drinks

dinner / drinks / Japanese / nyc — 1 Comment
10
Aug 11

Bohemian: Japanese Exclusivity

When my friend mentioned that there’s an ultra exclusive Japanese bar / restaurant in NoHo called Bohemian, I was immediately intrigued.  What do they serve? Why would anyone not want their establishment to be full of patrons?  As it turns out, there is an appeal to knowing a place that isn’t known by most people like some other places around the area, inundated with tourists or loud college kids (woo hoo NYU!).  Anyway, my friend scored a reservation (he got the phone number through a friend who has eaten there as well) and I was excited to see what makes this place tick.

We took a look at the menu and decided to get their tasting course plus a few other dishes to try out the highlights (according to FourSquare).

Farmer’s Fresh Vegetable Fondue was beautiful and a great appetizer to whet your appetite.  Personally, I can probably eat these vegetables without any dip, but what they provided was a nice thousand island-like sauce to go with it.

Pictured above is the uni croquette which was creamy and had a great umami flavor.  Enjoyable and easy to eat in a few bites.

We also started with a plate of Herve Katz’s Assorted Cold Cuts which were good, but nothing particularly memorable for me. However, I am generally not falling off my chair for cold cuts anyway so take my comment with a grain of salt.

Who can resist having Washu-Beef Short Rib Sashimi? The melt-in-your-mouth feeling in the beef was there, and all of us wharfed this down pretty quickly.

A cast-iron pan is brought to our table loaded with vegetables and with a Pan Roasted Branzini. The vegetables around it were nicely cooked and soft though a bit salty. The branzini was flaky and worked well with the vegetables when eaten together (since the fish itself had a mild flavor).

Here is the Wagyu Beef Mini Burger, which was definitely mini. In terms of flavor and other important aspects of a burger anyone cares about, I wasn’t particularly impressed…we do have a lot of good burgers in NY so it is hard to say this was particularly unique (even with the wagyu beef).

The Ikura Caviar Rice Bowl was tiny and simple – caviar with rice.

Their soba was a bit too salty for my taste, but was still good. I always enjoy noodles so it was nice to end the meal this way.

My conclusion – It’s nice to go to a place where there aren’t loads of people waiting for a table or has the noise level of a club. The food wasn’t memorable, but I would say it’s a great place for drinks. It’s also a good place to catch up with someone or even have a date. Their decor is interesting and looks like they have these pieces of art around, which makes it have more character. All in all, I had a good time but not sure if I would want to go back for dinner but probably for drinks.

Bohemian
Great Jones Street
New York, NY
Phone number unknown

American Traditional / brunch / drinks / nyc / Spanish — 1 Comment
14
Jun 11

Caliu – AYCD Brunch with Spanish Flair

I am all for scoping out great food deals. All You Can Drink (aka. AYCD) brunch happens to be one of those great deals that each NYer needs to experience for themselves. Unlimited drinks plus brunch food? What can be better. Venturing into the West Village you can find Caliu, a small but cute restaurant with the $25 brunch deal.

Their watermelon sangria, shown in the first picture, is definitely a highlight. If you grab brunch, definitely try it (since it’s unlimited anyway). It’s light, refreshing, and tastes like you’re eating watermelon that is slightly spiked.

Having the choice of one entree I chose their eggs benedict with serrano ham, jalapeno hollandaise, salad, and truffled hash browns (normally $13).  It was a solid brunch dish, eggs poached nicely and I definitely enjoyed the fragrant hash browns; anything with truffle oil makes it automatically taste better.

All in all, it was a pleasurable experience drinking and eating a casual brunch with my girlfriends. I’m not sure about dinner, but at least brunch is worth making a trip.

Caliu
557 Hudson Street (Between W. 11th. & Perry St.)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 206–6444

 

Cuban / dinner / drinks / nyc / Seafood — No Comments
8
May 11

Cienfuegos: A Rum Cocteleria Worth Visiting

What is there not to like about this place?  Tropical lounge decor, chill waitstaff, delicious food, and rum-based punches sets Cienfuegos up for success.  Try getting a table on Saturday night and you’ll inevitably wait 45 minutes so that you can experience Cuba’s “Pearl of the South”.  Luckily one of my friends mentioned that Tasting Table had a special deal with them where you can have a $50, three-course menu with drink pairings and dessert at Cienfuegos. Who can say no to that?

We start off with a Striped Bass Ceviche served with cucumber, pomegranate, avocado, and mint over chickpea fries. This dish was creamy but fairly light. I enjoyed the texture of the dish; the striped bass melded into the softness of the avocado and the chickpeas gave it a nice crunch. Drink pairing: Spring Refresher

The second course was Papa Rellena de Picadillo de Creme (meat stuffed with potatoes croquette) served with sofrito aioli. The outside was flaky and buttery while the inside was meaty and gave it that salty flavor. I definitely enjoyed this and had no trouble finishing it. Drink pairing: Alabazam Rum No. 2

Pictured above was the last course – seared pork belly with spicy black beans, crunchy tostones, and guava glaze. This was no surprise since Cubans do love their pork. It was very well done because the meat was moist, tender, and juicy. I had no problem gobbling it up. Drink pairing: Señor Dobbs

For dessert, we had their cocktail sorbet with wafers and blackberries. I’m not sure how much I tasted of any cocktail per se, but I definitely enjoyed the texture combination of the ingredients. The wafers provided that crunch that melted once it touched the cold sorbet and juice from the blackberries.

Cienfuegos
95 Avenue A (near 6th st.)
New York, NY 10009
(212) 614-6818

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!

brunch / drinks / Latin American / nyc — No Comments
21
Jun 10

Awesome Deals: Mercadito Cantina Brunch

In this island of expensive meals and outrageously priced anythings, New Yorkers are always looking for a good deal. After all, they are hard to come by…or so you would think. It is a personal mission for my close friends to find cheap eats usually including alcohol. So we took this opportunity to celebrate a birthday AND eat and drink merrily, without breaking the bank!

For two hours, there is an all-you-can-drunk brunch special that includes one brunch entree for $25. Yes, ONLY $25 for as many alcoholic beverages as you would like. This does have great potential to be detrimental to your health, but it really provides an enjoyable drinking experience for all involved.

We all started off with their three types of guacamole appetizer: traditional (tomato, cilantro, onion, chile serrano), guacamole de mango (pico de gallo, jicama, chipotle), and guacamole de pina (pineapple, tomatillo, habaero, mint). We easily munched it down while taking gulps of our pineapple / mango mimosas.

I ordered the Revuletos – scrambled eggs with Berkshire pork carnitas, tomatillo pico de gallo, and ancho salsa. It is as good as it sounds since the eggs weren’t overdone and the salsa complimented the pork very well.

It is easy to say that we walked out of there full and happily buzzing with joy. Cheap deal, lots of alcohol, tasty food, and great conversation. This is definitely a place to check out with friends for a fun and intense brunch.

Mercadito Cantina
179 Ave B between 11th & 12th streets
New York, NY 10009
(212) 529-6490

dessert / dinner / drinks / Mexican / snack / Taiwanese / travels — No Comments
29
Mar 07

Worldly Travels: Acapulco, Mexico and Taipei, Taiwan

Okay, I know it’s been a while since I’ve last updated, but it’s because I’ve been traveling the world! That’s right, Taiwan during a random week in February and Mexico for Spring Break. Both trips were a lot of fun, especially since I can get out of the cold New York weather. As usual I took plenty of pictures during my international journeys but I’ve decided to highlight the beautiful dishes that I ate:

Feb. 13~23 – Taipei, Taiwan

This is a picture of the first bowl of noodles I had when I got to Taipei. It may mean nothing to you, but it was really good. It helped me forget about the 18-hour layover in Anchorage, Alaska…taking away from my already-short trip back.

I found this at a department store in the basement levels. If you don’t know about Asian department stores, their basement levels are always filled with food courts and supermarkets. Deliciousness~


This is how Pork Chop Rice works. They give you a yummy bowl of minced pork rice with your pork chops on the side. Damn, this was a good piece of pork chop. You can see the pepper flakes on the chop, which made it real yummy.

These are scallion pancakes done in a Shanghainese style. Yeah, they’re huge and luckily they were cut into 4 smaller pieces. Otherwise I probably would have eaten the whole thing by myself. hahaha. Not to mention, because my aunt is baller, we ate this at a high-class department store. (Yes, there are also restaurants in baller high-end department stores in Taiwan.)

This is also eaten at the New Sogo Department store in Taipei, which was baller as well. This is their eel roll with cucumber inside. It was as good as it looks.

If you couldn’t tell already, the Japanese have a huge influence over Taiwan. All that red bean, matcha goodness is attributed to them. hahaha. Trust me, sometimes pictures can’t even do it justice as to how delicious these desserts were…you’ll just have to go to Taiwan yourself and try them out!

I was definitely sad to leave Taiwan so soon because there were SO many foods that I didn’t get to eat, but I suppose this summer will be the time to go back…heh heh.

Mar. 08~14 – Acapulco, Mexico

Mexico was a combination of sweet fruit, nachos and salsa, and scrumptious seafood. I gotta say, I did start get irked by the excessive shouting of taxi drivers and men in general, but there were definitely good eats down there. Mexicans sure know how to make a mean salsa. Here are my pics:

This smooth is called “Oasis“. How fitting. Before I saw this huge drink, my mouth was like a desert. hahaha. This drink saved me, and the best part of it was that it was all natural! Might I add that the restaurant that served this drink was named 100% Natural, just in case you thought you were getting something unnatural. Ha.

They also gave us these muffins, and we almost thought they were complimentary. No, they’re not…and thank God we asked. Otherwise, we probably would have scrambled for those muffinsbecause they looked so tempting.

Quesabrosas anyone? Yes, also from 100% Natural (can you tell that we loved this place?), it was delicious. The best part of it was I didn’t feel like I was eating anything unhealthy…but I think it’s because of the restaurant name. Damn, but it was a hella good quesabrosa.

Tacos? This is a picture of a real Mexican taco, not the ones you see at Taco Bell, but from a place called Tacos Orientalex. That’s right, you read it correctly. Orientalex. Despite the deceiving name, these tacos were EXTREMELY good. Highly recommended to anyone who goes down there to try some.

Shrimp Tacos. They look more like spring rolls to me, but they were good too. Eaten at a place called Julio’s. They have some great seafood there as well.

Want to go for some swanky seafood? Linda Vista is the place to be. Has a great view of Acapulco and its marvelous lights in addition to its high-quality seafood. This is a picture of an appetizer which was shrimp covered in bacon and tartar sauce on the side. Yummm…

Can’t forget the bread there. This is just one of my numerous pictures of baked goods. I actually didn’t get to eat this, but it looks like it would taste like creamy heaven.

Chicken with Mole Sauce. Don’t even ask me what mole sauce is. I can’t even describe it well…I can tell you what it’s not. It’s not sweet, sour, salty, perhaps slightly bitter? However, I enjoyed it enough to finish a decent portion…

Ice cream anyone? Yup, lots of ice cream stores down there, since it’s so hot.

This is a picture of the ultimate Mexican burger – not only does this include hamburger meat, but hot dog, avocado, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and probably a few more items. It may not look like it’s huge to you, but trust me, this burger from the cart was one of my best meals there.

I love traveling. and eating. =]

Chinese / dinner / drinks / Italian / Japanese / Long Island / nyc / snack — No Comments
5
Jul 06

The July 4th Weekend

Yay for Independence Day! I got to go home to Long Island and chill with some friends throughout the weekend. I gotta say, it’s way relaxing just laying on my couch, watching tv, and letting my brain rot away. haha. This also meant that I got to eat for “free” – eating good Taiwanese cooking at home and mommy paying for the bill at restaurants.

As usual, I’m going to highlight some of my wonderful meals during this past weekend. However, please note that there are NO typical July 4th foods on this list – NO hot dogs, burgers, ribs, potato salad…so it’s actually not a very patriotic entry. haha.

On Friday, I was craving some Japanese food and went to the St. Marks area. My friend and I ended up at this restaurant called “Go” (St. Marks betwn. 2nd and 3rd Ave.), which is open from 5pm to 4 am. Yes, this is certainly a place for late night eaters. I had my typical Okonomiyaki:


If you’re wondering what the heck this is, Wikipedia does a good job in describing what is in it, etc. etc.

Afterwards we ventured to Saint’s Alp (betwn. 10th and 11th on 3rd Ave.). Now, if you go to NYU you should definitely know this place. But for those who don’t, it’s a popular tea spot near campus that recently changed their menu but has relatively cheap drinks and small Taiwanese eats. Yum Yum. One of my favorite drinks is Black Sesame Shake. It’s SOOOO good.


Oh man. Just looking at it makes me drool…so if you like black sesame, this is definitely the drink for you.

Being that one of my awesome friends moved into an apartment in the West Village, we went around the area and decided to go to Sapore (55 Greenwich Ave, on 7th Ave). It’s relatively cheap for Italian food, and they had a nice area to sit outside. I actually didn’t get their pasta, but a panini with proscuitto, mozzarella, basil, tomato:


It came with fries and a small “salad” (basically a few greens) on the side. Pretty good, though I had a hard time eating it as a sandwich. As a result, I resorted to the fork and knife. It was nice just being able to sit outside and enjoy the city…

Since I went home this past weekend, I got a chance to eat at lovely local restaurants. My family and I had a craving for some Italian food and drove to La Piazza (Plainview NY 11803). They’re known for their pizza but I just got their Penne Pomodoro with meatballs:

It was pretty good. The leftovers are still in my fridge though. As you can see, it was a nice sunny day outside. I didn’t even have to do anything to this photo to make it bright. Yay for summer!

All in all, a great break from work. I can’t wait to go home again this upcoming weekend. Fun times!