Pranna

Last week some friends and I needed to catch up on what's happening in the New Year and decided to try Pranna, a southeast Asian place on Madison Avenue. The place is huge with a bar/lounge area when you enter the restaurant, a large dining room and an upstairs lounge that can also be used for private parties. Of course, Colleen and I needed to meet a bit earlier so we could catch up prior to the rest joining us. I opted for the Bali 100 straight up which was thick, almost like a smoothy, andis comprised of absolut 100 and is tangy from a combination of   currant, ginger liquor, lime juice and thai basil that was nicely balance by some sugar. Only one for me though, it was a bit too filling and since I always need room for plenty of food I switched to wine!

Colleen and I decided to share and our 3rd, the picky eater, was on her own.  The food was hit and miss, mostly leaning to the latter. The refreshing Papaya Salad had me psyched for what was to follow.
The Lobster Roll was ok, but adding butter instead of mayo and adding some pickled asian peppers didn't make me a convert from a regular roll. Next we had the Skewered Pork Belly, which was complete mush and unlike any I have ever had before. Lastly, we ordered the Roasted Lemongrass Chicken, which the waitress assured us was very spicy, but unfortunately had no spice at all. I could only hope that since the picky eater had ordered the Wok Fried Hokkien Noodles "Mee Goreng"  mild and they were extremely spicy, that there had been a glitch in the kitchen. I mentioned this to our waitress, and just got a 'oh well, sorry that happened', when she should have tried to rectify the situation.

Anyway, as you can probably surmise, I won't be making my way back to Pranna any time soon. I'm sure they have some decent items on their menu, but since I was batting 1 out of 4, I'll try my luck somewhere else next time.

Pranna
79 Madison (b/t 28 & 29)
(212) 696-5700
www.prannarestaurant.com

Prices:
Satays $6-11, Small Plates $6-14, Large Plates $17-28, Desserts $3-24, Cocktails $12