dessert

dessert / lunch / Taiwanese / travels — No Comments
22
Mar 12

Taiwan: Foodie Heaven Pt. 2 – Honey Toast


One of the latest dessert crazes in Taipei right now would be for an item called honey toast.  It comes in different flavors and from my understanding, is made popular by Dazzling Cafe.  Located in one of the younger trendy areas in Taipei, it is fair to say that getting a table is hard, (try fighting through all those girls and claim a place on line for a table before opening time).  However, it’s worth trying it out and at least staying at this place for lunch if you’ve waited for a while on a line.

This is the pan-fried duck breast spaghetti served with a cream sauce.  As a pasta fiend, it was actually acceptable as a pasta; the spaghetti was al dente and the duck breast helped with providing a savory flavor to the dish.

I got the scallop and crab meat spaghetti with olive oil, which is light and refreshing.  I didn’t really taste too much seafood, sadly enough, but it was lightly tossed with olive oil, tomatoes, and broccoli.  Always good to get those greens in!

 And now…onto DESSERT!

Pictured is the inside of the banana chocolate honey toast.  You can see that they hollow out this large piece of toast and fill it with deliciousness: vanilla ice cream, chocolate, cashews, sugar coated fried pieces of toast, and topped with whipped cream.  Of course you can’t forget the banana pieces on the side as well.  It’s a box of sweet toast intensity.

Yup, a close-up of that vanilla bean ice cream with cashews.  Delicious.

It is worth a trip to this place if: (1) you’re a huge dessert fiend, (2) willing to wait (even before opening time), and (3) willing to spend above average amount for a meal / dessert.

Dazzling Cafe Pink
台北市忠孝東路四段205巷7弄11號1樓
02-8773-9238
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Breakfast / dessert / dinner / Mexican / Seafood / travels — 1 Comment
6
Feb 11

Cancun: Tropical Paradise Ready for Tourists

Paradise: clear waters, beautiful beaches, lots of sunshine…why did I leave again? This trip was a great break from the snowy winter. Reading about Cancun,all the guides talked about fresh seafood, Mayan foods, and alcohol in the forms of magaritas, pina colodas, and Mexican beers. Of course it is also known as a spring break destination. This post is about highlighting the dishes that I ate during my trip at my hotel, downtown Cancun, Isla Mujeres, and Chichen Itza.

One of the first stops was at a really touristy restaurant called La Parrilla. They come with English menus prepared, a guy that goes around taking photos of you, and large alcoholic drinks. Pictured above is the five taco appetizer which has one of each: pastor (pork), sausage, grilled chicken, grilled steak, and tilapia. They were okay but nothing really stood out.

This is a traditional Mayan dish – Cochinita Pibil. Basically it is marinated pork meat in citrus juice with annatto seed. They roast pork meat while it is wrapped in banana leaf underneath the ground for a long period of time. The result? Fall-off-the-bone meat that is nicely spiced and flavored. Clearly the Mayans knew what they were doing when it came to pork.

A very typical dish in Mexico – seafood ceviche. I got to eat this right by the water on the Isla Mujeres right after snorkeling. It was very refreshing and the seafood tasted very fresh. They add lime which added a slight citrus tang and helped highlight the flavors of the shrimp, octopus, and fish.

Grilled shrimp with vegetable rice, lettuce, tomato, and lime was very good. It was simply cooked and nicely cleaned (no shrimp vein!). It’s great island food and definitely a pleasure to eat. The shells came off very easily and paired nicely with the tortillas they provided along with the meal.

A whole fried fish served with vegetable rice, lettuce, tomato, and lime is pictured above. Unfortunately I’m not sure what type of fish this was, but it was very easy to eat because it was lightly fried. It had a crunchy exterior to the soft white meat, and not oily at all. I certainly wouldn’t mind eating some whole fried fish again.

The last savory dish is comprised of two fried eggs, cheese, ham, peas, tomato sauce served on an English muffin. It was served fried plantains. It felt like a brunch dish I would eat at a Mexican brunch in New York. I devoured the whole plate because it was so good. The combination of runny eggs with ham lightly sprinkled with cheese gave this dish a two thumbs up.

And onto dessert! Churros are always good – crispy outside, soft inside, lightly coated with sugar. They weren’t very big but just enough to end the meal.

Maquesitas are thin waffle crepes, a easy dessert to eat whilst walking around. I ordered the banana with nutella and caramel. Oh, it is as good as it sounds. I would definitely order a few of these at once if I had the chance in New York.

Last but not least, a picture of a huge margarita. Mexicans definitely take pride in making tequila (shots, shots, shots) and fun tropical drinks i.e. pina colada, margaritas. It was pretty intense but all in the spirit of Mexico!

Cancun isn’t a culinary capital and many dishes are often overpriced, but at least you can enjoy the beautiful beaches and sunshine. It was a great to leave the cold, enjoy some fresh seafood, and see Chichen Itza.

dessert / dinner / Italian / nyc — 3 Comments
18
Jan 11

Spasso: Satisfying Italian

Spasso is the newly opened restaurant by Craig Wallen, who has cooked at Lupa and Convivio, and Bobby Wehane of Choptank. Urban Daddy’s feature on Spasso caught my eye:

“Inside, you’ll find all the required trappings of a proper dinner for two. A table lit with candles. A menu full of homemade pastas. And a marble-topped bar stocked with the city’s most formidable sparkling wine collection.”

It definitely sounded like a place to try out, perhaps for future date recommendations (oh yes I am making a list). As a start of the new year, I have started a foodie group and this was the first restaurant outing. Being that we’re all easy-going and curious foodies, many appetizers were ordered to share.

This picture is the eggplant arancini with whipped housemade ricotta and roasted tomato. The inside eggplant with ricotta provided the creaminess which worked well with crispy exterior. Plus this wasn’t oily at all and that made it easy to pop these beauties into your mouth.

Charred octopus with cucumbers, yogurt, mint is shown above. They did a good job cooking the octopus; it was not too soft and not too hard. The cucumbers, yogurt, and mint provided refreshing flavors which created a light appetizer to start off the meal.

This is their housemade Stracciatella cheese served with olio nuovo and grilled bread. I would have to say this dish was the highlight of all the appetizers. The cheese was very light and perfectly stretched out, separated into strands so you can spread it onto the grilled bread. DELICIOUS. I couldn’t get enough and even grabbed the table bread to eat more of this cheese.

Above is the Orecchiette with rock shrimp, crab, and breadcrumbs. The texture of the pasta was very interesting and well-done; the breadcrumbs gave the dish a nice crunch along with the al dente orecchiette. This pasta was also pretty light in comparison to what the my fellow foodies ordered, which helped in making it easier to finish eating all the orecchiette.

Their coconut panna cotta with pineapple and lychee was pretty average and a relatively safe dessert to create and serve. The selection of desserts wasn’t very extensive and seemed like an after-thought, but at least they were enjoyable.

Spasso is a solid Italian restaurant in the midst of a lot other comfort Italian restaurants. It is NOT a date restaurant nor a quiet place, rather it is a place for smaller parties and casual diners. They have a nice selection of starters and pastas cooked in an open kitchen that can be seen in the back. It is a place I would go to again and look to eating more of that delicious homemade Stracciatella cheese.

Spasso
551 Hudson St
New York, NY 10014
(212) 858-3838

American Nouveau / dessert / dinner / nyc — No Comments
29
Dec 10

Colicchio & Sons: A Warm Christmas Dinner

What used to be known as Craftsteak has been transformed into Colicchio & Sons, a new American restaurant that serves solid dishes with great wine. As one of Tom Colicchio’s restaurants (as if the name didn’t give it away enough), this restaurant isn’t overhyped by Colicchio’s successes of Top Chef and being a James Beard winner. In fact, it meets expectations – dishes that highlight the ingredients, sauces that compliment other elements of the dish, and wine that suits the meal.

Who can deny this beautiful bread basket, rather cast iron skillet? As a bread lover, this was the perfect start. It was warm, moist, and nicely buttered. I’m drooling even thinking about it…I can eat this any day.

Charred Onion Agnolotti (a type of ravoli) are pockets of deliciousness. Served with some celery root and field mushrooms, it is a light and easy to eat appetizer. It can also be made into an entree for those vegetarians.

This is roasted Nantucket Bay scallops, served with green apple, endive, and szechuan pepper. Oddly enough you didn’t taste much of the szechuan pepper. The scallops are small, not sure if it is because I shared this dish, but they were bite-sized and quite tender.

Loch Duart Salmon with roasted persimmons, sunchokes, turnips, and almond puree. Salmon is from Scotland and the persimmons were sweet with a nice bite. Everything was well marinated plus the salmon was well cooked (medium rare).

Boston cream doughnuts with spiced pear jam, malted milk, and milk chocolate ice cream. It is as good as it sounds. The doughnuts weren’t oily and not to sweet. Definitely a good ratio to cream and a nice touch of chocolate. The milk chocolate ice cream was really good and added another layer of flavor – sweet and cold.

It was great for a Christmas dinner, warm and tasty, exactly what suits the holiday season. Colicchio & Sons is definitely worth a try if not continual visits. I hope to try the tasting menu next time since it sounds rich and decadent. Gotta make sure I make room for that meal.

Colicchio & Sons
85 10th Avenue
New York, NY 10011
(212) 400-6699

dessert / dinner / Japanese / nyc — No Comments
28
Nov 10

Hasaki: Another Japanese Reso on 9th Street

9th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue has many Japanese eating establishments – Otafuku, Robataya, Cha-An – and Hasaki brings the sushi to this street. It has been around since 1984 and is located on the basement floor. Being that I’ve tried nearly all the eating establishments on this street, naturally I wanted to try this place out too.

Their menu features typical Japanese sushi / sashimi dishes with various daily specials. I wanted to try out their sashimi to see how it compares to other places like Yasuda, Sasabune, etc.

Sashimi omasake with the green tea snapper daily special. This had king salmon, bonito, red snapper, toro, and mackerel. I really enjoyed the king salmon which was soft and buttery. However, I found the toro to be disappointing since it wasn’t “melt in your mouth” and instead I had to chew through it.

Ohitashi was very good. It was like eating spinach sushi served with bonito flakes. The sesame seeds added another layer of roasted flavors which made this dish more interesting.

The grilled red snapper head was nicely tender but sadly there wasn’t enough of it.

This was the highlight of the meal – grilled banana with green tea ice cream. It was a perfect combination of a cold and hot dessert. The slightly bitter green tea ice cream complimented the sweetness of the grilled banana.

I’m not sure how often I would go back to Hasaki considering the price range, but it was a worth a try in this neighborhood full of Japanese food. However, I’m glad that I got to taste some decent sushi and some delicious dessert.

Hasaki
210 E 9th St Bsmt
New York, NY 10003
www.hasakinyc.com/

American Traditional / dessert / dinner — No Comments
13
Sep 10

Congratulations to Katie & Jon – Mr. & Mrs. Lin!

Shout out to my fellow food enthusiast and his beautiful wife! They got married on July 23, 2010 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Must I say it was a beautiful wedding, followed by plenty of delicious food and drink. They sure made sure everyone had a great time including having an AWESOME band.

Jon Lin made the special request to take tons of food pictures. Of course in a rush to make it in time to the wedding, I left the lens most appropriate to taking good photos. I tried salvaging what I could, held my hand steady, and prayed for decent pictures. Here we go:

This is the Summer Duo of Lobster & Corn. Basically this is lobster salad with teardrop tomatoes, fresh corn, pea shoots & chervil. Corn pudding souffle topped with tomato lemon marmalade.

Yum, Truffled Chilean Sea Bass. The Sea Bass is covered in a porcini dust with truffled microgreens, saffrom beurre blanc, red wine reduction. It is served with chive mashed potatoes and wilted spinach, wild mushrooms, and radicchio.

Do we need to say how good at “warm s’mores truffle tart” is? Decadent chocolate caramel ganache with marshmallow peaks in a graham crust. It is served with wild berry sorbet and mixed berry compote.

And the wedding cake!

All in all, a really great night of fun, eats, and drinks! Congratulations to Katie & Jon!

Chinese / dessert / nyc / Taiwanese — No Comments
21
Jul 10

Ultimate Summer Dessert: Mango Shaved Ice

I LOVE mango shaved ice. Ever since I tasted the original version in Taiwan, I have yearned for good Taiwanese shaved ice in the city. I have tried several including the ones listed on a recent Serious Eats article, ranking best shaved ice spots around New York City. However, Just Sweet Dessert House is one place hasn’t been reviewed since it just opened. I noticed that this dessert spot has various versions of Asian shaved ice and desserts so it was instantly a MUST-TRY for me.

Naturally I picked the Mango Lover – Shaved ice topped with mango syrup, sliced bananas, mango, and sago. There’s supposed to be whipped cream on it but I guess they must have left it out. The mango slices were sweet and sago was nice and chewy (aka. “QQ). Banana slices are freshly cut so has great flavor. Very tropical and deliciously sweet. Of course it is not the same as Taiwan: no condensed milk, different texture of shaved ice; however I will gladly take a bowl of this any day in the summer.

If anyone wants to try the other shaved ice bowls, let me know!

Just Sweet Dessert House
83 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10003

dessert / Fusion / nyc — No Comments
21
May 10

DT Works: Dessert Freebies Are Wonderful

After hearing about the DT Works‘s free deal on Serious Eats, I quickly urged a friend to come with me to get some dessert. Not only was today a perfect day to grab some ice cream – 80 degree sunny, slightly windy weather – but it gave me the excuse to bike down to the Lower East Side on a weekday.

I got their Honey-Rosemary ice cream. It was slightly and perfectly sweet, and ended off with a fragrant rosemary flavor. This definitely satisfied my desire to eat something cold, creamy, and sweet.

Peering into the baked goods display, something caught my eye.

This is their Sesame Passion Fruit macaron. Personally speaking I felt like it was a bit sweet but definitely has strong sesame and passion fruit flavor. They have other macarons but I hope they aren’t as sweet as the ones I tried out today.

Anyway I’m glad I got to taste what these guys have been making after moving from a dessert truck to a store front. I just hope they continue to make good and tasty sweets while holding true to their old-time popular desserts.

DT Works
6 Clinton St
New York, NY  10002

dessert / nyc / snack — No Comments
15
Mar 10

Macaron Day NYC 2010!

This event looks like a lot of fun, especially for those Macaron-lovers out there. After all, what is there not to love about these light little treats? If you enjoy popping macarons as much as I do, make sure to join in on this event. It takes place on Saturday, March 20, 2010 so mark your calendars. “To receive a free macaron tell the shop you are there for Macaron Day NYC.” It looks like there are a lot of places participating so I want to highlight a few:

- Bouchon Bakery
- La Maison du Chocolat
- Dessert Truck Works

The best part of this is that all proceeds go to City Harvest (www.CityHarvest.org), the world’s first food rescue organization, and has been servicing New York for over 25 years. For more information on participants and other aspects of this day, check out the website.

American Nouveau / dessert / dinner / nyc — No Comments
15
Aug 09

Long Awaited Post: Park Avenue Autumn with Ryan Boyd!

So what else would I be doing on a Friday summer night in Manhattan? BLOGGING OF COURSE. With the television on the show ABDC (America’s Best Dance Crew) whilst cleaning the bathroom, I realized that it is about time for me to blog. Clearly I have not achieved my goal of blogging once a month but I guarantee you that every post I make is meant to entertain…myself. HAHA.

Accenture has provided me with meeting fellow foodies from all across the USA. I was lucky enough to meet Ryan Boyd, a friendly Texan that is very into eating. He educated me in the different types of BBQ and I talked incessantly about the great food in Manhattan. Of course he called me up when he came to NYC and offered to treat me to a delicious dinner with him and his girlfriend. My pick: Park Avenue [insert season here] - Autumn.

They are known to change their decor and menu every single season. I remember that the menu had a special section for MUSHROOMS. That’s right – just to highlight this lovely fungus that is most fresh in the autumn. I was thrilled to be invited to this dinner.
Warning: I apologize ahead of time if I don’t list things properly or if I can’t even identify the dish at all. This is a LONG awaited post (something like 1 year old??) so forgive me!

This was the chef’s starter. What it is you ask? I cannot remember, but I do recollect my feeling towards it. Please sir, can I have some more?

We dabbled in bread. Drrooooool. My weakness…carbs. But oh are they delicious…we are talking about flat bread sticks, multi-grain bread, and muffin-like rolls. ”Gimme gimme more, gimme more…”

And onto appetizers! We ordered:

Local Diver Scallops with Lemongrass Broth and Red Delicious Apples. This dish highlights aspects of autumn and combining fall’s fresh ingredients with seafood.

Unidentifiable dish #1:

I think this might be an appetizer or main entree. Either way I can’t remember…however, doesn’t it look so pretty?

Speaking of mains:

I believe I got the Dover Sole with fine herbes brown butter. It was delicious and eaten in a matter of minutes.

The side dish that stands out the most:

Broccoli & Cheetos! Yes, I am serious. They use REAL cheetos for this side. I was really surprised but I really liked it. It gave the broccoli a pleasant crunch.

And a meal is not complete until you finish it off with dessert!

The chocolate cube and…

Cranberry almond cake with Cranberry brulee and toasted almond ice cream. What is in the chocolate cube? I can’t remember. How were the desserts? That I do remember…and they were gobbled up in a matter of minutes. Two thumbs up!

All in all, one of my most memorable meals…thanks to Ryan Boyd! You rock! I would highly recommend going to Park Avenue [season], and I am more than happy to accompany anyone if desired.

Park Avenue [Season]
100 E. 63rd St.
New York, NY 10021
(212) 644-1900

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