review: two urban licks

Two Urban Licks
date of visit: 8/29/08

kiwis:
taste: 3.5
ambience: 5
service: 3

For restaurant week, I went with 2 girlfriends to Two Urban Licks. We were immediately confused by the valet system, but once we got the entrance of the restaurant, we were wowed by the cavernous interior, dramatic lighting (big red lanterns of all different shapes), comfy pillows in the booths, and outdoor patio with amazing view of the skyline. What we were not wowed by was our service, as it took 15-20 minutes to finally get a drink order. At one point, a random guy came and took the rubberbands off our napkins...but he didn't say anything or even crack a smile at us. Very strange. Our waiter, while nice (he comped drinks & cupcakes, and did a great Christopher Walken impression), was very nonchalant about checking on us, which was very aggravating.

But...I guess the food made up for it! We did the $25 tasting menu. Our appetizers were all around good. I had a caesar salad that was reeeeeally spicy! Different but delicious. I really liked the spicy croutons. I also really liked Susan's cheese fritters. We all know how much I love melted cheese. Lauren got the rocket salad which was very pretty, and she liked it.

Then for main dishes, Lauren & Susan got the pork with mac n cheese:

I tasted a little bit of the pork and was surprised at how tender & juicy it was. Mmm.

I decided to be different and got the shrimp:

The flavors were really good, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly (and there were a lot of shrimp!) But I got frustrated trying to cut up all the veggies so I could eat them...and it took me so long to eat that the dish seemed to get saltier the longer it sat. Otherwise, good.

Then dessert:

Cupcakes! In addition to our chocolate chip cookies from the tasting menu. It was my "birthday." yeahhh...dessert was good but not as good as the other courses.

Me & Susan, full & happy after the meal:


Word to the wise: definitely, definitely make reservations. When we left around 9:30, the valet told us it was a 3 hour wait for dinner. eesh!

When I go back, I'd definitely order only appetizers (there were sooo many good ones I wanted to try on the menu). I'm such an appetizer type person, and I enjoyed the appetizers here more than anything else.