New York Day
A few weekends ago the H sisters came to town. It was a hilarious riot catching up with them, and of course much was consumed! There's nothing better than good food and great old friends.
I haven't had a chance to check out the
Pakistan Tea House on Church Street downtown, but the H sisters all swear by its authenticity and deliciousness - so much that they ate there numerous times during their trip to New York! Note it's not just a tea house; Pakistani food is also served (at great prices too!).
We met up with everyone at
Lombardi's, famed for being the first pizzeria in the U.S. (licensed in 1905). Our two pies were crisp and good, although one ended up much more charred than the other. I can't say the service was raveworthy but the food was good. I'd go again, but probably not on a busy weekend afternoon. For more pizza goodness, check out
Slice.
Walking through Soho, we stopped at
Rice to Riches, the sleek establishment that only serves rice pudding. be ordered a "Sex, Drugs & Rocky Road" and we also tried the cappuccino and tiramisu flavors. I like the mango flavor but they ran out that day. Your order comes in a neat color-coordinated bowl + top and matching spoon scoop. I wonder how many free samples they'll actually let you try before making you order something (or kicking you out)!
After some shopping, we had a grand dinner at
Turkish Kitchen in Midtown. There isn't a clear vegetarian section, but there are more than enough appetizers and sides to make a big delicious meal. I started with the sampler plate, which included humus (chickpea puree), patlican salatsai (roasted mashed eggplant), yalanci dolma (stuffed vine leaves) and barbunya pilaki (seasoned kidney beans). Next, i had the sigara boregi (phyllo stuffed with feta cheese) and the mucver (zucchini patties with garlic yogurt sauce). Everything was so good but my favorite was the zucchini patties, which were so soft and crisp. be ordered the octopus salad, which he liked besides the onions. The rest of the table ordered a mix of various dishes like kebabs and grilled lamb. Overall, we all highly recommend Turkish Kitchen! The walls are also painted bright red, just like our living room!
And if anyone is wondering that that picture is, it's a glass of orange juice with some freshly ground salt & pepper! V brought it up as one of the lunch items her mom would pack them for school. It sounded so interesting i had to check it out for myself! I didn't add enough pepper or salt to significantly change the taste of the juice, but the pepper did add a tiny kick. Next time i'll try grinding the pepper much finer.
Lastly, a new Indian Chinese (or Chinese-Indian) restaurant opened in Little India, called
Indo Wok. It's not far from
Chinese Mirch, which has been getting good reviews. I've only been to
Tangra Masala in Queens a few years back. For those who don't know, Indian Chinese / Chinese-Indian is basically Indian style Chinese food. This
review of Chinese Mirch from the NY Times sums it up as:
Chinese-Indian food, like Chinese-Cuban and Chinese-American, took shape when a community of Chinese immigrants had to stretch its home cooking to accommodate a new environment and new ingredients. (The most notable adaptation on the menu at Chinese Mirch is its omission of pork and beef, which are forbidden, respectively, to Muslims and Hindus, the two dominant religious groups in India.) Vik Lulla, the chef and owner of Chinese Mirch, whose family owns two Chinese restaurants in his native Bangalore, said that "Chinese food is what most Indians eat when they want a change from what they eat every day." Mr. Lulla's family is not of Chinese descent, but in India, he said, "like in New York, everyone loves Chinese food." India's first Chinese immigrants were from northern China, and the tag "Manchurian" has stuck to many Chinese-Indian dishes, whatever their actual origin.
PS: Check out this real
Hobbit Feast!
Every Lunch Wish
Last week i took a detour to
Viet Nam Banh Mi So #1 after work. It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall serving up numerous kinds of
banh mi, delicious Vietnamese-style sandwiches on toasted baguettes, plus freshly squeezed juices, snacks and other goodies like fresh spring rolls. Alongside boxes of Pocky, you can also buy jars of pickled fruits and vegetables and sriracha sauce from Thailand!* Anthony (the owner) once gave me a grand discount when he realized i worked with Q. Every moment i'm alive, i thank Q for introducing us all to the wonders of fresh spring rolls and banh mi!
On this most recent trip, i picked up 2 packages of vegetarian fresh spring rolls, which are filled with noodles, mushrooms, tree ears, carrot and radish shreds, tofu, cilantro and fresh mint leaves, with a side of sweet plum sauce and fried, crushed peanuts. These things are utterly addictive due to their amazing flavor combination. be served some for his birthday party last May, and i hear through the grapevine that people are still talking about these rolls!
I was also hankering to try some of the vegetarian banh mi. They offer 3 meatless versions, each for under $4.00:
11. Veggies: pickled carrots, cilantro and cucumber
12. House Special Vegetarian: tofu, mushroom, clear noodles, carrot and sweet radish
13. Vegan Chicken with Lemongrass: (NOT Meat)
I asked for #12 and #13, both of which also included generous sprigs of cilantro and a spread of homemade mayo and rich butter. The smelled so good on the subway ride home, i bet the whole car was salivating like i was! However, upon opening my bag i found that i actually accidentally received #11 and #12. Like expected, #12 was absolutely delicious; the filling is similar to what's inside the vegetarian fresh spring rolls (minus the tree ears and mint) but heartier since it's on a toasted baguette with mayo and butter. I was skeptical of #11 since it sounded like a carrot sandwich, but in actuality, it was very delicious as well! The filling was so fresh, crisp and refreshing - combine that with creamy mayo and butter, cilantro and hot peppers and you have an amazing taste & texture sensation!
Of note were the hot peppers. I asked for them on the side since be doesn't like his food crazy hot. The man behind the counter gave me a little paper packet of a dozen tiny green peppers, the kind that look quite harmless compared to giant bright red ones. I'm aware that the smaller peppers are usually the hotter ones, but i didn't think they were
that hot! I put a few whole peppers in my #12 and began eating, when all of a sudden my entire mouth was on fire. I opened the sandwich to inspect when i realized that i had only bitten into THE TIP of one tiny pepper! At this point, i knew i'd die if i ate 4 or 5 whole ones, so i removed them, chopped them up and sprinkled the bits over both the #11 and #12 sandwiches. Halfway through the #12, i was sweating and proclaiming to be that VNBMS#1 does not kid around!
The NY Daily News ran an
article last year on banh mi in New York. I haven't been to any other shops so i can't compare, but if anything, the vegetarian fresh spring rolls are to die for at VNBMS#1!
*
Huy Fong makes the best known brand of sriracha sauce in the US - you know those green-capped squirt bottles whose labels are in English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese and French. Sometimes it's renamed "rooster sauce" or "cock sauce" by fans (but it's probably because they didn't know how to pronounce "sriracha!") Did you know it's made in California? Check out this interesting article on David Tran, the
Emperor of Hot Sauce.
A Little Help
Does anyone have any food suggestions for San Francisco and Los Angeles (and everything inbetween on Rt. 1)? Restaurants, shops, markets, produce stands - anything goes as long as it's good! Cheap eats are great but we also love to splurge if it's worth it. Thanks!
Focaccia #1
Last week be made his 2nd ever batch of homemade bread! Me, i'm scared of dough and i run at the sight of blobs doubling, tripling in size, so i stayed in the living room for most of it. His 1st bread attempt was back in Brooklyn, 2001, in the middle of a severe cold. He had an intense desire to make bread so i bought a few packets of yeast and he kneaded away, perhaps too intently as the bread came out more like a cement brick. Now, about 4 years later he gets hit with a focaccia craving so we again bought some yeast, some flour and read a few paragraphs in
The Tassajara Bread Book, a hippyish yet detailed "bible" of breadmaking.
He decided to make the focaccia with fresh rosemary and sage, shaping the dough mass into two small loaves. It was a big job with all the mixing, kneading, waiting, punching, waiting and whatnot but it really paid off. By following the recipe exactly and carefully, the bread ended up wonderfully. The crusts were so perfectly crisp and hearty while the bread inside was soft and flavorful, with even sized bubbles and a good texture. Unfortunately, be was VERY disappointed because the bread wasn't exactly the kind he wanted, but a few days later he admitted it did end up quite well. I think it was because the recipe called for some whole wheat flour, which gave it a a denser, richer taste than if he used only white flour. Regardless, it's great toasted with a little butter!
Cockta Soda
A recent dinner with Shaptowicz included delicious Pizzeria Uno's deep dishness, chocolate fondue and
Cockta! None of us had ever tasted, much less heard of this Slovenian soda. Upon first sip it tasted like Coke + lemon cleansers, the second sip had me tasting vanilla, but by the third sip it really grew on me and i finished the glass! be and
Shappy had similar reactions as well, while
Cristin declined to taste. According to
Croatian Mall:
The name Cockta derives from the word cocktail - which stands for a drink made of different ingredients. Its unique taste is the result of a hip rose base mixed with 11 excellent natural herbs, and freshness is obtained with lemon and orange aromas. It was registered in 1953 and is the first Slovenian registered trademark among non-alcoholic beverages.
I would have it again - it was certainly good with greasy cheesy pizza - but i can't say the same for Bananko, a fluffy banana-flavored, chocolate-covered candy! BTW Shaptowicz picked up the Eastern European treats at the
Euromarket in Astoria.
The Last 05
Like a strange case of deja vu or just people who like doing the same thing over and over, this New Year's Eve was spent almost exactly like
last year's! Granted, the group involved was slightly different but it followed the same idea: food, something sweet, fireworks and hot cocoa.
The weather was quite cold and drizzly, much of the usual gang was out of town and truthfully - the end of the year snuck up so quickly i'm
still thinking it's Fall! Rolling ourselves out of the apartment, we met up with Ish, L and O at
Madras Cafe in the East Village. It was a good night to eat something hearty and filling. I couldn't decide on what to get so i got something new: the Tamil Nadu thali which was assorted Southern Indian dishes; be ordered a dish of eggplant, lentils and vegetables (which he thought was very hot); Ish got be's usual - the paneer muttar dhingra (cheese, peas and mushrooms in an almond sauce) and L had my usual - the Bombay thali. O, who showed up later after work, ordered a mango lassi and gulab jamon. Everyone loved their dishes and we left feeling full and satisfied. Honestly, Madras is totally underrated and 1,000% better than the restaurants on 6th Street. Again, it's one of my Top 5.
For a Saturday night, the East Village was surprisingly quiet. The only people who seemed to be around were mobs of drunken tourists wearing "2006" party gear. It felt like a good night to try
Chikalicious, the popular dessert bar that we've been attempting to eat at for a year! Hit with some good luck, there was no infamous line AND there were 5 seats in a row right at the bar! Usually they don't take parties larger than 4 so it was really fated that we all should have dessert there.
Chikalicious is small, seating only about 20 people at a time. It's very sparse yet cozy and intimate at the same time. I'm very glad our first time there was sitting at the bar - that way we could watch Chika (the chef and owner) and the other chefs prepare everything. It was quite mesmerizing watching them create the different desserts with such attention to detail and presentation. Don (the sommelier and owner) was super nice and no one rushed anyone, even though customers started arriving and suddenly there was a long wait.
The way Chikalicious works is simple. For $12 you get a 3 course dessert, of which you can choose the main course from an ever-changing menu. For $7 extra you can opt for a wine pairing, which everyone did but me. I chose a pot of darjeeling tea for $3.50, which was enough for 3 cups and was served with 2 tiny cute creamers!
Our first course was a small scoop of roasted banana ice cream over coconut cream agar agar cubes. The ice cream was a complete flavor explosion in our mouths! I'd never had ice cream so wonderfully intense and pure - the roasted banana flavor was so delicious and creamy. Over the coconut agar, it was a refreshing and tasty start!
I really couldn't decide between all the main courses. At one point 3 of us wanted to order the same thing! I finally chose the warm chocolate tart with pink peppercorn ice cream and red wine sauce. be ordered the sweet potato brulee with egg nog ice cream and maple spaghetti squash. Ish asked and was recommended the apple soup with almond croutons, while L and O both got the blood orange sorbet with espresso pannacotta. Most of us tried everyone else's main dishes too, and overall i must say they were each completely amazing! Some of the pairings seemed strange but all of the flavors worked together beautifully. My pink peppercorn ice cream had an amazing sweet, creamy, peppery flavor. My tart just melted in my mouth. L's blood orange sorbet was pure intense citrus explosion. be's brulee was wonderfully Fall. Ish's apple soup was so smooth and delicious. And everyone's wine pairings matched perfectly. be was skeptical of his smoky cream sherry but after eating it with the brulee, he realized how well the smokiness brought out a feeling of Fall.
Finally, for the last course we each got a toasted coconut marshmallow, a dark chocolate truffle, and poppyseed cream on a tiny butter cookie topped with candied citrus. I normally don't like marshmallows but this one just melted; the texture was unlike any other marshmallow i've had before. The truffle was smooth and intense, dusted in cocoa powder like an old skool truffle. I wasn't sure what to think of the poppyseed cream at first, but as i chewed it up, all the flavors and textures worked together to make a wonderful bite of goodness! It ended up being my favorite of the 3 petit fours.
Overall, i thoroughly enjoyed our desserts at Chikalicious and will definitely try to go there as much as possible. Note that the servings are not big - it's quality over quantity here, but all 3 courses do amount to 1 average-sized dessert somewhere else. However, the flavors, textures and presentation are above par. The ice creams and sorbets were the best i've ever had. So go early, sit at the bar and enjoy some amazing desserts so unlike your usual chocolate cake or apple pie!
We spent so much time at Chikalicious that we made it right in time for the
Emerald Nuts fireworks show and 5k run in Central Park! There was no free hot cocoa like last year (and we were all geared up for some given how cold and windy it was) so we headed back downtown to
French Roast around Union Square. Their french fries are yummy but i can't say the same about their hot cocoa. It came in a large "mug," more like a bowl with little "handles" made of bear heads on the sides, with pretty chocolate swirls on a layer of foamed milk on top - but we all agreed it was Hershey's syrup! Good, but not really what we wanted.
In the end, it was a delicious night with good friends to ring in the New Year!
Holiday Roundup
These past few weeks have been a blur. There's a lot to talk about so here goes; i'll post chronologically of course.
On the night of Dec 24th we had a lasagna face-off at be's parents' house. His sister made the "normal" lasagna from his mom's recipe while be made the "other" lasagna which contained fake beef, spinach with pine nuts and three kinds of cheese. I've had his mom's lasagna plenty of times and although it tastes fine, the noodles are usually overcooked and the cheese runs. I didn't try his sister's since it had beef in it, but on the other hand be's lasagna was excellent. Too bad no one else at the table was "brave enough" to taste it besides his sister, mom and dad.
Around 5am on the morning of Dec 25th we started our drive down to Northern VA to spend a few days with my family. The entire trip can be summed up easily with one word: shopping. Who knew be could shop without dropping while i trudged along in a daze? In summary:
1) First, check out that picture of fresh chickpeas! I found them at
Grand Mart, one of the big international supermarkets in NoVA. The peas look just like the dried/canned ones but are light green and very hard. The pod is pretty tough and hairy. I didn't try to cook them since i only bought a tiny handful and didn't know how. At Grand Mart i also picked up some
El Yucateco XXXta Hot Mayan Style (now it's the
only place i can find it!) and deliciously dangerously addictive Korean seaweed. Grand Mart is so awesome!
2) We tried some Choxie,
Target's brand of chocolate. The dark chocolate almonds, spicy toffee and milk chocolate peanut butter patties were surprisingly good. The hot chocolate (in cute oblong tin) was okay. It was much oilier than i thought hot chocolate should be, but still very chocolatey and satisfying. I'm not sure i'd buy the hot chocolate again but i will definitely check out more Choxie bars, truffles and the like.
3) My
sister brewed up some
elderberry syrup and gifted us two bottles! It's generally used as a cold, cough and flu remedy and unlike Robitussin, it tastes great! I'm not too familiar with elderberries but they're also used to make jam and wine. She also baked a batch of excellent brownies. Thanks Bonesli!
4) be's in love with
Trader Joe's. I don't think i've ever seen him walk so slowly. We picked up numerous items such as mango sauce (like apple sauce, but mangoes!), goat cheese and herb potato chips (absolutely delicious) and mint hot cocoa (a little thin but very refreshing). We can't wait to access a car and head out to the Trader Joe's in Long Island! I'd go just for those potato chips.
5) We met up with the Rices for an afternoon at
Hidden Pond. I keep overestimating the ages of Sol and Luna because they're shockingly smart. I gave Sol a copy of
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH which was one of my favorite books growing up. The Rices gave us 3 tins of tea from
Adagio: Earl Grey (which be loves), Genmai Cha Pop and Dragonwell; a special baking issue of
Cooks Illustrated and a tin of great homemade Nutty Nuggets and Lemon Bars! I'm excited to try some of the CI recipes and the rest of the teas, which all look and smell wonderful. Unfortunately all the cookies are gone. Thanks Rice House!
6) My uncle, aunt and little cousins spent a week in VA with my family. My aunt and uncle are both very good cooks so in between eating out, they made us some delicious eggplant and another yummy dish with carrots and rice noodles. My uncle recently sold his business in Chicago which started as a pan-Asian take out restaurant but soon included pizza as well. It's not so strange if you consider the Chinese/Mexican restaurants all over New York! Regardless, all that pizza talk left me with a giant craving for some good deep dish even though i truly love thin crust. He was telling us about the differences between brick ovens, electric v gas and how percentages of sauce/cheese/crust really matter. For the record, he claims that a stone-lined oven powered with gas is the best.
7) Lastly, a few places we ate out at:
a)
Viet Bistro in the Eden Shopping Center at 7 Corners. They don't make pho (Vietnamese noodles in beef broth) from scratch but my mom loves their seafood dishes. Surprisingly, they offer quite a few vegetarian dishes and what we had was good: fresh spring rolls, tofu and vegetable casserole. The rice was notably excellent, so soft and fragrant.
b) Two Amigos in Centreville. be really loves the Salvadorean food here and they also offer Mexican dishes. We had some yummy tamales de elote with crema fresca (tamales made with fresh corn with thick sour cream) and be had a big pupusa (cheese-filled pattie) while i polished off the curtido (pickled cabbage and other vegetables).
c)
Sakoontra Thai restaurant in Chantilly. Everyone loved the green papaya salad, so crunchy and hot. All of our dishes were good but my mom was pissed at my dad for ordering duck curry!
