Daryl

Daryl is the latest of the trendy haute cuisine restaurants and bars to open in the recent upward trend in downtown New Brunswick. Daryl is a restaurant, lounge, wine bar and wine store all in one. Reservations are often required for the restaurant, but you can order the full menu from the bar. They offer a larger variety of wines by the glass, many of which are exclusive. They offer 2, 4 and 6 oz tastings. Their menu is also similarly flexible with many small plate options along with full entrees. They have a complex wine storeage system on display at the bar that keeps each opened bottled properly sealed and chilled. It even accruately measures the tasting sizes. The food is a little pricey, but the wine is actually a pretty good value, and you can buy any of the wines in their store. The service is a little clumsy and slow, but they have only been open for a couple of months.

I started with a scallop and snapper ceviche that was very flavorful. It was made with a bitter orange marinade. Then I had the fideos, which was angel hair pasta with sofrito, clams, and sea beans. This was from the small plate section, but was quite large and filling. The clams were very fresh. I ordered this dish because I love sea beans, but there weren't many in the dish and they were overpowered by the other ingredients. One of the wines I had was an excellent Rotgipfler from Austria.

Overall, this is a great place to grab a delicious meal with some excellent wine even on the spur of the moment or on a weeknight.