The Lower East Side just got even better
We recently attended a special tasting of the new restaurant, Delilah. Located in downtown Manhattan (155 Rivington), Delilah is a chic place to go eat when you’re looking to treat yourself. At first glance when walking in, Delilah looks elegant yet cozy. With communal tables around the restaurant and exposed brick walls, Delilah is both warm and inviting. And according to Delilah, “Each of the dining room’s tables lower after dark to transform the room seamlessly into a lounge as day turns into night.” The staff was also really helpful and nice. We have to give a special mention to our server Brittney, who was just an angel and helped us so much. She gave us her honest opinion on all the food and was very attentive and sweet. Brittney was definitely one of the reasons why we loved Delilah so much and I’m sure it is safe to say that everyone on the Delilah staff is as warm and friendly as Brittney was to us.
As soon as we walked in we were directed to the bar. The cocktails served on this night were crafted by mixologist Rael Petit. Petit took us through the drink menu and the inspirations behind each of their specialty cocktails. Something to note that was really interesting was that at the bar there were assortments of fresh herbs used to garnish the drinks. Some of our favorite drinks were The Ramones, the Lady Delilah, and the Rivington on Fire. The Ramones is a drink for those people who like sweet and sugary drinks. Made from a brown sugar cube, simple syrup, basil, lime, Bacardi, and bitters, this simple drink packed a lot of flavor. It wasn’t too sweet that after a few sips your teeth started to hurt, which was a huge plus. The brown sugar was very present in it and added a little kick at the end of the sip. The Lady Delilah was another delicious and sweet drink. Made up of Rhum jm, coconut milk, lime juice, bols yoghurt, cinnamon, and amaro, this is Delilah’s take on the classic pina colada. This drink isn’t as sweet as a traditional pina colada but it has a lot of familiar flavors. The coconut flavor really comes through in each sip but paired with the cinnamon gives it a great balance of sweet and spice. And with the lime juice infused into it cuts the sweetness of the drink which makes it a drink you can keep coming back to. The Rivington on Fire was one of our favorite drinks of the meal. Made up of vodka, st germain, pomegranate, lime juice, and agave thyme syrup, this drink was the best way to top off our meal (which we will get to in a little bit). It was sweet (clearly something we like) and you could barely taste the alcohol in it. It had the pomegranate taste come through and the drink in itself went down really smoothly.
Now we can get to the food. The very first thing we tried was the Harira soup which has couscous, chicken, chick peas, vegetables, and lentils. Our impression of this soup was that it was a spiced up, flavorful version of a minestrone soup. The lentils, couscous, and vegetables have it good texture, and this soup is something we could see ourselves ordering anytime we come in to Delilah.
We then tried the Kale Salad with pomegranates and shaved manchego “snow.” The pomegranate seeds have the salad good texture and sweetness which helped cut the acidic dressing on the salad. The manchego helped give the salad a savory feel which helped balance out the sweetness and acidity in the salad.
We sampled a few of their tapas and two of our favorites were the tender fresh octopus and the baby lamb chop. The octopus was made with finger potatoes, smoked paprika oil, and a small salad on the side. The octopus was seasoned well, had enough salt, and was very herbaceous. The salad was nicely seasoned and helped enhance the flavor of the octopus. The potatoes were nicely seasoned and flavorful which complimented the entire dish having the octopus be light and the potatoes be heavy and starchy.
The baby lamb was made with rosemary and sweet garlic and a salad on the side. The lamb has a nice crust on the outside and was very tender. The garlic and rosemary were a little too subtle, which would be our only complaint on the dish.
Overall, the food was delicious and we would definitely come back for more. The drinks were tasty and strong enough to make sure you have a good time at the restaurant. If you are every on the Lower East Side and looking for a good meal then you better check out Delilah.
