this past weekend, a few of my friends and i helped our friend celebrate her 29th birthday. being that we're way past the "i just graduated from college and therefore shouldn't be eating ramen noodles" stage of our lives, we decided to do the semi-grown up thing and go out to a semi-nice dinner at a semi-nice restauarant.

it was decided we would be having dinner at amalia, a new restaurant from owner greg brier and executive chef ivy stark (rosa mexicano, dos caminos). sounded like a recipe for delicious. which it was, but maybe i was just expecting something more. the review in new york magazine was pretty vague, so maybe my i should've lowered the bar a bit. but then i looked at the menu, which looked like the meals would be savory and tasty. i have mixed feelings about this restaurant. perhaps it was the shrimp & fideo bowl i had with mussels (which isn't listed in the zagat menu). if i go back, i'll try the sea bass that got rave reviews.

with that said, the food was good. but i think next time i'm craving a mediterranean cuisine, i'll go to avra.

after the meal, we stuck around to have drinks at d'or. usually swankylounges aren't my cup of tea, and upon being there for a few hours, i remembered why. overpriced drinks. the crowd wasn't as annoying as i had anticipated. just not sure how anxious i am to head back there.