Critic's Review
It's not clear why the longtime icon Himmarshee Bar and Grille needed to re-brand just to change their menu; their old menu changed regularly and they easily could have just morphed into a small plates concept without anyone noticing. But maybe that's the point; they wanted new fresh buzz, and to some extent they've gotten it. The shills on yelp are building fast; I find it somewhat ironic that Yelp's "filter" can't detect obvious fake reviews while they often filter the only credible ones.
It's still a bit too hot to sit outside during the day, but they had the umbrellas out so sitting in the shade didn't seem so bad. I never liked eating inside at Himmarshee; it was just a barren room and it was always empty at lunch time. The only differences outside are the plank high top tables and the new sign. The Himmarshee side bar is still next door and it's not clear what they intend to do; they're doing some sort of remodeling; but that wasn't of any interest today.
I'd seen their menu online, and the best things seemed to be the pizzas, but I wasn't having a pizza today. The only item I really wanted to try were the Grilled Korean Short Ribs, served with "sweet purple Kimchi".
They're giving away 1 free plate on their facebook page, so it wouldn't be too expensive. I decided on the Grilled Beef Tenderloin Skewers, which are billed as coming with marble potatoes and a red wine reduction.
I ordered a bottle of sparkling water and settled in with the NY Post mobile edition. It took a while for the food to come out. After dining a few times at M Bar, I was concerned that these "small" plates might be microscopic like Mancini's version; but when they came out I was pleased with the portions.
Korean ribs are flanken cut; that is they're cut across the bone. These were a bit skinnier than I expected and the rib bones had a fairly large diameter. There was really very little meat on each piece, and for the most part the meat was tough. The flavor was good, but I spent more time picking gristle out of my mouth than enjoying the ribs. The Kimchi was awful; I left most of it on the plate. It was billed as "sweet", but it just tasted like salty cabbage. I was pretty excited about trying this dish but I can't say it lived up to my hopes.
The Tenderloin skewers looked good, although I expected the "marble" potatoes to be multi-colored; these were marble sized but probably not much different then the baby dutch yellows I buy at Publix.
This dish would have been fine with proper seasoning, but there was none. The "red wine reduction" had no flavor at all; typically it's flavored with onions or shallots or butter and seasoned but this was just completely bland. I had to ask for salt; there are no condiments including salt or pepper on the tables; which made the dish more palatable. This could have been pretty good with a decent sauce.
With the Freebie, the bill came to $19 with tip. Initially my server recommended "2 or 3" small plates, and I can't say that I was close to being full after having 2. So this place is a pretty expensive lunch without a coupon; I would have been pretty unhappy if I'd paid almost $30 for this with no alcohol.
The menu has a lot of interesting items, but based on the execution of the Kimchi and the tenderloin sauce I have to view the kitchen here with suspicion. I could easily make a better sauce than this with scraps in my kitchen; which is never a good sign. I never thought that the Himmarshee Bar and Grille was very good; slapping a new sign on the restaurant doesn't make it any different than it was before.