Westville

Enough with the brief shout outs. It's time Westville became a full-feature. You might recall this restaurant from a mention in the Recession Edition or, more recently, in Where is the Toast in NYC? Or you may just be an NYC villager and it has become a household name over the years. This post goes out to my oldest friend from Richmond who discovered Westville with me over five and half years ago when I first moved to the city. Midway through our grueling search for the perfect west village apartment, we stumbled across yet another imperfect one on West 10th and Bleecker - located directly above this newly opened, farm-focused restaurant. The amazing smells from the tiny space below nearly sold us on the spot. But, in the end, a two bedroom apartment with no living room for $2600 a month in 2003 wasn't quite going to do it. We realized we'd be just as well off if we moved a few blocks south - still close enough to frequent Westville almost once a week!

Well, more than five years later, Westville is still doing everything right. Each time I am there, I wonder why it's no longer one of my weekly traditions. I blame that on my best friend's departure from New York several years ago and just too many temptations to try out new spots. While my life has changed quite a bit over the years, Westville has generally stayed the very same. And that is a great thing. The main menu and affordable prices are no different from opening day. Each day the chefs continue to serve excellent farm-fresh comfort food from one of the tiniest kitchen's in the city. As daily specials almost double the size of the menu, my only complaint is that there are just too many great options. However, whether you are going as basic as hot dogs and burgers or more adventuresome with the trout or pork chops, you cannot go wrong. I have probably tried almost everything on the menu over the years and still can never easily decide what I want when I am there.

To solve this problem, I recommend going with at least a few other people or just making sure you are very hungry. The important thing is to guarantee ample sharing opportunities. To start, you cannot go wrong with an order of the smokey mac and cheese with bacon and the corn on the cob with lime, cumin, and cotija cheese. Westville focuses on comfort food and vegetables - these two dishes covering both spectrums. For a healthier start, all of their salads are excellent - also great for sharing or even for a lighter meal. These typically change with the season, but when on the menu, the grilled salmon and sliced steak salads are two of my favorites.

For the main courses, it really depends on my mood. One of the best features of Westville is their side dishes. Each night they offer nearly 20 different preparations of seasonal vegetables. Since I often have a hard time deciding which one or two to order, I sometimes make an entire meal out of the sides. They have an option of ordering 4 market vegetables for $13 - more than enough food for those of us who typically eat hearty meat dishes for dinner. In fact, Westville might be the one place where I would actually consider being a vegetarian. Although, that idea never lasts very long as the sausage and peppers served over grilled bread and their Niman Ranch hot dogs are also some of my favorites. Well, last week I was having one of my vegetarian moments and ordered a plate of lemon grilled asparagus with parmesan, honey-dijon roasted Brussels Sprouts, cauliflower dijonnaise, and sauteed mushrooms with herbs and leeks. All were delicious, but the two greens were probably the winners. Some of the other hits from the night and in general are the turkey burger and the veggie burger- both served on an English muffin. Again, because of the organic ingredients, the flavors just taste fresher here.

I guess my only other complaint about Westville would be their amazing dessert options. Not only are they too tempting to pass up, but it is honestly hard to decide what to order as they are all delicious. If you are in the mood for cookies, they offer two of my favorites - a homemade oreo, two chocolate cookies sandwiching vanilla frosting, or a homemade Lil Devin, two cranberry oatmeal cookies filled with cream cheese frosting. Deciding between those two is hard enough! And then there are the crumbles and the pies all dependent upon the berries or other fruits of the season and served with homemade ice cream. I think I now remember why I had to cut back on my visits to Westville. Good luck turning down any of these options!


Westville
210 W 10th St
New York, NY 10014-6411
Phone: (212) 741-7971
website
FOOD RATING (Out of 5):