Northeast Social - it has a nice personality. The friendly service, styled and attractive waitstaff and warm exposed brick interior with a beautiful stamped tin ceiling were very welcoming. Our expectations were raised. Unfortunately, personality isn’t always enough. I ordered one of their 6 or so bottled beers called Brahma, which our server had trouble describing, eventually settling on “hoppy”. Brahma is the Rio de Janeiro equivalent of Premium. It was refreshing and delicious, but not difficult to describe. Admittedly, a minor criticism.
We were with a large group, so we ordered several of the appetizers including the Welsh Rarebit, Fried Okra and French Fries and Scallops. Our dining companions said the scallops were good, in the sense that they were not overcooked or gritty, but no raves for the flavors. I’d never had Welsh Rarebit, but understood it to be a sauce made with cheddar cheese, beer and a variety of spices that is served on toasted bread. Ours was that, and the sauce was silky and tasted pretty good, but it was drenching two crostini leaving us with cheese sauce and mushy bread. The basket of fried items paired nicely with my Brazilian Premo, but just about anything fried tastes good with a cold light beer in your hand.
I had trouble deciding on the entree. It was between the beef with chevre mashed potatoes and asparagus or the gnocchi with tomato, basil and ricotta. We debated the virtues of both, noting that absent nuking the beef, it would probably be good. Gnocchi, however, is always a gamble. It could be transcendent like the gnocchi we’ve had at 112, Lucia’s, Pazzaluna and Cafe Levain – light and heavenly that melts in your mouth, or it could be like the gnocchi you get from Trader Joe’s – potato gumballs. I took the risk. The tomato ricotta sauce that accompanied my gnocchi was light and flavorful, but the gnocchi were much more gumball than heavenly potato pillows.
Meredith ordered the beef carpaccio and an arugula salad for her entree. The arugula salad was summery, with english peas, red onion, bacon and mint and a very light vinaigrette. It was fresh and satisfying. The beef carpaccio was fattier than I would expect from carpaccio and was drowned in lemon juice, which thwarted the delicate flavor of raw beef. The birthday girl had the walleye, which was expertly cooked but drastically over seasoned. Again, the Brazilian premo came in handy. The fingerling potatoes that accompanied the walleye were nice. Crispy and creamy.
For dessert we had the tres leches and chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The chocolate cake was tall and moist with great chocolate flavor and the vanilla bean ice cream was perfect. For us, all tres leches will forever be compared to the holy grail served at 112. This one fell short. The cake was too dry and topped with untoasted coconut, an odd choice that didn’t add value. We’ll take ours swimming in sweet milks and adorned with a white chocolate milk bottle.
Overall NE Social was disappointing, but the staff was great and if we lived in the neighborhood, I could see the place becoming a frequent haunt for a late night Brazilian Premo and a snack.
A glimpse of the menu
You guys are great. I do enjoy reading about your culinary adventures!
(that was from me, Peter, by the way…)