A new favorite in NYC
January 11, 2010 § Leave a comment
Yesterday I accompanied Laura on her extra credit excursion in New York City. Well, more like completely organized her trip because she’d be completely lost in the city without a guide. In the bitter cold, we walked all over Battery Park, to the New York Vietnam Veterans Memorial near the Staten Island Ferry, around Christopher St-Sheridan Square and Stonewall Inn, and up to the Paley Center of Media located close to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and MoMA.
We did get some respite from the freezing winds however. In the West Village, on my new favorite street, Cornelia, we sat down to the most delicious brunch everrrr. There are at least three other great restaurants on this street, including Pearl Oyster Bar with their lobster rolls, French favorite Le Gigot, and Cornelia Street Cafe. But Home Restaurant is now my favorite for it’s tiny but cozy space, friendly and attentive service, and most importantly, local and DELICIOUS food.
The orange juice was freshly squeezed and tart. I ordered the duck confit and butternut squash hash with 2 sunnyside eggs. The rich and melt-in-your-mouth tender duck covered with oozing egg yolk was absolute heaven. And while the perfectly cooked butternut squash and canteloupe slice did absolutely nothing to cut the fat going into my stomach, I wasn’t complaining at all.
Laura looked equally blissed out on the other side of the table with her ginormous oyster po’ boy sandwich, paired with Old Bay shoestring potatoes. I had a bite and tasted crispiness sea flavors with the zing of the chipotle mayonnaise. The potatoes kept calling to me throughout our meal, and after many attempts of eating them with a fork, I eventually gave up and resorted to grabbing them with my fingers.
Another great thing about this restaurant? Right down the street, on Bleecker, are Amy’s Bread and Murray’s Cheese Shop. We picked up some Spanish anchovies and fontina cheese at Murray’s as well as a giant loaf of sourdough bread for everyone at home.
Shake Shack and Otto
January 8, 2010 § Leave a comment
Wednesday was a really good day. Anne, Maria,Tonia, and I went to the Tim Burton exhibit (photos on dessin numero 1) where we didn’t have to wait in any lines because we’d ordered timed tickets beforehand. His drawings were amazing, and there was even a letter to Johnny Depp asking him to insert the “everything’s edible except you because if i could eat you, that would be called cannibalism” line! The only gripe I had were the crowds, but I guess that could only be expected with such a popular exhibit.
Because it was way too cold to eat outside, we headed to the Upper West Side to grab some Shake Shack. On the way, we passed the Fordham Law School area, which was wonderful. Going to school there would definitely spoil me.
Shake Shack was awesome, as always. Delicious, well-seasoned burgers with a tart freshly squeezed lemonade. Even better? They had Food Network playing on their televisions, so we got to jeer at Sandra Lee combining canned ingredients while we chomped on our food. Whatever’s going on with Scripps and Cablevision better be solved soon, because I will not tolerate being parted from Food Network for very long.
Afterwards, we spent a good chunk of time in Soho, mostly on Spring Street. We checked out the crazy skeletons and bottled penis bones at Evolution (where I seriously contemplated buying a butterfly wing pendant and Tonia had an equally hard time deciding whether or not to get the beetle wing earrings), made the obligatory trip to Uniqlo, and had a good scrub down at Sabon, where I bought a lavendar apple scrub that may just be my new obsession.
Dinner was at Otto, because we wanted something light. The pizzas definitely surpassed our spaghetti alla carbonara, which I’m going to remember for next time. My favorite was definitely the prosciutto arugula, mainly because I can’t resist good prosciutto and the greens balanced out the meat’s delicious fattiness.
However, the best part of the meal was definitely the Olive Oil gelato. So creamy, so tasty. My first bite got all the sea salt sprinkled on top so that wasn’t too pleasant, but after that, sigh. The olive oil taste doesn’t really hit you until later. At first, you just taste the rich sweetness. Maria and I also ordered a tangerine sorbetto that was packed with citrusy flavor.
SO: culture, shopping, and delicious food all in one day. We traveled from midtown to the UWS to Soho, covering most of Manhattan. Can you think of a better way to spend your time?
Post-LSAT visit to Momofuku Ssam and Milk Bar
September 28, 2009 § 1 Comment
I’m not getting test result for another three weeks, and even though I’m still pretty nervous, thank goodness the LSAT is finally over (for September anyway).
Sunday, our entire family went to New York City since Laura had to take pictures with the Wall Street Bull and some other historic NYC sites for her US History course. The weather was pretty awful, a drizzle that came at us sideways, but when we got out of the car to take a photo with the bull, there was a film crew surrounding it! Turns out Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell were in town filming a new comedy called The Other Guys.
Even with our intrusion onto a film set, the highlight of our day definitely had to be a visit to Momofuku Ssam and Milk Bars near Union Square. The last time I had visited was two summers again and I missed those pork buns like no other. Plus, I was dying to try the awe-inspiring desserts (with names like “Crack Pie”) at the new bakery.
The Momofukus did not disappoint. For savory, we got the famous pork buns, spicy rice cakes with chinese broccoli and sausage, and braised beef brisket pho. The pork belly oozed of fatty delicious and I loved how the cucumbers and Sriracha cut the richness just enough. The rice cakes were Korean ddukbokgi on steroids, fried so they had a crispy outer crust and gnocchi-soft on the inside. Plus, they were spicy as hell, mixed with a good amount of greens and…of course, more pork. And what is more comforting than a good bowl of pho? ‘Course, the $16 bowl was more expensive than an even larger portion at Pho 99, but after walking in the rain for so long, I thought it was well worth it.
Ssam Bar is the place for savory Asian food with a twist, but Milk bar just reminded me of my childhood. There aren’t any seats, just tables where you stand and eat your food. Laura and I tried the horchata soft-serve with the cinnamon sugar and tortilla toppings, a blueberry cream cookie, and the biggest slice of strawberry cake I have ever seen.
Everything tasted wonderful. The ice cream was rich and the toppings were inventive and delightful, the blueberry cream cookie (85 cents since they were actually from yesterday’s batch) was heavenly and still soft – Laura and I later regretted that we didn’t snag more – and the cake…with strawberry jam and sweet corn crumble fillings (which definitely reminded me of Cap’n Crunch cereal) was so large but so delicious that we felt obligated to finish it all regardless of the calories. Laura now demands that she gets such a cake for her birthday. We’ll see what happens.
Our visit to New York concluded with a visit to the Met, where we had hoped to see the roof garden exhibit, but it was closed due to the weather. However, the new Egyptian wings and American wing were more than interesting enough to keep us occupied until we had to head home. What started out as a rainy, gloomy day ended up being quite memorable.
Union Square Cafe with Lorenzo
August 8, 2008 § Leave a comment
Nora, my supervisor (Best boss ever! Wait ’til you hear what she gave me as a goodbye gift), and I originally planned to go toUnion Square Cafe during Restaurant Week, but plans fell through last minute and we never went through with our reservation. It was still the one place I wanted to eat at before the summer was over and I had to go back to Georgetown, so when an old high school friend, Lorenzo, offered to treat me to anywhere I wanted Tuesday…the choice was pretty damn easy.
Let me just say one thing about my friend before I move onto the food. I bumped into Lorenzo again in mid July, when I got onto a PATH train and he shoved his hand in my face as a way of saying hi. Turned out that our internships were located only a couple blocks apart. And even though he makes fun of me all the time and constantly causes my face to look like this -__- , he’s a good person, but that should already be obvious since he paid for lunch.
Anyway, we got to USC at 12 when it was still relatively quiet and were led up these narrow stairs to a small balcony, second floor area where there were only a couple tables. Our waiter was particularly friendly and leapt into service by raving about the day’s specials, but for appetizers, we stuck with the popular and safe fried calamari and spicy anchovy mayonnaise. I think it’s a problem I have, the tendency for me to order whatever deep fried foods there are on an appetizer menu.
First, ambience. Lorenzo had an issue with the nudes on the wall opposite us (What is it with men and bare breasts!? It’s just art!) but when the bread and butter came out, our attention fell on the food. All I can say is USC passed my simple test when the butter was smooth and creamy enough to smear all over that carb-y deliciousness.
The calamari was so LIGHT considering it’s deep fried in batter and then dipped in mayonnaise. It was one of the top, if not the best fried dishes I’ve had. I didn’t really care much for the mayo, it was too thick and didn’t stick well enough to the squid for my taste, but the fritters were seasoned well enough that the lack of sauce didn’t matter.
Our entrees were a refined tuna salad sandwich with garlic potato chips and housemade pappardelle with braised rabbit ragu. I loved my pasta dish. It may not sound like anything particularly spectacular (except maybe the rabbit part), but the simplicity of this dish caused all the elements to stand out. The pasta had a wonderful smooth texture with a slight bite that I loved and the sauce of braised rabbit featured beautifully tender meat and tanginess from the tomato that just made my stomach sigh. =)
I didn’t try the sandwich, but honestly, all I could focus on was the huge mound of garlic potato chips. I snagged a bite and CRRUUUUNCH. More fried, salted goodness. Plus garlic! Ah…all was right with the world.
Our perky waiter saved dessert from becoming a disappointment. Originally, I was leaning towards the Venetian fritelle, but he said, “Um…the customers who order it usually are let down.” But when I asked about the flourless chocolate cake, he unrestrainedly said, “OHMYGOSH MILLION TIMES BETTER!” So what could I do? Plus…chocolate was involved. Oh, and Lorenzo ordered a banana tart with ice cream and brittle.
The chocolate cake was the moistest, richest concoction ever. I was gushing about it the entire time; the coffee zabaglione served next to it helped to cut a bit of the richness. I don’t know how, but it did for me. Bitter vs. sweet, light and airy vs. rich and creamy. GAH. Lorenzo’s tart was a bit too caramelly and sweet for me, but the honey-vanilla ice cream was wonderful. I have a thing for honey ice cream lately. Whenever I go to Haagen Dazs now I order the Honey Vanilla. Long live the Honey Bees!
It was a wonderful way for the beginning of the end. After twelve weeks, my internship in New York was ending (well, it ended yesterday) and I was getting ready to go back to school. Time for goodbyes and email exchanges.
Union Square Cafe
21 East 16th St.
212.243.4020
RW – Lure Fishbar
July 30, 2008 § 2 Comments
Lure was the second experience of Restaurant Week 2008 and a true treat. I went with my old tennis teammate Joming and her friend Scott Yang Monday night for dinner to this subterranean seafood restaurant in Soho near Dean and Deluca. Let me first say that the decor inside is amazing – it looks like the inside of a yacht which makes sense. Clean lines, wood panels, leather booths, lots of blue.
For appetizers, Joming ordered the raw bar, I had the shrimp tempura, and Scott got the salmon tartare – a good spread. We were also surprised with two amuse-bouches, crab cakes on a stick and eggs on eggs (caviar topped deviled eggs) and an introduction to the executive chef himself, Josh Capon. A really nice touch if you ask me.
First: my tempura was AMAZING. I’ve never had shrimp that succulent and the outside crust wasn’t soggy at all, which is usually one of my biggest fears. The spicy mayo sauce had quite a lot of zing and reminded me of the sauce that comes with volcano rolls at Fujiyama Mama (a favorite local sushi place in Westfield). My mouth was so darned happy. And the portion wasn’t teeny tiny either which just meant more shrimp for me!
I didn’t get to try the tartare or the rawtasting, but therewas sound approval from both Joming and Scott, so I’m going to go with their statements and say they were both delicious as well.
Main courses: Joming and Scott had the nori crusted tuna and I went with a perfectly cooked and delicate (rare in my books) grilled salmon. My favorite part of this dish though was the lemon gnocchi underneath, which had the perfect smooth texture and a unique twist in taste from the citrus. This is something I want to try making the next time I get in the kitchen. It just added a whole another aspect to your regular gnocchi pasta. Yum.
Dessert started with another treat from the chef – strawberry creampuffs with a sour-cream poppyseed gelato. Joming couldn’t get her spoon away from the gelato, she just kept spooning away little by little (she though she was being subtle) until there was none left. I loved the creampuffs! They weren’t heavy at all and wonderfully buttery/flaky, but the strawberries cut the richness of the pastry.
There was also a lemon meringue bar, which would’ve been too sweet if there weren’t also the tart blueberries on the side. The sake mojito sorbet was…different. It took a bit to get used to the intriguing taste, but I came to like it by the last couple of bites. Very refreshing. Joming had decided to get the chocolate panna cotta, which I liked. Creamy, silky, smooth…a little bit of bitterness that mellowed out. I wanted more though. The cookie and banana in caramel sauce I didn’t care much for.
All in all, a wonderful meal, no doubt enhanced by the additional bites. I’d love to try Lure’s sushi next time and the raw bar since that’s mainly what the restaurant is known for. Given that it’s passed my initial tasting with flying colors, I’m now definitely more willing to shell out (haha! or not) money for a couple of special rolls and oysters. And now, I’m hungry again! Coming up…BARBECUE!
Lure Fishbar
142 Mercer St.
near Prince St.
212.431.7676
RW – Fleur de Sel
July 25, 2008 § 5 Comments
Restaurant Week kicked off Monday, and yesterday, Cathy, Tonia, and I met for lunch at Fleur de Sel in the Flatiron District near Union Square. The restaurant is rather small with amber lighting and what took up most of our attention while we waiting for our food was a weird sculptural bottle holder with a tree growing out of it. When I got back to a computer, I tried researching the significance of the gnarled plant, but no leaves.
Outside
For Restaurant Week, there were two choices for each of the three courses. For the first, all three of us ordered the chicken liver pate with salad, brioche toasts, and a balsamic reduction. As usual with French cuisine, the portions were small and such a tease. But it was the BEST pate I’ve had. It was so smooth, so creamy, so well-seasoned that I wished they gave us more brioche – light and crisp with a buttery sweetness – because the two paired beautifully. In the end we ended up smearing the extra on slices of the regular country bread they doled out for us throughout the course of the meal.
For the main course, there was pan seared cod with lobster emulsion and lamb shank crepe with baby carrots and turnips served au jus (what I had). The crepe was extremely thin and delicate and there was no skimping on the lamb which was extremely tender. I kept clanging my fork and knife against the plate because I was so eager to eat it all. I tried a bit of Cathy’s cod and it was so light that it broke apart almost immediately after you even slightly prodded it.
Dessert was the perfect end to an excellent meal. There was an assortment of sorbets with a sugary meringue at the bottom and a blueberry crumbcake with sorbet that was surprisingly light. The flavors of each of the sorbets were incredibly distinct – I hate when all you taste is sugar and nothing else when it comes to ice cream/frozen yogurt/etc. The only thing I regretted overall that the three courses were over so quickly.
The prix fixe for lunch is only 5 dollars more than the Restaurant Week price at 29 dollars. Considering the quality and presentation of the food that Cyril Renaud is creating from the kitchen, that’s still a heck of a deal. Plus, the menus change in tandem with the season and availability of ingredients so you’re not always going to see the same choices. Highly recommend it – if you can, try the pate! It was my favorite part of the meal.
Fleur de Sel
5 E. 20th St nr. 5th Avenue
212.460.9100
Warning! Long post: Dylan’s, Papillon, La Maison du Chocolat, and Bo Ky
July 15, 2008 § 20 Comments
Saturday, July 12th, was my second youngest sister’s birthday. Laura turned 15, and two days before, my youngest sister, Jackie, turned 10. What way to celebrate other than a whole day out in New York City? And I mean a whole day.
We first visited the Brooklyn Museum to see the Murakami exhibit for ourselves – Murakami is probably best known for his
art on Kanye West‘s last album and the cherry-covered Louis Vuitton bags. The exhibition as a whole was pretty eye-popping and funky and a bit freaky, something I’m glad we’d seen before it’s closing the next day.
Here’s an example of Murakami’s SUPERFLAT art. See the flowers below the actual canvas? Well, entire walls were covered in those psychedelic happy flowers. Let’s just say I was a bit dizzy by the end.
SUPERFLAT
From Brooklyn, we took the 4 all the way up to 59 and Lex where Laura and Jackie went gaga over the treats at Dylan’s Candy Bar. They’ve just finished renovations, and now the lower level is exclusively for candy while the upper level is a full-out ice cream, frothy drink cafe.
Afterwards, we walked down to 5th where Laura wanted to see the cubed Apple store (there were droves of people waiting in line for the new iphone so we didn’t actually go inside) and amused ourselves in the Ugly Doll section of FAO Schwarz. Other stops included the Disney store (Jackie went beserk when she saw the Jonas Brothers window display), Henri Bendel, and Takashimaya, until we finally decided at 2:00 PM that it was time to eat and randomly chose Papillon.
Papillon was a mediocre “bistro” with the usual French dishes such as French Onion Soup, foie gras pate with greens, etc. Since it was brunch time, we also got brioche French toast (my favorite of the dishes), and a disappointing burger that lacked tenderness, salinityand flavor. I could’ve been eating a chew toy. Well, I guess you win some, you lose some.
Dishes at Papillon
Walked around a bit more until we got to Rockefeller Plaza, where I dragged the two kiddies to La Maison du Chocolat to FINALLY try one (well, three) of their famous macarons.
Is there anything more delicious? These really are the best macarons I’ve had in NYC – the almond meringues on each had the desired crispiness at the initial bite, yet the insides were soft and slightly chewy and went well with the healthy dose of the filling (Financier macarons don’t have enough and that bothers me a bit). My personal favorite was the chocolate and tea. There was a hint of raspberry that lightened the richness of the chocolate, perfect complements to one another. The coffee was delicious, and the caramel a bit too rich and sweet for me, but it was just plain wonderful to finally eat even a single one.
Macarons!
We ended our day out by shopping in Soho. I stopped at Vosges Haut Chocolat to pick up a couple chocolate bars and we looked around the MoMA store to see if there were any interesting gadgets on sale (usually it’s way too pricey for us). But most importantly, we had to eat noodles for dinner. It’s a Chinese tradition to eat noodles on your birthday because the food symbolizes long life, and we went to our family favorite – Bo Ky.
Just simple, duck and mushroom noodle soup at an unbelievably low price. Flavorful broth with condiments on the side that you can add to your heart’s delight, tender duck, and a helping of Chinese broccoli and mushrooms. Comfort food at its finest and a wonderful meal at the end of a very long and jam-packed day. We went home quite happy.
Soy sauce chicken noodle soup
So there you have it, another long day in the best city in the world. I’m biased it’s true, but after this post, how can you not think it so?
People’s Republic
June 27, 2008 § 4 Comments
Ameya (high school friend who is also interning in the city) and I went to grab some lunch at Republic near Union Square on Monday. The area is a favorite of ours since it’s the second stop on the uptown 4 express from Fulton Street where we work plus there’s a whole slew of decent restaurants right in that circle. I’ll be going to Danny Meyer’s Union Square Cafe for Restaurant Week on July 25. *
Republic is a Thai restaurant and it’s HUGE. It’s a bit deceiving from the outside, but once you walk in and up the steps, there’s a large and spacious area with communal tables and benches and the noise is so loud. However, it’s cheap, there’s variety in the menu, and it’s quick so it fits within our one hour lunch break.
For drinks, we ordered the Thai Iced Tea (Ameya’s) and a Honey Kalamansi (me). What I really appreciated about both was that neither was sickeningly sweet and you could tell there was no artificial flavoring included in the making of the drinks. The Thai Iced tea was smooth and delicious and I only wish I could recall exactly what was in the kalamansi – honey, meyer lemon, thai basil? There was a lovely tartness from the lemon that lingered on the tongue a few seconds after drinking it. If anyone knows the recipe, please tell me!!! I’d like to try making some myself.
Thai iced tea and Kalamansi limeade
Ameya ordered the Grilled Beef with rice angel noodles, mint, lettuce, jicama, and carrots and I got three small dishes –fried calamari with sweet chili sauce, grilled eggplant with lime juice, sesame seeds, and miso, and beef satay with a spicy peanut sauce. Service was quick and my goodness, these portions were HUGE! Ameya, a devoted meat lover, had trouble finishing the somewhat too-salty grilled beef skewers and I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him struggle eating beef. In the middle, he started taking it off the skewers and just wrapping it in the lettuce Korean bbq style before dipping it in the provided peanut sauce, which couldn’t compare to the one I had for my beef satay.
Ameya's beef dish
My fried calamari was unfortunately, inconsistent. Some rings were rubbery and hard to chew while others were perfectly tender, but there was a sizable amount of crunch on the outside (well-seasoned too) and the chili sauce had just the right amount of sweetness to counteract the saltiness of the crusts.
Assorted appetizers
The eggplant, on the other hand, was just what I was craving at the time. Light, smoky, and a bit acidic from the lime juice. It wasn’t overcooked and mushy, but it did not have that raw taste either. The only way to improve this appetizer would be to create some spicy condiment to accompany it. As for the beef satay, the result was similar to Ameya’s dish. Heavily seasoned, yet for the most part, rather tender, and paired well with a spicy peanut sauce that was both sweet and salty. I liked. But those three dishes were pretty substantial, and I walked out of the restaurant feeling very full and very sleepy. So it shouldn’t be any surprise I didn’t get much work done after lunch.
Next time: trying their noodle dishes, which is what they’re more famous for, especially their broth noodles. Eeeeeee!
Republic
37 Union Square West
212.627.7172
Manhattan delivery
* Restaurant Week NYC is from July 21-25 and July 28-August 1 this year. Book your tables at opentable.com now! I know of some places I have in mind already.
Stand at Union Square
June 23, 2008 § 2 Comments
Last Friday I was in the mood for a relatively cheap burger at a restaurant that wasn’t too far from the office. A search narrowed my choice down to Stand near Union Square, which is only two stops away on the 4 train from Fulton Street.
NY Magazine recently mentioned that the restaurant recently changed its burger buns from a doughy, chewy bun to a brioche-like, fluffy bread, and though I hadn’t tried the original, I thought I’d see if the burger was up to the hype.
First though, was my honey lavendar milkshake. Stand uses gelato from the famed Il Laboratorio del Gelato in New York’s Lower East Side to make their gelato and it shows. It wasn’t extremely dense and surprisingly light given that honey and lavendar aren’t as heavy as chocolate or peanut butter to begin with. I loved the herbal undertones and the naturally sweet taste – there’s nothing artificial about this baby. Considering it’s a combination I never would have considered for a milkshake, I was impressed.
Honey lavendar milkshake
I didn’t order fries, no onion rings. I just wanted a big, fat, juicy burger plopped down in front of me that I could bite into. The classic burger I ordered landed with some homemade ketchup (tangy and a bit sweet, but I couldn’t really care less) and looked quite amazing. The bun certainly looked light and soft, and the patty, huge. Oh but what I loved most of all were the glorious juices that spewed out the moment I sunk my teeth into the beauty, probably due to the 70-30 lean-to-fat ratio that Pat La Frieda uses. Oh yeah, the bun was excellent. It held up to the burger and still managed to be all fluffy in my mouth. To be honest though, I had forgotten all about the bun controversy while wiping my hands from all the burger juice.
The Classic
However, despite the abundance of burger juice, the flavor was lacking. Maybe they hadn’t seasoned the meat as much as they should have, but there was definitely something missing that the Shake Shack always delivers, and I’m not talking about the Shack sauce. My taste buds just didn’t have that happy-dance reaction they usually have when I bite into a Double Shack Burger. It was still good though, considering I didn’t have to wait an hour for it, but S.S. still comes out on top in the burger division.
Financier, savory and sweet
June 20, 2008 § 2 Comments
Yesterday, my supervisor Nora and I stopped at Financier to pick up some macarons for her mother. But, you can’t just go into that pastry shop without walking out with something. I’d never tried their sandwiches or salads so I picked up le boeuf roti sandwich with caramelized onions and horseradish creme fraiche along with a fig tartelette because my stomach just couldn’t ignore all the pretty pastries in the case. It wasn’t too expensive either!
Considering the sandwich was wrapped up and not fresh-made, it was pretty darn good. The roast beef was well seasoned and not at all dry, and there was a substantial amount of it even if you can’t really tell from the pictures. The horseradish creme fraiche brought just enough depth and kick to the beef without being too heavy (I automatically think of the Chili’s awesome blossom dressing) and the caramelized onions added a wonderful sweetness that just brought everything together. And let’s not forget the bread. Chewy but crackly, light but sturdy enough to hold the insides. I love this place.
If the sandwich was good though, nothing prepared me for the tarte. I basically just got it because Nora and I both thought it was “pretty” with all the figs and raspberry piled on top. What I didn’t expect was the wonderful pistachio paste inside. Eeeee, I get really happy thinking about it even now. The figs, which were coated with sweet honey, were still juicy, and their ripeness contrasted with the wonderful tart of the raspberry. Slivered almonds added crunch and the sugar dough crust was lovely that I had finished the whole thing before I’d even realized. Nora helped though!
Pistachio and fig tartelette
Notes on Food 