Restaurant Critic Roundup: New York's Blanca Awarded 4 Stars

As always, the ratings range from stars to bells to beans, but every review offers specialized insight into the food, atmosphere, and service of eateries in each city's dining scene and the critics eating at them.

This week in New York, "everybody was having lobster" at Chinatown restaurant Royal Seafood, an item that, it may be noted, "wasn't anywhere on the menu," and turned out to be unexplainably "soft and generously sweet."

Also in New York, Blanca's 25-course, $700 "food fest," got a whopping four stars for "incomparable food, service, ambience," from Bloomberg critic Ryan Sutton. "Blanca is about minimalism. Few ingredients, intense flavors," Sutton said. "Neither the palate nor the eyes are confused."

In Charleston, S.C., James Island restaurant The Lot does vegetables right. "All the veggies were either raw or blanched just enough to cook them through but still leave them crisp and deeply flavorful," said critic Robert Moss. "It was one of those dishes where you take a bite, then pause and think, damn, this is delicious."

From the East Coast to the West Coast, from North to South, the weekly restaurant critic roundup is here for all of your dining out needs.
 

Check last week's Restaurant Critic Roundup.

Don't forget to check out Top Chefs Review — and Rate — America's Food Critics!

Tyler Sullivan is The Daily Meal's assistant editor. Follow her on Twitter at @atylersullivan.