Scroll straight down to PART II to read about the rest of my NY dining adventure!
Sooo sorry for the long delay!! I find that I can not bear to write a sentence unless I am wholly inspired by the culinary bits and pieces that enter my life. Fortunately a trip to New York revived me! Here is the long list of all the places I went to starting the Wednesday night I arrived, to Sunday evening. I must MUST credit my unbelievably dedicated and supportive eating companions, Steph and Charlie, without them I would not have been able to taste, laugh and enjoy NY as much as I did.
Pomme Frites http://www.pommesfrites.ws/: Crispy, thick cut Belgian fries made to order with a delicious assortment of over 20 sauces to drown and dunk them in. We tried the mango chutney mayo, parmesan peppercorn and the curry ketchup especial. The parma peppercorn turned out to be the group fav. Next time, I am trying them Poutine style with curds and gravy! Mmmmm.
Spot http://www.spotdessertbar.com/: Sadly we got here as they were closing, but happened to score on the 1/2 off cookies. A monstrous chocolate chip coconut cookie was the prize and although decadent, not the best I have ever had. The locals come for the seasonal dessert tapas and rightfully so, with choices like Steamed Passion Fruit Souffle with yuzu, citrus and coconut sorbet.
Mud Coffee http://mudnyc.com/spots.html/: A fantastic cup of their darkly delicious brew was almost outdone by their breakfast sandwich. Thick slices of chorizo sausage, ripe avocado and arugula with egg were nestled in a warm french bread roll. What a perfect start to a NYC morning!
Xi'an Famous Foods http://xianfoods.com/: Okay so Anthony Bourdain, Andrew Zimmern and even the annoying old host of Top Chef Masters, Kelly Choi, made it here before me, but it was still review worthy fantastic. The hand pulled rice noodles are masterful and nothing like I have ever tasted. The spicy lamb cumin noodles force you to take a moment and review your taste bud history. Nope, you have never had anything quite like it. I have to admit though I was especially partial to the other dish I tried, the "Spicy & Tingly Beef Hand-Ripped Noodles in Soup". Oh yah...the seasoning (lots of five spice) and broth were spot on with meltingly tender chunks of all day braised beef. The hand ripped noodles also soaked in the broth, but kept their lovingly chewy texture. I will be back for you spicy & tingly beef soup, mark my words.
BCD Tofu House http://www.bcdtofu.com/: Hands down one of my favorite meals of this trip. Sneak into Koreatown at any hour and this place is jumping (the restaurant is open 24 hours). Although they do have locations outside of NY (the original locations are in Korea) it is still a must stop if you are a Korean food fan. Sit down and a freshly and perfectly fried whole mackerel is put in front of you. The meat is succulent and juicy. Our group then gorged on perfectly spicy seafood and kimchee silken tofu soup, a mind altering scallion and shrimp pancake (i miss you! i still think about you!), and a fresh and bright salad with hauntingly tasty triangles of tofu. For many moments during this dinner we all just sat looking at each other and chewing. Ohh the dark jealousy I feel for the people that may venture here on a whim...
PART II IS HERE...
Eataly http://eatalyny.com/: I had such high expectations for this mammoth italian food mecca in downtown NY and I can sincerely say all of them were exceeded. If you come with an empty tummy you can easily spend hours here in the count them, 12 different food stations inside. Twelve. I sadly only tackled 3 of the 12, but I still think about that slice of pizza that i did not finish. Fantastic quality, a MUST go when you are in NY.
Buddakan http://www.buddakannyc.com/: The hardest part for me about eating in NY is the the wait time. Either you have to eat at 6pm or 9:45pm which basically means I am starving, ravenous when we sit down at 10 for dinner. You really can not go wrong with asian fusion. We partaked in lobster fried rice, multiple sumptuous dumplings and more tofu. The drinks are strong and the ambient lighting is so low it feels like you are eating in the dark. Trendy and beautiful, Buddakan does not disappoint.
Wall and Water http://www.hyatt.com/gallery/wall&water/ : We had brunch twice here at our hotel, the Andaz on Wall Street. Great boutique hotel with lots of room space, not in the thick of things but very comfortable. The part of our meal I still remember most is the coffee. Profoundly robust, rich and full of flavor without a hint of bitterness. It was fantastic and $6.00 a cup. Otherwise, many of the egg dishes were rich, but very small portions. If you are staying at the hotel, it is worth the stop.
People's Pops at the High Line http://peoplespops.com/peoples_pops.html
http://www.thehighline.org/: Okay new yorkers are obsessed with the high line (a public park that is built on an elevated freight rail line over Chelsea). It is nice, but when we finally walked the thing we were left wondering what really all the fuss was about. I did find a nice stand where I tried my first pineapple jalapeno popscicle which was a bit on the sweet side. A bit more tartness would have balanced it nicely. People's pops and the highline, a bit overrated for me.
Gahm Mi Oak http://nymag.com/listings/restaurant/gahm-mi-oak/: Okay, I just don't get it. I am open to trying everything and our local friend swore that this was one of his favorite restaurants in the city. We tried modum bossam. Raw oysters, pork belly and kimchee and pickled cabbage leaves are presented on dishes so you can assemble the wraps yourself. I started out on the wrong foot by taking a small bite of a chili pepper that quickly turned me into an impromptu man vs food spice challenge. My mouth cried, my eyes became blurry and I became practically sick from the pain. We also saw a roach scurry across the floor right after that which had it not been confirmed by my other 2 dining companions I might have considered it as a heat hallucination. After all this I was willing to be enthusiastic about the unusual combo of ingredients, but nothing came together for me. At least we didn't waste all the food, our friend decided to bring it to lunch for work the next day. Trade for pudding cup anyone?
liquiteria http://liquiteria.com/: The closest I could get to Natalie Portman was coming here twice. There is a nice article and picture they have hanging up in the small juice stop proclaiming her love for the place. $11-$13 juice...welcome to New York. I am a big fan of green juice (much to the horror and disgust of my boyfriend) and my drink of choice was their pressed juice (even better than fresh squeezed so they say) of all greens and apple juice. It is a great pick me up while all day walking.
Dumpling Man http://www.dumplingman.com/: If you do not like dumplings I may consider you not human. In this small narrow shop there are workers making fresh dumplings in front of you. We tried chicken, pork, veggie and shrimp and although they were all good, it would be nothing I would call my brother about (we food text and send food pics often). My favorite dumplings are still the steamed egg rolls I get at Great Wall in Phoenix, Az. Have you gone yet?? You should, they are amazing.
Janes Sticky Buns http://janessweetbuns.com/menu.html: Janes Buns is a quaint shop selling liqueur infused pastry goodness. Yum, yum, yum. I am a huge fan of rum raisin (haagen-dazs makes the best rum raisin ice cream hands down) so I had to try the rum runner sticky bun. Handmade with aged rum, brown sugar, galliano (sweet herbal liqueur), cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins I hummed while I tore off each fat sugary piece of drenched buttery bread from the bun. Do you ever do that? Do the head nod from side to side while humming in between scrumptious bites? That is always when I know the food has hit my happy place.
508 http://508nyc.com/: This is a place that we went to for dinner when we couldn't get into the 2 other places we went to first. Skipping to the chase, there are way to many great restaurants in NY to go here. Food was normal (ouch). Next please!
Chelsea Market http://chelseamarket.com/: Where Food Network lives! In the same building anyway. This is a must stop for foodies to new york (yes skip high line and come here). There is a plethora of fantastic high quality produce and almost anything that you might be craving is here. There is a lovely oil and vineager shop, specialty sweets, breads, cheese and more in a very modern meets vintage building of steel beams and brick walks. I was already so full when I got here, I just looked longingly in most of the windows.
Gorilla Grilled Cheese, Rickshaw Dumplings & Kimchee Taco Truck http://gorillacheesenyc.com/ http://rickshawdumplings.com/ http://kimchitacotruck.com/
We went to what we thought would be a gathering of food trucks at an antique market over the weekend. I tried the bbq pulled pork and carmelized onion grilled cheese, some chicken and chive dumplings and several kimchee tacos. I was dissapointed, nothing earth shattering. I should have stalked the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck instead. http://biggayicecream.com/about/
Milk Bar http://media1.milkbarstore.com/menu/nov-ev-menu-back-copy2.jpg: Everytime I bit into the ice cream I was still surprised. How does this taste exactly like cereal milk and why do I want so much more of it?? The compost cookie is fantastic (it has potato chips in it) as well as the truffles, but that ice cream is genius! With several locations I declare it is a must stop. David Chang is ridiculous and he has taken over the NY food world.
Zebb elee Thai http://zabbelee.com/contents/home.html: Super authentic thai, I mean I can barely pronouce the name so you know it's not like your neighborhood Thai Palace. We had some great appetizers including sauteed morning glory (green leafy veg) with fresh chili, a tasty egg and garlic omelette and a crisp papaya salad with preserved crab and pickled fish that Charlie declared tastes just like when he had it in Thailand.
Ippodu http://www.ippudony.com/ http://www.yelp.com/biz/ippudo-ny-new-york You are at home in your other respective neighborhood (not NY) and decide to yelp the restaurants in your area, see what has some great reviews nearby. What does a good place in Phoenix have, maybe 100, gosh maybe even 300?? When you Yelp Ippodu it has 3,219 reviews. WHAT? Okay 1. Why are people still reviewing this place, I mean what else can be said about a bowl of ramen, or are you not cool if you haven't yelped it? 2. When you got there, there was an official looking sign on the door from Yelp stating that Ippudo at that point in 2010 had the most reviews nationwide of any restaurant. This is serious. So we wait, come back around 9:30pm and get 2 bowls to share. I am a noodle maniac. Rice is alright, but noodles and pasta for me is so much more swoon worthy. Also isn't ramen everyone's guilty pleasure (2 bowls of Nongshim Spicy Kimchi flavor are usually hidden in the back of my pantry)? Anyway we had the original Tonkotsu ramen and the Shoyu ramen and they were both good. I'm not sure they were 3,219 reviews good, but it being my last night in the city maybe I was just tired of waiting until 10:00pm to eat dinner. If you like ramen you will like it. The bowls are medium sized and are $15-$17 with options for add-ins like poached eggs for extra.
And that my friends is it. I detailed every crumb, thought and morsel in my NY outing. Until we eat again!
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