PERILLA.

Perilla is a casually elegant restaurant in the West Village that doesn't attract any particular foodie attention. I think the West Village is full of these neighborhood gems that are low-key, quiet, yet excellent and happened upon only by chance or via a recommendation from a friend. It's kind of nice to not have to set your Blackberry alarm to remind you to book a dinner 30 days in advance at 10:30AM on the dot when reservation lines open...or to not have to stand outside a restaurant like a vulture at 10PM on a Thursday evening, glaring at the seated diners while contemplating a ploy to drop rat poison into the bowl of soup headed towards Table 12 in hopes that the guest will have to unexpectedly excuse himself from his seat so he can projectile vomit on the sidewalk...leaving Table 12 up for grabs...not that I've ever thought about that...or anything. But, I digress.

It was a warm, breezy Thursday evening and there was a hushed but joyful chatter filling the restaurant. While it wasn't jam packed, Perilla certainly wasn't void of customers. As a tip - if you happen to want to bring your own bottle of vino, Perilla charges a $25 corkage fee.


My friend and I shared a side order of Edamame Falalfel to start. I thought this take on a falafel was really quite unique and I'm surprised that this trend hasn't already spread like wildfire!! Edamame translate nicely into a ball of puree that is fried and dipped into a lemon tahini sauce. Delicious!!


None of the entrees really caught my attention so I decided to order two appetizers as my meal. The first of which being the Bibb & Fava Bean Salad with peppercress, ricotta salata, and toasted marcona almond vinaigrette. The salad didn't really turn out the way I had imagined in my head...I expected a heaping mound of beans and greens with a nice dollop of soft, warm ricotta cheese drizzled in oil and vinaigrette. Sounds good, no? The actual salad was rather sparse and uptight (if salads can be described in this way).


The Warm Dungeness Crab with daikon, green onion, crispy roti, and flying fish caviar fondue was off the chain. The huge pile of soft, creamy crab meat accented by the freshness of the onion, the gritty texture and salty flavor of the caviar, and the delicious discs of fried bread - absolutely wonderful!!!!


Dessert was hard to pass up. We promised ourselves that we would only take a few bites "just to taste." Well. When you order the Rhubarb Sundae with rhubarb compote, peanut butter ganache, mint macaroon, and sour cream ice cream...it's kind of hard to call it quits after a few nibbles. I mean...there's so many different retarded-ly DELICIOUS components that it would be a sin not to dig in through the layers of the sundae to taste each one...and then also sample all of them simultaneously to get the full effect...and then sample again to understand the flavor combination...and then sample again to make sure you didn't miss anything...I would return to Perilla simply for this dessert.


Our check arrived with a plate of two complimentary ginger cookies. How sweet!

I definitely enjoyed my meal at Perilla and would recommend it for anyone that is in the neighborhood. The staff is friendly and the food is inventive yet understandable.