Critic Roundup: All'onda Is 'Not Quite Like Any Other Place'

This week in restaurant news, New York Times restaurant critic Pete Wells reviews All'onda, which he says is "not quite like any other place."

"The space glows with warm invitation to passers-by on East 13th Street, who can see the communal table and bar downstairs and, through second-story windows, the main dining room," Wells says. "Inside, there are no terrifying beasts with Japanese heads grafted onto Italian torsos, no teriyaki calf's liver or soba pesto."

In Washington, D.C. Bidwell is Union Market's "most ambitious restaurant to date" with Chicago native John Mooney, who has cooked all over the world, in the kitchen, says Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema.

"The food at the 120-seat Bidwell, the chef says, 'is a mixture of my history.' Hence the lobster taco, the fish and chips and . . . Swedish meatballs? The last preparation, shaped with pork and beef and draped in a light crème fraîche gravy, pays tribute to Mooney's mother's best friend," Sietsema writes.

In Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold says you can't dine at Brodard Chateau without ordering the nem nuong.

"Brodard Chateau is nem-nuong-centric to the point that, even if you have ordered a rack of lamb and a plate of the delicious fried sweet potatoes with shrimp, the waiter will stand patiently by the table until you tell him what kind of rolls you want," Gold says.

Restaurant Critic Roundup: 3/26/2014

Click here for The Daily Meal's "Top Chefs Review — and Rate — America's Food Critics."

Haley Willard is The Daily Meal's assistant editor. Follow her on Twitter at @haleywillrd.