty sandwiches. There's a Reuben (they
say it's "Buffalo's best"), a burger
(I've heard good things about this one, and it
goes for $6.25) or a "Buffalo Chicken Sandwich"
-- grilled chicken breast covered in spinach,
blue cheese and hot sauce, $6.50.
On a cold and windy night last week, the Companion
and I were seated in front of the fireplace. It
burned briskly if artificially, and the lighting
in the room was comfortable. The servers were
helpful, too, and we had a pleasant meal, starting
with two appetizers.
One of these appetizers was unusual -- and pretty
good. Breaded Mushroom and Eggplant slices ($6.25)
were heavily breaded and fried and served with
a couple of dipping sauces to make them less dry.
But the other appetizer was a disappointment.
The Crab Cakes ($6.25) were not only small, they
were also fried to death -- dark brown, not appetizing.
This time, even the sauce (Remoulade) couldn't
improve them.
As an entree, the 12-ounce Sirloin Steak ($13)
was good enough but lacked the texture and meatiness
to be great. Accompanying coleslaw and bread were
delicious.
And I really liked my Pan Fried Pork Chops ($9.50),
which were tender and juicy (much more so than
the pork I've been eating at restaurants hereabouts
lately, I might add). Maybe, I would guess, that's
because they were cooked up with peppers and onions.
The vegetables added moisture.
Most of the desserts are not made in-house, we
were told, so we settled for a huge and delicious
shared Hot Fudge Sundae. (I have the sneaking
suspicion that we were recognized, by the way.
We couldn't help but notice that our sundae was
three times the size as the one served at the
next table.)
If you're planning a visit, know that North serves
a different entree special every night. On Mondays
it's Spaghetti and "Ugly" Meatballs;
Tuesday means Liver and Onions; Wednesday is Baby
Back Ribs; and Thursday is Prime Rib.
And Friday, of course, is devoted to a Beer Battered
Fish Fry.
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