Dishes of the Week: 2/24/16

August 29, 2016 by Jesse Hsu in Restaurant, Review, Food Journal, NYC

WEDNESDAY, 2/24/16

Restaurant: Cho Dang Gol

Address: 55 W 35th St New York, NY 10001

Dish: Seafood tofu

Thoughts: Cold February weather meant sundubu, and what better place to have it than Cho Dang Gol. Located outside of proper Ktown, this old school eatery is known for serving freshly homemade, organic tofu. My friend Kat and I sat there in eager anticipation for the spicy tofu in bubbling cauldrons and it didn’t disappoint.

THURSDAY, 2/25/16

Restaurant: Carbone

Address: 181 Thompson St, New York, NY 10012

Dish: Veal Parm

Thoughts: I didn’t fall in love with food until I moved to New York in June 2007. My world changed after tasting Mamoun’s falafel, NYC pizza, quality sushi, and other cuisines not available in Durham, NC. Like any other journey, my path to being foodie can be summarized in a few special milestones. Once you hit a milestone, you essentially level up and don’t look back. The tasting menu at Torrisi on 5/2/2012 was one of these milestones that changed my perspective on flavors and textures. Also, the chefs didn’t take themselves too seriously so the menu was whimsical in its riffs on traditional dishes.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Carbone so when I met up with my friend Audrey, I didn’t mind the fact that we had to wait even though we had a reservation. Even when the wait stretched to 15 minutes, I smiled and wondered if the rigatoni vodka tasted as good as it looked on all those Instagram pics. (It was pretty good but not $35 good)

I really enjoyed the veal parm. At $55, the price was commensurate with size….this thing was Flintstonian in nature that Audrey and I barely finished. Nice sauce with breadcrumbs.

SUNDAY, 2/28/16

Restaurant: The Doughnut Project

Address: 10 Morton St, New York, NY 10014

Dish: Everything Doughnut

Thoughts: I don’t like overly sweet pastries. That’s why this donut is everything. Savory toppings such as fried garlic and sesame seeds balance out that frosting.

MONDAY, 2/29/16

Restaurant: Lowlife

Address: CLOSED

Dish: Yakitori Chicken

Thoughts:Met up with Matt who I met off of Instagram for the first time. A talented photographer and blogger - go check out his feed! We ordered a few dishes but the best dish of the night was a happy accident. Wilson Tang, owner of Nom Wah and Fung Tu was sitting behind us and ordered the chicken. The server brought his chicken to us (at the time, we didn’t know and thought it was a comp) and we were blown away by the flavor of the bird and the cook on it from the binchotan. Sorry not sorry Wilson! Unfortunately, due to a few reasons, the restaurant shut down a few months later.

Last week's EATS

Dishes of the Week: 2/5/16

June 03, 2016 by Jesse Hsu in NYC, Restaurant, Food Diary

Friday, 2/5/16

Restaurant: Maman Tribeca

Address: 211 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013

Dish: squash and corn spaghetti carbonara with pumpkin seeds and poached egg

Thoughts: I’m a fan of traditional pasta so I had reservations when ordering this dish. My doubts dissipated after the first bite - the squash and corn pasta tasted pretty similarly to regular pasta, the pumpkin seeds gave it a nice crunch, and the poached egg was literally the glue binding everything together. The sprinkling of parmesan by Lexi didn’t hurt either. Pleasantly surprised on how much I liked the dish and that there was no food coma afterwards.

Friday, 2/5/16

Restaurant: Beautiful Memory Desserts

Address: 69 Bayard St, New York, NY 10013

Dish: Tang Yuan (Sesame soup with sweet rice balls with black sesame filling

Thoughts: After braving noodle bowls of scintillating heat over at Xian Famous, Mama Hsu and I cooled down with one of my favorite desserts on the same block: tang yuan. One bite of the balls and I was hooked. An explosion of black sesame filling oozed out into the sweet almond soup. Mama Hsu didn’t want to share so she and I ordered two separate portions and then 2 more to go.

Friday, 2/5/16

Restaurant: Lam Zhou Handmade Noodle and Dumpling

Address: 144 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

Dish: Fried Dumplings

Thoughts: While waiting for our table at Golden Unicorn on Chinese New Year, I may or may not have snuck out by myself to inhale a plate of my favorite dumplings in the city. All about the ratio of skin to meat to juice which Lam zhou has nailed - thin skin, ample meat, and pockets of juice that bursts forth like Gushers. Their beef noodle soup isn’t bad either

Monday, 2/8/16

Restaurant: Chef’s Club featuring Mister Jus

Address: 275 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012

Dish: Black cod with mushroom sauce and sourdough crisp

Thoughts: Chef Brandon Jew was previewing the menu for his San Francisco restaurant, Mister Jus. The black cod was perfectly cooked and super tender and was the perfect blank canvas for the umami from the mushroom sauce. Love the sourdough crisp on top that was an homage to San Francisco. If I ever find myself in SF, I’d love to try out the rest of the menu.

Tuesday, 2/9/16

Restaurant: Via Della Pace Pizza

Address: permanently closed

Dish: n/a

Thoughts: This was a memorable night, not for the food, but because it was my first food blogger event. I was invited by Rebecca and didn’t know what to expect. As I walked in, all I saw was a sea of asians with iphones and dslrs taking pictures of pizzas on the…floor? Wait, what?!

I was told that the tile provided an aesthetically pleasing background for the picture. I didn’t take out my camera for a while and just observed. These bloggers were clicking their shutters and positioning pizzas in synced rhythm like how flocks of birds fly together without hitting each other. At one point, a standalone light apparatus was set up on the table to provide even, bright light. I was still staring at this operation when I met a few food instagrammers: justafoodienyc, _jillish, dianaaeatsnyc, mattbruck, shiumaieatsnyc, allisonkimchi and entered the food blogger universe.

Wednesday, 2/10/16

Restaurant: Mission Chinese

Address: 171 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002

Dish: Spicy rice cakes

Thoughts: Not a fan of Mission Chinese as a whole. The dishes are overpriced for hipsters and most are too salty. But there is one dish that fires on all cylinders. Chewy rice cakes that pairs well with the smokiness of the bacon. Good amount of spice too so ask for extra napkins (and white rice).

Next week's EATS

Last week's EATS

What I Ate: 1/29/16 - 2/4/16

May 23, 2016 by Jesse Hsu in NYC, Restaurant, Food Diary

Inspired by "Grub Street Diet", I wanted to start chronicling my meals for posterity and sharing my favorite dishes with others. Each diary will cover food eaten in one week, no matter how big or small.

This week: Moving Day, back-to-back Basta Pasta, and meeting someone off of Instagram who turned out to be normal

FRIDAY, 1/29/16

On the way to lunch, I stopped by Arcade Bakery and picked up dessert: lemon sugar brioche and s’mores danish for Sammy to try.

Whole Foods gets a bad rap but I personally like having lunch there. Fried fish poboys next to the chicken tikka masala. A few feet away, you’ll find quinoa, kale, and other healthy things I don’t get. The variety of selection is overwhelming but you’re bound to find something tasty. Sammy got a nice golden rotisserie chicken while I enjoyed moist pork shoulder, risotto, and sauteed mushrooms. I ordered a matcha lemonade but they ran out of mint so they comped it for me while a barista ran to grab more mint for the line of waiting customers. We enjoyed the pastries while listening to screaming, crying babies. Note to self: Don't sit in the kids section next time.

Dinner was a seamless order from Angelo’s Pizza.. I had enjoyed their spaghetti and meatballs last time so I tried the Chicken Marsala. Delicious sauce and ample portions of chicken that retained juice despite being delivered.

SATURDAY, 1/30/16

Showed up at Golden Unicorn for dimsum with Sammy and his friends. After a brief wait, we were led to the 2nd floor and sat at a massive table while carts of happiness whizzed by. The egg tarts here are my favorite - perfectly flaky crust and the egg custard actually tastes like egg instead of the usual sugary, artificial filling. Unfortunately, you can’t just buy these a la carte anytime….they’re only available during dimsum.

SUNDAY, 1/31/16

After bringing some boxes of items to my new apt, I took a break and had a quiet solo dinner at Basta Pasta. I ordered a mushroom risotto to start (kinda watery and underseasoned) and their classic pasta that is submerged into a giant wheel of Parmigiano, tableside.

MONDAY, 2/1/16

Moving Day! To start off the day, I had breakfast at Sarabeth’s near Central Park. I made the mistake of going with the Restaurant Week menu and I don’t even remember what I had. On the walk back to my apt, I took it all in. The horse-drawn carriages plodding along Central Park, Columbus Circle off in the distance, and the Plaza Hotel where I enjoyed many Luke lobster rolls. Gonna miss this neighborhood.

After moving into my new apt in Union Square, my roomie and I celebrated with a dinner at….Basta Pasta. I had a very satisfying plate of homemade silk handkerchief pasta, mixed mushrooms, lemon zest, ricotta cheese. We split an uni pasta (uni is not created equal because their version is watery and not flavorful), and the roomie had a nice seafood vongole.

TUESDAY, 2/2/16

Cold day means Thai Son. David and I ordered the usual stewed beef pho and spring roll appetizer. We discovered an ingredient that improved the flavor profile of the noodle soup: a generous squirt of lime which added the perfect amount of acidity to the tomato based broth.

Later that evening, I met up with Rebecca, a food blogger on instagram. We’ve commented on each other’s posts over a few weeks so I arranged for a face to face meeting at Sakagura. Highlights included the miso short ribs, and silken tofu with bonito. Botan ebi was meh in its raw form but was resurrected in an improved tempura form. We talked about likes and dislikes (bell peppers for her and eggplant for me) as well as our shared penchant for pho. I made plans to take my new foodie friend to my favorite pho spot in NY called Khe-Yo.

WEDNESDAY, 2/3/16

Yesterday was vietnamese lunch and japanese dinner. Today’s lunch of green curry from Lan Larb Soho was fiery Thai. Coworkers smirked and smh-ed as I went through 10 paper towels for the beads of sweat perched on my eyebrows. Next time, I’m bringing a towel from home.

Second lunch was the office birthday lunch that was catered by Uma Temakeria (think sushi burritos and spicy tuna handrolls). It was a hit for the whole office - for those on a health kick and for those with gluten/kosher/food allergy issues. This was one office lunch that didn't elicit mass food coma afterwards.

After two lunches, I decided to have a light dinner on my way home at Republic, an Asian American bistro with a brigade of 10-15 chefs. Chatted with Caroline, one of the managers there and she recommended the vietnamese chicken salad. The chicken thigh chunks were juicy and the ginger marinade was light. My go to salad even though I hate salad.

THURSDAY, 2/4/16

Walked to Gourmet Garage with David and Xavier and split a whole rotisserie chicken with David. Paired it with an awesome sweet corn chowder. Cheap and filling.

Dinner was with some old friends (christine and Ken) and new friends (since undergrad). It was great to meet Nancy and her husband, Ted and we ordered the majority of the menu at The Milling Room on the UWS. The wood adorned decor and candlelit tables really made for an intimate ambiance. I ordered a thick porkchop which was a bit overcooked and slightly dry. The table unanimously agreed that the duck and the squid ink spaghetti were standouts.

WEEKLY SUMMARY

Dined out: 14 times

Restaurants Visited: Arcade Bakery, Whole Foods, Angelo’s Pizzeria, Golden Unicorn, Basta Pasta (2x), Sarabeth’s Central Park, Thai Son, Sakagura, Lan Larb Soho, Uma Temakeria, Republic, Gourmet Garage, The Milling Room

Highlights: Golden Unicorn; egg custard | Sakagura; miso short ribs | The Milling Room; duck and the squid ink pasta

Next week's EATS

Last Week's EATS

Momosan Ramen & Sake - Morimoto in Midtown

Momosan Ramen & Sake

May 14, 2016 by Jesse Hsu in NYC, Manhattan, Midtown, Restaurant, Review

I first met Jae Lee in late 2012 through a mutual friend while Jae was sous chef at Morimoto’s eatery called Tribeca Canvas. Before they closed a year later, I was a regular there not just because it was across the street from my office, but because I enjoyed their Japanese take on comfort food (lamb ragu buns and braised pork ribs with a side of fried rice risotto was addictingly good). Jae did a short stint at Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare before landing at Lexington Brass. My next dinner with Jae was at Zuma where he fed my friend and me copious amounts of sushi, black miso cod, and a huge tray of dessert that turned us into Violet Beauregard twins.

What I Ate: 1/22/16 - 1/28/16

May 10, 2016 by Jesse Hsu in NYC, Restaurant, Food Diary

Inspired by "Grub Street Diet", I wanted to start chronicling my meals for posterity and sharing my favorite dishes with others. Each diary will cover food eaten in one week, no matter how big or small.

This week: What to eat in a blizzard and $2 dumplings to $200 Michelin-starred kaiseki

FRIDAY, 1/22/16

Nursed my hangover with stewed beef noodle soup and some crunchy spring rolls at Thai Son. When you order this dish, make sure you repeat “no tendon” because today’s bowl contained lots of tendon. Fail.

Dinner was a fail too. Getting two al pastor tacos with hard shells via seamless delivery from Tehuitzingo was a rookie mistake. The flavor was there but the shells disintegrated in its own pork juices. Ordered another dish knowing there would be a blizzard tomorrow. The pork ribs in red sauce were succulent and perfect with the slight heat from the sauce.

SATURDAY, 1/23/16

Enjoyed my pork ribs leftovers for brunch and trekked to Central Park West to hang out at Christine’s apt to spend Blizzard Day watching Duke basketball and enjoying homemade pumpkin ginger waffles. On my way home, I picked up a cheeseburger and fries from The Burger Joint cause I had the munchies.

SUNDAY, 1/24/16

Was in an Italian mood so walked past Carnegie Hall to Trattoria Dell 'Arte, a spot popular for pre-theater dining. Enjoyed the presentation and flavor of the 101 layer lasagna and the lobster carbonara. Ate half of each dish and boxed the leftovers for dinner that night.

MONDAY, 1/25/16

Cafe Clementine has this amazing special that comes around infrequently, so when I see that it’s available, I drop all lunch plans and run to get the thinly sliced steak sandwich with jalapeño and pickled onions. Melted cheddar and havarti. Spicy and sour flavor profiles. Crunchy bread and gooey cheese textures? Game over.

Ventured to Eataly after work with coworker/friend/partner-in-crime - Julia. Noshed on a charcuterie and cheese plate and inhaled a filet o fish sandwich (the fried skate was too salty) and grabbed drinks at the upstairs bar which had transformed temporarily into a ski chalet.

After Eataly, I made my way to midtown for dinner at Hide Chan with coworker/gastronaut/food crusher - David. This kid’s eating prowess never ceases to amaze. He ordered a mega ramen with all the fixins plus extra pork. Reminds me of my voracious appetite when I was 15. While I struggled to finish my bowl, he polished his before me. Well done, sir.

TUESDAY, 1/26/16

Went healthy today and ordered a earth bowl and small butternut squash soup at Sweetgreen, an entity that prints money. Lines are always 50 deep, no matter the day. No wonder they are expanding all across the city. Met up with Jess, a potential roomie at the time (now we’re current roommates) to talk about the apt. Wait, hold up. Walking distance to Basta Pasta, City Bakery, and Ootoya? That’s all you had to say. Sold.

We then walked to Grandaisy Bakery to pick up a nutella cookie and a raspberry cornbread muffin for dessert.

Got hungry again from all the healthy food so I grabbed 10 pan fried pork and chive dumplings for $2.50 from Tasty Dumpling with coworker/graphic designer Jordana (she designed my scrumphsus logo!) and then picked up a chocolate cupcake from Sharkey’s Cafe.

Dinner was mapo tofu and hot and sour soup from Joe’s Shanghai for this frigid night.

WEDNESDAY, 1/27/16

Cafe Clementine’s other special is a fragrant rosemary pork shoulder sandwich with broccoli rabe and provolone with jalapenos. Juicy and bursting with flavors. Love the rosemary and jalapeno interplay. Also added bbq chips, butternut soup, and cowboy cookie.

Dinner was with Slo Mo Steve and my cousin Dan who was visiting from LA. Last visit, we went out to Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare and tonight was no different. We stepped into Rosanjin, a 1 Michelin Japanese eatery, known for its creative kaiseki format. Our first course was a soup but it came in a bubbling glass jar. Another highlight was their uni dish which included chewy wheat cake rolled up into a fried yuba wrapper. My favorite course had two amazing components: thinly sliced raw wagyu but more impressively, the white miso broth that we dipped the raw meat into. Complex, nutty, and so full of flavor. The meal ended with kamameshi, a huge bowl of rice and mounds of uni and mushrooms. The server saw our eyes light up so she gave our table some well-received seconds. The only downside happened after our meal when the server revealed that due to rent hikes, they were closing. When I asked when, they said…tonight after service. What a shame.

THURSDAY, 1/28/16

Really liked the seasonal special pizza at Arcade Bakery. It was a cauliflower pizza with walnuts and lemon parsley - best vegetarian pizza ever. A lemon sugar brioche was the perfect sweet ending.

Ken and Christine came by for my homecooked dinner: baked salmon with couscous and cherry tomatoes with squash. It’s a simple and foolproof recipe I learned from a managing director at my company. You basically put salmon on top of blistered cherry tomatoes and let it poach in that tomato juice liquid for 20 min. Comes out moist and tender every time as if it was sous vide.

BAKED SALMON AND TOMATOES

Use of a dutch oven pot is highly recommended. If you don’t have one, make sure you have a pot with lid. Cooking time is 20 min first round and 20-25 min second round. Prepping is done in between.

Serving size: For two

Ingredients:
-1 lb of salmon cut into 2 pieces

- few cloves of garlic

-1 shallot bulb or small onion

-1 container of cherry tomatoes

- Optional veg: asparagus, mushrooms, squash

-1 lemon

-fresh thyme

-S&P (Baleine sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper)

Round 1

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Wash and rinse your dutch oven pot, tomatoes nd then slice cherry tomatoes in half. Put sliced tomatoes into a bowl.
3. Add few swirls of live oil to inside of dutch oven pot. Drop in sliced tomatoes and a light dusting of &P.
4. Once oven has reached 350F, cover pot of sliced tomatoes with lid and place carefully into oven. 20 min on the timer.
5. Mince your garlic and chop your onion or shallot. Wash and chop optional veggies for sides. Examples: asparagus, mushrooms, squash, whatever you want.
6. Wash salmon, pat dry. &P both sides. keep skin on because that keeps the meat moist like a Canada Goose parka. You can remove skin later after it cooks (I recommend eating with skin for max flavor).

Round 2

1. After round 1 timer goes off, take out dutch oven with oven mitt and put on your stove. lift up lid slowly away from you to avoid steaming your eyebrows off. Tomatoes should be nice and blistered, just ready to burs. Fragrant juice should be pooling at the bottom of the pan. hot dam.
2. Add half a spoon of garlic and shallot and gently mix with tomatoes. Gently place fish fillets on top of the tomatoes. drop a few sprigs of thyme in there.
3. Cover the lid, put back into oven. timer 20 min for med rare, 25 min for medium.
4. After timer goes off, take out pot and put on stove. Portion everything according to how many guests you’re cooking for. Garnish with some fresh thyme, few drops of lemon over the salmon, and black pepper dusting to taste. I also like to add some red chili flakes for a kick.

WEEKLY SUMMARY

Dined out: 15 times

Cooked at home: 1 time

Restaurants Visited: Thai Son, Tehuitzingo, Burger Joint, Trattoria Dell 'Arte, Eataly, Hide Chan, Cafe Clementine (2x), SweetGreen, Grandaisy Bakery, Tasty Dumpling, Sharkey's Cafe, Joe's Shanghai, Rosanjin, Arcade Bakery

Highlights: Rosanjin; white miso broth and wagyu (RIP)| Cafe Clementine; rosemary pork shoulder sandwich w/ broccoli rabe, provolone, jalapenos

Last Week's Eats

Next Week's Eats