Bones

Bones, an asian fusion noodle shop is located on the same block as Frank Bonnano's two other successful restaurants Mizuna and Luca D'italia. Very popular among denver food blogs and with just a dozen two top tables and a bar overlooking the small open kitchen, it was inevitable that we would be leaving with a new perfume in our clothes again.  Perhaps my expectations were too high.  We started with the popular steamed buns with suckling pig and pork belly. I was expecting something closer to the fluffy white bun you would find surrounding chinese bbq pork at dim sum.  The suckling pig was dry and the bun was chewy and dense, virtually inedible.

We split the ba mee with tofu, corn, leeks in a coconut coconut lemongrass broth and the ramen with slow cooked pork shoulder and a soft poached egg.  Both noodle bowls were solid with well developed broths and al dente noodles, however as a true fan of asian fusion, this concept just didn't work for me.  When i want ramen again, i will probably go to ototo or hands down the winner of ramen Ippudo in NYC.

Plate score: 5

Ototo Den

When Den Deli put up their sign saying they were closed for remodeling, more than a few people were worried of what would be become of this upscale fast casual spot in the trifecta of sushi den and Izakaya.  Luckily on my first visit to Ototo which focuses on spanish influenced japanese tapas (thats my take at least), I left impressed and was no longer depressed about the demise of Den Deli.  It was a slow sunday evening,  and we decided to sit at the "sushi bar"  in front of a cold case of cheeses and rounds of cured meats.  Now to the meal.....

The Waygu beef carpaccio lay over roasted hen mushrooms and drizzled with a truffle soy sauce was certainly fresh and tender.

The Egg in a Jar has been the source of all blog discussions since Ototo opened.  This creamy mixture of truffled mashed potatoes, diced serrano ham, caviar, steamed egg in a mason jar is served with diced red onion and tarragon mixture and delicious delicious grilled ciabatta.  I had conflicting feelings about this dish with so many flavors and the mashed potatoes added an odd texture to the dish.  In terms of dipping toast points into a creamy sauce, i prefer Cholon's Kaya Toast (check out that review from Dec).

The star of the dinner was the warm lobster salad, which was incredibly fresh and poached to perfection.  The lobster was sitting atop of a small thin layer of mashed potatoes (both hidden) garnished with grapefruit, tossed mache salad, pistachios and some sort of aioli.  An interesting garnish of thinly fried potato strips hit my tongue with a suprisingly sweet note and really pulled together this amazing dish!

We ended our meal with the tonkatsu ramen, the only remnants from the former den deli to make the new menu.  With sliced pork shoulder, bok choy, bean sprouts and soft hard boiled egg. the ramen was sitting in a steaming bowl of flavorful soy broth which helped round out this excellent meal.  We skipped the dessert and I settled for a half scoop each of pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate ice cream at Pajama Baking Company.

Plate Score: 9

New to the dining scene

 Ototo which replaced the 3rd installment of sushi den/izakaya den's den deli opened last week with a menu focused on refined fusion tapas.


Chedd's the gourmet grill cheese joint which closed last year at the corner of 19th and Pearl in uptown just opened as Walter's pizzeria with whole pies, slices, lasagnas and baked subs!