dinner

American Traditional / dinner / nyc — 2 Comments
9
Apr 11

Recette: American Small Plates in a Small Space

When I heard about “American small plates”, a description of Recette’s dishes, I was utterly confused. What does that look like? Do they serve small portions of burgers, fries, pulled pork? After hearing that Recette got nominated for the James Beard New Restaurant award, this prompted me to check it out…and luckily I gathered a few friends to come with me. So, here are the dishes:

Pictured above is the berkshire pork belly served with rock shrimp, turnips, romesco, and sherry caramel. You can’t go wrong with braising pork belly, though I actually felt that the meat was a little tougher than I liked. The flavors were good though, right amount of salty and sweet.

Their sea scallops with cauliflower, braised celery, celery root, and coconut broth was very good. The cauliflower was a highlight for me because it was nicely cooked and soaked up the flavors of the broth. The scallops were cooked nicely but were very small; they just didn’t feel meaty enough for me.

Duck breast with leg and foie gras terrine, chard, chanterelles, and walnuts is as intense as it sounds…and not necessarily in a bad way. The duck breast was cooked very well, and I enjoyed dabbing it in the little bit of balsamic. I didn’t touch the foie gras terrine because I actually don’t like foie gras (yes, don’t kill me for not).

I definitely wanted to try their fresh cut spaghetti with sweet shrimp, stewed tomato, chili, and sea urchin. This was actually the saddest part of the meal because I felt like it was too salty, and had three bites of it. I’m not sure what was over-salted, or they didn’t take under consideration the saltiness of the seafood, but it was just not a good combination. On paper it sounded so great but I was quite disappointed in its execution. The pasta itself wasn’t anything outstanding, and oddly enough wasn’t cooked al dente.

The duck fat fingerlings weren’t anything to die for and in fact, I wouldn’t be able to tell between normal and duck fat fingerlings. Originally they actually sent out the wrong dish to us, but was willing to take it back and give us this side dish. However, I wouldn’t say this is necessarily a dish that wow’ed me either.

We also ordered dessert (not pictured anywhere) and it was pretty good too…and more impressive than some of their savory dishes.

I would say my time at Recette was a bit mixed. It was freezing and they couldn’t turn down the AC so I actually ended up wearing my coat the whole time which puts a damper to my experience there. I understand – it is a very small space there isn’t much that can be done about it. I suppose that is just how it is at a typical romantic West Village restaurant where there’s dim lighting, intimate space (aka. extremely small), and can amount to quite an expensive meal.

Well, I’m just glad that I know what American small plates are.

Recette
328 West 12th Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 414-3000

American Nouveau / dinner / nyc / Thai — 1 Comment
13
Feb 11

Kin Shop: Asian-inspired Done Right?

I was excited to try out Kin Shop, Harold Dieterle’s 2nd restaurant (winner of Top Chef Season 1), since it has gotten rave reviews from NY Times, NY Mag, and just about any other magazine. The reservations were made about a month ahead of time, people confirmed for the dinner, and food gathering #2 was organized. We were all eager to try out Kin Shop  in hopes of finding an actual good “Asian-inspired” restaurant. That night we got to see Harold by the busing station, basically being QA. It’s nice seeing the chef actually being at his restaurant.

Pictured above – Sliced snap peas with Diver Sea Scallops, served with crispy shallots, pea greens, and toasted coconut. The scallops were nicely cooked. The sauce added a good creaminess to the dish.

This is their Chiang Mai Sausage and Steamed Duck Egg with red onion congee, razor clams & fried thai basil-garlic sauce.  I felt the highlight of the dish wasn’t the sausage or egg, but ratherthe red onion congee. It almost felt like they treated it like an orzo, cooking it with a broth or sauce to create add another flavor layer for the congee. I think the use of Taiwanese sausage rather than Chiang Mai would work better since it would provide a sweeter flavor, but I suppose that wouldn’t make the dish Thai-inspired anymore…

The roti was VERY good. Oddly enough this was one of my favorite dishes (or side dish?) to eat. Each layer was probably coated in butter, and the flakiness to doughiness ratio was perfect. It was slightly chewy, crispy, buttery, and made your mouth crave for some more. Just thinking about it, I totally want some now. Highly recommended!

The roasted duck breast with green mango, fresh herbs, and tamarind water was the best main dish. I’m not sure if it was the tamarind water, but the sauce that came with the duck breast had a good amount of heat and sweetness. It complimented the flavors of duck very well, so much so that as a person who doesn’t normally love duck, I ate around three pieces by myself. If I could, I probably would have eaten the whole thing. Another highly recommended dish!

Kin Shop’s braised goat with fried shallots, purple yams, mustard greens & toasted coconut was also a successful dish. I felt like they did a great job with braising. Not only did I not taste the gaminess of the goat meat, but the meat fell right off the bone. It was tender and juicy, just the way meat should be. The sauce added that creaminess and perhaps helped mask the gaminess. Fried shallots are always a great addition providing an extra crunch and sweet onion-like flavor to a dish. I definitely wouldn’t mind eating this again.

Lastly, dessert - Thai coffee-chocolate and Thai ice tea ice creams, and Calamansi sorbet. I have to say, it was really cool eating Thai ice tea ice cream considering we’re all used to drinking it. That different way of consuming Thai ice tea gave them plus points. The Calamansi sorbet was very good, had a sweet and sour taste, and the Thai coffee-chocolate was pretty normal.

Their dessert menu was actually the smallest menu for a restaurant I’ve encountered, with only ice cream and sorbets available, but maybe this isn’t a course they want to stress anyway. After all, their appetizer / main dishes were very well cooked and nicely seasoned. I would still recommend people to go, but make sure you make reservations! It’s a small space and with rave reviews, seats are difficult to come by. You can reserve through OpenTable.

To answer my question, Kin Shop makes good Asian (and more specifically Thai) inspired dishes that are cooked very well. It is clear that they carefully thought through flavors and textures of each ingredient though one dish presentation wasn’t very aesthetically pleasing. But hey, can’t win them all. Even though this meal didn’t knock my socks off, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good meal especially for the price. I’m just glad it’s next door to me.

Kin Shop
469 6th Avenue (btw 11th and 12th st.)
New York, NY 10011
(212) 675-4295

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

Chinese / dinner / nyc — 1 Comment
10
Jan 11

Hung Ry: Hand-Pulled Noodles Outside of Chinatown

With a name like Hung Ry, how can you not want to try out this restaurant? Okay, seriously beyond its name, I’ve heard that they hand-pull their noodles and cook up tasty noodle soups outside of Chinatown. A review said that it had more complex broths than their Chinatown counterparts, which accounts for a more expensive bowl of noodle soup. So I gathered a group of curious foodies and made reservations. Another appeal: you can make reservations here as opposed to many ramen / noodle shops that will not take any reservations.

Apps featuring different animal parts, anyone? We started off with beef tongue served with black beans, rutabaga, pickled in an aromatic broth. How does tongue taste? It’s actually pretty good, and it wouldn’t be obvious that you ate a tongue. There wasn’t any particularly memorable about the dish aside from the fact that it was tongue.

I’m used to seeing frog legs stir fried in an onion / scallion sauce. Instead Hung Ry serves their frog legs with celery root and walnuts. A bit more gourmet and very tasty. The frog legs are tender and have a lightly crisp skin. Definitely something I would eat again.

Amongst their list of 8 types of different broths, I order the Duck Breast noodles served with gizzard, Szechuan peppers and kaboucha squash. You can choose between having thick or thin noodles and as you can tell from above, I ended up choosing thin noodles. The noodles are well cooked, al dente, and have good firmness to the bite. The broth didn’t end up being so “complex” as I hoped and lacked a few ingredients I feel to be vital to chinese noodle soups. As seen in the picture above, there was no trace of any green – no scallions, no cilantro – and that makes this noodle soup less colorful and interesting. My noodle dish wasn’t the only one that suffered from the lack of green either. It’s an easy addition and something I would hope they include in the future.

Do I think this place is worth $16 for noodle soup? Not quite. However, there are a lot of pros: accepts reservations, freshly made noodles, and a variety of broths to keep you satisfied all winter. It’s worth a try and look to enjoy some delicious strings of noodles, at least.

Hung Ry Restaurant
55 Bond Street, between Lafayette and Bowery
(212) 677-4864

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/

Chinese / dinner / drinks / nyc / Taiwanese — 2 Comments
15
Nov 10

YPX Gala: A Celebratory Night for Chinese Americans

I was invited to attend the YPX Gala held by the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) which celebrates Chinese American artists, chefs, and designers that are becoming America’s trendsetters. They had several honorees like Lucy Liu, Dave Liang of the Shanghai Restoration Project, and Chef Chris Cheung. There was only Chinese food served but no complaints here!

One of the highlights was that they were serving Taiwan Beer. Even though they didn’t have the Gold Label Taiwan Beer (my fav), it was still really great that they had this as an option. Right now only Xiao Ye serves this beer but hopefully more places will get on this.

Foie gras buns, made by Chef Chris Cheung of Lair Lounge and Restaurant, is an interesting take on chinese buns and a french delicacy. The starchy bun exterior helped tone down the richness of the foie gras. Being a person that doesn’t like foie gras, I was surprised how good this was, and easily would have eaten two more.

Another dish by Chef Chris Cheung’s Lair Lounge and Restaurant. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to see what this was, but it was very good. The outside was a thin fried roll and inside there was a light crab mixture. I took two and still wanted more.

Bite-sized dumplings paired some some vinegar and soy sauce. I felt these were very good but hard to grab them by the chopstick. It’s probably easier to eat them using a fork but no such utensil was in sight.

Kyotofu took care of the dessert that night and brought mini chocolate miso brownies. They were nicely dense and moist, and a perfect dessert to pop into your mouth.

Lastly, the mini yuzu tofu cheesecake. The yuzu added a nice citrus flavor to the cheesecake. Another easy dessert to eat and enjoy.

Great food, music, and drink. All in celebration of the achievements that Chinese Americans have made in American culture. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future!

dinner / Japanese / nyc — No Comments
14
Oct 10

Hide Chan Ramen: Up to the Hype?

As some of you may notice I love eating noodles. Luckily ramen is all the rage in this city, and I stay a happy soup noodle eater. Recently there was an article in Serious Eats ranking the “Best Ramen in New York City” where I saw the 1st place ranking did NOT go to Ippudo (which got 2nd place), but instead went to Hide (pronounced HEE-DAY) Chan Ramen. Oh yes that meant I had to try it ASAP.

I gathered some friends (props to those who came!) who were interested in eating good ramen, and ventured to Midtown East. We were a large group and unfortunately, Hide Chan Ramen does not take reservations. However, it is substantially larger than Totto Ramen so you can actually sit on tables that will fit more than four. I knew it would be hard to seat us all, considering the number of other people waiting for a table. After numerous attempts to speak to a very Japanese-speaking host / owner, we managed to seat EIGHT altogether!

My choice was quick and definite – I am going to try the Hakata Tonkatsu Ramen ($9.50) – the traditional pork-based broth ramen. The broth was satisfying, not too fatty but had just enough pork flavor to it. The noodles were nicely cooked (“al dente”), and the scallions gave it a refreshing touch.

Of course we also needed to try out pork buns (another huge trend about a year ago) to see how it stacks up against Momokufu, Baohaus, Ippudo, etc. Unfortunately it was more of a let down. It came AFTER we started eating our ramen and had too much mayonnaise. I find that the pork bun didn’t stand out amongst its competitors so I would vote to skip it next time.

So, how did Hide Chan stack up against its competitors? I would say that this is solid ramen joint but I still find that Ippudo has better pork based ramen (Akaru Modern), and Totto Ramen’s chicken based ramen outdoes Hide Chan’s ramens. Of course all are entitled to their opinions, but on my list this place would under Ippudo and Totto Ramen. It is still a place to check out, so if you’re in the area, hopefully you can grab a seat if it’s not completely packed already.

Hide Chan Ramen
248 E 52nd St (Btwn 2nd & 3rd Ave)
New York, NY 10022
(212) 813-1300

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!

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