Casual Bites at Heidi’s House

Have you been to Heidi’s House?  It’s a cute restaurant and wine bar in a neighborhood that I frequently overlook.  Yes, I am admitting that there might be a good spot on the Upper East Side.  There are only twenty seats at Heidi’s House so space is cozy which does translate to a tight squeeze.  We stopped by on a Wednesday night for a quick bite just beating the crowd and took a seat at the bar in between two regulars at this cozy spot.

The menu is fairly simple with a few starters, salads and larger dishes.  The Vietnamese beef salad was tangy and dressed the right amount but the tuna tartar won my vote.  The tuna was cut big enough to retain the texture and I loved dipping the bread in the avocado based dressing at the bottom.

The signature dish here is the macaroni & cheese but unfortunately, my fatigued palette was craving something less heavy so we opted for the paella.  The paella at Heidi’s is of a different breed than the ones found at Socarrat, which comes in a large cast iron pan.  This particular one was much lighter in taste but the rice lost a little bit of flavor.  Nevertheless, I very much appreciated the slightly healthier version of paella that night.

And since we chose wisely for most of the meal, splurging for dessert was allowed.  Because this was around the holidays, a spicy and warm date pudding seemed particularly in season.  I loved the crispy outer edges just as much as the dense moist center, soaked in the caramel sauce.  I would love to find a recipe for this for a recreation one day.  It was really that good.

It will take more than one great dinner to convert me to loving the Upper East Side.  However, this was great step in the right direction.  Next time I find myself in the area, Heidi’s House will most certainly be on my mind for a bite to eat.

Heidi’s House | 308 East 78th Street, New York, New York 10075 | http://heidishouse.net/