The Quarter is a restaurant on Hudson and 10th Streets, designed as a casual non-specific food establishment and watering hole. It recently expanded and with some warm weather, now has additional outdoor seating. The restaurant is hard to categorize and not easy to explain but nicely surprised us on a recent dinner for three.
Designed very much as a smaller plate restaurant in the evening, yet does have some big plates too, the restaurant has a Mediterranean flavor and is partly owned by Turkish partners. We started with a fun combination of plates that all stood up well. Fried Calamari ($12) with chorizo and hot peppers was an interesting take on the typical and the combination worked well; the smoky flavor of the sausage with the spiciness of the peppers, with good compliments to the fried gentle squid. Smoked Lamb Tacos ($9)with feta, pickled onions, and yoghurt was a “global” dish and were very savory and satisfying. We also had a French Onion Dip that included yogurt, charred onions, and harissa and was a modern take on the old classic which does not appear often. We also took advantage of their $1 oysters which were plump, clean tasting, and freshly shucked Long Island Blue Points.
Larger plates include a few choices. We split a very large, not over cooked pork chop ($27) that came topped with a fresh slaw. The chop was enough for two and then some and was moist and maybe a bit lean for my taste. We also had a Pan Seared Silver Hake ($24), adorned with many vegetables and well-cooked and moist. The side of Brussels sprouts in a cheese parmesan baked style was a good variation of the many themes of Brussels sprouts these days. There is a large selection of wine in addition to a sophisticated selection of beers, bottled and canned.
Desserts struggled a little. Our Apple Crumble ($7) was well constructed but was not heated through which would have helped a bit. The Peanut Butter Mouse ($8) was maybe for peanut butter aficionados more in that it did not have nuance about it but hit you hard with a rich peanut butter moose complimented with some dark chocolate. I may have liked more dark chocolate and little less peanut butter.
Again, hard to categorize but as a causal place to eat and is open for lunch, brunch and dinner till late The Quarter works well in surprising you with some well executed foods that are very drink conducive and in comfortable “Quarters.”
The Quarter 522 Hudson Street at 10th 212 691-3252 www.theQuarterNYC.comwww.theQuarterNYC.com
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