The Talde Experience

As I've previously mentioned last night my family and I went to Talde in Park Slope to celebrate my little cousins eighth grade graduation. For those who don't know what Talde is, I'll explain. Talde is Dale Talde's park slope family style restaurant that features Asian-American Cuisine. Now Dale Talde, for those who don't know, is most known for being a competitor on Top Chef. Because of my love for Top Chef and asian food I was quite excited for this meal. Everything on the menu looked amazing and all the things we had definitely lived up to those standards.

The style of the restaurant was family style, which basically means that all the dishes ordered are shared, which gives guests a chance to try many things and adds to the overall dining experience. While some things seemed a little awkward to share table-side

, like the wonton soup, which was amazing but a little difficult to split between seven people, the idea of a family style dining experience is different and overall enjoyable.

My family ordered numerous items, enough that I can't quite remember all of them, but I can definitely point out a few stand out dishes. For appetizers we were all intrigued by the Pretzel Pork and Chive Dumplings. They were served with a traditional spicy mustard and they were definitely a hit. The pretzel style wrapper was an interesting representation of a recent trend in the culinary world.

Another was the Wonton Noodle Soup. While it would have been easier not to serve it family style, the flavor of the broth definitely made up for struggling of serving. The broth had a rich pork flavor but it wasn't too heavy as to overpower the flavor of the wontons.

One of the last things we ordered, but definitely one of my favorites was the Whole Roasted Branzino. The fish is roasted in a banana leaf and presented to the table with small pancakes so that guests can create their own mini fish tacos. The flavors of the fish were refreshing and light and it was the perfect pairing to the rest of the menu.

Overall the experience at Talde was amazing. The service was quick and because you are served dishes as they are ready you don't have a lot of wasted time of waiting for food. Talde's menu is filled with influences from Chef Talde's filipino heritage and is a perfect fit for Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood.

So till next time,
Keep Cooking (and eating) Brooklyn!