Midweek Special: NYC Restaurant Review Roundup

This week the new chief dining critic at the NY Times, Sam Sifton, debuts with a rave for DBGB, Daniel Boulud's casual sausage/beer/etc. joint on the Bowery. The first review from the former NY Press reporter boasts references to The Ramones, Talking Heads, and a declaration that "[Boulud's] food game, as they say in rap precincts, is tight... one bite of the crispy lamb ribs that were served in the bar area when the place first opened — sweetly glazed, grassy meat, with a dab of creamy mint-flecked yogurt sauce — ended all snark: Boulud has opened a very good restaurant. The lamb was sublime, earthy and spicy and rich, evidence of superb technique, the sort of snack that separates his empire from others in the celebrity firmament."

Sifton also files a breezy review on Cowgirl SeaHorse down in the financial district, deciding that it "isn’t a great restaurant, obviously. But like the Hall of Fame, it’s open and fun — and a house margarita paired with warm, salty tortilla chips does much to recall the freak flagship’s mood of tolerance." And Betsy Andrews says "the $14 4-ounce lobster roll ($8 for 2 ounces) is an affordable way to mainline Maine" at the new Luke's Lobster in the East Village.

This week finds Village Voice critic Robert Sietsema in Brighton Beach, where he writes favorably about the Uzbekistan cuisine at KeBeer Bar & Grill, a mostly German beer hall: "The vegetarian Uzbek selections are surprise triumphs, especially the tomato-and-onion salad, drowning in its own sweet juices, with a name that sounds like a dainty sneeze: achuchu ($7.50). Most appetizers at KeBeer will satisfy three or four diners, so order accordingly." Meanwhile, The New Yorker's Andrea Thomson says it's "hard to find a disappointing dish" at Nolita Italian spot Civetta.