Perilla {New York, NY}

I'm a die hard Top Chef fan. Really though, I love the show. Ever since the first season and watching Harold Dieterle win, I couldn't wait to try his restaurant in New York.
Although the restaurant is most known for their 'Spicy Duck Meatballs' served during dinner, we opted to try their brunch - for the sake of keeping on our budget. Perilla, like most restaurants in New York, was small - something I'm not used to since all the restaurants in California are ginormous spaces. It was a bit too darkly lit for my taste but had a nice overall mood.
The dishes we tried were:


1. Creamy Parmesan Polenta with basted egg, artichokes, pomodoro sauce
2. Spicy Duck Burger with jack cheese, avocado and spiced fries
3. Crispy Oyster Po'Boy with celery seed coleslaw, pickled okra and spiced fries


The polenta dish was probably the least enjoyed by all. It was creamy and had nice texture but was quite bland but maybe that's because I love in your face flavors.
The duck burger was by far the most enjoyed! It was juicy and had this deep, rich flavor that I've never had before - probably because I've never had a duck burger haha. But it really was perfect.


The oyster po'boy sounded the most interesting and my favorite part of the sandwich was the pickled okra, which added a nice tang to the crispy oyster pieces. The pickle inside though, which is house cured, was a bit TOO tart for my taste, which is pretty shocking since I love tart things.


Overall, I our meal was just average. The atmosphere was nothing spectacular, service was good and food was just good, when I expected it to be spectacular. But maybe that's the problem, I had set my expectations too high.