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I came here with a couple of my friends, and the food was not good. The salmon was overcooked, and my waitress looked like she was 14 years old...The drinks were bland and the dessert was something you can get at a local grocery store.

Having heard all the buzz, I stopped by a few evenings ago to visit Seven Spring Food and Wine, a new restaurant and wine bar at--you guessed it--Seven Spring Street (at Bowery). As a music fan and foody, I am always on the hunt of something new, delicious and convenient to Crash Mansion, Bowery Ballroom, and the club scene of the East Village and LES. This cheerful little spot fits the bill perfectly. The restaurant is intimate and cozy, with a short wine bar, glowing hardwood floors, and a fun view of passing pedestrian traffic on Spring St. I ordered a shrimp tempura roll, fried plantains with spicy sauce, and sancocho, a Panamanian comfort food chicken soup. Each dish was cooked exactingly, with great attention to balance and consistency of ingredients and flavors. My shrimp tempura roll was so good I ate most of it without the customary sliced pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi accompaniments. When I did garnish my roll, I was impressed that the ginger was its natural color (not dyed pink) and was sliced very thin, both indicators of serious sushi-craft. The wasabi enjoyed the full heat of its horseradish; I appreciated that it had not been dumbed down for the (supposed) American pallet. Fried plantains with spicy sauce were likewise cooked to a wonderful not-too-crunchy, not-too-mushy consistency, a craft frequently overlooked in what many consider a pedestrian Panamanian staple. Sancocho, a Panamanian home-style chicken soup, featured tender chunks of white chicken, and the chef did not make the common mistake of over-salting his broth. Lastly, the kitchen favored me with a sample of delicately battered and fried tuna "nuggets." These were neither over-cooked nor battered beyond recognition, and exploded with fresh tuna flavor. I will definitely be bringing friends and out-of-town visitors to Seven Spring Food and Wine.