This week in the Voice, Our Man Sietsema finds shrimp in his mash at Watty & Meg, while Sarah DiGregorio samples the pun-filled menu at Pho Sure.

Bruni pays a visit to Aldea, where he feels that George Mendes's "usually intelligent, intriguing and highly skilled work is undercut at times by a tendency to overwork his dishes," but that overall, the restaurant is "something of a deal."
[NY Times]

Alan Richman also drops in at Aldea and is decidedly more enthusiastic, deeming it "one of Manhattan's best new restaurants," where he "admire(s) everything about it, except the wine-by-the-glass prices."
[GQ @ men.style.com]

Adam Platt accuses Michael White of overkill at Marea, adding that, "For all its impressive, even dazzling qualities, it feels less like a labor of love than like one of ambition and duty."
[NY Magazine]

Restaurant Girl applauds the exorcism of what was Ago and is now Locanda Verde, praising Andrew Carmellini's cooking as " thoughtful and imaginative," despite a few "frustrating" blunders.
[NY Daily News]

Jay Cheshes seems mildly annoyed at Table 8, which "embraces one irksome trend, offering so many extra menu categories." The entrees, he says, "were often so busy, they seemed like two or three dishes melded onto a single plate."
[TONY]