Smoked Trout Deviled Eggs
by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
February 17, 2006
PEGU CLUB
77 W Houston St, 2F
(W Broadway & Wooster St)
New York, NY 10012
212-473-PEGU
The great thing about blogs is that you can add amendments, just like the U.S. Constitution, except you can do it whenever you feel like it.
So I went back to Pegu Club after a great first experience. Only this time, it wasn’t before the largest snowstorm in New York in twenty-six years, but on a normal Friday night. And here’s what I found.
I still love the feel of the place, the décor of a colonial Southeast Asian bar. However, a couple of things jumped out at me:
Pegu Club occupies the old space of Shanghai Tide, a Chinese restaurant whose main branch is still located in Flushing. It’s a long railroad-style space that spans the entire length between West Broadway and Wooster streets on the second floor. The strange space didn’t work to Shanghai Tide’s advantage, but for a bar/lounge it’s perfect. The entrance is downstairs, right next to Sweet Melissa’s, the Brooklyn-based patisserie. Pegu Club has used this two-floor complication to its advantage by placing the coat check downstairs. So when you enter, you are greeted by what seems like a bouncer, whose main duty seems to be to intimidate guests. On my way out this time, around 10pm on a Friday night, there were plenty of empty tables to choose from upstairs, but I overheard a party at the coat check asking about availability and getting typical New York attitude: “You might be able to find something.” I find that annoying. It’s unfriendly and pretentious.
This time, I tried two more dishes in addition to the smoked trout deviled eggs, which is still my favorite and so far the only thing I want to introduce. Service is slow although not entirely unpleasant. One thing that caught my eye that bothered me was the fact that they carry out Brita pitchers to refill your tap water. I find it to be supremely unnatural to see the waitresses walking around with Brita pitchers across the floor. There is just something not right about this picture. I guess I’m supposed to be glad that they actually filter their tap water, but I don’t need to see this.
I was less impressed this time and am not so excited to keep Pegu Club as a part of my regular repertoire. But at least I can say that I tried.
Also in American, Drinks, Eggs, SoHo
