Han + Diana Eats! A Food Blog

The Monday Prix Fixe Special @ Buttermilk Channel

2012-02-15T22:36:00.002-06:00

I've debated writing this post.

There are reasons why I should:

1. Dinner with Anne is always a delight.

2. The dessert was *so* good.

There are reasons why I shouldn't:

1. The service was *so* bad. Atrocious. Frustrating. Terrible.

2. The overall meal was meh. Meh, I tell you. No other words. Just three letters that reflect a sound to summarize our lame disappointment.

3. My pictures suck. Lighting (sigh). Try not to look too hard.

Sooooo, with all that out of the way, let's just boogie on through this until dessert !

Word on the street is Beyonce and her beau, Jay-Z, like to frequent Buttermilk Channel. Maybe when they dine here, they nosh on these house-made pickles served in both spear and sliced form...

...or maybe they like the fresh mozzarella balls, skewered with crusty, oiled bread, laced with tiny anchovies and broiled until golden. These were not bad, but they were not great. They were just alright - punched up by the tiny, salty fish that makes Thanan's heart go pitter-pat.

Pureed cauliflower soup was a promising start to our three-course prix-fixe feast, available on Mondays at Buttermilk Channel for a slim 25 bones. New discovery: crushed pistachios in creamy soup = delightful.

Anne's green apple and arugula salad was more disappointing, the promising charm of grilled blue cheese sandwiches were simply that - toasted bread with grilled cheese inside and nothing more (sometimes the menu does mean what it really says!).

Most tables received freshly baked popovers upon seating. We waited for nearly half an hour before reminding our waitress that we would very much love to enjoy these puffy, airy gems also. Perhaps we had waited too long - the anticipation was too great - and while warm, eggy and indeed fresh, the popovers were merely fine. An extra heavy pour of honey on the plate woulda pushed them over the edge to good, but Anne didn't even feel like finishing hers, so I helped her out (that is what friends are for!).

We ordered the ham wrapped trout, served on a thick bed of grits and roasted radishes. Anne was really loving the flavor of the grits, despite its unbecoming, thick and chunky texture. We both agreed the trout was fishy - the good fishy that true fish lovers enjoy but on-the-fence-loving-fish-people would not particularly appreciate, the overall dish augmented by the salty ham seared within the crispy trout skin.

Our other entree was their popular fried chicken, served atop two cheddar waffles alongside savoy cabbage slaw.

Sinking my knife into the cardboard-textured skin of the chicken elicited immediate feelings of sadness and remorse for ordering this dish. The initial bite, with painful chew through the overly thick, tough exterior, grew even more disappointing in discovering the fairly moist poultry flesh underneath that breaded abomination was bland beyond belief. Just a little bit of salt? Please? Brine it? Dine it? With some soy sauce? Anything. Pretty please. This bird needs a super healthy kick of seasoning up its...yes. Don't even get me started on the cheddar waffles that were sad, stiff little pucks. If you like the texture and flavor of Cheez Nips, then you will like them. Chew carefully.

We laughed at how much the chicken needed salt. (Anne laughed. I cried. When fried chicken goes wrong, it can go so very wrong!)

What was amazing was that the chocolate chip bread pudding was much saltier than the fried chicken plate altogether. Large, coarse flakes of salt were heavily sprinkled on the drizzled chocolate butterscotch sauce. The bread pudding itself was okay. Dense, heavy, unbalanced in sweetness against the salt, I cared very little for this dish.

The knockout star of the whole night was the pecan pie sundae. A miniature version is served with the prix-fixe, but I have half a mind to come back just to eat a full-sized helping of this delicious beaut. Layers of huge, softly-caramelized pecans, velvety vanilla ice cream and lovely whipped cream in a cup. Simple. Savory. Sweet. Great. It was a glorious sundae symphony.

Sometimes the best is saved for last. You should just go on and skip the whole charade of the meal though, and head straight for the sweet goods.

Buttermilk Channel

524 Court St

Brooklyn, NY

A Hot Valentine's Date: Grom Hot Chocolate

2012-02-14T23:24:00.002-06:00

This year, I found Valentine's Day a great excuse to completely indulge in a brilliant cup of chocolatey splendor.

Wandering around the West Village, I passed by Grom, with posters taped in the windows urging pedestrians to take the chill off inside with a cup of hot chocolate. Though today was not particularly chilly, a cup of hot chocolate sounded mighty fine.

Grom serves a couple of hot chocolate options with fancy Italian words: cioccolata calda fondente is made with dark Venezuelan chocolate, fresh whole milk, cocoa powder, and cane sugar. Cioccolata calda bacio uses gianduja cream, made with hazelnuts. I opted for the cioccolata calda fondente to keep things pure and simple. Medium (more than sufficient cocoa shock). The server will then ask if you want whipped cream.

You will want the whipped cream.

The whipped cream, scooped with a flat metal spoon and eased onto the glistening surface, is nothing short of magnificent. Grom utilizes special machinery to whip cream within a metal container, reducing the amount of air incorporated. The result is absolute, luscious heaven.

Though rich and resplendently thick, the hot chocolate remains drinkable, best savored slowly, alongside spoonfuls of the beautiful, almost buttery whipped cream.

The hot chocolates I adore in the city are few, but Grom's may be among the best of them.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone !

Love,
han

Grom
233 Bleecker
New York, NY

Philadelphia ! Capogiro, Beck's Cajun Cafe & Sabrina's

2012-02-11T00:16:00.000-06:00

This is going to be a long post. It is going to be filled with delicious pictures. Following review of this post, you will most likely snack on something that will not be as satisfying as anything posted here, but that is okay - I just polished off a package of Andy Capp hot fries. You are in fine company!

Greeshma and I were not intending to eat ice cream in November, but after reading that Capogiro was named in National Geographic as the #1 place in the whole world to eat ice cream, we had to check it out, because you know how I feel about restaurant superlatives.

The first thing you might notice, as I surely did, is that Capogiro is not an ice cream place. It is a gelateria. I immediately questioned National Geographic's loose use of the term "ice cream," but Greeshma's love for the periodical pushed us through the glass doors. Our eyes instantly feasted upon beautifully swirled displays of Amish dairy goodness.

I believe Greeshma and I abused our sampling privileges, but it was worth it. The Thai coconut milk was pure and delicious - like drinking a can of Chaokoh bottoms up. I ended up getting a scoop of that flavor alongside some rich dark chocolate.

The gelato was expectedly creamy and satisfying, but the immediate question at hand was: Is it the best in the world? Mmm...not for a long shot. I admit, I have not eaten a lot of ice cream from across the world, but I know there is better ice cream in Santa Monica, and I can only imagine the incredible cups coming from the gelaterias in Italy, if we are extending the definition. Capogiro will satiate your cravings, with some flavors more on point than others, but there was nothing that made my knobby knees buckle.

Fueled by Amish calcium, we then took a tour of the Birthplace of American Medicine, the Mutter Museum, one of the most interesting museums I have ever visited (look at me throwing out the superlatives!). It was utterly fascinating, and eye-opening. If you find yourself in Philadelphia, it's definitely worth a creepy visit, especially if eight-foot colons are your thing.

On Sunday morning, Greeshma and I headed to the Reading Terminal to reacquaint ourselves with our beloved apple dumplings, only to find one flaw in our decisioning process:

The Amish do not work on Sunday.

It should have been obvious. (We often miss obvious things when we are together.)

So we waltzed around aimlessly until we both did a literal double-take on a sandwich one young chap was unwrapping at a plastic cafeteria table. By double-take, I mean, Greeshma stopped in her tracks and stared at the kind fellow while he took his first amazing bite. We then politely waited for him to chew and swallow before asking where he got it.

We immediately bee-lined to Beck's Cajun Cafe and ordered ourselves a breakfast po boy to share, since, naturally, we had a brunch to tend to shortly thereafter.

I love watching eggs cook on the griddle, especially when I know those eggs are mine.

Beck's other Cajun fare looked equally delicious, especially the golf ball-sized hunks of fried mac 'n cheese in the bottom left corner. We also sampled the jambalaya which was remarkably well-seasoned, moist and flavorful.

Although I am sure it was no more than five minutes, the wait was excruciating. After we unwrapped our much anticipated foot-long sandwich with glee, we gazed at it with glorious admiration.

The cast of Breakfast Po Boy characters: Medium cooked egg. Melted provolone. Thin slices of peppery Andouille sausage. Fresh French baguette, toasted.

It was awesome.

I think if Sam Sifton ate this sandwich, he would describe just as eloquently:

"Awesome." - Sam Sifton

I loved the spicy sausage, and the bread was perfection. Greeshma proclaimed that she only wanted to eat breakfast sandwiches on French baguettes from now on, and I could not agree more. The bread was soft, slightly chewy with just the right amount of added crunch from the crust. We devoured it in minutes.

We then wiped our faces and headed over to Sabrina's, one of Greeshma's favorite brunch eateries.

Sabrina's is an exceptionally popular spot on weekends, with notoriously long waits, but Greeshma and Stef both have the routine down pat, and we waited about 15 minutes before being wedged into the bustling brunch scene.

Belmund and Stef before diving into the tremendous spread (though Stef appears to have a headstart)

Belmund dined on the huevos rancheros, a hot mess of chorizo, guacamole and jalapeno peppers piled high on blue corn tortillas.

Stef ordered her favorite, the apple and cheddar omelet.

Her facial expression is recommendation enough!

Stef admitted the omelet sounds weird, but the sweetness from the Granny Smith apples melded well with the sharpness of the cheddar. It was rather delicious. I was rather jealous.

A side order of blurry sausages (my hands must've been too eager to snatch one). Picture shown to indicate heft of these links - ridiculously thick and meaty.

Greeshma's omelet with goat cheese and some sort of vegetables.

Going for the Thanksgiving theme at the time, I ordered off of the brunch specials menu with a dish titled the Mayflower featuring things they probably did not eat on the Mayflower, but most likely wished they did: poached eggs, marinated skirt steak, avocado, grilled cornbread, corn slaw, the works.

There was a lot going on in the menu description, and there was a lot going on in my plate. Unfortunately, the steak was limp, chewy and fairly flavorless, the cornbread dry and disappointing. It was a sad breakfast order indeed.

However, the meal was quickly redeemed by the beautiful shared plate centering our table - the brunch special french toast featuring apricot jelly, cream cheese and goo galore encapsulated by the thickest slices of challah bread.

With one bite of this unbelievable concoction, all was right in the world once again.

It certainly doesn't look the prettiest, but the taste is spot on dynamite. Decadent, moist and creamy, all french toasts should be stuffed with warm cream cheese, seared on all edges and launched directly into my large mouth. Bliss!

Philadelphia, you were a tasty visit. Can't wait to see you again soon!

Love,
han

Capogiro
119 S 13th
Philadelphia, PA

Beck's Cajun Cafe
Reading Terminal
12th & Arch
Philadelphia, PA

Sabrina's Cafe
1804 Callowhill St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Churros at La Churreria & Lady M Confections

2012-02-05T22:33:00.003-06:00

One of my first NYC meals of 2012 was at La Churreria with Mr. Foodandpants. Though I believe there is no finer churro than the ones served in body-packed Little Brazil during Brazil Day, the idea of a new eatery specializing in these golden-ridged rods was something I just had to check out.

From the same owners of Socarrat, La Churreria offers a small menu featuring breakfast rolls, sandwiches and churros. The restaurant is tiny, with just a handful of small tables and a few barstools, and gets packed quickly. Luckily, this old man slammed down his hot chocolate and left after finding my intense stare particularly disconcerting. Works every time!

Josh requested we order a bikini to share. I was all for it, because who doesn't love food named after swimwear, served as little toasted, triangle-shaped beauties? I can't stop smiling just thinking about it. Consider me easily charmed!

This bikini came with Spanish ham, cheese and caramelized onions. Though the sandwich appeared thin and rather simple, the taste was a surprisingly perfect balance of savory and sweet. Caramelized onions should be a cast member appearing in all sandwiches.

We made quick work of the bikini and promptly moved onto the paper cone of churros, freshly fried to order and lightly dusted with soft white sugar.

You can see Josh in the background, impatiently awaiting for the churro photo session to end. What a good friend (with a cool Casio watch).

The churros can be ordered with a small cup of melted chocolate, and it is the only way it should be ordered, as the sugar lends little sweetness to the fried stems, but a luxurious swirl in the pool of dark chocolate can quickly remedy that situation. Such a lovely snack.

After, Josh and I hopped the 6 to the UES and stopped by Lady M's in hopes to experience their ridicuously gorgeous banana mille feuille, which Josh pronounces beautifully, and I butcher with my rough, Texas roots.

Unfortunately, the stars were not aligned for us, and there were no banana mille feuille to be had. The remaining offerings included their namesake Mille Crepe featuring 20 layered crepes.

A wondrously sleek-looking strawberry shortcake.

And the craggly, rectangular strawberry mille feuille.

Naturally, we grabbed slices of all of these. Unfortunately, the narrow-spaced cafe was filled to the brim with ladies that tea that afternoon, so we took our bakery box to a nearby park bench to enjoy.

I am somewhat embarassed with how quickly I was able to stuff this slice of strawberry shortcake into my mouth, but it was cold, and for whatever reason, the buttercream frosting just lubricated my throat so well.

The cake was airy and light, and the strawberries were fresh and sweet. It was basically everything one would expect a fine strawberry shortcake to be, but there is little else to remark upon this perfectly unremarkable slice of cake.

On the other hand, the strawberry mille feuille was a lovely mix of textures, with crispy, buttery puff pastry cradling layers of cream, strawberry and sponge cake. I suspect the banana mille feuille might be even more brilliant, and I see that verdict in my future soon.

La Churreria

284 Mulberry

New York, NY

Lady M Confections

41 E 78th St

New York, NY

Getting a Piece of That Henan Flavor

2012-01-29T21:30:00.000-06:00

Over the span of the last year, I may have exhausted much of the original charm of Xian Famous Foods. Although the cumin-spiced lamb and fiery soup still hits the occasional craving, the quality has been a bit lacking of late from the St. Mark's location. So, in third-wheeling onto a pal's Chinatown lunch adventure, I was excited to find familiar looking fare at Henan Flavor, a warm, cozy spot on Forsyth.

We began our family-style meal with the griddled pork sandwich.

The bread was hot, crispy and delightful, similar to Xian, but the tender minced pork filling was merely fine, highlighted by cilantro but little else. Skippable at best.

Our second appetizer, egg and tomato lo mein was a homey, colorful bowl of sweet crushed tomatoes swirled with golden cooked egg.

It was a refreshing and light dish (how I felt so healthy eating this vegetarian dish!), but my spice-lusting heart yearned for something more..

...which was answered with the main event...

Oh, Big Tray of Chicken, how thy name suits thee well!

A glorious stainless steel tray piled high with jagged, handpulled noodles swimming in a crimson chili oil infused with Sichuan peppercorns and spices. The plate comes with only chicken, however, for a couple dollars more (and highly recommended), noodles can be added to the tray. The thick strands soak up the peppered oils perfectly.

Though the handpulled noodles lacked a bit of chewiness, the dish was so warm and comforting. The subtle heat graduated with each bite, a welcomed contrast to the freshness of the tomato lo mein.

The Big Tray is a dark meat lover's dream, juicy, flavorful and plentiful, though a little work is needed to maneuver around the bones.

I sometimes find myself thinking about this Big Tray of Chicken. I am not sure what it is - the simplistic name of the dish? The spicy Sichuan flavor?, but with other Henanese places in the New York area (including my favorite - Flushing (!)), a visit to Queens may be imminent in my future to see what else is going on in this Henanese scene.

Henan Flavor
68B Forsyth
New York, NY 10002

The Adventure of Sannakji Chulpan @ Sik Gaek - Part 1

2012-01-25T01:21:00.000-06:00

This is a story of how four Asian vagabonds banded together on a swashbuckling quest to defeat an eerie and mystical enemy named Old Sannakji Chulpan (to be said with a low and breathy voice for proper effect). The epic journey began on a dark and mysterious corner of Woodside known as Sik Gaek - home of some lunch special. We didn't care about the lunch special though (because it was night time), and because we had much more important matters of concern.

Immediately, ol' Sannakji's minions tried to distract us by frying a trio of eggs in front of our unwavering eyes. I admit, I instantly grew weak at the thought of eggs over medium, but Thanan perservered and ate his yolk in one fell swoop. "What else you got?" he said with his signature jeer.

They didn't have much. Some baby carrots that I passed on, so while those other knuckleheads nibbled on rabbit food, I couldn't stop staring into the flames that resembled the tentacles of ol' Sannakji!

I glanced at Sannakji's distant relatives, waiting in a tank beside us, a good audience for the battle that was about to ensue...

Oh wait. Another distraction. Steamed egg. Okay. I like the egg theme here. These are hot and delightful.
(Exhale)
I must remain strong!

Ugh, Greeshma. Don't look at that dimpled Korean eye candy cutting our paejan with such cheer, another ploy launched by Sannakji to weaken our resolve, or particularly, Greeshma's Korean-boy-fetish-resolve. Must. Look. Beyond. These. Distractions ! No, Greeshma, no!

The paejan was crispy, albeit a touch greasy, and could've used more seafood. I was so over it, with or without the dimpled server.

And then, as mysteriously as the head bosses appear in the dungeons of Zelda...

Old Sannakji Chulpan appeared before us!

The shocking vision caused sheer horror and terror to ripple through our skinny-fat frames!

We stared deep into the many eyes of Old Sannakji, as it writhed and slithered before us...Thick black claws waving to us from the steamy broths of hell.

Thanan felt confident, exclaiming, "You are no match for me, ha ha ha!" as his spiky hair flopped back with glee.

Greeshma looked dumbfounded yet excited: "It's like Sannakji is looking right into my soul...but the joke is on him! I don't have a soul, and I am about to eat his! MUahaHaHa" Whoa. Vicious! Don't mess with Texas, y'all!

There was no way Old Sannakji could be a match against our valor, our determination and most importantly, our appetites.

Thanan described his method of attack: "I'll just basically take all the seafood pieces that I like. You guys take care of the rest."

And then his eyes honed in on sea snail #1.

Plentiful pieces of octopus and squid could be found throughout the savory, spicy and utterly delicious scarlet broth. It was going to be an exciting time!

And so we began, the three of us, digging into the depths of that giant pot of richly flavorful seafood stew, tossing the shells and remnants of the glory that used to be old Sannakji into sad, 99 cent Ikea buckets beneath our tables.

Hiya, conch. Conch wait to eat you. (Ha! I kill myself sometimes.)

It was a joyous time, full of laughter and merriment. Nothing is more satisfying than witnessing seafood die before you and thriving on their freshly cooked flesh!

Hi sea snail. I'll sea you in my stomach. (Okay, I did say I only kill myself sometimes.)

And then we called for reinforcements because Greeshma was starting to hyperventilate. The pot was neverending - a deep abyss of Korean ferocity!

"I can help you with this," said Anne, suddenly appearing with an interesting facial expression that reassured us completely.

But as she stared into the mile-wide pot filled with growing tentacles and udon noodles,

Anne began to feel a little...full...and human. Old, wily Sannakji can humble the best of them!

"Guys...it keeps growing!..."

Ha. "Told you," said Thanan with his super signature all-knowing jeer (and finger point to boot).

So...
...we let Sannakji win this time. I know. (Sigh.) After three hours of exhausting non-stop eating (#firstworldproblems), we decided to pause this ambitious conquest for now, to be continued on a future, imminent date...

We then gave our overworked jaws a break from the smorgasbord of chewy seafood flesh and sank our teeth into some Cake Man Raven confections that Anne stealthily snuck into the restaurant (the way that vagabonds and rapscallions often do).

The whole feast was washed down with some invigorating green drink that might have tasted like sweet cucumber and called it a night.

You may have won this one, Sannakji, but we will be back, revitalized and stronger than ever!

Until then,

Your frenemy,

han

Sik Gaek

49-11 Roosevelt Ave, Woodside, NY 11377

Cafe on the Green @ the Four Seasons

2012-01-21T21:11:00.037-06:00

I know it's only January, but I already miss the holidays! So today, while there's still snow on the ground - making me feel all warm and cozy inside - allow me to reminisce about my amazing Christmas Eve dinner buffet at the Four Seasons in Dallas. Nice buffets are often hit or miss, but this one hit all the right spots and then some.

It was in Cafe on the Green, already a beautiful spot with views of sprawling greens, and I'd be lying if I didn't think to myself, "Wow, this would be a gorgeous place for a wedding." I mentioned that to my father, and he said, in the nicest way possible, something to the effect of "Dream on." And so I will dream! ;)

The first thing I noticed about the buffet was the dessert room. Not just any dessert room. A dessert room full of holiday displays of adorable winter settings - all made of chocolate and candies and other edible delights. It took my breath away. I felt like Reese Witherspoon in the opening scenes of Sweet Home Alabama, where Patrick Dempsey takes her to a Tiffany store, gets down on one knee and says, "Pick one." Except I'm luckier - because I didn't have to just pick one... I pretty much picked everything.

Did you see the chocolate fondue tower? Yeah. Even the food labels were made of chocolate, written with even more chocolate.

I was so distracted by the desserts, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the other food setups, except for the kids station.

Um, awesome.

You'll be happy to hear that I actually did eat some substantive food.

Boom. Christmas in my stomach, without the hassle of preparation or cleanup. I loved the crab claws and cocktail shrimp. Fresh, plump, delicious. I took a couple of broccoli florets from the salad station for good measure. You know, to be healthy. The best part was the combo of the turkey+dressing+gravy+homemade cranberry sauce. All of it was spot on, with perfect texture and moistness. None of it tasted like it came from a buffet.

After a couple of plates of that, I tackled the desserts. Started out with this plate of goodness:

Clock-wise from top left: apple quince purse, chocolate pecan tart, fudge brownie with caramel dipping sauce, blueberry tart, raspberry macaron, madeleine with fig dipping cream. A strawberry pavlova fills out the center of my plate. I included a close-up of the pecan tart... because hello, who doesn't love gold-dusted food? Every single thing on my plate was absolute quality and delicious.

And also, I love pavlovas. I've loved them ever since my friend Jen made a spectacular chocolate pavlova years and years ago.

This one was also pretty wonderful - light, airy, with just the right amount of sweetness.

My second plate of happiness:

Clock-wise from the top: coffee panna cotta, pistachio mousse and tuiles, cognac pear tart, and caramel cream puff. Again, everything was a winner! My favorite of the night was the pistachio mousse and tuiles. The mousse was nicely light and flavorful, and the crisp of the tuiles was a perfect complement.

My third plate:

By this time, I was keeling over with fullness, but I couldn't pass up the chocolate fountain, or the creme brûlée, or the pretty cheesecake and chocolates. I just couldn't. And yet again, my stomach found this plate to be thoroughly enjoyable.

My point is, every once in a while you gotta treat yourself to a room full of dessert. And if you make it to the Four Seasons in Dallas, you won't be disappointed. I'm already looking forward to next year's Christmas Eve buffet.

Cafe on the Green at the Four Seasons

4150 North MacArthur Boulevard
Irving, Texas 75038

972.717.0700

Fried Chicken @ The Redhead & Nightcap @ Peels

2012-01-13T22:29:00.003-06:00

My admitted weaknesses to-date include:

1. Restaurants with the word "Factory" in the name

2. Cinnamon

3. Flavored butter

4. Food served flambé

You can also add onto the list: superlatives.

I try to ignore words like "Best" (of any geographic area or of one's life) or "to die for" (a fair sacrifice), but the words just start tugging at me...

Could it be...?

...the BEST?

No one could possibly use that word lightly. It has to be true. And people would not die for mediocrity.

And so Thanan, Josh and I found ourselves at The Redhead to confirm Serious Eats' declared champ for the "Best Fancy Pants Fried Chicken."

Deliberating on pants and life.

We began our meal with their famous bacon peanut brittle, a bowl of candied peanuts that are savory, sweet and addictive.

After, we dabbled in some housemade crispy tator tots, little cubes of squishy potatoes that were fine and not notable.

And then the trio of plates of fried chicken arrived at our tiny table with a flourish, the pants conversations quieted as we delved into the piping hot pieces of poultry.

The $17 chicken plate comes a breast and a thigh to a plate, a small side salad and a cornbread muffin.

Though I found the crust beautifully golden and crunchy, the chicken fairly moist and flavorful, I was generally disappointed to find that this bird was nothing special, that each bite did not elicit feelings of euphoria and exclamations of superlatives to the heavens. I know. I wish it could've worked out for the both of us, but let's face it. It's average. It gets the job done and with a remarkably delicious piece of cornbread at that. (The quest for the best continues !)

After, we strolled into Peels, yet again, for some dessert.

S'mores cake with graham cracker. Was okay. Thanan did not finish this tiny dish, which is evidence of its mere okayness.

Apple pie. Josh had no problem finishing this, since he finishes just about anything.

Sundae: peanuts, pretzels, salted caramel, brownie bites, hot fudge. Yup. I tapped that.

The sundae was pretty slammin', especially served in a jar. Jars just might be another weakness of mine.

'Til next time!
-haaaaaaaaaan

Redhead
349 E. 13th Street
East Village, New York City

Peels
325 Bowery, NYC

Chinese Food! Yogee

2012-01-10T23:23:00.000-06:00

When I am not eating fried chicken, I find myself eating a lot of Asian food. After growing quite the appetite on a city scavenger hunt (serenading strangers can really get the stomach rumbling), we headed to Yogee, Jamie's favorite Chinese spot off Chrystie and Grand.

The restaurant is known for their beef noodle dumpling soup; we ordered a large bowl of it and basked in its warmth, enjoying the hearty broth scented with star anise.

The egg noodles were bouncy, the dumplings particularly brainy looking and the chunks of beef were pretty fine.

The salted fish with chicken fried rice, was an exceptionally pungent affair, punctuated by the stinky little bits of supersalty fish. Though the fried rice is borderline too oily (thank goodness for the huge complimentary pot of hot tea to cut through the grease), the dish is completely comforting, if not addictive, thanks to that damn salty odorous fish. This is a dish you should eat when you do not plan to partake in any makeout sessions after (unless you're into that, which is cool by me).

Smell ya later!
<3,
han

Top of the Hub

2012-01-07T13:02:00.008-06:00

Every big city has one - a landmark skyscraper with a restaurant at the very top where you take your out-of-town friends and family. Some of them rotate (Dallas' Reunion Tower FTW), some do not. Boston's Top of the Hub in the Prudential Tower does not rotate, but the view is mighty fine. So when Dan visited me for the first time in Boston a couple of months ago, I decided he had to see it. We went for lunch, and the weather cooperated beautifully.

Some patrons enjoying lunch with their view:

Of course, I always pay attention to the bread. Theirs was a rosemary focaccia - nothing special.

Dan got the chicken artichoke flatbread.

Again, this was just okay - nothing more, nothing less than its name.

I ordered the Korean bbq pork sandwich.

I loved the look of my dish. It came with chips sprinkled with something like old bay seasoning in a paper cone (why can't I get enough of paper cones?!). The pork was tasty, topped with a softer, milder version of kimchi, and finished off with some mayo. The bun itself was grilled nicely... but then when I put it all together, it all became this sort of soggy, sloppy mess. I felt like there was liquid oozing everywhere.

I should know better than to complain about the food... you don't go to the Top of the Hub for food. You go for this:

Sun, sky, city, ocean... Sigh. I love Boston.

Top of the Hub

800 Boylston Street

Prudential Tower

Boston, MA 02199

617-536-1775

A Marriage of My Loves: Fried Chicken and Doughnuts at Federal Donuts

2012-01-04T21:30:00.001-06:00

Greeshma moved to Philadelphia over a year ago. I felt bad for her, because I had always assumed NYC > Philadelphia (because I am so narrow-sighted and small-minded), but maybe Greeshma knew something that I didn't know...

That Philadelphia was going to receive a restaurant that combined all the goodness in the world at one venue. And such an official-sounding restaurant at that.

Yes! Hello! So nice to meet you, Federal Donuts!

There are three things to notice when you enter Federal Donuts.

1) It's small. Maybe ten counter seats only. Get there early (11:30a) to secure a spot in the fried chicken queue because apparently they run out quick during the work week.

2) They have a sweet coffee drip system similar to Blue Bottle Coffee (to the left in the image below):

3) You cannot help but stare at the racks of beautiful, "fancy" doughnuts awaiting next to golden pieces of fried chicken:

Once you get over all that (thankfully Belmund is a patient fellow), you can focus on ordering!

We made it easy and ordered one of every fancy doughnut flavor.

The doughnuts are all cakey gems, so yeast lovers be warned !

The one that looks like a hamburger is Pomegranate Nutella

It's filled with a ring of Nutella that is overpowered by the tart icing.

Lemon poppy was bright and citrusy. A good doughnut palate cleanser as you nosh on other doughnuts.

Apple cinnamon, like eating an apple pie for breakfast, a.k.a. amaaazing.

Key lime pie and probably Belmund and my hands down favorite. Graham cracker crumb aaaaand...

Tart key lime filling on the inside?! More pie for breakfast?!?! Cannot. Get. Enough.

Raspberry with white chocolate filling is great for raspberry lovers, but as one that does not like that darn hairy berry, I was okay with just a nibble and moving on.

Spicy chocolate peanut was a dark, ugly doughnut with a good amount of zing and crunch from the peanuts. Pretty dense. (Like Belmund's head.)

Around 11:45, they passed out tickets to drooling customers awaiting the frying of the chicken ! Each fried chicken half is one ticket. We ordered ourselves a bird and a half.

The chicken comes in crispy and glazed versions; crispy flavors include Za'atar (Middle Eastern flair), Harissa (Moroccan chiles), Mole and Jerk while glazed flavors feature chile garlic and honey ginger.

Belmund and I went for the crispy (you know it!).

The Za'atar was a dark and beautifully spiced bird with great flavor.

The jerk chicken was mildly spiced.

The initial bite of new fried chicken is the most nerve-wracking for me - so many questions running through my head!: Will it be crunchy? Will it be well-seasoned? Will it be sufficiently juicy and moist?

After first, second, and tenth bites, I determined that Federal is a fine fried chicken, moist through and through, not greasy and fairly flavorful, however as you can determine from the photos, crunch-factor is a bit lacking from the sparse batter.

However...coupled with the doughnuts, including the maple doughnut that comes with the chicken meal, I can't help but like this spot, and would come back. Sure. Why not?

Aaaaand.

So I did. With Greeshma. The next day.

To eat hot doughnuts (served only from 7-10a) flavored with appolonia, vanilla-lavender and indian cinnamon (how could I resist!).

Let's face it. Hot doughnuts spiced with anything are always good.

I love doughnuts.
And chicken.

And you.

<3,
han

Federal Donuts
1219 S 2nd St
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Happy New Year !

2012-01-01T23:51:00.001-06:00

Looking back on 2011, I can think of so many wonderful meals and happy moments with friends and family.

Probably one of my top five favorites would include this plate of spiced doughnuts from Bouchon in Las Vegas, shared with Diana and Carrie in November.

It represents the epitome of everything I want for 2012: warmth, comfort and sheer delight with loved ones.
(And a side of melted chocolate goodness.)

Here's to a great new year of fantastic eats !

<3,
Han

PS. I have oh so many resolutions for this year, but one is definitely to blog with more regularity! :-)

The Fried Chicken Tour - Egg in Brooklyn

2011-12-13T19:48:00.000-06:00

Oh dear. Where has the time gone? It's December! Christmas is nearly a week away! Apologies for the extended silence. Between work, and lots of travel with lovely friends (Diana! Carrie! Greeshma!), the past month has been a busy blur.

I have made time though for my current obsession: finding the best fried chicken. In one month, I have eaten fried chicken in five different states, including a US territory! I hope that's the kind of dedication you can appreciate.

Last month, the four of us dropped in for an elder-early dinner at Egg, who surprisingly does not serve dinner (closing at 6p), and only serves fried chicken during the weekdays, prompting all of us to rendezvous at 5:00 p.m. on a cool Tuesday evening. We all shared a couple of deep-fried birds and bowls of collard greens and fat lima beans.

You know, I'll admit it. For me, biting into a piece of fried chicken from a new restaurant is like opening a Christmas present. Like discovering an episode of Seinfeld that I have never seen before. I'm seriously, grossly excited by the prospect of discovering a potential new favorite. But, oh, how I have such high fatty hopes that the chicken will crunch my wildest, greasy-induced dreams!

And Egg gets....

...pretty close.

It's flavorful from brining, borderline salty, the way I prefer fried chicken. The crust is delectably crunchy. It's quite moist (even breasty pieces!). Despite checking off all the necessary components of good fried chicken, I'm disheartened to say that this is still not the "best." It's hard to describe what is missing, but I think all I may want in my ideal fried bird are batter-y bits of golden splendor encircling each chicken part. The chicken is quite solid though, and you won't be too disappointed in ordering it.

The sides were good also. Let's not forget them. The collard greens were tender and not too tart. They made the meal kind of healthy!

The lima beans were surprisingly tasty, slightly sour and lightly spiced, and were my favorite.

After, we had a dessert bite at The Meatball Shop in the form of pumpkin ice cream sandwiches on gingersnap cookies. It was a delicious combination.

All in all, good little Bedford meal on a weeknight, but better fried chicken choices are abound! More soon (hopefully, if I can get my act together!)!

Egg
135 North Fifth Street, Brooklyn, NY

The Meatball Shop
170 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

Gilt Bar

2011-11-27T22:14:00.038-06:00

Happy belated Thanksgiving, everyone! After spending a few days in Chicago over the holiday, my belly is now rounder, and my soul is happier. It was great to get some r&r, and one of the nice things about my trip is that I got to catch up with law school buddies Julie and Jordan. Jordan suggested we dine at Gilt Bar, and his suggestion did not disappoint!

Jordan and I immediately decided to split the pork belly entree and truffle pasta. Here's the truffle pasta:

I could eat this pasta all day. The hand cut noodles were cooked al dente, and the truffle flavor was perfection. This dish managed to be creamy but light at the same time. I could have eaten the whole bowl, but I decided to be nice and keep my promise to let Jordan have some.

The pork belly was also quite wonderful. The menu's description: "grilled duroc pork belly with cranberry beans, braised kale & smoked chili broth."

I didn't really notice the cranberry beans, but the pork was super tender and fatty - just the way pork belly should be. I've also decided that I like kale in any form (I've recently taken to kale chips from Whole Foods), so the pile of kale underneath the pork made me very happy.

Julie ordered the orecchiette with spicy pork sausage & herbs.

I tried only one bite, but Julie confirmed that this pasta was solid.

Dan got the bolognese with pappardelle, charred tomato & parmesan.

The ratio of sauce to noodles was just right, the sauce was itself delicious, and the texture of the noodles was again ideal.

The table shared a few sides, too. Some brussels sprouts, for your viewing pleasure:

These were caramelized, with pork belly, maple & parmesan. I honestly couldn't taste the maple, but in general these sprouts were pretty good. Tart, fresh, and flavorful.

Next up were smashed potatoes with roasted garlic & chicken jus.

This was the only mediocre dish of the night. The potatoes were too dense/chunky, and too salty for my taste.

My favorite thing of the night was probably the blackened cauliflower side.

The menu says the cauliflower comes with "pickled red onion, capers & chili." It's a testament to how good the cauliflower is, because I didn't even notice capers... and I hate capers. All I could focus on was the beautiful burnt flavor of the cauliflower. Again, I had to fight my inner glutton to stop myself from eating this whole plate.

We were doing so well with dinner that we just had to continue with dessert. First up, mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Han would have loved this. The mint flavor tasted real and fresh, and I loved the tiny crunch of the chocolate chips.

Julie was a genius and ordered us the toasted coconut and mocha cream pie.

Sorry, this picture makes the pie look like a monster and like there are bugs all over it. In fact, it's kinda freaking me out to look at it anymore. But trust me, this pie was fantastic. The best part was the dollop of mocha cream on top. So light and fluffy. The rest of it was awesome, too. I ate it all together with a big smile on my face.

The desserts made Julie and Jordan smile, too. They're so freaking cute.

Gilt Bar

230 W Kinzie St

Chicago, IL 60654

312-464-9544

The Cure for the Chocolate Craving at Fabiane's

2011-11-10T19:57:00.001-06:00

Once upon a time, I worked from home for four weeks. One week, I caught a marathon of Top Chef: Just Desserts.

Then I could not stop thinking about desserts. I had to have them. The cravings were insatiable.

I made brownies from scratch. Fine.
I made molten chocolate lava cakes. Good.
I ate old Easter egg candy that I found in the pantry. Surprisingly still delicious.

After all that, I still could not kick those pregnant-ladyesque chocolate cravings!

So, I meandered into Fabiane's on Bedford at night (I was running errands! I was vulnerable!) and got the cutest, chocolateyest thing I could find:

Behold, an entirely edible chocolate cup of chocolate mousse!

So adorable. So beautiful.

I hacked into it with my eager spoon.

I can't tell if these images are too suggestive. They make me feel dirty, but in a good way, so I put two in here.

Why yes, your eyes do espy an underground oasis of melted caramel in the center of a creamy chocolate mousse love nest!

Sorry for my creepy index finger in here.

This dynamite concoction was just what I needed. Layers upon layers of chocolate, with a surprise crispy cake layer at the base, lightly flavored with orange.

I ate this alone in my room.
In my bed.
I am gross.
And it was great.

Love,
Han

Fabiane's Cafe & Pastry
142 North 5th Street New York, NY 11211

Dinner at Do or Dine & Dessert at The Chocolate Room!

2011-11-08T21:38:00.002-06:00

Brooklyn + disco balls + a waitstaff that could fit in perfectly in Breaking Bad = terrific Friday night dinner with Anne, Ismail and Thanan at Do or Dine in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Do or Dine is a hip new spot created by twenty-somethings who used to work at The Modern. They learned their tricks of the trade from chef pals, and now dish up standard American type cuisine with interesting, often Asian, twists.

Take their lamb breast, for example, which comes two small ribs to a plate, flavored with cumin and lime and adorned with a green leafy flag. The lamb was borderline gamey, amply spiced and fatty - chewy, melty and tasty.

The foie gras doughnut was a decadent affair - a crisp filled doughnut jammed with grape jelly and creamed foie gras.

The table was mixed on opinion - Anne didn't like the foie texture, wishing it was more in its pure state than the pureed one, Thanan liked it and helped himself to Anne's share, and I thought it was interesting and novel but mainly preferred the oily-crunch of the doughnut shell over the filling.

The tako taco featured tender bits of octopus, sour cream and tomatillo sauce.

The nippon "nachos" came as five vegetable dumplings on a plate. The charred crunch of the dumpling wrappers coupled with the pico de gallo produced the exact flavor of nachos but in a fun presentation.

The "fish and chips" appeared as a whole pan-fried snapper perched upon a pile of thick cut french fries, spine lined with yuzu and head topped with a glistening crown of golden roe.

This dish was a table favorite, the fries crispy despite being soaked in the oily goodness of the fish, the fish light and flaky and the yuzu providing freshness and crunch.

The New Zealand duck breast was thickly sliced and meaty like steak. The skin had just the right touch of fat.

Do or Dine represents Brooklyn restaurantery to the max. Hip waitstaff with cool vocabulary, a cozy, warm space and unique dishes. A good option if you're in the Bed-Stuy area, but I'm not convinced yet that it is a necessary destination spot.

After, we found ourselves in The Chocolate Room in Park Slope, a particularly delicious spot on a cold night with warm candlelight and air that smells rich with chocolate (mmmmmmm).

The waiter immediately greeted us with a dessert amuse bouche - a bite of chocolate chip blondie topped with a drip of melted chocolate. An absolutely lovely bite.

Thanan ordered the spiced dark chocolate. A pool of dense chocolate, utterly warm and brilliantly spiced - cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. So beautiful. So intensely delicious.

I ordered the chocolate layer cake, because I think I was swayed by the Oprah quote featured on their menu ("a luscious and perfect three-layer blackout cake"), but ultimately it was the right decision. It is a very good classic chocolate cake - with slight crumb, sufficient sweetness from the thin layers of icing and a slice big enough to share, though everyone seemed overdosed from their chocolatey drinks. This cake may have been perfect with a generous pour of Thanan's spiced drink across the top.

I love The Chocolate Room. I want to sit there all day and just breathe the air. ***fierce inhale without exhaling*** aahhh.

All in all, such a delicious Brooklyn night! (Love!)

Do or Dine
1108 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11216

The Chocolate Room
86 5th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Apple Picking at Smolak Farms

2011-11-06T21:33:00.046-06:00

One of the best ways to spend a fall weekend day in New England is to go apple picking - especially if you visit Smolak Farms. Smolak Farms has it all: apple orchards, berry fields, a petting zoo, and a general store where you can buy little pieces of heaven otherwise known as apple cider donuts. Lord, and the ice cream! More about that later.

We made the short drive from Boston to North Andover a few weekends ago, and I shrieked with joy when I saw this:

How quaint! Pumpkin patch and all.

I was most excited for the apple cider donuts, so luckily we headed first to the general store for hot cider and donuts. The store was adorable, offering many baked goods, jams, and other homemade items.

The hot apple cider hit the spot, and the apple cider donut (I chose the cinnamon-sugar covered) was amazing.

The cake donut had perfect texture and moistness. The plentiful apple chunks throughout made both my eyes and stomach very happy. I had two donuts instantly, and I bought six more... like this:

They were just as good the next day. And yes, that's a caramel+chocolate+mini-m&ms-covered apple. I stuck it in the fridge for later in the week, and it was divine.

But onto the apple picking... it really was the perfect fall day, and Anna expressed our happiness while walking toward the apple orchard.

The orchard we visited had macintosh and cortland apples, and we filled up a bucket with plenty of each.

Success! Rebecca (an amazing cook and blogger) took these apples home and planned to do amazing things with them. I look forward to tasting the results. :)

As we walked back to the general store, we saw signs for ice cream, and we couldn't resist. Not sure anyone could resist a place that offers apple-cider-donut flavored ice cream.

Wow. I was blown away by this ice cream. I ordered a small size and split the flavors - - half apple cider donut, and half fall pumpkin (bottom half of the cup). The chunks of donut throughout the a.c.d. flavor were delectable. And the fall pumpkin tasted so smooth and fresh - like the pumpkin had just been cut open. Both flavors were wonderfully creamy. From the web site, it looks like the ice cream comes from Treadwell's Ice Cream. Good to know, because I'm now on the hunt to find other places that sell Treadwell's!

I can't wait to go back to Smolak's for some more fall fun and feasting!

Smolak Farms
315 South Bradford St
North Andover, MA 01845
978-682-6332

A Pig Party & More Peels

2011-11-03T21:18:00.002-05:00

I am an obsessive person. It's the type of personality that enables someone to watch 4 seasons of Breaking Bad in 8 days or eat Japanese ramen three times in one week. I gross myself out. I gross you out too. (I know.)

And so, last night I found myself again at Sa Aming Nayon (this time with my lovely pals Anne & Thanan), noshing on:

delectably crispy fried spinach (awesomely healthy chips AND complimentary!),

sssizzzzzzzzzlinsisg,

a'plentiful with chewy pig ears, snout and egg,

tender pork adobo, a richly allspiced dish reminiscent of Chinese cuisine, which captured Anne's heart,

and of course, grilled pork belly. Salty, fatty, satisfying.

And then, of course,as if filling our burgeoning bellies with pig, in all its splendiferous parts and forms, was not enough, we decided to continue our porky party to Peels (because I am obsessed! I can't stop thinking about that fried chicken!) -- but, this time, for dessert:

a tall slice of 3-in-1 pie (chocolate, banana and coconut - oh, my!), wonderfully light and smooth on a crunchy, buttery crust, with the trio of flavors melding together in a cool, creamy haze

and a ridiculously light round of tres leches cake, floating in a gorgeous pool of condensed milk (I would learn how to swim, if all pools were filled with this). This is Thanan's new dessert obsession in life (though he likes to call it "three milks" because he is unrefined and annoying).

The best thing about the Peels desserts is that they are not that sweet, enabling you to eat the entire thing without guilt or need for sharing, and that's not a bad way to enjoy a little weekday indulgence.

Sa Aming Nayon

12th St & 1st Ave

Peels

325 Bowery, New York NY 10003

The Appeal of Peels

2011-10-31T22:15:00.001-05:00

Peels is a hot new brunch spot on the New York scene, a spin-off of the popular Freeman's, that is an all-day diner featuring a Southern-style menu. Biscuits. Grits. Fried chicken. You know the drill.

The place is all abuzz among foodies online, so I expected the worst when I got a hankering for brunch on Saturday at 1p, but was pleasantly surprised with a minimal wait (~5 minutes) at the first floor bar. Couples were given a 30 minute wait time and groups of 3+ were given 45 minutes. Is it just me being jaded by New York to think that that is a decent wait time? If waiting is not your thing, they also serve their brunch/lunch menu daily. Options! Lovely!

The whole scene is a brightly lit version of Freeman's, with rustic, country style woods and an entire whitewashed interior. The brunch menu has a few specialties like shrimp and grits, poached eggs on biscuits with sausage gravy and the like. A pretty framed box on the menu showcases their Build-a-Biscuit option which allows you to build any sort of biscuit sandwich concoction with a la carte fillings. If you go wild, your sandwich can end up a little pricey, but I kept it low-key and real with just a couple of fixins.

Another charming menu is the Parker House rolls with housemade jam and Vermont butter. You can see them on the top shelf freshly baked below. They are toasted again prior to serving and look killer. I watched three batches of biscuits being baked in their oven. It was definitely food porn.

While waiting for me entree, I couldn't resist ordering a cup of the hot cocoa served with homemade honey-vanilla marshmallow, and boy was it the right decision!

Just look at that velvety rich chocolatey pool - a beautiful fluff of marshmallow floating on top. This was fine drinking chocolate - completely indulgent, drinkable and absolutely satisfying. The marshmallow was perfection, oozing ribbons of vanilla into the hot drink. I hate how early winter has come, but I love the excuse to drink more hot chocolate!

My Build-a-Biscuit was a vision to behold - impossibly tall with buttery, flaky biscuit bedecked with goooolden encrusted chicken and yellow, scrambled egg.

It's definitely one of those knife and fork type of sandwiches.

Man. That first bite of chicken took me straight to crispy poultry heaven. Amazingly crisp, well-salted and flavored and sooo moist! Aaaaand, is it gross to say that the chicken tasted even better because there is skin still left on it? And chicken skin is so delicious? So delicious. (Happy sigh).

I ended up eating half of the biscuit with the egg and chicken, and I managed to get a nice ramekin of housemade jelly in which to enjoy the other half. The jelly was also on point - apple / strawberry - I honestly couldn't tell, but I managed to eat the whole thing :-/. I would recommend you to do the same!

I'm pretty excited about the possibilities of Peels. Or at least the fried chicken. I wish I could just eat a whole bucket of it. A life decree: more food should be served in buckets.

Peels
325 Bowery, NYC 10003

Brunches ! Bondi Road & Westville

2011-10-29T17:52:00.000-05:00

This is a quick post on a couple of brunches I have eaten. I think you can see from the list of labels on the left that Diana and I are really good at eating brunches. So here I am at what I do best!

Bondi Road:

Nick invited a few of his pals out one Saturday morning for an all you can drink brunch. Boozy brunches are a popular past-time in NYC, with all you can drink ones topping the best. If you are interested in brunches of drunkenness, this is a great link mapping the different places all around town. Nick's spot of choice was Bondi Road, the sister restaurant to Sunburnt Cow, another hella-popular AYCD brunchery. I decided not to drink that day, saving myself for the nightly festivities, to which Nick responded articulately:

"I hope you like mediocre food."

And that, ladies and gentleman, is exactly what Bondi Road offers in addition to its bottomless alcoholic beverages.

These pancakes were weird, bready and not at all appetizing.

If you can see it, it is basically bread wrapped in a tortilla type crust. Like. What?

You definitely need to get wasted to enjoy the food here, but the drinks were merry and full at least.

The boozy bunch at brunch.

Westville Chelsea

On another occasion, I met up with Tanuja for a lovely brunch at Westville Chelsea. I have always wanted to eat here because of the hanging wooden sign showcasing the special vegetables of the day outside the restaurant, and the bright, sun-lit restaurant space. The Chelsea location was no exception - a charming, adorably cute spot.

We all nabbed the egg scramble plate with choice of three omelet fillings, choice of bread and choice of salad or potato hash. I filled mine with fresh mozzarella, scallions and bacon, and lemme tell ya - tasty ol' combination, if I do say so myself!

Salad or potatoes? Uhm. Duh. Potatoes. The hash was a creamy mix of vegetables, like orangey slivers of carrots and peppers and awesomeness, all wrapped up in tators. The texture is a bit interesting, but the flavor was rich and strangely addicting.

Intrigued by the option of Portuguese muffin, I just had to have it. Breadier and slightly sweeter than an English muffin, the Portuguese one is definitely a winner. Charred and crisp on the exterior - lovely carb option for the breakfast meal.

I find myself craving Westville more and more lately. It's a simple brunch, well executed with bright fresh flavors.

Bondi Road

153 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002

Westville, multiple locations
246 W18th Street, New York, NY 10011
Between 7th & 8th Avenue
Phone: 212-924-2223, 212-924-2201

Lucali ! Brooklyn Farmacy ! A Brooklyn Pizza & Ice Cream Kind of Night

2011-10-20T18:34:00.001-05:00

Before Nick left to move to California, I met him and his boy_friend at Lucali in Carroll Gardens.

I had always wanted to eat at Lucali because:

1) it was momentarily shut down because

2) its owner was stabbed !

3) by a mob associate !

4) over a woman !

Yeah. Legit Sopranos sheeeyit, son!

And also because Nick proclaimed Lucali as one of the best pizza places in NYC. That's big claims.

The small place already had a short wait around 6:30p, but we nabbed a center table in due time. It also helped that I showed up late so I waited less. (Score!)

Topping options are limited here to a handful of items listed on the chalkboard outside the restaurant. On the day we went, the choices included salami (?), basil, onions, garlic and pepper. We ordered up a couple of huge pies because it was Nick's Brooklyn pizza bon voyage, and we had to do it big.

I loooooved the abundance of fresh basil on both of our pies. This one just had the meat + basil.

Thinny minny!

This one had garlic and onions and stuff. And more basil. Because I am hooked like that.

I enjoyed the freshness of the ingredients and the crispiness of the pizza. The sauce was solid. The cheese was solid. I might rank Lucali in my top 5 pizza places, but I think I still have a lot more pizza to eat before I make such bold claims myself. I just wish Lucali had more meat options? But maybe that is pizza blasphemy, and I just don't know it. I do know some spicy sausage woulda been awesome on these pies though. Just sayin'.

Afterwards, we strolled to the nearby Brooklyn Farmacy to grab some dizzzzert for a little nightcap.

The Farmacy is all about soda jerkin' (love their sweet aprons adorned with JERK in tall serifed letters) - making sodas by hand (including egg creams) and crafting lovely ice cream sundaes to oodles of sweaty patrons.

Their shelves are stocked with local vendor wares from jams to artisan chocolates to sauces and more. It's a great one stop shop for made-in-Brooklyn goodness.

I like cute signs like this. Chalk. Boards. Cute.

Nick ordered the Sundae of Broken Dreams featuring vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, broken pretzel rods and a healthy mound of fresh whipped cream.

Here's a shot of Nick looking adoringly at the sundae. It was love at first bite.

I ordered the black and white shake after seeing throngs of people leaving the space with these heavily hot fudged cups of creaminess.

As you would expect, hot fudge + vanilla = duh.lish.shake. There are some other interesting sundae options on the menu though that I wouldn't mind trying including the Red Twinkle Split which includes a red velvet twinkie (?!) alongside three scoops of ice cream. Yeah. I know. I'll get on that soon.

Good job on this night, Carroll Gardens. You have some good eats!

Lucali
575 Henry St
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Brooklyn Farmacy
513 Henry St
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Plano ! Densetsu, Sushi in the Suburbs!

2011-10-18T21:39:00.001-05:00

Surrounded by so many great restaurants in New York, I forget that my little hometown in Texas could have tasty food too...especially when it's located in a suburban strip mall near Wal-mart in Plano.

Densetsu is an absolute Japanese gem with clean, simple decor and bonafide Japanese chefs behind the bar. Their leather bound menu features two glorious pages of seaweed wrapped, soy paper wrapped, and tempura battered and fried (yeah, I said it!) sushi roll options, offering something for everyone, both cooked and raw fish eaters alike.

We ordered three rolls to share, which might seem like a paltry amount for two, but these rolls were definitely quite immense and filling.

The golden special roll is a lightly battered, deep fried spicy tuna, crab, avocado roll served with house special sauce. I've had deep fried rolls before at Asian Mint in Dallas, but where theirs is craggy and thick with batter, Densetsu's is light but sufficiently crisp--delightful!

The dynamite roll is a California roll topped with creamy scallop, baby lobster (read: crawfish) and mushrooms, served with eel sauce. Served in a bowl, this dish was messy to the max, smothered with thick cream and the tiniest bits of scallop; the sauce soaked completely through each roll which melted in your mouth, if you could ever get it out of the plate without completely destroying it.

Densetmu might need to consider serving this dish with a spoon to help scoop the pieces out. Messy or not, it was delicious and worth the extra effort.

The crispy rice spicy tuna roll was constructed of a crisped cube of rice topped with spicy tuna, avocado and a thin slice of jalapeno, perched in a pool of the house special sauce. The roll was not greasy, and the jalapeno gave it a perfect spicy kick.

I do declare that this sushi order was pretty perfect in terms of flavors, styles and amount. I love sushi rolls, so any place that demonstrates a bit of creativity has my complete heart, and stomach.

And of course, if you give me complimentary orange slices post-meal...well then you have me for life.

Densetsu, I am excited to have you in my hometown neighborhood! This place is a must-eat for anyone dying for some fun and delicious sushi in dear old Plano.

Densetsu

4152 W Spring Creek Pkwy
Ste 176
Plano, TX 75024

The Texas State Fair !

2011-10-17T22:19:00.004-05:00

Long overdue greetings ! I've been in Texas ! And doing things like eating at...

The Texas State Fair!

Last year, Diana and I went and gorged ourselves on many a fried delight there. This year, Carrie and I reveled in much of the same, so this post combines both this year and last year's eats, showcasing the many fried wonders available at the biggest state fair in the country (I am so proud!).

Last year's winner of the best taste competition was fried frito pie, and it was indeed my favorite then, and I must say I still feel the same today (I mean it - I ate it twice this year!).

Each bite sized bundle of chili goodness is dipped in a batter of ground Fritos and deep-fried. It tastes exactly like a Frito pie should, comforting, salty, crunchy and just plain delicious. The serving size is not nearly big enough - I could eat buckets.

The fried lemonade, huge fluffy fried spheres served in a plastic cup and drizzled with a tart but sweet lemony glaze, was my surprise second favorite dish.

Moist and soft, fried lemonade essentially tastes like a "good lemony doughnut," as described by Carrie, and is refreshing among the other heavier, rich fried wares at the fair. This treat is a good "in-between snacks" snack, because you must snack continually when you attend the fair.

Consistent crowd favorite, and true fair tradition, Fletcher's corny dogs. Solid. Diana's is the perfectly drizzled one at the right.

Carrie's eyes lit up at the prospect of fried mac 'n cheese at one of the stands. We asked the booth representative whether it was worth it, to which she replied, "Oh, it good," and her voice dropped in just the right spot of good, sp we knew she meant it, and we knew we had to have it.

It was good. Crispy, not oily and full of pure melted cheesy goodness. Ultimate comfort food. You can see Carrie's relaxed flip flops in the background there - see how comfortable she felt while eating?

After seeing such an assortment of fantastic fried foods so far, you might be inclined to say, "Anything fried is good, Han!," but let's just pause at the moment Diana and I realized that was not true...

...the moment we decided to order fried beer.

Fried beer turned out to be cold, crinkly edged ravioli blobs filled with an oily beer liquid. The whole thing tasted terrible - rancid and gross. We shared the remaining pieces with some strangers nearby, to which they said, "Man, I like beer, but this is disgusting."

So let's go back to things that should be fried! A new item this year from the Crispies booth in the Midway was fried cakeballs!

Three large puffs to an order, the cakeballs came with option of vanilla or chocolate, but in our haste, we forgot to specify and were given three vanilla cakeballs.

As you might imagine, this one was solid, sufficiently sweet and moist from the mixed icing-cake interior. Carrie called it quits at one, since we were reaching sugary overload, so I took one for the team and polished off the other two. Sometimes, you do what you gotta do!

Last year, Diana ate these fried chocolate balls, but man, I cannot remember what the name was - hopefully Diana can jog my memory. The grape in the center just throws me off, but otherwise I am pretty sure it was beyond decadent. The fried cookie dough is a much better option if you're looking for a semi-chocolatey goo to hit the sweet spot.

I think Diana's other favorite from last year was the fried peaches 'n cream from the Food Court pavilion. Firm but fleshy peaches are coated in a golden brown batter, dusted in powdered sugar and served alongside more peaches.

The combination of the cinnamony vanilla sauce with the crunch of the hot peaches is a match made in fried food heaven.

This entire post makes my heart hurt a little, but it's all good fun since it is just once a year, right? Yeehaw! :)

Look no further: the Best Lobster Roll of Life at Neptune Oyster

2011-10-16T14:34:00.038-05:00

Trying to find the best lobster roll in New England is admittedly difficult. And I can hardly say that I've been to enough places to even be an expert. But I can say this with the straight face: the best lobster roll of life can be found at Neptune Oyster. It's that good. I don't have to try the other places. When you know, you know... I've found: the One. *swoon*

When Han visited Boston a few months ago, we headed to Neptune Oyster for lunch on a Saturday. We didn't see any celebs, but we were lucky to snag a table (probably because we got there half an hour before it even opened to stand in line... and we weren't even the first ones!).

The space and small, but quintessential Boston in its old-time quaintness.

It's hard for me to avoid clam chowder, so I had to try their version.

I'm so glad I did, because even though it's not your typical clam chowder, it's still incredibly delicious. The soup isn't that thick, it's sweeter, and the herbs add a depth of flavor not in your standard chowder.

Alex and Lauren shared their fried clams with us, and wow. Perfectly breaded and so fresh, these fried clams were begging me to eat the whole plate.

Even the tartar sauce was awesome. Chunky and not drowning in mayo.

Alex ordered the hamburger topped with fried oysters.

This is what I call a beautiful burger. I didn't try it, but Alex gave it multiple thumbs up.

And of course, the grand finale: lobster roll goodness!! They'll ask if you want it hot or cold. Trust me - get it hot.

Have you seen anything so lovely? Everything on the plate is to die for - including the River of Butter. The lobster meat is incredibly warm, fresh, and not ocean-y tasting at all. The texture and tenderness is absolute perfection. I could not be more in love with this lobster roll.

No wonder Neptune is impossible to get into. But you gotta try anyway! Because it's worth it. Just remember to get there half an hour before it opens. :)

Neptune Oyster

63 Salem Street

Boston, MA 02110

617.742.3474

Sa Aming Nayon & Pie Corps

2011-10-04T09:28:00.002-05:00

One of my very first meals since India was a plate of glorious pork belly from Sa Aming Nayon, a newish Filipino restaurant in East Village. It's steps away from the L train, which I love, and it serves up beautiful inihaw na pork belly!

The pork belly was very good, crispy, chewy in the good way, and full of soy-marinade flavor. Dipping each piece in the vinegar helped cut the fat and balanced the salty taste.

The grilled options on the menu come with option of steamed rice, baked potato or french fries (weird!), so I ordered the garlic rice a la carte, because garlic fried rice is such a beautiful thing. Sa Aming's is solid with lots of bits of crunchy garlic. I really should learn how to make this.

While I enjoyed my food at Sa Aming Nayon, I could not believe that my lunch took nearly two hours to deliver to my table. Hopefully they work out some staffing / timing kinks since I do want to come back soon.

Walking to Union Square, I was ecstatic to see the Kelvin truck!

My favorite remains the ginger slush with mango swirl, but this time I opted for an another add-in of fresh basil. Lemme tell ya...awesome. This might be my new favorite. I think anything here would be my favorite. Love them.

Now to balance out this post, I need a dessert! I attended the City Harvest Brooklyn Local event a few weekends ago that featured dozens of Brooklyn food artisans, and while most of those who attended appear at other local markets (i.e., Smorgasburg, Hester Street Fair, etc.), my eyes zoomed right in at Pie Corps' table that was loaded with a stunning assortment of sweet and savory pies.

They offer a wide variety of pies that you can buy and reheat at home. If I wasn't leaving the following day for Dallas, I would've bought a bunch, but I couldn't walk away empty handed, so I bought one of their adorable mason jar pies for $5:

The Mexican chocolate pudding was a thick fudgy mass of spiced chocolate drizzled in caramel.

It was love at literal first bite...like Sookie and Bill. Like Sookie and Eric. Like Sookie and everyone. This thick, creamy pie is irresistible.

I enjoyed chipping away at the crust inside the jar too. Man. Pies in jars. We all need more of those. Instant bliss!

Sa Aming Nayon

201 1st Ave
New York, NY

Pie Corps

Catering available online, or at New Amsterdam Market every Sunday

San Francisco ! Dynamo Doughnuts !

2011-10-03T17:49:00.001-05:00

From Greeshma and my California trip this summer, we made a pitstop at Dynamo Donuts to mark off another Bon Appetit top doughnut contender and see what San Francisco had to offer in terms of round, fried beauties.

Pretty Greeshma ready to get her dough-face on

Orders are taken from the outside store window; doughnut choices appear in a column of removable wooden slats, so the shop can adjust and remove flavors according to availability - genius!

After placing the order, you can take your box to eat inside at some small tables overlooking the room where the doughnut magic is made, or you can eat in the small garden area in the back of the shop (which is what we totally did - it is, after all, California!).

Cute hand-stamped, cardboard doughnut box

Opening the box was like Christmas morning - look at these four lovely ones!

Ginger orange

Such lift on the yeast doughnuts!

Solid yeast - fluffy and fresh. Nice orange flavor notes.

The chocolate rosemary almond, studded with nuts

Dynamo's chocolate doughnuts in the dating world would be classified as BBD - big, beautiful doughnuts, with emphasis on the weight! Ultra dense, borderline dry and heavy.

Caramel de sel

Sticky sticky sticky ! Beautiful sheen, bit on the salty side.

Spiced chocolate

Of the two chocolates, I liked this one better - unique, sharp and fairly spicy. The spice kind of gets you in the back of the throat. The inside was fairly bland and dry.

Monte Christo

A filled raspberry jam doughnut with ham and cheese - looks a bit gross, but quite surprisingly delicious! I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it was actually my favorite!

Maple glazed bacon apple

Ample pieces of thick bacon on a sweet frosted doughnut top. I didn't quite get the apple flavor, but it was a nice play on salt and sweet.

Passionfruit milk chocolate

The best fruit flavor of the batch we tried - awesome pure passionfruit flavor

After nibbling on our 7 doughnuts, Greeshma and I concluded that Dynamo was a strong solid. While I didn't swoon like post-Voodoo, there are still some unique, inventive flavors here served on a good yeast base. I'd stay away from the strangely dense chocolate cake doughnuts and stick with the light yeast: passionfruit and the monte christo all the way!

Dynamo Donuts

2760 24th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

(415) 920-1978

Soup dumplings at Dumpling Cafe

2011-09-26T21:25:00.023-05:00

I have a soup dumpling (xiao long bao, 小籠包) addiction. If it's on a menu, I will necessarily order it. Thankfully, looking for the best soup dumplings in Boston isn't difficult... the field is really only limited to two places: Gourmet Dumpling House and Dumpling Cafe. I love both places, but Dumpling Cafe really takes the... dumpling.

It's newer, cleaner, and let's face it, has better food. When my mom visited over Labor Day, I took her there, and she absolutely loved it (more than GDH). And as a Chinese mother, she has major street cred.

We started with bubble tea - I went with your classic milk tea with pearls, and my mom went with taro slush with pearls.

Both were good, but not particularly amazing. We'll leave the bubble tea for our experts at Juice Bar, another Boston Chinatown establishment.

We started with the roast beef wrapped in scallion pancakes.

The pancake was lightly crispy on the outside, pillowy on the inside, and served freshly hot. The beef was really well-marinated, and there was just the right amount of plum sauce + scallions inside. We were impressed.

Next was the Chinese zucchini with salty duck egg. I'm a fan of putting

salty duck egg on all vegetables.

This was a really light and refreshing dish, the kind of dish that would come from my grandmother's kitchen. That is always a good thing.

My mom loves squid, so we got an order of squid with leeks.

Again, this was light yet quite flavorful. The squid had a perfect bouncy texture, and the leeks added a nice little crunch to the dish. My grandmother would approve.

And of course, the soup dumplings!

These were sooo much better than GDH's version. The skin was thinner, the soup was tastier and more plentiful, and the ground meat itself was more flavorful. GDH's version has too much meat inside each dumpling. These had the perfect amount.

Also, the dipping sauce is key.

Soy sauce + vinegar + ginger... that's the classic sauce for soup dumplings. Where GDH doesn't provide you with sauce, Dumpling Cafe gives you these, and they don't skimp on the ginger. Just lovely!

After this perfection of a meal, we walked through Chinatown, and I just had to try the famous egg puffs. These are sold all over the streets in Asia, and I ate them all the time as a kid, so I was so excited to try Boston's version.

Egg puffs are made from a sweet pancake/waffle-like batter, and half the fun is that they're bite-sized. When served right off of the iron, these are pretty much unbeatable.

Moral of the story: Boston's Chinatown might be small, but it's definitely got some gems... check 'em out!

Dumpling Cafe
695 Washington St.
Boston, MA 02111
617-338-8858

Egg puffs cart
42 Beach St.
Boston, MA 02111

California ! Randy Doughnuts!

2011-09-15T19:43:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since we've talked doughnuts! Let's take care of that!

In Diana and my ongoing quest to complete the Top 10 Doughnut Places in America, I managed to convince Greeshma on our past trip to California, to take me to Randy's Donuts immediately after my flight landed at LAX. On these eating marathon trips, there simply is no time to waste!

Literally minutes away from LAX, Randy's Donuts is a bit of a national icon with its 32 foot tall namesake donut which has been featured in several movies and televisions shows, including Iron Man, The Simpsons and Arrested Development.

Lovely Greeshma in front of the donut landmark

Mid-afternoon, there were no line to be had at this 24-hour donut shop, so Greeshma and I were able to take our time to contemplate the menu and peer through the walk-up window at the racks and racks of doughnuts.

Racks and racks of doughnuts

Everything sounded great, so we just ordered a bunch willy nilly!

Of course, the classic glazed:

it was truly a classic glazed doughnut - every bit as yeasty as one should be with a thin sugary glaze, totally decent, but not as extraordinary as beloved Voodoo Doughnuts.

Crumb cake doughnut:

Easily my favorite with its streusel-topping and cinnamon-spice flavor. That pretty dusting of powdered sugar surely helped win the vote also.

The buttermilk:

Thick and heavy - this was one dense mutha. Okay texture but just a bit filling.

The maple iced long john:

The layer of maple icing was mega thick, cloyingly sweet without much hint of natural maple sweetness. It had the aroma of maple syrup but just not the right taste. The yeast base was the same as the classic glazed.

And finally the apple fritter:

An incredibly fried puck of apple bits mixed in glazed doughnut batter. Okay flavor, but a bit hard for my liking.

It is clear that Randy's Donuts is an iconic doughnut spot dishing up old-fashioned, traditional doughnuts. The ones we didn't care for might be best had with a fresh batch, but the classic glazed and crumb cake are solid choices to order when checking out this landmark doughnut shop.

Randy's Donuts

805 West Manchester Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90301

The Creepiest and Most Interesting Thing I Ate in India: Hyderabadi Haleem from Pista House

2011-09-12T20:23:00.001-05:00

I had a daily driver named Prasad during my four weeks in India, and for some reason, he seemed like a fine person from which to trust food recommendations. It was only because of him that I decided to try out a local favorite dish, haleem.

Now, let me summarize the key haleem facts for you:

Haleem is a Hyderabadi specialty popular among the Muslim population, offered only during the month of Ramadan
Haleem is essentially a wheat / meat paste; the traditional cooking process is a whopping 12 hours involving typically two men cooking 24 hour-soaked Haleem wheat, lamb, spices, dried fruits and ghee over a low flame, stirring it with wooden sticks during the 12 hours until it develops a sticky-smooth consistency. It is then topped with fried onions and cashews.

Prasad took me to Pista House to try my first haleem. For about three dollars, he went to a roadside stand alongside the street and came back with a plastic bag holding this small container:

Pista House appears to be world famous, but my colleagues told me that their quality has declined a bit in recent years. Still, they are super mega popular. Actually, every roadside haleem stand seemed to have a healthy congregation of folk digging into these plastic pints.

Not knowing what to expect when I opened the container, I seriously did not expect this. Oh sweet ghee!

And then I certainly didn't expect this consistency...

Heaping gobs of the gooiest meat glue you can imagine.

Once I got over the strange texture: a mushy sticky mess where I cannot tell just how they managed to get the meat so smooth and creamy, I must admit that haleem has some tasty flavor! The slow cooking technique infuses a nice spiciness throughout the cup. Still, the texture is hard to overcome. I could not imagine eating this entire container myself (and this is a typical single serving!), so I called it quits after about 4 spoonfuls.

Prasad tells me that haleem-tolerance is acquired, and over time I would be able to finish the containers up for multiple meals a day. I will just have to trust him on that!

Pista House
Multiple locations throughout Hyderabad

Last Ode to Summer Smorgasburg's Landhaus, Good Batch, Nana Bananas and Gimme Coffee!

2011-09-11T18:39:00.001-05:00

In my effort to catch up on everything that I have eaten this summer, my heart looks fondly upon this set of photos from my last summer visit to the Smorgasburg where we all tried a few new things:

Landhaus

Landhaus maple glazed bacon: grilled on the flattop, dusted with paprika and drizzled with maple syrup

Landhaus lamb burger with the fixings

Oozy, messy beyond belief and quite good. Not very gamey!! Quite juicy!

Grilled peach buttered corn on the cob. I forget who was dishing this up, but they were next to Landhaus. The peach notes were not too strong, but the butter sure was! You won't need any lip balm to keep your lips moist after gnawing on this cob.

Market Share brings a variety of local artisan goods.

I grabbed the "Doc," a root beer flavored ice pop.

Strong emphasis on the ice. This sucker was frozen way solid. I wish it was creamier and softer.

Meat Hook was offering pig head parties, good for six people who want to sit around and eat the meat/fat off a pig head. Some big Filipino ladies were totally diggin' that kind of face-fest.

Grilled peaches topped with coconut cream and basil? herbs? from Bite Size Kitchen. Solid. (Grilled peaches - you can't eff that up!)

Thanan wolfed down the takoyaki balls from the Takoyaki stand. He ate all of them but said he didn't like them as much as Otafuku.

Stroopwafel ice cream sandwcih from the Good Batch. If these are still available at the Smorg, I would definitely recommend it. The spiced stroopwafels and the salted caramel drizzle were mmmmlicious.

The chocolate covered frozen banana dipping process at Nana's

Toffee is one of the variety of toppings you can select from with a variety of bright colored sprinkles

Toffee and sea salt banana - Nick thought it was a bit too much salt, but otherwise good. Oh, Arrested Development memories!

Gimme Coffee! just opened up a new branch a half block away from my apartment.

Ice coffee latte

This is my new favorite ice latte in the city. It's so creamy and doesn't quite taste like coffee. Not sure if that's how it should be, but boy do I love it!

These pictures make me miss summer in the city! Hopefully this winter will be a warm and fun one.

Smorgasburg

N7th & Kent

Gimme Coffee!

Roebling & N6th

A trio of Brooklyn pizzas: Best Pizza, Forcella and Roberta's

2011-09-11T11:55:00.002-05:00

This post was from earlier this summer. What began an innocent pizza crawl became one of my most beloved hipster Saturdays, including friends bathing in open fire hydrants,

watching an outdoor amateur wrestling match with referees wearing luchador masks

and watching a female roller derby in a college gymnasium.

Random summers in New York are the best.

The mini-pizza crawl centered on Williamsburg / East Williamsburg.

We started out sharing the grandma slice at Best Pizza (because we sort of ate a ton at the Smorgasburg within minutes earlier).

Simple and crisp, the sauce is flavored with anchovies, adding a bit of complexity. Lovely! I especially liked the paper plates decorating the small spot, featuring artwork drawn by their patrons. Late night bar-goers should walk the extra few blocks to grab a late night bite here post-drink.

Second, we headed to Forcella, a new pizza place on the Brooklyn scene specializing in Neapolitan pies.

The unique dish to get here is the pizze fritte - a pizza made with a deep-fried crust! (How do you make pizza even better? Fry that sucker up!)

We opted for the montanara - simple margherita pizza to taste the flavors better here.

Though deep fried, the dough was airy and light. It was then topped with amazing crushed tomatoes sauce and fresh, melted mozzarella across the top.

What was surprising was that this pizza was not hot. The tomatoes were still cold, but I actually did not mind - the whole combination of ingredients, textures and temperatures just added to the absolute freshness of flavors. This pizza was such a delight and perfect for a summer day.

Fried crust = awesome.

Lastly, we found ourselves right in the center of the most hipster block party as we walked to Roberta's. I saw a Japanese guy with the longest hair rocking out on guitar. So fun.

Roberta's was serving up free slices outside at the block party, but we headed inside to rest our limbs, cool off in the shade and order a proper pie.

We let Nick pick the pizza, and he opted for the Rainbow Connection which was really a wilted rainbow chard salad on a pizza with lemon zest, garlic and parmagiano reggiano.

I like greens on pizza. I really do. But this one was just too green! Seriously! It was tart and bitter, and it just lacked any other flavor dimension. I ended up adding red pepper flakes all over it, but I think some salty meat would have helped balance this pie out.

The brunch pizza offering at Roberta's has the pies more up my alley, including the bee sting which features pepperoni + honey. Yum! I also hear their fried chicken is amazing, so stay tuned for that soon !

Best Pizza

33 Havemeyer St
(between 8th St & 7th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Forcella

485 Lorimer St
(between Grand St & Powers St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Roberta's

261 Moore St
(between White St & Bogart St)
Brooklyn, NY 11206

A Rather Delicious Brunch at Diner in Brooklyn

2011-09-04T21:03:00.003-05:00

Things I love in NYC brunches:

1. Fun, hip scene
2. Great scrambled eggs
3. Celebrity sightings

With Greeshma in town this past weekend, we hit up Diner, located at the southern tip of Williamsburg in Brooklyn.

I had seen Anthony Bourdain eat a rather tasty piece of bone marrow there for dinner, but the place is also known for dishing up a rather fine brunch.

The spot is very stereotypical Brooklyn, the chef slinging rustic-gourmet style cuisine in an aged broken-in diner with worn woods and crackling paint. The menu is very minimal with just a handful of items like "Scone, Pancakes, Omelette, Country Breakfast and Cheeseburger" listed. The waiter then takes a seat to explain the daily variations of each item in addition to writing some of the daily specials on the paper tablecloths. The specials of today included chicken sandwiches, a plate with a sunny side egg and griddled ham and beet salad.

Greeshma ordered the "sausage" special which featured a cracked pepper topped sunny side egg nestled on top of a warm summer succotash and housemade pork sausage. It was fresh and perfect for a vegetable loving girl such as herself.

I opted for the country breakfast that came decked out with a biscuit slathered with raspberry jam and basil butter, a grilled peach, one housemade sausage patty, a handful of fried okra slivers and a fat pile of golden scrambled eggs.

Two more life conclusions from this meal. One: peaches should always come grilled (unless they are placed into a pie and then shoved into a cup of ice cream). Two: okra should always be fried. Goodness them sides are fine!

I am not a huge raspberry person, but the basil butter added a nice element of fun flavor.

After finishing the fantastic scrambled eggs (seriously top three contender?!), I then noticed Rose Byrne, a la Damages and most recently Bridesmaids, sitting in the corner of the restaurant.

She was with a full host of friends in rigorous conversation. Fun side perk to a terrific brunch!

I am going to have to come back for dinner and eat that bone marrow.

Diner

85 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY 11211-6005

(718) 486-3077

The Shake Shack Corn Dog & Peach Pie Oh My Concrete

2011-09-03T10:25:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, I had the day off from work (what a treat!), so it was the first day I actually had to walk around the city again. It is only fitting that my first restaurant meal back in the city would be at my favorite all-American spot, Shake Shack.

Despite living in New York for three years now, I have never been able to experience Shake Shack's corn dog since it is available just a few times a year: Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day, all holidays which I normally find myself back home in Texas, but not this year! The stars have aligned, and yesterday I found myself on the UES with no line in front of me and an instant order of the corn dog and concrete of the day: Peach Pie Oh My.

Man. It was good. Sometimes you just imagine something to be so good for so long and when you have it, it isn't quite what you expected, but this really hit the spot. It might be because I have not had beef for over a month, but with the fantastically crunchy outer shell, this all-beef corn dog was nothing short of awesome.

The corn dog was accompanied by Rick's Picks corn relish, which if you like pickles, you might fancy. The corn kernels were fresh and plump. I didn't eat too much of it though because it didn't quite jive with this delicious beast:

Peach Pie, Oh My! indeed. After having the pie shake at Hill Country Chicken and now experiencing this peach pie concrete mixture, I can only come to one conclusion: pies and ice cream are just meant to be together as One. Thick. Gooey. Gob. Of. Yumminess.

The concrete essentially involved someone smashing up a thick fat slice of peach pie into their signature vanilla custard. Each custard-soaked chunk of peach pie (with a rather good buttery crust, I might add) was a reminder of how much I love America. So super good.

I could eat this whole meal again today. I think I might have to do this. I think you might have to do this too - hurry, before the weekend is over !

Shake Shack

multiple locations, NYC

PS. Sorry for the crappy shots. I was sitting under a shady tree :)

India ! Hampi's Famous Mango Tree Restaurant

2011-08-28T01:53:00.001-05:00

Helloooooooo! I am finally back in NYC (just in time to meet Hurricane Irene)! I arrived this morning, got some staples from the grocery store to bunker down in the apartment during the storm, cooked some Thai green curry and then took a nap that somehow lasted 8 hours this afternoon. Oops! This jetlag might be harder for me to kick than I thought, but maybe it's a good time for a post!

My favorite meal during my four week stay in India was at the Mango Tree. Mango Tree is quite well-known among visitors to Hampi, a village in Southern India that attracts visitors for its collection of over 300 monuments, ruins and temples from the 13th-15th centuries; the ruins at Hampi are one of the dozen+ World Heritage sites in India.

Monkeys scaling the temple at Hampi

A giant stone Ganesha tucked inside a temple in Hampi

We took a tour guide around and saw so many amazing structures that have stood the test of time, several others did not survive the Mughal carnage, so I could only imagine how spectacular the village used to be in centuries past.

Lotus temple in Hampi

Behind the stone chariot in Hampi

The famous stone chariot in Hampi

By nightfall, we had all worked up mighty appetites. Some of the tripmates were a touch cranky at this point, and they were losing patience at finding this illustrious restaurant. "Why do we have to go to Mango Tree? What is so great about it?!"

Upon parking outside the gates, we walked several yards through a dark path lined with banana trees.

"Why is it called Mango Tree?! These are banana trees! It should be called Banana Tree!" Man. Crankiness was increasing. We needed to get food fast!

After washing up at an outdoor basin, we had to remove our shoes before walking inside the restaurant. And then instantly, everyone understood why it was so famous. It was just.

So.

Freaking.

Adorable. Intimate. Amazing.

Low wooden tables were lined against stone walls - the only light eminating from old copper oil lamps. You sit on the ground, atop bamboo mats, backs leaning against the cold stone facing out to a lovely lake, shimmering under the moonlight.

The whole ambience was so unbelievably and ridiculously charming.

The menu, completely vegetarian, offered varied cuisines including pancakes, Italian pastas, parotas, a few Chinese dishes and several Indian plates. We ordered several dishes, most for ourselves with some to share (we were hungry!).

Honey lemon tea with a whole half lemon, served with a giant flask of honey

Parotas were described to us by the waiter as resembling a pie with filling. It is essentially a round turnover and comes with many filling options. Jaspreet ordered tomato and cheese and was underwhelmed by her dish. It was nice and chock full of fresh diced tomatoes, but she wanted a bit more punch in flavor. The crust was quite nice though - crisp and piping hot from the oven.

I don't remember what Sumit ordered, but I assume it has paneer (cottage cheesesque cubes), and he really liked it, despite the fact that he's a proud non-vegetarian eater to the max.

I ordered the pasta with fried garlic with a special request to make it spicy. I had my doubts looking at the sauceless pasta after it was delivered, but with the very first bite, I was in love. The bits of fresh garlic mixed with spicy jalapeno tossed in light oil made an intoxicating combination of simple fresh flavors. I'm going to have to experiment and replicate this dish at home. I ate every penne piece, at which point my leftover cheese, garlic, chile toppings were then scooped up to be stuffed into Jaspreet's parota. Consider that parota's flavor officially punched!

Not sure of the official name of this, but essentially paneer fritters topped with paprika. Crunchy, hot and tasty.

Ferhana had the great instinct to order fried potatoes. Seeing as I hadn't had a fried potato for a few weeks at this point, I found them particularly addictive. Crispy and wonderfully salty - I am pretty sure I polished off half of this plate myself.

For dessert, I ordered banana fritters which were heavy on the batter, but otherwise good, though I was too full on pasta and potatoes at this point to fully appreciate, though I did polish off two.

Jaspreet ordered a pancake for dessert, which resembles more of an open-faced crepe than a pancake. It was topped with creamy chocolate sauce and fresh bananas. She gobbled this sucker up.

The food at Mango Tree is quite simple, freshly prepared and delicious. I couldn't imagine a more fantastic place to spend the eve after imagining the glory of the temples and buildings at their height during the 14th century.

If you make it out to Hampi, which I recommend you do if you love historical ruins and World Heritage sites, definitely make it out to Mango Tree. I regret not eating multiple meals here!

Mango Tree

Hampi, India

(Not sure on the address, I think all the villagers are aware and can direct your driver there)

Loco for Xoco

2011-08-24T21:41:00.025-05:00

Rick Bayless, as I have said many times over, is a genius. His restaurants around the country are routinely praised and always hoppin' for a reason...

So it's no surprise that every time I visit Chicago, we go straight from the airport to Xoco, Rick's super trendy Mexican quick food restaurant, offering scrumptious sandwiches and other delights (don't even get me started on the churros!). Xoco deserves a full and long post (which will sadly have to wait until another day), but I just had to show you what I ate on Friday. We'll have to thank my blackberry for these on-the-fly pics.

I started with the vanilla soft-serve with maple-bacon streusel and caramel.

I almost died of happiness. The salty-sweet combo of the bacon and maple, mixed with yumminess of the caramel and the creaminess of the soft-serve... yeah. This baby is legit, and every single calorie is worth it.

I also ordered a cubana torta: smoked pork loin and bacon, black beans, avocado, Jack, and chipotle mustard.

Grilled to perfection, this torta oozed in all the right places. The flavors were fresh and complex, and I'm just sad my stomach wasn't big enough to finish this meal off with churros...

Visit Xoco, my friends! And be prepared to wait in a line. :)

Xoco
449 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60654
(312)334-3688

Red velvet: Two of my favorite words in life

2011-08-14T19:41:00.007-05:00

Many apologies!! With Han in India, and my day job going crazy, two weeks flew right by without an update from us! In lieu of a full post, I thought I would just tease you with a picture from Max & Dylan's here in Boston. After snapping up this picture with my blackberry, I inhaled it:

I rarely say no to a red velvet cake on the menu. The best part? You know it already, because it's staring you in the face.... the layers of white frosting + chocolate ganache! The cake itself didn't have enough of that clutch cocoa flavor, but the layers in between totally made up for it. Creamy and decadent to the Max (buwahah). I didn't even use the side of extra chocolate ganache. I will next time, though. Just because I can.

Max & Dylan's
15 West Street
Boston MA 02111
617-423-3600

Greetings from India and Scenes from Montauk, NY

2011-07-31T22:16:00.000-05:00

Hi friends! I apologize for the serious delay in posts of late. The last week or so have been a whirlwind between eating out like mad with Nick & gang as well as preparing for my work trip to India! I actually am writing to you from India this morning! I just arrived last night, after a really long journey, and I've been up since 5 a.m. today. You can see I am adjusting to the time zone change beautifully. :) So far, I've only had airplane / airport food to eat (which was a lot!). I think I ate like 20 times in the last two days. Here are some shots of business class airplane and airport lounge food from Emirates Airlines.

Emirates JFK airport lounge: fruit plate, egg white omelet, porcini frittata, potato roesti, chicken sausage and french toast

Butter curls in sealed glass cups - Diana would love!

Lunch appetizer: Chicken tikka

Lunch entree: beef with salsa verde, potato gratin, woodland mushrooms and asparagus bundle

Dessert: Almond and fig tart

Light snack of chicken and hoisin soba noodles

Breakfast appetizer

Breakfast entree: french toast, "New York style blueberry pancakes" (read: blueberry muffin tops) and crazy mixed berry compote

Emirates Dubai airport lounge dessert spread - pistachio panna cotta, hazelnut cream puff, fruit and a cool baklavaish thing

Emirates Dubai lounge spread of hot food - curried vegetables, penne and tomato sauce and a spinach thing

Dinner - potato curry and lentils

I was so sleepy / full at this point that I didn't even touch this. Looks pretty though. Yogurty

Greeshma has given me some great food tips for Hyderabad though, so hopefully I will have some exotic new eats to share with you soon (as exotic as my stomach can handle, eep!).

Meanwhile, I have several new sets of pictures from New York to post, including this one from our recent trip to Montauk, one of Nick's bucket list spots. Montauk is a solid three hour train ride on the Long Island Railroad, the easternmost point of Long Island. There's not much in Montauk, to be honest, so it's best to go there with good friends and a car.

After arriving, we promptly headed for lunch at a casual spot called St. Peter's Catch.

St. Peter's appears to be mainly a fish market which also dishes some of their fresh fare.

At lunch, they have a ridiculously awesome special featuring 1 1/4 lobster, mussels, corn on the cob and coleslaw for $18.95. We all opted for this sweet deal.

Several of us also opted for the effervescent and all-natural blood orange soda from the cooler at the cashier's recommendation. Boy were we glad - this Italian soda was quite refreshing, as effervescent things often are.

The food took quite awhile to prepare. We were all hungry and anxious, breathing in the area's salty ocean air, so I'm sure that didn't help with patience, but nearly an hour later, we were finally given some lobster bibs to prepare for our seafood feast!

We were each handed a styrofoam container, and opening it was like opening a present on Christmas Day - so exciting!

Oh hi, you beautiful thing, you!

Most of the lobster was pre-cracked already, so it was easy to extract the meat, however some of the claws required a little more work, so we ended up requesting a shell-cracker to ensure we got every nook and cranny of meat possible from this sucker.

Hi, you meaty claw you, have you met my friend melted butter? I think you two would get along swimmingly!

Everyone enjoyed making good tasty work of their lobsters. The lobster had great fresh flavor.

There's no bathroom in St. Peter's catch; so we had to walk across the parking lot to a public park restroom to wash our hands. Then it was time for 'dessert' in the form of Belly's New Orleans Sno-Balls, located just a few steps away from St. Peter's Catch.

In addition to these staple flavors, Belly's also features some seasonal specialties like honeydew and chiromoya.

I got blue raspberry, and it was great!

Nick opted for honeydew, which didn't quite taste anything like honeydew, but had a wicked cool color.

After, we all napped on the beach.

Then, before we headed back, we grabbed a quick snack at the local grocery store which boasted famous Herb's fried chicken. It smelled amazing, so I had to have some.

It had the saltiest crust ever, but the chicken inside was wonderfully moist. If they had just cut a touch back on the salt, this chicken had the potential to be rather fabulous!

And that's Montauk!

St. Peter's Catch

58 S Erie Ave, Lion's Field Park, Montauk, NY

Belly's

Near St. Peter's Catch

Herb's Market

778 Montauk Highway, Montauk NY

Imperial Woodpecker Sno-balls : A Summer Savior

2011-07-23T08:06:00.001-05:00

It is no news (since it is in all the news of late), that the Northeast has been suffering from a bit of a heat wave. Since I'm originally from Dallas, I'd like to think that I have a heartier appetite for such higher temperatures, but the absolute humidity here has me dying. Places like Imperial Woodpecker Sno-balls, on the other hand, are really thriving!

Imperial Woodpecker specializes in New Orleans style shaved ice, a more fine-ground rendition of our childhood treat, and serving them in signature Chinese takeout containers.

The space is really small, and you'll be wedged against fellow sweaty people with mangy hair, but it gives you plenty of time to contemplate all the flavor combinations that you may possibly want.

Flavahz and topping options! Interesting flavors include orchid cream vanilla, dreamsicle and sweet lou's nectar cream...ooOOooOOOoh!

I am not sure if it is like this everyday, or just weekday nights, but Imperial Woodpecker's is a one-man operation. This poor chap was tasked with both taking the orders and creating the iced treats which meant lines a handful of people long can be quite the wait.

Part of the reason the sno-balls take so long to create is because they are actually triple tiered with syrup flavoring to ensure every beautiful ice shard is indeed saturated with flavor. Such thoughtfulness = more patience required by everyone in line.

For a mere $1, you can get a healthy dousing of housemade condensed milk topping that soaks perfectly into the ice. (You know I ordered me summa that!)

Thanan ordered this brilliant medley of colors and flavors including blueberry and mango (his colorful combination illicited much conversation about how awesome his vomit would look should he puke post-Imperial).

I ordered a medium sized wild strawberry + dreamsicle with condensed milk topping. I absolutely adore anything that claims to be dreamsicle (aw memories of elementary school ice cream!).

I do declare that medium size is a bit overkill for anyone. Small is 8 oz, medium is 16 oz and large is a whopping 26 oz of sno-ball. A pound of snoballs. At least it is just ice right? Ha!

The sno-ball here is delightfully soft, fluffy and flakes perfectly with each spoonful.

The condensed milk lends a bit of creaminess to the whole treat, making it indulgent yet light. However, because of the addition of condensed milk, I couldn't really taste the dreamsicle or wild strawberry flavor. I just tasted cold creaminess, which I didn't mind, with a back saturated by my own sweat (ha! gross, I know). I'd probably opt for a creamy flavor next time.

It should be noted that the flavors do appear to be artificial and not created by natural fruit juices, if that matters to you. That would be a complete nice to have, but I grew up on artificiality, and look at me now! (okay, don't look too closely!)

Regardless, the gang unanimously enjoyed the summer snack!

Fun sno-ball tongues!

Imperial Woodpecker's Sno-balls

145 Seventh Avenue South

Last day in Atlanta...

2011-07-17T14:57:00.033-05:00

First on the agenda for the day was brunch at Canoe. However, we ended up getting there half an hour before it opened, so to kill some time, we went searching for - go figure - food. It's what we do best, after all! We found Crepe Revolution nearby, and decided to give it a whirl.

Our bananas foster obsession led us to split the bananas foster crepe.

It was just okay. It arrived lukewarm and was a tad too sweet. The candied pecans were the best part of the whole thing.

After that appetizer, we headed back toward our reservation at Canoe. Let me tell you: I love everything about this restaurant. For example, the decor.

Yes, there is a canoe above your head the minute you walk in.

The location.

It's right by a river, and you can stare at the lovely outdoors while dining on your delicious food.

.
And yes, the FOOD. This brunch was southern-goodness-outta this world. We started with the Georgia pecan sticky buns and a sweet and savory scones basket.

It was instant love.

Han's breath was taken away by the sticky buns.

They were perfectly warm, flaky, buttery, sweet, and all-around fantastic.

My breath was taken away by the scones. Our basket included an original scone, a cheddar-bacon scone, and a cinnamon scone.

My one complaint of scones in general is that they're often too dense. These babies, however, were fluffy but still maintained the right scone texture. They were so flavorful and warm. Equally amazing were the preserves [apple and blueberry] and honey butter that came with.

You could taste the freshness of the fruit in the preserves, and don't even get me started with the honey butter. *swoon*

For our entrees, Carrie ordered the Riverside: applewood bacon with scrambled eggs, hash browns and french toast. When it arrived, I was immediately jealous that I had not ordered it because it looked just grand!

She loved it, and our favorite part had to be the bacon maple syrup. Look at those pieces of bacon swimming around in there. Just lovely.

Han ordered something akin to a duck eggs-benedict (the names escapes my memory), and it was also really tasty.

The duck meat was plentiful and awesome, especially when saturated by the egg yolk.

I went with the soft scrambled eggs with jumbo lump crab meat and celery hash browns.

Admission: I can't stand capers. And you'll notice all these capers in my dish! So I was scared that I would be underwhelmed by these eggs, but lemme say, they were very good! I loved the hollandaise-like sauce they put on top. The mini-chopped hash browns were the right amount of crispy+soft, and the crab was plump and fresh. Treasured all my bites.

After this scrumptious meal, we took advantage of the gorgeous day and walked around historic Oakland Cemetery and explored Piedmont Park. Then, naturally, we got hungry again and went in search of King of Pops. After a great deal of effort (I believe normally one would just look on its Twitter page), we found some of the pops sold at a local gas station.

OMG... These were incredibly refreshing and refreshingly incredible! We tried the tangerine basil, something-strawberry (again with the memory argh), and chocolate sea salt.

They were all winners. The touch of basil was such a nice complement to the tangy-sweet of the tangerine. The chocolate sea salt pop had a wonderful fudgy texture and the bit of sea salt was a wonderful addition.

It was a perfect end to our time in Atlanta. Hopefully we'll visit again soon!

Crepe Revolution

4600 West Village Place

Smyrna, GA

770.485.7440

Canoe

4199 Paces Ferry Road, NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30339
770.432.2663

King of Pops
Varies, check Twitter!

Brooklyn Flea's Smorgasburg! Bon Chovie, Shorty Tang & Sons, Dumont, Kings Crumb

2011-07-16T09:50:00.003-05:00

I'm sure many of you are saying, "Han, seriously. Enough with the Brooklyn Flea already. We get it. It's awesome. You need to branch out."

I know. I have a pretty serious problem, but I can't help it. The brilliant minds behind the Brooklyn Flea just keep making it better, and they keep making it better a handful of blocks away from my apartment. Occuring every Saturday, there will be a Brooklyn Flea event solely dedicated to food featuring nearly a hundred food vendors and local food artisans as well as Greenmarket Farmer's Market vendors. This Smorgasburg event is in addition to the regular Brooklyn Flea on Sundays at the same riverside location. Amazing right? I can eat here all weekend (I will try my hardest not to. :)

I actually went to the Smorgasburg for its inaugural weekend back in May, but I sure have taken my sweet time to post. This was the lawn at 10a.

Here is the same lawn from above at 2pm. This is just a fraction of the people who showed up. The place was overflowing with eaters. Obviously, I would recommend everyone to come up in a time in between - most likely 11a-12p would be the sweet spot. At 10, half the vendors were still getting situated despite the event start time of 9a.

Here are some snapshots from the Smorgasburg!

Kings Crumb serves up fresh baked biscuits with clotted cream or gravy. Beginning at noon, they serve fried chicken filets on their giant biscuits. Of course we waited until noon.

The sage in the biscuits shined through, but we were partly too full at this point (we might've had some doughnuts and several other snacks preceding this) for us to fully enjoy this sandwich. The biscuit itself is very dense (read: bready) and thus needs an ample stomach to devour.

The chicken was very good though - juicy with an oily-crunchy crust.

I tried a sample of smoked duck breast from the duck booth (man, I can't remember its name), and it was awesome. Sufficiently fatty and lean all at once. I don't know what one does with smoked duck breast (make sandwiches? eat whole?), but I need to look into it and buy some.

Beef jerky from Slant Shack Jerky. They offer generous samples of all their flavors which are available in both grain or grass fed beef.

The jerky has strong notes of cumin and chipotle and has a far more tender chew than the grocery store varieties.

Fresh ginger ale seems to be a new trend with Bruce Cost slinging bottles at the Hester Street Fair (along with his super baos), and Q Tonic here at the Brooklyn Flea.

Q Tonic is less sweet than Bruce Cost, but Bruce has a bit more gingery zing that I prefer. Still, Q's is quite crisp and good.

The story goes that Shorty Tang was the ultimate guru of sesame noodles in the 1970s, and now his sons are trying to bring back the magic of that signature dish. Lo mein noodles are tossed by hand in a light brown sesame sauce. It requires much concentration as you can tell from that furrowed brow below.

In later visits, I have not seen the grass jelly return, but on their initial exposition, a nice vat of cold grass jelly was available for a drink. His mom (?) scooped me a nice cup of it.

As for the noodles, they were good. Served cold, the predominant flavor was ginger, which I love, but I wasn't floored, amazed, or interested in finishing the whole generous portion.

Dumont, widely heralded as offering one of the best burgers in the city, later joined the Smorgasburg clan, and I tried their little burger sliders out.

Crisped buttery bun and solidly flavored little burger. It surprisingly filled me up for $5, but that might have just been a fluke in my eating capacity.

Now, again, I urge you to not come after 2p. Yes, the event goes to 5p, but you'll arrive fresh faced from your late weekend slumber only to see things like this:

Yes. Sold Out. The most unfriendly disappointing words in the world. It's so sad! Don't voluntarily subject yourself to this kind of sadness!

Bon Chovie, specializing in fried anchovies and sweet puns, was also sold out of everything but the Jersey style anchovies (which has both heads and tails still attached), so I decided to go for it anyway.

The fish is simply prepared with egg wash and seasoned breadcrumbs, and then dropped into a bubbly vat of hot oil for a nice deep fry.

With a nice squeeze of lemon, the anchovies were just perfect: the tender, fresh fish and the salty, lightly crunch breadcrumbs are wonderful together. I wouldn't recommend getting it Jersey style if you can't stand popping the whole fish in your mouth (the head has a very metallic taste), but definitely try out the decapitated version at least once. I know many people have a strong stance against anchovies, but fresh ones are truly a different story.

Bon Chovie also offers a fruity non-alcoholic sangria with plentiful chunks of fresh fruit. It's not very sweet and pretty refreshing on a hot day (though my heart belongs to Thirstea for my Smorgasburg beverage of choice).

If you haven't come out to a Brooklyn Flea event before, I think the Smorgasburg is something everyone should try to do, especially with the convenience of the East River Ferry now available.

But be careful, eating so many delicious eats on a warm summer day may have some narcoleptic effects.

Smorgasburg

Saturdays, Williamsburg

N 6th & Kent

Dinner at Gramercy Tavern - The Tavern Room

2011-07-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

Gramercy Tavern is a restaurant that I have been meaning to go to for quite some time; I absolutely adore Danny Meyer's burgers at Shake Shack, so it was high time that I tried some of his more distinguished fare at his Michelin-starred restaurant.

Gramercy Tavern has two dining areas. One is the restaurant side which is more formal, requires difficult-to-obtain-reservations and features a 6 course tasting menu for $116; the other is the tavern side, more casual in dress, serves walk-ins only and offers a 3 course tasting menu for $38.

On a whim in light of my birthday (guh, I am so old), Thanan and I decided to take advantage of the very reasonably priced tasting meal at the Tavern side to celebrate.

We noshed on thick squares of cold wheat bread slathered with the disc of creamy butter while we waited for our meals. Man, I love butter.

On the Tavern tasting menu, there are three options for both appetizer and entree. Somehow Thanan and I were too stubborn to budge from our initial choice and both ordered the fried oyster salad.

I really just ordered this for the oysters, as you can tell from the way I scooted the spinach leaves aside. Although crunchy, the oysters were a bit too bready for my liking and lacked the usual brininess that I love so much. They were still fine though and paired well with the lightly dressed spinach leaves. The pickled daikon and carrots (a.k.a. banh mi toppings) at the bottom of the plate were good by themselves but otherwise detracted from the flavor of the oysters.

For entrees, Thanan ordered the hangar steak, served in a kale and bourbon sauce, with fingerling potatoes. He had a disaster of hangar steak at L'Ecole during Restaurant Week 2010, but Gramercy's rendition was far better and more tender. Thanan's plate was so clean after.

I selected the trout, which sounded potentially boring, but I was quite surprised how good it was.

Blanketed with tiny bits of shitake and savory breadcrumbs, the topping was a terrific combination of earthy mushroom and crunch. Slivers of turnip and broccoli were also on the plate, but it was all about the topping for me.

For dessert, we were presented with the regular dessert menu with 9 different options ranging from rhubarb crisp to a cookie platter.

Thanan's ricotta cheesecake arrived as a cube of cheesecake sitting atop a fudge brownie and wearing an almond toffee hat. It was accompanied by a quennelle of cassis sorbet.

At the waitress's glowing recommendation, I ordered the chocolate blackout cake; the slice looked so dark and beautiful with rich round Hershey kisses of icing atop. Thanan asked, "Did you get an egg with yours?" Almost. The cake was served with a perfect quenelle of sour cream ice cream nestled on top of salted hazelnut crumbs.

While the dessert was solid, and sufficiently chocolatey as you would expect, it was not groundbreaking / unusual / swoonworthy. It was just good (shrug).

Overall, for the price, the quality of food was great, the service impeccable, and the dining room is nicely decorated and comfortable. I'd be open to visiting again and trying a different seasonal menu, but I am not quite ready to rush back to this one just yet.

Gramercy Tavern

42 E 20th St

New York, NY 10003

(212) 477-0777