#9 – DUCK RICE at NUELA

Once again Time Out New York released their Top 100 Dishes of the year and once again, I’m going to eat my way through every one. And no price point or subway delay will stop me. In no particular order, here’s my take on their Top 100.

SADLY, NUELA IS NOW CLOSED.

Last year, Time Out brought us to a great new Portuguese restaurant in Chelsea called Aldea. There were two list items there, but my favorite (and high on their list) was the Arroz de Pato, which translates to Duck Rice. So I had a bit of dejá vu when I made my way to the new Latin American restaurant in Chelsea called Nuela to get this year’s list item, the Duck Rice (translated on the menu as Arroz con Pato).

Aldea’s version was a play on paella and it was pretty spectacular. It actually made my own Top 100 last year. Nuela had to pull out all the stops to compete with that version. And they certainly did everything they could, except make a dish that was truly memorable. For starters, the price had been sneakily increased from $60 for two to $32 per person since the Time Out article was published.

The room was huge (it’s in the old Sapa space) and designed in bright oranges and red giving it a rather modern loungey (read: cheesy) ambiance. I think our server was new because he was awkward and didn’t have all the answers to our questions. He also sort of lurked from time to time, trying desperately to conform us to the steps of service he learned. Sorry, I tend to order my drink after I pick my food. I know that’s not what’s in the training manual.

We got some flowery cocktails and a hamachi ceviche to start. The hamachi was overpriced (at $16) for the small portion. The fish was probably fresh, but I couldn’t really taste it drowned in all the citrus, peppery mayonnaise. For dinner, we decided to only get the duck rice since it’s advertised as a feast for two. And since I tend to eat lighter entrees to begin with, I had a feeling this would be a total gutbomb. And I was right.

It was beautifully presented as a mix-it yourself spread of duck and vegetables. Most of the duck parts were represented: breast, confit leg, seared liver, duck gizzards (tossed with lettuce), and a beautiful duck egg resting on top. To tease us with at least some nutritional value, baby brussels sprouts, sweet potato cubes, and a tomato salsa spread were also included.

As I mixed it up and destroyed the beautiful presentation, the components sort of lost their identity. I suppose the point was to turn the whole skillet into one big bowl of Duck Rice. The rice itself was alright. It took on the gamey flavor of the fatty duck and it was certainly rich – verging on greasy. None of the duck parts stood out to me. The confit was crispy but lacked much flavor outside of duck fat. The breast was a bit undercooked and way under-seasoned. It almost seemed like all the components were cooked and then it was just assumed that when mixed together with the egg and rice, the flavors would take care of themselves. That didn’t quite happen here, I’m afraid.

Also, since it was served in a skillet like this, I expected the bottom layer of rice to be crispy and almost burnt (in true paella style). There was a nice crunch here and there but it verged more on chewy than crunchy.

The dish was decadent and lavish, but was lacking much flavor. And after experiencing last year’s masterpiece, I know how this can be done so much better. And for $64, I imagine we were paying for food cost and presentation, because I certainly didn’t feel like I got my money’s worth in execution. Maybe next year’s Duck Rice dish will be better – wherever it is (probably a new spot somewhere in Chelsea).

Would Nuela’s Duck Rice make my Top 100? Certainly not after trying Aldea’s version, but even so it gets a 5 out of 10 because it was lacking seasoning and inspiration.