Talde- Brooklyn, NY

Talde pitches themselves as a casual, asian american restaurant. The atmosphere sure is casual, but the flavors of the food are deliciously intense and diverse. We sat down at a booth, and looked at the small but full menu. So many things appealed to me, and it was hard to pick and choose. We started with the pretzel roll pork and chive dumplings. The pretzel roll was an interesting twist on the dumpling skin, offering a nice crunch with the nicely soy seasoned dumpling meat.  Then we had their famous tater tots-- actually just normal tater tots, but perfectly salted and crisped. The reason it was so special is that it came with a yummy, spicy sriracha ketchup. Next, we ordered the spicy chicken wings and waffle. The wings were very tender, with a smoky hot, crispy exterior and a juicy interior. The sauce, however, was a tad to sweet and salty for me. And, I didn't like the waffle. Bland. Finally, we ordered the bacon pad thai noodles, which was also way too oversalted. The intense flavors completely overwhelmed the dish, so I wasn't able to enjoy all the other ingredients. I also found the noodles to be quite undercooked. Overall, Talde was definitely a type of restaurant that I haven't eaten at before-- they have very interesting, unique twists on popular dishes, but they need to tone down the salt. 3 pineapples. Till next time!

-tdg