2020 Best New Restaurants // No. 7 Lazy Tiger
Lazy Tiger may be small in stature – the space seats just 22 while the food menu features about a dozen items – but everything about it, from decor to flavor, is styled for maximal effect. The bar’s interior feels like the inside of a jewel box: The walls are a dark, lush green; the seating is covered in black leather; dark red carpets drape the wood floors.
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The bold visuals translate to the food and drink menus, which are similarly full of attention-grabbing ingredient blends and flavor combinations. The eponymous Lazy Tiger packs a serious punch; made with mezcal, honey, serrano pepper and Tajin, it’s sweet, sour, and spicy, all at once. Even poured from an I.V.-like sack into a glass at home and drunk on the couch, it still delivered the kind of genuinely special experience we expect from our best bars.
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Lazy Tiger’s food and drink menus fit together like puzzle pieces; both feature aggressive flavors, so anything you order pairs fantastically. While a dish like the chicken pibil taquitos could easily have been a greasy bar food afterthought, instead their creamy, smoky flavor was a delight to consume on its own and was even better when chased with a sip of the sharp Street Legal martini. The grilled octopus toast is similarly well-designed: Served on grilled baguette slices with stewed eggplant and toasted pine nuts, the toothsome octopus balances well with the eggplant’s smoothness.
So many big gestures in such a tiny setting run the risk of drowning each other out. That the Lazy Tiger experience is so cohesive is a testament to an ownership with razor sharp vision and a staff skillful enough to wrangle these many strong pieces into a harmonious whole.
Tags : Places, Restaurants, Bars, Best New Restaurants
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