Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup

This week Frank Bruni at the Times reviews Double Crown, the new bi-level restaurant and bar in the East Village that, in his words, "ponders the glories of culinary cross-pollination, making a promise of 'British-Indio-Asian' fusion that sounds more like a threat, given that it’s a two-hyphen fusion and that one of the words bumping up against one of the hyphens is 'British.' And isn’t India in Asia? Note to self: bone up on world geography... Its take on British imperialism goes something like this: Sure, foreign lands were plundered and indigenous peoples oppressed, but think of the snacks!" Bruni bestows two stars for not taking "its pledged fusing too seriously or executing it too strenuously."

Pete Wells, who edits the Times dining section, reviews La Superior, the Mexican taqueria that took over the depressing Kate's outpost in South Williamsburg: "If you’re the kind of eater who keeps track of worthwhile Mexican restaurants on a wall-size map of the five boroughs, La Superior would rate a pushpin on the strength of its tacos alone." The Village Voice's Robert Sietsema finds "much to like" and much to deride at Braeburn in the West Village: "The look is self-consciously rustic, beginning with the birch stems lined up in the windows, making it feel as if you're gazing through a stand of trees. Squint and you might not notice the decrepit parking garage across the street...And why, given the farmstead theme, does the menu emphasize unsustainable ocean fish?"

Also at the Voice, Sarah DiGregorio hearts Park Slope's Bussaco, where, "since the chef just came from Le Bernardin, you'd expect him to be great with fish—and you'd be right...Now Bussaco just has to work on its soundtrack. One night, the music veered from classical to Elvis to some sort of '90s hip-hop, which prompted a friend to say, 'I believe this song is sampling tracks of children screaming.' (At least there weren't any real-life children screaming. You can't take these things for granted in Park Slope.)"