nyc

Italian / nyc — No Comments
9
Jun 11

Ciano: Italian in the Flatiron

Italian food has become a way of life for me – the pastas, the tomatoes, fresh mozzarellas, and olive oils – make my mouth water and I’m always looking for great Italian restaurants. Ciano, the newest restaurant from the chef and sommelier of Cru (which is now closed), has gotten rave reviews with their home-made pastas and reasonable wine prices. They emphasize that all the ingredients are from “farm to table” which reflects their seasonal, fresh ingredients.

We started off with the rock shrimp polpette, which surprisingly wasn’t anything to remember. It was tender and light.

Those who love pate would love this crostini. On top of this grilled bread is whipped chicken liver with balasmic, making it light and easy to pop into your mouth.

Roasted veal meatballs with white polenta, herbs, and truffle pecorino. The meatballs were tender and well seasoned, so I definitely enjoyed it.

We ended up getting our own pastas which I was particularly excited about. Shown above is their pappardelle with duck bolognese, oregano, and pecorino di noce. The pappardelle was freshly made and al dente, and with the bolognese made it a very hearty dish.

To end it all, we shared the honey crisp apple napoleon served with caramel custard, apple cider, and tahitian vanilla gelato. This was delicious and definitely memorable. I found that the different textures of the napoleon (crunchy and thick) along with the ice cream (cold, smooth) worked very well together.

All in all, Ciano is a restaurant I would go back to particularly to try their other pastas and desserts!

Ciano
45 E 22nd St. (near Broadway)
New York, NY
(212) 982-8422

American Traditional / dinner / nyc — No Comments
31
May 11

Peter Luger: Delicious Steak, Old School Feel

You say “steakhouse in Brooklyn” to a New Yorker and immediately “Peter Luger” will come to mind.  Yes, it is known to be one of the best steakhouses in the NYC area, and in my experience, does deserve the title.  It had a real old school feel; they had waiters that look like they have worked there for the past 20 years, seats and tables made of real wood, and pictures of Brooklyn’s past were framed on their walls. So…is it worth a trip to Brooklyn? Yes, as you will see in this post they have delicious food beyond just steak.

This is their version of bacon, which had an intensity unlike other strips of bacon. It was meaty, and extremely fatty. It’s exactly what every guy wants for breakfast…or dinner.

On my plate were pieces of their porterhouse steak, creamed spinach, and french fried potatoes. To start with the porterhouse, I have to say it was very good. This was cooked medium rare, and quite juicy.  Even though they provide their Peter Luger sauce, the steak didn’t even need it. I thoroughly enjoyed the steak and pretty sure everyone around me wanted more as well. The creamed spinach and fried potatoes were well done, nothing was too creamy or too fried.

After a series of attempts to finish the porterhouse amongst the entire group, we moved onto dessert. Pictured above is the “holy cow hot day sundae” and very appropriately named. It was very intense, topped with their famous “Schlag“, it is thick, chocolatey and sweet.  Frankly I can only have a few bites, but definitely something to experience.

Apple strudel was quite enjoyable, and lightly coated with powdered sugar. I actually enjoyed it and wish it came with some vanilla ice cream.

And how can you not have New York Cheesecake at such a NY staple?  This was very good and if I could have, I probably would have eaten the entire thing by myself.

All in all, my time there was shared by a wonderful group of people to celebrate the retirement of a great senior executive from where I work. It was a great place to celebrate and eat great food! Go go go if you want good steak but make sure you bring cash!

Peter Luger
178 Broadway
New York, 11211
(718) 387-7400

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

American Nouveau / dinner / French / Fusion / Japanese / Korean / nyc — 1 Comment
23
Apr 11

Má Pêche: Beef 7 Ways – A Meat Feast

Má Pêche, the 4th restaurant of David Chang’s empire, is his first midtown restaurant located in the Chambers Hotel.  The “boeuf sept façons” better known as “beef seven ways” meal is…intense. Boy, if you love meat you will love this meal.  Similar to his other food feasts, this meal can feed up to 10 people and requires a minimum of 4…and trust me, you will want and need all 10 people to be there considering they give you TONS of meat.

First course featured the tongue made into a salad comprised of basil, tatsoi, and plum vinaigrette. I was VERY impressed with this dish because it made me want to eat tongue! All the flavors melded together very nicely, and the tongue was sliced thin and was very tender.

Along with the salad was the wagyu served with ginger, scallion, and radish. To be honest, you can’t go wrong with wagyu but they did a great job highlighting the meat itself.  Oh the wagyu meat definitely melted in my mouth…gotta love that fat.

What is in this plate o’meat? There was sausage made of lemongrass, thai basil, and shallots, and the Cote de Boeuf which has butter, thyme, and garlic.  I must say, both of these dishes were REALLY good.  The sausage was well flavored and well spiced. The cote de boeuf was nicely cooked, tender and perfectly juicy.

Oxtail was cooked with soy, sherry, and apple juice which made it tender and slightly sweet. I could only eat once piece at this point but it was very good. The meat fell off the oxtail and had very good flavor.

And then there’s the SHANK. Not sure if you could tell how large this shank is, but it was huge. The shank came with the bone and served with crab paste, onion, and chili. The more impressive part of this dish was the size of it rather than the taste. It was the hurdle and if you and your friends could conquer it, more power to you all. We didn’t want to scoffed by the waitress, so all the guys managed to muster more stomach room and finished the shank.

The last course, the consommé with cilantro, basil, and lime reminded me of pho broth. I was just glad that this wasn’t something I needed to chew.

All in all, it was a memorable meal – a meat feast. There were definitely some highlights and requires intense eating skills from everyone to finish it all. Make sure to bring a group of friends that are ready to eat their faces off.

Má Pêche
15 West 56th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212) 757-5878

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 Traditional / brunch / lunch / nyc — No Comments
21
Mar 11

Motorino – Perfectly Made Pizza

Motorino has been on my list of pizza places to try around the city, and I finally had a chance to go! I somehow always managed to forget to make a trip there considering S’Mac is right next door. Anyway, good thing I ventured there because I got to sit down immediately on a Sunday at 1:30PM versus waiting for those restaurants with massive crowds for brunch.

This here is a beautiful and delicious pizza – their Pizza Al’Uovo which is only available on Saturdays and Sundays. It translates into “egg pizza” and boy is it good. Not only does it have a soft cooked farm egg on each slice, but also fior di latte, chili oil, basil, and pecorino. Everything comes together nicely. As you bite into the slice, you taste the egg yolk oozing and paired with the saltiness of bacon and pecorino, how can you resist? Talking about it makes me want some more…

Alongside the previous pizza, I decided to order their Margherita as a sample for how good a NY pizza truly is. After all, if you can’t this pizza right then how can make any other pizza good? Well, they sure passed the test. The simple toppings – tomato, mozzarella, basil - were all very fresh. The proportion of tomato to mozzarella to basil was perfect. Their dough is really what is most impressive: slightly chewy but not doughy, and not burnt. Oh how I want another slice…

Again, Motorino is definitely worth checking out and eating at. Best $15 you’ll spend on a pizza!

Motorino East Village
349 East 12th Street
New York, NY 10003
(212) 777-2644

American Traditional / Breakfast / nyc — No Comments
21
Feb 11

Clinton St. Bakery – Pancake Month 2011

February is a special month for foodies in NYC. No, it’s not Valentine’s day but rather two special monthly events – City Bakery’s Hot Chocolate Month and Clinton Street Bakery’s Pancake Month – which both foods are my loves. I managed to go to Clinton Street Bakery during my lunch hour and participate in their Pancake month. Be aware that the wait is on average an HOUR for two people, so you can only imagine how many people they manage to feed with their magical pancakes.

Pictured above are their Japanese Pumpkin pancakes served with pumpkin seed streusel and warm maple butter. What I loved about these pancakes was the fact that the pumpkin was also incorporated into the middle of the pancakes. The streusel was comprised of pumpkin seeds and brown sugar (I think), which gave it a nice bite. SO DELICIOUS!

And to add to the pancakes, fried green tomatoes. They were lightly fried, and tasted sweet and slightly tart. It’s on their normal menu so highly recommended whenever you go.

There’s still time left in pancake month so make sure to go!

Clinton Street Baking Company & Restaurant
4 Clinton Street
New York, NY 10002
(646) 602-6263

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

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

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